Welcome to New Zealand

What a beautiful place New Zealand is. Whilst our stay, this time, is in South Island only, it is still a great taste of the country. First some simple lessons to help understand “kiwi”. Note that “e” is pronounced “i” as in “yis” and “iggs”, whilst an “i” is pronounced “u” as in “fush and chups”. Once you get the hang of that, you will be fluent.

We flew into Christchurch from Sydney. It’s a city that is still recovering from the devastating earthquakes of 2010/11, but it is bouncing back. There are still large areas and buildings not yet rebuilt, but the centre is coming back to life with modern shops and restaurants. The old tram is a lovely link to the past as it goes round the city centre.

We spent five days in the area over Christmas. On Christmas Eve we went to the delightful port of Akoroa, before spending some time with the Scott family over the holidays. Christmas is a very different affair to the UK as it is in the middle of summer. Christmas turkey is combined with hams and salads, drinks are outside and in the sun, and the after lunch activities consist of cricket and swimming. Thanks to Pam and Wal and Paul and Becs for hosting us all at various functions in rural Canterbury.

After Christmas we moved south to the wonderful lakes of Wanaka and Hawea. We stayed with Virginia and Jeff, more of the Scott clan, in Wanaka whilst being hosted by Rainy and Nigel Williams in their beautiful new home on the banks of Lake Hawea. New Year’s Eve was topped off with the most amazing clear night sky with views of the Milky Way and the Southern Cross.

After being hosted in the wonderful kiwi tradition, we moved on on New Year’s Day to Fjordland. This contains the dramatic lakes and mountains of the South East, and is a cross between Scotland and Norway.

This area is a beautiful part of the world, and dominated by the lovely Mount Cook. This was the abiding memory of our three weeks in New Zealand.