New Zealand - The Story So Far
Vega
Hugh and Annie
Mon 19 Mar 2018 21:47
Whilst driving through NZ an initial impression is that much of the country has been stripped of its native forest and is agricultural or under coniferous commercial plantation. There is no established field pattern with hedgerows as in the UK. Most of the land is grazed but in a relatively low intensity way so that it looks “fallow” or even scrubby and full of dock and other weeds. I generalise of course but this is the impression. Also there are far fewer sheep than we expected and many more cattle. Apparently it is now difficult to make a living from “sheep meat” and cattle offer a better return. China is an important export market. One development that is worrying farmers here is the introduction of synthetic meat made from cell culture. The cost of this form of meat production is now down to $12NZ (£6) a kilo. For an economy highly dependent upon agricultural produce this is certainly an interesting development.
However, what visitors come here for is not the agriculture (maybe with the exception of the vineyards) but the stunning landscapes, now heavily protected within National Parks. Here in South Island it is a working example of mountain building where tectonic plates collide (the Pacific and Australasian in this case) and with glacial erosion to sculpt the mountains into characteristically U profile deep valleys with flat adjoining floodplains. In the North Island the mountain building is from volcanic activity also associated with the plate boundary. Earthquakes are another consequence of plates colliding.
I get excited every time we see the natural forest here. It is natural in the sense that it has not been clear felled and replanted. Fallen trees lie where they fall and saplings grow into mature trees wherever a gap in the canopy opens. As a result the trees are all different sizes, the forest looks “higgledy piggledy” (unlike UK woodlands where the trees are likely to have been planted at the same time and dead timber is cleared for firewood etc). With the high rainfall there is a profusion of undergrowth with ferns and tree ferns, lichens, bromeliads etc. Truly wonderful and I just love this place!!
A sadder feature is the decline of indigenous wildlife. Introduced predators are wreaking havoc with land based wildlife, birds in particular. There is a huge programme of trapping and poisoning that is evident throughout the national parks but the real successes are only on islands where total eradication has been possible. Here the birds, including penguins, are thriving but it seems a tall order for this to be achieved more widely. Marine animals are under threat from global warming where extremely high sea temperatures in recent years have displaced food sources for the likes of Little Blue and Yellow Eyed penguins. They have been unable to feed their chicks and achieve a sufficient reproductive rate to sustain their meagre remaining populations. Hectors Dolphin are not expected to be around for much longer. Global warming also has it in for the glaciers that now look pretty feeble at the heads of the majestic valleys they once carved. These valleys have permanent meltwater streamflow from the rapidly melting ice. Anyone revisiting from even 10 years ago would be shocked at the extent of the glacial retreat. I try not to get too sentimental about this as, after all, the glaciers that shaped most of the UK have long gone. Nevertheless it is a salutory reminder of how quickly things are changing.
We are meeting a wide range of people on our current travels. The convoy of campervans that we are part of seems to be populated mainly by young Germans. There must be an annual mass exodus of them to NZ and at least two have complained to us that that they have come half way around the world to find themselves surrounded by their countryfolk! There are quite a few French, Americans and British also and lots of Australians. The general tourist population has, however, been dominated by those from the far east and China in particular. Our visit has coincided with the Chinese New Year but the general influence of China can be seen from the dual English and Chinese language signs at the airports (and in the toilets where users are encouraged to sit on the seats rather than squat on them!). We have been entertained by the selfie posing groups at the various landscape viewpoints and the fact that many young Chinese (or perhaps Taiwanese) women dress as if they were attending a 1950’s vicarage tea party. One group of campers was dressed in traditional smocks and trousers. There are few cars here that are not Japanese (Toyota in particular) and it soon becomes obvious that NZ is part of the Pacific Rim trading area.
We are now at an AirBnb where our hosts are a young Russian/Philippino couple (even they chuckle at this unusual combination). He decided at age 19 there was no future in Russia under Putin’s effective dictatorship and smiles wryly and knowingly about all the unexplained Russian deaths in the UK. Their other guest here fled Iraq with his parents after the second Gulf war and has no more idea what the war was all about than we do. He suspects that Iraq is just a pawn in the power struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran fostered by American and Russian involvement. Both obtained degrees in the US and are now forging their lives and new families in NZ. Elsewhere we have met (and are also related by marriage to) highly educated Iranians who are living and working in Europe. We sponsor Gambian children with their education and it is always heartening to be reminded that you cannot judge people by the political and religious chaos that we see enacted daily on our TV screens.
Perhaps unsurprisingly we have found the locals to be extremely friendly and keen to engage with us. They love to hear where we are from and about our travels. They can be a little abrupt and are keen on rules and regulations which does give an air of England past or even Scandinavia. I was roundly hooted and gestured at for straying out of lane on a dirt track road in the middle of nowhere when trying to avoid ruts that even a four wheel drive would have baulked at. Local members of the official camper van club here are scathing about “freedom certified” campervans such as ours that have a “token” portaloo and washing facilities as they consider these to flout the rules and encourage camping (i.e. defecating) in the open countryside. One evening I used the gents toilet at the restaurant at the campsite as a changing room before and after soaking in the hot tub. After drying off I was dressed only in my underpants when a guy drinking at the bar came in and while peeing asked me “what the f...... are you doin’?“
”I’ve just been in the hot tub” I replied, “where were you?”. “Jesus” he said “I thought you were dressing as Wonderwoman to entertain us at the bar”. “Don’t beat around the bush, mate” I entreated with him. “Sorry mate” he apologised, “No offence!”.
