New Zealand 紐西蘭 (24 Mar - 5 Apr 2005)

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Glacier

We took a boat tour to see the glacier in Mount Cook.

The first picture provides a good scale to compare how large the ice block was.

In the second picture, the ice block on the left was broken off more recently than the one on the right, judging by the erosion on top of the water line.

The third picture was taken on top of an ice block. You can see the different layers of ice alternate with dirt and rocks. When the summer came, dirts and rocks accumulate on top of the ice. Then in winter, snow accumulated on top of rocks, etc... Thus the formation of the layers.

The last picture is the inside of an ice block.

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Lake Tekapo

The turquoise coloured Lake Tekapo.

We were told that the colour was the result of glacier flour in the water. Glacier flour means rocks were grinded to powder by the force of glacier movement, and contained in the glacier. When the glacier melts, the powders are light enough to freely float in the water.

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Christchurch Cathedral

The outside and the inside of the Cathedral.

The face of the figure in the middle is not white. People in the Cathedral told me that it means Jesus was not just for white people, but people of all colour. Clever marketing.

I imagine the real Jesus, if there was one, should be brown skinned, like any Middle-easterner.

The background motif was very native New Zealand - with very heavy use of fern patterns. Fern is supposedly the tree of life for the Maoris.

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Christchurch Cathedral

I didn't ask about the significance of this pictures. But I imagine this is how Christianity and the white people came to New Zealand.

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Cathedral Square Photographer

First he waited for the customers.

Then he set them up for the photo, give them the flags, dolls, and dry leaves.

Then he brief the customers before taking the shots.

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Cathedral Square Musician

One of the many characters on the Cathedral Square. The day before was a preacher.

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Fire Alarm

We were staying in a hotel near the Auckland airport for one night, before driving to Rotorua the next day.

3:41 am in the morning, the fire alarm on the ceiling of the room started to scream. We jumped up and ran.

I managed to bring the camera and the video recorder. Some people actually managed to bring the whole suitcase, while some not even getting their shoes on.

We were told that someone trigger the alarm with smoking.

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Blue Sky

When we were in the South Island, it was mainly overcast. But in the North Island, it was mainly sunny and hot.

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Zorb

More exciting fun rolling down the hill inside the giant ball.

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Te Puia Maori Center

We visited the Te Puia Maori center. The guide is wearing the typical Maori jade and bone pendants and earrings sold in tourist shops.

I must admit that we did not take any extra steps to understand more of the Maori culture. But what we have seen (perhaps superficially) was disappointing. I feel like there is not much depth there. All the Maori performances were effectively the same Kiwi Haka, virtually the same storyline.

I was planning to buy a Maori jade piece. Lots of the showrooms we went to have a dusty jade workshop completed with machinery, drawing board, etc... connect to the showroom. But in ALL of these visits, the workshops were empty, and we were told that the craftmen were off for the day. Probably the workshops were just part of the showroom decoration and pretence. In one of the showrooms, the "workshop" was just too artsy to be real.

Anyway, I did not buy any, because the one that I like best with a reasonable price was in Arrowtown in the South Island.