2011 Trip to NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand... The Land of the Long White Cloud.... Arotearoa

We left Sydney under the weight of the dark days which just passed us. David's father, Allan, had fallen ill the past month and died not one week before we had planned to depart for our big trip to New Zealand (David jested that the ol' bugger was planning that from the start)

Having not seen David, myself, for 6 months and returning from Canada to the chaos that was engulfing us, was overwhelming to this sensitive being. We muddled our way through all the procedures involved with a person passing and the emotional and financial turmoil that was quickly sucking from our trip reserves. I was considering just cancelling the non-transferable tickets I had saved for whilst working in Vancouver and calling it a bust, when David insisted on going. He needed it as much as anyone. He was exhausted from family dealings and financial burdens and emotional drowning. He needed time with his life-partner away from 'it'.

We hastely packed our trekking boots and tent and any gear we could find and left the next week for Dunedin, South Island. I got a really good deal on flights, so that always makes any hardships a bit easier to swallow. I think it cost me $480 for two round trip flights to NZ from Brisbane via Melbourne.

When we arrived in the quaint little Airport near Dunedin, it was drizzling and overcast outside, but I felt so relieved that we made it here, it could've been sunny in my mind. We picked up the little rent-a-wreck car I had booked for the month, right in the airport and made our way along the green green green pastured hills toward our friends place, following the directions she gave us.

They are not big on 'using the vehicle indicators' in New Zealand, so you never know when someone is going to pull out in front of you or pull across the road to park on the opposite side facing the wrong way. Keeps you on your toes.

Our friend Donna and her partner Karsten, live in a quaint little house nestled on a hill, quite close to the beach near brighton. The cool air was a refreshing change from the humid, synging heat of Qld/Northern NSW in November. NZ filled me with warm memories from my Canadian up-bringing and made me smile at the thought that I could definitely live here. (David is sporting a strange moustache and black hair because he participated in "Movember" to raise money for prostate cancer, he doesn't normally look like a villain from 'The Dukes of hazard')

The next days were spent seeing the area in and around Dunedin and the shorelines. Funky artisan houses dotted the roads to the shores near Port Chalmers and Dunedin itself was a grand little city with some nice architecture and it had a small town vibe to it.

We visited an albatross colony not far from Dunedin and walked along a vast beach where I made friends with a seal who was curious about us.

This was at the entrance to Otago Harbour.

This little chap was tagged with an ID tag so I suppose he is part of a study, but he was quite friendly towards us. Not aggressive or afraid. Totally chilled out beside me on the beach.

David walking along the beach checking out the giant kelp strands.

Looking over the cliff near Otago inlet.

These fellas are everywhere. Quite shy as they run away as soon as you pull over to take a picture. I had to hide behind a tree's 'line of sight' to photograph these Merino Sheepies

Next we drove down to the bottom of the country and stayed overnight at a backpackers in 'Bluff' for $45, so we could catch the next mornings ferry to Stewart Island off the South tip of the South Island. There is nothing much in Bluff other than the backpackers, so once we booked in, we drove to Invercargill to get food and any last minute supplies we needed for our trek we were planning on Stewart Island.
My pack weighed in at 28kg after packing all our trekking food for the week, the tent and personal gear...My back hurts just thinking about carrying it, but luckily most of that weight is food, so we will be, as my friend Jack always says "eating towards victory".
We left for the Island at 9:30am, being Dec 20th, it wasn't too busy. As we got underway, a pod of bottle-nosed dolphins joined us and surfed the bow wave for a good 7-8 minutes, which was awesome to see... Also, PENGUINS did the same!! I did not know this was something they liked to do, but apparently it's the local entertainment for penguins....riding the waves. So cool to witness!
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 We reached the port of Oban at 10:30, grabbed our packs and headed to the DOC to pick-up our park permits. We then went to the B&B we would be staying at when we arrive back from our trek 5 days hence and asked if we could place some things in storage (our laptop etc) because we didn't want to have to carry these things on a trek. Then we headed off towards the trailhead to begin our trek on the Raikura Track.

There was approximately 30minutes of walking the road before the trail head, but then it turned inland and away we went. It felt so lovely to be in the NZ bush, listening to the quirky Tui birds calling with their prominent white bow-ties and smell the distinct aromas of damp loam beneath your feet.

 7 hours later, we stumbled into our first campsite... I was exhausted. I had way too much weight in my pack and it wasn't distributed in a comfortable way, so I endeavored to make it more suitable for the next trekking day. I booked us in at this site for two nights, as I figured the first day would be the longest and boy was I happy that I made that call!
We were so happy to peel the back packs off, set up camp, go for a wee explore before having a cuppa-soup and hitting the sac at 10pm (this is when it gets dark in summer).

Not a bad little spot, but there were a ton of black flies or sand flies or whatever they were....

Throughout the entire trek we were surrounded by all kinds of amazingly beautiful flora. One of my absolute favourites out of all the plant-life was the diversity of fern and fern-tree species.

Sometimes the ferns were towering above your head, sometimes they were just unfurling at your feet. Always lush green and refreshing.
The mosses and lichens were also very vibrant and always covering many surfaces offering many different colours and textures.

The exposed waterfronts afforded another unique offering of flora. Twisted and stunted trees, shaped by the harsh winter winds and exposure to the sea. Bleached branches and a matting of dark green foliage, creates a mosaic of patterns which look like lightning strikes against a black sky.....very unique to the region.

The next day, being an exploring day, afforded us the luxury of a pancake breakfast and I made eggs and bacon for David in addition to the pancakes... mmmm...hey we are supposed to be on vacation!

We spent the day enjoying the waters edge and chilling out, which it seems like this was the first time we had afforded the opportunity to do so. It was lovely.

The next day we were packed, fed and ready to walk by 8am. It was a slow slog for me this day as it was mostly an uphill trek. We traversed many different types of forests and to my extreme fortune, 2.5hours into walking, I got to spot a REAL kiwi, in the wild!! He went by very quickly, but he/she was striding along and probing the fallen leaves for crawling food morsels. I was so excited I didn't get a good picture of it, but it was far too interesting to watch than photograph. Plus the light was quite low in the forest, which made a slow shutter speed just blur everything...this is the only shot I got and it could be anything...

We had a lovely hike, even though it was tough with a heavy pack. We had lunch by an old bridge and got a few photos on it...

We arrived at camp at around 3:30pm and set-up so we didn't have to do it later. There were a pair of nesting oyster-catchers on the beach and they guarded their meagre little "nest" (which consisted of a few spindly branches encircling the eggs-more like a corral then a nest) within it, held a couple eggs. Protected by a pair of squawking and dive-bombing parents, anyone who came close enough to arouse suspicion, would be attacked. We tried our best to let them be at peace.  

 This shot looks close, but I actually used my telephoto .... driftwood nest in the sand...

Handsome birds....
We headed to bed early after a meal of scalloped potatoes in an aged-white cheese sauce and with smoked salmon atop.... (Went down a treat btw) because the mosquitos were particularly bad near the social area/ cabins... our tent was sort of isolated, so not quite as bad (plus we had a little wind/airflow to help)

The next day, we had booked two beds in the cabin for one night, so we moved into the cabin after packing up our tent. I arranged this in case it was raining and miserable on our next "spare day" as being stuck in a tent can be awful. Turns out the weather was fine but at least we got to sleep on a mattress.
Actually, once all moved in, I preferred the tent, mostly because in this particular cabin, there were no screens on the windows, so you had to sleep with the windows closed tight or the mosquitoes ate you alive. What is worse? Being enclosed in a small room with 12 other people and no air or having fresh air but mosquitoes eating you alive? I can't decide.

At least we had a bit of table space to prepare food and stretch out... Lovely!
This day we did a little hike to the far side of the headland to a little beach and back... Took some photographs and watched the world turn...as we were heading back to camp and the sun was setting, we could hear kiwis all in the bush, but couldn't see any. One chap was chasing one through the dark, I'm talking full-on running after one, trying to see it...people are weird, shockingly, he scared it off and missed out, but the bird came ripping past us full throttle and it looked terrified. Poor thing.
The sun slowly faded out around 9:50-10pm and we took some photos in the afternoon as the skies grew dimmer..

Next morning we stayed in bed later than everyone else, as to have the kitchen area mostly to ourselves. It would be a short hike today to reach Maori Beach, so we didn't need to rush. The walk was beautiful as a very light rain misted the trees surrounding us. We crossed a suspension bridge and walked into camp at around 1pm.

 

As we setup our tent we had a wee curious visitor which was confused as to why we were on its beach.

I suspect not many people use this campsite as it is so close to the end of the track and people just pass it by and continue on back to town, but we were on a different journey;

A journey of relaxation, exploration and even a bit of healing and soul-searching... taking the time to appreciate each spot was integral.

David shucked some wild oysters, green-lipped mussels and even a paua (Abalone) for dinner...

While at our site we had some more visitors...this time of the feathered kind.. I shared my nut mix with them and they were happy to obligingly take the gifts straight from my hand.

These cute little cherubs are called Kaka's... I love these cheeky fella's

The afternoon was spent exploring all around. After the light lowered and the soft winds fell, the sand-flies came out in full force, so the best thing to do was retreat to our tent.

The next morning we left at 7 and headed back to Halfmoon Bay in Oban, taking photos along the way...this part of the walk was super easy.

Got to the 'big chain' at 11am, which signifies the end of the trail and is an artistic representation of a giant anchor which ties Stewart Island to the Mainland.

There are brass placards on the ground with different quotes...Like this:

We got back to town and made it back to the B&B...the ensuing shower was bliss. Being Christmas, most places were shut, but we managed to find a small crepe restaurant to have a meal.

The following day our boat trip was scheduled for 3:30, so we had the day to explore the little sea-side town and walk to a nearby beach.

 This was a fish and chip shop we had lunch at....

We watched penguins stalking their prey fish and a oyster-catcher family walk the beach beside us...

Took a few fun shots too...

Some boathouses make neat photos:

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After our boat trip back to Bluff, we drove to Invercargill again to get groceries, but we didn't want to stay in a town, so we drove out to Porpoise Bay to camp. It's only $15 a night to camp here. 

Porpoise Bay is a big surf spot and every hippie on the island must've been camped here. It was a large tall-grass covered spit sticking out into the sea. Penguins colonized the area and their dens are dotted around the perimeter of the escarpment. 

 This little guy was just walking down the road after a day of hunting, heading back to his den... so funny to see penguins just walking around.

The next morning we went to the main beach and hung out in waist-high water while mother dolphins and their new babies swam around us (Hector's Dolphins)...truly magical seeing the newbies learn how to swim and breath at the surface...so curious about us standing there...very small...I didn't bring my camera near the water, but I took a photo of some German travellers doing the same thing we did. 

 I also watched a neat adaptation a few gulls had learned to harvest their supper. They would shuffle their feet in the water to stir up the invertebrates and then eat what surfaced.

We drove North and had dinner at Te Anau at a little Italian place (the whole town has an Italian vibe). We camped outside the city past Manapouri, next to a little shallow river where it was safe to have a little fire.

Watched the sunset over the trees

Next day after a brief stop in Te Anau to get some possum/merino wool (it was expensive but I'm hoping I can learn to knit something), we made our way toward Milford Sound on the West Coast. Whilst waiting for our turn to traverse one of the tunnel roads, we got to see the Kea Parrots up close and personal. They like to fly down when there are lines of cars waiting for a green light, and land on the cars and rip off anything interesting using their beaks. They seem to like the rubber-trim on cars, which was the case for the Mercedes Benz in front of us. These particular people were rude and cut us off earlier on the road (doesn't really bother us, but it was funny to watch), so this was poetic to watch the birds dismantle their expensive car.

The birds are actually quite funny, feisty, and beautiful. 

Milford sound itself, was not what I was expecting. It was supposed to be this amazing jumping off point to a beautiful stretch of wilderness, but what it was, was a typical resort owned style town catering to the rich. You had to have a booking to even park your car. The atmosphere was of greed and exclusivity ... not at all what the actual energy of the place portrays. Unfortunately, money has ruined the metaphysical potential of the town, but such things happen. We stayed long enough to get a little information and because we were double parked we had to leave. There are signs everywhere stating you can't stop here. The mountains are laid before you, but you can't stop unless you pay to do so. So insane. But it is pretty...I had to take most of my photos from our moving car as they have traffic police that patrol for stopped cars that haven't paid. It definitely took the sparkle out of it for me.

The area has a brooding melancholy about it, but also with a mothers warmth. I was sad that this was as close as I could get to the fiords.

The drive back was pretty as the lupin is predominant and colourful. We decided to pull over and take a few shots of the purple fields...

We had the place to ourselves, unfortunately, like with most tourist routes, if you stop in a particular place to take a photograph, 6 other cars will pile in behind you to take a photo too. Because, hey that person has stopped so there must be something, I need a photo of too. This wasn't the only place where these vistas of flowers were located. In fact, the whole area has them, but it is purely the herd mentality. I don't care if people take the same photo's, it's just that I want photos WITHOUT random people milling about in them so we try to find areas without people.

 

We actually had two cars follow our photography path EXACTLY for a while (I mean exactly, taking the exact same photo of the exact same individual plants), they stopped their car when we stopped and waited for us to leave first,... it was kind of creepy and at first I thought they were just joking, but they seemed totally unaware of their behaviour. At one point, I had to pee and we pulled over to do so and yes, they pulled over too.   David and I just laughed and made it our new mission to shake them off our back some how...kind of like the fugitive hahaha. Long road trips can be dull so it became a game. Eventually we lost them when we had to fill the petrol tank.

Next we made our way to Mossburn and on to Glenorchy.

My notes diminish for a while as I wasn't in the mood to write in a journal or was unable to do so. But the route goes like this:

Dec 29th -Glenorchy, Paradise, Drove Mt.

Dec 30-Glaciers - Stayed in the very touristy town of Franz Josef. Stayed at Montrose Backpackers, which wasn't a part of our financial plans, but we both wanted a real bed and a hot shower, which this place offered, so we spent the money and got accommodation.

Dec 31-Checked out of the Backpackers by 10am after enjoying another hot shower (just for good measure). We went for a walk to a gorge near the village of Franz Josef, hoping to see a cave with glow worms in it, but they closed the access to the path do to a landslip, so instead we just took a few photos of the little river in the gorge and returned back to the car. 

We drove to Okarito area to walk in the National Park and to see if we could see any kiwi's, but no luck there.

Back on the road we drove to an eccentric ville with an eccentric shop called Pukekura. 

They sold possum burgers and Bambi pies. Possum is legal to kill in NZ, but illegal to sell as game meat, so the way around it is that the shop asks for a set 'Donation' for the payment. That way it's not 'selling' possum. Unfortunately for David, they were out of possum burgers, so he had a bambi-pie. 

Outside, they kept Nepalese Mountain Goats called Tahr's, as pets, so I fed a few of them. They are quite gentle. Then we headed off towards Greymouth. 

Nine mile Beach south of Westport, caught a baby Weka bird

Mummy Weka was quite tame as well

Jan 1- Drove to Westport camped in bush next to a really really cold little stream and something bit my toe when I went for my evening bath (Freshwater Eel?)

Jan 2- Drove to Nelson and sorted out kayak rentals for a trip in the north west (Abel Tasman NP) as well as NP permits, and camp bookings. Drove past kiwi crops to North Ina, camped in the bush at a bogan party camp site, next to a river in a forestry area.

Jan 3- Drove back to Nelson to do Laundry in centre of town. Had fresh coffee from shop that roasted their own. Headed out to Marahau. Did grocery shopping at Motueka. Had dinner @ a little taco place there. Headed out of town into the fields to find a free-camp spot. Ended up sleeping behind a tower of bramble in a farmers field and hidden from view by road. It wasn't a good sleep though because the far off neighbours dog knew we were there and barked all night. Also, there was an automatic rifle shot that went off every 10minutes to scare off animals in the fields next to us, so it was a jolting experience for the night...

Jan 4 - Arrived back at Marahau and got our hire kayaks and set off paddling toward our campsite.

Jan 9- Last day of paddling and returned kayaks. David lost his wallet, which had all our cash for the trip in it, so I was super angry at him, turns out he left it in a safe place in the car which he couldn't remember, but I found. The whole experience traumatized me though and I took over control of the cash for the remainder of the trip. David had a coffee in Motueka and we stopped in Havelock for scallops and mussels. We drove through Picton and had dinner in a pub @ Kaikaura. We camped near Hurunui River at a Campsite with people who lost their homes in the Christchurch earthquake. The government had set up a makeshift camp for them, and they had to commute to Christchurch for work everyday...didn't look easy.

Jan 10- Drove through Christchurch. It was pretty messed up from the disaster, bits of buildings everywhere and the roads we were allowed to drive on, were all warbled. We continued on back through to Dunedin and stayed our night with our friends again.

Jan 11- We walked in the morning to Tunnel Beach near Brighton

 And then back to the airport and on a flight back to Melbourne and on to Brisbane. By the time we got back 'home' in Lismore, it was late and we were exhausted. But it was an amazing trip to an incredible country.