THE BIG LEAP
An epic drive through New Zealand’s South Island by newlywed NAOMI ARNOLD and her newish husband新婚的Naomi Arnold與夫婿駕車漫遊紐西蘭的南島，來一趟浪漫寫意的伉儷二人行
NAOMI ARNOLD and her husband take an overdue honeymoon through New Zealand’s South Island
躍進湖光山色中
Naomi Arnold與丈夫暢遊紐西蘭南島，補度蜜月
The first year of marriage is a lot like taking a road trip.
You have to learn to share: the radio, your favourite snacks, the phone charger, the driving. You have to forgive each other’s idiosyncrasies and temper your own: accept that she’s best at maps and he’s best at song lyrics, and weigh up the forks in the road and decide the best route forward.
Doug and I had been married for a year. It was a low-key wedding. One Monday afternoon, we went down the town registry office in Nelson for what we called our ‘unwedding’.
But that meant we never had a honeymoon. A year later, we thought it was time for one.
So we set off from Nelson, at the top of New Zealand’s South Island, for the alpine villages of Hanmer Springs, Lake Tekapo and Wanaka, with two stops in Christchurch – where all roads lead when you’re driving the length of the South Island. Doug and I had both lived there in the past, before the devastating earthquakes of 2010 and
婚後的第一年就像一趟自駕。遊你必學須 習事事分享，無論是電台節目、最喜歡的零食、電話充電器，抑或駕駛席，都不能獨佔。要彼此體諒對方的，要怪癖 同時 控制自己的脾氣；要接受她是看地圖的高手；他則對歌詞倒背。如流 面臨分岔路時要一起商量，選擇一條大家都認為最合適的。路線
我和Doug結婚剛滿一年。婚禮一切從簡，某個星期一下午，我們到尼爾森市的婚姻登記處註冊，沒有舉行任何儀，式 我們將之戲稱為「非婚禮」。
這亦表示我們還未度蜜月。一年後，我們認為是時候去趟新婚旅行了。
於是我們從紐西蘭南島頂端的尼爾起森程，到漢默溫泉、蒂卡波湖和瓦納卡的高山村莊去，最後前往基督城的兩個景。點 如果你駕車縱貫南島，所有道路都會通向基督城。這座城在市 2010年和2011年被大地震重創前，我和Doug都曾在當地居住，因此亦望希 了解一下當地重建的。進度
我們的第一站是漢默溫泉，那是一座風景優美的小村莊，坐落於險峰圍繞的冰川谷內。駕車五小時後，我們在Heritage Hanmer Springs酒店的溫暖套房安頓下來後，隨即前往附近的漢默溫泉池與水療中心，將自己
2011, and we were keen to check out the city’s healing process.
Our first stop was Hanmer Springs, a small, pretty village set in a glaciated bowl in the middle of forbidding mountains. After five hours’ driving, a warm suite at Heritage Hanmer Springs was a good base for Hanmer Springs Thermal Pool and Spa, where we soaked in the hot mineral water. The springs are at their best on a winter night, when the mist rises gently into the frigid air and you appreciate the warmth deep in your bones.
We spent the next morning tearing up the nearby mountain bike network. We dashed up Conical Hill for a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains, before buckling into our car seats, bickering over which podcast to play, and driving to ski capital Wanaka – one of the most beautiful places in New Zealand.
Confined to the car – for long stretches without phone reception – we suddenly had time to talk. We began to reflect on the year we’d had and what we hoped would come from the next year.
Wanaka’s setting is breathtaking, with a moody blue lake and rough-cast snowy mountains piercing drifting clouds. It’s a friendly place, packed with travellers and adventurers. We spent a couple of days cruising the town, walking the local trails, and an evening spent huddling against a powerful lightning storm, thunder booming around the nearby valleys.
Our next stop was Lake Tekapo, which sits within the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve and is the finest place in the country in which to see the Milky Way.
Tekapo has the Church of the Good Shepherd, a picturesque lakeside church which is popular for weddings – even in the dead of winter. As we sat in a restaurant overlooking the lake, we watched a bride and groom suffer through photographs. The bride shone against the dark green branches of a fallen pine tree. It was a beautiful scene: the lake icy pale blue behind her, the sky grey, the peaks etched in white.
Combing Instagram, I’m sometimes wistful over refusing to be a bride, but as the photographer directed her to teeter up the angled pine trunk in high shoes, I was glad I’d refused. She was shrugging on a fur coat for another round of shots as my spinach salad arrived. It turned out to be the one bad thing we ate on the trip: tasteless, drowned in cheap oil, flecked with sour goat’s cheese and mean slices of unripe mango.
I eyed Doug’s chicken.
‘Here,’ he said. ‘Let’s swap.’
Now, that’s love.
Afterward, we soaked in Tekapo Springs and watched the sunset’s colour fade from the soft, snow-covered mountains across the lake as Jupiter began to shine in the east. An hour later, we were at Earth and Sky – on a night with 80 per cent visibility for stargazing.
Earth and Sky runs astronomy adventures at the University of Canterbury Mount John Observatory. The temperature was 4°C, so we were supplied with hot chocolate and bundled in US Antarctic Expedition down coats. The frozen fingers were worth it to see the clear rings of Saturn shining through the telescope.
We had also wanted to see the Matariki constellation, also known as the Pleiades, which we’ve taken as our personal totem. In Maori culture, Matariki sparkles in the winter sky just before dawn, and was traditionally a time to remember the dead and celebrate new life with a good harvest stored away. But it was rising at 1am, and the clouds had rolled in too soon.
浸在有豐富礦物質的溫泉池內。在冬日晚上浸溫泉覺感 尤其好，看著霧氣在冷冽的空氣中裊裊升起，就會特別享受自從己 裡到外渾身暖洋洋的感。覺
翌日早我上， 們沿著附近的登山單車徑踩單車上圓嶺錐 ，將近鄰山的巒 壯麗景色盡收眼底。，之後我們坐上汽，車一邊搶著播放自己喜歡的播客節目，一邊往紐西蘭景風 極秀麗的滑雪重鎮瓦卡納 進發。
置身車中，升於電話長時間收不到訊號，我們突然有時間聊天，於是開始聊起結婚一年來的總總，還有對來的年展望。
瓦納卡的景色美得令人屏息，有色水湛藍的湖泊，沒以及 入浮雲間陡之 的 峭雪山。這是個令人感到親地切的 方，到處都擠滿客旅 和來尋幽探勝的人，我在們 小鎮上住了幾天，盡情遊覽一番之餘，還到附近的遠足徑走一回有。晚一 暴風雨來臨，我蜷們在窩被內，看著閃電劃破天際，耳邊聽到隆隆作響的雷聲在不遠處的山谷間迴盪。
我們下一站來到蒂卡波湖，這個湖位於拉麥奇奧 基肯國際暗天保護區內，是紐西蘭全國觀看銀河的最佳地點。
蒂卡波湖畔有一座非常漂亮的畔湖 教
堂，叫Church of the Good Shepherd（善牧堂） ，是舉行婚禮的熱門地點使，即 在隆冬季節，亦不例外。我在湖餐坐們 臨 的 廳 下之後，望見一對新人冒著嚴寒拍攝結婚照。新娘在棵一 倒下的松樹旁擺出不同姿勢。蔥鬱的枝幹，加上她身後有如寒冰般淡藍色湖的水，灰濛濛的天空是積下， 峰頂 雪的山巒，構成一幅賞心悅目的景色。
看著Instagram上面的照片時，我偶然也會遺憾沒有當個穿起婚紗的新娘子，但看到那位新娘依照攝影師的指示，穿著高跟鞋搖搖晃晃地爬上歪斜的松樹幹時，我又慶幸自己拒絕了這玩意。當我的菠菜沙律上桌時，她還披著皮草大衣在拍攝輯另一 照片。而這道沙律結果是我們整趟旅程中唯一難吃的食物：淡而無味拌，上過量劣橄的 質 欖油，撒在上面的山羊芝士碎味道是酸，的 還有放了幾片薄得可憐的方芒。果
我眼巴巴看著Doug碟子上的雞。
他說︰，「來們我 交換吃吧。」
這就是愛。
飯，後我們浸進蒂卡波溫泉，晚日落霞自積雪覆蓋的山峰上漸漸消木褪， 星在邊東 緩緩升起。一小時後我， 們來到 Earth and Sky，並發現當晚觀星能度的 見高達80%。
Earth and Sky是在一家 坎伯特 雷大學約翰山天文台舉觀辦 星團的公司。晚當 氣溫只有四度，但我們獲提供熱朱古力和美國極地考察隊也穿著的羽絨外套。能夠日天文望遠鏡看到清晰的土星即環， 使手指凍僵了也是得值 的。
我們也希望見到毛利語稱為Matariki的昂宿星團，因為那們是我 視作個人圖騰的星體。在利毛 文化中， Matariki星團於冬季時在黎明前的夜空中閃耀，傳按照 統這是紀念先人的時候，並以於秋收時儲存的糧食來慶祝新方命出現。但星團在凌時晨1就升起，而且很快便被飄來的雲層遮掩。
Doug對我說道︰「婚姻亦代不理表 要會這種無聊的徵兆」。
我在們 基督城度過旅程後最 一晚。因地而震 損毀的基城督 大教堂就在附近，令人神觸目 傷；然而不處遠 有位於舊政府大樓地下的OGB酒吧和餐廳，加上大教堂廣場有不少美，食車 存帶這一 平添熱鬧氣氛，將後哀災 的 傷沖淡。慘劇發方後多年，基督城仍不斷重建，但市民亦已如常方活。
基城督以雅河芳 和佔地寬廣的公
‘Marriage also means not taking notice of silly omens like that,’ Doug told me.
Our last night was in Christchurch.
The poignancy of the broken-down Christchurch Cathedral just metres away was cheered by the lively OGB bar and café on the ground floor, and the diverse food carts scattered around Cathedral Square. Years later, the city is still rebuilding, but life goes on in Christchurch.
The city is known for its Avon river and sprawling gardens. The perfect way to experience both is punting on the Avon, a chance to do absolutely nothing but gaze around you as you spend 30 minutes in a flat-bottomed punt, poled by a warm and chatty guide in braces and a straw boater.
The second-best way to see Christchurch without lifting a finger is in the Christchurch Tramway Restaurant, a historical wooden colonial tram with 36 seats, a full menu, wine list and doughty chef, who manages to produce astonishingly good meals from the pocket kitchen. We spent several hours leisurely rattling around the rebuilding city, returning waves from pedestrians.
Confined to the tram, we had more time to talk. We talked about how we’d handled the bickering on the road, and how we could do better. We toasted to making it to our one-year anniversary with a glass of sparkling rosé, and remembering the limp spinach from earlier, I gallantly gave up half of my tender Canterbury lamb rump to my husband. 園而聞名。要同時飽覽河上和公園的風光最， 好就是在雅芳河上泛舟坐了。 上平底船之後有， 30分時讓鐘 間 你盡情游目四顧，細賞沿河風光；船上還有頭戴、草帽身穿吊帶褲的船夫友善而親切地跟你聊天。
想不費吹灰之力地遊覽基督城的另一個方法，就是顧光 基督城電車餐廳。這是一輛古老的木造電車，外形洋溢殖民地情風 ，可容納36位客人，有完備的菜牌和酒單還。 有一位技藝高超的廚師，即使電車上只得一個迷你廚房，仍能烹調出相當不俗的美。食 叮噹作響的電車帶我們適閒 地漫遊重建中的城我市， 們這頓飯吃上數小時，沿途不時見到行人向我們揮手示意，我們也向他們報以揮手。置身電車中，我有多間們 更 時 聊天。我們談到一路上如何處理齟齬，以及如何以更好的方式相，處之後起著舉 盛 玫瑰紅汽酒的杯酒 ，為結婚一周年碰杯。接著我記起之前那道味道糟透的菠菜沙，律 於是豪爽地將我那份嫩滑的烤坎伯羊特 雷 扒分一半給丈夫。