For old times' sake, before leaving Twizel near the mountain country of New Zealand's South Island, Steven and I drove a few minutes to the B&B where I'd stayed when visiting the small community with a friend in 2019.
As we headed about 200 km southwest for a few nights to Queenstown, the country's undisputed thrill-seeking destination, the views we had were nothing short of stunning. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, that had become the norm for us on the South Island!
The Clay Cliffs of Omarama were located in the island's Waitaki District.
We hadn't seen a wallaby, but would have liked to!
As we drove through the lovely Lindis Pass Alpine area, the bright golden hues reminded us of what fall in the American mountain west looks like. Beautiful, but not the vibrant shades of red that dot the hills and residential streets I grew up with in Ottawa.
I took this shot from the summit of Lindis Pass, near Tarras, a farming settlement known for award-winning merino sheep farming, boutique vineyards, and dramatic alpine and high-country backdrops
On the other side of the pass was the Otago Goldfields Highway.
In the distance was the boutique Mondillo Vineyard near Bendigo.
Lake Dunstan was a man-made lake and reservoir in the Otago region.
The Otago area is also famous for its numerous wineries. I'll have to check when we get home if we can buy any bottles of Cloudy Bay and Wooing Tree wines to remind us of this breathtaking area.
You know how some images remain ingrained in your mind for one reason or another? For some reason, the giant Cromwell Fruit Sculpture had stuck in my mind as clear as mud from when I drove through seven years ago! Featuring an apple, nectarine, pear, and apricot, it welcomed people to the fruit-growing town of Cromwell. Remember Cromwell for an upcoming post!
In a nation of superlative drives, traveling through the Kawarau Gorge must rate near the top in my opinion.
Not all of the country's hydroelectricity is generated by big dams. The only electricity source in the area was small power plants built in cooperation with gold mining, dredging, or irrigation companies until the region was connected to the national power grid in 1957.
Roaring Meg, the name of the local power station which towered over the gorge, was once the name of the turbulent stream connecting with the Kawarau River. Depending on whom you ask, the unusual name either comes from a red-headed, short-tempered barmaid named Maggie Brennan who kept the peace in a saloon with her extremely loud voice. Her personality was so strong that local diggers named the stream after her. Others say the name came from a high-spirited, fun-loving young lady called Meg, who made such a fuss when she was carried across a stream by local lads that they named the stream after her. Which version do you prefer?!
Though the watery gorge was beyond 'gorgeous' from Meg's Lookout, the hillsides were barren in contrast to the usually magnificent high country. That was because the invasive wildings, weed trees that had been planted with good intentions, had largely been removed through a combination of spraying, logging, and hand-cutting of saplings. Over time, the native shrub and tussock grassland will return over the mountainous countryside. Perhaps some of our grandchildren will see that one day.
This is what the wilding forest in the Roaring Meg looked like before the eradication work began.
We'd passed several deer farms, but about 40 minutes outside of Queenstown, I was able to take the first picture of one.
The reason we'd only stopped briefly on the drive to Queenstown was to take the Shotover Jet Canyon boat ride, a high-speed jet boat adventure that winds through the river's narrow canyons. I'd first seen it in 2019 and promised myself I'd do it if I ever returned! Obviously, Steven and I would be in good company since Prince William and Princess Kate had done it years ago!
Kimiākau is the traditional Māori name for the Shotover River, which flooded to the height of the deck overlooking it far below in November 1999!
After walking down a dozen or so steps, we saw the extent of nature's wrath again when the river had flooded in January 1994.
I was all agog watching a cherry red speedboat zoom under the Edith Cavell Bridge that spanned the Shotover River!
Steven was a little less excited at the prospect of roaring through the narrow canyon walls and making 360-degree spins, mind you, but was willing to accompany me.
Due to safety concerns, passengers weren't allowed to take pictures during the ride. I was bummed, but I hope these photos while watching others, will give you a sense of the nonstop excitement and thrill-a-minute we experienced!
We were seated just beside the driver with eight others in tiered rows behind us.
Racing around the rivers at breakneck speeds, stopping only inches from the shoreline or rocks, our driver executed 360-degree spins with speeds up to 90 kph! I think we screamed and laughed the entire time while clutching onto the safety bar for dear life!
While we stopped for a few minutes to let another jetboat pass through the canyon, our driver explained that the river was higher than usual because of recent rains. All the drivers must have nerves of steel, as they routinely do ten rides a day on these daredevil trips. I hate to think what their life insurance premiums must cost!
The drivers were in constant contact via walkie-talkies, so they knew each other's locations on the river at all times.
Photos again of another boat doing the almost death-defying spins just before we roared through the canyon doing the same antics! The ride was only 30 minutes long, I say almost thankfully, as I don't think our hearts or Steven's back could have taken much more!
A few minutes later, I watched from the bridge, my heart in my mouth, to experience it all over again and see the canyon views from a different perspective.
If you like thrills and are in Queenstown, don't hesitate to take the Shotover Jet tour. It'll be the highlight of your stay, I assure you! A warning, though: be prepared to feel pretty shaky when the ride stops, and you get out of the boat.
A view of the Skyline Queenstown Gondola that we hoped to take that night:
The Remarkables Mountain Range:
After the excitement of the boat ride, we both needed something calmer, and the nearby Kiwi Park fit the bill. When we arrived, we were told that a Conservation Show had just started, so we made a beeline for that.
Sara, the naturalist, was holding a kiwi, a rare, flightless bird native to New Zealand. They're known for having hair-like feathers, a long beak with nostrils at the tip for smelling, a wing that's barely there, and they make snorting sounds.
She added that thirty percent of their weight is in their legs, which are so strong that a kiwi's kick can rupture a person's spleen. This kiwi, however, wasn't about to hurt anyone, as it was stuffed!
Kiwis are the size of a chicken, but they don't lay eggs that are chicken-sized. Their eggs are twenty percent of their body weight. The equivalent would be for a human baby weighing about 40 pounds at birth, the size of a four-year-old! Twenty-four days before delivering, the mother doesn't eat or drink anything. After the baby kiwi hatches, the dad takes over raising it; the mom has no interaction with it. Her job is done!
At the end of the show, she explained that the park's goal is to raise kiwis until they weigh more than 1.5 kg, or more than their predator's weight. Their biggest enemy in the wild is a possum, known as Public Enemy Number 1. People in NZ are encouraged to run them over or shoot them in the wild.
Do you remember the kea sculpture in Arthur's Pass Village I wrote about recently? The kea is a large parrot species endemic to the forested and alpine regions of New Zealand's South Island. They're the only parrots who live above the snowline.
They're among the most intelligent creatures, even on par with the most intelligent primates! Keas have exceptional problem-solving skills that set them apart.
After seeing some birds, the big allure for us was the Kiwi Encounter. As it took place in a darkened space, we had to gradually acclimatize before entering with a guide. Joe explained that no pictures could be taken of the kiwis because they have sensitive eyes. Though they are nocturnal animals, the park has switched to the Northern Hemisphere time for the kiwi exhibit, so visitors can see them when they are active!
Joe said there were two males and two females in one of the kiwi spaces, and other kiwi species in the other spaces. Each of the five species of kiwi in NZ is at risk of extinction. Females are larger and more outgoing than their male counterparts. He reiterated what Sara had told us earlier: that females have nothing to do with the eggs after hatching. Initially, I had trouble seeing them, even though they were easy to hear! Kiwis are the only birds in the world with nostrils at the end of their beaks. That's why they sounded like pigs, snorting loudly to clear dirt from their nostrils. Once I was able to detect them, it was fascinating to see them rooting in the dirt with their beak, looking for food.
Photo courtesy of Adobe Images:
There used to be 30 to 40 million kiwis in the country. It is now thought that there are only about 62,000 because of the invasion of mammal species, such as ferrets, stoats, rats, possums, and weasels. As with the wildling eradication program, the country has invested heavily in a predator-free campaign to save endemic NZ birds by 2050.
Ninety percent of kiwis in the wild don't make it to their first birthday. That's why the Kiwi Park plays such a critical role in increasing the number of kiwis that have a better ability to survive. It can take 5 years for a kiwi to reach full size, and they live up to 60 years. Part of the park's responsibility is to be a glorified babysitting program! The kiwi house functions as both a breeding facility for older kiwi and a facility for young captive-born kiwi.
All the park's kiwis get released into the wild, as the mission is to increase the wild population and to boost their chances of survival. Once the kiwis are released, the males are electronically tracked. Before you ask, I don't recall any of the staff telling us of the kiwis' success rate in the wild. I wish I'd thought of asking that when we were there.
The kārearea or falcon can reach speeds up to 200 km/h because their wedge-shaped tail allows it to swoop and dive through dense forests. They nest on the ground, leaving their eggs and chicks vulnerable to predators such as dogs and cats.
The reptile house:
Also endemic to New Zealand was the tuatara, a reptile species similar to lizards. Its name is derived from the Māori language and means "peaks on the back." Tuatara feature in Māori creation stories, and some tribes believe they are the guardians of knowledge. There are now beers, wines, baseball teams, cars, and even a superhero named after the tuatara!
An elegant gecko!
Before the park existed, it was Queenstown's unofficial garbage dump.
Bird-control doors to prevent possible escapees!
The wood pigeon is the country's largest flighted bird. Its feathers change color in the light and are so glossy that they shimmer!
I learned that buff weka are neophilic, a new word to me, which means they love discovering new things. They're so curious that they have a knack for swiping phones, car keys, food, or anything that catches their eye!
The Antipodes Island parakeet is native to New Zealand's sub-Antarctic Islands. It's unusual for a parrot because it spends most of its time on the ground, scavenging on seabird carcasses and hunting seabird chicks.
Since we'd missed part of the Conservation Show, we returned for another one.
Ian, a wildlife greeter also from the States, cautioned the audience not to stand up when the birds were flying overhead. These brightly colored birds were American rainbow lorikeets. The 6-month-olds, True and Blue, were just out of flight school, he joked. The birds are often popular in the exotic-animal pet trade, but because they live up to 25 years, their owners often tire of caring for them and release them.
Ian then brought out Boots, a weka, and intentionally left a backpack on the ground. Just like real thieves, wekas work in teams to distract people and then steal from them!
Ian quipped that Terry, "our terrible taxidermied kiwi," has been here so long that he's experiencing male-pattern baldness from everyone petting him for 40 years! Their 1-cm-long wings prove they evolved from birds that could fly. They can run 20 km/h!
Ian mentioned that there were 13 tuataras in the park. Zeus was full-sized, but they are usually very tiny. They thrive under human care and don't exist in the wild anywhere in the country. Tuataras existed during the Jurassic Era! At 40 years old, Zeus was older than any of the zookeepers. No one knows how long they live, although Henry is a 130-year-old tuatara living in Invercargill. Stay tuned to meet Henry soon!
Ian said rats have caused the extinction of tuataras on the country's North Island. The park's caged rats were called the Spice Girls!
Once we learned that 100% of the park's income came from admission fees, we fully supported its conservation program, even though we'd initially thought the ticket prices were steep. What a perfect combination this day had been, starting with a spectacular drive through a mountain pass, the thrilling Shotover Canyon boat ride, and then the surprisingly engaging and captivating Kiwi Park!
Next post: An unbelievably lovely lakeshore drive to Glenorchy.
Posted on June 13th, 2026, on our last night here in Kaoshiung in southwest Taiwan, without a doubt, our favorite city by far. We've loved its vibrant arts scene, parks, exciting architecture, whimsy, and, of course, its many temples! Please take care of yourself and your loved ones.
