18.2.08 9pm- Lake Tekapo

Nugget Point, on the way to Dunedin

The past few days have been pretty wild. On Saturday morning (16^th Feb) the storm was still very active, and Seth went running by himself. There were hardly any trails in the area and he was reduced to running along the side of the narrow, twisting road, with one side a steep drop to the sea. (If you couldn’t figure it out, Seacliff is characterised by the sea and its cliffs).

I did a bit of work on my stats, had brunch with Seth, and toured the vast Asylum grounds, which was built up around the 1880s. The Asylum was, before parts were burnt down and other sections demolished, the largest public building in New Zealand, home to hundreds of ‘insane’ men and women. The owner of the hostel and remaining buildings, Frank, is himself totally mad (but in an energetic, and not a bad, way). He looks and acts just like an old Beach Boy. Very relaxed yet full of childish energy, he owns about 50 antique cars, keeps several beautiful horses that roam freely on the grounds, takes guests out to swim with dolphins every morning, and when we were packing up the car that morning he was bringing a group of people over to one of the barns to go shooting. What a life he leads!

It would have been really great to stay at the Asylum another night (Frank didn’t even care that we were checking out around 1pm), but it was booked up that night, so we drove 40min back into Dunedin.

Our first stop in the Big City was Baldwin St, the steepest street in the world. It didn’t look any steeper than those crazy hills in San Francisco, but it was sure long! We talked up it then came back down to a souvenir shop at the corner to pick up our free certificate stating we scaled it :o)

We didn’t spend much time in the city and drove to Otago Peninsula, about another 40min east of the city. We drove all the way to Taiaroa Head, a long , skinny, wind-weathered point jutting in the ocean that looks like it marks the edge of the world. We stepped out of the car and were instantly battered by that type of wind that blows so hard it makes the skin at the corners of your mouth and eyes wrinkle a bit. The reason we were out here was to try to spot Royal Albatrosses, absolutely amazing birds with the longest wingspan in the world (about 3m), which spend years at sea before coming in to Taiaroa Head to breed. To get a good view of the colony one has to pay $30 per person, so we stood on the other side of the cliff and hoped one would fly overhead. After waiting for about 15-20min in that terrible, cold wind, one albatross flew above us and began circling the peninsula.

After gawking at the bird for a while, the wind got the better of us and we drove back down several kilometres to check in to our next accommodation, the Penguin Place. Just a simple building with several rooms, it was basic, straightforward, and peaceful. We didn’t spend much time there and took off back towards Dunedin. This time, instead of driving along the narrow, twisting road right along the ocean, we took the narrow, twisting ridge road down the middle of Otago Peninsula. I think it freaked Seth out to be driving so high up and with so little between us and a steep drop, but it did offer a great view.

We walked around the city for a while, looking for a coffee shop that was still open. Dunedin is a very cool Uni town (pop. 110,000), with a grungy, alternative big city feel and packed with extremely cute coffee shops. However, it was only about 6pm (on a Saturday night), and every place was closed, except for the Arc Café, which doubled as a music venue at night. That night was a dance party called “Pirates of the Gay-Are-Be-In.” Fortunately we went early enough and were able to share a nice quite mocha before the rapscallions arrived.

At that point it was beginning to get a little dark so we hustled back to the peninsula. We took the lower road, along the water, and made a brief stop at the historic Catholic Church, hidden behind a steep driveway. It was one of those small, one-room churches, and we noticed that it only holds one mass a month (the third Sunday of the month), and the next service would be the following day. How lucky! I really enjoy going to services in old, grand churches, but this time it would be a small, equally old and quaint church.

It was getting late so we kept driving through the peninsula, but we stopped to pick up a hitchhiker on his was to the pub to listen to music. Seth spent five weeks hitchhiking when he came to New Zealand 10 years ago, and he figured it is his turn to give people rides. After we dropped the fellow off we ended up back at Taiaroa Head, at Piolot’s Beach (down below the cliff), and waited for the little blue penguins to arrive. Once again, the wind was treacherous--we had not been that cold for a long time. After a brief introduction by a volunteer “penguin keeper” we waited in that wind for about 30min until it got really dark, and then watched the little guys come ashore. They were so cute! Being a gray-blue hue, and also the smallest penguin in the world, they didn’t really resemble penguins at all, but it was great fun to watch the 20-odd birds scurry across the sand to their burrows. We even got to watch an adult feed its hungry chicks. After observing them for about 30min, we took off and headed back to the Penguin Place hostel to warm up, have dinner, and go to bed.

The next morning, Sunday Feb 17^th, we got up early to try to make it to Mass at the historic church. Because of the steep conditions on the narrow peninsula, there were only two options for running—either down the road toward Taiaroa Head, or down the road away from the head. We went out towards the head and ended up back at the albatross colony. Oddly enough, it was eerily calm. However, not too long after I returned from the run the wind picked back up to at least the strength it was the day before.I cooked up some salty pancakes for brunch (I accidentally used salt, which was disguised as sugar), then we checked out and headed for the church. I can’t remember the name of the church, but I was really taken by its quirkiness and intimacy. The congregation consisted of about 20 people (mostly older folks, many of whom were Polish), and a little old nun in the back trying her hardest to play a small organ. The priest resembled David Attenborough perfectly, and had to speak above the wind, which was shaking the walls and making the hanging pictures rattle. The Mass was so personal that during the service the priest had the congregation show hands of everyone who wanted communion, just to make sure he had enough wafers.

After the service many people approached us and said hello, and had us join them for tea and attend a rose-planting ceremony to honour Sir. Edmund Hillary, who recently died.

After leaving the church on the hill, Seth and I drove back into Dunedin to explore the city a bit more. We checked out a few more coffee shops, eventually stopping at Modaks, which was a bit smaller but just as grungy as Arc, and reminded us of Strongs Coffee back in Chapel Hill.

While in town we also visited the Cadbury Factory (we didn’t take the tour but the gift-shop was a real let-down), browsed a used book store, and really stocked up on groceries.

We left Dunedin for Oamaru, about 2 hours north. Oamaru was pretty dead, being a Sunday afternoon, but the first hostel we tried was booked up. There was a food and wine festival winding down and people were still filling the town’s accommodation. We were referred to Swagger’s Backpackers down the road, and after getting turned around a bit, finally found it.

The woman who owned the little hostel, Agra, lived in a side room, and came out to check us in. She was a bit of a hippy/witchy woman, and though not exactly warm and inviting, was strangely motherly and very insistent that we help ourselves to the food in the pantry and on the shelves (crackers, toast, spreads, even milk, cereal, and ice cream), and showed us the “free” washing machine and detergent. The house was extremely homey and the bedroom we got (a full 5-bed dorm room to ourselves) had a desk, huge window, nice beds, and lots of classic books on the windowsill. It was the most comfy place we had been to so far.

Agra, however, was a bit too “involved” in that she kept popping up to check up on us and keep us in line (such as explaining very carefully when she wanted us checked out of the house in the morning). She insisted we go see the penguins (Oamaru is home to both the little blue and yellow-eyed varieties), so we went down to the very windy shore and watched several yellow-eyed penguins come in (this time we went when it was still light outside so we got a few decent photos). We skipped the little blue penguins, went back to another grocery store, and spent the rest of the evening at the hostel, doing laundry, eating ice cream, and playing guitar. Agra had great wireless internet, so I was also able to take advantage of that.

This morning (Monday, Feb 18^th) we got up early for a run around town and through some poorly marked bushland. Oamaru (pop 12,000) is described as New Zealand’s only Victorian City, and is characterised by great stone buildings and an artsy culture (we ran past several theatres and even an opera house!).

15.2.08 11pm- Curio Bay and Seacliff

Yesterday morning in Curio Bay was rainy, windy, and cold, but Seth somehow persuaded me to go for a run with him anyways down the gravel road we drove up on (long and boring…).

After the sun came out, we had a quick lunch and walked over to get a closer look at the Hector’s Dolphins that live in the bay (Porpoise Bay). There are about 20 in there and they spend all day ‘surfing’ in the wave breaks. They will even come up and join humans who are gutsy enough to go swimming in that oh-so-cold water.

Hector's Dolphins in the bay

We next walked over to the other side of the bay, which is Curio Bay, famous for its 160 million year old petrified forest. It was really cool walking along the rocks (exposed during low-tide) and getting up close to old tree stumps and trunks, turned to stone. I had always wanted to see a petrified forest and didn’t quite know what to expect so it was really interesting to see. Oddly enough, Curio Bay is also the home of the yellow-eyed penguin colony we watched the night before.

We walked back to the Dolphin Lodge and finally had a full afternoon to spend working. I got about 10min into trying to figure out where I left off in my statistical analysis before my computer started giving me major problems. I shut it down and we decided to go to use the internet at this man’s house. The man, Jim, had a flyer posted at the hostel for people to use his personal computer to get online--for $3 an hour. Probably the only internet within 50km. We called him up and drove down to the ‘town’ and he welcomed us in to his little green, four-room house. I only had enough time to get through my email and post a few journal entries, but no pictures…

At 8:45pm we rushed back over to Curio Bay to watch the penguins come in, but were again too late. Most of them already arrived. We did, however, get to watch the last pair.

This morning was equally cold and windy but the rain held off just long enough to go running down that boring road again. We then had a quick pancake lunch and checked out of the Dolphin Lodge. This hostel had alright facilities, but the people staying there were particularly cool. Most of them were German girls (and one French girl) and they were all very friendly. Unfortunately I never even caught their names. Oh well. The owners of the hostel were out of town and they left two of the girls ('WOOFers') in charge, so the atmosphere was exceptionally relaxed.

We continued driving along the Southern Scenic Route to The Nuggets (nuggetty rocks all along the shore), where we spotted a lone sea lion, a yellow-eyed penguin crossing the road (in the middle of the day, and on a cliff!), a breeding colony of little egrets, and more New Zealand fur seals. The seal pups were swimming in a small inlet protected from the rather stormy ocean—it was like a little kiddie pool! We didn’t walk all the way to the lighthouse (which was only a 15min. walk) because of wind and increasing rain.

We were starting to get worried about accommodation for tonight so skipped the other highlighted points along the road and went straight for Dunedin, the big city. We drove right to the visitor information centre in the middle of town and were placed in a long queue of people also trying to find a place to stay the next few nights. The Uni students returned today (about 25,000 of them), along with their parents, and every single hostel was booked the next several nights.

We could either camp out in a holiday park during this storm, or go back the way we came, to a backpackers 45min away. We asked about a hostel in the neighbouring town of Seacliff. Conor, from Dash, had told me about this place called the Asylum Lodge, where he had stayed before. It is an old insane asylum that had a part burn-down, killing several of its residents. Pretty crazy! The girl at the visitor information centre called them for us and they actually had a room available!

It was a bit disappointing that we finally got to a city and felt like doing ‘city things’, only to be turned around and sent back to a small town (Seacliff) in the middle of nowhere. So we spent about an hour walking around Dunedin and decided we were too hungry so bought some groceries and drove to Seacliff.

The Asylum is pretty spooky, and the wind, rain, and narrow gravel road leading up a cliff where this place is located made it seem like something out of a horror movie. The hostel is separate from the part that burnt down and inside it isn’t very scary at all.

For dinner we cooked up ‘rissoles’ (they are basically Australian meat patties with veggies and things mixed in them) with mashed potatoes and gravy. It had been a long time since we had a good serving of meat and after driving past lots of cows today we decided we needed some beef. Luckily mince is on sale for really cheap, so we indulged in these giant meatballs—and boy, did they hit the spot!!

After dinner I got to check my email via the hostel’s free internet. They only have one computer so the second someone left it I jumped on it. It was nice to use the internet for a few minutes again (the second time in two days!) but the connection was slow (just like at Jim’s house) so I could not use blog (too many photos).

13.2.08 11:30am- Te Anau Downs and Curio Bay

Yesterday started off on a slow foot but ended up being my favourite day so far.

We began by cleaning 10 backpacker rooms. After some brief instructions by the housekeeper, Noeline, Seth took over the linens and beds while I cleaned the bathrooms and vacuumed. It wasn’t too bad—it took about two hours and it went by quickly.

We got held up making some bookings for the next night’s hostel, but luckily Matt, the chef, offered us some lunch (very delicious pasta leftovers from the night before, and some tuna-olive-egg salad stuff) and we rushed out to Milford Sound. Not too far down the road we heard a loud bang and looked out the window just in time to see Seth’s famous Hershey World mug spinning across the street, tea swirling everywhere. In our hurry to leave the Lodge he forgot to take his mug from the roof of the car. Though thick plastic, his much-loved mug (like an extension of his body) had its handle bust off, leaving a hole in the outer layer of plastic. We gathered up the bits (and this morning while running we found the lid), and I think he is going to try to salvage it.

We continued up the road to the sound. The road is about 120km long, one way, and packed full of tour buses and stupid-looking Wicked Vans (rental vans painted in 1960s psychedelic style to look real artsy and funky--they are EVERYWHERE). The drive, however, was breathtaking. It passed along rolling hills, gorges, waterfalls, rivers, and other glacier-carved landscapes. We stopped at Mirror Lakes, then at Deer Flat for our pasta lunch, hoping we would be visited by keas. No parrots in sight, we continued through the Homer Tunnel (1207m long) that passes through an amphitheatre-like wall and emerges in a steep canyon near Milford.

Once in Milford Sound we checked in to the loading docks for our 2hr 15min cruise, which is unfortunately the best (and cheapest) way to see the extremely remote fiord. The other options include a kayak tour or helicopter flight over the fiords. I had my initial hesitations about getting back onto a boat, especially since my previous catamaran encounter to go whale-watching in Maine not only included spotting no whales, but also made me very, very sea sick. The cruise in Milford Sound was alright, and I am glad we did it, but since it has been very dry here (just like in Australia), there were hardly any waterfalls. There are apparently thousands of waterfalls after a good rain. Also, the sun was shining and burned away all the cool clouds, so the sky wasn’t very dramatic looking at all. In fact, though this is a rainforest, it has only rained once since we arrived. Hmmm… As for the expense, the cruise was $150(NZ) for the two of us, which is how much we saved on three nights’ accommodation at the lodge. We broke even by working 6 hours each.


10:30pm- Written from Curio Bay

During the drive back from Milford Sound we passed back through the tunnel and on the other side we spotted a group of big, fat, green keas! These parrots were truly amazing: super smart, curious, and real tricksters and trouble-makers. We got out of the car to take a closer look. You could instantly tell how intelligent they are by the way they would cock their head and look at you, like they were analysing you. One kea began following Seth around and started to nip at his ankles, and as I was cracking up at this, I turned around and found three perched atop our poor blue car. One was pulling at the windshield-wiper, another was sharpening his super long beak on the roof, and the third pulling on the plastic strip above the door. More flew down from the cliffs and they had us surrounded, about a dozen strong. They hopped around us and kept coming closer to the car, so we decided to get out of there fast, or else find a way to pay off damages to the rental car.
We next stopped at The Divide (the lowest east-west pass in the Southern Alps, on Milford Road) and walked the Key Summit Trail up to the top. The trail is initially shared with the three-day Routeburn Track, which we had planned to walk but could not because it was fully booked. After about 30min it split off the Routeburn and took a steep climb to the top of a remarkable summit, quite a ways above the tree-line. Near the top we found alpine pools/lakes/bogs nestled in mountain cradles. We also saw several small birds and wondered if they were rare rock wrens: little birds found only in the alpine ranges south of Fiordland. Across the range clouds pushed through the neighbouring mountains, and not wanting to get caught in unpredictable weather we hustled back down the mountain. In fact, we started the trail late in the evening (about 7pm) and knew we would have only a little time before dark, so we walked it really fast: in total it took us only 2 hours, while it is labeled as a 3 hour trek. We definitely made good time.
Driving back down the rest of the road to the lodge we did our part for the environment and hit a hare. We had never hit and killed anything before (while driving together) so we felt kinda bad. At least it was a horrible invasive critter and not a kakapo!

At the end of the night we cooked up dinner and shared some chocolate cake that Matt (the chef) gave us. It also felt great to have a room to ourselves, since similar to the previous night, Sharon did not book anyone else in our room. We got to spread everything out, talk at normal speaking volume and keep the lights on as we wanted. We even had our very own bathroom and TV! Soooo spoiled!!!
So with all the adventures from the day, I would say the Milford Sound Cruise was made less spectacular by the keas, the hike, the beautiful drive, running down the hare, and watching Seth’s mug fly off the car roof :P

This morning we slept in until about 8am, and after a short run we had brunch, and checked out of the Fiordland National Park Lodge. We went back to town to pick up a better and more comprehensive NZ bird book, returned our first one, and got a few more groceries.

We drove the Southern Scenic Route down south, back to the coast, and headed east along the southern part of the South Island (the Catlins). We stopped at Invergargill briefly to get a few more things from a super cheap and gigantic Pak N Save (I love this store!) then continued east to Curio Bay. The drive was scenic, indeed, though I slept through bits of it. I have been sleeping in the car way more than I would like, but I have been just too tired to help it. Between falling asleep at the wheel and not liking to drive narrow, twisting mountain roads, I am glad Seth has been doing the driving! He isn’t supposed to, however, because his NC driver’s license expired since he has been in Australia, so when we hire cars they always have to be under my name, even though I am under 25.

We drove from rain forest to inland pastures and country side and into the very wind-swept southern coast. What an interesting change!
We got to Curio Bay around 7:30pm, checked in and cooked a quick dinner. The hostel, Dolphin Lodge, is a bit cramped but it is in a great ocean-front location with a fantastic view of the bay, which is home to a group of Hector’s Dolphins (the world’s smallest dolphin, about 1.3m long—only found in New Zealand coastal waters) and very occasionally whales. The owner teaches surfing lessons outside. In the late evening, we once again found ourselves rushing, this time to a lookout to see rare yellow-eyed penguins coming to shore for the night. I had never seen wild penguins before so was pretty excited to see them. We got there a bit late so missed the bulk of the little clowns (about 5 pairs of adults and up to 10 large chicks), but got to watch one pair hanging out on the rocks. They were so cute, swimming around, hopping over rocks, and trying to get around on those short legs of theirs. The next few nights we will try to stay at places that also have penguin nesting sites so we can try watching them again.

12.2.08 8:30am- Te Anau Downs II

Yesterday afternoon we drove into town (Te Anau, pop 1785) to check in with the visitors centre about doing some day walks in Milford Sound. We got some ideas then walked to the wildlife centre, which houses a few dozen injured and captive-bred birds, such as keas (very big and ‘cheeky’ alpine parots), takahe (rare flightless birds that look like really chunky purple swamp hens), and kakas. We have not been doing much bird watching so this was probably the most we will get to see of these wonderful and quirky birds.Kaka

After taking a quick look ‘downtown’ we drove back to Fiordland National Park Lodge to check in for work. Sharon introduced us to the kitchen staff (all of whom were very friendly) and we had a little pasta that the chef, a young guy from Wales, cooked up before we arrived. We were shown what to do—Seth was on dishwashing and I was on drying and putting away. He definitely had the hard and messy job! The restaurant was primarily by bookings, and about 40 people were scheduled to come through. They arrived nearly at once, since the bulk of the nightly guests are with a tour group that comes right off a bus, but there was also a higher than expected number of "FITs", as they called them (Free Independent Travellers). The job was pretty laid back, but we didn’t end until after 10pm, so it was a 4-hour shift. Tonight the tour bus won’t come through, so the restaurant will be closed. Seth and I will instead be doing housekeeping this morning, and it is time to check in!

*These jobs, working at a classy lodge in a very beautiful and remote area reminds me of the movie, Dirty Dancing. It also reminds me a little of The Shining, haha!

11.2.08 12pm- Te Anau Downs

After doing a bit of writing yesterday morning at the campgrounds, we had our oat/cornflake/nut delight then called Jude at the Te Anau Lakefront Backpackers. Seth had been in contact with her for several weeks about working at the backpackers in exchange for three nights’ accommodation. Similar to Shambhala, they gave our positions to other people and would not let us work at all to help reduce the cost of two dorm beds. I guess with many places here in NZ, backpackers and travellers are so numerous it is no skin off their back to treat them poorly or go back on their promises, especially if the travellers have less money to fork over. Most backpackers here seem eager to work, probably because it is so expensive to travel for extended amounts of time.

We tried ringing one other place that had a 0 800 number so we would not have to pay several dollars to make a call. It was called Fiordland National Park Lodge, in Te Anau Downs, about 28k north of Te Anau. Just as easily as the Lakefront Backpackers let us down, the Lodge had work available for us. One thing I found is that when some people screw you over, such as Omega Car Rentals, Shambhala, and Te Anau Lakefront Backpackers, others are just as willing to help, like the woman at Avis and the people at the Lodge.

We stocked up at a grocery store, then drove right down south from Wanaka, taking the Crown Range Road via Cardrona (very narrow and windy yet with beautiful overlooks of the hills and ranges). We bypassed Queenstown (I am sure it is lovely, but I don’t really care for the ‘wild-man’ packed adrenaline-seeking city), and continued south before shooting off west, for Fiordland. We hit Te Anau then drove north to Te Anau Downs, eventually getting to Fiordland National Park Lodge.
The lodge is a somewhat larger hotel/motel/backpackers, right on Lake Te Anau, and caters for all types, from people just coming off the 60km Milford Track to retired couples lounging around the restaurant bar sipping wine. The manager, Sharon, checked us in and let us have the evening off. Our dorm was obviously once a hotel room that was overcrowded with a bunk and two beds, and even included a bathroom (en suite). We shared it with an Australian and a Kiwi (we have hardly met any other Aussies or Kiwis in any other backpackers—most people have been European, particularly Germans, and a few North Americans).

The lodge has a beautiful overlook of Lake Te Anau and the fiords. I really like it here and wish we could stay longer than 3 nights. Sharon even asked if we would be interested in permanent positions--I think they especially need workers here because it is in a location where people just pass through for one night on their way to Milford Sound (the only thing located at the end of the road going north), and probably wouldn’t think to stick around to work.
This morning I went running with Seth to the tiny Lake Mistletoe, then down a gravel road through bushland that eventually led to Eglinton River, which leads into Lake Te Anau. A bit boring, but not bad at all. I still feel really low energy, however, and it was hard to keep a good pace.
It is getting late already and I don’t think we will have much time to poke around before going to work at 6pm. We will be washing dishes tonight in the restaurant.

10.2.08- 10:15am Wanaka

After leaving the lake yesterday morning the two of us drove into the town outside Fox Glacier to try to find a shower. In Australia it seemed many hostels would let a person use their showers for just a few bucks, but yesterday when we stopped at a holiday park they wanted $15 per person. We left and tried a nearby hostel. The woman working there got quite uppity and said “this is a hostel, we don’t do that here”. We resorted to splashing off in the sink of a bathroom connected to an information desk.

At that point we were scuzzy and hungry (being about 2pm and not having eaten since the night before) and were getting sick of the little tourist town, yet decided to suck it up and go see Fox Glacier up close. New Zealand has dozens of glaciers, but Fox Glacier and Franz Joseph Glacier are special in that they are very low-lying, accessible, and come down into temperate rain forest. The 30min walk to the glacier, winding between sheer cliffs and cutting through what looks like jungle, once again made me feel like a large tyrannosaurus or giant ape would be around the next corner. The glacier itself was pretty impressive: stratified with the upper layers of ice sky blue, and the bottom a dirty brown. The bad part, however, was trying to ignore the dozens of helicopter tours flying overhead.

When we left Fox Glacier we pulled to the side of the road and ate our oats/cereal milk/yogurt meal while sitting on a big rock overlooking the cliffs, watching the cars and helicopters go by.
We drove down south through the forests and between the mountains (the Southern Alps), stopping at the Gates of Haast (a bridge hanging over the Haast River), Fantail Falls, and a few other points to stretch and take a few pictures. The landscape stayed hilly and mountainous the entire time, but as we headed inland the greenery slowly disappeared until we ended up in Wanaka, which is just as mountainous yet dusty and brown—Overgrazing? Drought? Or just too far inland to get as much water?

We stopped at one hostel, which was fully booked, and were directed to a very large and unpleasant holiday park, where we camped. It was probably the only place with available accommodation (the town of Wanaka seemed pretty full) and not too expensive.

We set up camp next to a fellow from Canada (B.C.), probably the only person at the holiday park not from France or Germany, then cooked dinner (we got to finally test out our ‘billy’), showered (wooo!), and went to sleep on the nice hard ground (once again, only a thin tarp separating us from dirt and rocks).

This morning I decided to let Seth’s legs do all the work and I am just bumming around and getting some writing done. I don’t know what we will get up to today, but hopefully we will have time to explore Mt. Aspiring National Park, which is right outside of Wanaka.