Good-bye New Zealand, bula Fiji

4 March 2018

Knowing we had a 0600 flight out of Christchurch Airport Sunday morning, we spent Saturday night at the Sudima Airport Hotel. Waikari Health Centre Practice Manager Wendy Allen had her daughter who lives in Chch drop her at the hotel to bring the Dream Machine back to Waikari. We were happy to have a few last minutes with Wendy, who made our time in Waikari a delight. She has a great team at WHC that R very quickly came to respect and appreciate. And he fit right in.

Packing up the "sub a roo" with household items to go back to storage.

Last look at Rocking Frog Cottage.

Last look at downtown Waikari from the cottage.

Sudima Airport Hotel has everything R loves in a hotel: climate control, cable TV with movie channels, and a comfy bed with big pillows and crisp white sheets. We didn't have too long to appreciate those amenities since we needed to leave the hotel at 4:30 am to catch that flight. We had a final, awesome meal at Burger Fuel. That place is great and would take off like a brush fire in Colorado.

Chch Airport at 0445 is bananas. Not what we expected based on most of our NZ experiences. One of the things we look forward to upon our return to the US is innately knowing how the culture works. It's something everyone takes for granted in his or her homeland, but the truth is that etiquette and protocols are subtly different in ways that are hard to describe and can be extremely frustrating in environments like airports when all are a little stressed and sleep deprived.

We made it onto our flight to Auckland and when we arrived there we had a 2-hour layover before our international flight to Fiji. We don't love Auckland Airport. Soon enough we were en route to Fiji! That flight was comfortable and we both caught some Zzs. And watched Big Bang Theory. We don't know what season is on currently, but we feel ready to jump back in when we arrive in Colorado March 11. But first, Fiji!

A bit cloudy at Port Denarau, Nadi, Fiji, but no cyclone!

Ruben is on the ferry and ready to get to the resort to relax!

Getting sunnier as we approach Malolo Lailai Island!

Greeters at the ferry dock at Musket Cove Resort. Bull!

Ruben enjoying his first taste of island life.

Our bure (#60) steps from the beach.

Keene Farm Alpacas

3 March 2018

Much to our surprise and disappointment, it's time for us to pack up the Dream Machine Subaru and close up the Rocking Frog Cottage. The owners, Kate and Duncan Calder requested that we vacate by 10 am so they can prep for new tenants, so our plan is to pack up and spend the morning at Graeme and Joca Keene's farm then head to Christchurch, were we have a flight early Sunday morning.

We loved the Keene alpacas. It's a retirement hobby for the Keenes and keeps them super busy. They're that kind of Kiwi. Graeme is a retired corporate accountant and international marketing executive and puts that same energy into his animals.

Jollie Brook Trail

24 February 2018

Post cyclone, the sun was shining and the grass was green. A perfect day for a tramp! We chose the Jollie Brook trail, which we had spied on our way to Lake Taylor a few weeks ago. It is part of a multiday tramp with several Department of Conservation huts available, but we were just out for a short day hike of about 3 hours.

We missed the pull-out and had to backtrack, but found a good flat spot to park alongside two other cars. We could see the swing bridge we needed to cross the Hurunui River and some kayakers ready to put in downriver.

Our hike was not what we anticipated! The terrain was mostly flat, unlike most of our NZ tramps, but we had 5 river crossings after the swing bridge and a very swollen river. It was challenging in a few places where the water was hip deep and had a strong current. R's helping hand got me across each time. We gained a lot of confidence along the way and our walk back was much quicker. We feel a little sore in the hips after fighting that current!

The cyclone disrupted our satellite TV service. Horror. We only got 6 channels (2 of which replay the broadcast from an hour before), but we came to know that TV schedule pretty well. Boo. Monday we might get the owner of this house to contact the Dish TV company, which is not open on weekends.

Christchurch CBD

17 February 2018


We had been wanting to go to Christchurch City Centre (the central business district, or CBD) for a while. We saw so much about the post earthquake crisis when we were in NZ during 2013 that the city of Christchurch (Chch) held a certain mystique for us. It was tarnished a bit for me when we stopped there to change buses on our way to Kaikoura at Christmas. It was a big construction zone, it seemed to me, and the bus was not punctual. Not being punctual leaves a bad taste in my mouth...

Anyhoo, we decided to dedicate a Saturday to Chch City Centre. We had driven through Chch a number of times on other excursions and were put off by the traffic. It's the largest city on the South Island, with a population of ~397,000. It has urban sprawl suburbs that have crummy rush-hour traffic. We have come to really enjoy the beach in the suburb of Pegasus, but we are happy to reach Amberley and be free of the traffic that thins out surprisingly quickly on the way to Waikari.

We were most interested in the earthquake museum and the restoration projects. The earthquakes happened during February 2011 and 2012 and we were surprised to see, 6 years later, how much work still needs to be done. Temporary memorials are on the verge of becoming permanent and the sites of crumbled buildings are showing signs of new projects. It took a long time to clear rubble and even longer to evaluate the earth for soundness before it could be zoned for a new building. And it takes a lot of time and money to produce new earthquake-resistant buildings. It's good that they are investing in innovation and technology because more earthquakes will happen. It's guaranteed.

I didn't take too many pictures, but we did a lot of walking around on a beautiful day and we contributed to the rebuilding fund by purchasing "aftersocks," red and black NZ merino socks that feature the seismic readout from the 2010 quake.

The crumbling Christchurch Anglican Cathedral

Photos in the Earthquake Museum showing the effects of the quake.

New Regent Street shopping district

White Chairs Memorial dedicated to the 157 people who died in the city centre. The first quake happened at 4:53 am; the second at 12:50 pm on a Tuesday.