Straying from the Flock

Your Ticket to New Zealand xi

Section 1 The Far End of the Earth 1

1 Travel without Reservations 5

2 Across the Ocean from the South Pole 6

Section 2 The South Island 13

3 The Wrong Side of the Road 15

4 Penguins, Pints and Pioneers 19

5 A Hot Tub for Sea Lions 23

6 Stern Scotch Presbyterians 26

7 Ski Trails above the Clouds 30

8 Extreme Sports 33

9 Skid and Tow 37

10 Paddling under the Glaciers 40

11 Crampons and Crevasses 43

12 Across the Southern Alps 48

13 Heli-skiing? Heli-no! 54

14 Mountain Rescue 61

15 The Country of Second Sons 65

16 A Flying Shepherd 70

17 Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience 77

18 Bad Girls’ Guide to Wine 80

19 Meeting Captain Cook 83

20 Above Murderers’ Bay 90

21 The Emperor of New Zealand 95

22 The Cat across Cook Strait 99

23 Once-in-2,000-Years Earthquake 104

24 Sherry with a Painter 110

Section 3 Australia 115

25 Swim in an Anti-Shark Cage 117

26 Parfume Downwind 122

27 An Esky Party 123

28 The Stolen Generation 125

29 Directions for a Hanging 127

30 I’ll be Buggered 129

31 The Best Brains of All Fish 130

Section 4 The North Island 135

32 Prawn Sambal from KL 137

33 81 Sheep an Hour 139

34 Biblical High Tech 143

35 The Maori and the Mongrel Mob 148

36 A Knife for a Captain Cooker 154

37 The Rules for Whale Encounters 161

38 Fight or Be Cooked 168

39 Between the Dolphins and the Gannets 175

40 Thrown Out for Misconduct 182

41 A Blue Electric Charge 187

42 A Farmer and a Scholar 194

43 Where the Queen of England Goes to Fish 200

44 The Polynesian Spa 206

45 How to Catch a Barracuda 210

46 Stud Lambs Get Crotchety 215

47 The City of Sails 224

48 A Stack of Sheepskins 226

49 A Tunnel through a Fishtank 230

Section 5 Cook Islands / Goodbye New Zealand 235

50 Writing in Rarotonga 239

51 Goodbye New Zealand 248

Section 6 The Practical Traveler 251

Favorite Places 255

Favorite Guides 259

Background Reading 261

Practical Books and Web Sites 263

Bring with You 265

Flying in the Front of the Plane 267

Overcoming Jet Lag 271

Recipes 273

Acknowledgments 275