New Zealand. Sunrise
on Little Kaiteriteri Beach
near
Abel Tasman National Park
|
My
friend and fellow children’s book author Caroline Hatton visited New Zealand in
March 2020 (late summer in the Southern Hemisphere), arriving before the World Health
Organization declared the spread of coronavirus a pandemic. She took all the
photos in this post.This is the first of three posts. Parts 2 and 3 will post on the following Mondays.
In
March 2020, my husband and I set out on a trip we had planned before the novel coronavirus
surfaced in the news. We were headed to New Zealand and Australia. At home, California
had eighty-nine COVID-19 cases. New Zealand had five (less than half the
percentage of California) with none on the South Island where we would spend our
first two weeks. In the U.S., the only advice was to wash hands, not touch
face, cough in elbow, and stay home if sick. I hoped that by being abroad for
five weeks, we would avoid the worst of the outbreak in the U.S., which had
seen it coming for two months and would be prepared to contain it. Right?
Our
Los Angeles stores had run out of disinfectants except for one box of two
hundred individually-wrapped, two-square-inch, alcohol (70% isopropanol) wipes,
so we packed it, along with our last twelve individually-wrapped disinfecting
Wet Ones wipes and one Lysol canister of eighty more.
Air
travel and tourism had already dwindled, leaving the Los Angeles airport empty.
In the plane, one passenger disinfected his spot with wipes and a few wore masks.
I used my tiny alcohol wipes to disinfect my seat belt buckle, and the light
and seat control buttons. I had carried a book in a disposable paper bag, which
I slipped in the seat pocket, so I could get my book in and out without
touching anything but my own bag, which I left behind. Landing in New Zealand,
life seemed normal, except for airport greeters offering hand sanitizer and
flyers illustrating how to wash hands.
Abel
Tasman National Park
|
We
planned to visit Abel Tasman National Park at the north
end of the South Island, a coastal subtropical wonderland with birds and marine
mammals. When we checked into our one-bedroom cabin in nearby Little
Kaiteriteri, we washed our hands, then whipped out our Lysol disinfecting wipes
to scrub everything we might touch, including room keys, door handles, light
switches, power outlets, faucets, toilet flush handle, tables, counters,
plastic chairs, and the swinging lid of the wastebasket (called a rubbish bin in New Zealand.) Then we requested no housekeeping for the duration of our stay. We did all
this everywhere we stayed, to reduce the risk of coronavirus infection for us
and for the staff.
Kaiteriteri
Estuary
|
In
the morning, we strolled around the Kaiteriteri Estuary, a sandy expanse smeared
with water. The sun came out! But half the loop trail (or track) was pleasantly
shaded by an exuberant mix of trees. Loud, jungle-sounding birds kept us
craning our necks until we finally spotted one.
Around
midday, we were stunned to see the vast estuary fully flooded, while even more sea
water rushed inland from the Tasman Bay as a king (extra large) high tide rose.
In the afternoon, we climbed up and down a rocky, treesy promontory with beach views
on the 550-m (~600-yard) Kaiteriteri Track.
Abel
Tasman National Park granite cliffs
|
For
the next day, we had picked the 9 a.m. boat tour with Abel Tasman SeaShuttles to cruise round-trip
along the national park coast, except for disembarking at 11:30 a.m. to hike
(tramp) the most diverse portion of the Abel Tasman Coast Track, 11.5 km (~7
miles) to where we would board the last, 5 p.m. boat back.
Tree
Ferns (Cyathea
sp.)
|
On
the boat, we didn’t touch anything and we sat where empty rows physically
distanced us from others. On the port side, lush hillsides looked like
award-winning gardens, granite fissures like secret passages, and sleeping NewZealand Fur Seals (Arctocephalus
forsteri) like they owned the islands. The Tree Ferns (Cyathea sp.)
caused the most photography. We passed kayakers paddling against the cold wind.
The boat captain delivered commentary with a Kiwi accent, fun to hear but hard
to understand.
Abel
Tasman National Park
|
On
the track, signage was perfect. Listed times assumed marching at a good clip
like the rare trampers who passed us.
View
from Abel Tasman Coast Track to Tasman Sea
|
We
slowed down often to look or listen, paused to take in the tranquility of the
beech and fern forest, and stopped only to eat sandwiches we had made and brought with us.
Weka
or Woodhen
(Gallirallus a. australis)
|
Three
times, a rust-colored chicken-like thing startled us, walking up to inspect our
boots and even tap, tap, tap my trekking poles. They were wild, fearless,
flightless Wekas, as known by
their indigenous Māori name, or Woodhens (Gallirallus a. australis),
famous for patrolling picnic areas and stealing gear from tourists.
Stay
away from this stinging Bluebottle or Portuguese Man o' War (Physalia
physalis)
~10
cm or 4 inches across
|
On
the beach where we waited for the return boat, we were dazzled by the vivid cobalt
color of a life form barely moving on the sand. This natural wonder, a Bluebottle (also known
as Portuguese Man o' War, Physalia physalis), is not a true jellyfish.
But it’s a true sea monster that stings on contact, even long after washing
ashore, and the burning pain can wreck a perfectly good outing by the sea.
After a full day outdoors, we were glad that the boat sped non-stop all the way
back.
Pancake
Rocks
Paparoa
National Park
|
Leaving
Abel Tasman National Park, we drove down the west coast to Paparoa NationalPark to see the
geologically curious, aptly-named Pancake Rocks, watch waves explode skyward
against them, and marvel in disbelief at the accompanying, booming, thunderous
noise.
Pancake
Rocks ~ 5 cm or 2“ thick
The
white is not snow.
|
Then
we stopped overnight on the way to Mount Cook National Park . We had
reserved the only lodging option at the ideal location, a cabin much like a
hard tent. Not a problem, since we love camping. But shared showers and a
community kitchen are not exactly contagion-proof. And by then, the spread of coronavirus had
gotten bad enough for the World Health Organization to declare it a pandemic. What
had we gotten ourselves into?
To
be continued…
FOR
MORE INFO
Outside magazine’s NewZealand South Island Travel Guide
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteVery nice post. You can also visit ALPINE FACTS for tourism information
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