A sign for changing times
 

In view of the changes brought with booming tourism, the small NZ community of Glenorchy is "lobbying Queenstown Lakes District Council for new signs to keep tourists in check":
https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/queens...ponse-tourists

My DH used to bemoan that the "don'ts" in any other country we visited were also in English. Love that the signs were icons!

Something about the numbers being quoted in that article don’t quite ring true - 280k kiwis have owned or flown a drone seems like a hell of a percentage of the population. Likewise, 200k foreigners brought drones into the country? I would really question those numbers.

Don’t get me wrong, I would ban the things entirely. Even tempted to pack my own catapult to shoot the things down!

A sad state of affairs.

I hate drones for all the reasons outlined in the article, plus some.

A drone was being flown while we were at the Blue Pools in May - we assumed that it was a local film crew of some sort - although there were only three of them and there was nothing about them that screamed "official" - they stopped people from crossing the bridge so they could film a woman crossing it alone. I sure hope they weren't tourists.

Sadly, Glenorchy is not the quiet hidden gem it used to be. Sadder yet, we may have made our last trip to New Zealand (trip report in progress).

We saw quite a few of those no drone icons throughout the South Island, which pretty much says it all.

The NZ government is not faultless here - it's their aggressive marketing campaigns (most of them aimed at the Chinese) that have brought tourists in their droves to NZ. The more people, the more problems.

I fear that like Iceland, they're determined to ruin the very thing that attracts visitors in the first place.

I remember thinking how idyllic Glenorchy was when I first visited years ago. I find it sad they're now trying to cope with and manage the abuse of drones, litterers, motorists parking on lawns, and defecators. This is a problem in every urban and rural area of NZ. Here in Dunedin, drones were buzzing the endangered albatross nests and a tourist was caught on camera defectating in the street only steps away from a free and well-maintained public toilet.

Kiwis understand such bad behavior on the part of some is not reflective of all. The welcome mat is still out, communities are adding more public toilets, expanding parking areas, posting signs, etc., working fast and hard to make the experience of being in NZ better for all of us. Tourism benefits NZ but it also causes great strain. But we're not likely to ever see the anti-tourism protests similar to those that have taken place in large cities such as Barcelona and Venice.

A tourism tax is probably in the works for next year, the money from the new tax to be spent on tourist amenities such as car parks, toilets, walking track maintenance, and conservation projects such as native planting, breeding programmes and predator eradication. I think the new tax, if it goes through, will be about NZ$25, which at today's exchange rate would be the equivalent of US$17 or GBP13 or Euros 14.

Crellston, I agree, if accurate, that is a curiously large estimate of fhe number of drones owned by Kiwis! I found a link to the article it refers to:
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/natio...onal-drone-use

Melnq8, three drones at Blue Pools seems excessive. It can, and probably did, spoil the experience for others.

I hate that drones can invade privacy. There have been numerous complaints about drones being used to spy on individuals in their homes. It is illegal to fly a drone over people or private property without consent but it continues to happen.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/101...he-in-backyard

I so don't get the defecating thing - NZ is so well set up for travelers - public toilets everywhere, including tracks!. Even my tiny bladder can wait long enough to find a proper loo! It's senseless.

I find myself disliking the human race more and more these days.

It was three people/one drone at Blue Pools Diamantina - I assumed they were part of a film crew, although I'm not sure why I thought that.

Three people, one drone sounds more tolerable. Still, it's nice to have a track all to oneself.

I don't understand why visitors defecate on the streets either. The woman who was caught on camera defecating in a Dunedin public street just steps from a public toilet was French. Surely, the rules for public defecation can't be that different in France.

Melnq8, you wrote, "I find myself disliking the human race more and more these days." I'm sorry you feel that way. I hope my posting of this article did not contribute to this. I feel a dislike for some humans for sure: the large-scale polluters, the exploiters, the liars, the blue-whale killers, and so on, but not the individual travelers who seem to be having such a great time just walking on a beautiful beach or walking track, or taking a photo of the landscape. I'm often a tourist myself and have been in their shoes. I know how wonderful it feels to escape to a beautiful, wondrous place and to leave with memories that will last for years. As long as they do no harm, respect the environment and wildlife, abide by the rules, they're okay by me. Those of us who live in NZ can do more by helping to educate visitors. Hopefully, new signs will help.

TDudette, what do you make of this quizzical icon that was on the fridge of our accommodation in Valencia, Spain, a few weeks ago?
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...8d95cda26d.jpg

It can get quite hot in Valencia, so I thought it might mean, "No feet in fridge." (Just in case this is something some people do when it's hot.)
Even our Spanish friends couldn't figure it out until we also showed them the icons on the microwave:
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...48700afbe6.jpg

They suggested it might mean, "Do not operate without shoes."

"I find myself disliking the human race more and more these days. "

I do know what you mean Melnq8 . I sometimes feel the same way, not so much about the human race but the I would term the travelling public whose behaviour I do find increasing depressing. When I get like that I am always reminded of this quote by a lady named Debbie Hope:

"Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure that you are not, in fact, just surrounded by assholes."

I love that crellston! Thanks for the laugh.

Diamantina -

Fear not, I felt that way before your post. My patience is wearing thin with general stupidity and ignorance.

For example - we've had a rash of fires here in bone dry Colorado, set by people who were fully aware of the fire bans in place, yet decided to build fires anyway...resulting in catastrophic losses for a lot of innocent people.

Melnq8, I can understand why you'd be seething because of the widlfires started by careless or ignorant people oblivious to the consequences. Out-of control, huge wildfires have become common in California, as well, and they're terrifying and heartbreaking in their devastation. When we lived there, there were too many days of darkened smoke-filled skies.

You wrote, "Sadder yet, we may have made our last trip to New Zealand (trip report in progress)." Your report will no doubt be interesting, I'm looking forward to reading it, though it sounds like you were disappointed at times. Yes, places change, NZ's gotten busier. And it doesn't just happen in NZ. Many years ago, my husband and I stayed at a cheap, luxurious hotel, all by itself on a long strip of beautiful beach in Bali. There were only about 6 guests occupying its many rooms. We walked for at least 30 minutes along the beach and only came across one other person, a naked tourist also taking a stroll (I guess he wasn't concerned about being seen since there was hardly anyone around), and there were no other hotels. We returned to the hotel two years later and found the same beach lined with hotels, and the hotel where we'd stayed before was fully booked and a lot more expensive. We couldn't believe how quickly it had changed.

But you know what they say, “When one door closes another door opens..." (Originally attributed to Alexander Graham Bell.) Have you spent much time in Canada? (Not too far from Colorado.) It's got mountain, fjords, forests, wineries, and friendly people, too. Norway's also got mountains, fjords, forests, nice people and is equally breathtaking (though expensive). Just two places off the top of my head.

Diamantina -

Yeah I know, things change. Many of our favorite places (world-wide) have fallen out of our favor over the years due to development and over-tourism, etc. What many see as progress we see as destruction.

A similar thing is happening here in my home state - its been taken over by Texans (who are moving here in droves) and we feel we might have to eventually leave the state we love due to over development, taxed infrastructure and out-of-control growth, not to mention the destruction of the very things that bring people here in the first place. It's depressing as hell.

We enjoyed our most recent visit to NZ, and we did manage to get away from other tourists. but it's becoming harder and harder to do as you well know. And yes, I fully appreciate the irony of that sentence.

Melnq8, I'm glad you had a wonderful time all the same.We had especially nice weather in May.

I hope you don't have to leave your home state! My husband, who lived and worked in Colorado in 1981-2, remembers seeing graffiti back then saying, "Texans own Colorado!" Unfortunately, I can understand folks wanting to live in the best places if they can afford to do so (afterall, I'm living in New Zealand though I sometimes question its affordability). I could never go back to my hometown, where the median home price is now US$1.7 million thanks to the tech industry.

I don't know how you manage to write your trip reports. I've been trying to write my first trip report ever for months and it only covers a three-day trip. I keep adding content, then cutting content, then fact-checking, so on. I'm guessing I'll eventually give up.

Interesting about the Texans. They've long come up here for skiing, wreaking havoc on the roads with their inexperienced winter driving - but now they're moving here. I suspect it's hurricane related. The running joke in our house is that we desperately need a long miserable winter to chase them all back down south.

I've been meaning to ask you how you ended up living in NZ - if that's not too personal a question to ask on a public forum. Work related?

I feel your pain with the trip reports - I seem to plod these days, but I'm determined to finish NZ.

Melnq8, you wrote, "I feel your pain with the trip reports - I seem to plod these days, but I'm determined to finish NZ." I admire your self-motivation.

I'll send you a pm if it's possible (not sure it is as I haven't tried sending one before) about how we "ended up" living in NZ. We actually made a huge effort to move here.

I just got your message Diamantina - forgot all about private messaging.

I fully appreciate the effort involved. Perhaps 'ended up' wasn't the correct phrase.