Gooseberries. I'd never even heard of them before, but who could resist eating something that looks like this? They're about the size of large grapes, with a thick skin you have to burst through, and tiny little seeds inside that you can crunch or just swallow. They have a taste that's a little tart (which I love) and a little sweet, sort of a cross between an apricot and a tart blackberry. The flavor was intense. I bought a basket of these freshly-picked at a local orchard and ate them as I drove to Wanaka, listening to music, feeling the air rushing by, singing and warming in the sun and eating gooseberries. What a life!

NZ Part 5. In December 2005, after walking the Routeburn and Kepler Tracks I headed north on the South Island of New Zealand. These pictures were taken on the way to Wanaka.

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andrewg > In New Zealand the sheep outnumber the humans 10 to 1. If you got all 40 million sheep together, their collective intelligence would rival that of a pet rock. And not one of those fancy Harvard-trained pet rocks, either, just a normal pet rock.

andrewg > The Kawarau River, at the start of the Roaring Meg section. Legend is that Roaring Meg was a prostitute who serviced the gold miners in the 1800's.

andrewg > A foam sledge like the one I held onto while going town the Kawarau River (twice!). We put on wetsuits, complete with booties and flippers, and then drove out to the river. We carried our sledges down to the water and got some instruction, and then in we went! You hold onto the two little metal handles near the top, your chest on that bright-blue region in the middle. The end of the sledge comes at about your waist, so your legs are free to kick. There's not much you can do with the sledge: you can point it to try to steer (which surprisingly does work, though not very quickly), and you can point it up in the air and side-kick to spin around. There are a couple of advanced moves, but that's it. It's basically a flotation device: a hunk of foam to hang onto. We traveled in a line, with our guide in front giving us hand signals ("turn right", "line up behind me", "catch up", etc.) and another guide in back to scoop up stragglers or help people caught in eddies or in trouble. We started off with a series of rapids called "Roller Coaster" and "Maneater." Going over a rapid on one of these things is just a total blast - you're trying to avoid the rocks at the side of the river and simply enjoy the experience. I also tried to get some real airtime going up over some big jumps. After the rapids we floated calmly down the river for another 20 minutes or so, where I learned how to barrel roll. Then we came out, carried our sledges back to the van, and drove back up to our starting point to do it again! What a great strategy! Now, as an old hand, I knew what was coming up, and I had some skills, so I was able to really cut loose and have a blast. With good equipment and a good guide, it's perfectly safe, and more exhilerating fun than I thought it could possibly be. It sounds crazy, and it is, but oh, good things can come from crazy fun!

andrewg > I arrived in Wanaka a few days before Christmas. The town had "traditional" decorations up, which was wildly incongruous as people walked around in bikinis and sandals. Santa Claus was around as well - often in unexpected places and poses, as in this mannequin just lying around on the awning.

Gooseberries. I'd never even heard of them before, but who could resist eating something that looks like this? They're about the size of large grapes, with a thick skin you have to burst through, and tiny little seeds inside that you can crunch or just swallow. They have a taste that's a little tart (which I love) and a little sweet, sort of a cross between an apricot and a tart blackberry. The flavor was intense. I bought a basket of these freshly-picked at a local orchard and ate them as I drove to Wanaka, listening to music, feeling the air rushing by, singing and warming in the sun and eating gooseberries. What a life!