A curve ball

Ok, blog followers.  It appears that fate has thrown us a bit of a curve. Returning to Wellington after Kaikoura, we shopped and worked hard on Wellington museums and attractions including a planetarium show on the southern skies in honor of astronomer son-in-law Paul (who recently was part of a Univ. of Texas team which discovered a new planet which may be conducive to life).

Then on Dec. 22, Claire stepped off the curb on our very steep hill and rolled her ankle.  It was very disturbing-looking, broken in multiple places and dislocated.  We spent hours in emergency, and she came out of surgery with a plate, screws and a giant cast at 2:30 a.m. Afterwards, there were a couple of days in hospital  and a veto on flying for a couple of weeks till the blood thinners kick in to reduce the risk of blood clots on the long flight home.  Kind of a nightmare.  So we must re-group. We tried not to let this incident completely ruin our merry-making. Claire would not let me post the picture of her with cast and the hat and other goodies from her Christmas cracker trying to make the best of it (prizes from the crackers included single applications of sunscreen and insect repellent btw).

Thought I'd include one of Paul and Emily and one of Anna on the rock wall though.  We skyped with some friends from home and sang carols with the Aussies, who had family visiting from across the trench and made approximations of some of our usual Christmas fare.

Paul and Emily left yesterday, and Anna headed home this morning.  Summer weather has finally settled in, warm and sunny (till next Thursday at least, when Paul and Ann are due to arrive).   The powhutakawa trees are coming into full bloom.  Here's a picture of a tree and a close-up of one of the blossoms, very pretty.

It appears that Claire and I will be returning home on January 6.  This may be the end of my New Zealand adventure, or maybe not, if all goes well with Claire's recovery.  Time will tell.  I will be sad if this abrupt goodbye is my last sight of Wellington.  But, just for fun, here's a shot of the beach on Christmas Day.  Ah, Christmas in the southern hemisphere!

Whale Tales

This is not a great picture, but I thought you might like to see the tail of Tiaki, the whale we saw on the whale-watch in Kaikoura.

The real news, as far as we are concerned, is that our kids--daughters Anna and Claire from NC and Emily and son-in-law Paul from Texas-- are visiting for Christmas. We've been having fun, in spite of the cold and windy weather.  Probably the highlight of the first few days came when we spotted a pod of orcas in the harbor.  I was too stunned to get out my camera in time for that event.  We saw tall black fins--probably six of them in all.  Enough to make you think twice about going for a swim out there.

After a few wet and windy days in Wellington, we were off to the South Island. Took the ferry to Picton, then drove our rented van to Kaikoura.  Koura are the giant crayfish, which are lobster-size.  Here's a picture of Emily eating one on the beach.  Stormy weather thwarted our whale-watching on Saturday, so we consoled ourselves with a visit to a beautiful lavender farm, a sheep shearing, and a visit to a Marlborough winery or two.

On Sunday the weather was supposed to be better, but it was still raining.  We hiked up (!) a misty mountain, then took our dramamine, drank our ginger beer and committed ourselves to a rough ride in spite of the posted warning:  High swells, high risk for seasickness.  The powerful catamaran pushed through the waves.  It was a rocking ride.  We saw many sea birds, including a number of albatross and the western petrel.  Now and then we would stop, and the captain would put down a scope to listen for a whale.  Fortunately, there were also educational videos about the sea life and whales in particular, which distracted us from the sights and sounds of those who had apparently not heeded the memo and did not take their motion sickness meds.  We learned about the kinds of whales we might see and about their movements.  Apparently, whales are drawn to the coast around Kaikoura because of a deep sea trench, like a canyon, where all of the things they like to eat, including giant squid, hang out.  We learned about how their bodies are compressed in deep water so that they must return to the surface to re-oxygenate and digest their food.  We learned about theories as to how the oil in the sperm whale's head may amplify its echo-location.  Then finally, we saw him:  the sperm whale Tiaki, in the distance and sped that way.  The guide said the whales are recognizable by their tail flukes.  Tiaki is middle-aged, around 40, so he and the whale-watchers are pretty well acquainted.  Captain Rick and the guides still seemed enthusiastic though, and for us, it was thrilling.  We headed back past the seal colony and returned to Kaikoura a little before dark.

Then it was back to Picton for the night, with an early morning sail on the Aratere.  It was probably the first time our kids had seen the sun in Wellington.  It's sparkly and stunning.  The red pohutakawa blossoms are out in force.  Doesn't seem much like Christmas at all.  It seems like a long time since we've been at home.  We miss family and friends and the usual Christmas customs.  Anna and I went down to the waterfront celebration near the big Christmas tree in hopes of singing some carols in the rain.  They were singing about Snoopy and the Red Baron.  Grown men were dressed as sheep.  Doughnuts and snow cones on offer.  As a result, I have had to download the King James version of the Bible onto my Kindle so that we can read the Christmas story.  Still glad Jesus was born and happy to have family near.  Merry Christmas everyone!

Journey on the TranzAlpine

How many pictures of a mountain do you really need?  Apparently, the answer is always "one more."  At least this is what we found on our trip across the South Island on the TranzAlpine Railway.  Our friends Tom and Janine had come to visit, and the train trip was Tom's one request.  Earlier in the week, we had visited some of our Wellington haunts.  The weather was beastly:  cold, rainy, and windy.  So we were hoping things might go better on the South Island, sometimes called "the mainland" by the locals.

I'm not sure Tom realized what the journey would entail.  Early Thursday morning we headed out to the ferry and boarded the Kaitaki for the Interislander morning sail.  Though it's only eight miles to the South Island from Wellington as the crow flies, it takes 3 hours to make the journey, due to channels and currents and rough seas.  The first hour spent getting out of Wellington harbor was pretty rough; even the offer of movies and shopping couldn't quite dispel the rolling of the floor.  Surprisingly, the second hour on the open sea was smoother, and the trip into the harbor at Picton, past the salmon farm, was lovely, all green hills and calm waters.  Then we were in the car again.  We passed through hills and hills covered with grapevines and had lunch at the Brancott winery.  About midway into the 4 1/2 hour journey towards Christchurch, through numerous hairpin curves, we came to the town of Kaikoura (where we plan to return with the kids for whale-watching). The name of the town refers to koura, which are the giant crayfish that look like lobsters and are a freshwater delicacy.  Near there, we had heard, was a path into the woods where we might see a waterfall with the possible bonus of seal pups.  Sure enough, in a beautiful spot,  mother seals were lounging on the rocks where they had been fishing.  About ten minutes into the woods on the other side of the highway we walked under a railway bridge, and there it was:  the waterfall with several seal pups, some frolicking in the water, some just hanging out on the bank.  They didn't seem to mind photos, but it was pretty dark in there, so the pictures are hard to see.  Then it was on to Christchurch.

Christchurch is not quite itself these days, of course.  Two earthquakes in one year have taken a toll, and the city center is still closed.  Construction fences are everywhere; the cathedral is gone; and the red zone is still a couple of miles in the center of the city.  There are still aftershocks.  139 people died, and though the scale is not that of 9/11, people are still traumatized.  It was an unknown that Christchurch was even on a fault.  After driving around a little and indulging in some Indian food, we headed back to the motel to prepare for an early start.

The southern alps are magnificent.  Maybe I should just let a few of the pictures speak.  Tall mountains, some with snow on top, turquoise river, pink, purple and yellow lupines, a lake.  At Arthur's Pass, we took pictures of a cheeky green kea who came to visit.  In addition, we shared our railroad car with what appeared to be a family reunion worthy of Bollywood (lots of laughter, dancing and singing) and a philosophical couple, consisting of a Welsh man and his South African wife, who were eager to exchange views on lifestyle and culture with good humor.  It was an enjoyable all-day journey from Christchurch to Greymouth and back.  Greymouth has had its own recent tragedy too.  Shortly after we arrived in New Zealand there was an explosion at the Pike River mine, which took the lives of 29 miners.  We only had an hour in Greymouth before the return to Christchurch began, but we did our best to stimulate the local economy in the gift shops there :-).

The next morning we visited the Christchurch Botanic Garden, outstanding for its roses and huge, beautiful trees.  We also visited the Canterbury Museum, where we particularly enjoyed the Antarctica exhibit and mind-boggling costumes from the World of Wearable Art.  Then it was back in the car and back to Picton, where we visited Eco-world, an aquarium and rehab center for orphaned or injured little blue penguins.  We saw two little female penguins from situations where parents had two eggs, then rejected the smaller baby.  They were adorable, swimming and diving and calling.  One was very "stroppy" and kept evading the net when it was time to be returned for her nap.  They were about two weeks old and will be returned to the wild at eight weeks.  We weren't allowed to take pictures for fear of stressing the fish (no eyelids).

A long ferry ride and a short sleep followed.  John took Tom and Janine to the airport at 5 a.m.  Anna and Claire are due to arrive tonight at midnight, then Emily and Paul on Tuesday.  It's a rich time with these visits from home.  We are loving sharing our life here with family and friends who are coming to visit.  And with you too.

Low-key Christmas prep

This is not a great picture, I know, but it gives you a little flavor of the Christmas preparations around here.  It's a big wire Christmas tree that lights up in various colors and swirly patterns at night.  At the bottom you can see the red letter boxes (like the old British ones) where little kids are lining up for a direct conversations with Santa, who must be somewhere remote, like at the North Pole or in the nearby Chaffer's Dock apt. lobby, eating one of Martin Bosley's famous bacon butties, served up at the Sunday morning market.  (They smell great, but we are stuck on the crepes, made by a guy with an authentic-sounding French accent.)  Anyway, parents are lounging around on these yellow, green and blue beanbag chairs while the kids are waiting to transmit their wish lists to the jolly old elf.  I could have used a beanbag back in the day when we were waiting on the girls, at least one of whom had such severe Santaclaustrophobia that she would never talk to him, even after all of that standing in line.

Christmas seems a little lower key around here in general, with tales of barbecues and the beach rather than baking turkeys and huddling around the fire.  I have a little bit of ambivalence about this.  I kind of like not having Christmas quite so "in your face" all the time.  But I am going to miss some things, I can tell:  like the meeting's Simple Christmas craft-making day, caroling, and the Christmas Eve night candlelight service especially.  I hear there will be some carol-singing on the waterfront though.

It's been quiet.  John's colleagues had their Christmas "do" at a restaurant Friday night, complete with Christmas crackers.  We all had paper crowns and little gifts from inside.  By far the favorite were the little men that looked kind of like Spiderman which stick to windows (or beer pitchers) then sort of climb down.

  On Sat. we bought a tiny Christmas tree and cooked burgers with a couple who will be leaving to go home to Virginia in January.  While we were sitting outside, we experienced a quite perceptible earthquake (5.7) which was felt from Picton (north tip of the South Island) and which broke some windows on the waterfront here.  It felt kind of like being on a train that was starting, then stopping.  The earth just kind of rolled.  It lasted about 20 seconds, just long enough to think, "What the...?"  Maybe the locals know what it is right away.  Anyway, that's quite enough for firsthand experience for me if anyone's listening to my druthers.

Tom and Janine are due in tonight at midnight.  After four (!) days of sun last week, it's supposed to rain pretty much the whole time they're here.  The fridge isn't working.  Some kind of Murphy's law thing....