Queenstown
sunrise over Lake Wakatipu
and
The Remarkables mountain range
|
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.
Upon
arrival in Queenstown, we used disinfecting wipes to scrub anything we might
touch in our lodging. Then we made a call to change our flight to return home from
New Zealand instead of Australia, now that we could no longer go there because
of tightened border controls. We aimed to fly in a few days, not sooner, so the
U.S. would have time to improve new health screens at airports, to spare us
long waits in packed crowds at risk for contagion, as shown on the news. There
were no plane tickets available in four days. None the day after. Or the day
after—none until eight days later. Hopefully, as the world shut down to fight
COVID-19, our flight would not be canceled, New Zealand would not lock down, and
the U.S. would not close its border to us. But what if we caught the virus here? Maybe
medical care would be more readily available in Queenstown than Los Angeles...
Day
after day, Nature staged new light and color shows for the view of Lake
Wakatipu and The Remarkables mountain range from our balcony, especially at
sunrise and sunset. Our hostess offered help to arrange “things to do” which
involved paying to see something or go for a ride: a Jeep ride, jet boat ride, coach
ride to bungee jumping (or bungy in New Zealand), zip lining, rafting, canyoning,
a jet ski or bike rental, a winery tour, farm tour, Lord of the Rings movie
sites tour, horse ride, flightseeing from a plane or helicopter, a Skyline
Gondola ride with buffet lunch, skydiving (outdoor or indoor), and so much
more! The streets of Queenstown were lined with shops selling air, land, and
water adventure combos, with each day’s adrenaline special featured on a chalk
board on the sidewalk.
Routeburn
Track
|
But
my idea of fun is to forget civilization and find peace in the wild. So we planned
to walk on the alpine Routeburn Track. Guides take
groups on multiday tours, on segments no longer than ~8 miles (12 km) with overnight
stays in simple lodges, but we would rather hike (tramp) by ourselves. We would
go out and back in one day, and let the weather and our mood determine how far
we would get.
Looking
down at the Routeburn Flats
|
The
drive from Queenstown to the start of the Routeburn Track began along bright
blue Lake Wakatipu. Snowy peaks rose on the horizon like a promised land as we
neared Glenorchy. We drove on, beyond pavement and onto gravel, to the track starting
point. We trekked through beech forest, over
swing bridges, past waterfalls, above clear, gemstone-colored pools, and out on
grassy flats between mountain ranges. As a fern lover, I went crazy over the
diversity of species, each one a new favorite. We had the Earth to ourselves.
Only rushing creeks and birdsong broke the silence. Such solitude spells bliss
any time. As a bonus in these pandemic times, it gave me a break from staying
on high alert to maintain physical distancing.
Past
the Routeburn Falls, we climbed only far enough to glimpse the austere, bushless
heights beyond. We returned to the empty Routeburn Falls Hut to eat sandwiches
we had made, and headed back to beat the rain predicted on a handwritten sign,
which also advised to “Take care of this planet, the only one with chocolate!”
Wanaka
Lake
|
The
next day, we drove the Crown Range and Cardrona Valley Roads to the smaller
town of Wanaka. First, tight switchbacks climbed above the Kawarau River
valley, then soft curves took us through farmland with rocky heights behind,
and around bald hilltops. In town, the local newspaper headline, “Coronavirus
slams Wanaka,” made us read the beginning of the article. To our relief, the
South Island still had no known COVID-19 case. What the virus was slamming was
the tourism industry. When we ate lunch at a lakefront pub, after 2 p.m. to
avoid crowds, only one other distant table was occupied. At the Thursday
afternoon Wanaka Farmers Market, only six artisans set up tables, as if the fierce
wind had blown away not only the visitors, but also the vendors. We had a nice
chat with a local, New-Zealand-greenstone (nephrite jade) craftsman. His lovely
accent made his wisdom sound even better.
Glenorchy
Lagoon
|
On
the next day with no rain forecast, we returned to Glenorchy to walk around the
lagoon in early morning light, drive to Paradise to see how well-named it is,
and choose a track for a half-day walk.
Black
Swan (Cygnus
atratus)
|
The
lagoon rang with occasional quacks from wild ducks and squeaks from Black Swans (Cygnus
atratus). In well-named Paradise, horses, sheep, and cows kept an eye on us
from luscious pastures below snow-tipped summits. We turned around where the
unpaved road crossed a creek we deemed too deep for our car, but only because
it was a rental. After a picnic lunch in the car, protected from biting sandflies,
we climbed the Invincible Mine Track in cool tree shade for views of mountains,
our preference over walking in full sun on the flat Rees-Dart Track in the
valley.
Two
days before our scheduled departure, we entered the Kiwi Birdlife Park as it opened,
to avoid crowds. We saw many Kiwis! All we had
to do was walk in the three dark Kiwi Houses and let our eyes adapt to dim red
lighting. And there they were behind glass, round brown fluffy chicken-like
things with a long thin beak, poke-poke-poking the soil as they scurried around
looking for food.
Tuatara
(Sphenodon
punctatus)
|
Later,
an open-air show featured a Morepork Owl (Ninox
novaeseelandiae), a Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus
moluccanus), and other birds in glorious flight. Another
star was the Tuatara (Sphenodon
punctatus), a reptile found only in New Zealand and a species that has
survived since the age of dinosaurs. Tuatara means “peaks on the back” in the
indigenous Māori language. And New Zealand’s Tuatara beer mimics the animal’s
distinctive allure with a row of pointy glass bumps rising off the (bottle)neck.
Back
in our lodging Wi-Fi bubble, we learned from online news that Prime Minister
Jacinda Ardern had announced at 2 p.m. that New Zealand would go into lockdown
“in 48 hours.” Did she mean exactly at 2 p.m. that Wednesday? Oh no! Our flight
from Queenstown to Auckland, the capital, was scheduled for 5 p.m. that day and
the one from Auckland to Los Angeles at 11 p.m. Online searches failed to find a
lockdown time or whether foreigners would be allowed to fly home because it
would be considered “essential travel.” No seats were available on any earlier
flight. We could drive 21 hours to Auckland on the North Island in time for our
international flight, but only if we left immediately, except rental cars were
not allowed on ferries. Could we return our car before taking the ferry and
rent another one after? We broke speed records packing to leave, but decided to
wait for official updates. On Tuesday, a government web page specified the
lockdown time on Wednesday: 11:59 p.m., almost an hour after our departure for
the U.S. We would have ample time to spare!
But
how certain were we that we wanted to go home? The coronavirus had reached New
Zealand later than the U.S., Europe, or Australia. Prime Minister Jacinda
Ardern had jumped at the chance to control the outbreak by acting early and
strongly. She had a plan. It was science-based. She had made it sound clear and
simple in a calm, convincing, and compassionate manner. “We currently have 102
cases. But so did Italy once… Be strong. Be kind.” Sheltering
in place in touristless Queenstown seemed safer from COVID-19 than in populous Los
Angeles County where the statistics were worse. We talked about horses racing
back into burning stables.
If
I had had a magic wand guaranteeing that I could go home when I wanted, I would
have stayed in Queenstown for another month or two, where the town was
deserted, fall colors were beginning to flicker under snow-powdered mountain
ranges, and serenity felt inescapable even in the face of an uncertain future.
But that Wednesday, I went home where I belong, after packing up that serenity
inside me. By then, the U.S. State Department was tracking some 50,000
Americans stuck abroad and seeking help to go home.
At
writing time, five weeks later, it turns out that I have felt safe from
contagion because I have stayed home, never going outside except for a daily 3-mile
walk at 5 a.m. when no one else is out. Meanwhile, New Zealand appears to have
eliminated the coronavirus, but in the U.S., the numbers of cases and deaths
are still increasing and the long-term plan is to learn to live with COVID-19.
FOR
MORE INFO
Join
Cathy Mayone’s adventures on New Zealand’s South Island including, in
the Queenstown area, Arrowtown, the Otago Wine Trail bike ride, the Kawarau
Gorge Suspension Bridge, Te Anau, the Milford Sound, and Lake Wanaka.
Follow
Owen Floody’s exploration of the South Island including the
Routeburn Track (years before the flood damage and partial closure of February
2020).
Watch
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s lockdown speech uniting Kiwis against COVID-19.
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