We woke up on the boat and headed up to breakfast – then the boat took us from our mooring out on the Tasman Sea. Whew, the boat was really thrown around! You could see, however, how Captain Cook just saw what was actually the opening to the sound as a “shallow cove” – the opening hooks around, so it’s completely impossible to see from the Tasman Sea.
I mentioned the forest penguins in my last post – we saw more as we headed out to the Tasman Sea. We also were told about the study center that you see in the picture below. They are studying the black coral of the Sound. The coral itself is actually white, but its backbone is black. Birch/beech trees apparently lay a slick on the edge of the water, and the coral “thinks” that it is deeper than it is. This means that the coral is only a few meters under water, which makes them very easy to study.
After bidding Adieu to the Milford Mariner, we were back on the road, it was drive-drive-drive-drive-drive.
Once we got out of the tunnel on the other side, it was quite foggy again. We stopped for a quick break at a rest stop, then back on the road!
I finished the white wool portion of the scarf for dad, and so planned to see if I could find some wool in Ti Anau, where we would stop for lunch.
Stopped in Ti Anau, and while most everyone went to the “Pie Shop” (hand pies – mostly savory, some sweet), I tried to find a wool shop. Unfortunately, the actual “sewing shop” had a sign on it that said “Gone to Italy.” (Oooookay then!) I walked a couple of stores down the main street, and saw two knitting needles and a skein of yarn on a chair outside the Art Gallery, and a sign that said “Sit and knit a bit.” So, in I went.
Hand spun yarn – spun by the artist right there! (No photos) I picked out two skeins of brown wool, which I thought would go nicely with the white. So the scarf would be 1/2 white, 1/2 brown!
I also saw some very cute and affordable ceramic containers. I have a ceramic sculpture that I purchased from the Sausalito Art Festival of two women laughing. One’s black, one’s white, and they’re just having a marvelous chat about something. Any time I find a tiny ceramic “vessel” that looks like it could be theirs (they came with 2 vessels) I buy it, so that they have lots of choices.
As I was buying the wee vessel, the artist came out from the back! He wasn’t shy about photos, and wanted to show me his studio. He apparently teaches classes for many of the townspeople, and he showed me a lot of their work, waiting to be fired or glazed. Then he punched some clay for the photo :-)
Back on the road, to the Ti Anau Bird Sanctuary!
Having a bit of fun with Rod, our Guide:
They have Takahe – which are the largest flightless bird in New Zealand. They were thought to be extinct, until some were found in the depths of a forest. They are very well protected here and they are trying to breed them, then release them in areas that are free of rats, possums, stoats, etc. There is one island that we heard about that is nearly clear, and the plan is to reinstate Takahe and Kiwi there. (You can’t really tell how big the bird is from the photo – or how thick and big his legs and feet are!)
The next bird that we saw was the Kākā, which is a local parrot-like bird. There were two – a young 5 year old male and a 25 year old female. The male showed off for us, doing things like opening a spigot to sip some water, then turn it off, and flying and whistling from end to end of his enclosure. It was a bit hard to take photos, as they were through the fencing.
This is what they call a parakeet – pretty big for a parakeet!
A very pretty duck. Cindy took this photo.
Aaaaaaand, on the road again! Sheep and mountains:
“The Remarkables,” a mountain range outside Queenstown, and grass-fed, farmed venison on the hoof:
We have approached Queenstown with a bit of trepidation, because they’ve had a serious outbreak of Cryptosporidium. This is a very nasty bug. Lynn, in fact, caught it on a trip some time ago, and though she took the outrageously expensive pills to “cure” it, it still flares. That’s not something that I want to deal with, certainly! We were given one bottle of water by the hotel to use in tooth brushing, etc., but Lynn and I each picked up another at the grocery store (and another bottle of wine, of course!)
Tomorrow, an orientation walk around Queenstown, and then the jet boat on the Dart River!
If you want $100 off, call OAT at 1-800-955-1925 and request a catalog, tell them you were referred by Sandy Shepard, customer number 3087257, and get $100 off your first trip!
Fabulous! Thank you.
Dad
So glad you are liking it!