I figured this would be an inexpensive trip. We would share expenses, rent a car, stay in modest motels, picnic regularly and dine out moderately.
Putting some long-saved frequent flyer points to work, unbelievably (at this late date) I managed to snag a free round trip ticket to Christchurch on the South Island via United and Air New Zealand. Later, I parlayed this free ticket into a flight home that allowed me to extend my stay for four more days on the north island by flying to Auckland when Daryl left for home.
We decided to make only a few reservations in advance; the weather patterns would determine our itinerary, we agreed. We knew the climate was notoriously changeable from west to east coast and that Fiordland National Park in the Southern Alps, where we wanted to go, claims over 200 rain days a year.
Daryl’s priorities included exploring the island’s soaring snow-capped mountains and windswept fiords. But she especially hoped to investigate New Zealand’s horse industry as well as check out a certain type of farm equipment she was interesting in installing on the farm.
My agenda was simple: I had always wished to see New Zealand’s most spectacular mountain, Mt. Cook. In addition, the South Island’s 14 fiords present some of the most spectacular scenery imaginable, and I had long dreamed of taking a scenic boat trip on one of them.
Most of all, we agreed we wanted to drive over the Southern Alps mountains that run from north to south on the island and drive the scenic winding roads overlooking the Tasman Sea on the west coast and the Pacific Ocean on the east.
To do this we’d have to conquer our mutual fear-- driving on the “wrong” side of the road.
Neither of us had ever driven a car with a right hand steering wheel, let alone maneuvered a vehicle on the right side of the road as they do in New Zealand. We were less than confident about that prospect, to say the least. But we kept reassuring each other if everyone else can do it, we could too. Early on we decided to rent an older car, reasoning it could sustain a few possible nicks or dents without us paying a hefty repair bill.
When you go on a tour, everything is taken care of for you. But we were going on our own. This required significant independent planning, and Daryl is the ultimate efficiency expert. She produced what she called the Blue and Green Plans, two comprehensive scenic driving options that plotted our desired destinations in different configurations. Not stopping there, she assembled a chart worthy of inclusion in a Rand-McNally World Guide. It integrated driving hours and kilometers between our many points of interest. These charts became dog-eared before the trip was over. We referred to them constantly to plot how long it would take to drive over high mountain passes and along both coasts.
One more factor had to be considered. Unknowingly, we had chosen to travel during the busy Easter weekend holiday! To make certain we wouldn’t be left homeless, we decided to confirm advance reservations for just three critical stopovers--for the days we planned to arrive at Christchurch, Mt. Cook, and the Doubtful Sound fiord.
[Go to New Zealand Part Three]
