Queenstown Adventures?

Kia Ora!….. or Hello!

Have you heard of glow worms?  Well, I forgot to mention we went to see them the other night, and they are pretty cool!  New Zealand’s glow-worms are the larvae of a fly, the fungus gnat, and the light on its tail is the equivalent of the human kidney.  All insects have this organ, but these carnivorous larvae have the ability to emit a blue-green light to attract prey.  If a glow-worm is hungry, it’s tail light will glow a little brighter than it’s neighbors!  They produce sticky threads to catch smaller insects and spiders and will cannibalize their neighbor if another larvae gets too close.  

They are very sensitive to noise and light so we whisper and turn out our flashlights as we walk down a dirt trail in a local park.  Suddenly, there are tiny lights in the trees that look like miniature Christmas lights.  Their glow is constant, not twinkling or flashing off and on, but a cool part of nature.

Phil gives us an opposing opinion about the poison, 1080.  He says there is a lot of misinformation and political spin on this controversial topic.  Evidently research shows that it does not contaminate the water supply, opossums die quickly, and while other animals in the area which digest the poison directly are also killed, those who eat the dead animals don’t die.  I do wonder about the accumulation of 1080 in tissues causing effects like DDT did years ago in the US causing weaken egg shells in predator birds resulting in a severe decrease in eagles and falcons until DDT was outlawed.

We ask about birth control for these invasive mammals, but this has not worked in the past.  With the mountainous terrain, it is impossible to set traps.  There is a program, Predator Free 2050, in New Zealand with plans to eradicate rats, weasels, opossums, stoats, and ferrets which is failing miserable.  Since 2018, $80 million dollars have been spent on 1080 without much success to show for it in their first two goals of two cities and a portion of coastline to be pest free by January, 2025.  

Many people feel this money could be better spent on education, healthcare, and infrastructure.  However, with a human population of 5 million in New Zealand which a third live in the largest city, Auckland, the opossum population is 80-90 million!  The controversy of 1080 has divided this country, and it continues.

The Europeans found the Māori people to be very smart and creative producing rope from flax which was stronger than their ropes.  In the township of Russell, Europeans decimated the indigenous people with diseases such as measles and smallpox plus introduced the natives to alcohol.  In this new land, settlers had no government and no laws, and gambling, fighting and lawlessness was rampant.  Russell became known as the “Hell Hole of the Pacific”.  It also became New Zealand’s first capital before it moved to Auckland.

The Otira Hotel is an interesting roadside stop recommended to all travelers.  The owners have created a menagerie of antiques, stuffed critters, photographs, signs, and other memorabilia hanging from the ceiling and lining the walls and shelves for visitors to wander through while also enjoying a “comfort break” and some tea and a snack.

The Southern Alps continue to enthrall me, but it has started to snow, and we hear that one vehicle ahead has gone off the road.  The mountains are even more beautiful with a frosting of white on their peaks, and snow covers the rocks in streams as we pass.  These New Zealand roads are narrow and curvy, but we safely traverse the higher elevations, and when we reach the other side of the mountains, the sun is shining!

The world’s famous “Sheffield Pies” is our lunch stop with a refrigerated case filled with the best pies that New Zealand offers.  These are not fruit pies; in fact, the only fruit pies made here are apple.  These are an assortment of meat pies with a delicious flaky pastry…mince (ground meat), steak with or without mushrooms, cheese, and bacon, chicken with apricots and cheese, venison with or without whiskey relish, vegetable and cheese pies.  It is a busy place, and it’s difficult to make a decision and order without holding up the line!

It is strange to not have a security check at the Christchurch airport, but it is pleasant to have this reminder of the past.  We have a discussion of how much protection airport security provides which may not be necessary in a small country like New Zealand versus the USA.  We board a prop-jet, haven’t been on one of these in years, for the hour flight to Queenstown in the southern part of the South Island.  We are heading back into cold weather!  Burrrrr!

I awoke to 34 degrees which feels like 30 outside this morning!  It is five layers of clothes again, double socks, scarf, hat, and gloves as we head out for a walk.  At least the sun is shining and there is no wind!  Thank you, Lord!

Queenstown, the “Adventure Capital of the World” is known for people seeking high energy action and thrills.  Bungee jumping started here, and it now boasts extreme mountain biking, parasailing, jet boats, paragliding off mountains, along with snow sports at the local ski resort, and water sports on Lake Wakatipu all while surrounded by the snow covered peaks of the Southern Alps.  It is a very impressive place!

Phil visited here as a child with his family in 1975, and it was a small sleepy town of 1,000 people with no houses on the far side of the lake.  Queenstown now has 1.5 million people, tons of residential houses, and the most expensive real estate in New Zealand!

My body is focused on staying warm, but I will try to remember information from our walk.  Forgive me for everything I forget!

Queenstown was home to three different Māori tribes 800-1,000 years ago, one of which had a creation story for Lake Wakatipu.  The chief’s daughter was kidnapped by a rival clan, a giant who tied the maiden up and planned to keep her as his partner.  A brave warrior from the chief’s tribe snuck into the giant’s camp while he was sleeping and tried to untie the girl.  However, the rope was magic, and he couldn’t cut it.  As she started to cry, her tears dissolved the rope, and she escaped.  The warrior feared the giant would return to kidnap the girl again, so he decided to set the giant on fire and burn him as he slept.  The giant was killed, and his head was so big it created the crater for the lake.

Lake Wakatipu is New Zealand’s third largest lake, but it is the country’s longest lake at a length of 50 miles.  When the Europeans arrived and settled here in 1860, there were no roads for years.  After gold was discovered nearby, roads and the town flourished.  However, the lake still remained a major system of transportation with three large steam ships.

The largest ship, the Earnslaw, has been refurnished and now provides tourists a tour around the lake.  The other two ships were scuttled to the bottom of the lake when roads improved, but the Earnslaw was saved from demolition.  It now shares the lake with jet and parasailing boats, and “sharks” - small covered craft looking like a jet ski with a canopy which alternates between being underwater and on the surface.  I bet the lake is even busier in the summer.

Queenstown feels like a ski resort town with a small downtown shopping area comprised of multiple stores, restaurants, and bars all along the waterfront and about two blocks wide.  Hotels are in an abundance along with a very youthful vibe in people and stores.  We gray hairs are in a minority here!

We pass A. J. Hackett’s storefront, the inventor of bungee jumping.  Some people only come here for that single activity!  I’ve debated about doing it, but at my age, I fear injury more than going over the edge into a free fall with an elastic cord attached to my feet.  Yea….right!

I do contemplate seriously the bungee chair; you sit in a chair which is pushed over the edge again into nothingness.  I think I would have less chance of injuring this old body, but I decide it is too expensive and not a bucket list item for me.  I feel fine about leaving Queenstown intact…body and dignity!

We visit Arrowtown, the site of the early gold rush years where millions of dollars of gold was mined in just a few years.  The earliest miners always seem to be the most successful when gold is discovered, but many other people established profitable businesses like stores and bars.

The Chinese area of town was set apart from downtown Arrowtown, and their primary store has been recreated in that area.  8,000 Chinese men were here and only 9 women, but they were all treated terribly and not allowed in Arrowtown businesses.  They were not allowed to file for a claim themselves but often continued mining an abandoned one.  If gold was found, there was a good chance it would be stolen from the Chinese.  The treatment of these people was so bad that recently New Zealand issued a formal apology to China for the abuses their ancestors suffered.

I explore the local museum enjoying the antiques, grab a sandwich and Bundaberg from a local grocery, before boarding the bus back to Queenstown.  The gondola is the perfect vehicle to reach a mountain top to see the town and beautiful sapphire blue lake below and the mountains on the other side.  I keep taking pictures since maybe a little to the right or a little to the left will be the perfect shot!

Paragliders are launching from the summit and their orange canopies are brilliant against an azure sky.  Another lady in our group and I decide to do this; it’s tandem so someone else will do the flying, and we just have to sit there and enjoy the scenery.  However, there are no available spaces, and I head down in the gondola to walk, and shop, and ultimately enjoy a double scoop of gelato and people watch along the waterfront.

When I return to the hotel, Vivian is aglow!  She was determined, a space opened up when a pilot arrived, and I watch a video of her gliding through the skies and landing with the biggest smile.  I am a little envious of her, but I am so thrilled she “flew”!  I have chills along my arms as I hug and bask in her joy!

Tomorrow is a long day, and we are told to dress warmly since we will be on a boat on Milford Sound.  I don’t have any more warm clothes than what I wore today!  Guess it will be a repeat tomorrow!