TOP TEN QUESTIONS
ON NEW ZEALAND
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TOP TEN QUESTIONS ON NEW ZEALAND |
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Jump to any question
10 - How many miles did you ride ?
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This is the question many people in the bike club ask. Believe it or not I did not really keep too close a track. The shortest day was the climb from Franz Josef to Fox Glacier, followed by the longest day 72 miles to Haast. We had other forms of exercise, plenty of opportunities for hikes. The tour guides would suggest some places to stop along the route. NZ6 is spotted with trails All have names and estimated duration of the hike. Stopping at the Department of Conservation provided booklets explaining what each hike was like. It was impressive how well the country was maintained. There were cyclist from different countries. This photo I took at the lunch stop prior to Haast Pass. |
This is my Favorite Photo of a cyclist. |
9 - What were some of the differences?
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Christmas Decorations at Sign of the Takahe Restaurant outside Christchurch City
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There were many. Some obvious like the naming conventions used. Like cheque vs check. Chemist vs. Pharmacist. Others we needed to jot down. Houses were not completely heated. They would face the north with the windows on that side, and have hallways behind the rooms on the south side. The south side would not have windows. Bedrooms were not heated, but came with heated mattress pads and heavy comforters. These observations were from the Davis's and Tex's homes. In the cities, homes looked a bit more traditional in that they might have windows on all sides. Bathrooms were split in two. Washrooms and the toilet were separated. We were not served bread with dinner meals as is customary in the states. In some places (Auckland) tourist information was also in Japanese. The country was extremely bicycle friendly. We passed many Europeans traveling, and the Auckland airport had two bike work benches for assembling bicycles. Our farm family told us about the emergency number. It is 111 in New Zealand and NOT 911 like in the States. In fact the US television program causes some issues when it was on TV. Moreover, when you dial 111, it rings in Auckland, not that they could really help being so far away, but perhaps if one lived in Auckland that would be ok. So that service in not used much. Other things I notices was dogs allowed in the airports, unless we travel internationally one did NOT have to pass any security measures. There were even birds flying in the Auckland airport. The airlines served candy towards the end of the flight, and lots of real good food even on short flights. Being in the southern hemisphere I once saw a Mr. Whippy ice cream truck in Christchurch City and it was playing Christmas carols. Some road signs were also different. Loose gravel was LOOSE METAL! We did see a few of these. The signs for mileage etc were British and round. We saw one LSZ - Low Speed Zone. I am not sure how slow to drive there. |
8 - What were some of the different terms used?
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One of the many one lane bridges |
There were a lot considering we are all English speaking. A car body shop was a panel beater shop. Grocery carts or carts in the airport were trundlers or trams. A docket was a sales receipt. I bought the book Hall & Ball the Kiwi Adventurers, and the sales women put my docket in the back. What was also real nice is the bookstore provided a sort of clear plastic cover for the book too and one thing that cracked me up was the use of cellophane tape - huge rolls, the tape close beautiful paper bags with all my little souvenirs. This is just a partial list. Joe was the master of this list. Many of the rivers, creeks etc had Maori names. We crossed some bridges very often and there were always signs telling us what we crossed. The Maori pronounce all vowels.
One of the funnier things was the HOLY COW signs. All along Rte 6 each cow sign had a sticker that said HOLY COW ! Well when we turned in towards Queenstown the cows were not so holy, no signs. Can you imagine someone driving 200 miles and putting a sticker on all cow signs? |
7 - Are there a lot of sheep and just how do they handle all those sheep
?Our Farm family demonstrated how to round up sheep with dogs and the use of a shepherds whistle. They also discussed the terms for the dogs to turn right, left. They shout these at the dogs, who are really quite far away. I do have my own Shepherds Whistle now AND I can blow it quite well. Our guide, Jan knew the whole ecosystem. It was quite amazing what feasted on what, and how they have a possum problem. I would be one to agree there are more sheep in New Zealand then people.
6 - What were the glaciers like ?
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There were many one lane bridges over glacier beds like this one, they make one lane bridges so when they need to reconstruct it does not cost so much. We could not feel the glaciers move, and it was not particularly cold or cooler when we walked or landed on the glacier with the helicopter. Parts of the glaciers looked like snow, and elsewhere they were really blue, and all the kettle lakes and streams were really a nice blue. Our first taste of this was on our train ride from Christchurch to Otira. In fact from Otira to the Tasman Sea we followed a glacial bed. Jan told us winter skiing is big in NZ and she teaches skiing too. |
5 - Did they really ride on the other side and use kilometers?
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Yes we rode on the other side of the road. Since traffic was light it was not too strange. The first day on the banks peninsula I made a left hand turn and then was not on the correct side of the street. Otherwise we traveled with very few turns so one did not have to think much. Some of the people on the tour who had an extended tour in NZ and drove cars had problems returning to the states. I experienced the same thing in June after driving in England. It took almost a month for this strange sensation to wear off. I had to think - am I really on the correct side of the street. |
4 - Are the sweaters all that neat ?
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This photo is the wool store in Hari Hari. Arrowtown and Tarras also had excellent sweaters. In Arrowtown there was a clown one that reminded me of Tanya at work who has an invisible snowman sweater. They were expensive. Starting at over $100 American, which was $200 or more New Zealand. I did buy one, which I love even though I bought it in haste in Tarras. Kathy had a better idea. She just bought wool to knit and had it shipped home. I wonder what she has whipped up this year ? In Christchurch there were a lot of sheep tourist souvenirs, including sheepskin rugs. |
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3-It was summer - what about the beaches ?
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It was funny to see so many beaches empty. And the driftwood. .. since the south island is not too populated the beaches had driftwood from the sea and it just sat there. No reason to move it. In some parts there were huge rocks in the sea. This is a view on the way to Haast.
We did not see people in bathing suits either. There is a big ozone whole and it is easy to be sunburnt in New Zealand so people wear hats and shirts outside. |
2- What were the road like for riding?
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Typical Road - Rte 6 on the west coast. |
The roads were GREAT !
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1 - Is it true the water spun the opposite way ?
Gee I don't know! There was so much splashing when you flushed the toilet it was difficult to tell. They really use a lot of water. If I am not confusing NZ with England there were some toilets with two switches. One was for a full flush and the other for a half flush. I had no idea what to hit! Then the sinks and showers seemed to always change where hot and cold were located. I don't know if it was switched or changed every day. What many people really lusted was a nice warm bath tub. Our hotels had showers, but just a few had bath tubs. We did have a jacuzzi in Franz Josef which was very nice indeed!
Typical Road Sign
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