What the Tour Books Don’t Tell You

Simply that Tasman Glacier, Mount Cook (Akori in Maori) and Lake Pukaki are magnificent! Well, I guess they do tell you that, but there’s no word for the blue that colors the lake. Day-Glo Robin’s Egg? Opal Blue? Royal Aqua? Hugh Laurie’s Eyes-Blue? Whatever you want to call it...its an amazing color. And I saw glaciers in Alaska, but they got nothin’ on Tasman Glacier: it’s massive and imposing. I felt almost as if it might slip down the side of the mountain from its perch and swallow us all. As for Mount Cook: fantastic...now I know why they call these the Southern Alps! Its two peaks rose above a cloud and blistered the blue sky with their frosted summits. Humbling.

Our private tour guide, Phillip Nordt (a longtime friend of Wally’s, whom Joe knows) expertly navigated the small town traffic and landed us at the foot of the mountains way ahead of the buses. Good job! Although I was feeling a little woozy from a) the night before, b) the early hour and c) he’s used to driving on the Autobahn. Beautiful scenery (or at least what I think was beautiful scenery...seriously, it went by so freakin’ fast) abounds in New Zealand: pastures filled with sheep, both shorn and unshorn, and grazing dairy cows; small farms and quaint towns; rolling hills and grassy plains. It looks very European. As it should! The ancestry moved here and made it look like home.

After walking around Mount Cook and surrounds, we headed back to the ship (too soon for my tastes, but the gang plank was scheduled to go up at 3pm), but not before stopping for some lunch in Geraldine. This cute little village is home to some of the best cheese makers in the world. We sampled brie, peppered Havarti, chevreton (sp?) goat’s cheese, Huntington Redwood and some kind of really strong bleu cheese, along with some jam, pesto, feta dip, fresh bread and several wines. One of the best lunches ever!

We hit the ship about 15 minutes before sailing, and I hit my pillow for a two hour nap. Not much going on this evening, and it’s a good thing, Tomorrow we are in Picton and the Marlborough Wine country. Yep, you guessed it...we’re going on a winery tour. Three of them, in fact. Can’t wait!