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Most people who travel here end up renting a car or a camper, but considering I don’t really enjoy driving, and I felt a little challenged by driving on a different side of the road, I decided to use public transit. I bought an intercity bus pass, which I have been completely impressed with due to the ease to book trips, change them, and linked into different transportation systems. My first experience was catching the inter-islander ferry from Wellington to Picton, and then taking a bus from there to Blenheim.

The ferry ride was so beautiful. The route went through a channel surrounded by islands, very similar to our pacific coast. The ferries were really interesting as they had a very different set up. They had smaller rooms some for reading, some for sleeping, several lounges, lookouts games rooms, bars, and cafés. They even had a place to watch a movie and had loads of activities for children like magic shows and colouring contest. The journey was about 3 1/2 hours and it started with our first sighting of dolphins . It was a sunny day and there were calm waters, which normally isn’t the case as they have many cancellations.

Blenheim is a town of about 28,000 people. My accommodation was in a residential area about a 20 minute walk from downtown and also from a beautiful river walk and trail. I love being in this smaller environment. People were so friendly and things were easy to access. There is a quiet, calm and peaceful feeling to the environment. You would think in a small environment, I would be able to easily find my way. But for those of you who know my navigation abilities, it is a different story. It did not take long for people in the community to know that I tended to get lost, always asking for directions. I am pretty sure that is what motivated them to erect the street sign called Carr Street which thankfully was my landmark to find my way home.

The town had a beautiful feel to it with a nice downtown core. They have a small public art gallery which currently featured landscapes from local artists. As you walked through the river trail, beautiful poems were displayed that were written by school children about the river and what it provides to the community. The town was well served by many businesses and social services. They even had a multicultural settlement organization. As you walk through the streets, you could smell the blossoms and hear the birds sing. It was very Zen.

One of my great activities was joining a self-directed bike tour that went through the Marlborough wine region. This is a region that we are probably most familiar with in Canada as it is where most of our New Zealand wine comes from. The tour group I booked with sent a shuttle to pick me up, took me to their place in Renwick, got us all set up with bikes, helmets, maps, gave us an overview of the vineyards, and took me back home. It was so lovely to bike amongst the vineyards on trails and slower roads. I was a bit worried when I first started out as in the first two minutes on the trail my map flew out of my basket and it took great athletic feat to grab it before it landed in the stream. Can you imagine me out there without a map! Even with it, I had a tendency to get lost. New Zealand is well known for its white wines. However, they have a growing industry of Pinot Noirs. I selected the vineyards that had a variety of red ones, a good selection of whites as well as places that don’t export to Canada or at least that I’m aware of. I went to four of the following vineyards.I have to say I completely enjoyed them all- Hans Herzog, Rimapere , No 1 family estate ( bubblies) and Fromm. I very much enjoyed this day getting out and exercising on the bike in a beautiful environment, meeting lots of new people, and enjoying some very delicious wine served by very knowledgable people who have a great passion for their life work.

Blenheim is certainly a place I would recommend for people to go to in this region. The environment and people are pretty special.

I took the train from Blenheim to Christchurch. It was a five hour train ride and the scenery was stunning. They were coastal mountain views, valleys, vineyards, and loads of sheep and cattle farms. My seat mate was this very lovely 88 year-old woman who is heading to a birthday celebration of her younger sister. She told me that her family always drives to Christchurch, but she decided that she hadn’t been on this train route for more than 60 years and felt that she wanted to see what it was like now. She was full of all sorts of reflections of what had changed and had many stories of growing up in the area and raising her family. She was a spectacular tour guide. She shared which town to expect to see next, what they were known for, how they had been impacted by some of the quakes and what it was like to live through that and the rebuilding process. I couldn’t have asked for a better seat mate.

I landed in Christchurch and was in my apartment by 8 o’clock at night. I was greeted by Mike and Liz, the owners, and they got me all settled into my very comfortable space. It’s well located, has a nice balcony and most importantly, laundry facilities! They recommended a place for me to go eat which was a couple blocks away called the Casa Publico, a South American restaurant. It had one of the best ceviche’s I have tasted and a delicious cauliflower dish. I can hardly wait to explore Christchurch as my first glimpses have me extremely excited about how lively it is, the arts and culture in the streets and the beautiful garden environment,

It was amazing how well I weathered my 14 hour flight. Throughout my flight, I could feel my stresses dissipating from the preparations for my trip and saying goodbye to dear family and friends that I won’t see for 9 weeks. It wasn’t long before the feeling of excitement started to take over. Travel has always been such a life expanding experience for me as I know it is for so many. All of the new adventures and meeting new people definitely make me feel UP!
Also, having so few things to care of – just myself, my health, happiness, safety, and luggage. Hurray for the simple life!
It is hard to believe it’s been a week since I landed in New Zealand. I started off my journey in Wellington, the capital which is situated between the north and south island. Wellington is a beautiful city with a very active harbour, lots of green space and a friendly and walkable city.

I spent a lot of my time roaming the streets, watching the harbour activity, eating delicious food and witnessing people enjoying their lives. I was really struck by how young the population appeared to be. However, people were still on their summer holidays so lots of families out and about. It seems like people from all over the world both settle here and travel to this amazing place. I thought it was quite funny that one of the first people I met was a woman from Saskatoon, who was working at the information centre. She gave me all kinds of helpful hints and signed me up for a walking tour with a nonprofit the next day. The tour was really quite wonderful as I got to see things I probably wouldn’t have through my normal roaming and hear a bit more about the history and culture. Our guide was quite informative, although she had tendency to focus on sharing both natural and social disasters that happened in Wellington, I later found out that she actually worked for the government, and I suspect it was in the disaster relief area. Anyway, I feel quite fortified with my new knowledge, and also very appreciative of how communities do come together when challenges happen.
The downtown core had a mixture of new buildings and also some old heritage buildings. My favourite was the old bank that was turned into a shopping mall . It had a really nice vibe in there. A great place to have coffee and do a bit of people watching.

I met a woman from France on our tour. She was a young woman who just arrived to have her first work experience after her university education. I found it funny that we were both excited about our journey’s -her starting out in her career and me starting out on my retirement or repurposing part of my life.
I was fortunate to catch a free concert series that was happening in the Botanical Gardens every night I was here. I managed to get to the Motown and salsa evenings and really enjoyed both the music, the environment and seeing people dancing, picnicking and enjoying their time together.

The restaurants here are quite lovely and there’s a variety of every kind of cuisine you can imagine. There are plenty of local farms, fish and seafood locally sourced. Everything tastes so fresh! I took in a few happy hours ( in honour of my friend Bonnie, the happy hour queen), had some South Pacific cuisine which is often cooked in the earth over hot rocks and great Vietnamese food. One night I was really craving fish. I’m not sure about how I manifested this but on my search for a great place to have fish, I ran into this young man who is carrying a fish throughout the street and at times on his skateboard. I thought I would just follow him. Surely he would know where a good fish restaurant was and sure enough he led me to a very delicious Asian fusion place. Thankfully , I didn’t eat the fish he was carrying cause it really did look like it had been through quite a bit!

From Wellington, I signed up to go on a wine tour in the Martinborough area. This area known for its Pinot Noirs ( a favourite of my friend Leonie who I will be seeing in Australia, so I thought I should get my taste buds activated). We had a great group of people -two couples from the United States, a couple from Melbourne and a woman from England , myself and the tour guide Simon . He was very knowledgable both about wine and also about New Zealand and the Maori culture. He mentioned that all of the children learnt the language in elementary school which was foundational in their relationship building. I sat upfront with him so got lots of great stories , information and views. The drive in the countryside was just beautiful. We travelled through the Hutt Valley, passed through a Summit and then back down into the vineyards. The wine tasting was wonderful. We started out at the Moy Hall Vineyards, then went to the Te Kairanga and Pallisters. We had 4 to 5 tastings at each vineyard. What I found really amusing was at the beginning of the tour, people were quite quiet, after the first tasting conversation started to happen. The second, deeper conversation emerged and by the third, we were completely animated and sharing loads of laughter. We also found the courage to discuss Trump. Thankfully, we were all on the same page.

The people in New Zealand are incredibly friendly, helpful and humorous. A traveler I met described them as Canadian with a cuter accent! One of the things I’m finding most challenging is getting used to the traffic flowing in different directions. When Simon picked us up for the tour. I automatically started to go to the wrong side of the vehicle. Simon very cutely said “you know Paula I was thinking I might drive today”. Also, one day I was sitting by the harbour writing in my journal and this lovely fisherman comes over and says what are you doing? I said “I’m just writing about my thoughts and what I’m seeing and witnessing here in your beautiful country” . With a big smile , he graciously thanked me for taking such an interest in his people and his land. He touched my heart!

On my last day in Wellington, I went to their National Museum, Te Papa Tongarewa. I really think that it was one of the most amazing museums I have visited. It gave a great overview of New Zealand, its natural environment, cultural environment, and social environment. I really enjoyed the Maori exhibition and understanding the migration of people to New Zealand. They had an amazing section that talked about refugees. It was heart wrenching, and also very impactful to hear the stories of their journey here and the help they received from New Zealand. I used to feel Canada was a leader in compassion but recent cuts to the settlement sector has me losing faith in our political leadership and pride in my country. The museum was really interactive with lots of engaging activities for children and families. So many of the displays had been developed by the Weta workshop. This is the group that makes the props for Lord of the Rings and Hobbiton. It was amazing how beautifully they displayed images in people and environments.

Tomorrow’s adventures take me from Wellington to Blenheim. Another wine region!

It is the eve of my departure on my retirement journey to the South Pacific. I am so excited about meeting new people, and exploring new environments and culture. As many of you know I love to celebrate milestones and transitions with travel ventures. After 50+ years in the paid workforce, it is time to reflect, celebrate and experience the life expanding benefits of a new adventure. New Zealand and Australia has always been on my bucket list and the timing is perfect to make this dream become a reality.

I set up this blog to share some of my experiences and musings with all my family and friends who have been so encouraging and supportive of this adventure. I am hoping to post once a week so I can bring you along on my journey. Hope you enjoy!!!

More to come once I land in New Zealand and get settled.