Winter for most of the rest of you.
When your ankles are tied together, you don’t so much walk as shuffle. So when the man told me to walk forward, I shuffled to the edge of the precipice and looked out onto nothing — precisely 43 meters (over 140 feet) of nothing that ended with a turquoise river cutting its way through a rocky canyon.
“Let go of the railing,” the man instructed.
But I couldn’t make my hand release. I didn’t want to lose my balance and fall, especially since my ankles were bound together.
“I’ve got ahold of you,” he encouraged. “I won’t let you fall.”
That was an incongruous statement. After all, I was standing on the edge of Kawarau Bridge, the original birthplace of bungee jumping. I had come here specifically to jump off the bridge. And yet, I was afraid of falling off by accident.
Standing with my toes dangling on the edge of the platform, I took a breath and released my grip on the railing. I did not fall.
The instructor counted down, “3, 2, 1. Make it happen!”
I made it happen. I leaped off the edge into nothing. And I plummeted, in the same way I would have if I had fallen from the platform, but where the idea of losing my balance scared me, the jump was exhilarating.
That wasn’t the most significant jump I had made recently. The even scarier leap was when I decided not to sign a new contract with my former employer. That had been a major leap into the unknown. And I had fallen. With no other job to step into, I felt I had dropped into an abyss.
When I jumped from the bridge, I had faith in the bungee cord and the people who set up the jump. When I leapt from my job, I had confidence that I would work out something. In both cases, I was right.
Now I watch the sunset over the Pacific Ocean from my new home in New Zealand. I had not seen a clear path from leaving my job to living and working on the far side of the world, but it was something Heidi and I had talked about for decades. In both the bungee jump and walking away from a “good job,” I just needed to show a few seconds of courage and take one step, and then gravity took over.
I can’t say I did not have many sleepless nights after walking away from my previous job. But you have to endure a little discomfort to get what you want in life. You have to show a few moments of courage and do what might seem crazy to others. You have to believe in yourself and then put that belief into action through a leap of faith. That’s what I did, and I don’t regret it now.
It’s easy to say I’m happy with my decision because it has been a good month for us. Celebrating Christmas in the southern hemisphere was different. Not the imagery, however, as Santa is depicted unseasonably in winter garb with a sleigh, reindeer, and snow despite the summer heat. For me, the most challenging part to get over was the long days. I think of Christmas as a family time where we all enjoy the long dark evenings with companionship in front of the fire. But down here the sun doesn’t set until well after 9:00 pm, which threw off our family hygge.
We indulged in our usual Christmas morning of brunch and gifts under the tree. We are thankful that the family could join us via Zoom to make the day feel like the holiday. Rather than fight the weirdness of Christmas in summer, we embraced it by meeting up with several other expatriate families for a fire on the beach. We enjoyed the warm day settling into night as we watched the sunset over the Tasman Sea.
Christmas bonfire on the beach.
January in New Zealand is summer break from school. We jumped on the opportunity to see more of the south island by heading, well… south. We set our sights on the fiords and packed up for a trip to Doubtful Sound.
The fiords of New Zealand are on par with the fiords of Norway. The most famous is Milford Sound, but the inside scoop recommended going a little further to Doubtful Sound. Whereas most tourists will spend a few hours cruising Milford sound, we would spend a fun day and night on Doubtful.
The one upside of COVID-19 and New Zealand’s isolation is the scarcity of other tourists (good for travelers like ourselves, but not good for the industry). So we were able to secure a near-private overnight yacht charter on the sound. Getting to the boat was a bit of an adventure ala Planes, Trains, and Automobiles as we navigated bus, water taxi, van, and walking.
We started early in the morning and arrived at our boat just in time for lunch, which consisted of fresh lobster and some other stuff. Did I mention there was fresh lobster?
Then we set off for a day in the sound. We kayaked in a secluded cove, watched dolphins leap from the water, fished for our dinner, marveled at waterfalls, retrieved lobster from a lobster pot, and swam in the icy water of the fiord. And we did it all on a beautifully clear and sunny day, not the weather that fiords are generally known for.
Then we slept soundly in the most secluded and quiet piece of water I have ever experienced.
The following day we enjoyed a “lovely breaky” as the boat motored through low-lying clouds and light rain to return us to the dock. From the pier, we repeated our previous travel in reverse to return to the quiet village of Te Anau.
Te Anau was on our itinerary as a jumping-off point for Doubtful Sound, but the village proved to have its charms. Situated on a large lake, this sleepy town proved to have the low-key vibe we needed to recharge after our big adventure. We strolled along the lake, looking at the boats and floatplane moored in the water. We enjoyed gelato from an Italian restaurant, showered in our hotel, enjoyed a good meal and time to reflect on our trip to the sound.
We boarded a ferry to cross Lake Te Anau the next day to visit a glow worm cave. The glow worms live on the roof of caves and produce a bioluminescence that attracts insects for the worm’s meal. Guides led us into the cave and past underground waterfalls to board small boats. Then they turned out all the lights and used a series of ropes to pull us deeper into the absolute black of this subterranean world. Out of the inky darkness emerged tiny points of magenta light all above and around us. It was like seeing the stars in the night sky.
Once we returned to the surface, the guide showed us a video and explained the lifecycle of the glowworms. They also served us coffee; if you go, I recommend the video, but not the coffee. The presenter was funny and engaging, giving individual worms names like Larry and Bob while humorously explaining their unique feeding methods and lifecycle. At this point, we learned the worms aren’t worms at all but are the larva of a fly. Glad I realized that after I left the cave and not before. Not sure I would have been so awed if I had known there were maggots hanging over my head.
Our sleepy time in Te Anau was juxtaposed against our next stop, the “Outdoor Adventure Capital of World,” Queenstown. This bustling town is the birthplace of bungee jumping. Delaney was determined to “give it a go” and convinced me to go along. We jumped from Kawarau Bridge, the original spot where the bungee jumping industry began. The canyon is steep, rugged, and dramatic, with impossibly blue glacier meltwater running through it. Delaney ended her leap from the bridge with a dunking in that icy water, but I cut my adventure short within an arms reach of the water. (Check out this video of Delaney’s bungee jump).
That wouldn’t be our only visit to the river canyons. We all jet-boated through Shotover Canyon. Jetboating is an exhilarating experience where the driver races through the rocky gorge at what feels like lunatic speed, mere inches from the canyon walls. Then when they hit a broader stretch in the river, the drivers do 360-degree spins to thrill everyone. It was terrific fun, and I highly recommend it (you can check out a video here).
Of course, an essential part of any good trip is good food, and Queenstown did not disappoint. You don’t need anyone to tell you Fergburger is the place to eat because the line out the door says it all. There is something here for every taste with an extensive menu of burger options, from basic burgers to gourmet selections and even a Frankensteinian everything-on-top monster burger (Will enjoyed it). Fergburger will not leave you disappointed. My kids have a clear loyalty to Grass Burger in Durango, but although not one of them would say this was better than Grassburger, they also couldn’t bring themselves to say Grassburger was better either.
In addition to walking shops in town, gazing down on the lake and town from the mountain above, escaping from a virtual reality puzzle, and eating more burgers and ice cream, we gave skydiving a try. Well, not full-on jumping out of an airplane — only Delaney and I wanted to take it to that extreme — but we did learn to fly like skydivers in a vertical wind tunnel. After explaining the basics, an instructor put us in flight suits and helmets and took us into the tunnel, where they taught us to fly. Flying in the tunnel was a unique experience that offered the fun of free fall without the risk of, you know, falling to our deaths.
Who knew that falling could be so tricky. It turns out that learning to position yourself to stay centered and in control is more complicated than it looks. That was true for most people, but not for Heidi, who proved a natural — it’s always the one least likely to jump out of an airplane who would be the best at doing so (don’t believe me, then check out this video of Heidi in flight). No matter our individual levels of success, we had a great time and celebrated with, wait for it … burgers and ice cream.
Like all things in life, nothing ever goes 100% perfect, and this trip was no exception. We had our usual foibles when five people are in a car together for too long, but our biggest hiccup occurred when the car’s check engine light came on just a few days into our trip. At that time, we were on our way to the sound and far from any service center. I called the dealer, and they offered some helpful advice that boiled down to “get it into a shop ASAP.”
Fortunately, Queenstown had a dealer. I called them up, but they did not have any open appointments (they had reduced staffing as families like to travel while school is out, plus they had a post-holiday backlog of work to do). I explained our situation and was once again impressed by the courtesy and helpfulness of Kiwis. The shop agreed to look at when they could if I dropped it off, so that is what I did.
Fortunately, Queenstown has good public transportation, so we enjoyed all our activities without the need for a car. While we were having fun, the dealer called to tell me the problem was a faulty sensor and not anything serious, good news. But they did not have a new sensor, bad news. There was a part in Auckland, good news. But that part would not arrive in Queenstown until after we needed to leave, bad news. However, the helpful woman had looked into it, and if I was willing to pay the extra for overnight shipping, they could have the part the following day, put it in and get our car back to us by 5:00 pm, good news. I paid for the overnight shipping.
The price was high for the shipping and service, but the dealership cleaned the car as part of the service. I don’t mean they put it through a car wash. They washed the outside, cleared out the trash, and vacuumed and wiped down the interior. It was immaculate, no small task considering the hours three teenagers had spent in it over the last several days. Now that repair price was starting to look like a bargain considering the extra that came with it.
We moved from the adventure of Queenstown to the relative quiet of Wanaka. This is a more upscale community on the shore of Lake, wait for it . . . Wanaka. The town is known for its water sports, hiking, views of Mount Aspiring, restaurants, and That Wanaka Tree. Yes, I wanted to visit this town to see and photograph a tree. And photograph it I did, both in the evening light and early the following day. I was amazed that there wasn’t a crowd of other photographers there, but then again, maybe I overestimated the appeal of a famous tree. You can judge for yourself from the images.
We modified our return trip to stop in Christchurch for shopping and a good meal, then back to Greymouth and work. My job is going well. I’m learning to settle into a new system. I have always been a do-it-myself doctor, so having Registrars to do most of the paperwork and coordinate day-to-day issues is new for me. . . but I’m coming to like it. I had a hard time with the idea at first, but now my view is that I have put in a quarter-century doing all this, I’ve paid my dues, and it’s time I let someone else do it. That is one nice thing about my transition to New Zealand; despite having never worked here before, they still shower me with all the benefits afforded to someone with my years of experience. I could get used to this really fast.
New adventures await us. Since before Christmas, the local schools have been on summer break, but classes will resume soon. The kids will need to learn their way around a new school and make new friends. They are anxious and excited about the opportunity. They are not enthusiastic about the school uniforms they are required to wear. Nor were Heidi and I excited about the cost of purchasing school uniforms for three teens. We are all anxious to find out how the school system down here works and how it compares to the USA. We’ll let you know once classes start.
Heidi has brought her love of yoga and has started teaching an outdoor yoga class in a local park. It is a free drop-in class that has seen some good initial attendance. She is enthused by the results and optimistic about the future, as long as the weather is good. She has also done something we would never have dreamed of doing Durango. She started a garden. It may have been a little late in the season to start, but when we realized we could plant things and not worry about the bears and deer eating them, she jumped at the chance. We are looking at fresh lettuce, sweet peas, tomatoes, basil, and chivess in our future. We contemplated all that goodness while consuming a rhubarb pie she made with fresh rhubarb from her garden (the rhubarb was already here, her green thumb is good, but not that good. Her pie-making skills, however, are top-notch).
We have watched the spike in COVID cases caused by Omicron from a distance. Swift and effective government policies have spared the islands from COIVD so far. However, Omicron may be more than the system can match. Recently, cases have spiked in the isolation system, and both islands have now seen cases outside of isolation. Still, a bad day here is 1000 confirmed cases, with most of those involving people already in quarantine. New Zealand is roughly the size of California with the population of Alabama. Still, both of those states have had far more deaths than NZ has
had total cases (As of February 20th, NZ list 14,000+ total cases of COVID compared to 17,000+ total deaths in Alabama meaning Alabama has more deaths than NZ has had total infections.).
We are now in condition red. Everyone must wear a mask when in public. All businesses are open, but you need to show your Vaccination Pass before entering most of them. With 90% of citizens fully vaccinated on the West Coast (97% in Auckland), this is a nonissue for most Kiwis. Nonetheless, the recognition is that we probably won’t be able to keep Omicron out forever, but appropriate plans are in place for that contingency. It feels good to be creating a plan to respond rather than reacting to events as they unfold, but this is a virus with a plan of its own, so only time will tell how well those plans fare in the face of reality.
In the meantime, we are happy and comfortable in our new home, but that does not mean we aren’t excited about the arrival of all the items we shipped from America. They were supposed to arrive on October 19th, but we expect to receive them in mid-February thanks to the disruption in global supply chains. Heidi and I look forward to having a bed to sleep in. The fun of camping out on the floor of our bedroom has faded. The kids have beds, but they are looking forward to being reunited with many of their favorite things as well. I have always believed that the people and the experiences make for a good life, but my 50+-year-old back now lets me know that a good bed helps.
That is all for this edition of … whatever this is. In the next exciting installment, we will feature outrunning a glacier, helicoptering to the Southern Alps, interesting new foods, education in school uniforms, and updates on our attempts to figure out what people are saying in this strange language that sounds vaguely like English. Until then, “Sweet as!”
