October 17, 2023 Drive to Gentanner Park Centre, New Zealand

In my research of the top things to do in New Zealand was a boat trip to see a glacier in the mountains.  All the other views of glaciers involved hiking for miles or airplane views.  We decided on the boat trip, but waited to book it until we knew what the weather would be like, since we would be driving a rental car.  That also meant we couldn't find a reasonable place at the mountain site to stay for a couple nights.  But what I found was perfect, a cabin in Glentanner Park Center.

Glentanner was only 2.5 hours from Timaru, but we took 7 hours with stops along the way.   Our first stop was a scenic overlook at Lake Aviemore.

 

spring flowers

From looking over tourist info of the area, we found an area to view Cliff Rocks outside of Omarama.  We drove about 20-30 minutes down a gravel road to see the Cliff Rocks, which reminded us of the Badlands in South Dakota.  We only hiked a short way in amongst the rocks because of our schedule and our knees. 

 

 

We stopped in Twixel for lunch at Raza Bistro.  We had been reading about the fresh water salmon in the area and wanted to try some.  Well, we hit the right place.  To be able to try different salmon preparations, we ordered 3 dishes to share.  The smoked salmon "wings" were the best.  We were told they were from the cheek area, but I didn't see that cut on the description poster.  And they would have been from a large salmon to be meat off the cheek.  Whatever it was, it was a moist smoked fish that was different than any smoked fish we have had.  The smoked salmon ball was a spread made with cream cheese that was also covered with smoked salmon.  We completed the trio with a smoked salmon sandwich.  All 3 dishes were amazing.  We tried to plan to return, but it never happened. 

 

 

Our next stop was a scenic lookout at Lake Pukaki called Peter's Lookout.  The mountains were beautiful across the lake with what would have been our first view of Mt Cook, if there were no clouds.

 

 

 

Glentanner Station was developed in 1858 and has 45,000 acres and carries 9,000 Merino sheep and 230 Red deer.  When it changed hands in 1957, the new owners added the tourism portion.  Besides the camping/accommodations, there are scenic flights and a Glentanner Merino Retail outlet.  The Merino wool is sold to Ice Breaker, Designer Textiles and Smart Wool (an American company and we own their socks).

Glentanner Park Centre is within Glentanner Station and only 18km from Mt Cook/Aoraki.  We chose a motel like cabin.  We had beautiful views of the mountains from here.  We had picked up a few groceries in Twixel and had dinner in our room.

first time we had ever seen room info about earthquakes

our room was on the end of the duplex

theses cabins were accommodations for park employees

 

had to try the local gin

 

 

 Sunset pictures

Mt Cook 7:00pm

Mt Cook 8:00pm

 

 

 This was the first clear night away from city lights to see the Southern Cross constellation.   I can't count the number of times I sang "When you see the Southern Cross for the fist time" by Crosby, Stills and Nash, and said "I'm going to do that someday".  Special moment.

 

 

Southern Cross on the upper left

I decided to include the sunrise pictures here before moving on to the next day's adventures.  

Mt Cook 7:00am

October 16, 2023 International Antarcitc Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand and wild penguins in Timbura

Our hotel in Christchurch was within walking distance of the International Antarctic Centre.  Friends and tour books recommended visiting this exhibit. Antarctica is the coldest, driest and windiest place on earth.  It is the 5th largest continent, with 98% of its surface covered in ice.  I will highlight the different exhibits.

 

Penguin Rescue-Little Blue Penguins are New Zealand's smallest penguins.  This exhibit had and an indoor, underwater view, and an outdoor natural themed environment.  We caught the 10:30 feeding with wonderful information about the penguins. 

 Storm Experience-We were given warm coats and overshoes to wear into the indoor storm room.  It was covered in snow, had an igloo you could crawl into and a snowmobile to sit on.  Periodically, they simulate a wind storm that cools the room from -8ºC/17.6º F to -18ºC/-0.4ºF with winds to 26m.  We felt right at home.  The brochure said "this experience is not dependent on the weather (we provide our own).

 

photo from brochure

Haegglund Field Trip-We road in an actual all-terrain amphibious Antarctic vehicle.  We experienced driving across ice, up and down hills, above crevasses and through water.

from brochure

 

4D Theatre-It showed various views of Antarctica, like traveling across the ice and flocks penguins. 

 

Antarctic Gallery-exhibits on wildlife, sled dogs, glaciers, ice formations.  Stories about explorers and modern day existence, food supplies, extreme weather clothing, their accommodations, replicas of cabins, airplanes, etc.  

this was a food package meant to last a certain number of days

They had a Husky Zone to check out the dogs and a theater with a series of short films about the climate.  But we were running out of time to spend at these two exhibits.  

It was well worth the 3 hours (10am-1pm) we spent there and the admission of about $50/ person.

we saw this as we walked back to the hotel

 

 

 

We picked up a rental car from Sixt at the airport and our luggage from our hotel, which they were kind enough to hold for us.  I researched where we could buy Merino wool, other than the tourist gift shops.  We found a factory outlet store that was exactly what we were looking for, called Mi Woollies.  We bought hats, gloves, and socks made of merino sheep wool and possum fur (not like our possum).   We also found a great deal on light weight winter coats that we couldn't pass up.  

the store was tucked into an industrial area

they had exactly what we were looking for and more

We drove south of Christchurch for a bout 2 hours to Timbura.  We noticed unusual tall hedges between fields alongside the road.  We asked the locals and found out they are grown to slow down the strong winds.  After checking into our hotel, we had dinner at the Bay Hill Brewery and restaurant.  We both had our first lamb shank, which was amazing!  

view of Caroline Bay from the restaurant

That evening we walked to Caroline Bay to see the Little Blue Penguins come to shore at night.  They swim during the day catching fish.  Then they come to their nests along the shore at night to feed their babies.  We only saw a few, but it was very cool to watch.  We would have had to drive several hours further south to see bigger flocks, and decided to spend our time elsewhere.  

when no one else was at the beach, we googled to find out the nests were in the rocks at the south end of the beach

October 14-15, 2023 travel from Airlie Beach to Sydney to Christchurch, New Zealand

 We had a couple travel days to get back to Sydney, then over to New Zealand.  The airport shuttle picked us up by 11:20 for the 45 minute drive back to Proserpine.  We came in to Proserpine by train and left by airplane, closet transportation to Airlie Beach.  The airport had an aquarium, which was really fun for travelers of all ages.  We flew directly to Sydney and had a shuttle to our room.  We had pizza and pasta delivered to the room and just relaxed for the short overnight in Sydney.  

We took the shuttle back to the airport at 6:30am for our 8:45 flight to New Zealand.  The Sydney airport was interesting and truly international.  The McDonalds had the kitchen above the counter and a track that sent food down in the bag when ready.  Maybe it solved a space issue for the kitchen.  Fun to watch.

I was also impressed with the restrooms.  They had an antibacterial spray for the toilet seat, and they offered showers.  And people walk the halls on the opposite side, like they drive on their roads.  

 

 

not sure why anyone would eat at McDonalds when you have this option

When we arrived in Christchurch, we had a hotel room reserved that was within walking distance of the airport, 500ft.  The dining room was on the 6th floor with a nice view of the surrounding hills.  And you didn't hear any of the planes landing or taking off!

 

We had nice lunch starting with steamed pork dumpling appetizer.  I had a seafood chowder and Dave had fish and chips.  We had a lazy night in the hotel.  I booked an upcoming glacier experience.   I had been watching the weather before booking, since we will have to drive up into the mountains.  Interesting facts on the weather page.

 

 

they give you the forecast for drying your laundry outside! I should have scrolled further for the BBQ forecast

The hotel offered a breakfast buffet, for an additional fee, and it was wonderful.  There was an oriental flare to the restaurant, yet very European.  Besides fruit, breads, warm and cold foods ,eggs, etc, they had Congee, which we had to try.  It was a bland gooey rice, but with lots of fun additives.