Back to our regularly scheduled NZ. Milford Sound.

So, now that we’re back from Indonesia, it seems like we really ought to get our butt’s in gear and finish these posts about NZ. The drive from Queenstown to Milford Sound was truly spectacular. Most of the “spectacularness” started after we passed through a neat little town with a yummy bakery called Te Anau (bakery – doughnuts… yum). Driving up through the mountains and forests in this area was truly impressive, especially as we could start to see and hear quite a storm brewing.

Nearing Milford, you arrive at a tunnel:

This is quite an interesting tunnel, if for no other reason that it goes straight through the bottom of a mountain. The fact that the traffic signals shut down at night makes me fear for anyones life who tries to drive through that place at night. For the record, drive SLOW through that tunnel, wow are there some impressive potholes. Glad the car was a rental.

There was also this neat, um, ice thing:

After we got through the tunnel, it was some more pretty impressive down-mountain-winding on the other side, and a while later we were at Milford Lodge, which was where we stayed for the night. The Lodge was great, and had a nice big kitchen and common area. We met a couple people from Toronto there and played cards for a few hours. The place is run by generator, so quite literally, it was lights out at 11pm. That night there was a storm brewing in Milford, and it was something unlike Carly and I had ever been through. We woke up in the middle of the night to the entire room, including our bunkbeds, being shaken by the wind from the outside. It was insane. The noise was incredible, and it didn’t stop all night.

By the time the morning rolled around, the weather had slightly improved, and they hadn’t cancelled our boat cruise which was with Red Boat cruises. We were glad for that.

Here are a few shots from the boat (which was a really nice boat, huge catamaran thing).

This shot is of the largest falls in Milford – 160 meters!

This was absolutely gorgeous. At the end of the sound, you can physically see the water change as the Fiord opens up into the Tasman Sea. And as you’re coming back into the Fiord, this is the view you get.

Here are a few other impressive falls. It was so windy this day that we were really blown away by the fact that there were a number of falls that were blown to mist by the wind before they even had a chance to hit the water.

We’re sorry this is brief, but it’s catch-up time in blog-land. Milford was truly stunning.

After our boat ride, we headed off to Dunedin, which was a great little city. More on that soon.

Finding God’s Peace

As with any big life changes, I am sure, we each go through our own set of ups and downs. Though you think to prepare your mind and spirit for the alterations you are about to face as you head out, I don’t think one can even be certain how they will go with or react to their new lives.

This first 1/2 year has brought with it many opportunites and challenges. These challenges have presented themselves professionally, spiritually, maritally, personally, and I could go on. I have learned a great many things about myself – some of which I have thanked God for and some of which I haven’t liked much at all. I need to say that Daniel has been so solid for me here and I believe we have been relying on each other in so many new ways. Man do I feel he’s holding me up more often though!

Having my morning walks to school has been key for quiet time and prayer for me. God does keep his promises and lifts my eyes at those times when I need it most. He is my true rock. A chorus that Daniel and I heard at a worship service we attended here a number of months ago has stuck with me. It is the cry of my heart:

So no matter what the cost
I will go for you
No matter what it takes
I’m yours
Because you paid the price on Calvary
I give you my whole life
I’m yours

There is great peace in knowing that God has a plan for our lives and I am where he wants me. I don’t know how long we will be here or where the next steps may take us. When my brain gets carried away with the future I try to remember that decisions will be made when the time is right and not sooner or later.

This week’s funny quotes

Context – I’m out on the playground doing one of my weekly supervisions

Student – “You are taller than the Queen of Narnia”. [with awe in her voice]

Context – We’ve been studying our senses and I’ve had various senses books out for the students to explore. In the “noses” book there is a picture of a mole. Moles have little pink protrusions they use to feel their way in the dark.

Student – During quiet time while looking at this book, runs up to me with a little panic as she shows me the mole picture “oh no, this monkey has broke its head”.

Queenstown

In New Zealand there is no “take out” food, but rather it is “takeaways”. That said, with an early morning head start to Queenstown we grabbed some takeaway coffee and we were off on our intended 5 hour journey. Lots of photo opportunities on this stretch of road such as Thunder Creek and Lake Hawewa. Along the way in Makarora we stopped at a small cafe (the type that proudly hangs chainsaws, trumpets and hubcaps on the walls?) to try the all famous New Zealand meat pies. British influence! Blasting out of there we were off again only to realize that 1.5-2 hours later Daniel had left his “man bag” with his passport back at the cafe!!! Needless to say we were very concerned, turned around and hauled it back towards Makorora. Apparently NZ police aren’t okay with the “hauling it” even when a passport is at stake. A minor run in with an officer of the law for $80.00 – oops! Thankfully everything was in tact in the “man bag” and away we went again towards Queenstown via a new route recommended by the officer through Wanaka. This route took us through the amazing Cardrona Valley. We hadn’t seen such scenery here in New Zealand – very desert like mountain ranges and vegetation. When we reached the summit there was a neat lookout point where we could see all of Queenstown. To get into the town below we had to wind down some extreme hair-pin turns at 15km/hr or less.

Queenstown was packed! No accommodation left anywhere (but we’d prebooked of course) in hostel or hotel. In Dan’s words “it is like Bethlehem at census time!”.

Queenstown was definitely a favourite town and it reminded us of Alberta’s Banff or BC’s Whistler. The hostel kitchen overlooked the lake and Mordor – gorgeous little shops, pedestrian only streets and sail boats.

Dinner was at the all famous Fergburger – burgers so big that sharing one was enough for us! Funny burger names too, here are a few: The Codfather, Holier Than Thou and Cock Cajun! The people in Queenstown were very friendly…at one point when Dan was back aways checking out a store some group of guys told Carly she looked lost and could come join them! We also ran into another couple from CIS that evening who’d been doing some camping in NZ.

New Years Eve Day we enjoyed some blueberry pancakes in a funky cafe and went for our wine tour. We visited 4 wineries and even went into a neat cave at one of the wineries where the wine was maintained at a constant temperature and humidity. We learned lots about the making, the tasting, the business and even discovered that neither of us are Pinot Noir fans. We did buy a great bottle of Pinot Gris though for our celebrations that evening.

After 5 hours of wine tasting…

We cooked our New Years dinner together around 9pm in the hostel kitchen. While we were cooking we met a really nice family from South Africa. We joined them for awhile and then decided to spend the evening with the son and daugher and a couple other friends for the night’s events. Son, Duncan, and daughter Claudia now living in Sydney Australia. We headed to a bar for a little while where Long Island Iced Teas were had from teapots – clever! Do you remember Sun Peaks and the UBC Chinese Varsity Club, Krista?

Later we checked out the live band at the lake and watched fireworks. All in all, a great way to ring in our new year.

Punakaiki and Franz Josef Glacier

On the drive down from Westport to Franz Josef, you end up driving past Punakaiki which is famous for what is known as the pancake rocks. There is a nice 15 minute or so walk here and some amazing sights and sounds as you listen to the water crashing and eroding the rocks, and funnelling and smashing into these long narrow channels carved into the coast.

So – after that we headed off to Franz Josef. The hosel that we stayed in their was called “Chateau Franz” and was one of our favorite places that we stayed. It was good stuff. We had some good pizza (ok, we had beer too) at some pub their (I think it was called Blue Ice) and got all rested up for our glacier hike the next day.

The glacier hike was a love hate relationship – we were on the ice about 2 hours longer than scheduled due to our 2 guides carving a new path for us to hike through as their had been some recent shifting of the glacier. We were exhausted by the time it was over, but it was well worth it. The scenery from up on the glacier was stunning. The glacier ice is really amazing, so blue, and so interesting to the touch. It’s almost as if it is a massive 3-dimensional puzzle assembled by God himself, that’s quite literally what the ice is like.

As for the scenery:

So yah – by the time it was over, we were both wishing we were dead, and were extremely glad to get off our feet. But it was truly an amazing and unforgettable experience. The danger of huge crevasses only a slip or wrong step away, along with the sheer size and majesty of this age-old mountain of ice was truly fantastic.