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Miles of wild open spaces. High desert plateaus extending from the horizons. Virgin
forests of giant prehistoric trees. Grassy plains. Jagged granite rising almost 2.5 miles
above the ocean. Glaciers descending into the jungle. Parrots and penguins in the same
rain forest. A wild ocean crashing into footprint-free beaches. Boom towns. Ghost towns.
No towns. Clapboard false fronts. Dusty main streets at high noon. Cowboys and sheepmen
trading stories at the general store and the post office. Country fairs where lumberjacks
saw and chop, shearers slice wool, and horsewomen debate Western vs. English, while all
covet the prize-winning pies. Wyoming? Montana? Alaska? Mexico? Argentina? Australia? Nope, pardner, it's New
Zealand: last frontier of the West and first frontier of the East, so far down under we
Yanks stage there before departing for Antarctica. Do you think the pioneer spirit of the
Wild West has gone the way of the moa? Nopeit's alive and well exactly where the moa
used to live.
In
Part One we gallop through the North Island,
stopping to gawk at prehistoric trees, Maori fishing villages, clapboard towns, artist
colonies, geothermal playgrounds, until we reached the San Francisco of the South Pacific,
Wellington, and the end of the island.
In
Part Two we fly
to the South Island and explore the water wonders and wine lands of Nelson and Marlborough
country, then head for bloomin Christchurch with a short stop to spot the whales off
the Kaikoura Coast. We take a great rail journey from coast to coast, crossing the
Southern Alps and arriving in wild Westland, where we see glaciers, go fishing, and visit
frontier towns along the Tasman Sea. Finally, we cross New Zealands highest road
pass, driving from the coast through the rain forest to the alpine heights and down into
the arid rain shadow of Wanaka in Central Otago on the eastern slope.
In
Part
Three we explore some of
New Zealands most famous, most majestic, most remote, and most touristed country,
home of the bungy, the kea, the jet boat, and the great treks. We go back a century in
Arrowtown, go extreme in Queenstown, and can't believe our eyes in Fiordland.
Finally,
Part Four
takes us in either of two directions back to civilization at Christchurch. One direction
leads to Scotland on the Pacific Coast. The other crosses the great New Zealand Outback by
way of the highest point in Australasia. Along the way we see penguins and albatross, lots
of rabbits and a few sheep. Come with us as our Wild Frontier itinerary leads back to
Christchurch by way of Dunedin and Mackenzie Country.
PART THREE

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ARROWTOWN
Arrowtown is
Queenstown's alter-ego, what Queenstown might have been, if left alone by developers.
Perhaps Arrowtown, with its frontier storefronts, dusty streets and quaint shops, is not
overrun because of the fame of its glamorous neighbor 15 miles away. Like many towns in
Central Otago, Arrowtown was once a gold-mining center. Now its mining past is hinted at
in its wild west appearance and rugged mountain borders. But there are good restaurants
and three golf courses here |

Main Street,
Arrowtown, New Zealand. |
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Millbrook,
a championship course designed by New Zealands pride, Sir Bob Charles),
which lend Arrowtown a slower, less frenetic pace than the frenzied
Queenstown. But Arrowtown is small, and, presumably, boring to those who
are looking for an adrenalin fix. Queenstown is for the tourism masses;
Arrowtown is for those mass tourism misses. |
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QUEENSTOWN
In a nation more and more obsessed with developing tourism Queenstown is
king. If Queenstown didnt invent extreme sports, eco-tourism,
wilderness trekking, |
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Kawarau Bridge,
near Queenstown:
adventure tourism started here? |
adventure travel, heli-skiing, and jet boating, it certainly takes pride in being credited with
their successful commercial development. Local legends like A. J. Hackettwho first
conceived that tourists would pay real money to jump off a bridge with a rubber band
attached to their ankles at Queenstowns Kawarau Bridge on November 12, 1988is
credited with starting New Zealands adventure tourism craze. His company now offers
three different bungy sites and two great arcing swing sites in the Queenstown region, each newer site promising a bigger
squirt of adrenalin. |
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Queenstowns ambition to become a
combination of Aspen, Orlando, and Vegas has brought the area a colorful mixture of
kitsch, glitz, glamour, youthfulness, beautiful people, counter-culture athletes, groupies
and wannabes. Predictably, legions of mainstream tourists have followed, most more
interested in people-watching than in bungy-jumping. And Queenstown has welcomed the
mainstream with two of New Zealands best golf courses (Jack's
Point, and Kelvin
Heights), a burgeoning wine district, a growing number of traditional non-adventure tours
(sightseeing) and soft-adventure activities
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Wind-raised waves on
Lake Wakatipu
between Queenstown and the Southern Alps. |
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The venerable SS
Earnslaw steam-powered
lake ship at her Queenstown moorings. |
(horseback riding,
day-hiking, fly-fishing, skiing), and a wide range of non-trendy
mainstream restaurants including many of the international chains.
If development in Queenstown could have been
done better, it could also have been much worse. The saving grace is the setting of the
placethe mountains, the lakes, the canyons, and the rivers collide harmoniously at
Queenstown. No matter which spoke of the wheel you follow outward from the Queenstown hub,
the scenery will be magic. |
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FIORDLAND
Lets create a rule of thumb for
travel in New Zealand: when you tire of a location, drive two hours and expect to find
something completely new. Nowhere is the change more dramatic than the change from Central
Otago (Queenstown) to the region immediately to the south and west, Fiordland. If Central
Otago has the arid, painted desert qualities of browns, golds, and umbers with starkly
contrasting azures and turquoise from Lakes Wakatipu and Hayes, Fiordland is colored with
the greens of life, the whites of cloud and snow, and the grays of mist and granite. Watch
it happen two hours after turning south on Highway 6 from Queenstown to Lumsford, then
west on Route 94 to Te Anau and north toward
Milford.
Fiordland is a haven for
anomalies. Fiordland is invaded by great, deep fingers of two oceansthe
Tasman and the Southern Oceanreaching far into the Southern Alps. The
shoreline of these deep, clean, still fiords is |

Fiordland: the whites of
cloud
and snow, and the grays
of mist and granite. |
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Giant tree ferns and
other
remarkable flora and fauna
draw thousands of hikers to
the rain forests of Fiordland. |
plush with dense temperate rain forest, thick with mossy trees and giant fern frondsthat
very symbol of New Zealand. The great black forests climb the precipitous heights of the
snowcapped Southern Alps, almost to the edges of the permanent snowline. The habitat of
penguins overlaps that of mountain parrots in this part of paradise.
Where the glaciers of
antiquity retracted from lower levels, deep valleys, rills, and clefts remain now carpeted
with jungle, convoluted as the folds of cauliflower. It is through this unique environment
that the greatest names in New Zealand wilderness treks traverse, climb, and descend.
Caples. Hollyford. Kepler. Greenstone. Routeburn.
Milford. Thousands come to this far southwestern corner of New
Zealand to walk the walk so they can talk the talk at home.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of the less well shod cruise or overfly the
fiords, especially Milford Sound, still one of the great pilgrimage
points of New Zealand tourism. Visitors expect encounters with seals,
penguins, and other exotic fauna and flora in this special environment.
These |
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organized encounters in the pristine sounds of Fiordland were the first
great successes of what has become that major growth genre
"eco-tourism". And the Milford Sound eco-tourism experience, like
Coca-Cola, has inspired many envious imitations, but none have quite the
cachet of the original.
Fiordlands unique ecology provides a special tonic for the hearts and spirits of
visitors. Fortunately, its few townsnotably Te Anau and Manapouricheerfully
dispense practical and efficient food and shelter to guests without feeling the need to
add to the attractions of Fiordland with touristic kitsch, glitz, and too many
Maori-inspired greenstone jade craft shops. Bless them, they understand that more
isnt always better. |

Milford Sound: brightest
star of
New Zealand's eco-tourism show.
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TRAVEL ADVISORY:
LOOK FOR SPECIAL LOCAL EVENTS.
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At each of your
Home At First
New Zealand Lodgings
ask your hosts if there are happenings of local interest ongoing during your visit. Look
for "A & P Shows" local New Zealand summer festivals that are
combinations of country fairs, lumberjack meets and equestrian events. Look for plays,
auctions, regattas, parades, and sporting events, events that will let you see the Kiwis
at play. You may be the only strange faces in the crowd, and you will feel privileged to
be there.
A & P (Agricultural & Pastoral)
shows give you glimpses of New
Zealanders at play, performing
for themselves -- not for tourists. |
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Exploration and discovery are what happens
during a visit to Home At First's New Zealand. Looking for new frontiers?
Lost worlds? New possibilities? Surprises? Geologic wonders?
Learn more about travel with Home
At First to NEW ZEALAND.
Visit more Wild Frontiers at:
PART 1
PART 2
PART 4.
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HOME AT FIRST IS
A DESIGNATED "KIWI SPECIALIST"
TOUR OPERATOR BY THE NEW ZEALAND TOURISM BOARD.

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