Time with Friends

One of the highlights of our last few weeks in New Zealand was landing on friends’ doorstep.  No, not friends who live in New Zealand (we don’t have any of those), but friends from Halifax!  Serendipitous timing (and a bit of planning) allowed us to spend a few days with our friends who are also gallivanting around the world on a grand adventure.  They had rented a house perched on a hill overlooking the mountains that frame Queenstown and we joined them for a few days.

The view from the deck, bathed in morning mist.

In the evening light.

After travelling as a family of 5 for the last few months we were all ready to see some friends from home.  The rare treat of crossing paths on the other side of the world with these friends is that we are ALL friends.  All 5 of the Bird-Morrisons are friends with the 5 Lacalejos.  This meant everyone had a friend to hang out with!  The excitement was palpable in the days leading up to our visit.  The kids planned what they would do with their friends, the adults planned grownup happy hour and conversations.

Watching the light dance across the mountains was a worthwhile pastime.

The stay was all we hoped.  It was relaxing and fun for all.  We (in different groupings of people) did yoga, made delicious meals, drank good wine, played flashlight tag and Frisbee.  We gazed out at the beautiful view, marveled at our good fortunes and schemed about future adventures, both with and without the children in tow.  We even tore ourselves away from the hilltop to explore the surroundings.  

We wandered old Arrowtown, which is a little town just outside of Queenstown.  We saw the historic Chinese settlement where Chinese gold prospectors lived on the edges of society in the late 1800s and early 1900s during the gold era.  

We tried our hand at panning for gold in the river.

  

We returned to Arrowtown to embark on a walk.  Everyone was good humoured about the walk that took us up, up, and up some more.  The group picture at the top, the pumping of blood and sheen of sweat, and earning happy hour back home made it all worth it!

We made it to the viewpoint!

These two have fun together no matter where they are.

Queenstown is known as an adrenaline junkie’s paradise with lots of activities targeted at the adventurous tourist such as bungy jumping, luging, skydiving, and rafting.  I wouldn’t call any of the 10 of us adrenaline junkies, but we were all keen to try some gentle river rafting.  One of the highlights of the river tour was the drive to the put-in.  We boarded a small bus in Queenstown and headed into the hills.  The road snaked its way along the mountain, twisting and turning, with sheer drop offs and stunning views.  We all took turns gasping when it was our turn to be on the “outside” of the bus and look down over the edge.  Jason and Leo, both of whom had shouldered the brunt of the New Zealand driving for their respective families, were finally able to sit back and enjoy the views. The road brought back memories of sketchy roads Leo and I had traveled in the Andes, many moons ago.  The difference was the New Zealand road didn't elicit a sense of impending disaster, which may have had something to do with our very competent and calm driver, the lack of oncoming (or passing) traffic, and the general sense of safety and ease found in New Zealand.

 

Friends on the bus

That is the river below, and that is the edge of the road. Gulp!

The time on the river was perfect.  There was a little bit of bumpy water, there were plenty of beautiful views, there was laughter and splashing, even jumping in, and we were all left wanting more.  A great introduction to white water rafting.

It looks like we are ready to tackle a Class V rapid!  But we settled for Class II.

Our final big combined family adventure was to head back to Wanaka over the impressive Crown Range mountain pass.  The road takes you up and then drops you back down on the other side of the 1076m pass.  The road provides incredible views that are difficult to appreciate as the cars zigzag down hairpin turns.  It was fun waving to cars ahead that were practically parallel to us a turn below.  The reason for making this drive was not to test the car brakes, (although, in a bizarrely unhelpful road sign they suggest doing this once at the bottom of the pass), but rather to go to Puzzling World.  Puzzling World is a funny stop that has been entertaining people since the 70s.  It defies being categorized as a museum or an amusement park, rather it is a collection of illusions and rooms with puzzles and tricks of perception and perspective.  There is also a large maze outside which kept the 10 of us busy as we walked over 3 kms trying to make our way out.  We all had a great time at Puzzling World.  A Wanaka "must do" according to Vios.

In the maze.

You have to make it to four corner towers before you exit the maze.  Easier said than done!

Oops ... sorry to disturb you in the bath room

The Tilted House was a favorite room for the kids. 
It made the adults feel unwell.  The robustness of equilibrium fades with aging apparently. 

How does a chair slide uphill!?

What is upright and was is not?

Even the bathrooms are funny.

We had to tear ourselves away from our friends to make our way to Christchurch to catch our flight out of the country.  The time outside Queenstown with friends was a lovely stop that rejuvenated all of us and made us thankful to have such wonderful friends.