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Published: February 28th 2008
Long Way From Home
NZ is pretty far away. It was about 12 hours ahead of London and about 18 hours ahead of Marine. I watched Superbowl Sunday live at noon on Monday.Here is the recap of the South Island in New Zealand. It was pretty fun-filled with lots of adventure. I changed bus drivers when I left Wellington and crossed the Cook Straight to arrive on the south island. My new driver was called Catwalk, and he kind of looked like Tommy Lee, but without the tattoos.
The first stop on the trip was Nelson. I stayed here an extra night so that I could go to the Abel Tasman National Park. New Zealand has 14 national parks, making up over 10 percent of the land area of the country. The Abel Tasman is one of the more popular ones. It sits right on the Tasman bay and has plenty of beach front as well as forests to hike through. I did a one day hike with some of the others from the bus and ended the day with a dip in the ocean.
After leaving Nelson we headed towards Westport. Along the way we stopped at the Nelson Lakes National Park. We ate some lunch right next to Lake Rototiti. It is a beautiful pristine lake surrounded by mountains rising high into the air. This type of scenery is
Pancake Rocks
Mmmmm. You just want to pour surup all over them. repeated over and again throughout the South Island. The Southern Alps mountain range forms the spine of the south island and, along with the many glacial lakes, provides some impressive backdrops. I almost became desensitized to the beauty of the surroundings because every day provided another magnificent eyeful.
After Westport, we hugged the West Coast as we traveled southward towards Lake Mahinapua. Along the way we stopped to check out the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks. The Pancake Rocks are a series of limestone stacks which, over many thousands of years, have been eroded to give the effect of giant piles of neatly stacked pancakes. The ocean pounds up against them and manages to blow columns of water high into the air.
Our destination of Lake Mahinapua was more of a party destination than to see anything noteworthy. This is the one stop on the circuit where the driver gets to choose a party theme and everyone tries to compete for prizes. Our theme this time was "Bags 'n Drags". The girls had to wear something made from bin bags (trash bags), and the guys had to go in drag. After a quick trip to the charity shop, I scored
Hiking in Abel Tasman
Lots of lush forest overlooking Tasman Bay. Beautiful! a slip for a dollar and some bunny ears from the toy shop. I think I could easily get into the playboy mansion😊 One guy, Raymond, took a different angle on the "drag" theme and constructed a costume which looked like a cigaratte.
The next day we headed towards Franz Joseph, but along the way we stopped in Pukekura to visit the Bushman's Centre. Here we learned about the wildlife in the bush. New Zealand used to have nothing but birds inhabited in it. There were no four legged animals, until the British arrived. Once there, they introduced different species, sometimes having a terrible effect on the environment. They introduced red tail deer from Scotland. The deer really took to the landscape. So much so that they were seriously damaging the vegitation. With no natural predetors, the deer thrived. In the mid 20th century, the government had to start culling them to protect the environment. I guess Kiwis don't like to wait in tree stands for Bambi like back home, so instead they went to their hellicopters. Low flying pilots would get close while a rifleman would pick off the deer one by one. The hellicopters would then air
Lake Rotoiti
It's straight out of a painting. lift the deer out.
Efforts were successful, and then in the 1970s a market was found in Germany for the Venison. With a new demand for the meat, the logical progression was to begin farming the deer. In order to begin a deer farm, you need a few deer. So it was up to the bushmen to capture the deer. And how do you capture deer in New Zealand? With another helicoper of course! So the pilot would get really close to the deer, and then another Kiwi would jump out of the copter onto the deer and wrestle it to the ground. We saw a video of it, and I wouldn't have believed it unless I saw it myself. It was like watching an episode of the A-Team. Eventually a net gun was developed and jumping wasn't necessary anymore.
Franz Joseph is home to the Franz Joseph Glacier. This glacier forms in the mountains and pushes its way towards the rainforest. There is only one other place in the world, Patagonia, where glaciers descend into rainforest. The mountaintop constantly recieves snowfall and the sheer weight of it turns the snow into ice. I joined some fellow Kiwi
Bags n Drags Bus
Here is the whole crew for the party Experience travellers for a one day hike on the glacier. We strapped on some boots and some cramp-ons and hiked for about 8 hours that day. Our guide, Johnny, was from Deleware of all places. It rained the whole time, and my camera almost didn't make it, but it was worth it. I'll never look at an ice cube tray the same way again.
Our next stop was to be Wanaka. On the way we got some amazing views of Mount Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand. The turqoise reflection of Lake Matheson is unreal. In Wanaka I got to try my hand at Skeet Shooting. It was my first time with a shotgun, and it took me a while to find the clay pigeon. Once I figured out to aim above the target, I was knocking them out of the sky! The rest of Wanaka was spent in the pub where I learned to play "slaps" with some Brits on our bus. I think I ended up getting a bit slap happy towards the end.
Next up on the itenerary was Queenstown, home of bungy jumping! There are several different bungy jumps you can do in
Franz Joseph Glacier
Here is the Glacier I was to hike up the next day. It would not be so sunny and dry that day. Queenstown. The first one was the original, a jump off of the Kawarau bridge. This was where the first bungy jump was ever attempted anywhere in the world. It was done by A.J. Hacket who later went on to bring international attention to bungy jumping by illegally jumping off the Eiffell tower. This jump will actually dunk your head and torso into the river below. I remembered Mom's question, "If your friends jumped off a bridge, would you?" I can proudly tell mom that I didn't jump off the bridge. I jumped off something much higher😊 My bungy would have to wait until the next day. That night was the last night our whole bus would be together, so we had a proper send off that went until the wee hours.
I was up bright and early to head out to the Nevis bungy at 8am. The Nevis is the highest bungy in New Zealand. It is from a pod that is suspended over the Kawarau Gorge. It is 134 meters high, and when you jump, you experience an 8 second free fall before bouncing back. It was the best wake-up call I've ever had! I did it along
Here
Here's me and our Glacier Guide Johnny, who is from Deleware. You can't tell, but I am holding a giant pick axe. - Movie Quote Trivia:"Hi, I'm in Deleware." with 3 others from our bus. We had to ride a cable car out to the pod and that's when I first got sight of how high I really was. It was pretty intimidating, but probably the biggest rush I have ever experienced! I would highly recommend it to anyone. I've got a video of the jump if I can figure out how to get it on YouTube.
While in Queenstown, I made a side trip to Milford Sound, which is actually a fiord. It resides in the Fiordland National Park, which is about the size of New Jersey. We took a cruise on the sound and it is absolutely beautiful. The water is extremely still and mirror-like and it is surrounded by steep cliffs which climb into mountains. Although the cliffs are all rock, trees manage to grow on them by weaving their roots together. Sometimes, if there is a large amount of rainfall, a tree-valange occurs. The sound of which echos for miles. No such thing happened while I was there. The skys were crystal clear, which is unusual for that time of year.
I stayed a night in Milford so that I could kayak on
Pull!!
Who says you need to go to America to do a little shooting! It took me a while, but I got the hang of it. One of the Welsh farmers on our bus was the best shot though. I think he only missed a few. the sound the following day. I set off early and was treated to a sea lion diving down and comming up with a huge fish in his mouth. I was only about 10 feet away and I watched as he thrashed it around before tossing it aside to go down for more. Unfortunatly, I didn't see any dolphins on this trip, but their appearance can be sporatic. The sound is fed by mountain streams; some which are sourced from glaciers high above. The water is so clean that you can drink straight from it. It tasted delicious, like a cool mountain stream should. Almost sounds like a beer commercial.
My last stop in the South Island was Christchurch. I didn't stay there very long, and didn't find the place very interesting really. I did manage to get a quick hair-cut before departing. It's the stylish cut for all true backpackers.
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Jason Pense
non-member comment
Mr. Clean!
NICE NEW DO!!!!!!!!!!! Deleware movie quote = Wayne's World!!! Keep the info coming - did I mention I'm jealous????