By Bonnie and Bill Neely
The three-hour cruise across the Cook Strait was on the Interislander Ferry from Wellington on the North Island, New Zealand, which also carried semis and a train on rails on the lower parking deck. We disembarked at Picton on the South Island and drove to the thriving city of Nelson, population about 70,000. Once there we walked with other visitors and locals to Center City, where a music festival was underway. Along the way we enjoyed window shopping in the many little stores.
The centerpiece of the city is the beautiful Christ Church Cathedral (earlier a small parish church), which was built on a high hill named Pikimai ("come hither") by the Maori natives and has been a place of worship for settlers since the mid-19th century. The present building was originally constructed as a school and hospital for holistic healing, donated by a philanthropist and later became the Anglican cathedral facing the central city. With a vaulted high ceiling it is both traditional and modern with stained glass on both sides. A local artist created the more modern stained glass along the wall facing the city. All the elements of the picture are in the surrounding landscape, such as grapes, sheep and the river, which are also ancient Christian symbols.
Driving from Nelson on a narrow road through a valley with mountains all around we saw farmers gathering hay and thousands of white, newly sheared sheep dotting all the green meadows like popcorn. The only other things in the landscape were thousands of deep-green pine trees planted up the hillside for export harvest. Neat little farm houses were far apart.
After several hours we reached St. Arnaud, where Nelson Lakes National Park offers a nice campground, cabins and lots of mountainous hikes. The day was sunny, windy and seemed cold to us, but many locals were enjoying summer: boating, paddling, wading and trying to swim in the large, cold lake.
We loved our two-night stay at Wairau Pass Homestay B&B, where Helen Campbell, our gracious hostess, welcomed us with tea and biscuits. This was our first homestay, which means we were living in her home like a friend and houseguest but with our own private accommodations. Her wide knowledge of the history, geology, flora and fauna of New Zealand made our conversations with her fascinating.
Heading next to Westport, Buller Creek was below us and mountains over us on the narrow winding cliff road, State Highway 6. We stopped at the Swinging Bridge Adventure Park to walk across a steel-cable swaying bridge over the Buller Creek Gorge with the water and huge boulders below us. We opted for the Circle Loop path instead of a fast boat ride, which looked fun but also cold and wet. Summer temperatures here average 60 degrees.
We walked the trail through the White Creek Fault Line, where an earthquake in 1929 had pushed up to form two distinct levels with the river about 10 feet below. The path was through the newest jungle of huge ferns and evergreen trees since South Island is still re-establishing itself after that event. Our hike ended by way of The Comet. It was really fun to ride a sturdy chair swing on a zip-line across the river, and of course our video was ready for purchase when we dismounted.
In mid-afternoon we arrived in Westport, found our Havenlee Homestay B&B and visited with our friendly host couple, Jan and Ian Stevenson, over tea and biscuits. Their home is lovely, and we were treated royally.
WHEN YOU GO
www.newzealand.com
www.interislander.com.nz
www.nelsoncathedral.nz
www.wairau-pass.co.nz
www.topomap.co.nz/nztopomap/nz15021/bullers-creek
www.bullergorge.co.nz
www.havenlee.co.nz
Bonnie and Bill Neely are freelance writers. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
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