The news from the front is that we passed Peter Jackson and crew filming The Hobbit on a river an hour north of Nelson a few days ago. Kiwis back up their own. It has been suggested that should New Zealand become a sovereign state they would like to replace the image of Queen Elizabeth with his. As he hails from Wellington it was proposed they name the airport after him. He said, “Why would you want to name the airport after someone who could potentially go crazy?” Maybe he was filming that day. I am certain he will have a place in the museum right next to the All Blacks exhibit in the future.
The north island has four national parks and the south island has nine national parks. We spent a night by a river in a lovely lodge. I was fortunate to be able to kayak in Abel Tasman Park and an enormous pod of dolphins came right around us moving very quickly. There were hundreds of them. That was a sweet and extraordinary experience. We have been introduced to some local colour and characters and right now we are in Franz Josef Glacier Park. I wouldn’t have said I am a glacier snob but I am not going to mislead you. Canada has this covered, thanks. I have kayaked in Juneau in front of a calving glacier, the same in Stewart/Hyder, voyaged up the coast all the way to Skagway past some stunning glaciers as well as stared in gob-stopped wonder at what lies between Banff and Jasper to say nothing of the Icefields Parkway, a stunning and beauteous experience. We have glaciers that hands down don’t even come close to this receding icefield halfway up the mountain here. I kept my money thanks (do we charge in Canada? I don’t think so) and was more impressed with hot pools with stones and ferns and spent the morning lolling in a heated “glacier pool” and trying to figure out how I could build one. I am off to kayak a Lake Mapourika. I am looking forward to visiting Queenstown and Milford Sound. My daughters are spending Christmas with their father and I am getting ready to say goodbye to New Zealand, taking advantage of being down under by making an excursion now into Bali.
