Volume VII, No. 4
JUNE 1995
DOLPHINS, PENGUINS, FORESTS AND FIORDS

From swimming with dolphins in its sub-tropical north to photographing yellow-eyed penguins in its sub- Antarctic south, New Zealand offers visitors an enchanting natural world wrapped with 9,300 miles of scenic, uncrowded coastline.
And now a new, free booklet from the New Zealand Tourism Board offers a handy guide to the services of dozens of tour operators who specialize in showing and explaining nature's wonders and mysteries to visitors.
"For the better part of 80 million years, New Zealand evolved as a home for unique birds, animals and plants, protected by its isolation," said Kathy Ward, the New Zealand Tourism Board's regional manager for North America.
"Ecologists say that New Zealand is the closest that many of us will ever get to studying life on another planet. The Natural Heritage Guide is just the ticket for people who want to get full value out of one of the most rewarding travel experiences here on earth."
The 20-page guide, available by a phone call outlines walks, cruises, rides and safaris, and lists prices, contact addresses, phones and fax numbers. Each listing is color-keyed to a map for easy reference. Booking agents in cities across the US are also listed.
Visitors can swim with dolphins in the Bay of Islands on a half-day outing for about US$30, ride a narrow- gauge train through a kauri forest in the Coromandel for about $3, canoe and camp out with a guide for four days in Whanganui National Park for about $250 and enjoy a homestay, sealions and penguins on the Catlins Coast near Dunedin, for about $90.
For further information, please contact:
N.Z. Tourism Board
501 Santa Monica Blvd., Ste #300,
Santa Monica, CA, 90401.
Ph. (310) 395-7480 or (800) 388-5494.
SPECTACULAR RAIL JOURNEYS - by Roy Sinclair

North American travellers typically call New Zealand's TranzAlpine Express a trans-continental rail adventure in miniature, compressing a continent's coast to coast journey of days and nights into less than five hours.
Crossing New Zealand's South Island by train is indeed akin to a Readers' Digest condensed book version of crossing Canada or the United States. The "Tranz", as it is affectionately known in New Zealand, attracts large numbers of passengers from many countries. Visitors who say they cannot spare the time to make a coast to coast journey at home, especially enjoy the experience.
The 145 mile rail journey joins not only two coasts, but also two vastly different destinations. The return journey departs from the "Garden City" of Christchurch and pauses at Greymouth, a curious small West Coast town at the mouth of the Grey River. Late in the day the Tranz arrives back at Christchurch, having travelled over fertile plains, above deep river gorges, and through stands of tall rain forests. High, spindly viaducts and numerous tunnels are typical features of the journey over the narrow, 3ft 6in gauge track.
The TranzAlpine Express has been running in its present form for more than five years. It is a train designed around visitors as most people take the ride without aspiring to reach any particular destination. A day return excursion from Christchurch to Greymouth, costing around NZ$60, is particularly popular.
"TranzAlpine" refers to the Southern Alps, which form a backbone to New Zealand's South Island--and were once a formidable barrier to coast to coast travellers. A coach road from east to west via Arthurs Pass and the Otira Gorge opened in 1866 to bring West Coast gold to Christchurch. A rail link had to wait until 1923 when the 5.3 mile Otira Tunnel was completed.
Tales in dusty old books tell of horrific tranzalpine journeys on Cobb and Co horse drawn coaches and, later, overlong and often unpleasant sooty train journeys. Today's TranzAlpine Express passengers make the journey in style and comfort.
Every morning at 910am the Tranz sets out on its return journey. But even before the train leaves the platform many travellers have made new friends.
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Sheepskin covered seats are set in bays of four around a table. Large panoramic windows installed in refurbished carriages offer the best possible views of diverse landscapes.
serves a variety of tasty lunches, New
Zealand beers and wines, and English-style Devonshire teas. A Devonshire tea (scones with jam and cream) served to passengers at their seats is included in the cost of the day excursion.
An open-sided observation carriage, ideal for photographers, is always included in the consist that is hauled by a 2500 hp diesel electric locomotive.
During the first hour the Tranz makes a quick pace across the Canterbury plains with the mountains seemingly looming larger with the sound of each rail joint. Small farming towns with curious names-- Kirwee, Darfield, and Sheffield--flash past. A few of New Zealand's 60 million sheep are seen in immaculately kept pastures. A train manager, once known as a "guard", and hostess, serve passengers. An informative commentary spiced with New Zealand folklore and humor is a feature of the journey.
Springfield, once a thriving railway depot filled with magnificent 4-8-4 steam locomotives, is the last station before the mountains. Here the Tranz pauses to wait for Rosie, an old border collie sheep dog that meets the train every day. Even if there are no passengers, the Tranz always stops for Rosie. She will return home wagging her tail after being fed a yesterday's railway pie. One Australian writer of childrens' books made a special trip to New Zealand to ride the Tranz and see Rosie for herself. Rosie is a celebrity.
Beyond Springfield the Tranz route twists and turns precariously above the Waimakariri River gorge with its clear deep blue water: through 16 short tunnels, and across five major viaducts--the highest at 235ft spans Staircase Creek--before emerging into a wide valley of brown tussock bordered by mountains. Anyone who has travelled the Canadian Rockies, Colorado, Alaska, or the Italian Alps will feel at home on the 43 mile section between Springfield and Arthurs Pass.
Arthurs Pass at 2417ft is the highest point on the trans alpine journey. In winter the Tranz may stop a little longer while passengers timidly test the depth of the snow. At any time of the year New Zealand's delightful mountain parrot, the kea, may unashamedly show off by sliding down the steep roof of the alpine style station.
From Arthurs Pass the Tranz dives down into the long Otira tunnel beneath the Southern Alps. When the tunnel was opened on August 4, 1923, it was the longest tunnel in the British Empire, and seventh longest in the world. It is now the third longest in New Zealand.
Otira, the first town beyond the long tunnel, is a small railway settlement sited in a narrow valley over- powered by steep rocky mountains. On a good day sunshine hours are brief: rain or drizzle are the norm.
Rusty relics of old steam locomotive maintenance equipment, and dwellings that have seen better days, are reminders of a once livelier town. But in late summer, as the Tranz leaves the tunnel, a glorious sight awaits rail travellers when scarlet Southern Rata in flower enlivens the normally sombre bush covering lower mountain slopes.
On towards the West Coast mountains are replaced by rain forests, lakes generously stocked with sizeable trout, and settlements sparsely populated with independent, and notoriously hospitable, people known as "Westcoasters". Here the train manager is in his element as he relates West Coast folklore and occasionally some incredibly tall stories.
Greymouth is reached after a short run beside the Grey River, past the Brunner mine remnants--the scene of New Zealand's worst mining tragedy when, in 1896, 67 coal miners were killed by an underground explosion. Greymouth, facing the wild Tasman Sea, is the end of the line for the TranzAlpine Express. About 50 minutes can be spent taking a bus tour around the town before boarding the train for the return journey to Christchurch.
Alternatively, passengers can leave the train at Greymouth and travel on to the South Westland glaciers, and a spectacular alpine national park that boasts world heritage status.
The TranzAlpine Express is known as one of the world's great train journeys. It is, however, just one of six popular New Zealand InterCity trains. Another, not to be missed, is the Coast Pacific Express that daily runs north from Christchurch, 217 miles to Picton, to connect with the Interislander ferry service to Wellington, and the North Island. The train, identical in composition to the Tranz- Alpine Express, offers the same panorama windows.
The scenery is varied too, as the railway emerges from rolling North Canterbury farmlands to the seaboard along the South Island east coast. For more than two hours the express occupies a narrow rugged coastline mostly jammed between steep mountains and the ocean.
Seals are prolific, seen basking in the sun, as are whales at Kaikoura, and the now well known whale watch tours. A one way ticket between Christchurch and Picton costs around NZ$40. A day excursion from Christchurch to Kaikoura and back is about $30. At Kaikoura sufficient time allows for a whale watch tour.
On board catering is one of the delights of a New Zealand train journey. Boxed lunches are specially recommended. They include a Goldminers lunch (salad and chicken), Canterbury Lamburgers, and the once infamous Railway Pie which in its new guise, makes a very tasty dish indeed!
Golden Age fares on all Intercity trains for people over 60 (including overseas visitors) offer a 30% discount on standard fares.
For more information please contact: New Zealand Tourism Board, 501 Santa Monica Blvd., Ste #300,
Santa Monica CA 90401. Ph. (310) 395-7480 or (800) 388-5494.
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MAINLINE STEAM TRUST- Train Excursions & Weekend Tours

Train buffs might want to consider a trip on one of New Zealand's steam train trips rather than the regular diesel runs. (This includes "Rail Photographers' Specials" with emphasis on Photo-stop opportunities). The public and train-enthusiasts who are interested in steam train excursions and weekend rail tours, etc. can inquire of Mainline Steam Trust, 7 Seaview Terrace, Mt. Albert, Auckland NZ.
Some examples among many are: JUNE 1995 (Sat. 17th): Auckland to Hamilton return for Agriculture Field Day at Mystery Creek. AUGUST 1995 (Sat.-Sun. 12-13th): Annual "Mid-Winter" 2-day Christchurch to Hokitika return to Greymouth only with o'night stop and social night at Hokitika. DECEMBER 1995 (Sat. 30th): Napier to Waikoau return (with barbeque at Eskdale Domain).

OVERNIGHT GUIDED WALKS TO ROUTEBURN VALLEY NOW AVAILABLE IN WINTER

Though crisp and cold, winter brings many periods of fine, clear, frosty weather to the Queenstown area--ideal for walking the historic and scenic Routeburn Valley. The sandflies have disappeared, the track is no longer crowded, and the overnight accommodation at Routeburn Flats provides an ideal opportunity for exploring at leisure the side-valleys and catchment of the Routeburn.
The guided walk features: gentle walking terrain, warm, cozy overnight accommodations, professional guides, superb food and company (max. group size 10 plus guides), packs, rainwear and bedding provided. Contact Liz Dickinson, Mgr., The Great Walk Way Ltd., P.O. Box 644, Queenstown NZ. Tel/fax (03)442-6794.
Also: Routeburn Walk Ltd., P.O. Box 568, Queenstown NZ. Phone 0064-3-442-8200.

ANTARCTIC ENCOUNTER

Millions have experienced the dream world of Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World, one of New Zealand's favourite visitor attractions since it opened in 1985. Now Kelly Tarlton's vision of creating an environment accessible to everyone has entered a new dimension--the exciting Antarctic Encounter.
Soak up the atnosphere of the first Antarctic explorers in an authentic replica of the hut explorer Sir Robert Scott used on his ill-fated expedition to the South Pole. Smell the whale blubber and tobacco smoke, hear the cold wind whistling outside and the pianola music that reminded the men of home.
Then board the specially heated snow cats for a taste of the Antarctic wilds. The snowcats plunge through a fierce whiteout storm, to emerge in the tranquil beauty of the Antarctic landscape, complete with sub-zero temperatures and real ice and snow.
A close brush with the mighty Orca, the killer whale, is a highlight of the Encounter. Hold onto your seat as a terrifyingly realistic replica Orca leaps to the attack.
Then it's into the future as the snow cat rides through Scott Base 2000--a Look at Antarctica in the next century.
From the Antarctic Encounter visitors move through to the famous Underwater World.
Kelly's Coach runs hourly between Kelly Tarl- ton's and downtown Auckland. Open daily 9am-9pm.

COUNTRY WALKERS

New Zealand is every walker's dream. The South Island provides a smorgasbord of scenic environments, mountain meadows, coastal rain forests, glacier valleys, and endless deserted beaches.
Our 12-day trip begins in Christchurch, the most British of cities on the South Island. The varied itinerary, with daily walking opportunities, takes you off the beaten path into many distinct settings. New Zealand is a small country. A few hours of travel in our comfortable mini bus can whisk you from a high mountain pass to a deserted ocean beach.
Our itinerary is an exciting one, with comfortable and distinctive hotel, motel and wilderness lodge accommodations.
November in New Zealand is mid-spring with average temperatures in the 60s and 70s. This is the perfect time to take in the Southern Hemisphere's glorious migration. February is late summer with temperatures in the 70s and 80s--a wonderful time to swim in the "gin clear" waters. March is the beginning of autumn.
You can get a brochure and full information from Country Walkers, P.O. Box 180, Waterbury VT 05676. Ph. 1-800-464-WALK(9255). Fax 802-244-5661.

IN AWE OF AUCKLAND--NO BEEF
WITH WELLINGTON - By Melissa Burdick Harmon
(reprinted from A&E Monthly)

"I'm thinking of going to New Zealand," I said to a friend. "Oh, Australianewzealand. Nice," came the response. "Well, no; actually, I'll just be going to New Zealand." "Oh. Really. Just New Zealand. Why?"
The confusion seemed ubiquitous. My husband, who should know better, asked me to bring him back a boomerang. Other people spoke of kangaroos. Many told me that they, too, had always wanted to visit "Australianewzealand," and seemed flabbergasted when I responded that they were two very different places, 1300 miles apart, and did not necessarily have to be visited as a unit.
If my American friends seemed confused by my wish to "go all that way" to visit a little island nation, inhabited by 3.4 million people and
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70 million sheep, my Australian friend, a professor at the University of Sydney, was not at all confused. She was adamantly opposed.
"Do not, under any circumstances, make this trip," she wrote. "You will not enjoy it. It rains all the time in New Zealand, there is a 12.5% 'grab and soak' (it's really called "Goods and Services") tax on absolutely everything, nothing really happens there, and besides," she added ominously, "you have to be athletic to enjoy New Zealand."
That did give me pause. But I was already too familiar with the Australians' condescending attitude toward their little neighbor to the southeast to take her warnings seriously. After all, when I'd been in Australia a few years ago, how many times had I participated in the following joke: "How do you start a small business in New Zealand?' "I don't know. How?" "You start a big business and hand it over to a New Zealander to run!"
Call it my innate sympathy for the underdog, but the more people tried to warn me away from this apparently damp and dull land populated by overtaxed, inept businesspeople, the more I wanted to go.
And go I did. What I found, of course, is that there is absolutely no such thing as Australianewzealand. New Zealand is as different from Australia as Stilton is from Cheddar or sherry from beer. The people are different, the climate is different, and the topography couldn't possibly be more different.
It really is, as an ad campaign proclaimed years ago, a whole world in a single country--offering Alps, Scandinavian-style fjords, tropical beaches, manicured sheep and deer farms, and pretty little English-style cities, all in a space the size of Colorado. It's a lovely country, one that deserves to be visited on its own, rather than as an optional add-on for tourists who have already worn themselves out chasing all over the vast expanses of Australia.
My Air New Zealand flight brought me to Auckland, the country's international gateway, its commercial center, and the capital of the Polynesian world. This pretty little town sits gracefully poised on a peninsula between two harbors, Waitemata and Manukau, and boasts more sailboats per capita than any other city in the world, as well as one of the highest standards of living.
People from all of the South Pacific islands are much in evidence in Auckland, including many Maori, whose ancestors sailed their canoes from the legendary island of "Hawaiki"--probably Tahiti--in about 850 A.D. to become the first settlers of the islands later known as New Zealand.
Unfortunately, on the day I got to Auckland, it was closed. (Yes, this was another joke I'd heard in Australia, but it turned out to be true.) I arrived on a Sunday morning, and while I cannot actually prove it, I do believe that, other than the person who checked me into the hotel and the kindly soul who served me my burger and fries at McDonald's (the only dining establishment I could find open in the city), I was the only human being on the streets of Auckland that day.
The explanation for this, other than strong prohibitions against businesses being open on a Sunday, is that New Zealand is a country of suburbs, or as travel writer Paul Theroux described in his book The Happy Isles of Oceania: Paddling the Pacific, New Zealand is a "bungaloid place...it is bungalows and more bungalows and little fragile chalets...and none of them is higher than the trees around it." (My Australian friend refers grimly to Theroux's somewhat cantankerous book as Panning the Pacific She seems to have taken it personally.)
He is right, though, about the bungalows. Apartment houses are virtually unheard-of in this as-yet under- populated country. Almost every city-dwelling family lives in a tiny home on a plot of land that may be as small as an eighth of an acre. This style of living does create an image of relative equality--I didn't see great divisions between rich and poor here, at least among New Zealanders of European descent. However, it also leads to empty downtowns after hours and on weekends, truly a shame in a country that has such lovely cities.
Undaunted by this inner-city solitude, I made my way to the Auckland Institute and Museum, the city's 50- year-old crown jewel which houses one of the world's largest displays of Maori and Polynesian treasures. Its centerpiece is a magnificent 93-foot-long Maori canoe, built in the early 1800s from a single log and able to accommodate 100 warriors. The elaborate carvings on the canoe would have matched the tattoos on the warriors' faces (a familiar sight to people who saw tattooed Maoris in the film The Piano).
From Auckland I made my way to Rotorua, the Yellowstone National Park of the Southern Hemisphere, complete with Old Faithful-style geysers and a pervasive smell of sulphur that began to make me feel nauseous as time went by. The beauty of Rotorua, for it is quite beautiful, lies completely in its uniqueness.
The whole area has a surreal quality, from its mysterious limestone caverns to its fields of black lava to a bright blue, inviting-looking lake that is actually filled with the natural equivalent of battery acid. In Rotorua nothing is as it should be. Mud bubbles, ponds hiss, steam gushes violently out of unexpected places, and bright yellow sulphur deposits appear festive, if not down- right gaudy, against the backdrop of brown mud and black lava.
Rotorua also has the largest concentration of Maori in New Zealand, and it is interesting to pay a visit to its Maori Arts and Crafts Institute, where artisans of Maori descent ("But dear, most of us have some Maori blood," a very Anglo-looking carver explained to me) learn to keep traditional carving and flax-weaving skills alive.
While Australians tried to convince me not to visit New Zealand, it was New Zealanders who tried to convince me not to visit Wellington, my next stop. "Why do you want to go there? There's nothing there except the 'beehive' (New Zealand's modernistic--and unfortunately round--Parliament Building), and who wants to see that?"
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I heard this so often that I actually almost decided to skip New Zealand's capital city, but since it was on my route south I made my intended stop.
And what a surprise. Wellington certainly deserves a place on my Top Ten Favorite Cities of the World list. First of all, it is breathtakingly beautiful. Second, it is a sunny place--not always the rule in New Zealand, whose name in Maori is "Aotearoa--the land of the long white cloud." And third, it resembles another world-class city, San Francisco, in the way its streets slope down from the hills to the harbor, in the way its little Victorian pastel "painted-lady" homes cling to the hillsides, and in the way its cable cars proceed indefatigably up the steep mountain (all right, there is only one cable car, but it is bright red like those in San Francisco and it adds a lot of charm to an already captivating city).
But most important for me, Wellington, unlike Auckland, truly is a lived-in city, and a proud sponsor of things cultural. Its biennial Festival of the Arts has featured an eclectic group of performers including Mel Torme, Laurie Anderson, Midori, Sir Michael Tippett, the Juilliard String Quartet, and the Abbey Theatre. Wellington also has a surprisingly lively threater scene. I was able to choose among almost a dozen theater offer- ings--quite remarkable in a city of only a third of a million people. The New Zealand Symphony is based here, as is the National Art Gallery and the Museum, devoted to New Zealand painting. The brand new National Library (what can be bad about a city that brags endlessly about its library?) houses a massive collection of books on Pacific history, as well as many drawings done by early New Zealanders.
Christchurch, the main city of the South Island, likes to bill itself as "more English than England," and the description is apt. The city was founded in 1850 by the Canterbury Association, a group of British church and political leaders whose dream was to create a model com- munity following the principles of the Anglican Faith. The Association sent out a brave band of early settlers called the Canterbury Pilgrims, who by 1890 turned an area of swampland and scrub into one of the world's best-designed and prettiest cities. These early settlers were a homesick lot, and they created "home"--in all its tree- lined, rose-gardened, neo-Gothic splendor--in one of the world's most remote places. The irony is that while "home", Britain, has changed a great deal since the 1890s, Christchurch has not, it is a place that seems frozen in time--so much so that it appears a bit unreal: a Walt Disney version of what England should be like.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed all the Britishness of Christchurch. The streets--named Oxford and Cambridge, Coventry, Airedale, Hereford, Southwark, and the like--are custom-designed for strolling. There is a charming floral clock reminiscent of the one in Edinburgh's Princes Gardens. There is Cambridge-style punting on the River Avon. There is a minuscule Anglican cathedral where rosy-cheeked choir boys can be heard trilling sweetly at Evensong. And most
English and attractive of all, there is the city's Arts Centre, situated in neo- Gothic cloistered buildings that look as though they've been airlifted from Oxford, and that once did in fact house the local university. The Arts Centre is now home to an excellent theater, numerous dining spots, and shops offering all kinds of local crafts, including hand-turned bowls from native wood and hand-knit sweaters from native wool.
But most of all I enjoyed my journey aboard the TranzAlpine Express, which departs Christchurch each morning for a journey across the flat,sheep-studded farm- lands of the Canterbury Plains and then climbs the soaring Southern Alps to the rainy and desolate west coast of the South Island. The TranzAlpine is one of the world's great remaining train journeys and can be done roundtrip in a day (they'll serve you lunch and Devonshire cream tea aboard), or can be broken by a stay at one of the west coast's attractive fishing lodges. I did the latter, spending time at the historic Lake Brunner Lodge, noted for its trout fishing. This remote inn is the only place in New Zealand I encountered other Americans, who were there, they told me, because "fishing in New Zealand is like fishing in the American West the way it used to be."
It's hard to say exactly what I found so compelling about New Zealand. Maybe it's the power of so much startlingly beautiful scenery compressed in such a little space. Maybe it's the unique juxtaposition of Polynesian and British cultures living side by side in a landscape that looks more European than Pacific. Maybe it's because New Zealand seems to be such a hidden treasure, over- shadowed as it always is by its larger English-speaking neighbor to the west. Maybe it's the feeling of solitude that is so pervasive in this most isolated of the world's countries.
Whatever it is, it left me with a sense that I wanted to visit again and again.
Just before her death in Paris in 1923, expatriate New Zealand writer Katherine Mansfield wrote: "New Zealand is in my very bones. What wouldn't I give to have a look at it."
Everyone should have a look at it--if possible, on a trip dedicated exclusively to its own cities and scenes, or as second choice, as part of a visit to that ever-popular tourist destination, Australianewzealand.

CHRISTCHURCH's NEW-OLD-TRAMS -
by Dennis A. Cavagnaro

On February 4th, 1995, Waitangi Weekend holiday, Christchurch became the latest city in the world to rebuild and operate its long abandoned trams (streetcars). While the tracks are new, the cars bright and colorful, trams are antique works of art.
Forty years ago, Christchurch's familiar fleet of cream and green trams disappeared from the city's streets. This extensive urban and suburban transport system was introduced in 1880 with steam-powered trams which were later followed by horse-drawn models. Then finally
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in 1905, electricity was used to power these noble carriages which served the local residents well for half a century until 1954.
Christchurch once again re-lives the nostalgia of this romantic era with the opening of the new Christchurch Tramway. Thanks to the foresight of the Christchurch City Council's inner city enhancement plans, together with the commitment and enthusiasm of the Tramway Historical Society of Christchurch based at Ferrymead Historic Park, three of the original electric tramcars and two trailers trundle around a 2.5 kilometer track past some of Christchurch's most popular sites.
All have been lovingly and faithfully restored to their former glory by a team of dedicated craftspeople and ardent amateurs. Each one has a character all its own. Boon & Company of Christchurch built No. 152 (The Boon) in 1910, No. 178 (The Brill) in 1921, and Trailer No. 115 (The Duckhouse) in 1908. The Boxcar, Tram No. 11, was constructed by Brill and Company of Philadelphia in 1903 with the remaining Trailer No. 18, or The Dunedin Horse Tram, having been built by Guthrie Larnach in 1879. Since they were first commissioned into service, some underwent modifications to comply with the changing transport regulations of the day.
Following the Christchurch City Council's consideration to develop Worcester Boulevard, a proposal to include an historic electric tramway to link the Arts Centre, Botanic Gardens, and the Museum with Cathedral Square and its adjacent shopping complexes was put forward in 1990. Approval to proceed with an extended Tramway project was granted in March 1993.
The tramway itself was designed and built by the Christchurch City Council as is the Tramshed (car barn) where the trams are based. The trams themselves are leased by the Tramway Historical Society to the operators, Shotover Jet Limited.
The 2.5 km route commences in Cathedral Square and travels west down Worcester Boulevard, past Noahs Hotel with the first of ten strategically-located stops at the Christchurch Visitor Centre. The next two stops are at the Arts Centre Market and Clock Tower. The trams then turn right into Rolleston Avenue passing the Botanic Gardens, Canterbury Museum, Robert McDougal Art Gallery and Christ's College. After turning right once again at the entrance to North Hagley Park, they stop in Armagh Street at Cramner Square, the Law Courts, and Victoria Square.
Twice the trams cross the Avon River on bridges decorated with Victorian-era iron grillwork. Gondolas are available for punting on the Avon. New Zealand's first and still only casino is just two short blocks away.
The trams then turn onto the newly-developed New Regent Street pedestrian precinct for a stop and then come finally to the multi-million dollar Cathedral Junction and shopping complex presently under construction. These convenient stops provide local residents and visitors alike the opportunity to hop on and off to explore further as they wish.
The existing multi-story 19th century building at Cathedral Junction has been gutted and is being rebuilt to house many retail shops. At the Junction one tram line splits off to the Tramshed and the other turns into the street behind Christchurch Cathedral. On either track the trams actually pass through the building.
The trams have been "blessed" by Christchurch's "Wizard" who holds forth daily, cajoling an interested audience on the steps in front of the Cathedral.
The fare structure has been arranged in such a way as to encourage people to alight and reboard as many times as they wish within specific ticket time frames. For example, one and four hour tickets are available as well as full day passes. Tickets may be purchased from the conductor as passengers board the tram. The operators will be promoting the service heavily to inbound tour operators and the conference and incentive travel industry offering custom-tailored packages and charters by arrangement.
The Christchurch Tramway operates 365 days a year with a continuous service every 15 minutes or so from early morning until late evening, and are able to carry up to 300 passengers at any one time. In addition to the obvious appeal to visitors to Christchurch, the Tramway is expected to provide an easy, convenient and affordable way for local residents to travel around the inner city.
Already the Christchurch trams have proven successful. They have not only drawn tourists, they've brought into the area new retail shops and restaurants. And they've starred in the internationally distributed New Zealand film Heavenly Creatures.
Christchurch's success has Dunedin's civic leaders considering rebuilding that city's San Francisco-style cable car system--abandoned in 1957--to climb its steep hills.

CHRISTCHURCH: TRAMWAY TO TRIUMPH
From City Voice , Wellington

When Christchurch's first electric tramway opened in 1905 the citizenry swamped the new fangled vehicles. The Lyttelton Times recorded: "The citizens of Christchurch played with their new tramway system all day yesterday and into last night until they were tired. The patronage was unprecedented and entirely unexpected. The cars as they ran through Cathedral Square held large numbers of bystanders in a kind of fascination..." The Edwardian newspaper report could have been reported 90 years later. On 4 February 1995 thousands crushed aboard to try the novelty of a tram ride around a 2.5 km circuit of inner city streets. Three weeks later the numbers had hardly slackened, with standing room only even late into the evening. With early patronage far ahead of projections, the operator, Shotover Jet Ltd, is searching for more trams and looking at extensions to the route. Proving profitable in its own right, the tramway is also a focus for new business investments in the inner city. The New Regent St. shopping precinct has been converted to a mall for pedestrians and trams. Under construction is
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Cathedral Junction, a large indoor shopping complex which the trams will enter and exit through automatic doors. The arts centre, museum, many restaurants and several large hotels have also been boosted by tram stops at their front doors. Property values have risen along the route, and businesses elsewhere in the city are now crying out for their own tram lines!

A LEISURELY TOUR OF THE EAST CAPE - From the N.Z. Backpackers News (see below)

"Head to the East Cape" is the advice you will get from Chet Patterson from New Hampshire, USA.
Travelling with Franz Zoeller from Switzerland, and Nicole Apperbauch from Canada, they bought a car in Auckland and headed for a region rich in natural beauty and renowned for its friendly people.
First stop was Ohope, a small holiday town with 11km of beach where they were treated to some "great home cooked pies and muffins by the hosts at Ohope Beach Backpackers." Chet even managed a game of golf and described the town as "so laid back."
A highlight at their next stop, Opotiki, was collecting mussells, pipi and cockles and making a delicious seafood chowder from a recipe left on the kitchen wall by backpackers.
Arriving at Hicks Bay Backpackers Lodge, Chet, Franz and Nicole joined in an international game of soccer on the beach before their hosts Don and Diane "took us on a little expedition to catch paua. They know where there are heaps of them, and we made paua fritters for tea". A highlight at Hicks Bay involved getting up early the next morning and, along with Don and Diane, driving to where the road ends, then walking to the lighthouse on the East Cape. "There you are the first to see the new day and it's beautiful because you see all the colours in the rainbow". Tokomaru Bay, described by Chet as "my favourite place on the east Cape and maybe all of NZ," was the next stop where the local Maori culture proved to the the highlight.
The weekend they arrived the local Maori performed their final haka before leaving to compete in the national championships. "We were in the right place at the right time--it even gave me goose bumps". The hostel there is really small and well run by a local Maori, who had crayfish delivered to the hostel by a local fisherman. The pub right on the beach has a verandah "just the place to relax with a beer."
Travelling on to Gisborne and the last stop on their Eastland visit they discovered the Smash Palace Winery-Bar--" here they make their own wine and store it in Myler Bags, not the traditional oak casks. It's worth a visit".
Summing up his journey Chet described it as "a wonderful area to see because so many tourists never make it there--they bypass it. It has beautiful parks, wonderful mountains and the locals are extremely friendly. Like any country these out of the way places are the most enjoyable. Check it out!"
AUCKLAND'S COAST-TO-COAST WALKWAY - From N.Z. Backpackers News

If you want to explore a new city, don't take a bus, car or taxi. Put on a sturdy pair of shoes and Start walking!
Auckland has its very own walking track that guides visitors from one coast of the North Island to the other. (Have a look on a map--it's a very narrow isthmus).
The Coast to Coast walkway passes through the bustle of the city centre to quiet woodland settings and streams. It also provides great views of the city, harbour, and hills, archaeological sites, old and new buildings, native birds and plants, parks and gardens.
The total distance is about 13km and it takes about four hours at an easy walking speed. The Coast to Coast Walkway is for everyone from quiet strollers to purposeful trampers, and it's clearly marked with signs. Bus routes and car parking places are never far from the track so you can choose how far you want to walk. (Or you might like to finish it another day).
Pick up a map of the walkway from the Department of Conservation office in Liverpool Street or the Visitors Information Centre in Aotea Square.

$10 ROOMS AT THE STONEHURST! - From the NZ Backpackers News (see below)

Backpackers are flocking to the Stonehurst Hotel, Christchurch, to take advantage of the new unisex, non- facility, multi-share rooms at their Lodge.
These are perfect for backpackers on a tight budget and, although the Stonehurst tradition of shouting their guests a free beer or wine for every night's stay paid for in advance does not apply, and the maximum Stay is for 2 nights only, this is a great cost-saving way to experience all the facilities the Stonehurst has to offer--like their massive swimming pool, cheap meals, free book and magazine exchange and fully equipped gymnasium!
Reservations are essential so telephone the Stonehurst on (03) 379 4620 quoting your credit card number to make sure of your booking.

(The New Zealand Backpackers News opens the door for visitors to New Zealand! For absolutely no cost or obligation a complimentary copy of the newspaper will be maiLed overseas. Contact: NZ BACKPACKER'S NEWS, 50 Somme Street, St. Albans, Christchurch, NZ).

LETTER BOX

We spent three weeks touring both islands of New Zealand recently and found the people charming and the country beautiful. Our trip was made especially successful due in no small part to the insights we have gleaned from the KIWIphile FILE over the last few years.
May we offer a couple of suggestions to your readers on accommodation and car hire.
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Because many subscribers had suggested McDonalds Rent-A-Car, we thought we'd give them a try, but were disappointed to learn from our Toronto travel agent (who deals exclusively with Downunder and Asian destinations) that they had not heard of them, nor had their contact in New Zealand! Not easily discouraged, I decided to find them when we arrived in Auckland. This I did, with the help of our wonderful B&B hosts (more on them later), and we were treated royally by McDonalds. (Ed.--There is an agency in the US which handles reservations with McDonalds: Southern Cross Tours, 206 Indiana Ave., Ste B-3, Coeur d'Alene ID 83814. Ph. 1-800-793-2999.)
We rented the car in Auckland and turned it in two weeks later in Christchurch (we saw Auckland and Christchurch on foot). The staff in both cities was extremely pleasant and in Christchurch, Mr. McDonald himself wanted to know if we had found comfortable accommodation. When we said we were staying at a motel that we didn't like too well, he started phoning around until he found a vacancy at a quiet motel near the Avon and within walking distance to everything. Mr. McDonald loaned us a car so we could check out of our motel and on our return they drove us to the mote! personally. What service! And reasonable rental prices!
For anyone who has trouble contacting McDonalds, they have four offices: Auckland, Rotorua, Christchurch, and Picton. The Auckland address is 1 Salesyard Road, Otahuhu. Phone (09) 276-8574; Fax (09) 276-6436; their Christchurch address (head office) is 171 Armagh Street (Phone (03) 366- 0929; Fax (03) 366-0927.
I'd also like to recommend a delightful couple who run a B&B in Auckland--Lloyd & Jacqueline Walker, at 13 Birdwood Crescent, Parnell, Auckland 1, NZ Phone (09)377-3393. Parnell is an upscale district with wonderful restaurants, shops and galleries and within walking distance of downtown Auckland, gardens, museums and cultural centres. The Walkers made us feel very welcome and Lloyd surprised us by making all the necessary arrangements for our car rental before we even arrived. He also drove us to the car rental on our last day with them, as well as dropping us off at the Garden Show and giving us great information on city sights, etc. Highly recommended!
Enjoy your newsletter.
Pat Lewis, Waubaushene, Ont., Canada

The March newsletter is the best we've seen, and we've been getting it for a few years. You've outdone yourself this time!
Stanley Searles, Mill Valley, California

Excerpt from a letter re. visit to the South Island .....
The trip had its pleasant moments but I found some of the long stretches on the road in the heat to be very trying, so age must be finally catching up with me. I was lonely at times, but had many good conversations with young backpackers from around the world and am excited and stimulated by their awareness. Uke ships that pass in the night I felt sad when farewelling some of these young people after having
their company for a day or two and feeling so compatible in spite of the age and cultural differences. They were mostly avid for information and to learn as much as possible about our history and way of life, etc., and it is surprising how much humans have in common. These young people are starting out on the path of life and one wonders where they'll end up. A lot of them are quite apprehensive about a secure future in this technological age and many of them, particularly the West Europeans and Asians, would like to drop out in the relaxed open spaces of NZ to escape the rigid, stratified, pressured urban societies of the old world.
Apart from a couple of brief cool changes, the South turned on some exceptionally warm weather for February. Two days in Dunedin were the hottest recorded for over 60 years, round 35deg.C (100 deg.F). It was unbearable. Quite a lot of the time afternoon temps got into the 30's and the nights were also mild.
Another impression was the number of tourists on the road--"No vacancies" signs on motels, difficulty gethng a bed in the hostels at times. Proprietors told me it just gets busier each year and the backpackers' hostels continue to proliferate--they are everywhere and some of them are of very good quality, too. Itinerant backpackers represent quite a big segment of the tourism trade nowadays, and they are not quite so despised as they were a few years ago.
Richard Croft, New Zealand

From America On Line:

I wonder if a 35 year old professional, residential contractor could migrate to New Zealand and provide a good life for his wife and two small daughters? Could you provide any insight as to economic conditions, primary educational systems, housing, etc.
I've been relatively successful here in the Seattle area. Am I nuts to be thinking about emigrating to New Zealand?
T3Wood
(Ed. I answered the request as well as I could-- assuring him he is not nuts, and if I were in his circumstances and his age, I would not hesitate to make a try)
His response:
We've been in contact with the NZ consulate and I've reviewed their conditions for immigrants. We can meet them! I think the next step is to learn more about the different parts of the country and pick 2 or 3 spots that we think we would like (and that would like us) and study them a bit.
I have a B.S. Degree in construction management and 10.5 years of experience in building homes. For 8.5 years I worked in the management of a fairly large residential developer (100-150 homes/year) in the Puget Sound region east of Seattle. I resigned
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as their General Manager to start my own company at the end of 1992.
I've been successful only because I'm stubborn enough to work 80+ hours a week, but I don't want to keep it up forever. I'd rather spend some time with my kids. The kids are the most important thing and I sincerely wonder if I wouldn't be doing them a service by taking them to a place like NZ and away from a place like suburban America.
Isn't it strange to think: my maternal grandparents were raised in Italy, my paternal great-grandparents in Norway. If I emigrate with my family to NZ, America will have been nothing more than a multi-generational lay-over in one family's journey.
Some of those migrants spilled blood in every American war of this century. And now their nation has declined to such an extent (or is it that their government has failed to such an extent), that a guy like me is thinking of moving on for the same reasons that my not-so- distant ancestors left their homes. I guess that's what being free is all about, isn't it?
Well anyway, if you have any favorite cities or regions that you'd suggest for further study, we'd be glad to hear about them, and if you have any ideas about the home building industry, I'd be interested in that also.
T. Wood, Seattle, Washington
(Ed.--If anyone has some thoughts to pass on to Mr. Wood, I'll be happy to forward your letters. Thanks.)

ETC. From Los Angeles Times

* New Zealanders eat more bananas per household than any other country on earth.
* Citizens of New Zealand and Australia are among the world's top foreign travelers.
* New Zealanders invented the bobby pin, postage stamp vending machine, baggage carousel and jet boat, as well as bungee jumping and Velcro.
* Ernest Rutherford, New Zealander, was the first person to split the atom in 1919. Ironically, New Zealand remains nuclear -free.
* New Zealand has the highest number of golf courses and bookstores per capita of any country in the world-- one of each for every 7,500 people.

FISHING WITHIN EASY DISTANCE OF TIMARU (From Central S.I. Tourist Guide)

Fishing in the lakes, tarns, ponds and canals around Tekapo is all within an easy driving distance of Timaru on the South Island, and is available all year round in the lakes and canals.
In other waters, the season extends from the first Saturday in November to April 30.
Naturally all fishermen need a license, and these can be had from many outlets at modest cost, to cover one day, a week, or for a season.
Lake Alexandrina, just behind Mt. John, is a
popular fishing spot, but it is a wildlife refuge and power boats are excluded.
Both brown and rainbow trout are available and fish can range up to three kilograms, although in Lake Tekapo and the canals where food is less plentiful, the average fish is more likely to be between one and 1.5 kilograms.
For up to the minute advice on conditions, licenses, fishing gear, or guides, call on Steve Johnson at the Musterer's Pack Dairy in Tekapo.
From Timaru it is a simple matter to plan a day trip that will also give you some amazing sightseeing and a wide variety of fishing.

EAR OF FLYING? PLUGS AIM TO EASE PAIN - L.A. Times-Washington Post Service

So chewing gum, simulating huge yawns and clamping little paper cups stuffed with wet paper towels over your ears doesn't stop your ears from hurting during takeoff and landing? A new remedy just hit the market.
Called EarPlanes, these silicon earplugs contain a filter that's supposed to help your ear slowly adjust to changes in the cabin's atmospheric pressure and alleviate your suffering.
Ear pain during flight is caused by the pressure in the cabin changing faster than the air pressure in your middle ear and your eardrum being sucked in or pushed out by the resulting imbalance in pressure, explains Dr. Sigfrid Soli of the House Ear Institute in Los Angeles who helped develop the earplugs.
Most people experience the most pain on landing because it's harder for air to get into the ear than out of it to equalize the pressure, he says. "By putting in the plug, you seal your ear, letting air in through the filler and slowly changing the pressure on the eardrum."
One pair of EarPlanes is supposed to last for one round trip and sell for about $5 in drug stores or can be ordered by calling (800) 327-6151. A version for kids was due in April.

NEW ZEALAND GOLF - from FOCUS, N.Z. Post

Along with pipe bands, the Presbyterian Sunday, and a tradition of warm hospitality, the game of golf followed the Scots to New Zealand. It all began in that most Scottish of cities, Dunedin, when a young whisky distiller named Charles Howden called a meeting of leading citizens to form a golf club in 1871. The game grew slowly until the 1890s, when a surge in its popularity in Great Britain was mirrored in the colonies.
In 1899 a national golfing body was formed in New Zealand. By the beginning of the Great War, with both small towns and major centres taking up the game, there were 73 clubs throughout the country.
In recent decades the game has boomed. New Zealand's abundance of open space, perhaps the single most important requirement for the game, has permitted
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has permitted the number of golf clubs to grow to 400.
Nearly 113,000 registered golfers, men and women, now enjoy the sport year round. Just as New Zealand is well-known worldwide for its beauty, so too are the golf courses.

NEWZGRAM--The News Aerogramme of New Zealand
(Newzgram is a four page news aerogramme produced twice a month for Kiwis living abroad [and those of us who live elsewhere but love NZ]. For more information write to Newzgram, P0 Box 3882, Christchurch NZ. Ph. 3 355 9222/fax 3 355 9337.)

From Newzgram:
* A group of US war veterans who were in NZ during WWII toured the North Island in early November. Thousands of Americans passed through the country during the war, following a directive from President Roosevelt to protect NZ from the threat of invasion by Japan.
* Christchurch hosted a 10-day Festival of Romance believed to be the only one of its kind in the world. More than 100 events, ranging from contemporary theatre to workshops on romance writing were held in the lead-up to Valentine's Day on February 14.
* Two British companies plan to develop a new cancer drug discovered by a team of Auckland scientists. The drug DACA has shown a remarkable ability to kill cancer cells with minimal damage to healthy cells. Britain's Cancer Research Campaign Team believes the drug has the potential to treat cancer effectively where conventional chemotherapy fails.
* The entire scenic road through the South Island's Haast Pass is now sealed, 60 years after work began. The final 5km stretch along the shore of Lake Wanaka--considered a nightmare drive by some motorists--was sealed in January and was to be officially opened on April 1.
* A young goat was traded in to an Invercargill appliance store in exchange for $300 off a Masport lawn- mower. The store had offered a trade-in on mowers of "any make, model or condition."

REFUGEES AT HOME

The nightly call of the little spotted kiwi, silent in the forests of New Zealand's mainland, will now be heard on Tiritiri Matangi.
The bird sanctuary in the Hauraki Gulf has become the home of five pairs of the bird transferred earlier this year from Kapiti Island off the west coast of Wellington. They join several other species of rare New Zealand birds who are thriving in the absence of predators on outlying islands.
The transfer is an important part of the Department of Conservation's work to ensure the distribution and genetic diversity of kiwi. A buff-grey mottled bird with brown bands, little spotted kiwi--Apteryx oweni-- are the rarest of the existing six species of kiwi. Their former habitat, widespread through the country, has shrunk to a few offshore islands, further out of the reach of wild pigs, dogs, cats and stoats. Other kiwi species are also at risk and have become refugees in their own country.
In a ceremony that made the news, the engaging little spotted kiwi were accompanied to Tiritiri Matangi by representatives of Ngati Toa and Te Ata Awa tribes who handed them over to the care of the Kawerau tribe.
Five hundred people travelled from the mainland to welcome the birds to their new home and to watch them being released into five specially prepared burrow sites. The project was sponsored by the Bank of New Zealand.

AKAROA CRUISES - from Tourist Times
A visit to Akaroa is not complete without a trip on the Canterbury Cat--Cruise in covered comfort around Akaroa Harbour. You will visit the best example of a volcanic sea cave in New Zealand and pass Nikau Palm Gully, a reserve where the southernmost stand in New Zealand is to be found. At Lucas Bay you will stop to watch young salmon being fed (here they are raised in pens for export and the local market).
On your trip you will catch glimpses of the little white-flippered blue penguins found only around the Canterbury coast. The highlight of the daily cruise is to meet up with schools of Hector Dolphins; these friendly and inquisitive mammals play round the boat during the months Nov-April.
Your cruise will be fully narrated by your captain, who has a very wide knowledge of life on the Harbour. He will tell you many fascinating stories of the history and wildlife of Akaroa. The Canterbury Cat offers tourists a very large observation deck from which to view the natural wonders of the Akaroa Harbour, as well as a covered cabin which seats 50 plus. Tickets may be obtained next door to the Akaroa Village Inn (opposite main wharf).

THE FISH - - Maui was the creater-discoverer of New Zealand. Out fishing with his brothers, he made his nose bleed and baited a hook with its blood. His brothers laughed as he dropped the hook into the water, but they fell silent when the canoe was rocked by a savage tug. Maui hauled and hauled, and the sea swirled into rough whirlpools until the fish, Te-Ika-a-Maui, the North Island, was dragged from its depths.

READERS - Write about your visit to New Zealand. Your story will interest and assist many who are planning their first or next visit to NZ. Don't worry about your writing ability. We can fix it up for you. Thanks.
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