Blog Holiday

Dudes, I'm taking a holiday from blogging...

I'm back in the 9-5 daily grind. Life's gonna be boring for a while...

I hope you enjoyed it!

Paul out (for now)

Life in the Windy City

It is now Easter weekend and we’ve been in Wellington for about 3 weeks. It is the windiest city in New Zealand, thanks to its rather precarious location on a bay at the very southernmost tip of the North Island. It makes up for its reputation for bad weather with great nightlife, good public transport, beautiful views and proximity to many other interesting places.



Wellington from Brooklyn Hill

For the first two weeks, we were able to house-sit for two friends who are currently on holiday in North America. Their house perched high up on the eastern side of Mt Victoria with a magical view of Port Nicholson, Wellington’s harbour. It would be possible to spend your entire day gazing out the window of their lounge, just watching ships come and go, planes landing and taking off from the nearby airport, the clouds scudding across the sky, and the sunlight playing on the water in the harbour.



House-sitting at Ben and Tash's place

While I’ve been settling in at work, Christina has been out looking at flats. Given that we were staying in a place with a million-dollar view, it was always going to be hard to find a place that we were happy with. Fortunately, Christina found a fantastic place in Oriental Bay, not far from where we’ve been house-sitting. We moved in last weekend and, thanks to my buddy Eric who’s currently working in the UK, we’ve been able to furnish our new flat with his furniture. We have a spare room and are looking forward to visitors from near and far!



The view of Oriental Bay from our living room



A ferry in the harbour, as seen from our bedroom

Working life is going reasonably well. I work in Seaview, on the other side of the harbour. To get there, I usually walk down to Courtenay Place and take a direct bus around the harbour. The journey time is usually about 35 minutes each way, plus 10 minutes of walking. We’re still waiting for Christina’s work permit to arrive. Once we have that, and Christina has a job, all the pieces of the puzzle will finally be in place.

Drought in the Waikato

Back in Christchurch, we had to face up to the fact the trip was coming to an end and that I’d soon be back at work after a break of about 10 months. I think it may have been a result of these negative vibes that we ended up missing our flight from Christchurch back to Auckland! With the wallet 150 dollars lighter and feeling pretty stupid, we were able to take another flight just 2 hours later. Later in the day we were back home in Hamilton and shocked to see that the normally emerald-green Waikato was still in the grip of the worst dry spell for over 10 years.

After a few days of rest, we set about packing for the big move down to Wellington and the start of my new job on March 3.

Cloud Piercer

Well supplied with apricots and nectarines bought from a roadside stall, we headed over the Lewis Pass and into the Mackenzie Country. The Mackenzie Country is a flat, dry basin surrounded on all sides by mountain ranges. The Southern Alps to the west catch most of the rain, ensuring that the Mackenzie basin on the eastern side of the divide stays relatively dry. There are many beautiful lakes but little forest. Tussock grass covers the landscape.



Mackenzie Country at Dusk

Directly west of the Mackenzie Country is Mt Cook. Aoraki, which translates as 'Cloud Piercer', is its Maori name. At 3754m high, it is New Zealand’s highest mountain. The 27km long Hooker Glacier at its base feeds the turquoise-blue Lake Pukaki. We drove 50 km along the shore of Lake Pukaki to Mt Cook Village and did some short walks to get a good view of the mountain and the glacier. It is a raw alpine environment with very few established hiking tracks, so there’s not that much to do unless you’re a well-equipped mountaineer. Not like Switzerland, where you just choose a track and off you go! Happy to have seen the highest point in New Zealand, as well as the most southern tip of the South Island earlier in the trip, we turned around and set off for Christchurch.



Aoraki/Mt Cook



Lake Tekapo with the Southern Alps in the background



Church of the Good Shepherd beside Lake Tekapo

Blazing Saddles

The following day we drove to the Cardrona Valley. I wanted to take Christina horse trekking, as a thank you for hiking the Kepler Track with me and for not complaining (except maybe once or twice!). In winter it is one of New Zealand’s premier ski areas, but in summer the expansive valley is ideal for horse trekking. I ended up on a black steed called Geoff, and Christina a somewhat smaller Appaloosa. We both had a good time and were able to go for a bit of a gallop and enjoy the beautiful views. According to the owner of the operation, it was once possible to do much longer multi-day treks over private land, but much of the land is now in foreign ownership (most famously Shania Twain) and the opportunities are now greatly restricted. I think this is a sad thing for New Zealand. It would be great if the public had more access to ‘private’ property, as they do in Switzerland and Scandinavia (Allemansrecht), for example .



Horseriding in the Cardrona Valley (Cool CHIPS helmet, huh?)

Milford Sound to Cromwell

The shadows were stretching across Lake Te Anau as we headed north to Milford Sound. It is hard to imagine a more spectacular road: first following the lakeshore, then passing through rainforest, climbing up into the mountains before squeezing its way through the Homer Tunnel and bursting out through a rock face high up above the sound. The road then descends rapidly by a series of switchbacks to sea level. The village of Milford Sound is nothing but a few hotels, a couple of houses, an airfield, a campsite and massive views. It is a very special place.

We slept the night in our tent and woke up early the next morning for a cruise on the sound. Mitre Peak, rising straight from sea level to over 1600m, had a few clouds around the summit, but otherwise the weather was perfect. So early in the morning, the water was near mirror-like. As we reached the open sea, some bottle-nosed dolphins joined the boat and entertained us with their jumps and dives. Despite the spectacular scenery, the dolphins were the real highlight.



Not a bad view from the boat



A dolphin in Milford Sound



In front of Mitre Peak

We left Milford Sound feeling a bit smug, as all the tourist busses were arriving and the cloud was closing in a bit. We knew we’d seen the best of it and it was time to move on. From Te Anau, we headed north towards the famous lakeside ski-resort of Queenstown, crossing latitude 45 degrees South in the process. We were entering a region of New Zealand called Central Otago, famous for massive high-country sheep stations, stark dry mountains and an abundance of cherries and apricots in the summer.

The drive from Kingston up the side of Lake Wakatipu to Queenstown was the highlight of this leg of the journey. All accommodation in Queenstown was booked out, so we drove through the Clutha Gorge to Cromwell. Cromwell is an old goldmining town and a good base to see the region.

Hard Labour on the Kepler Track

Te Anau is beautifully set beside a lake and surrounded by mountains and forest. It is just a few hundred meters above sea level, so mountains of just 2000m or so seem very impressive. It’s also a tourist hub and the start of the Kepler Track, one of several hiking tracks in the area that give you a taste of the wilderness to be found in Fiordland National Park. The Kepler Track takes 3 – 4 days and you must carry all your food and cooking equipment, and a tent as well if the huts are booked out. The huts were indeed booked out, so we prepared ourselves for a tough hike.

We spent the first night at Brod Bay, a nice camping site under the trees beside Lake Te Anau. It would have been idyllic but for the pesky sandflies! The second day was the hardest. The track took us all the way up to the top of 1750m Mt Luxmore, followed by a long traverse, before a final descent to Iris Burn. We were rewarded with stunning views of snow-capped mountains the lake 1500m below us. It reminded me very much of the view from the Al Legn hut beside Laggo Maggiore in Switzerland, but with the knowledge that only wilderness lay beyond the mountains, and after that, the sea.



Sunset over Lake Te Anau



Camping at Brod Bay on the Kepler Track



Hiking on the Kepler Track

Late on the third and final day, we made it to the end of the 62-kilometer hike. We were weary but the feeling of accomplishment was very satisfying. We still had enough energy to make the 150 km drive to Milford Sound, the jewel in the crown of New Zealand’s scenic spots. The weather was still fine and we knew it would be a highlight of the trip.

Caving

On the way to Te Anau, we stopped off at some caves near Tuatapere, about 40 km from Invercargill. In one of those spontaneous decisions that often end in a brush with disaster, we grabbed our only two light sources (the light on my mobile phone and a Petzl headlamp) and headed into the cave. At only 350m long, it can’t be too dangerous, even if we’re on our own, we thought. The cave headed downwards into the bowels of the earth. At first it was pitch black and our light sources barely made an impact, but our eyes slowly adjusted. Christina was having major second thoughts, but somehow I convinced her to go on. Soon we were so far in that turning back was not an option any more. The wet and slippery walls of limestone eventually opened out into caverns and when we turned out the lights, glow-worms created hundreds of specks of light above us, just like a starry sky. It was beautiful. After what seemed like eternity, we finally reached a serious obstacle to our exit from the cave: the Swimming Pool. Recent rain meant that it was pretty deep – how deep we’ll never know, since we were not about to jump in and go swimming! Instead, we stripped down to our underwear and gripping tightly to an overhanging ledge, inched our way around the side of the pool. Even here it was up to our waists and freezing cold. One slip and we would have been in a very unpleasant situation. Fortunately, we made it, and with our adrenalin pumping, we exited the cave into daylight 10 minutes later. We’d been underground for over an hour. Relieved to be out, we were in no rush to head into another cave for quite a while.

South of the South

Finally we reached Slope Point, the southernmost point of New Zealand. Wild, wet and windswept, it is a place to see once and then never come back.



Slope Point

A short drive along the southern coast brings you to Invercargill. It’s a city, but a fairly bleak one with little to recommend it except its proximity to cool places such as Stewart Island and Fiordland National Park. The nearby town of Bluff, better known as the ‘Arsehole of New Zealand’, is New Zealand’s southernmost town. We stopped in for a drink in the local pub, expecting to meet some Bluff locals. We ended up talking to the barkeeper, who was Australian, and a farmer from the UK. A sign of how multi-cultural New Zealand has become.

We didn’t linger in the far south, but instead pointed the car northwards and set off on the scenic route to Te Anau, 150km away. It is the gateway to Fiordland, the largest and most spectacular wilderness area in New Zealand.

The Catlins

Reluctantly, we left Dunedin behind and continued south. The backroads from Dunedin to Invercargill pass through a region known as the Catlins, home to some of the most beautiful scenery in the country. It is famous for its remote little fishing villages, rainforest coming right down to the coast, deserted beaches and abundance of wildlife – seals, penguins, dolphins, sea lions and sea birds.

Two of the highlights were the evocatively named Nugget Point and Cannibal Bay.



Coastal rainforest in the Catlins





The lighthouse and the 'nuggets' at Nugget Point



A sea-lion at Cannibal Bay

Dunedin and Port Chalmers

Dunedin is the largest city in the province of Otago. Known as the Edinburgh of the South, it has a beautiful setting at the head of Port Chalmers, a long inlet flanked on either side by rolling green hills. In perfect weather, we drove a winding, narrow, coast-hugging road out to Akaroa. Akaroa will be forever famous in New Zealand as the site of worst mass-murder in New Zealand’s history. After some searching, we finally found the poignant memorial to the innocent people who lost their lives to a crazy man named David Gray back in 1994.



Sheep near Port Chalmers

Dunedin is also the origin of the Kiwi half of my family, descended from Scottish and English settlers. My grandparents grew up in the Leith Valley, where the camping ground we were staying at happened to be. Nearby is Baldwin St, the world’s steepest street and on my granddad’s old paper delivery route. We paid a visit to one of my relatives, Russell, who is my mother’s cousin and a retired cinema projectionist. He took us on a short walking tour and was able to pass on a wealth of information about Dunedin’s fascinating history. On Russell’s advice, we drove out to St Claire for a walk on the beach and then to the beautiful fishing village of Portobello, where we camped for the night.



St Claire Beach

Christchurch to Dunedin

We were happy to leave Hamilton behind. It was hot and incredibly dry, with no rain since Christmas, and the water level in mum’s tank was getting pretty low. In Christchurch it was a bit cooler and a bit greener, but not much. We didn’t linger. After picking up the rental car, a gutless Nissan with automatic transmission, we headed south following the eastern coast of the South Island. It began to rain.

Our first night was spent in a backpackers in Timaru. Our only company was a dear old lady with a black eye and a bit of mental problem, who insisted on washing our dishes and worrying about whether we were warm enough. She was very sweet and when we left the next morning, her parting gift to us was a bunch of lavender and some cherry tomatoes.

We made a fleeting stop in architecturally-blessed Oamaru, one of the few towns in New Zealand where a sizeable number of turn-of-the-century buildings have been preserved. Further down the coast we came to Moeraki, where large near-perfect spherical boulders litter the windswept beach, many with a diameter of 2 or 3 meters. Set against a wild sea, they are a spectacular sight. Their origin is debated, but it seems they were eroded out of nearby cliffs.



Boulders at Moeraki

Near the town of Moeraki, there’s a nice peninsular where you can see seals and yellow-eyed penguins. We were lucky and saw many of both.





A seagull, a yellow-eyed penguin and a seal

Southbound

With a bit over two weeks until my job begins on 1 March 2008, we’ve decided to fly down to the South Island for a last hurrah. We’ll take the tent and rent a car. Our planned route is shown in the map. Starting in Christchurch, we’ll drive down the eastern coastline to Dunedin, then further south through a beautiful region known as the Catlins to Invercargill. From there we’ll head north again, via Te Anau, Milford Sound and Mt Cook. We have a flight from Christchurch back to Auckland booked for 25 February.



Map of our route