20-21 January - Milford Sound, Parasailing, wineries

I keep thinking it can’t get better…and then it does. From Fox Glacier, we drove to Queenstown, high-risk sport capital of the world and home of bungy jumping. I am happy to sky dive (tandem!), scuba dive, jump a horse (small jumps only, but still…), parasail (my first today!) – but bungy jump?? Forget it!!

We were supposed to parasail on Sunday, but the weather was scattered rain and lots of wind, so we rescheduled for Monday. We wandered around the city a bit, then drove to Arrowtown, a pretty little village where we hoped to see Philomena (but the cinema was sold out).

In the evening, we checked out one of the ice bars. There we met a woman who specializes in Asperger's Syndrome who is moving to Sarasota in 2015. Small world! Walking in the town afterwards, we caught some fun Irish music performed by a group at a restaurant.

Monday we got up early for a very long, but beautiful round-trip car drive (10 hours) to Milford Sound, one of 14 fiords on the South Island created by the glaciers. The views en route were breath-taking. We would drive through huge walls of rock cut through the mountains, drive sharp curves to view snow-capped mountains, and go through areas of forested, then arid mountain-scapes.  Shortly before arriving at Milford, we had to drive through a one-lane mountain tunnel over a kilometer long.

If anyone is reading this blog, you are probably tiring of all the exclamatory superlatives I’ve been using. But Milford Sound is truly majestic. The cruise boat goes between towering mountain cliffs carved by ancient glaciers, and a person pales beside them. Temporary (from the previous day’s rain) and permanent waterfalls drop from the cliffs. We got ourselves soaked by the spray of the second largest falls. Returning to our hotel, the blues of the lakes and rivers sport that icy blue and turquoise blue I have never seen elsewhere. Clouds seemed to weave themselves in front, then behind the Remarkables, a mountain range just south of Queenstown.

Monday was another beautiful morning, so we were able to make our tandem parasails. We took off at about 2,600 feet, from a ski area just outside Queenstown. It was so easy – you just jog with the pilot and your parachute til the wind lifts you off the ground – then you comfortably float in the sky and enjoy the amazing view. We did a few spirals to keep it interesting, but there was nothing scary about it. The views were exceptional.

Video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLarkeqtRYA

Then we started off for Dunedin, in the southeast corner of the South Island. I wanted to stop at a vineyard, so we found Ceres and did a tasting. The woman there recommended another about 3 km down the road where we could also have lunch. As we’ve been trying to be frugal with meals, we decided to splurge at this place with a gorgeous view. I had delicious roasted duck, and Dick ordered Stuart Island salmon. It was the first time in this NZ summer when I could actually be comfortable in a sleeveless shirt, and it was so relaxing to sit outside on a mountain overlooking a beautiful valley view. We bought a Pinot Gris at both places. NZ wines are expensive, but they are so good.

Talk about unearned privilege. I think of my dear friends in Uganda and Liberia who will never have this kind of opportunity. Why am I so fortunate? No good reason I can think of. I can only hope that my work here, once it begins in February, can be of use to NZ policymakers and refugees resettled here.

Meanwhile, I am so mindful of this remarkable holiday I have had. It will equal 6 weeks of no work, the longest time off I have had, I think, since I began working at age 16. SO refreshing!