|||
I recently got back from a two week trip around the South Island (of New Zealand). I got to spend some time in Christchurch, Oamaru, Dunedin, Queenstown, Geraldine and even a high country station near Timaru. Here are some of the cool things I learned, saw or discovered while traveling around.
We were driving through Dunedin and I happened to see the parabolic dishes they have outside the museum. They are two dishes about 3 meters in diameter and 20 meters apart. The idea is that you can put your mouth at the focal point of one while a friend has their ear at the focal point of the other and they can hear you when you whisper. It’s a cool use of parabolas and it drew us into the museum where we saw the Science Center. It’s full of interactive exhibits that each demonstrate some sort of scientific concept. There was a monochromatic light display, a feather and ball falling in a vacuum, a big magnet with iron filings and a bunch of other cool things. They also have a tropical butterfly forest which, as you may expect, was full of cool looking butterflies. The whole place was full of kids having a great time. It’s really cool that something like the Science Center exists and that it’s been done so well and is being enjoyed by so many people. Well done to those who run it.
This might sound a bit weird, but I really enjoyed flying to and from Christchurch. It helped that I had a window seat for both flights. I found it fascinating seeing the country from another perspective. From looking around Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty when taking off, to the massive wind farm near Wellington to the path that rivers take across the land. There are so many cool things you can see from up there that you would never see otherwise. Even before the actual flights, there are tons of interesting things to look at. For example, I didn’t realise planes had battery packs on board until I saw the massive chargers plugged into the planes (I got told off by a security guy when I tried to get a closer look at one).
I stayed at a station near Timaru for a couple of days. It’s about 2500 hectares in size and is farmed by one guy and supports him and his family. I’m from the Waikato where a farm 1/100th of the size would support a family. I talked to a couple of locals about why there is such a huge discrepency in land efficiency. From what they told me, it’s mostly climate and the terrain that make the difference. Because it’s so far south and so high up, it tends to get a little snowy in winter. The hilly nature of the terrain makes irrigation and spreading fertiliser impractical (you have to do it by plane). This means you only have so much food for your cows and you have to be careful about how you manage that food during the winter months. Hence, the number of cows you can support is severely limited compared to farms in more favorable conditions.
Traveling around, I saw a bunch of these. There was even one in the tiny town of Hampden being used as we went past. I think it’s awesome to see so many around and so many in use. Looking at the map here it looks like there’s a bunch more under constructon all around the country. I’ve been thinking that getting a Nissan Leaf would be a good idea and the abundance of chargers only strengthens that opinion.
Overall, I enjoyed my trip around the South Island. I learned a lot of interesting stuff and saw a lot of things for the first time. I’d recommend it.
