Endless Summer

This month, we turned back the clocks to embrace fall. Which means, sadly, summer in New Zealand has officially come to an end.

And what a summer it has been. The best apparently, since 1975, or 1982, or 1996, depending on who you talk to and what special summer memories they might harbour from years past. But in our opinion, as far as the New Zealand summers go, the summer of 2013 was the best as they come.

The past few months have been good in so many ways, but could not have been quite as amazing if it had not been for the weather. This summer made up for winter's rainy doom and gloom, by giving us endless days of  sun, sand, and warmth. Not a drop of rain fell between the 4th of February and the 17th of March. Each day was as perfect as the next, long days filled with sun and long evenings spent enjoying the warmth of the patio.  While the sun worked its magic on the soul of New Zealanders, it also wrecked havoc on the landscape. Green fields turned to yellow and rivers started to dry up. We moved into the end of this endless summer in a state of country wide draught.

But before the drought, summer showered us with bounty of activity and fun.

It was no sooner we said goodbye to Christmas, that we said hello to our first guests here in New Zealand. Until this year, my parents have never set foot off of North American soil. A trip to New Zealand was easily the longest and biggest endeavour in their travel careers.

And they rocked it.

For years, my parents have happily seen my brother and I off on several international flights, and been at the other end to welcome us home after many of our great adventures. This February, for the first time, I switched places with my parents and happily greeted them at the gate of Wellington International Airport, following their first big transcontinental flight. In that moment, as my parents walked out of the gate, with confident smiles on their faces, and the hours of international flight under their eyes, I was more proud of my parents than I have ever been. They had stepped well beyond their boundaries of comfort and confidence, and had boldly stepped into a new world of discovery and adventure that they had never before experienced in their 60 years. I could not wait to help them embark on their new, unexpected journey.

Mom and Dad ascending over Queenstown

We let them settle in for a few days before putting them back on a plane. My work schedule allowed us exactly one week to expose my parents to the rest of this country and its hidden gems. We ran a tight schedule of travel around the South Island.

The first lag of our trip saw us flying from Wellington to Queenstown, for what would turn out to be the last day of rain and wind for a long time. We landed in Queenstown to unseasonably cold temperatures and thick fog. Unfortunately, this meant that the wonderful mountain and lake landscape that makes Queenstown so majestic was lost somewhere behind a thick layer of grey and cold. I could not have been more disappointed, we had come to one of the most beautiful places in New Zealand, and it was nowhere to be seen.  Luckily the next day, the fog began to lift, much like a curtain, and dramatically revealed the stunning Queenstown landscape to my parents unsuspecting eyes. By the time we were sitting at the top of the Skyline Luge bar with wine glasses in hand (and everyone had gone down the luge track!) the sky was clear and the view was spectacular.

Mom luges like a pro

 

Racing down the Queenstown luge. I won.

 

Mom and Dad prepare to luge

We left Queenstown the next afternoon, on a flight headed to Christchurch. In February 2011, the city of Christchurch was hit by a major earthquake that damaged much of the city centre. To make matters worse, in December of the same year, Christchurch experienced a second, slightly smaller earthquake that sealed the deal in terms of damage to the local infrastructure. We landed in Christchurch a few short weeks before the second anniversary of the first quake, and found a city still in a state of disrepair.

What a shock.

Moving from scenic Queenstown to the rubble of Christchurch, we began to understand the true impact that the earthquake had on this city. We walked around the perimeter of the red zone in astonishment. Two years later, so much of the city still looked as though the earthquake had happened yesterday. Major sections of the central business district were cordoned off by wire fences, the storefronts empty, naked mannequins stripped of their clothing, and awkwardly placed in the windows. Signs of store owners removing as much stock as they could, as fast as possible, before the area had been cordoned off. It was creepy, sad and SO quiet. It was as though someone had placed a silent ghost town in the middle of what was supposed to be a busy city. As you moved away from the downtown core, things worked on the inverse,  the noise became louder, the stores, people, and traffic more populous. Here you could forget about the silence, the lives disrupted and the ruins. For a few brief seconds, Christchurch felt like a normal city again.

 

Christchurch CBD

Mannequin left in storefront window in the red zone

The start of a new Christchurch. A small business area of shops developed using brightly coloured shipping containers

The day we spent in Christchurch brought our focus back to the reality of disaster and how lucky we all were. As sobering as the day in Christchurch was, I believe that the experience gave us new perspective on the rest of our trip, and know that we would not have appreciated the beauty that lie ahead of us in the same way, had we not stopped here first.



The next day, we headed out on a great railroad adventure. In the early hours of the morning, we climbed aboard a Kiwi Rail train and set out on the Tranz Alpine Journey. The journey headed west from Christchurch, climbing through the stunning scenery of the Southern Alps towards the town of Greymouth. For the next four hours, we were immersed in a breathtaking world of mountains, rolling hills, and braided rivers. Travelling by train, we were able to take a journey that was not accessible by car. It was as though we were travelling through a world that no one else knew about, which seemed to intensify beauty of the scenery around us.

Braided Rivers running through the Southern Alps

View from the train

 

One of my favourite shots from the trip. The classic kiwi camper van in a classic kiwi landscape

 

We disembarked the train in Greymouth, a town on the West Coast of the the South Island. Here we rented a car and headed north up the stunning, curvy, craggy coastline towards the Pancake Rocks. The Pancake Rocks are a geological landmark made of large limestone rock formations. The limestone has heavily eroded, creating a layering effect in the rock. These huge rocks look like pancakes stacked upon each other. Set in the sea, these large formations form caves where the water splashes up and creates blowholes at high tide. We spent an hour walking around and taking in this stunning natural creation before settling down for the night in the town of Westport. The next day we headed back towards Greymouth to board the return train journey to Christchurch.

The Pancake Rocks

Hanging out at the Pancake Rocks

The Watson family hangs out at the Pancake Rocks

Running along the coast in Westport

Trent in Westport

We did not touch down in Christchurch long before jumping back on another Kiwi Rail train. This time we were headed north along the east coast of the South Island, destination Picton. The Coastal Pacific journey took us through coastal vistas, rolling farm land, vineyards, and salt lakes. We arrived in Picton, a small town at the northern tip of the South Island. We were lucky enough to spend few hours here before boarding the Interislander ferry back to Wellington via the Cook Strait.

Trent and our train

Views of the Pacific from the train

Vineyards of Marlborough

This lake is pink because it is filled with salt deposits

With that, our trip was complete. In one short week we had covered a large part of the South Island by train, plane, luge, and car. We had discovered places of hidden beauty, and were able to unearth the heart of the country in both its most glorious views and saddest states.

On Monday, I not only went back to work, but started my new position as the clinical manager with TBI Health in Mana. The next few weeks would be a calamity of adapting to this new role and ensuring my parents enjoyed the rest of their stay. Back in Paraparaumu, they enjoyed the relaxing lifestyle of beach walks, spotting orcas on the beach, beautiful summer weather, and hanging out with their grandog, Huff. It seemed as though they had only just arrived before we were saying our goodbyes. Three weeks in a new country saw their attitudes change from nervous travellers to confident and excited ones, ready to look forward to the possibility of future travel experiences. After all they had done to help me to cultivate my love for new discovery and travel, I was so honoured to help them to discover their very own travel bugs.

We spent the rest of our summer basking in the sun and rediscovering our own goals. First, we signed up for a race. As many of you may know, in Canada, Trent and I spend several seasons training for half and full marathons. Partly due to injuries and other interests, we had taken a break on running since arriving in New Zealand, completing just one half marathon when we first arrived last February. We had been talking about wanting to get back into running, and felt a 10km race was the perfect way to do it. We signed up for the Round the Vines Race located in Martinborough, a wine region about 2 hours from home. The race was set amongst the vineyards, running through the vines and landscapes of six vineyards. Each vineyard had  its own "hydration stop", a table full of wine samples (and water too..) for the runners to sample and enjoy. The race is not only well known for its love of wine, but love of a good time, handing out prizes for the best costumes. Leprechauns, fairies, basketball players, and a variety of animals made their way through the vines that day, reminding us again how much fun it was to be in a a community of runners.

Getting ready to run

Hydration stop!!

 

 

 

 

Better than Gatorade

 

 

Along with sparking an old love, I also found a love for something new. In late February, we enrolled in a 16 week course at the Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club, to learn how to golf. Trent has golfed for many years, but it was a new challenge for me, and one that I had been wanting to try for a long time. The golf course is literally in our backyard, less than a three minute drive from our house, making it the perfect location to get started.  We have just reached the halfway point of our lessons, which sees us move from working in the practise areas, learning swings, chips and putts; to moving out onto the course for 9 holes. We now play 9 holes every Sunday in small groups from our class, with our lovely, bubbly instructor Mary in tow. While it is a challenging at times, I am really enjoying this new game. Trent is loving being back out on the golf course, and Huff is working on her caddying skills.

 

On top of caddying, Huff is becoming quite a keen agility dog. After a summer full of practise, she has finally mastered weaving through a series of six weave poles, one of the harder skills in agility. She is catching on to the quick turns on the courses that our instructor creates, and is finally ready to enter at the beginners level of a competition! It is hard to believe that the same dog that was apprehensive about running through a tunnel six months ago, is now confidently working her way through an agility course full of twists and turns. She has settled into the change of seasons with a new energy which has been difficult to tame. Last week, she headed out on an afternoon walk with our dog walker and insisted on taking her plastic pork chop toy with her to the beach. She is full of energy, wanting to play and be silly well after her evening walk. There is no shortage of Aroo roo roo's at our house lately.

Huff snuggles in for a lazy Sunday morning

 

Hiking through Otaki Forks, a location used in the filming of The Lord of  the Rings movies

As we unpack our warmer clothing and begin to prepare for the winter ahead, we are able to use this season of change to reflect on the summer that is fading in the sunset behind us. It is with gratitude that we move forward into autumn, thankful for the fantastic weather and memories that will forever remind us of this endless summer. This week, we watched in horror as runners just like us, were attacked at the Boston Marathon. In just a few brief seconds of evil, the lives and bodies of those runners and spectators changed forever. This sad emotional day served as a shocking reminder of how quickly things can change, and how important it is to acknowledge the good in each day.

As the rain begins to fall, washing away the traces of drought on the landscape, we give thanks for our able bodies and beautiful surroundings, taking neither for granted.

Instead, we keep jogging forward, one foot in front of the next; seeing, feeling, and loving each day of this endless adventure.