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)
24 Mar 2008
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.
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.
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
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?)
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.
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.
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.
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