July 23, 2009
We got up this morning and got out of Wanaka pretty quickly. We headed towards Dunedin, where Raven’s youngest daughter lives and saw the sun coming up over the mountains. It was stunningly beautiful, as usual, but one of those moments that can’t be captured by a camera. We tried too, twice. The lighting wasn’t right so it’ll just have to be in our memories. We decided that we needed to stop to get gas as we had 4 bars left on the tank.
We pulled into a gas station in Cromwell and while Raven was filling up I decided to pull out the Lonely Planet. I read that the residents of Cromwell have a legendary chip on their shoulders because the government built a dam and flooded the original town. Sure enough, when we asked for directions, townspeople would say “When they flooded the town…” Yep, they’re not over it and can you blame them? I continued to read about the town and Lonely Planet said that it’s a town with really good food. We looked at the recommendations and chose a place called the Seed & Grain Cafe. We asked about it and a guy told us it was in “Old Cromwell Town, where they flooded the town.” Did I mention a chip? We found Old Cromwell Town, which is a bunch of old buildings that they’d moved uphill right before they flooded the town. We found the Seed & Grain Cafe and were a few minutes early but she let us in and we ordered breakfast and a moccacino (aka a mocha). They had a breakfast called a bacon and egg buttie. Raven ordered it and it was two pieces of white bread, butter, a bunch of bacon and a fried egg. Hmm, not sure what a buttie is. A said that her boyfriend’s mom made chip butties for her family… that means white bread, butter and fries inside it. LOL! The moccacinos were fantastically yummy. I’m glad we stopped but I don’t think Cromwell was the foodie paradise described in the book.
We continued on our way to Dunedin. After breakfast we stopped at a sign that advertised fresh cider in a shop. We got some cider and then headed next door to the distillery. I’d been to one of the distilleries when I was here last and I soooo loved it so we definitely had to stop again. It was 10 am but we were sampling all sorts of delicious schnapps and I’m bringing home a bottle of a lemon schnapps that is divine. Raven bought some other lovely types including their famous butterscotch schnapps, which we’re sampling as I write this.
We then headed to Dunedin and stopped at the bookstore because I had heard that NZ has a very progressive approach to math and I wanted to get some books for my classroom. The university bookstore wasn’t the right place though. They directed us to the teaching college and we thought it would be a quick walk but took forever. We finally got there and I did indeed find some books I can use in my classroom. Yes, I am a nerd. While there, A came to meet us. We walked hella far back to the car and went out to lunch at a Korean restaurant. A pointed out that if we’d like to see the penguins now would be a good time to leave. A spent her summer working with the yellow-eyed penguins, which she says are the second rarest penguins in the world (some people say the rarest but they’re not from the Galapagos). The penguins nest in the evenings on the beaches of the Otago Peninsula and it’s not a far drive from Dunedin. Raven and I really wanted to see them (OMG, PENGUINS!!!) so we finished up lunch and drove out to the peninsula.
We got to Sand Fly Bay in the late afternoon and started out on the trail. A had warned about a giant sand dune on the way down and she wasn’t kidding. This thing was huge and steep, which was incredibly fun to run down. We were laughing as we stepped into the deep sand and commented that it might not be as fun on the way back. We then headed to the beach, Raven and I armed with our cameras taking pictures of the surf. As we were walking towards the water, Raven and A spotted a sea lion frolicking on the edge of the water. We watched it, taking pictures and walking along the beach when suddenly, it spotted us and started charging. Uh oh. We quickly turned around and started walking back so we could avoid it. Raven and I followed A as she walked towards the water, which worked because the thing lay down in the sand instead. We continued on, noting that the tide was way in and keeping our eyes open for penguins as we walked. There was one point where I noticed that A hopped up onto a sand ledge as the waves came in. I didn’t follow suit and seconds later a big wave tried to drench my feet. I did this sort of hopping dance trying to stay dry (and succeeded, thank you very much) while A cracked up. We finally made it up to the trail where the hide was situated, high up on a hill.
We got into the hide and waited for dusk, the time when the penguins come in to nest for the evening. There were sea lions on the beach and we would see them moving and think it might be a penguin. Nope. Raven and I noticed a sea lion playing in the waves. It was moving so that every time a wave would come, he would ride it and it looked like he was surfing. We were admiring how much fun he was having when all of a sudden he darted in and out above the waves. In front of him was … a penguin. The penguin was darted in and out of the waves, racing for its life, the sea lion in hot pursuit. :( All of a sudden, they both disappeared under the water. Poor penguin. We waited quite a while longer for other penguins to come to shore as A said there are 4 nesting pairs right at that point of the beach. No penguins were coming and it was getting darker and darker. Suddenly, A found a penguin! It was already out of the water and a couple of meters from the bottom of the hill. It kept looking out to sea and we were wondering if it was waiting for the penguin that was being chased by the sea lion. Finally, it gave up and started to hop up the hill. This was not some little hill, this was a serious mountainy hill and apparently they hop up this hill every evening. He looked back again at the water and while he waited, we decided that we needed to get back to the car so we left and started walking in the near darkness. The tide luckily had gone out a little so it was easier to walk along the beach. The sea lions were gone too as we walked along. We spotted a set of penguin tracks from the sea up to the beach so there was at least one more penguin who made it back safely. By the time we made it to the sand dune again, it was really hard to see. We huffed it up the hill and by the time we made it to the top we had taken off our heavy coats and I was tempted to wear only a t-shirt. That was definitely much harder to go up than it was to go down. We got back to the car, drove back to Dunedin and checked into our motel. We then went out for Indian food at A’s favorite Indian restaurant and now we’re back at her apartment with schnapps and our laptops.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Wanaka
July 22, 2009
I wanna go to Wanaka. Hee hee. Wanaka is pronounced “WAH-nah-ka”, FYI. We’d decided to stay here in Wanaka two nights so my stuff has exploded all over the floor of the hostel. I think I’ve made myself a little too much at home! I woke up this morning at 8 am so I think I’ve finally adjusted to NZ time. No more 6 am wake ups for me! I hate to think how I’ll do when I get back to Washington. We got ready and had breakfast in the kitchen. I forgot to mention yesterday (in my uber long post) that the Woofer (willing worker on organic farm) here at the hostel is from the US and he came in to use the toaster oven. He laughed and commented that the darn thing only went up to 200 degrees and how can you cook at such a low temperature. I replied, “Do you think it might be in Celsius?” Yep, that was the problem! LOL. Anyway, we had breakfast this morning and headed out to the i-site to see what they might recommend for a day in Wanaka.
At the i-site we were given a map of Wanaka with a bunch of trails listed. I had wanted to come here because I knew that Wanaka is at the base of Mt. Aspiring National Park, a place I’d hiked in last time I was here and absolutely loved. It turns out that it is snowed in and they don’t recommend going there without at least a four wheel drive vehicle. Drat! No Mt. Aspiring beech forests for me this time. That changed our plans considerably because we’d planned to use Wanaka as a base to go off exploring. So, we stuck around Wanaka instead. I also asked about other activities here and the woman at the i-site mentioned a boat out to a nature reserve that looked good. However, they were not going out in the morning because of choppy waves on Lake Wanaka. Drat! We therefore settled on a hike so we went out to the lake (which is super long) and walked along the trail. I think that in the summer the trail must be green and lush but in the winter all of the trees are bare and the grass is blah. Wanaka is not green the way most of New Zealand is. The lake is a brilliant blue though and snow capped mountains loom overhead. We walked for quite a while until we came to an area of the lake that lent itself to beautiful views. We took tons of pictures, as usual, and then headed back. When we started the hike, it was sooooo cold out. I had to fish out my scarf and hat for the first time, truly feeling like it was winter. By the time we got back the sun had warmed everything up and it was no longer scarf weather. Yay!
After the hike we went over to “Puzzling World”. Yep, it’s cheesy. It’s a touristy place in Wanaka full of optical illusions including a room that is uphill so that you look like you’re leaning when you’re standing straight. Water flows ‘uphill’ and when you roll a ball it looks like it’s rolling uphill. There was also a room with 100+ statue faces following you around the room. It was just like the ghosts in The Haunted Mansion in Disneyland only many more of them. There was also a room where one side makes you look huge and the other side makes you look tiny. Finally, there were a bunch of holograms, some better than others on a wall. After entertaining ourselves with that we went over to the labyrinth to see how we’d do. You’re supposed to find four towers in all four corners of the maze before exiting. Raven and I couldn’t find the first one and decided to get out if we could. Sure enough, once we voiced that we found one. A few minutes later we found the next one. Raven figured out the third one and then we found an exit before finding the fourth, which was fine by both of us. Enough, already. It was funny watching other people go through though. Some Israelis were giving each other directions “Yamina, yamina! Bo! Lo! Kein!” There were two little kids tearing through and Raven asked one if they’d been before. They said yes so she asked them if they come here all the time. They replied that they’re from Australia and then tore off in the maze again.
After Puzzling World, we headed back into town and went to lunch at the Cheeky Monkey. How could we resist? I ate a chicken, brie and apricot burger with fries and I’ve regretted it all day since. Blah. It was yummy but I feel gross after eating it. I think I’m going to hate stepping on the scale when I come back home. I’ve been really bad on this trip. *sigh* We then decided to go for a walk around town because we both felt blah. We pretty much covered all of the shops in town and Raven commented that she was done with Wanaka. We went back to our room at 3 or so and went online for a while before I promptly fell asleep and took a long nap. Not sure what the deal is with the naps every afternoon lately. I’d been chocking it up to being in the car but today … well, I napped. We’ve taken it easy this evening, walking to the store and then having a light dinner and now we’re in our room online again. Tomorrow, like I mentioned yesterday, we’re going to Dunedin and I hope we get to see penguins. Yay!!!
Oh, the heater is working today so we're actually nice and warm. Phew!
I wanna go to Wanaka. Hee hee. Wanaka is pronounced “WAH-nah-ka”, FYI. We’d decided to stay here in Wanaka two nights so my stuff has exploded all over the floor of the hostel. I think I’ve made myself a little too much at home! I woke up this morning at 8 am so I think I’ve finally adjusted to NZ time. No more 6 am wake ups for me! I hate to think how I’ll do when I get back to Washington. We got ready and had breakfast in the kitchen. I forgot to mention yesterday (in my uber long post) that the Woofer (willing worker on organic farm) here at the hostel is from the US and he came in to use the toaster oven. He laughed and commented that the darn thing only went up to 200 degrees and how can you cook at such a low temperature. I replied, “Do you think it might be in Celsius?” Yep, that was the problem! LOL. Anyway, we had breakfast this morning and headed out to the i-site to see what they might recommend for a day in Wanaka.
At the i-site we were given a map of Wanaka with a bunch of trails listed. I had wanted to come here because I knew that Wanaka is at the base of Mt. Aspiring National Park, a place I’d hiked in last time I was here and absolutely loved. It turns out that it is snowed in and they don’t recommend going there without at least a four wheel drive vehicle. Drat! No Mt. Aspiring beech forests for me this time. That changed our plans considerably because we’d planned to use Wanaka as a base to go off exploring. So, we stuck around Wanaka instead. I also asked about other activities here and the woman at the i-site mentioned a boat out to a nature reserve that looked good. However, they were not going out in the morning because of choppy waves on Lake Wanaka. Drat! We therefore settled on a hike so we went out to the lake (which is super long) and walked along the trail. I think that in the summer the trail must be green and lush but in the winter all of the trees are bare and the grass is blah. Wanaka is not green the way most of New Zealand is. The lake is a brilliant blue though and snow capped mountains loom overhead. We walked for quite a while until we came to an area of the lake that lent itself to beautiful views. We took tons of pictures, as usual, and then headed back. When we started the hike, it was sooooo cold out. I had to fish out my scarf and hat for the first time, truly feeling like it was winter. By the time we got back the sun had warmed everything up and it was no longer scarf weather. Yay!
After the hike we went over to “Puzzling World”. Yep, it’s cheesy. It’s a touristy place in Wanaka full of optical illusions including a room that is uphill so that you look like you’re leaning when you’re standing straight. Water flows ‘uphill’ and when you roll a ball it looks like it’s rolling uphill. There was also a room with 100+ statue faces following you around the room. It was just like the ghosts in The Haunted Mansion in Disneyland only many more of them. There was also a room where one side makes you look huge and the other side makes you look tiny. Finally, there were a bunch of holograms, some better than others on a wall. After entertaining ourselves with that we went over to the labyrinth to see how we’d do. You’re supposed to find four towers in all four corners of the maze before exiting. Raven and I couldn’t find the first one and decided to get out if we could. Sure enough, once we voiced that we found one. A few minutes later we found the next one. Raven figured out the third one and then we found an exit before finding the fourth, which was fine by both of us. Enough, already. It was funny watching other people go through though. Some Israelis were giving each other directions “Yamina, yamina! Bo! Lo! Kein!” There were two little kids tearing through and Raven asked one if they’d been before. They said yes so she asked them if they come here all the time. They replied that they’re from Australia and then tore off in the maze again.
After Puzzling World, we headed back into town and went to lunch at the Cheeky Monkey. How could we resist? I ate a chicken, brie and apricot burger with fries and I’ve regretted it all day since. Blah. It was yummy but I feel gross after eating it. I think I’m going to hate stepping on the scale when I come back home. I’ve been really bad on this trip. *sigh* We then decided to go for a walk around town because we both felt blah. We pretty much covered all of the shops in town and Raven commented that she was done with Wanaka. We went back to our room at 3 or so and went online for a while before I promptly fell asleep and took a long nap. Not sure what the deal is with the naps every afternoon lately. I’d been chocking it up to being in the car but today … well, I napped. We’ve taken it easy this evening, walking to the store and then having a light dinner and now we’re in our room online again. Tomorrow, like I mentioned yesterday, we’re going to Dunedin and I hope we get to see penguins. Yay!!!
Oh, the heater is working today so we're actually nice and warm. Phew!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Franz Josef Glacier to Wanaka
July 21, 2009
Last time I was in New Zealand, I made the best of my time in Franz Josef Glacier. In one day I went kayaking on one of the Mirror Lakes and then took a glacier hike with a group up Franz Josef Glacier. I loved the kayaking and didn’t love the hike so much but I felt that I made good use of my time, none the less. When we woke up this morning, we had no plan for what we wanted to do. This is kind of normal for us as we kind of play things by ear usually, but since we’d come so far we should make an attempt to do something at Franz Josef. After all, it is one of the key destination points in New Zealand. We went and looked at brochures and Raven looked online. We tried to get info on river rafting but the websites were ridiculous and most of the places required you to be at the site by 9:30 and it was already 9:15. Ultimately, we decided to go to breakfast at a cafe and decide what to do over coffee.
We went to the same place we’d gone to the night previously for Quiz Night and people there recognized us from the night before. We ordered breakfast and tried to partake in the ‘bottomless coffee and tea”. Raven ordered “filtered coffee” which I learned means regular coffee. How I’d gone 19 days not knowing this, I have no idea. I stuck with tea, which I realized was a good idea when Raven sniffed the coffee. It was apparently vile. We enjoyed our breakfast and decided that we had no idea what to do and we were going to drive to the glacier itself and take our own walk out to it.
We headed out of town following the signs to the glacier. Unlike yesterday, which was sunny and beautiful, today was a torrential downpour. We turned off at the correct road and soon found ourselves sliding along the road. Raven said the road seemed like wet porcelain clay, not something we would want to drive on. Raven gave it her best shot but finally decided the car would slide off the embankment if we continued (which would most certainly put a damper on the trip). We slid back to the main road and decided to head south. At least we tried to do something in Franz Josef. We decided we’d head down towards Wanaka. We drove about 20 minutes or so and then saw signs for Fox Glacier, the other famous glacier in NZ. When I was in NZ the last time, I did not stop at Fox so since we were driving through the town anyway, we decided to go to the i-site to see if they had any info about how to get to the glacier. Not one but both visitor centers were closed, one attached to a cafe which said that they were open when the weather was fine. Did I mention the torrential downpour? So we got back into the car and kept driving. We saw a sign saying there was an access road to the glacier so we took it. Again, the road was unpaved but this time, it wasn’t made of clay and Raven had traction under her tires.
We found our way to the parking lot and saw that there were some cars there. We put on our coats and headed out towards the trail, noticing a sign saying that people should consider wearing a hat and warm clothes. We had the warm clothes, not the hat but went out anyway. The ‘trail’ was really the river bed where the glacier had passed through years previously. The water was brown and muddy but there were random pockets of aquamarine pools that were in sharp contrast to the browns and grays everywhere. We started walking along the river bed and noticed some amazing rocks laying on the ground. They were a brilliant green with white and brown flecks. As we walked we came across a sign warning about ice slides next to huge boulders of ice (the boulders were on the ground). Raven had me pose by it and then posed herself. Probably not one of my smarter moments but I survived my stupidity! I then noticed the signs warning about rock slides so I turned and saw that there was a temporary trail that was marked in the center of the riverbed. I decided to walk to it, Raven preferring to continue walking where we’d been doing so previously. The two trails connected at a point where the trail started going up towards the glacier. We walked along it for a while until we had a view of the glacier that we liked. We took numerous pictures of it and then started heading back. I should point out that people without a guide should not walk onto the glaciers because one, you need crampon ice shoes and other appropriate gear and two, because the ice is unstable and one misstep could easily become your last. So we went to look at the glacier from a safe distance instead. On the way back down I saw the posts for the temporary trail and Raven followed me. Right after we did that, a ranger came by with a shovel. We stopped to talk to him and he told us that he was on his way up to see if there had been any slides by the creek. Apparently, the muddy brown water is usually the same aquamarine blue as the pools we saw before. Rangers can tell there has been a rockslide when the water turns muddy. He also told us that he was trying to decide if he needed to close the trail because major rainfall was predicted for the afternoon. Apparently the creek rises fast when the rains hit, rising 1 meter every 15 minutes. He also pointed out a place in the cliff where the vegetation was clear because of a rockslide. He said he was glad that we’d walked away from that area because the cliff is still unstable. Apparently, the rockslides began 10 months ago (including HUGE boulders sitting at the bottom) and they’d had to close the glacier until a week or so ago. He also pointed out that he was not allowed to wear a hood because he needed to be listening for rockslides. Oops. I immediately took off my hood. I guess we timed it really well. We walked back up towards the car park and saw another ranger working on digging a hole. He talked to us as well and said that if the rains come that they’d have to close the glacier for the day but it was clearing up so he thought they wouldn’t have to. Minutes after he said that, it started to rain again. We hurried back to the car and by the time we got there it was hailing and coming down so hard that we couldn’t see the cliffs near us. I guess they were going to have to close the trail after all!
We felt incredibly fortunate that we got to see the glacier and stayed dry. After we got back into the car the rains really came down. We drove south towards Wanaka with the water pouring down in sheets. There was one point where we were driving along the coast and saw hundreds of little piles of rocks by the side of the road. Raven stopped the car to go and take pictures. She got out with her coat and I jumped out right after her without a coat and crossed the street to take pictures. I lasted 3 quick pictures with the wind howling, the rain pouring down and zero visibility so I ran back into the car while Raven took more pictures. It was a good place for a picture stop, I was just too cold, wet and couldn’t keep my camera dry. We continued on and decided not to have lunch in the car as it was way too wet. We stopped at a scenic sight of sand dunes and beach as the rain had let up a bit and we needed a pit stop. We got some great pictures of the beach and cliffs and I went up into a look out tower to take more pictures and noticed Raven trying to take pictures of a fantail that was flitting around her. When I got back down the same fantail started darting between the trail and my feet. He almost flew into my jeans he was so erratic. I got some pictures of him but again, he was so darn fast. It was awesome.
We got back into the car and drove towards Haast, a small beach town. We took a chance on a cafe as there really weren’t other options. One thing I like about New Zealand is that when you go to a small town you don’t see McDonalds and other fast food places. Instead you see local cafes. We ordered lunch and sat as close to the fire as we could because that place was freezing. As we sat waiting for our food I saw a flash of lightning outside (some of you know my hatred of lightning) followed 2 seconds later by a boom of thunder. Then the power flashed off. Oh, cute. The power came back on but we were witnesses to a thunder storm and more torrential rain. I had pumpkin soup (as in squash… it’s all pumpkin here) and a tomato and cheese toastie (now anything called a toastie has to be yummy) and a ginger beer. I’m liking the ginger beers a little too much. I fear I might be getting addicted and unfortunately, I know that I can get ginger beer at Cost Plus in Olympia.
After our lunch we headed back out and towards Haast Pass. Yep, we were going into the mountains in the middle of winter, something I hate to do in Washington. The drive was beautiful. Since the rain was pouring down, there were countless waterfall cascading down along the road. I commented that it was like we were in Milford Sound. We’ve being listening to books on tape this entire trip and I tried valiantly to stay awake but sleep found me during the drive. I woke up to find that there was snow all along the sides of the road. Oops. Luckily, even though there was a lot of rain coming down, it didn’t snow. The mountain pass would NOT be fun if that were the case.
Finally, we drove along Lake Wanaka and we could finally see little spots of blue poking out of the clouds. Lake Wanaka is a brilliant light blue, kind of like the glacier water at Fox Glacier. This seems strange when the sky is grey. It’s one of the most beautiful sights, truly. The blue water, the looming snowcapped mountains, the clouds and mist weaving in and out of the mountain tops and the lush green forests are just incredible. I hope I can get some pictures tomorrow. We got into Wanaka when it was still daylight and went in search of a backpacker. The Wanaka YHA was pretty full and only had a dorm with 7 rooms available. We found a place called the Matterhorn, which has been wonderful. Well, it was until now because Raven is closed and can’t get the heater to do what she wants it to. We are sharing a twin room again and this time it has *gasp* a bathroom attached to the room. Luxurious! LOL. We made dinner tonight and now we’re sitting in our room online. We plan to stay here for two nights because we want to explore Mt. Aspiring National Park. I loved this park when I was here last time because of the mystical beech forests and I would love to have time to do it again. Tomorrow is my big chance!
This trip is about to start winding down soon. I’m still traveling south but not for much longer. Tonight and tomorrow we’ll be in Wanaka. Then we’ll spend two nights in Dunedin, followed by two nights in Kaikoura. We’ll then cross the ferry again and stay two nights in Masterton before I fly back up to Auckland for one more night and then I’m heading home. It’s hard to believe and yet I’ve seen so much this trip. I’ve definitely packed in a lot in a month. Yay!
Last time I was in New Zealand, I made the best of my time in Franz Josef Glacier. In one day I went kayaking on one of the Mirror Lakes and then took a glacier hike with a group up Franz Josef Glacier. I loved the kayaking and didn’t love the hike so much but I felt that I made good use of my time, none the less. When we woke up this morning, we had no plan for what we wanted to do. This is kind of normal for us as we kind of play things by ear usually, but since we’d come so far we should make an attempt to do something at Franz Josef. After all, it is one of the key destination points in New Zealand. We went and looked at brochures and Raven looked online. We tried to get info on river rafting but the websites were ridiculous and most of the places required you to be at the site by 9:30 and it was already 9:15. Ultimately, we decided to go to breakfast at a cafe and decide what to do over coffee.
We went to the same place we’d gone to the night previously for Quiz Night and people there recognized us from the night before. We ordered breakfast and tried to partake in the ‘bottomless coffee and tea”. Raven ordered “filtered coffee” which I learned means regular coffee. How I’d gone 19 days not knowing this, I have no idea. I stuck with tea, which I realized was a good idea when Raven sniffed the coffee. It was apparently vile. We enjoyed our breakfast and decided that we had no idea what to do and we were going to drive to the glacier itself and take our own walk out to it.
We headed out of town following the signs to the glacier. Unlike yesterday, which was sunny and beautiful, today was a torrential downpour. We turned off at the correct road and soon found ourselves sliding along the road. Raven said the road seemed like wet porcelain clay, not something we would want to drive on. Raven gave it her best shot but finally decided the car would slide off the embankment if we continued (which would most certainly put a damper on the trip). We slid back to the main road and decided to head south. At least we tried to do something in Franz Josef. We decided we’d head down towards Wanaka. We drove about 20 minutes or so and then saw signs for Fox Glacier, the other famous glacier in NZ. When I was in NZ the last time, I did not stop at Fox so since we were driving through the town anyway, we decided to go to the i-site to see if they had any info about how to get to the glacier. Not one but both visitor centers were closed, one attached to a cafe which said that they were open when the weather was fine. Did I mention the torrential downpour? So we got back into the car and kept driving. We saw a sign saying there was an access road to the glacier so we took it. Again, the road was unpaved but this time, it wasn’t made of clay and Raven had traction under her tires.
We found our way to the parking lot and saw that there were some cars there. We put on our coats and headed out towards the trail, noticing a sign saying that people should consider wearing a hat and warm clothes. We had the warm clothes, not the hat but went out anyway. The ‘trail’ was really the river bed where the glacier had passed through years previously. The water was brown and muddy but there were random pockets of aquamarine pools that were in sharp contrast to the browns and grays everywhere. We started walking along the river bed and noticed some amazing rocks laying on the ground. They were a brilliant green with white and brown flecks. As we walked we came across a sign warning about ice slides next to huge boulders of ice (the boulders were on the ground). Raven had me pose by it and then posed herself. Probably not one of my smarter moments but I survived my stupidity! I then noticed the signs warning about rock slides so I turned and saw that there was a temporary trail that was marked in the center of the riverbed. I decided to walk to it, Raven preferring to continue walking where we’d been doing so previously. The two trails connected at a point where the trail started going up towards the glacier. We walked along it for a while until we had a view of the glacier that we liked. We took numerous pictures of it and then started heading back. I should point out that people without a guide should not walk onto the glaciers because one, you need crampon ice shoes and other appropriate gear and two, because the ice is unstable and one misstep could easily become your last. So we went to look at the glacier from a safe distance instead. On the way back down I saw the posts for the temporary trail and Raven followed me. Right after we did that, a ranger came by with a shovel. We stopped to talk to him and he told us that he was on his way up to see if there had been any slides by the creek. Apparently, the muddy brown water is usually the same aquamarine blue as the pools we saw before. Rangers can tell there has been a rockslide when the water turns muddy. He also told us that he was trying to decide if he needed to close the trail because major rainfall was predicted for the afternoon. Apparently the creek rises fast when the rains hit, rising 1 meter every 15 minutes. He also pointed out a place in the cliff where the vegetation was clear because of a rockslide. He said he was glad that we’d walked away from that area because the cliff is still unstable. Apparently, the rockslides began 10 months ago (including HUGE boulders sitting at the bottom) and they’d had to close the glacier until a week or so ago. He also pointed out that he was not allowed to wear a hood because he needed to be listening for rockslides. Oops. I immediately took off my hood. I guess we timed it really well. We walked back up towards the car park and saw another ranger working on digging a hole. He talked to us as well and said that if the rains come that they’d have to close the glacier for the day but it was clearing up so he thought they wouldn’t have to. Minutes after he said that, it started to rain again. We hurried back to the car and by the time we got there it was hailing and coming down so hard that we couldn’t see the cliffs near us. I guess they were going to have to close the trail after all!
We felt incredibly fortunate that we got to see the glacier and stayed dry. After we got back into the car the rains really came down. We drove south towards Wanaka with the water pouring down in sheets. There was one point where we were driving along the coast and saw hundreds of little piles of rocks by the side of the road. Raven stopped the car to go and take pictures. She got out with her coat and I jumped out right after her without a coat and crossed the street to take pictures. I lasted 3 quick pictures with the wind howling, the rain pouring down and zero visibility so I ran back into the car while Raven took more pictures. It was a good place for a picture stop, I was just too cold, wet and couldn’t keep my camera dry. We continued on and decided not to have lunch in the car as it was way too wet. We stopped at a scenic sight of sand dunes and beach as the rain had let up a bit and we needed a pit stop. We got some great pictures of the beach and cliffs and I went up into a look out tower to take more pictures and noticed Raven trying to take pictures of a fantail that was flitting around her. When I got back down the same fantail started darting between the trail and my feet. He almost flew into my jeans he was so erratic. I got some pictures of him but again, he was so darn fast. It was awesome.
We got back into the car and drove towards Haast, a small beach town. We took a chance on a cafe as there really weren’t other options. One thing I like about New Zealand is that when you go to a small town you don’t see McDonalds and other fast food places. Instead you see local cafes. We ordered lunch and sat as close to the fire as we could because that place was freezing. As we sat waiting for our food I saw a flash of lightning outside (some of you know my hatred of lightning) followed 2 seconds later by a boom of thunder. Then the power flashed off. Oh, cute. The power came back on but we were witnesses to a thunder storm and more torrential rain. I had pumpkin soup (as in squash… it’s all pumpkin here) and a tomato and cheese toastie (now anything called a toastie has to be yummy) and a ginger beer. I’m liking the ginger beers a little too much. I fear I might be getting addicted and unfortunately, I know that I can get ginger beer at Cost Plus in Olympia.
After our lunch we headed back out and towards Haast Pass. Yep, we were going into the mountains in the middle of winter, something I hate to do in Washington. The drive was beautiful. Since the rain was pouring down, there were countless waterfall cascading down along the road. I commented that it was like we were in Milford Sound. We’ve being listening to books on tape this entire trip and I tried valiantly to stay awake but sleep found me during the drive. I woke up to find that there was snow all along the sides of the road. Oops. Luckily, even though there was a lot of rain coming down, it didn’t snow. The mountain pass would NOT be fun if that were the case.
Finally, we drove along Lake Wanaka and we could finally see little spots of blue poking out of the clouds. Lake Wanaka is a brilliant light blue, kind of like the glacier water at Fox Glacier. This seems strange when the sky is grey. It’s one of the most beautiful sights, truly. The blue water, the looming snowcapped mountains, the clouds and mist weaving in and out of the mountain tops and the lush green forests are just incredible. I hope I can get some pictures tomorrow. We got into Wanaka when it was still daylight and went in search of a backpacker. The Wanaka YHA was pretty full and only had a dorm with 7 rooms available. We found a place called the Matterhorn, which has been wonderful. Well, it was until now because Raven is closed and can’t get the heater to do what she wants it to. We are sharing a twin room again and this time it has *gasp* a bathroom attached to the room. Luxurious! LOL. We made dinner tonight and now we’re sitting in our room online. We plan to stay here for two nights because we want to explore Mt. Aspiring National Park. I loved this park when I was here last time because of the mystical beech forests and I would love to have time to do it again. Tomorrow is my big chance!
This trip is about to start winding down soon. I’m still traveling south but not for much longer. Tonight and tomorrow we’ll be in Wanaka. Then we’ll spend two nights in Dunedin, followed by two nights in Kaikoura. We’ll then cross the ferry again and stay two nights in Masterton before I fly back up to Auckland for one more night and then I’m heading home. It’s hard to believe and yet I’ve seen so much this trip. I’ve definitely packed in a lot in a month. Yay!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Punakaiki to Franz Josef Glacier
July 20, 2009
I love the town of Punakaiki, I really do. It may be one of my favorite places on this planet. I went there five years ago and my return felt just as magical, if not more so. We woke up this morning to the smell of baked muffins. We got up and got ready, heading downstairs to sample the muffins. Monday apparently means chocolate chip day. Yay! We each ate one of the muffins, brewed up some tea and walked outside to the Truman Track.
Te Nikau Retreat is right next to the Paparoa National Park and the Truman Track is part of the park. We followed along the path, which is absolutely stunning. Punakaiki is in the middle of the rainforest so the vegetation is especially lush and green. Somehow, the rains stayed away and we had blue sky overhead as we followed the rainforest path towards the beach. I read a sign saying that little blue penguins nest at the beach starting in August and I was hoping that they might be a wee bit early. No such luck but we did get to see my favorite beach anywhere on this planet. I took pictures from it 5 years ago and they were by far my favorite pictures on the trip. This time was no different. The tide was in so there was no beach walk this time. However, this was not a problem because the waves crashing against the rocks was so spectacular that we didn’t need to be walking on sand in order to see it. Raven made a comment that she had never before heard waves that actually ‘crash’. It is an awesome sound, truly, hearing the slamming of the surf on the rocks. It really does sound like something has run into a rock. In addition to the sounds of the waves hitting the rocks, we also got to listen to my favorite sound in New Zealand. The waves were loud so it was kind of hard to hear but because Punakaiki has little pebbles instead of sand grains, when the water recedes from the beach, the sound effect is of thousands of rain sticks. I heard this last time when I was in Punakaiki and in Kaikoura and I loved hearing it again. Raven heard it too. We took tons of pictures of the waves and the beach and I took a handful of sand again (well, little pebbles, not sand). I really can’t describe this beach and this experience enough. We were truly blessed to be able to witness it. I could truly spend days staying there, which is kind of funny because New Zealanders often comment, “Punakaiki? Why would you stay there?” After our beach walk we headed back into the forest and spent quite a while walking among the trees taking pictures. We were as content walking under the green canopy as we were walking near the beach.
We returned to Te Nikau and got into the car so that we could see the Pancake Rocks (what Punakaiki is famous for). Other people at the backpacker were commenting that now was the time to go see them because the tide was in and the blowholes would be in full force. We headed over and walked along the trail to the rocks. I did this five years ago as well and I’m sure I got similar pictures. It was breathtaking and all, but somehow paled in comparison to my little beach at Te Nikau.
After exploring the Pancake Rocks (and we didn’t eat pancakes, although we’d considered it) we went to the requisite gift shop and then we were on our way. Being the ‘navigator’, I had planned for us to stay the night in Hotitika, which was further down the coast of the Tasman Sea. I had considered it to be a decent drive from Westport (our original plan) and we got there in the early morning. Um, no. I suggested that we try to go far down the coast to Franz Josef Glacier because it felt like we could cover more miles and I remembered liking the backpacker there the last time I was in NZ. We decided to go for it and although we’d originally pulled out brochures about Hotitika, we breezed right through it. In fact, we only stopped in Greymouth for a moment for gas and cash (no ATMs further south for a while). Around 1 pm, as I was eating an apple, Raven asked if we should stop for lunch. We thought of staying in a picnic area but couldn’t find one so we stopped randomly along the road. We made quick sandwiches in the car and ate alongside the road. Even though it’s one of the main arterials through the South Island on the West Coast, it was very quiet. Hardly any cars passed us.
As we were driving along Highway 6, we passed a sign advertising “The Bushman Centre” 6 km in the distance. It triggered a memory for me from my last trip when we’d stopped there on the bus. It is a weird place that specializes in possum pies and other random animal pies, has a bunch of animals not native to NZ in pens outside (like a deer, a tarn and some wallabies) and a possum museum. We’re talking strange. We went in and ordered hot red currant drinks and stretched our legs for a while. We then decided to spend $4 each on the possum museum, which was certainly not worth it. Te Papa is free! What were we thinking? The possum museum is a room in the back of the place that has a boardwalk where you walk amongst stuffed animals everywhere. I was on my way out the door, not particularly impressed, when Raven let out a big yelp. I turned around and she had hot red currant spilled on her sweater and her hair was wet. WTF? Apparently, she’d pulled a lever that promised a ‘weta experience’. For those of you not familiar with NZ, wetas are huge nocturnal insects native to NZ. When she pulled the lever, a bunch of water dumped on her head … it was a pun and not so funny joke. For Americans, that wouldn’t make an ounce of sense but when you don’t pronounce the final ‘r’ in words, weta and wetter sound the same. Har har. We immediately left and it kind of put a damper on the afternoon.
We headed on again and I tried valiantly to stay awake but failed miserably. I had mentioned stopping at the Mirror Lakes near Franz Josef and I happened to open my eyes right at the sign advertising the lakes and pointed it out to Raven. We pulled off and saw that the lake water was rough so the mirror effect wasn’t apparent. Instead of looking at a not so interesting lake (darn lack of mirror effect) we decided to journey on to Franz Josef Glacier. We pulled up at the YHA and booked a room and then went for a walk in the town. This town rivals Punakaiki in smallness, having only two major streets (one of them highway 6) so the walk didn’t take us long.
Raven went up to the room to rest for a while and I grabbed a book and sat OUTSIDE to read. We’re near the mountains and yet it was warm enough to read in July (which is like January at home). I took some pictures of the mountains among the clouds and when it got dark and cold (sun went away) I came in to read some more. Raven came to find me an hour or so later and we went out to a local pub to get some dinner AND participate in Quiz Night. I had seen a sign advertising it and I just had to partake in this Kiwi experience. Luckily, I was able to twist Raven’s arm and get her to do this. The categories were Michael Jackson albums, Potluck, Science and Nature, Sports, History, Music, TV and Movies and Artsy Fartsy. We got to choose two categories where we could get double points and we chose Science and Nature and History. We got all of the Science and Nature questions right, which I was quite excited about, and most of the history questions. When we first started, one of the first questions was “Lake Tahoe borders which two states?” to which I did a little dance as I definitely knew it. The MC saw me and said, “We don’t happen to have a couple of Americans here tonight, do we?” He then said, “Well, it’s better than Australians,” to which a bunch of people shouted out at him (must have been Australians). There was a ‘baffler’ question where they would give out clues each round and you’d have to guess the answer. In our case, it was a year they were looking for. Raven put 1888 as her answer for the first round. In the third round, the question was “The states Montana, Washington (and some other one) entered the Union during this year” to which I got very excited and wrote down 1889 because, well, I’m from Washington and was taught this year in grade school. Someone else beat us to it and they announced that the answer was 1888. WTF?! NO!!! Raven actually had guessed the right date (and it was random) but we didn’t hand in our papers right away so we didn’t win. Drat. Still, I had a lot of fun. The answers to other questions were also wrong, including the answer to the question of who was the First Lady of the United States of America from 1989 to 1993? We put down Barbara Bush and the answer sheet said Betty Bush. They actually went online to check that one. I was surprised by how many American questions were asked. Good thing we could answer them.
I love the town of Punakaiki, I really do. It may be one of my favorite places on this planet. I went there five years ago and my return felt just as magical, if not more so. We woke up this morning to the smell of baked muffins. We got up and got ready, heading downstairs to sample the muffins. Monday apparently means chocolate chip day. Yay! We each ate one of the muffins, brewed up some tea and walked outside to the Truman Track.
Te Nikau Retreat is right next to the Paparoa National Park and the Truman Track is part of the park. We followed along the path, which is absolutely stunning. Punakaiki is in the middle of the rainforest so the vegetation is especially lush and green. Somehow, the rains stayed away and we had blue sky overhead as we followed the rainforest path towards the beach. I read a sign saying that little blue penguins nest at the beach starting in August and I was hoping that they might be a wee bit early. No such luck but we did get to see my favorite beach anywhere on this planet. I took pictures from it 5 years ago and they were by far my favorite pictures on the trip. This time was no different. The tide was in so there was no beach walk this time. However, this was not a problem because the waves crashing against the rocks was so spectacular that we didn’t need to be walking on sand in order to see it. Raven made a comment that she had never before heard waves that actually ‘crash’. It is an awesome sound, truly, hearing the slamming of the surf on the rocks. It really does sound like something has run into a rock. In addition to the sounds of the waves hitting the rocks, we also got to listen to my favorite sound in New Zealand. The waves were loud so it was kind of hard to hear but because Punakaiki has little pebbles instead of sand grains, when the water recedes from the beach, the sound effect is of thousands of rain sticks. I heard this last time when I was in Punakaiki and in Kaikoura and I loved hearing it again. Raven heard it too. We took tons of pictures of the waves and the beach and I took a handful of sand again (well, little pebbles, not sand). I really can’t describe this beach and this experience enough. We were truly blessed to be able to witness it. I could truly spend days staying there, which is kind of funny because New Zealanders often comment, “Punakaiki? Why would you stay there?” After our beach walk we headed back into the forest and spent quite a while walking among the trees taking pictures. We were as content walking under the green canopy as we were walking near the beach.
We returned to Te Nikau and got into the car so that we could see the Pancake Rocks (what Punakaiki is famous for). Other people at the backpacker were commenting that now was the time to go see them because the tide was in and the blowholes would be in full force. We headed over and walked along the trail to the rocks. I did this five years ago as well and I’m sure I got similar pictures. It was breathtaking and all, but somehow paled in comparison to my little beach at Te Nikau.
After exploring the Pancake Rocks (and we didn’t eat pancakes, although we’d considered it) we went to the requisite gift shop and then we were on our way. Being the ‘navigator’, I had planned for us to stay the night in Hotitika, which was further down the coast of the Tasman Sea. I had considered it to be a decent drive from Westport (our original plan) and we got there in the early morning. Um, no. I suggested that we try to go far down the coast to Franz Josef Glacier because it felt like we could cover more miles and I remembered liking the backpacker there the last time I was in NZ. We decided to go for it and although we’d originally pulled out brochures about Hotitika, we breezed right through it. In fact, we only stopped in Greymouth for a moment for gas and cash (no ATMs further south for a while). Around 1 pm, as I was eating an apple, Raven asked if we should stop for lunch. We thought of staying in a picnic area but couldn’t find one so we stopped randomly along the road. We made quick sandwiches in the car and ate alongside the road. Even though it’s one of the main arterials through the South Island on the West Coast, it was very quiet. Hardly any cars passed us.
As we were driving along Highway 6, we passed a sign advertising “The Bushman Centre” 6 km in the distance. It triggered a memory for me from my last trip when we’d stopped there on the bus. It is a weird place that specializes in possum pies and other random animal pies, has a bunch of animals not native to NZ in pens outside (like a deer, a tarn and some wallabies) and a possum museum. We’re talking strange. We went in and ordered hot red currant drinks and stretched our legs for a while. We then decided to spend $4 each on the possum museum, which was certainly not worth it. Te Papa is free! What were we thinking? The possum museum is a room in the back of the place that has a boardwalk where you walk amongst stuffed animals everywhere. I was on my way out the door, not particularly impressed, when Raven let out a big yelp. I turned around and she had hot red currant spilled on her sweater and her hair was wet. WTF? Apparently, she’d pulled a lever that promised a ‘weta experience’. For those of you not familiar with NZ, wetas are huge nocturnal insects native to NZ. When she pulled the lever, a bunch of water dumped on her head … it was a pun and not so funny joke. For Americans, that wouldn’t make an ounce of sense but when you don’t pronounce the final ‘r’ in words, weta and wetter sound the same. Har har. We immediately left and it kind of put a damper on the afternoon.
We headed on again and I tried valiantly to stay awake but failed miserably. I had mentioned stopping at the Mirror Lakes near Franz Josef and I happened to open my eyes right at the sign advertising the lakes and pointed it out to Raven. We pulled off and saw that the lake water was rough so the mirror effect wasn’t apparent. Instead of looking at a not so interesting lake (darn lack of mirror effect) we decided to journey on to Franz Josef Glacier. We pulled up at the YHA and booked a room and then went for a walk in the town. This town rivals Punakaiki in smallness, having only two major streets (one of them highway 6) so the walk didn’t take us long.
Raven went up to the room to rest for a while and I grabbed a book and sat OUTSIDE to read. We’re near the mountains and yet it was warm enough to read in July (which is like January at home). I took some pictures of the mountains among the clouds and when it got dark and cold (sun went away) I came in to read some more. Raven came to find me an hour or so later and we went out to a local pub to get some dinner AND participate in Quiz Night. I had seen a sign advertising it and I just had to partake in this Kiwi experience. Luckily, I was able to twist Raven’s arm and get her to do this. The categories were Michael Jackson albums, Potluck, Science and Nature, Sports, History, Music, TV and Movies and Artsy Fartsy. We got to choose two categories where we could get double points and we chose Science and Nature and History. We got all of the Science and Nature questions right, which I was quite excited about, and most of the history questions. When we first started, one of the first questions was “Lake Tahoe borders which two states?” to which I did a little dance as I definitely knew it. The MC saw me and said, “We don’t happen to have a couple of Americans here tonight, do we?” He then said, “Well, it’s better than Australians,” to which a bunch of people shouted out at him (must have been Australians). There was a ‘baffler’ question where they would give out clues each round and you’d have to guess the answer. In our case, it was a year they were looking for. Raven put 1888 as her answer for the first round. In the third round, the question was “The states Montana, Washington (and some other one) entered the Union during this year” to which I got very excited and wrote down 1889 because, well, I’m from Washington and was taught this year in grade school. Someone else beat us to it and they announced that the answer was 1888. WTF?! NO!!! Raven actually had guessed the right date (and it was random) but we didn’t hand in our papers right away so we didn’t win. Drat. Still, I had a lot of fun. The answers to other questions were also wrong, including the answer to the question of who was the First Lady of the United States of America from 1989 to 1993? We put down Barbara Bush and the answer sheet said Betty Bush. They actually went online to check that one. I was surprised by how many American questions were asked. Good thing we could answer them.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Nelson to Punakaiki
July 19, 2009
This morning we headed downstairs for a relaxing breakfast before heading out for our next adventure. Unfortunately, the teenage dance troupe in our backpacker had a different idea of relaxing. They’d been there the night before with teenagers feeling the liberty of horrible chaperones. That means 14 year olds running around yelling and tearing around the place when we were downstairs on our computers. We couldn’t be in our rooms because, as I mentioned yesterday, we couldn’t get online from our rooms. So we had to deal with obnoxious teenagers. Again this morning they were out running around and again they took over the entire hostel. However, this time the chaperones were getting on my nerves because they were so darn loud. Shhhh! Let us have a peaceful morning in well, peace. I couldn’t get out of there soon enough.
We walked outside and noticed that our car was next to the Flea Market so we dutifully stopped and walked around. I think I like the idea of a flea market more than the actual flea market because minutes into exploring it I was essentially done. Thankfully, so was Raven so we hopped into the car and headed on our way. Ever since the last time I was in New Zealand I’ve wanted to go on the Great Walk in the Abel Tasman National Park. I’ve seen pictures of it and it has always looked amazing… golden sand beaches with deep blue sea. Last time I didn’t book a trip there and the way our timing has gone this time, I knew that a 3-4 day trip to Abel Tasman wouldn’t be possible. I saw that the track was close to the road, however, and we decided to venture onto the edge of the track at least. We didn’t have an actual address for Magda the Bitch so I had to navigate us to the park. According to the map, we had a choice of either taking the windy road by the water or the windy road not by the water. We chose water and OMG did that map lie. It wasn’t just windy, it was scary windy. We were not happy and were very glad to get through it unscathed. I didn’t suggest stopping along the road to take pictures because it was that scary. We finally made it to the park and there was hardly anyone there. We made quick sandwiches and ate before venturing onto the trail. I was sooo excited by this as, like I said, I’ve waited a long time to be on this trail.
We walked out onto the bridge and headed towards the trail. As we walked we could see lots of rocks arranged into words along the beach. This is apparently something that lots of kiwis do with rocks on the beach around here and it was fun trying to figure out what they said. Much more longevity with this than with writing in the sand and yet still not permanent. We took pictures of the sand and the water and I was thrilled to see that the pictures do not lie. The Abel Tasman National Park is a combination of deep blue sea and golden sand. It’s stunning. We walked to the boardwalk until we got onto the actual trail. Once again we found ourselves walking in native NZ bush so we saw ferns galore. At one point, a fantail was flitting about and I told it to hold still so we could take pictures and … it did! I have 3-4 pictures of it and was taking pictures of it until it had had enough and flew off. We stopped over and over again taking pictures of the bush and of the views of the water through the trees. We decided that we needed to have a time limit so that we wouldn’t arrive at our backpacker too late at night so we gave ourselves an hour on the trail before having to head back. We got to a beach access point that said Tinline Bay and decided to stop off and take pictures. It was one of the most beautiful places I’ve been to in NZ and that’s saying something. We walked along the beach taking oodles of pictures and had an amazing time. We were 5 minutes ‘behind schedule’ when we had finished our pictures and decided to head back. We were shocked when we saw the boardwalk again as it took us about 30 minutes to get back. So we’d meandered for an hour and took 1/2 as long to get back. Oops. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed walking along the track and didn’t mind that we spent an hour and a half instead of 3 days, although some day I’d like to make it a multiday trip. We stopped at a shop across from the park on the way back because it was finally open (it wasn’t open at noon when we’d arrived). There was a sign saying that the shop, the property and the art were on sale for $295,000 NZ, which is uber cheap by both US and NZ standards. I didn’t buy it though.
We decided to stay the night in Greymouth, which meant quite a bit of driving when we left the park… try 5 hours worth of driving and it was already 3 pm. Mind you, it’s winter here and 3 pm means long shadows as it’s a couple of hours before dark. Such a shock coming here from summer! We decided that driving all the way to Greymouth might not be the best idea so we decided on Westport instead. We stopped along the way in a town called Tapawera because we were really craving coffee. We walked in and the girl in the cafe saw us and greeted us. We walked up to the counter and thought that she’d be serving us quickly. To our surprise, she stayed in back and started doing dishes. We kept thinking she’d come take our order. Nope. It got so ridiculous that Raven and I decided to leave. We got to the door when she came out and asked us what we were doing. Um, leaving? She then took our order and we sat down to wait. There were two men who were sitting outside when we arrived. A few minutes after we sat down she walked out to them and brought out coffees. It was weird. She’d been doing dishes while they had to wait for their coffees. We waited a while and then she brought out our coffees. Not so yummy either. We drank them quickly and headed out, not particularly impressed by the town. We then headed towards Westport, listening to our book on tape and meandering through the passes. I was a little nervous navigating on the road because the map showed lots of twists and turns but we did pass a bus, which made us think that maybe it wasn’t so bad. For once, it wasn’t so bad and we made it to Westport by 6ish.
We followed directions to the backpacker and pulled up in front. We got out of the car and were BLASTED by a horrible burning smell. Raven was worried that it was her car but as we walked away from her car the smell did not lessen. We looked up at the chimney of the backpacker and saw a horrible cloud of smoke coming from it. They were heating their place with coal and it smelled so toxic. We walked in and there weren’t any twin beds available, just a double. We decided to leave because we didn’t want to deal with that, it was crowded and it was hard to breathe. We drove through the town and it ALL smelled of burning coal, which was horrible. I suggested staying at the backpacker in Punakaiki, which is where I’d stayed five years ago when I was here. Raven agreed so we plugged in the address and headed out of Westport. It took about an hour and we saw penguin crossing signs along the way, which we hope to take pictures of tomorrow. We also had to slow down for a bird in the road. Raven was super excited and adamant that we’d just seen a kiwi bird. I, at the same moment, thought we’d seen a weka. I’m pretty sure I was right and the woman at the hostel agreed with me.
We finally arrived in Punakaiki around 7. Punakaiki is a very small little town in NZ and that’s saying something in NZ because there are some very small towns. It really is a row of restaurants along the highway plus this amazing little backpacker a mile or two down the road. It has access to a gorgeous little beach and it’s where I took some of my best pictures the last time I was here. I remembered the owner of the backpacker and I really wanted to come back here. While it was unfortunate about Westport, I was personally very happy to be returning here. There were vacancies and so we are here right now. There are major improvements over how it was five years ago. Most noticeable is that there is now a reception area and staff. Before it was just the owner. The place looks much cleaner and they now sell some food (last time I had to walk to a restaurant nearby along the highway … not one of my smarter moments). We cooked dinner and we’re going to have fresh bread and muffins tomorrow (they did have that last time). I can’t wait to walk back to the beach and I’m hoping for more lovely pictures. The downside to this place is that they’re using coal to heat it, but luckily it’s not AS vile as Westport. Raven and I are still affected by it though and we’re going to risk being cold tonight rather than deal with the coal fumes.
I don’t think that I’ll be posting more pictures on Facebook until after I return to the States. My computer says that disk space is now low and I can’t even upload more pictures. So I’ll just be posting to the blog and I’ll put up pictures later.
This morning we headed downstairs for a relaxing breakfast before heading out for our next adventure. Unfortunately, the teenage dance troupe in our backpacker had a different idea of relaxing. They’d been there the night before with teenagers feeling the liberty of horrible chaperones. That means 14 year olds running around yelling and tearing around the place when we were downstairs on our computers. We couldn’t be in our rooms because, as I mentioned yesterday, we couldn’t get online from our rooms. So we had to deal with obnoxious teenagers. Again this morning they were out running around and again they took over the entire hostel. However, this time the chaperones were getting on my nerves because they were so darn loud. Shhhh! Let us have a peaceful morning in well, peace. I couldn’t get out of there soon enough.
We walked outside and noticed that our car was next to the Flea Market so we dutifully stopped and walked around. I think I like the idea of a flea market more than the actual flea market because minutes into exploring it I was essentially done. Thankfully, so was Raven so we hopped into the car and headed on our way. Ever since the last time I was in New Zealand I’ve wanted to go on the Great Walk in the Abel Tasman National Park. I’ve seen pictures of it and it has always looked amazing… golden sand beaches with deep blue sea. Last time I didn’t book a trip there and the way our timing has gone this time, I knew that a 3-4 day trip to Abel Tasman wouldn’t be possible. I saw that the track was close to the road, however, and we decided to venture onto the edge of the track at least. We didn’t have an actual address for Magda the Bitch so I had to navigate us to the park. According to the map, we had a choice of either taking the windy road by the water or the windy road not by the water. We chose water and OMG did that map lie. It wasn’t just windy, it was scary windy. We were not happy and were very glad to get through it unscathed. I didn’t suggest stopping along the road to take pictures because it was that scary. We finally made it to the park and there was hardly anyone there. We made quick sandwiches and ate before venturing onto the trail. I was sooo excited by this as, like I said, I’ve waited a long time to be on this trail.
We walked out onto the bridge and headed towards the trail. As we walked we could see lots of rocks arranged into words along the beach. This is apparently something that lots of kiwis do with rocks on the beach around here and it was fun trying to figure out what they said. Much more longevity with this than with writing in the sand and yet still not permanent. We took pictures of the sand and the water and I was thrilled to see that the pictures do not lie. The Abel Tasman National Park is a combination of deep blue sea and golden sand. It’s stunning. We walked to the boardwalk until we got onto the actual trail. Once again we found ourselves walking in native NZ bush so we saw ferns galore. At one point, a fantail was flitting about and I told it to hold still so we could take pictures and … it did! I have 3-4 pictures of it and was taking pictures of it until it had had enough and flew off. We stopped over and over again taking pictures of the bush and of the views of the water through the trees. We decided that we needed to have a time limit so that we wouldn’t arrive at our backpacker too late at night so we gave ourselves an hour on the trail before having to head back. We got to a beach access point that said Tinline Bay and decided to stop off and take pictures. It was one of the most beautiful places I’ve been to in NZ and that’s saying something. We walked along the beach taking oodles of pictures and had an amazing time. We were 5 minutes ‘behind schedule’ when we had finished our pictures and decided to head back. We were shocked when we saw the boardwalk again as it took us about 30 minutes to get back. So we’d meandered for an hour and took 1/2 as long to get back. Oops. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed walking along the track and didn’t mind that we spent an hour and a half instead of 3 days, although some day I’d like to make it a multiday trip. We stopped at a shop across from the park on the way back because it was finally open (it wasn’t open at noon when we’d arrived). There was a sign saying that the shop, the property and the art were on sale for $295,000 NZ, which is uber cheap by both US and NZ standards. I didn’t buy it though.
We decided to stay the night in Greymouth, which meant quite a bit of driving when we left the park… try 5 hours worth of driving and it was already 3 pm. Mind you, it’s winter here and 3 pm means long shadows as it’s a couple of hours before dark. Such a shock coming here from summer! We decided that driving all the way to Greymouth might not be the best idea so we decided on Westport instead. We stopped along the way in a town called Tapawera because we were really craving coffee. We walked in and the girl in the cafe saw us and greeted us. We walked up to the counter and thought that she’d be serving us quickly. To our surprise, she stayed in back and started doing dishes. We kept thinking she’d come take our order. Nope. It got so ridiculous that Raven and I decided to leave. We got to the door when she came out and asked us what we were doing. Um, leaving? She then took our order and we sat down to wait. There were two men who were sitting outside when we arrived. A few minutes after we sat down she walked out to them and brought out coffees. It was weird. She’d been doing dishes while they had to wait for their coffees. We waited a while and then she brought out our coffees. Not so yummy either. We drank them quickly and headed out, not particularly impressed by the town. We then headed towards Westport, listening to our book on tape and meandering through the passes. I was a little nervous navigating on the road because the map showed lots of twists and turns but we did pass a bus, which made us think that maybe it wasn’t so bad. For once, it wasn’t so bad and we made it to Westport by 6ish.
We followed directions to the backpacker and pulled up in front. We got out of the car and were BLASTED by a horrible burning smell. Raven was worried that it was her car but as we walked away from her car the smell did not lessen. We looked up at the chimney of the backpacker and saw a horrible cloud of smoke coming from it. They were heating their place with coal and it smelled so toxic. We walked in and there weren’t any twin beds available, just a double. We decided to leave because we didn’t want to deal with that, it was crowded and it was hard to breathe. We drove through the town and it ALL smelled of burning coal, which was horrible. I suggested staying at the backpacker in Punakaiki, which is where I’d stayed five years ago when I was here. Raven agreed so we plugged in the address and headed out of Westport. It took about an hour and we saw penguin crossing signs along the way, which we hope to take pictures of tomorrow. We also had to slow down for a bird in the road. Raven was super excited and adamant that we’d just seen a kiwi bird. I, at the same moment, thought we’d seen a weka. I’m pretty sure I was right and the woman at the hostel agreed with me.
We finally arrived in Punakaiki around 7. Punakaiki is a very small little town in NZ and that’s saying something in NZ because there are some very small towns. It really is a row of restaurants along the highway plus this amazing little backpacker a mile or two down the road. It has access to a gorgeous little beach and it’s where I took some of my best pictures the last time I was here. I remembered the owner of the backpacker and I really wanted to come back here. While it was unfortunate about Westport, I was personally very happy to be returning here. There were vacancies and so we are here right now. There are major improvements over how it was five years ago. Most noticeable is that there is now a reception area and staff. Before it was just the owner. The place looks much cleaner and they now sell some food (last time I had to walk to a restaurant nearby along the highway … not one of my smarter moments). We cooked dinner and we’re going to have fresh bread and muffins tomorrow (they did have that last time). I can’t wait to walk back to the beach and I’m hoping for more lovely pictures. The downside to this place is that they’re using coal to heat it, but luckily it’s not AS vile as Westport. Raven and I are still affected by it though and we’re going to risk being cold tonight rather than deal with the coal fumes.
I don’t think that I’ll be posting more pictures on Facebook until after I return to the States. My computer says that disk space is now low and I can’t even upload more pictures. So I’ll just be posting to the blog and I’ll put up pictures later.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Nelson
July 18, 2009
I really, really love the South Island. I woke up this morning to a bright, beautiful day! Last time I was in NZ, I had beautiful weather every day when I was on the South Island. The rain came when I went back north. So far, this trip is panning out the same way. Raven and I got ready and she went out to pay for parking at 8 am because we parked in the lot where the farmers market would be taking place. We walked out together and went in search of a café that she’d seen. The market was still setting up so we both wouldn’t let ourselves be tempted by the stalls of lovely art and food. We found the café and each of us had a flat white, which is kiwi for a yummy coffee with milk. We then headed to an ATM so that I’d have cash to spend at the market.
We got back to the market, ready to explore each and every booth we might come across. We bought all kinds of yummy foods, such as Braeburn apples, gouda cheese, salami, smoked salmon, salmon pate and mustard. I also came across a coat rack wall hanging made of iron that had a fantail sitting on a branch. I fell in love with it when I saw it and Raven completely agreed that I needed to own it. So, even though it was a bit expensive, I now own it and I love it. I resisted buying a gorgeous merino wool sweater that I completely fell in love of. After all, I already bought a sweater a week or so ago. Basically, the market was fabulous. We spent 4 hours there and we had a blast.
After the market we decided to walk downtown to browse in the shops and get lunch. We stopped at a restaurant that Raven knows from Masterton where they have this cooking method called “stone grill” where you order meat raw and they bring the food on this incredibly hot stone where when you slice up the meat and place it on the stone, it cooks up. OMG, it was so yummy and gave me an excellent opportunity to play with my food. Raven ordered something called fish cakes, which unfortunately were disgusting. We then headed over to a store that sold shoes that Raven was looking for. They sold a merino wool fitted sweater that I soooo wanted to buy. I was sorely tempted but it was $299 NZ, which is $210 US and I have already spent too much… hello?! I bought a COAT RACK today. LOL.
Last time I was in Nelson I went to a rubber stamp store and bought a bunch of lovely stamps from a wonderful lady in a shop here. I asked around about the shop and was given differing stories, one that the shop was still here and one that it wasn’t. We decided to try to go off in search of it in the hopes that she would still be there. Alas, we couldn’t find it and I think she’s gone. We instead walked into a famous bead shop and the music was horrible. So horrible that it kind of made us both anxious and grumpy. Raven says it was giving off beta waves and it really was not a nice sound. We asked the women in there about the stamp shop and they were rude and nasty. One woman said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. What’s a rubber stamp?” Raven explained and she scoffed and said she wouldn’t know about such things. Beeeyatch! We left and I started singing another song just to get that awful music out of my head. Raven was still grumbling so I started singing to her just to change the mood. Poor thing, having to hear me sing but it made her laugh and we felt better.
We then walked into a bookstore where I asked the owner about a book he had that I was thinking of buying. Somehow he started talking about Bush and one of his cronies. Why oh why does Bush still haunt all of us?! Leave me alone, Bush! Raven popped into the conversation, it turned to the free trade agreement with China and the two of them started arguing. Being an INFP, I stepped aside and went to browse some more. I eventually stepped in to buy a book and we left. It was kind of a weird conversation and I was certainly glad it ended.
We walked back to our room and talked to the receptionist about internet. It turns out that we can’t use our wireless laptops in the rooms and that’s why it wouldn’t work and is why I am typing right now. We had a dinner of produce that we got in the market and now we’re in the lounge on the computer trying to block out the kids who are running around unsupervised.
I really, really love the South Island. I woke up this morning to a bright, beautiful day! Last time I was in NZ, I had beautiful weather every day when I was on the South Island. The rain came when I went back north. So far, this trip is panning out the same way. Raven and I got ready and she went out to pay for parking at 8 am because we parked in the lot where the farmers market would be taking place. We walked out together and went in search of a café that she’d seen. The market was still setting up so we both wouldn’t let ourselves be tempted by the stalls of lovely art and food. We found the café and each of us had a flat white, which is kiwi for a yummy coffee with milk. We then headed to an ATM so that I’d have cash to spend at the market.
We got back to the market, ready to explore each and every booth we might come across. We bought all kinds of yummy foods, such as Braeburn apples, gouda cheese, salami, smoked salmon, salmon pate and mustard. I also came across a coat rack wall hanging made of iron that had a fantail sitting on a branch. I fell in love with it when I saw it and Raven completely agreed that I needed to own it. So, even though it was a bit expensive, I now own it and I love it. I resisted buying a gorgeous merino wool sweater that I completely fell in love of. After all, I already bought a sweater a week or so ago. Basically, the market was fabulous. We spent 4 hours there and we had a blast.
After the market we decided to walk downtown to browse in the shops and get lunch. We stopped at a restaurant that Raven knows from Masterton where they have this cooking method called “stone grill” where you order meat raw and they bring the food on this incredibly hot stone where when you slice up the meat and place it on the stone, it cooks up. OMG, it was so yummy and gave me an excellent opportunity to play with my food. Raven ordered something called fish cakes, which unfortunately were disgusting. We then headed over to a store that sold shoes that Raven was looking for. They sold a merino wool fitted sweater that I soooo wanted to buy. I was sorely tempted but it was $299 NZ, which is $210 US and I have already spent too much… hello?! I bought a COAT RACK today. LOL.
Last time I was in Nelson I went to a rubber stamp store and bought a bunch of lovely stamps from a wonderful lady in a shop here. I asked around about the shop and was given differing stories, one that the shop was still here and one that it wasn’t. We decided to try to go off in search of it in the hopes that she would still be there. Alas, we couldn’t find it and I think she’s gone. We instead walked into a famous bead shop and the music was horrible. So horrible that it kind of made us both anxious and grumpy. Raven says it was giving off beta waves and it really was not a nice sound. We asked the women in there about the stamp shop and they were rude and nasty. One woman said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. What’s a rubber stamp?” Raven explained and she scoffed and said she wouldn’t know about such things. Beeeyatch! We left and I started singing another song just to get that awful music out of my head. Raven was still grumbling so I started singing to her just to change the mood. Poor thing, having to hear me sing but it made her laugh and we felt better.
We then walked into a bookstore where I asked the owner about a book he had that I was thinking of buying. Somehow he started talking about Bush and one of his cronies. Why oh why does Bush still haunt all of us?! Leave me alone, Bush! Raven popped into the conversation, it turned to the free trade agreement with China and the two of them started arguing. Being an INFP, I stepped aside and went to browse some more. I eventually stepped in to buy a book and we left. It was kind of a weird conversation and I was certainly glad it ended.
We walked back to our room and talked to the receptionist about internet. It turns out that we can’t use our wireless laptops in the rooms and that’s why it wouldn’t work and is why I am typing right now. We had a dinner of produce that we got in the market and now we’re in the lounge on the computer trying to block out the kids who are running around unsupervised.
Masterton to Nelson
July 17, 2009
The sleep out was such a nice place to sleep. I was toasty warm, the bed was comfortable and it was perfect. I slept so well that I ‘slept in’ until 8:30 am. I think I’m finally adjusting to NZ time. I return in less than two weeks so it’s just in time, right? I got up and got ready, in time to have Raven tell me that she had to run an errand in town and for me to pack the car. I paused a moment and followed her out, to which she replied that I couldn’t actually pack the car because she was taking it. LOL. She returned and I did help pack the car and had a quick breakfast (brekkie in Kiwi) before we headed back on the road to our next adventure.
We drove back to Wellington and got to the Wellington Ferry Terminal. We have decided to head to Nelson first so we’re staying at the Nelson YHA at least tonight and maybe tomorrow night as well. As I write this post, I am on the ferry next to Raven. We don’t have internet access so I’m writing this in Word and I’ll post it when I can. The crossing is considered “Moderate”, which is rougher than it was last time I crossed. As I write this, there is an alarm going off. Luckily, they warned us a few minutes ago that it was about to happen. Otherwise, it would be pretty scary. Poor Raven is susceptible to seasickness but she’s holding her own so far. We’re about to approach the tip of the South Island and when we do, I’m going to go and take pictures of the cliffs and waves. Woohoo! I’ll try to post more later.
UPDATE: So we got off the ferry and headed towards Nelson, along Queen Charlotte Drive, which happens to be a very windy, typical NZ road and unfortunately, it was at dusk. Even so, Raven did an admirable job navigating along, even with moments where the driver in front of us decided to drive in the lane with oncoming traffic. Somehow we survived. It got even more interesting when not only were we driving on a narrow road, it was FOGGY! The view was spectacular but there was no way we'd stop. We listened to Half Blood Prince and made it safely into Nelson.
We stayed at the YHA in Nelson. We got our room and headed out for dinner, deciding on a pizza place mentioned in the Lonely Planet. Arleigh went traditional, getting some ham and pineapple thing. I opted for the non-traditional, taking a chance on lamb, kalamata olives, sundried tomatoes and yogurt. We were both happy with our decisions and can I say that my pizza was yummy? Good, because it was.
We headed back to our room and discovered that we couldn't connect to the internet. My computer kept displaying the blue screen of death, being a PC and all. Raven just couldn't log on. Meh. We gave up and went to bed.
The sleep out was such a nice place to sleep. I was toasty warm, the bed was comfortable and it was perfect. I slept so well that I ‘slept in’ until 8:30 am. I think I’m finally adjusting to NZ time. I return in less than two weeks so it’s just in time, right? I got up and got ready, in time to have Raven tell me that she had to run an errand in town and for me to pack the car. I paused a moment and followed her out, to which she replied that I couldn’t actually pack the car because she was taking it. LOL. She returned and I did help pack the car and had a quick breakfast (brekkie in Kiwi) before we headed back on the road to our next adventure.
We drove back to Wellington and got to the Wellington Ferry Terminal. We have decided to head to Nelson first so we’re staying at the Nelson YHA at least tonight and maybe tomorrow night as well. As I write this post, I am on the ferry next to Raven. We don’t have internet access so I’m writing this in Word and I’ll post it when I can. The crossing is considered “Moderate”, which is rougher than it was last time I crossed. As I write this, there is an alarm going off. Luckily, they warned us a few minutes ago that it was about to happen. Otherwise, it would be pretty scary. Poor Raven is susceptible to seasickness but she’s holding her own so far. We’re about to approach the tip of the South Island and when we do, I’m going to go and take pictures of the cliffs and waves. Woohoo! I’ll try to post more later.
UPDATE: So we got off the ferry and headed towards Nelson, along Queen Charlotte Drive, which happens to be a very windy, typical NZ road and unfortunately, it was at dusk. Even so, Raven did an admirable job navigating along, even with moments where the driver in front of us decided to drive in the lane with oncoming traffic. Somehow we survived. It got even more interesting when not only were we driving on a narrow road, it was FOGGY! The view was spectacular but there was no way we'd stop. We listened to Half Blood Prince and made it safely into Nelson.
We stayed at the YHA in Nelson. We got our room and headed out for dinner, deciding on a pizza place mentioned in the Lonely Planet. Arleigh went traditional, getting some ham and pineapple thing. I opted for the non-traditional, taking a chance on lamb, kalamata olives, sundried tomatoes and yogurt. We were both happy with our decisions and can I say that my pizza was yummy? Good, because it was.
We headed back to our room and discovered that we couldn't connect to the internet. My computer kept displaying the blue screen of death, being a PC and all. Raven just couldn't log on. Meh. We gave up and went to bed.
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