I have always had my favourite spots in Ōtautahi Christchurch and the South Island. It’s where I visited most as a kid and eventually lived for a short time. I have a lot of favourite spots, as does everyone who’s ever visited. Aotearoa New Zealand is famous around the world for its stunning beauty. We are always in the Top Five places to visit, often awarded first place status. Proud as I am to be a Kiwi, I have never seen the entire country and am on a mission to fix that.
When we lived here in 2005, we didn’t have a lot of money for entertainment, so we’d go on weekend adventures. We’d get up on Saturdays, pick a direction and off we’d go, our car loaded up with food, drinks, blankets, pillows, and our cruising music. We’d pick a destination in our chosen direction and set off.
One of my biggest (literally and figuratively) favourite things in Aotearoa New Zealand are the Southern Alps. I was literally rendered speechless the first time I saw them and my friends would tell you being quiet isn’t one of my strong suits. I grew up on a tiny tropical island near the equator called Guam, or Guahan. It’s summer all year round. No snow, no Alps. Guam does boast the tallest mountain in the world from below sea level, but you can find that story in the writing section of my portfolio. Today is for the Alps and finding snow.
When we moved back to Aotearoa New Zealand, we started going on weekend adventures again, creating the stories that will soon fill this blog. We’d been home for a few weeks before I saw the Alps. As I do every time I see them, I gasped out loud. Really. The Alps are so beautiful, they always take my breath away. So, we started driving towards them.
A cousin once said to me, “I love driving around New Zealand with you. I am so used to seeing it, that I forget how beautiful it is. You make me see it again through your eyes.” What a nice compliment! I don’t think I could ever not see how stunning Aotearoa New Zealand is. It’s too gorgeous for me not to notice, love, and sometimes gasp in wonder.
The ultimate destination was Arthur’s Pass and our goal was to find snow. When we last lived in New Zealand, going to Arthur’s Pass was one of our favourite drives. It’s stunning and there are lots of sheep and cows along the way. My driver, (aka – my amazing son), knows I have a deep affection for cows and sheep and have always wanted to pet them. We’ll get to sheep in another post, but today, we’re going to embark on “The Great New Zealand Tour of Stubborn Cows.”
The tour of cows began in 1997 with a herd that wasn’t stubborn at all. We were in Ōtaki visiting relatives and visited my grandmother’s grave on the day we were heading back to Guam. The cemetery was on a little hill next to the marae. A marae is considered a tapu (sacred) space to Māori, the indigenous people of Aotearoa. It is a beautiful structure where the living connect with their ancestors and heritage. The Māori had honored my grandmother by allowing the whanau (family) to be with her at the marae during the days before her funeral.
We walked up the little hill to say goodbye to my grandmother. When we got there, I immediately saw cows in a field above the cemetery. I couldn’t resist and told my aunt and cuzzy that I was going up the slope to “moo” at the cows and I did. Suddenly, every cow in the field began walking over to the rather flimsy fence that separated us. It was the first time I had seen a cow up close. I hadn’t realized how huge they are. Fearing for my toes should the cows decide to walk through the fence, I backed off. My son walked right up to them. I was too scared by their size to try and rub any noses that day and have regretted it ever since.
Every trip to New Zealand, regardless of which relative I am with, they know there will be a “find cows close to a fence” adventure – probably more than one. I have mooed at cows in the North Island and all over the South Island, but I have never been able to recreate the experience at Ōtaki. Personally, I think there was a big cow meeting, and it was decided they would ignore me for not petting them. Sneaky cows. The reality is more likely that fences are now electrified, and they know better than to get too close. (“Wow. First, she won’t pet us, now she’s trying to lure us over to get electrocuted.”) But I keep mooing at them.
On our way to Arthur’s Pass that day, I couldn’t stop looking at the mountains. When I turned my head the other direction, I briefly saw something as we whizzed by that I was convinced I had imagined. My favourite cow is a black & white one. My second favourite is a Highland cow. I could have sworn I’d just seen a herd of different coloured Highland cows. I made my son promise we’d stop and see on our way back.
When we arrived at Arthur’s Pass, I experienced the same sense of vertigo I’d been experiencing when I saw how much things changed in 19 years. It looked nothing like I remembered. There were stores and a heap more homes. Years ago, the main feature of the little town was the Arthur’s Pass Café & Store. Fortunately, it was still there but closed for the day. I love that place! I was chased around the store by a kea on one visit. I thought it was in love, and it was – with the little sparkling things on my jandals (also, known as thongs, flip-flops, or zories). If you’re in Christchurch, a drive up to Arthur’s Pass is well worth it! And stop at the café and store, the food is yummy! But watch out for keas, they’re cute but very naughty, especially to cars!
We began our journey home. On the way, we stopped to see the Devil’s Punchbowl, a beautiful waterfall cascading down a mountain for 131 metres. It was really raging thanks to all the melting snow. When we got out of the car, I started hearing voices. There was no one anywhere around us, so I decided it was the spirits of the waterfall welcoming us.
We continued on, with me glancing left and right for cows or snow. We finally found some snow. There was about an 1/8 of an inch of snow on the side of the road, so I was only able to make a snowworm instead of a snowman. We’ll go back next winter and do a proper snowman.
Moving on, I kept my eyes glued to the right side of the road, looking for those imaginary cows. Turns out they weren’t imaginary after all! Suddenly, there was a herd of gorgeous Highland cows in all different colors. I had no idea they came in different colors. I’d only ever seen the red ones (again, online). They were so pretty and although they wouldn’t come over when I mooed at them, they did turn their heads and stare at me like I was a nut. They wouldn’t come near me. Apparently, they’d been at that big cow convention, too, and knew to stay away from the crazy lady who mooed.
Thank you for reading Chasing Mountains, Finding Cows and for joining me on my continuing adventures to see my home, all of Aotearoa New Zealand. I have been working on several posts about some of the little towns, but small as they are, they each have a big story to tell so its taking a longer to capture of the charm and history. I don’t want to miss a bit of it.
Follow us on Facebook and be on the lookout for our next post in two weeks! Ka kite anō!