8 April 2016

Dear All Travel Log Addressees,

After a break of about 4 months we decided the time was right for new adventures so we are now travelling through the South Island of the Land of the Long White Cloud (New Zealand for the uninitiated).  The great thing about NZ is its close to Oz, they pretty much speak English and they understand you when you order a flat white.

We have come to the conclusion that our approach to travel is a little bit organic.  We are not good at planning and so it is with this trip; the flights were booked as was the first night in a motel and the motorhome that would be home for the next 21 days, after that we are making it up as we go.  Regardless of the lack of planning we are thoroughly enjoying our NZ wanderings.  NZ is similar to Oz but then again so different which inspires the following stream of consciousness:

• Before leaving Oz, our first OSM was at Sydney international airport.  We have all experienced Cattle Class when flying. Well, we have now discovered Goat Class.  It seems we export by airfreight live goats, packed tightly in wooden crates.  I am guessing reaching their destination is not a happy time for the goats and they are certainly packed in closer than the aforementioned Cattle Class.  So maybe on reflection Cattle Class is not so bad when you consider the alternative.
• I wonder if we will ever see stock yards at airports with drovers and their dogs working the passengers stock onto aircraft.  Is there an airport design option developing here?
• New Zealand is about the most neat and tidy country I have visited.  Even the trees on farms are trimmed so that they form tall, narrow barriers between fields; amazing.  The traffic is sparse and the scenery overwhelming; from amazing coastal vistas to mountains comparable with the Swiss Alps. And its empty; no freeways, no massive car parks, no long queues anywhere and no rubbish.  Rarely do you see a farm surrounded by rusting old cars and expired farm equipment.
• New Zealand is a bit like Scotland but with better roads and you can understand  what people are saying.
• The voices at the campgrounds are like the UN.  There are Germans, French, Koreans, Australians, Japanese, Chinese, even English and more to be heard on an average night at the camp kitchen.  The range of food being prepared is better than a food court at a Westfield shopping centre.
• The range of international visitors creates  a number of challenges on the road which is highlighted by the desire of the NZ government to stop these people killing themselves.   Over the men’s urinal in one town was a sign in about six languages exhorting drivers to stay on the left amongst other pretty obvious driving suggestions.  Accompanying the sign was a map depicting all the deaths on the local roads over a five year period with a key to how people had died, like driving on the wrong side of the road, driving too fast, too tired etc etc.  Seems this sign was only on display in the Men’s toilet.  Obviously the women don’t stay long enough in the toilet to read such a comprehensive piece of public information.
• Have you ever packed away the camera about 2 seconds too early?  We had decided that enough megapixels had been collected and so the camera was put away at the very moment we drove under a hawk that was hovering probably two metres above the road and just to the side.  We virtually drove under it with no pics to prove the event.  It was amazing.
• Last night we spent the evening chatting with our neighbours, a couple from Taiwan.  It was a great conversation about running a farm, life and politics in Taiwan. Tonight the camp kitchen is full of high school students from Thailand along with families from China and India (I think).
• Amusing sign yesterday “Stay Left, It’s That Simple”; you have to chuckle at the New Zealand ability to be so blunt and should this sign be in more languages and not just English.
• As an example of cultural challenges, tonight’s campground toilets include instructions on how to use the loo and where to put the paper.   I wonder if the same instructions are in the ladies loo; maybe they just know these things or again the ladies don’t have the time to read such instructions? Whatever, it’s always nice to have something to read in the loo. NZ is not the most exotic location but it continues to entertain.
• Amusing road sign today “Hidden Queue Ahead”.  Why is there a queue in the middle of nowhere and more importantly why is it hidden?
• There are signs everywhere that NZ is doing OK, be it the number of Land Cruisers, BMWs, Mercedes and fancy boats owned by the locals or just the quality of shops and restaurants.  Seems there is money in sheep and dairy.