I was picked up by a couple of kiwi travelers who were on the road to Milford Sound. Now, if you ask a handful of tourists that have gone around to the high traffic destinations of New Zealand, the overwhelming majority would tell you that you just have to see Milford Sound. There is a reason. It is magical. So I jumped in the van with Andy and Valerie (actually an Austrian) and we made our way to Milford Sound, stopping at every scenic spot along the way. Of interest is the iconic New Zealand scavenger, the kea (Hint: it is a bird), and the Chasm and gorged out riverbank that is hard enough to maintain its dilapidated shape. One part of the rock in bubble shapes is soft enough to be eroded. The material surrounding those bubbles does not get eroded as fast. That night we stopped at a parking lot, built a fire and cooked dinner, the first wholesome one I had since entering the bush. I slept by the fire in my sleeping bag so as not to disturb my travel companions in their van.
The next day we boarded a ferry to get the full view of the sound. Here, I will let the pictures and a movie soon-to-come tell the story for me. It helped ease the price of the ticket that we got a “free” continental breakfast. We certainly made the best of it.
After the cruise, we traced our steps back to Te Anau (from the Great Divide, Milford sound is northwest and Te Anau is south). I got lunch for my new friends to thank them for the day of excitement and went searching for a ride to Queenstown. This was the first time I’d ever have to jump into a moving vehicle, with my pack on no less. But the road was narrowing and there was a large truck behind the van that picked me up. Quite coincidentally and entirely humbling were the passengers of this vehicle. They were an Israeli search and rescue team that was just on the Routeburn searching for the missing body of an Israeli woman who went missing a month prior. That day, a day after I stepped of the same track, they found her body and pack. I will spare you the details of what I know, but I do have the newspaper article if you don’t care to believe me. A few hours after dark, I made it back to Queenstown, a day before meeting Fran.
The next day was helpful to just allow me to collect myself, get my tent and boots dry and meet a few friends to spend the evening with. We went to a club to watch an International Comedy Act: an Englishman, an Irishman, and an Aussie. It was hilarious and I even got publicly jibbed for being from Connecticut. Apparently the rest of the world has the idea that it’s boring??!?!
“Don’t be late!!!” These were virtually the only words running through my head the few days leading up to picking up Fran. I got there on time with five minutes to spare. Her exit from the plane was not very eventful, besides the bump in the road that her baggage was left in LAX, a place that has certainly left a sour taste in my mouth. We started our time together with a nice jaunt from the airport to the hostel we would stay at in Queenstown. That evening was also the night we took the gondola to the top of a mountain overlooking the city and performed a bungee jump. It was awesome jumping 400 m above the city at dusk and the nightscape of the city greeting us on the way back down. I will warn you that pictures become scarce here. Fran was responsible for documenting most of our journey. If she feels gracious enough to supply a few pictures for this portion of my blog than they may show up at some later date.
After receiving her bag, Fran and I got our first ride together via use of the thumb. It took a bit to get out of town, but quite easy once on the road leaving the city. We went to Wanaka. There we got to watch the sunset off the lake and “The Bucket List” at the cutest little movie theater ever. The seats were old couches and tea, baked goods, and ice cream was available before the show and at intermission.
Well rested from the previous few evenings, day 3 or May 20th, saw us on the road to Christchurch. It took all day to get by Mt. Cook, Lake Takapo, Timaru, and up the east coast on State Highway 1, but we made it with relative ease. My mood dropped under the weather so I stayed in, but you can ask Fran about her cocktail hour with Kiwi Bus kids.
It was worth spending a morning in Christchurch. So I got to a music store to play some drums. It was a short demo, but a successful one in terms of my interest in the Roland electric drum kits. It may have just been because I hadn’t played a drum kit in three months and anything would have felt solid. But I was thankful because the guy gave me ten minutes instead of the five he originally said. Margaret picked us up at the end of the bus line out of Christchurch and took us further up the coast to Kaikoura. I have already told of the sights in Kaikoura and the marae that I’d stayed at. These things haven’t changed. We decided to stay here a few days anyways to feel grounded for a bit.
The first night we went out to the Strawberry Tree for quiz night with the managers of the hostel we were at, the Sleepy Whale. I found my favorite beer of New Zealand at this pub. It is called Shaggers. I feel it is necessary to explain the reference of this beer’s name is to sheep and not anything else you may have jumped to initially. Even with a few beers from the night before it wasn’t difficult to get up at 6:30a the next morning to watch the sun rise once again from the ocean horizon. From there we went to visit the marae and had tea with a friend Tai and his wife Di. Fran was lucky he gave the abbreviated version of their ancestral house, the whare nui, which was done for me in a few hours. We then were picked up in town to go out to the Kaikoura Winery where we had a tour and taste test. While in the area, we were also given a tour of a ocean created cave. It is one of the few places in the world known to have cave pearls.
That night started at the Adelphi Club across the street from Strawberry Tree with pool and a few handles of piss. We met a few locals there that followed us to the Strawberry Tree later for open mic night. Apparently in New Zealand this means open drum kit too, because my pleas for some play time were granted. I couldn’t always hear the vocals and the kit wasn’t anything special by any means, but it was just right for the occasion. People danced, ‘nuf said.
From Kaikoura, the road north was not as friendly as we had hoped, so we hired a bus to bring us to Picton where we would take the Blue Cruise to Wellington. We stayed there for a night where we played all sorts of games, small pool, giant jenga, and normal-sized darts. I also managed to get a sizable amount of cash taken from my wallet that night, which I found out the next morning trying to pay for breakfast. Luckily for us, the Te Papa museum is free. We hired the night bus to Rotorua, which gave us the day to take the cable car to the Botanical Gardens and frolic in there for the afternoon.
In Rotorua, we did many exiting and expensive things. The first was white-water rafting the Kaituna River. We got to experience the tallest commercial drop safe enough to attempt with amateurs, 6.5 m. Fran did fall out, but was a trooper about it and just accepted getting wet. We went to the Tamaki Maori Village for dinner and traditional entertainment. It was interesting to see the way Maori people would like to portray their culture for large foreign audiences. I think they did a wonderful job of creating the proper atmosphere and providing a glimpse of who they are without over indulging the visitors. Zorbing was on the docket for the next day, which we did wet and together. It was the craziest and silliest 20 seconds of the trip. Do it with a friend or two sometime. I managed to get my hands on a piece of the ball to take home with me!
We got to Kaiaua, my home, that night on May 26 if you are trying to keep track. We were welcomed with warm open arms and a cuppa tea, but were then brought to Miranda because it is not ok for unregistered guests to stay on campus while students are on the premises, these students being the winter short course that started this day. It was ok though because we got a nice soak in the hot springs at Miranda and the opportunity to watch “The Departed.”
The next day saw me back in Kaiaua gathering my bags that I left behind on May 9. A friend of mine opened her door to us for the evening and we were able to get a bite of Fish and Chips before leaving the next morning. Note: Fran had chicken fingers and potato fritters.
We got to Auckland on May 28 and spent two days just wandering around town.
The last day in New Zealand was happily one of the most exciting of the trip. In the morning we took the ferry to Tiri-Tiri Matangi Island, a bird sanctuary off the coast of Auckland. The morning chorus of birds on the island was remarkable. I did not get to see all the individuals I was looking for, but we still got to see plenty in an afternoon hike around the island. Even a little rain did not lay a shadow over our day. We were field ready.
Airplanes took us to Hartford by way of Los Angelus, where the people are not generally nice. Some culture shock occurred, but I am not back in the states seeing what I can of my family and friends and working at a lab on campus at the University of Michigan, where I will be for most of the summer. Stay tuned for the details of happenings or thoughts appropriate for the blog in the future. I have also alluded to a video series of New Zealand, which I believe I will make happen in a short time. Best to you all.
Cheers!
Zack & Fran
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