Exploring Australia&NZ Day 15

Day 15 - Saturday, April 30, 2011 – Fly from Sydney to Christchurch and Bus to Mount Cook National Park, NZ

When we woke up at 3:30 there were still partiers on the streets below! The hotel provided a box breakfast so we had a little fruit and a roll.

The bus left the hotel at 5:00 for our short ride to the airport. Tom, a young man from York, Nebraska unloaded our bags and helped us to check in for the flight to New Zealand.

Whether it was Odysseys or Qantas, our seat requests were not honored again so Gennie sat in Row 27 and I sat in Row 23. It was a short 3 hour flight so it was not a big deal, but…. Gennie had a window seat so she was able to take a few photos for our last look at Australia and then the Southern Alps of New Zealand.

When we landed at the Christchurch airport (which was spared any damage), we were met by Melanie our Tour Director and Scotty our Driver Guide. They both explained about the earthquake and the devastation it caused.

They also mentioned the thousands of tourist dollars they will lose as the city center is virtually in lockdown and will be for quite a while.

Driving out of town we traveled through the Canterbury Plains – a flat alluvial plane where the majority of the agricultural crops are produced. Scotty told us he would be explaining more about the specific industries, but gave us an over view of cattle, dairy, and sheep production.

The climate of New Zealand is controlled by the mountains and the oceans. This small island country is also subject to strong northwesterly winds, Melanie called Chinooks.

When New Zealand was originally settled large blocks of 20,000 acres plots of land were sold. Now the average farms or ranches are about 1200 acres, an efficient number to raise sheep or cattle.

New Zealand was a closed market and supplied Great Brittan with food production. After the “mother land” joined the European Union and farm subsidies were no longer available, farmers and ranchers had a hard time making ends meet as they cannot compete with the USA and China.

There were beautiful landscapes with fall trees, green pastures, and sheep everywhere. Melanie told us that New Zealand was home to 4.1 million people and 36 million sheep.

We made a very brief comfort stop at the small town of Geraldine and then stopped at Moralea Farms where we arrived just in time for afternoon tea and scones.

Mark Evans and his wonder dog Jill gave us a demonstration of sheep herding. Mark talked about the economics of ranching and the types of wool the different varieties of sheep produce.

His love of the land and his dog along with his awareness of conservation were very interesting. He mentioned that the average age of a rancher is now 55 and the average age of a sheep shearer is the same. Young people are not going into the business as they once were and there are not people to take their places.

We said goodbye at 4:30 and continued on our way to Mt. Cook, our destination for the night. Scotty stopped at Lake Tekapo for a photo opportunity. We saw a memorial tribute to the working dogs of the area and the Church of the Good Shepard built in 1935.

Our next stop was at dusk for a shot of Mt. Cook reflected in Lake Pukaki. Both Melanie and Scotty remarked that is was very rare to see the mountain out at this time of night and some people come all the way to see the beautiful Southern Alps and Mt. Cook is hidden in its own weather formations.

It was dark when we arrived at The Hermitage Hotel in Mt. Cook National Park. Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand, at 12,316 feet.

We had a buffet dinner at the hotel at 7:30 and than came back to the room to start the journal and to sort photos of our day. We cannot wait to see the majestic Mt. Cook in the morning light!

Accommodations: The Hermitage Hotel - - - Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

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