back in christchurch & ashburton

So, we have made a nice clockwise pattern around the south island of New Zealand and are back where we started. Karen picks us up from the bus stop in Christchurch and we are on our way to Ashburton. After a day of rest, we decide that we should make a trip to inland NZ; we chose Mount Cook. It is about a two hour drive from Ashburton to the tallest peak in New Zealand, so we plan to go early in the monring. It ends up being a cloudy day with no peak of Mount Cook showing, but there was this cool 3D movie that we saw which made us feel like we were on the mountain! After watching this a walking to the glacier that is nearby, we had our afternoon picnic and drove to Karen’s brother’s house for the night. They live on a high country station that is 46,000 acres of land, 20,000 sheep, 600 cattle and 550 calves. Karen’s brother is the head shepherd and so he took us on the back of his truck with two of the working dogs to mustre some sheep. This was remarkable. The dogs are so smart and well trained and the scenery was unbelievable! We got to see Mount Cook from 100km or so away from above the clouds! It is easily two times bigger than the other mountains around it. I remember thinking while we were driving up the mountainside to the peak that wow, today I can say that I climbed a mountain and my arms were tired! Holding on was the only thing I could do to stop from bouncing around wildly in the bed of this truck, but I wouldn’t change it for anything. It was an awesome experience and I can say that I would love to have that job! 

As some of our last tea’s in New Zealand, we have to have all of the classics for our last few meals. We have a lamb roast one night and chicken kebabs another, with vegetables including lots of potatoes and pumpkin. Desserts are pineapple lumps, chocolate fish, passionfruit and hokey pokey ice cream, pavlova with hand whipped cream and fruit, and lamingtons.

The next day we pack and plan to get up early  for the Antarctic Centre. Here, we get to go on a ride in the Hagglund all terrain vehicles - check it out on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRN4yIDACP0 We also got to see the four seasons room, experience an antarctic storm for seven minutes, and watch the blue penguins feed. This place was very cool and conveniently located right next to the airport.. where we are headed for our flight to Adelaide!

Old Church on our way to Mount Cook

Alison, Myself, Heather, John, and Karen - Glacier near Mount Cook

Our ride up the Mountain

Our Ride to the Top with a Headway Dog in the Back

Hagglund ATV Ride

Antarctic STOOORRMM!

Penguin Line Up

Blue Penguin with a Fishie in his Mouth

Rough Terrain on the High Country Station's Mountain Top

Sir Edmund Hilary looking at infamous Mount Cook

kaiteriteri, marahau & abel tasman national park

Now we are taking a catamaran from Nelson to spend a day on the beach in Kaiteriteri before heading to Marahau. We arrive via our sea shuttle and immediately love this beach. The sands are golden and the water is so blue! We were quick to join in on the fun; there are people kayaking, water skiing, and eating ice cream along the beach and main street. After our couple hours of getting our first tan lines!@!! :), we hop on the bus and head to Marahau. 

The sand on the beach is finer and whiter here in Marahau, even though we are only about 7 kilometres away from Kaiteriteri. Also, there is the lowest tide that I have seen with my own eyes. You can see it too with the high tide and low tide pictures I have posted below. Along this beach I saw two more tiny, clear jellyfish and a clear and pink crab. We are staying at the Beach Camp Backpackers and it is a pretty reasonable place; it isn’t far at all from the beach and we were able to book a kayaking trip into Abel Tasman National Park for tomorrow. The Gourmet Platter is our kayaking trip from the beach in Marahau to Watering Cove. On this two hour trip, we go around Adelle Island, where there are two colonies of seals and a lot of bell birds (which sound like bells and wind chimes all at once). From here, we stop at Watering Cove and eat lunch, it is a bread roll (sub) and muffins and oranges and was very good despite it not being on a platter. Our water taxi, which is a lot smaller than the ‘cattie’, picked us up and brought us to Bark Bay for our hike down to Torrent Bay. This was a very scenic walk that Heather, Alison, and I did on our own through the rainforest, beaches, and small mountainsides. I would highly recommend this walk to anyone who travels to New Zealand and Abel Tasman National Park! 

Kaiteriteri Beach Bums

LOW TIDE and us in Marahau

LOW TIDE in Marahau

HIGH TIDE in Marahau

Water Taxi .. we would drive down the road in the boat behind the tractor!

nelson

Alright, so I know that I haven’t exactly been on top of my blog posting, but there has just been so much going on! These are my notes from the next few days that I am finally willing to share .. 

Today was another day on the bus on our way to Nelson. We got here fairly late so we unpacked and decided that from the Beach Hostel we would take a walk down to the Tahunanui Beach. This beach is pretty big, and as we will find out tomorrow, a very busy place! There are wake boarders, surf schools, sun bathers, and rescue trainers all over the beach during the day. 

During the day, Heather, Alison, and I visit with Heather’s friends Russ and Genevive. We went out to lunch in a restaurant that sits above the water and had one of our biggest meals yet. It was delicious! We drove around the city and to Panorama Drive in Nelson in Russ and Genevive’s rental car. We looked down on the city and sea and were feeling pretty good! That night, we went to Genevive’s family dinner, which was even more delicious! We had home made mango chicken and zucchini casserole with boysenberry and passionfruit ice cream for dessert. Mm mm! We drank coffee and talked with the family until the sun had set and we had to head home. So far, between meeting this family and Karen and John’s, I have the impression that the locals here in New Zealand are very happy, healthy, and loving people. It feels like they will do anything for me, even though I haven’t known them for more than two hours and a couple of days! 

Nelson from Panorama Drive

Russ, Heather, Genevive

punakaiki

We spent time the next day in Punakaiki, the city known for the pancake rocks and blowholes. Once we got off the bus, we found our little cabin along the river, that we got all to ourselves, and dropped our backpacks. We walked up the beach and, believe it or not, enjoyed our first taste of the New Zealand sun. While walking along the beach, i saw my first jellyfish! After hearing about the ones the size of nickels that can sting you and be fatal, I have been especially aware of where I am stepping along the beaches. I know there are some people at home who will appreciate this extra effort I am taking to stay safe!

After walking along the beach, we trekked up the hill into town to look at the pancake rocks and blowholes. I understand the pancake rocks to be strange rock formations that were formed over 2.5 million years ago under the surface of the Tasman Sea. They have been pushed upwards and are now above the waters surface, being eroded by the constant forces of wind and water. They have unique shapes and look like pancakes in giant stacks. The blowholes are areas that have been hallowed out by these same forces and now when waves crash into the bottom of the formation, the visible mist comes out the top, just like the blowhole of a whale. It is hard to capture the magic of the pancake rocks and blowholes in action, but the girls and I showed up to see them at high tide in Punakaiki. The pancake rocks was the reason that Alison, Heather, and I decided that we had to stop in Punakaiki. I haven’t seen anything like these stacked rocks at home, however the force of water that helped to create it reminds me of how the Niagara Gorge was created by the force of the Niagara River cutting through stone. The rest of our day was good; we ate dinner and watched a beautiful, pastel sun set on the beach.



It was very clear in person, but look closely and you can
see the blowhole in action! It is to the right of the grate
and looks like a hole..

 









Close up of the Pancake Rocks

 






 See the silhouette of a lion, octopus, and birds at the Character Rocks?

   


Sunset on the beach





a little taste of new zealand

One thing that I forgot to mention before about New Zealand is that sales taxes are included in the advertised price of things and because they do not have pennies or nickels, they round their prices to the nearest ten. You would think this would reduce the weight of change in your pockets, but the rest of their coins are so heavy that it really makes no difference!

Almost all of the locals we have met so far seem helpful and very nice. There are a few people who could have been locals or tourists who seemed to be having a bad day, but I think that it takes all sorts. Safety-wise, everywhere we have been has been generally clean and safe. Neither Heather, Alison or I has felt as if we are in the wrong place at the wrong time or that we are in any sort of danger. This could also be because we are traveling in a group of three, or just because everyone here is nice. It’s hard to say for sure. In the places we have seen in New Zealand, there have been a lot of Germans and Asians traveling as well.

Drinking coffee in New Zealand is different than in Canada; their sizes are about half of what ours would be and they do not know what cream is, only milk. There is also a lot more tea around than coffee, unless you want a five dollar mochaccino every time. The food here is quite similar to at home, except that the price of chicken is a lot higher here and the stranger kinds of meat, for example possum, deer, and lamb, are some of the most popular. The ice cream of choice by locals is definitely hokey pokey, a mix of vanilla, butterscotch, and pieces of crunchie bar type sponge toffee, while tourists like myself enjoy the boysenberry flavour, vanilla and boysenberries, which are like large and sweet raspberries. Below there is a picture of my Toasty, which is spaghetti on and english muffin that is toasted. There is cheese and bacon and peppers! Different, but really good!

fox glacier

The drive to Fox Glacier the next morning was bright and sunny. We traveled past vineyards

and orchards of the area and past some old goldmine towns with current populations of about

300. We took the seven hour bus ride that started through the mountains and inland lakes near

Queenstown, took us past some of the beaches along the west coast of NZ, and finally ending

near the rain forests and mountains surrounding Fox Glacier. Once we got here, there wasn’t

much to do, except check in to our hostel and go skydiving! Unfortunately for Alison and

Heather there was a bit too much wind for the comfort of the trained professionals, and they

didn’t get a chance to skydive the second best sight in the world (second to Mount Everest).

For the evening, we rented bikes and rode down to see Fox Glacier. It started getting windy and

cold before we could see it, and once we did it was surprisingly blue at the bottom and covered

with dirt at the top. Since we spent time waiting for the winds to die before going to see the

glacier, it was already starting to get dark when we got there. Although it was cloudy, we could



see the sun setting and changing the sky orange in spots. It was a perfect setting for our peanut

butter and jelly picnic! The ride back to the hostel was comfortable, even though the roads are

narrow and full of curves, but we felt better getting a little exercise after our long day on the bus.



Ugh.. let's go!?





Heather enjoying our picnic in the no stopping zone...





Fox Glacier



queenstown

Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu

We have arrived in Queenstown, and after quite a bit of no internet, we have internet! So, I get to tell you about our stay in Queenstown. We got to Queenstown on the 8th and are staying for two nights in the brightly coloured Deco Backpacker. After getting our keys, it was kind of like going through a maze trying to find our room. We shared a six person room with three others who had been in Queenstown for about a week. One of the first things I noticed about this place was that it was filled with a lot of young people and extreme sports. This is where Heather and Alison got the idea that they should sky dive at some point. After looking into the best places, they decided that over Fox Glacier, where we were soon heading, would be great. After all, it is rated the second best place in the world to skydive! While they booked their jumps, I had decided on a ground tour of the glaciers instead. Those of you who know me, probably know that I like to have my feet placed firmly on the ground!

While we stayed in Queenstown, we took a ride up the gondola to have a full view of the city below us. This was one of the steepest gondolas I have been on; it felt like one pole was on top of the other! Once we were up, we realized how blue the water of Lake Wakatipu was, how many houses there were on the hills and shoreline of Queenstown, and just how many mountains we were surrounded by. The mountain range called The Remarkables were in good sight of us. On the other side of this range is the Remarkable Ski Area, which is a fairly popular winter destination in New Zealand.

When we were at the top of the gondola ride, we were feeling pretty brave and decided to luge. These little luge-like carts took us down part of the hill around curves and over a lot of bumps. It was pretty simple but a lot of fun! It felt just as the sign said; once is never enough!

For the rest of the day we took it pretty easy strolling through the city streets and through the Queenstown Gardens. We noticed that there were power lines running through the water of the bay, which I have never seen done before. Oh well. We ate ice cream and watched the sunset over Lake Wakatipu, taking lots of pictures and thinking just a little bit of home!

LUGE

Power Lines..

Queenstown Gardens and The Remarkables

milford sound

This morning we woke up and caught the bus to Milford Sound; the ride was just 120 kilometres but took three hours. We drove through valleys and even through the Homer Tunnel, which cuts through one of the mountains there. This tunnel alone took 20 years to construct (in the 1920’s during NZ’s depression). Our driver told us that here in Milford Sound and Fiordland, in one day there is the same amount of rainfall that Queenstown gets in a year! He told us that there are 4 million people in New Zealand, 10 million dairy cows, 17 million possums and 40 million sheep! He also told us a funny story about the forest composition in Fiordland National Park. He said that there are four different types of beech trees here. There are some which have silver leaves called the silver beeches, there are some which have red wood and are called red beeches, there are some which grow on the mountains and rock and are called mountain beeches, and there are some that fall across the road and take days to clean up that are called sonuva beeches!

The driver stopped at some lookout points for us to take some pictures and where we could hike down to Mirror Lakes and later the Chasm. It is a very powerful waterfall when it is raining as it is today. The sound is soothing and thunderous at the same time and it makes the ten minute walk through the rain well worth it. Once we got to Milford Sound it only started to rain harder. This is apparently the best time to be here, as we have begun to see. There is so much water cascading and falling over the sides of the mountains into the rivers and it looks awesome. Our cruise is booked for tomorrow at 4:00pm and I think it is going to be quite the spectacle to get up close to these waterfalls from the lake.

Day two in Milford Sound was the day of our cruise. As I had anticipated, it was a major highlight of our trip so far. The cruise was on a boat named MV Sinbad, which took us around Milford Sound and out to the Tasman Sea. There was seven metres of fresh water on top of the rest of the salt water because of yesterdays downpour. There were also some waterfalls remaining from the rain in the mountains. Today was clear, sunny, and a perfect day to sail through Milford Sound! On our cruise we saw the mountains and trees from the water and even seals laying on some rocks. There aren't enough words to explain the awe that I felt during the cruise through Milford Sound, so I will try to show some pictures that might help me.

Welcome!

Rainy Day on Mirror Lakes

Seals in Milford Sound Cruise

Cliff Face on Milford Sound Cruise

The Chasm

te anau

Lake Te Anau

Right when we got off the bus in Te Anau, we headed to the Lakefront Backpacker for two nights. Te Anau is a small town with bars and pubs and cafes and tourists. But it also has great mountains and lakes and is practically touching Fiordland National Park. At 8:15 tonight, we took a tour of the glowworm caves. Having seen glowworms on Planet Earth, I had a slight idea of what to expect of them, but the 25 minute cruise to the caves had views that took my breath away without any warning! The sunset would peak out behind mountains on one side of the lake and boat and it would hit the mountains on the other side to make them seems as if they were glowing. There are also no houses or lights at all coming from the mountains, which makes it feel like I am experiencing this place before anybody else. So the glowworms. They were so interesting. We walked above the river that comes out of the cave and I was already feeling a little claustrophobic. There were parts that we had to duck below four feet and then squish between rocks that were three feet wide. This being said, I wouldn’t change it because it made me pay close attention to what was coming. The glowworms hang from the ceiling of the cave, their fishing line about 15-20cm. They glow a blue-white light to attract insects and moths to their fishing line, which has a chemical paralyzer on it. Once the poor victim comes into contact with the line, it is unusual that it escapes. The glowworm will then reel in its catch and suck out the insides and throw the shell down. There were millions of these glowing blue lights, which is a lot considering that they only glow when they are hungry. Once we were past the caves waterfall, we were taken in a boat to look up at the night glowworm stars. It was amazing, and we only got to see 250 metres of the entire 6.7 protected kilometres.

Hopefully this poems that we read while being introduced to our tour makes you laugh as much as it made us! It read ..

I wish I were a glowworm,

‘Cos a glowworm’s never glum.

How can you be grumpy,

when the sun shines out your bum?

Anyway, today was our free day. We used to trail walk and buy groceries for our stay in Milford Sound. We walked from our backpacker to a dam that we could see on the other side of Lake Te Anau. Over these four hours we got to see views of the mountains, bush, lake, and our backpacker. It wasn’t a very sunny day, but it was warm enough to wear shorts and my raincoat. Dinner was a shared pizza and salad from a local restaurant. Bed came early tonight because we were all tired from our walk and because we have a busy day ahead of us!

sheep, sheep, and more she... deer farms?

The scenery that the bus ride to Te Anau offered was inspiring. There were mountains of all sizes on all sides of the bus, and we passed the old, almost dry Te Anau River bed. Between seeing these mountainous landscapes and bright blue skies, there was only about one other variable.. Farmland. From what I can see, deer farms are very popular around Te Anau. Oh and want to know an interesting fact? Turkey farms are nowhere to be found. New Zealanders don’t eat a lot of turkey, and my guess is that they replace it with lamb and venison. Speaking of which, the dairy system here is not on quota like at home, and it is a booming industry, while sheep farms are still at every left turn and its road. 

When I look at the landscape in a broader way, I can see that between farms in most of New Zealand there are always tree lines, and the homes here all have very full gardens. This is somewhat unlike southern Ontario, in that we tend to put up fences instead of hedgerows between our properties. I got my first taste of this from the plane into Christchurch.

The schools in the country are quite far apart and so the locals who do not live in the small towns they are in must take the intercity buses to get to and from school. There was a girl about ten on our bus for about 40 minutes just going home from school. Pretty different than it is at home, where my bus ride to school was 20 minutes and i was the last one off! Anyway, while I am here I hope to learn more about farming here in New Zealand, so when I know, you'll know.

typical NZ farmland

across Lake Te Anau on a "bad day"

dunedin

We spent last night in Dunedin at the On Top Backpacker. It was an apartment styled hostel that was on top of the lobby/pool room combo. Alison, Heather, and I shared a six person room which felt smaller than most single rooms in a home. It was a fun place right in the heart of the city. We walked through the unique Scottish city centre, which features two octagon-shaped roundabouts, one inside the other. It was the Chinese New Year, so there was a parade through town and fireworks later at night. We passed by the First Church of Dunedin, a beautiful old stone church sitting on a hill. This reminds me of the church on the hill in Guelph.

For dinner we went to the Velvet Burger Respect, where I had my first ginger beer. This drink is not like the ones at home; it is a lemony ginger ale that tastes quite nice. In the basement of this restaurant, I found out that this place was the product of the Maori and the first settlers both running out of food and making this burger, with respect. It was quite the modest story. After our late dinner, the showers and beds were calling our names.

In the morning we ventured out into the streets of Dunedin, only to find that maybe we packed too much in our backpacks. Our legs, arms, necks, and backs are definitely going to be in good shape after these next few weeks! 

But anyway, we went to the Dunedin Botanic Gardens first. These were very nice and had different areas of interest, such as the garden cafe, the aviary room, and a native collection, and rhododendron collection. From here we walked a few more blocks to see Baldwin Street, which is claimed to be the steepest street in the world. There were people ambitious enough to bring mountain bikes to the top of the road, just to ride them down. They came so fast right into the small crowd standing at the bottom of the mountain. Right before we were about to leave, somebody from the top of the hill dropped their water bottle.. It made its way to the bottom in about four seconds before it came to a stop. On our way to catch the bus to Te Anau, we walked through the University of Otago, which is the first University in New Zealand. It was a nice place with typical grungy-looking student houses, a lot of pedestrian walkways, and narrow streets.

First Church

a nice bench in Dunedin Botanical Gardens

Heather and Alison in the Chinese New Year Parade

lessons learned

We have arrived in Dunedin and are ready to see the penguin colony, but unfortunately we didn’t call in advance to fully understand the tours. They start an hour away from where we are and there aren’t buses going from us to them. So, we have learned our lesson! We looked around the city centre, which is New Zealand’s Scottish town, and found many attractive old buildings and courtyards. The next thing we did was spend time to figure out and book the next few legs of our journey. We have buses, backpackers (hostels), and a few of our must-do tours organized for the next couple of days.

our adventure begins!

Today, our adventure began. We haven’t planned much, except our general direction and bus route. We are heading from Ashburton (where Karen and John have sheltered us) to Dunedin to Te Anau to Milford Sound to Queenstown to Greymouth to Abdel Tasman to Nelson to Wellington and back to Christchurch by then end of three weeks. It will be packed with exciting natural and man-made sights and tours.

the canterbury plains

Today we woke up in the Dorset House Backpacker - February 1st. As I am transferring these notes from my journal to my blog - February 26th - I have been told that because of the Earthquake in Christchurch that happened a few days ago, there have been a lot of injuries and even bodies pulled from the Dorset House. It seems that the girls and I are being looked after.

We walked to a fresh fruit market for nectarines and danishes and a small tour of the streets of Christchurch. We found rain gardens, but not a single garbage bin! The streets are so clean for not having waste baskets. From the Dorset House, Karen and John picked us up and showed us Christchurch’s Avon River, which was very picturesque, the city centre, and what it’s like to drive on the left side of the road! We went to Graham and Alison’s, who are ‘relies’ of Karen and John. We had our first meat pies and saw Heather’s future school - Lincoln University. Compared to Guelph, Lincoln is a relatively small school. The town is cute and we know where the grocery store is.

On our road trip, we took pictures of a funny letterbox - mailbox - and stopped at a big Salmon statue in Rakaia, which is famous for the salmon swimming in the Rakaia Braided River. Apparently, native Canadians even came to this river to sing songs to the salmon, trying to convince them to return to their rivers in Canada. We also stopped at the clock tower in Ashburton and on the way to Karen and John’s house in Ashburton, I saw my first Case IH dealership. The first deere dealership I saw was actually owned by Karen and John’s son..  Karen and John have a peacock named Cockie that will wander into the house and watch tv. They are harvesting wheat now and also have 500 lambs. They are very nice people and I am thankful for their kindness and shelter! Anyway, we are at their farmhouse now drinking a glass of sparkling New Zealand wine to celebrate the beginning of our journey!

I have noticed a few things that are different between the everyday Canadian life and the life of a kiwi. For example, there are a lot of meat pies and tea here, and their subs are called bread rolls. A block is property, and there are a lot of conifer trees that have palm trees in the same tree lines. It looks so odd to me, but I think I will get used to it. Also, the roads are narrow and fast, as I’ve mentioned, and they have grass shoulders that people often pull over on to make a U turn. I have also been told that the difference between the Australian and New Zealand accent  is that NZ says their e’s as i’s while Aussie’s say their e’s more like a’s. The New Zealanders are very proud that they “have the better sounding accent”. I’ll see if I can tell the difference once I get to oz. 

Shot from the Plane

Letterbox in Ashburton

Rakaia's Giant Salmon

Ashburton Clock Tower