Wellington

Our trip really got going here in New Zealand with the Milford Track hike, 5 days through some of the most remote and magical “fjordland” of the country. The entire country has water everywhere, and no place has more than the Milford sanctuary near the coast protecting all the birds and plants on the way to the famous Milford Sound. We were rewarded for being in good shape as the hike was stressful for bad knees, and three members of the group actually were helicoptered off the trip with knee problems, but we enjoyed the entire adventure. We had a very international group with us. The trip started and ended in Queenstown, an Aspen-like summer/winter resort on a gorgeous lake. We had the end of their summer this week, so schools are back in session and the resorts winding down, but a perfect time to be a visitor.

Wellington was more beautiful waterfront and not just the capital, but the home of Te Papa, the national museum celebrating the Maori and the European cultures that make New Zealand such a special place. The museum is spellbinding, very interactive. It was a chance to feel the connection all these countries have to the rest of the south Pacific, and just how connected the Australians are to the New Zealanders, despite intense rivalries in sports.

Now we are in Waikanae, a beach village north of Wellington, and staying in a wonderful home on the beach, relaxing and walking and exploring. These people, like Australians, never learned adjectives and adverbs. They must have studied Hemingway! The country is very socialistic, but struggling like the rest of the world to see how they can ever escape the commitments to entitlements when the workforce inevitably declines. Sound familiar?