Captain Stokes and her adventures on the South Island.....

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I was slightly nervous as I approached Wellington as I was being picked up at the bus station by Amy and Randal. They are two of the 5 New Zealanders who looked after me on Boxing Day after being hit by the wave, they all looked after me for nearly 24 hours until I was helicoptered off to hospital and I didn't think I'd ever see them again. As it turned out I came across a local newspaper article on the internet, I started reading it and recognised a few of the details and realised it was one of the girls from New Zealand and her account of what had happened to them all, so I contacted the newspaper and asked them to pass on my email. Amy and Randal live in Wellington so they told me to get in touch when I was in New Zealand and visit them, the others are off travelling at the moment, so I was on my way!

I thought it might be a really emotional meeting or very awkward but as it was it just felt like I was meeting up with a couple of old mates. I had a moment of panic that I wouldn't recognise them as the whole day and night had been a bit of a blur for me with the shock and everything, but as soon as they stepped out of the car we recognised each other and they took me straight off to a mid-winter Christmas party - in the middle of August.... at Amy's bosses house for a slap up meal of roast lamb and veggies. We had a relaxed few days, they showed me around Wellington and we went for lunch at Amy's mums, went to a local basketball game and out for drinks but basically spent most of the time just nattering and swapping memories from Christmas. There was a lot that I couldn't remember that they could tell me about which was a very strange feeling and they even had a few photographs from that day. It was amazing to be able to stay with them and thank them and we got on really well, they're heading over to England next year so I can repay the favour of putting me up for a few nights, although I don't think I can ever repay the favour of them looking after me so well on that day. There are still other people who helped me who I will probably never get the chance to meet or even know who they are but it was so good to have this opportunity to put a few of the pieces together.

All in all I liked Wellington as a city, I did prefer it to Auckland as most people said I would. It's smaller and seems to have its own identity and more diversity, people seem to feel more comfortable to fly their 'freak flag', as Amy put it and show their individuality. There are some great streets with little coffee shops and boutiques and a central area of bars and restaurants and it sits right on the harbour with all the suburbs built up on the surrounding hills. I spent the Monday wandering around town and around the Te Papa museum learning about the history of the country and the people.

Sailing across the seas.....eventually.

Tuesday morning I was up early to get the ferry over to the South Island, after goodbyes and promises of all getting together in London next year Randal dropped me off at the ferry check in ready to carry on with my journey southwards, with a plan to get to Marahau, a very small town at the entrance to the Able Tasman National Park by the evening.

I checked my bags in ready for boarding the ferry at 8.30am, and that's when it all started to go wrong.

Nearly 3 hours later I was still stood on the deck of the ferry braving the cold winds and staring out at the unchanging view of Wellington ferry port. They were trying out a new ferry for the first time and there had been a delay with it coming in to dock and for some unknown and unexplained reason it was now still sitting unmoving . It actually made me feel right home, I could almost hear the sound of the train chugging along at 20mph up the track to Manchester 5 hours after my departure from London Euston station……..

We finally set off on the Picton crossing from the North Island to the South, it was another cloudy day in Wellington but there was still some fantastic views as we went across and passing through the Marlborough sounds with the heavy grey clouds above was quite dramatic. Unfortunately we didn't get in until well past 4pm so I had well and truly missed my 2pm Intercity bus to Nelson, the only one of the day, and had to beg my way onto a Kiwi Experience bus and had to pay the full bus fare (normally they are pretty good at helping you out of a hole in situations like this but this driver was slightly officious....). We pulled in to a hostel in Nelson at gone 6pm and so there was no chance of getting to Marahau at all, but I did spend a nice evening with a couple of other folk from the bus relaxing in the outdoor hot tub with the cold rain falling on our heads so it wasn't all bad!

And on that farm he had some Llamas....

I had to get up and get a bus to Marahau at 7am, the winter timetable is in place at the moment so there's only 1 or 2 buses a day but it meant that I would get there nice and early and have 2 whole days of walking in the Able Tasman National Park. This area of New Zealand has the most hours of sunshine in the whole of the country and I was looking forward to some good weather after the cold and rain of Whangerei and the clouds over Wellington. As we approached Marahau it started to drizzle a little bit, as we drew closer and closer it started to come down heavier and heavier, by the time we arrived it was absolutely tipping it down and the hills were completely obscured by thick grey clouds. Brilliant.

I was staying at a place called Old McDonalds farm set in the valley just past the National Park gateway in the one shop town of Marahau and I was the only person there…….So in the end I had little choice but to brave the rain and go for a wander round and try and make the most of it. I was really disappointed as Randal had said it was the most beautiful part of New Zealand and I had met people back in Auckland who had raved about it but so far I couldn't see much through the cloud and rain. But there had been a peacock waiting for me on the porch of my little room when I'd arrived and most importantly there was a pen of little piglets snorting around on the farm and some very aloof looking Llamas. There is nothing to do here except walk or kayak or go on a boat ride and enjoy the scenery, all of which was covered in thick grey cloud and heavy, heavy rain. I managed to wade through the streets to the one and only shop and the woman at the counter gleefully told me that they never ever had rain like this normally and so all the locals were very excited by it all. Whoop-dee-do. Those of us from England tend not to find the rain all that exciting.

I went for a walk into the National Park, just a short way up the coast line and back again, the weather cleared up a bit for me thankfully, but I soon headed back to get warmed up. I prepared myself for a sleepless night on my own in the middle of nowhere in a little tin cabin listening out for every noise ready to do battle with the monsters of the night (we all know they exist, some of us are just a bit more honest about it that's all. Ahem). The next thing, a whole bus load of people turned up. I was in the kitchen curled up with the cat reading my book in silence and the next thing there was a whole room full of people cooking and chatting and drinking beer and my bottle of whiskey bought back in San Fransisco finally got put to good use.

Sunny days are here again

The next morning I woke up early to see if it was worth me getting a boat trip up the coast to do a proper walk in the national park and after all the bad weather I was rewarded with a brilliant sunny day with not a cloud in the sky. I booked myself on a boat up to Tonga bay, via split apple rock and the seal colony and set off on my walk. I walked for about 17 kilometres along the coast line, it was some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen, you just wanted to stop ever five steps and take a picture - something which was proving to be a little bit tricky for me as I bought a new memory card and I have to turn my phone on and off about 10 times before it decides to work properly, not frustrating at all…… In the summer apparently the Able Tasman coast line is really busy with walkers, sunbathers, boat rides and kayaking, but I only saw about 2 other people on my entire walk. I had long golden beaches all to myself and walking inland through the bush without another soul in sight, it was wonderful to have that real sense of solitude for a short while and to feel like you could be the only person to have seen such a wonderful place on such a gorgeous sunny day.

Crawling down the coast

After a quick stop back in Nelson again for a night I headed on down the Island to Fox Glacier, I decided to forgo the 10 hour bus journey and instead I got a lift with bloke called Jason from South Africa who was heading down that way and had space in his beat up old car. It was nice to have a break from the buses and to be able to stop whenever we wanted and get out and look around a bit more. The West coast is pretty stunning with craggy rocks and winding roads following the shore line, the waves are much much bigger on this side of the island and it was a bit unnerving to be honest, even more so when the petrol tank went well past the Empty gage and we had to start coasting every time we came to a downhill stretch of road…… We'd missed the big sign warning us that there wasn't a petrol station for the next 120 kilometres…. We started to go very very slowly indeed and thought we were going to have to hitch miles down the road to the next town that sold petrol and hitch back. Thankfully we managed to pootle along until we reached a roadside cafe that sold 4 litres of petrol, just enough to get us to the next town and a proper petrol station without having to resort to trying to thumb down the only car we had seen go past in the last half hour. It seems we aren't the only people to miss the sign and they are well prepared for idiots like us.

We stopped off at Pancake rocks to take a look at the bizarre rock formations and the blow holes spurting water high up into the air and for something to eat and we bumped into some people who had been at the hostel I stayed in for the night in Nelson. We were all heading out down the same way for a few nights at Fox Glacier so when we got there we got the beers in and settled down for a night in around the fire with promises of just a few drinks as everyone was getting up early to do the days Glacier walking. However before long someone produced a huge bottle of Bombay Sapphire they were trying to get rid of to lighten their load and the promised early night soon turned into the early hours of the morning until the fire died down, Matt fell down, and we all stumbled off to bed.

The incredible hulk..

In the morning, as the others were nursing sore heads and setting off for a days walking on the Glacier, I got down to hoovering and making beds - I'd managed to get a free room in exchange for a couple of hours work at the hostel as, surprise surprise, I couldn't afford to do the Glacier walking. Instead I did the walk from town to the foot of the glacier, it was a beautiful sunny day and walking along the river I have never seen such clear water, ice cold, flowing down from the Glacier. It's amazing when you first catch a glimpse of it nestled in the valley between the mountains in the distance, it looks like a immovable part of the scenery, but when you get up close to it you can hear it creaking and occasionally a huge hulk of ice will fall off - proving the necessity of the safety barriers to stop you getting too close - and you being to feel that it's almost alive and continually moving and shifting as the snow and ice pack in at the top, out of sight in the mountains, and it slowly melts down in the valley turning into the water running by your feet. Of course this process is painfully slow and you can't actually see it moving obviously as its an enormous hulk of ice wedged into the valley, but you get a real sense of it all when you're up close, it must be even more apparent when you are up there walking high up in the mountains on top of it all hearing it creak beneath your feet, it must be incredible. I sat listening to my headphones for ages, sitting in the sun staring up at it, trying to figure it all out.

I headed back to the hostel just in time to meet up with the others and we all drove down the road to Lake Matheson to take a look at one of the most photographed views in New Zealand, the reflection of Mount Cook and the surrounding mountains in the water of the lake which lies there like a sheet of glass. You can see immediately why its so popular and we all just sat drinking our beers and taking in the stunning sight and taking photograph after photograph as the sun set and the mountains changed colour and the clouds shifted around the peaks. Fox Glacier is the smaller of the two Glacier towns, Franz Joseph up the road is more popular with the backpackers and there's a bit more going on there but I really love Fox Glacier, there's only a couple of bars and restaurants and just a handful of places to stay and its really quiet at this time of year and very peaceful, just a handful of visitors. The Glacier walking did sound fantastic - so its just one more thing to add to the list to save up for to do next time I'm here!

Quite remarkable

After a long drive (due to Jason stopping every 10 minutes for us to gape at yet another stunning view or crystal clear river running by), a quick stop for a night in Wanaka where I left Jason trying to find work, I went on to Queenstown and met up with others again at Bungy Backpackers. Both Wanaka and Queenstown are popular ski resort areas and for the first time since being in New Zealand in winter it was a struggle to find places to stay and I had to book ahead to get myself sorted in Queenstown. Wanaka is the smaller of the two, but both are equally beautiful, I walked up Mount Iron in Wanaka where you get 360 degree views of the whole area and I walked up Queenstown head in (yes you guessed it) Queenstown where you look out over the lake and across to the aptly named Remarkables mountain range and out to Lord of The Rings territory. It never stopped taking my breath away.

I also did the walk (or scramble) up to the Skyline rather than getting the cable car, it turned out to be a bit tougher than I'd been led to believe due to a barely visible track and lots of fallen trees. The slightly worrying thing was the signs that had a gauge to let you know how serious the threat of fire was that day, on this particular day apparently it was 'extreme', not a comforting thought when walking through the brittle dry forest floor.... But yet again the views were worth it and at the top there is a restaurant and bar and the luge (bob sledge type thing) and bungy jumping. I watched a 13 year old boy doing the smaller of the bungy jumps, its only 40 odd feet instead of 140 odd feet. I could barely even stand at the edge of the viewing platform with a big barrier around it, let along comprehend jumping off with some elastic tied to my feet. But he did it, it was very unnerving to watch especially when he was just swinging there way above the trees waiting to be pulled back up again. His dad said he was going to do all three and so was on to do the bigger one next, but when he came back from the jump and his dad asked him if he was ready to do the next one he just said 'NO! I need the loo.' I don't blame him. So did I just from watching it.

Ice ice baby....

(some of these are reeeeeaaly bad, I'm sorry!)

In Queenstown there is an endless list of activities to do, skiing, bunjy jumping, paragliding, quad biking, white water rafting..........of which I did none. I hadn't planned on doing anything really, I new I was coming here on a really tight budget and also to be honest for me just to be here and to see it all was enough for me. I was just thankful to have the opportunity to do this trip and still be around to appreciate it all. I had a great time though, the backpackers I stayed in was fantastic, Matt, Neil, Steve and Caroline from Fox Glacier were there for a few nights and we went to the bar made completely of ice for a very expensive cocktail where we misheard the rules before going in and started smashing our glasses (made of ice of course) on the floor before we left.....the waiter was not happy. I ended up staying in town for a lot longer than I thought I would, the backpackers was small and cosy with a really chilled atmosphere and there were some great people coming and going and always a night out if you wanted it. There was a group from England who had all met up on various points of their journey and we had a few nights out on the town together - Queenstown is also know as party town, with promises of meeting up again in Australia as we were all heading that way. The hostel ends up feeling like home after a few days and I found myself watching episodes of Tricia in my pj's curled up on the sofa under a duvet with fellow dorm mates or sitting around with everyone drinking very cheap and very nasty boxes of wine. I was only there for a week but I had been moving around so quickly that it just felt good to be in one spot for a while and not trying to do a million things in one day.

Water water everywhere.....

With only a few days to go I had to get a move on to fit in the last few things I had planned to do, so next was a quick stop at Milford Sound. (One quick fact about Milford Sound - one of the first blokes to visit and explore the area and name a lot of the places was called Captain Stokes, so there you go!) A lot of people do the day trip but I decided to stay over for the night to try and get a real feel for the place. I was up very early to catch my bus, it was just another one of the intercity buses but it kind of doubles up as tour bus on this route as well so I got to hear all the information from the driver as we went along the Milford road. It's one of the most popular tourist roads in New Zealand and for good reason. As you drive away from Queenstown through all the farm land and past Te Anau you start to move into the lush, vibrant green wetlands, still with the snowy peaks on top of the mountains all around, then eventually the greenery starts to get stripped away revealing more and more exposed rock up in the hills as this area is so wet everything just gets stripped away with the heavy downpours and washed away. Milford Sound has on average 7 metres of rain a year, the highest rain fall in New Zealand, and this was certainly the case today. At Te Anau it had started drizzling and then as we carried on down the road it turned into torrential rain. We stopped off for a little walk up to see a chasm with rocks worn smooth by the waterfall and the rain was coming down in sheets, we all got back on the bus looking like drowned rats.

But everyone says you have to come to Milford Sound on a day when it rains because that's when its at its most impressive. When it starts raining here tiny trickles of water becoming gushing waterfalls in no time at all and looking out of the window of the bus you could see hundreds and hundreds of waterfalls cascading down the sheer rock faces, what would be a gentle stream running by the road side turns into a fiercely flowing river. We passed one river and the driver said it looked to be about 6 or 7 times its normal size
probably just from the rainfall from that day.

Milford isn't really a town as such its just an area for people to come and do the boat ride around the Fjord and there are a couple of places to stay and one place to eat and drink. Again I had come hoping to do some good walking, maybe a little bit of the famous Milford track, but this time there was definitly no braving it outside, not in this kind of rain. I got a lift up to the hostel and just chilled out with a book and chatted to my room mate. The rain
didn't let up at all and with the hostel being run by a generator which gets turned off at 11pm I was set for a quiet night in but I got talking to the guys who work on reception and ended up sitting up all night drinking red wine in a rickety old cosy candle lit caravan with the rain drumming down over our heads.

Everyone also says you have to come to Milford on a sunny day too to really appreciate the scenery so I had my fingers crossed for the next morning,
the rain had eased a little bit, enough for me to walk around and get a proper look at things, but I didn't go out on the boat ride. If it had been a really clear day I would have splashed (excuse the pun) out in order to get a proper look and to try and see some dolphins or whales, but it was still pretty grim and very misty so I gave in to it and just wandered around for a while before getting the bus back to Queenstown for a quick night out with Rob and Alex and Kelly and the others who were still there fromt the week before, then on the next morning to Dunedin with only 4 more days in New Zealand left.

P..P...P....Pick up a Penguin.....

I was off to Dunedin for one reason and one reason only - the penguins. Some people had said some good things about the town and I'm sure its a great place but I didn't get to see much of it, it was pretty grey and dull and I just headed straight out to the Otaga peninsuluar on the wildlife tour. There was only a group of 8 of us and the guide, he took us out to private land where only this particular tour gets to go and we spent the afternoon walking around the hills and down to various rocks looking at the very very cute baby fur seal pups and various bird life - I even got to see an Albatross in flight. Then we headed to the beach where we would see the New Zealand Sealions and the promise of the rare Yellow Eyed Penguin coming out of the water ready to nest for the night.

Just before we reached the sand the guide stopped and said 'I've seen my first penguin', we all started to look around and there, just a few metres away, was a little penguin stood on the grass up the hill with his flippers held out cooling himself down in the wind. I swear my tummy did a flip and I nearly started crying - how sad am I???!! I think the rest of the group thought I was a bit of a freak. Ah well.

We sat in a little hut on the beach set back from the sea so we could watch them coming out of the water and heading up the hill to find their nests. They are amazing, the hill was really steep, it would have been hard for a human to climb without using his hands, but they managed it with these tiny little legs, you can see them bracing themselves and bouncing up and down a few times to get the momentum to jump up to the next ridge, they looked hilarious. These type of penguins are unusually shy and keep themselves to themselves mostly but when they came across another penguin they would throwntheir heads back and wiggle a bit, a little sign of greeting. I was absolutley in awe of it all and however lame it might sound, I think it might have been the highlight of my trip to New Zealand, it was also one of the oddest things I've ever seen - looking up at a green field full of sheep and seeing a little penguin picking his way in between them all, it looked very peculiar.

There aren't many of these little penguins left in the world and to see them in the wild in their natural habitat just going about their business was fantastic. I did want to try and nick one to take home and keep in the bath but they managed to talk me out of it.....sigh.

The Sealions however were a little scary, the guide didn't start us off well by explaining how fast they can run after you and how viscious they can be so we were all a little nervous as they were waking up and play fighting with each other and the guide was taking us to stand closer and closer to them but they didn't seem to pay us much attention thankfully. They were bigger than I'd imagined and it was pretty impressive standing just a few feet away from them on the sand.....braced and ready to run up the hill at a moments notice.......

Time to fly

Time had run out. The next morning, after doing my washing (in the hope of not having to get the jumpers out again once I reached Oz), I practicaly had to run to catch the one and only bus that day from Dunedin to Christchurch. It was only 15 minutes down the road but with my enormous backpack on and two other bags to carry I nearly gave myself shin splints. I had to get up to Christchurch ready for my flight to Australia on the Friday 9th Sept the next day. I didn't get to see much of that town either but it looked quite nice and very English with its Cathedral and river and parks and things. Some people don't rate it much, others love it, I saw the inside of my hostel and one coffee shop so I couldn't really tell you who was right.

I could have written on and on about all the things I've seen and done, I have loved having the chance to see this place. There are still hundreds of other parts I didn't get to see, up the east side of the North Island and right down to Stewart Island at the bottom of the South Island and swimming with dolphins in Kaikora or Whale watching (but that's one I am saving for when I come back with my Dad - no excuses Pa!) It is a wonderful, beautiful country with friendly people, pigs and penguins, what more could you want?! My flight took us from the east coast over to the west before we met the ocean and we had fantasic views down over the huge lakes and the dramatic mountain ranges that snake their way down the spine of the South Island, a perfect picture before saying goodbye.

apologies...

This has turned into a bit of an epic I'm afraid, but you'll be pleased to hear that I have to get a job as soon as I step onto Australian soil to boost the dwindling bank account so I don't think I'll have so much to write about next time as I'll be stuck in an office for the next few weeks, but I'll be stuck in an office in Sydney gazing over the Harbour bridge and Sydney Opera House and drinking in bars by Bondi beach which kind of takes the sting out the whole job situation I have to say..........

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Photos

Marahau
The rain stops and the clouds start to lift

More beautiful coast line...
Able Tasman

the rather daunting swing bridge....
Able Tasman

Pancake Rocks
South Island, West Coast

and finally...
..of course I couldn't leave without a picture of a sheep and some little New Zealand lambs....

Comments

[Tortoise tom]

Where's the drum??
Don't see any pix of you playing that new drum your natural tallents demand...lets get with it sister...Love Tom