NZ - Queenstown

After visiting Katherine and Lonard at Wedderburn, we traveled with my parents to Queenstown for our last 2 nights.

Queenstown is the main tourist resort in the South Island but despite that it is still seems 'unspoilt', especially compared with Japan. And the positive side of being at a resort is that there are many activities to do, even on a rainy and overcast day.




Because of the weather Rikas Mum could not to do the bunjee jumping or skydiving, but the next best thing was riding a gondola up the hill to the Skyline restaurant. From the top there a terrific view across Queenstown and down Lake Wakatipu.


And the restaurant served a pretty good breakfast as well.



Next we went to the 'Kiwi Wildlife Park', which is a private nature park where you can see various native New Zealand birds including kiwis. Kiwis are quite cute but they are only active at night, so we could only see them in the gloom of a special darkened hall, and we couldn't take any photos.

The park also put on a bird show and maori culture show. This was a lot more fun and interesting than I expected. This is the presenter with a Tuatara, which is a type of small New Zealand dinosaur. They are called living fossils because they have remained mostly unchanged over the last 220 million years and all their related species have died out millions of years ago.


This is the New Zealand wood-pigeon. My parents often see these in their garden in Dunedin.


And a type of Australian parrot.


I expected the Maori cultural show to be pretty cheesy and sad. But actually it was quite fun as the performers were lively and could really sing.


Hannah especially enjoyed the maori songs. This may be because we often play her a CD of maori songs when we are at home in Tokyo.


Here are some 'keas' which are a native alpine parrot. They are very intelligent birds who normally fly high in the mountains. These ones did not seem very happy to be stuck in a small cage without even a chess set to pass the time.


Queenstown has many many attractions but it seems to be one of the few towns in New Zealand not to have a working steam railway (although there is on at Kingston just 40min drive south). On the other hand they have something even better - a working steam launch, the Earnslaw.



The Earnslaw is not a Hakone-style fake for the tourists. It is a genuine coal-fired steamer which has been working on Lake Wakatipu since 1912. It initially transported goods to sheep-stations around the lake and could carry 1,000 sheep at a time.


We took the evening cruise across to Walter Peak sheep station.




At some point the boat was refurbished for carrying passengers by adding a roof and a bar, and cutting a hole in the deck so we can watch the steam engine working. It really is a lovely piece of technology.


In the evenings we found a really nice, baby-friendly Japanese restaurant called the 'Minami Jijisei' ('southern cross'). It was so nice we went back the second night.




Dad had not been able to hold Hannah much because he had a viral infection but he was able to in the last evening.

NZ - On the road with Hannah

We had been a bit worried that traveling with a small baby would be a nightmare, or that I ahd been too ambitious with the itinerary. But in fact it worked well overall. In fact it was probably less stress than staying at home.

One big bonus was that Rika's mum and my parents helped share the task of looking after Hannah, which gave Rika and I a bit of time-off. Hannah clearly enjoyed spending time with them, so she was generally more engaged and happier.




Hannah showing mum how she likes to be bounced.


Sometimes Hannah seemd to be a bit scared of mum.


Another bonus was the chance to get some advice and learn some tricks from experienced parents. Mum was particularly helpful in showing us ways to overcome Hannah's reluctance to eat solids.


I was particularly impressed with the 'two-spoon' feeding technique. I'm sure this is how Musashi Miamoto would have fed his children.


Another lesson was the amazing power of distraction when dealing with babies. So having toys at the table that Hannah can play with while we shovel the food in. Hannah is now eating solids quite happily.


We had been a bit worried how Hannah would tolerate being strapped into a baby seat in the back of the car. Since she has got used to travelling 'in the front' or even 'on the bonnet' when we carry her around in Tokyo.


We had hired a baby-seat with the hire-car but that one was not to her liking at all and she complained bitterly about it. Fortunately we were able to borrow another seat from my family and this one was tolerated most of the time, although she would generally complain when we first put her into it.


Once she got going she would play happily or sleep.



The biggest problem turned out to be sleeping arrangements. At home Hannah sleeps with us (and the cats) in a very large futon on the floor. For NZ I optimistically arranged for a cot in every place we stayed in New Zealand. But Hannah just wasn't going to accept this for one minute. From the beginning she knew exactly what these little jails were we for so she screamed her head off as soon as she was put in one.


So eventually Hannah persuaded us to let her sleep in the middle of our bed. Which was fine for Hannah but it meant that we had to stay with her and watch her all the time in case she decided to crawled off the edge of the bed. This danger of a fall was very real, as I confirmed with a few experiments.


This became quite tiring and we were grateful when she went to sleep and we could too.


As expected, Hannah was pretty happy to be carried about and see new things.


We only forgot to bring the Baby Bjorn once. On that occasion I could carry her for about 30min before my arms went dead.



I was also pleasantly surprised that Hannah didn't mind not having a base and changing rooms every few days. In fact she seemed to enjoy exploring different rooms. She really enjoyed the mirror at the hotel in Queenstown.


I can't decide whether this video is cute or just creepy.


This is Hannah at the same hotel playing with a 'buzzy bee', which is an iconic New Zealand toy that my parents gave her.

NZ - Wedderburn

After 3 days in Dunedin we traveled up to Wedderburn to visit my sister Katherine and her family.

Kath lives with her husband Leonard on his family's farm at Wedderburn in the Maniototo plateau in central Otago. The Maniototo is a very sparsely populated place with a harsh climate with temperatures ranging from over 30°C in mid-summer to -15°C in mid-winter. It is also very beautiful and has attracted many artists over the years, as well as being the location for some of the scenes of 'Rohan' in the 'Lord of the Rings' films.



This is a famous view of Wedderburn railway goods shed. The railway line to the left has been removed years ago. In its place is a cycle-way for tourists called the 'rail trail'.


This is the road from the highway to the farm.


The view from Leonard and Katherine's drive is very impressive. This video panorama starts looking north, then pans west towards the Kakanui range, then south-east towards the Rock- and-pillar range, then east . You can't see the house which is down in a sheltered valley



And here is the house in its sheltered valley. Kath has been very busy with the garden and planting fruit trees.


Kath's garden from the kitchen window.



This is Kath with Hannah.


It was really nice to catch up with Kath and meet Leonard, Elanor and Thomas again. They certainly have a lively household! This is Elenor, Kath, Thomas and Leonard.


Hannah with Thomas.


Hannah with Elanor.





Kath took us on a trip to Naseby which is a nearby historic gold-mining town from the 1860s. It has become a holiday town, and I remember family holidays there as a small child, including going horse riding. It is now New Zealand's smallest borough with a permanent population of only 100 and so it felt a bit like a ghost town.


Naseby has a nice park with a ring of giant trees that were planted by miners back in the 1860s. Thus proving what my dad used to say - "from tiny acorns great pine trees can grow". This is Thomas, a little friend, and a big tree.


Hannah had her first experience of playing on a swing, which she really enjoyed.








...some walking practice...


...and first experience riding on Dad's shoulders.





When we were in Dunedin I saw some rather expensive paintings of sunrise in the Maniototo by a local artist...


...which proves that Katherine and Leonard have a $20,000 view!

NZ - Dunedin

And so we finally arrived at my home town of Dunedin. Dunedin is a university town of about 100,000 people and 20,000 students. It is one of the most beautiful towns anywhere, especially on a warn summers day. Unfortunately it is also pretty cold for most of the time.



Dunedin has many beautiful old buildings. Itwas very prosperous in the 1870s-1900s because of the gold rush in Central Otago, and was NZs largest town and commercial capital. Since then the town has declined slowly in importance, and this has saved many of the old buildings from being replaced by modern blocks.

This is the Octogon, the centre of town with the anglican cathedral and the town hall.


We had a small ceremony to christen Hannah at St Peter's Caversham, conducted by Father Carl Somers Edgar.






Dunedin has some excellent museums and at least one working steam railway but we didn't have time to see these. Instead we drove out to the Otago Peninsular for sightseeing and to visit the penguin and royal albatross colonies. This is one for my favorite views from the Highcliff road along the spine of the peninsular. The video looks south towards the Pacific Ocean, then south-west to Dunedin, west to Mt Cargill, north up the harbor towards Port Chalmers, Portobello and finally towards the harbor entrance and Taiaroa Hear. Like Banks Peninsular near Christchurch, the Otago Harbour is an old volcano caldera, so this point is on the edge of the old volcanic crater.



We visited 'Penguin Place' which is a private nature reserve for seals and yellow-eyed penguins on the Pacific Ocean side of the Otago Peninsular. This is the seals sleeping on the rocks





Penguin Place has a system of covered trenches and hides so you can get close to the penguins without disturbing them. In fact, on of the penguins was nesting just 30cm from the walkway so we got a very close view.

A yellow-eyed penguin at 'Penguin Place'


After the penguins we visited the Royal Albatross colony at Taiaroa Heads. The Royal Albatross is the worlds 2nd largest seabird with average wingspan of almost 3 m, a length of 123 cm and a weight of 8.5 kg. Taiaroa heads is the only colony of albatrosses to be found on an inhabited mainland. (see http://www.albatross.org.nz/colony.html)



The colony has about 150 pairs you can see a lot of albatross activity in the air and on the ground.



Watching these birds soar effortlessly in the breeze on their 3m wings is really impressive. It is also very difficult to capture on video.



We also saw a lovely sunset. This is looking south, up the Otago Harbour towards Dunedin.

NZ - Oamaru

After 3 nights at Hakataramea we drove down to Dunedin via Oamaru and a few other stops along the way.

The first stop was Cattle Creek School where my father went to school from 1944 -50. This is my father recreating a school photo from 60 years ago - he was told off by his mother for having his eyes shut and his hat on crooked.


This is the cattle creek community hall built by the farming families in the area, including my grandparents.


We also visited the bridge that my great-grandfather crashed their car into in 1945. This accident broke the leg of my great-uncle Ted, and preventing him from serving in WW2. This is the ruin of the house where they called for help after the accident. Its a cute house so its a shame no-one has looked after it.


We saw some new vinyards in the lower Hakataramea valley, and also visited a large new vineyard in the Waitaki valley. When I was living in NZ no-one had any idea that this region might be suitable for wine-making but there are now hopes that it will be ideal for Pinot Noir.

We also visited some Maori rock drawings, but they are badly weathered and there is not much to see. The oak tree in the photo below is one of a series planted every mile from the town Kurow to the coast, each one with across commemorating a local lad killed in the first world war. The trees are planted nearest the home of the soldier and trees commemorating brothers are planted next to each other. Roads to other towns have similar trees, and it all adds up to a sobering reminder of the sacrifice that New Zealand made in that war. From a population of just under 1 million, NZ sent more than 100,000 troops overseas, of whom 16,000 were killed and 41,000 wounded.


We then drove down the Hakataramea Valley and Wataki valleys to the the coast and main highway #1. Along the way, just north of Oamaru, we crossed the line of latitude 45 degrees south - i.e. half-way between the equator and the south pole. The equivalent latitude in Europe is Bordeaux (or Venice), while the equivalent latitude in Japan is at the top of Hokkaido (which reminds us that Japan's latitude is similar to Italy not England).



Until about 600 years ago this area was open forest-land teeming with moa. Not far from here is an archaeological site with rows of old ovens where the Maori cooked the moa meat to preserve it for winter, and piles of thigh bones of about 90,000 moa.

We had lunch at Oamaru which is a very attractive small town on the pacific coast with many attractive stone buildings. They now also have 2 penguin colonies which we didn't have time to visit.



Oamaru was lucky in its buildings because there is lots of good-quality limestone available nearby for building, and because it was very prosperous in the 1870s from growing 'wheat', and that was a time when people still knew how to build beautiful buildings. After that time the center of the town moved north so the area of historic buildings wasn't spoiled by modern architecture.



The photo below shows the Oamaru town hall in the background and a working steam railway in the foreground. We didn't take a ride on this one.


Our family connection with Oamaru goes back to about 1875 when my paternal grandmother's maternal grandfather, Alexander Hannah, came out from Scotland with his siblings Hugh, John, James and Jane and his maternal grand-parents Hugh and Mary McClymont who were 70 at the time. His daughter, Janet, was born in Oamaru in 1879, married Walter Hog in 1901 and moved to live at Hakataramea Downs. Alexander lived in Oamaru and worked as a tailor.



This is historic buildings in Tyne St where Alxander lived for a time. When I left NZ, I don't think these old buildings were really valued by most people, so it was good to see the community now cares about them and has done such a good job of revitalizing the historic precinct.



On the afternoon we visited the Oamarau residents were having a 'heritage tea', dressing up in old-fashioned costumes, of the sort Alexander Hannah would have made.



We also made a quick visit to the Oamaru museum to do some research . The museum was well-organized and we were able to find some new details of the Hannahs and McClymonts. We identified where Hugh and Mary McClymont were buried, and also found a newspaper report of a Hugh Hannah being murdered in 1875 at a sheep station at Lake Ohau, but we need to confirm if this was indeed Alexander's brother.



After Oamaru we drove down south to Dundedin. along the way we visited the cemetery at Herbert / Otepopo. We'd never been there before but it was worth a visit, if only because this cemetery has by far the best outlook of any I have ever seen. It is on top of a hill, facing north and east across the Pacific Ocean and also west across the north Otago country-side.



Mary McClymont (my grandmothers, grandfathers, grandmother) was buried here in 1880, aged 76 when she died. There is no headstone for her, which shows that the family was poor (in fact, Alexander went bankrupt in 1887). But she certainly has a "tomb with a view".

This video panorama shows the view panning east-north-west. The smoke is a forest fire which helicopters were trying to put it out using monsoon buckets.



The last stopping point before Dunedin was the coast just north of Shag Point. By this time Hannah was sick of driving and Rika was too tired to get out of the car. But this is one of my favorite places on the road between Dunedin and Hakataramea because of this terrific view of the wild Pacific Ocean



I don't know the details of the events that gave Shag Point its name, but archaeological evidence shows that Maori were living here in the 1300s and cooking up large quantities of moas.