Rainstorm/Snowstorm: Driving from Queenstown to Kaikoura

Cold, dripping rain, and dampness greeted us on Saturday morning, October 13^th when we got up. After checking in at the desk, the hostess informed us that we may need chains to get through the mountain passes to the east. Having only driven is a small amount of snow before, the announcement spoiled my breakfast before I’d even had to chance to eat. “Chains?” I asked. “I’m from Florida, I’ve never driven with chains!” 

I did manage to eat a little breakfast before we caught the bus to the airport to pick up our rental car. Not only was I going to be driving on the wrong side of the road, through the mountains, but it was raining already and snow was expected. I made certain there was a set of chains in the trunk before we left the airport and turned east into the mountains. The rain continued, steady and fully encompassing the entire region, and as we gained elevation, it melded into show showers, and finally, into full-blown snow. As we reached the top of the pass, ice began to form on my windshield wiper arms, and snow had collected on both the sides of the road and the highway itself. We passed a snowplow on the side of the road, the crew most likely taking a break. Shortly after we crested the top of the pass and headed down, conditions improved somewhat, the snow disappeared, and full rain returned.

We drove for ten hours, through continuous rain and strong, gusty winds, maneuvered through some partially flooded roads and arrived in Kaikoura, on the Pacific Coast at about 7:00 PM. Route One follows the east coast for quite a distance, but at times it turns west and snakes through the coastal mountains that run right along the coast. They rise nearly 7,500 feet high and the ocean is as much as 3,800 feet deep only 500 feet from shore. It’s a dark, ebony volcanic beach and rock strewn, dangerous surf, with the two lane highway winding close to the wind swept waves and through several single lane tunnels. A tremendously wondrous and beautiful drive, but you dare not take your eyes off the road for more than a couple of seconds.

Kaikoura is world-famous as a whale watching destination, but neither boats, helicopters, nor planes ventured out in the type of rainy, gale thrashing winds that swept the whole of New Zealand on Saturday.

Tomorrow we head north again to Picton, where we will board a ferry for the three hour trip across the Cook Straight. The forecast for tomorrow: morning showers and snow in the central highlands of the North Island, but clearing in the afternoon.

And the Lord came and stood, and called as other times, "Samuel, Samuel." And Samuel answered, "Speak, for your servant hears."  1 Samuel 3:10

Port Macquarie, New South Wales

Smoke delayed the train we were to take by four hours so the rail company hired several coaches to transport all the passengers to their destinations.

An hour and a half south of Brisbane we drove through a series of steep, rolling hills and rises. There were a lot of good opportunities for some great views as we passed through. Banana plants, and macadamian nut orchards and pasture lands were the predominant uses of the land.

We met a wonderful man from Port Macquarie on the bus, named Richard. If not for the smoke that delayed our train we would have never met him. He had a ticket for first class but having to take the bus threw us together one seat behind the other. We spent about eight hours together on the bus and when we reached Port Macquarie he offered to drive us to our Vacation Village condo. It’s just another example on our vacation of how God seems to be making our way easier.

One of the most pleasant surprises of our stay in the Port were the birds—the kind of birds that you would usually see in an aviary in the US: cockatoos, cockatiels, magpies, parrots, parakeets, kookaburras, and one which had a voice like a flute or panpipe, the Butcher Bird. The first night we forgot to close the windows and were awakened at 4:45 AM by a kookaburra outside our window. If you don’t know what a kookaburra sounds like, please find an audio file and listen and you’ll know how we felt being woken up by one.

Since we were staying about a mile out of town and the bus service was scant, I decided to rent a car. The closest dealer was about two and a half miles away—only one blister from walking there—but it allowed us to move around much more easily than we otherwise could have.

On Sunday, October 7^th, (Your Saturday afternoon) I got up early and connected to the internet so I could listen to the Gators play LSU. WRUF-FM carried the play-by-play by Mick Hubert, the voice of the Gators: Oh My! It was a great game. Shortly after it was over, we attended a church service at the Port Macquarie Presbyterian Church. Scott, the pastor, had a good message from Revelation. (He preached almost like a Baptist, Barry!)

Sunday afternoon we visited a koala hospital and learned how a group of mostly volunteers help to rehabilitate and return injured or ill koalas to the wild. It was sad to see how some of the koalas arrived at the hospital but was heart-warming to see how most of them recovered and were able to be returned to their home territories. The ones that are too injured to be returned are kept at the hospital until the end of their lives.

On Monday we drove a few miles west to the Billabong Koala and Wildlife Park. You’ve seen some of the photos on Facebook that I posted there. (At least I hope you have.) It was a smaller park, maybe fifty acres or so, with a relaxed atmosphere and a good variety of indigenous species, and they offered several opportunities to get up close to the animals.

We started off by buying some kangaroo food (mostly cracked corn) to feed the wallabies and kangaroos. It was an amazing experience. I never expected to get so close to the native animals. Following that, we got to pet a koala, a dingo, and a fluffy frog-beak. (A native owl species.) We got a look at a lot of other Australian animals at the park before we headed back to our condo.

On the way back to Sydney on the last day of our stay in Australia, I happened to look over at a golfer walking up on a green to putt, and saw that the rest of his foursome were three kangaroos! I would have liked to watch what happened on the green but the train moved on south and they vanished behind a clump of eucalyptus trees. (Guess the kangaroos carried their clubs in their pouches.)


And He said unto them, "But who do you say that I am?" And Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Mark 8:29

New Zealand—Queenstown

The Queenstown area was completely covered with clouds when we flew in. Once the jet got below the level of the clouds, we got our first look around. We were nearly even with the tops of the surrounding mountains before the plane ducked below the layer of clouds.

Once again, the runway was only just long enough. The plane had to use a full reverse of engines and brakes to come to a stop before the end of the runway. We exited down stairs onto the tarmac and walked inside for a short customs check. Once in the lobby, I decided to use the ATM to get some cash in New Zealand currency. No luck, the ATM wouldn’t dispense any funds. We learned two days later, after three calls to our credit union, that our debit card would not work in New Zealand. (Even though originally we were told it would.) Luckily, we were able to get a cash advance on our credit card on our third day in Queenstown.

Our second day, we arranged for a tour of Milford Sound on the southwest coast. The total time for the trip was about twelve hours. Five hours to the sound, an hour for lunch, two hours cruising out to the Tasman Sea, and a four hour return trip. On the way out, we stopped at several scenic spots for photos, while on the way back, we simply drove to get back to Queenstown.

Two days after we took our tour, a heavy snowstorm hit the Milford area and caused an avalanche above the highway, bringing down tons of rock and trees. Some of the boulders are so large, holes will have to be drilled for explosives so they can blow them up and remove them. This could take several days. Some tours were trapped at the sound during the bad weather and may be trapped there until the road is opened. (Two days later and that could have been us!)

Our Milford Sound cruise was quite chilly and somewhat overcast, but the scenery was extremely beautiful. (as you can see from the photos posted on Facebook.) We enjoyed the commentary of Ian McIntosh, our tour guide, as he was knowledgeable about the history, legends, animals, botany, and current affairs of the area.

The following afternoon we took a half day, Lord of the Rings tour around Queenstown. We learned from Ian, the day before, that the third largest industry of New Zealand, after agriculture and tourism, is movie production. They have an abundance of beautiful scenery at a reasonable price, compared to other countries. Not only were many of the scenes of the Lord of the Rings trilogy filmed around the Queenstown area, but also some from The Hobbit, Wolverine, and Narnia. We were able to view a number of the locations where scenes were shot. One scene from Wolverine, which some of you may remember, was filmed on a one way bridge, supposedly in Canada. New Zealand has hundreds of single lane bridges and the roads at either end are marked with arrows designating which side of the road you should return to. You drive on the left in New Zealand, in Canada it’s the right. If you remember the scene, Wolverine moves his truck to the right, but the arrow is plainly visible, directing drivers to the left. The scene is obviously not shot in Canada—a minor blooper.

The one lane bridge leads onto the Paradise Ranch and Sheep Station, a thousand acre spread completely surrounded by a national park. Jim ?, (can't remember his last name.) the owner, charged Peter Jackson, (a native New Zealander from Wellington) three thousand dollars a day to use his ranch to set up and film several scenes from the Lord of the Rings, and later, The Hobbit. Locals from Queenstown, (about 30 percent of the population of 13,000, were movie extras, orcs, and uruchi. Horsemen from all over southern New Zealand formed a group of 250 riders that appeared in many of the scenes of the LOTR. Peter Jackson simply had them digitally duplicated in the larger groups needed. (Next time you watch, see if you can pick out the copies!)

Our whole LOTR tour was wet. It rained the entire afternoon, and clouds hung so low over the mountaintops that some of the locations were practically invisible. The last ford in one of the streams our four-wheel drive was going to cross, was too deep so we were unable to see Chinaman’s Bluff. Our guide, Alana, told of the time after gold was discovered in Arrowton, the next city east from Queenstown, and several Chinese men tricked some white miners into abandoning their claims in Arrowton in favor of some out on the other side of Paradise. They succeeded and moved to Arrowton where they staked valuable claims while the white miners were duped—thus Chinaman’s Bluff. It was a kind of payback for their earlier bad treatment by the white miners.

On the way back, we stopped in the Mount Aspiring National Park, got a look at the tree that inspired some of the ent faces in The Two Towers, walked through the woods where Boromir was shot and Pippin and Merry were captured by the Uruk-hai, and also sampled an edible leaf that was as spicy as a jalapeno. We needed a cool drink to wash the heat our of our mouths! All-in-all, it was an incredible two days of sightseeing and soaking up as much of the culture and history of the area as we could.

 ***

And God will wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.      Revelation 21:4

From Bundaberg to the Great Barrier Reef

We stayed in the Best Western Motor Inn on Bourbong Street which was owned by Tom and Glenda Dunphy. They were very friendly and accommodating hosts and they helped us with whatever needs we had.

We spent three nights and two days in Bundy. (What the locals call the city.) We were unable to get a connection out to the Great Barrier Reef on Tuesday, October 2 so we booked a flight to Lady Elliott Island for Wednesday.  This put us a day behind in our plans and we consequently lost our chance to visit the Australia Zoo. (Steve Irwin’s place near Beerwah) We’re not certain we could have gotten reservations to visit, at any rate, because this week is still spring holiday for school kids. (We just found out yesterday that one of the weeks we’ll be in New Zealand is a school holiday there! I don't know how we ended up hitting the holidays and the Australian Football League championship in Melbourne and the Rugby Championship when we were in Sydney, too!)

Tuesday we worked on laundry and other domestic things and took some time to walk around the downtown area of Bundaberg. Small shops abound mixed with churches, banks, Target, and a band-shell in the center of the street. (Much like Ballarat, although Bundy is 1500 miles north.) Many of the sidewalks and pedestrian crossings were paved with red brick which gave the downtown a quaint, retro look and appeal.

The weather in Bundy was much warmer than in Ballarat ,(being farther north) lows in the 60’s and highs in the 80’s, although it was rather windy during our stay. We experienced a little rain, mostly at night, but it wasn’t enough to put a damper on our activities.

Our host, Tom, arranged a trip for us on Wednesday, Oct. 3, to Lady Elliott Island when we thought we may have to trek further north to find an open time to get out to the Great Barrier Reef. Once again, because of the school holidays, most of the bookings were full. We met the plane at the Bundaberg airport at 8:30 in the morning and boarded the fourteen seat plane. The seats were the most comfortable we’d had up to now but the space between the rows was only about a foot. Very tight quarters in that size plane.

The flight was smooth and uneventful, the people we met on the plane were very friendly, mostly from Australia, but one couple was from the North Island of New Zealand. They recommended we take a  cruise on Doubtful Sound on the South Island but we haven’t taken the time to book it yet. (We will probably end up cruising Milford Sound instead because the connections to the cruise lines are easier from Queenstown where we'll be staying.) The landing was a little bumpy because we landed on a flattened coral runway. (First time I ever landed anywhere except on concrete or asphalt.) The runway reaches from once end of the island to the other and measures 600 meters.

Once we landed, we had a little orientation, got our lunch passes, and then I got my snorkeling gear and had a brief refresher lesson. (It’s been at least 40 years since I last went snorkeling.) At 10:45 we boarded a small, glass-bottom boat and headed out to the reef. (Which was easy since it surrounds the island.) After a short distance, they dropped the gate and the water seats and we donned our gear and dove in.

The experience was amazing! There were several deep chasms in the area we swam, but in some places the coral grew close enough to the surface that I could touch it. The coral at the south of the Reef is not as colorful as further north, being mostly different shades of brown, but it’s just as alive and harbors hundreds of different species of sea creatures. The main types of corals here are: branching, fan, plate, and brain. The fish I recognized were: parrot fish, trigger fish, reef fish, clown fish, grouper, and some of the fish that spend most of their time cleaning the manta rays that are common on this reef. These fish were iridescent blue and seemed to glow when rays of the sun shone on them. They were absolutely stunning! I didn’t get to see any manta rays (they’ve documented over 600 different individuals) but I did get to swim close to a green reef turtle for a minute. It’s not as large as a loggerhead but still measured about two feet long.

After the snorkeling, we  ate a tasty buffet lunch (seafood and lamb) and took some time exploring the island on our own before joining a tour which gave us some information about how the island was formed and some of the bird life that nests there at different times of the year. Normally, there are about 50,000 birds but during nesting season that can swell to 500,000! We couldn’t imagine the amount of noise that would cause. The birds that were there now were loud enough. Actually, our guide informed us that the bird poo, mixed with the eroded coral is what formed the island and is still responsible for helping it to expand in size.

Our adventure ended too soon, it seemed, and as we approached the plane to board for our return trip home, the pilot informed us he needed a new copilot. I volunteered, hesitantly, and climbed over the pilot’s seat to occupy the copilot’s seat. Believe me, I studied the controls intently, just in case the pilot keeled over and I had to assume control. (Thank God nothing like that happened because the pilot didn’t share any information with me.) The most exciting thing that happened on the way home, that I could see from the copilot’s seat, was that the fuel ran out of the left tank and we had to switch to the right. (I could have handled that myself, since I had located the switches in the ceiling between our seats earlier.) We landed safely, bade good-bye to our new friends and arrived back at our rooms after a brief taxi ride.

Next: Coffee, drinks, and food. 

"And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.  Mark 11:25

Train trip from Sydney to Brisbane/Bundaberg

 This was a night trip of over twelve hours and was probably the most difficult one we'd made. For some reason our seats were double booked, although we booked them first, but we offered to change seats to make it easier. The woman who sat behind us had a baby who screamed until about midnight and the train car creaked and groaned like a ship’s mast in a tempest. We though certain as we pulled out of the station that they would stop the train and change cars, but they kept going. It made it all the way to Brisbane (most people here pronounce it: briz' - bun) where we changed trains after a four hour stopover. Not much else to tell about this part of the trip since it was dark outside.

(Beerwah is the stop to take to see Steve Irwin’s, Australian Zoo.)

Between Brisbane and Bundaberg rise the Glass House Mountains. Some are short peaks while others are upthrusts of rock that stand a few hundred feet above the land around them. They start near the coast around Landsborough (some miles north of Brisbane) and march inland for a number of miles. They were named by Captain Cook on his voyage to Australia.

There are a lot of man-made watering holes for cattle and sheep. Just about anywhere there is a hill, ravine, or gully they can dam up one end or dig out a hole and bank the downward side, a pond is created. Not only does it serve for watering stock, but the native animals can make use of the water supply, as well.

Gimpie, a city south of Bundaberg, used to be a fairly large gold mining area but now boasts of only one working mine. Most gold production now is near Ballarat or near the northwestern area of Australia.

Rain followed us up the coast. As we approached Gimpie North, the rain is falling steadily, which makes the locals on the train happy since they've had ten years of drought the last twelve years.

This same area also has fertile land that supports a number of cash crops: pineapples, macadamia nuts, apricots, sugar cane, and grapes. There are also plenty of beef cattle raised in this area, while rum is the major product of Bundaberg. A man in the seat next to us said we had to visit the distillery to get some free samples, but we never made it there. (Maybe next time.)

The land also has many forests of the normal variety of trees native to Australia that grow on the hills and valleys that predominate the land just inland from the coast. There is an invasive species called Bracken Fern that covers a good portion of the ground beneath the forests along the coast. We saw a few kookaburras and were told that kangaroos also were sometimes seen in this area.

Travel by train is second nature in Australia. All the major cities have underground trains and there are five or six lines that run across the country from city to city. In the east and southeast, the trains run daily, or up to several times daily, but in the west and central portions of the nation, they may run only once a week.

We saw two kangaroos hopping across a field after being scared up by the train about an hour and a half south of Bundy. (What a lot of the locals call Bundaberg.) There is a range of mountains or hills that stand between the train route north and the coast that is part of the Great Dividing Range.

South of Maryville (75 miles or so south of Bundaberg.) the soil is poor and there are huge, hard ant mounds. They occur around the country where similar conditions prevail. On some trees there are large black spheres bound around the trunks or branches. These are termites that will eventually kill the tree by eating it away from the inside.

Next Chapter: Bundaberg and the Great Barrier Reef

"But he who is greatest among  you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.  Matthew 23:11-12