Tramping, Glaciers and an awful lot of tarmac

I left off at the furthest South I went on the South Island- Te Anau. I had an incredible "tramp" the kiwi term for trek, or in this case huge-mountain-slog as I spent a night above the tree line, and experienced my first real "alpine conditions" which really should have been done with crampons and an emergency beacon... but they were a bit pricey. I took an ice axe though, having sought some great advice from some germans (they are everywhere) that if I find myself sliding down the ridiculously steep slope either side of the path, I could sink the ice axe in and stop myself plummeting 300 metres to some rather gnarly looking rocks.

The views from the top of Mount Luxmore were beautiful, with low lying cloud swirling around the jagged mountain tops. It was one of this moments where I was like, "this is why I travel, this is what travelling is all about, not the drinking holes in Queenstown but the freedom of being all alone, looking out across some of the most beautiful landscape in the world, and knowing it is just you, at this moment, who has the privilege of such a view. Just you, on top of the world, so small, so insignificant."

Feeling pretty uninspired by the bus tours that circulate around the South Island, I decided hitchhiking and lift sharing would be the perfect mixture of freedom, learning, interesting people, spontaneity and adventure (for the price of nothing) which I was after, and I proceeded to hitch all the way up through Queenstown, Wanaka, Haast Pass, the glaciers, Greymouth, Reefton, Nelson and onto Picton for the ferry onto the North Island. I met some fascinating people on the way, and gave me a chance to meet a full cross section of New Zealand society.

I was a bit pushed for time to get to the North Island as a friend who I volunteered with in Peru said she hade a couch free if I wanted to visit Wellington (where I am now.) As she is a GP Registrar this gave me the perfect chance to get a Medical Fix, and to overrule a creeping feeling of guilt that I have not had the chance to volunteer since March. This is mainly because no matter how backward Australia and Australians are (I jest... a little) it is still remarkably classed as fitting into the Developed World (or MEDC to be politically and geography A-level essay-correct) and due to this I could not just rock up willy nilly with my Student Doctor badge and 'scope and expect to be useful.

Anyway, in 5 days and 14 rides I did the distance and saw a lot along the way. Some kiwi's were very keen on showing off there country and a retired couple in a rather plush leather-interior car (cue dishevelled Jack-the-traveller with his fetid socks and dirty pass-me-on boots sprawled like a Prince on a Chez Longue across the backseat) made sure we didn't go past a viewpoint between Haast and Franz Josef Glacier without a stop and a few photos whilst the lovely wife frantically sucked in as much cigarette smoke as she could before we hit the road again. I ended up staying at Franz Josef Glacier (yes, a very well thought out name for a town considering it is 4km away from The Franz Josef Glacier) for 3 nights, and did a full-day glacier hike. An incredible experience, particularly when squeezing through a narrow crevasse 20 metres deep or cramponing it down to a natural ice cave. Perfect blue skies made me hungry fr a sky dive but alas, they were fully booked.... bring on Taupo though, I have been saving up for the plummeting out of plane moment for a long time...

Goodbyes at Franz and I got a lift with a pair of Americans for a couple of hours up the coast that I met in the hostel (through my alarmingly natural ability to sniff out a free lift whilst "networking" the backpacker pad). Really nice guys, despite being in the army, and injured just before going to whoop some ass in Aye-Raq. These guys add to the list of Yanks who need to travel far and wide and give their country a decent international image again. A solid 12 hours hitching allowed me to expand my ability to entertain myself roadside and find resilience I thought I never had in stopping myself from nodding off during one of my all favourite social faux pas- the conversational monologue. Overall though, conversation was probably the best bit of the week, and about hitch hiking. I was hungry to learn all I could about New Zealanders and New Zealand, and through gentle probing, and at times almost interrogation, I know all about hunting venison, Maori history, the best tramping spots, how to kill possums, where to go to see a real Kiwi, sailing the coo strait, how to make sculptures out of driftwood, global warming, car rallying, scallop collecting and everything I need to do on the North Island.

I got to Nelson, and after an hours trek into the city centre (I can't exactly complain that my last lift lived in the suburb considering I had come about 400k's that day for free) I set about finding a hostel. Palace Backpackers looked very promising until I schlepped up all the stairs of the overgrown garden to get to an eerily dark old house. "Helloooo? Helloooooooo? Is there anyone there?" followed by a deathly silence and it started to feel slightly creepy. A derelict reception. An arrow instructing me to "push button for assistance" pointed to nothing. A creaky staircase led up to the discovery of a dsistinct aroma of cooked onions. Yet there was no kitchen to be seen. Dum. Dum Derrrrrrrrrrrr.

I left pretty quickly, realised I had left the light on, was going togo back to turn it off before realising that actions like that is where all the fatal errors occur that leads to gruesome murders.

I ended up finding a lovely cosy little hostel and arrived just in time for free chocolate pudding- which I absolutely devoured. Before raiding the "free food shelf". Standard procedure. I am the king of free food shelves. I am a maverick. I push the culinary boundaries. I nosh down what others would never dream of touching.

Nelson onto Picton with a rushed call to Doctor Rachel, who was expecting me sometime around the weekend, before a "Hi its Jack, getting the ferry right now, see you in a couple of hours" surely blew her plans out the window... or not as it turned out. Being a Saturday night, I was more than willing to come along to a couple of "house partys" more so civilised gatherings that were being hosted that night. It was really what travelling was all about for me- putting yourself into new situations and experiences, challenging your boundaries, and mingling with half a dozen 30 year old gay men at a "year of the ox" party in a plush flat overlooking the city of Wellington was definitely that. I did manage to tear myself away at times where I learnt a lot about the procedures of coming to working in New Zealand from a Brit doctor who now has resident status here. (Watch this space for my future emigration plans and escape from the inflexible ball and chains which is the NHS.)

I checked out Te Papa, the best museum slash interactive learning center I have ever been to. Massive blue whale skeleton above your head. Massive Kaori trees, Massive giant squid. Plus loads of fun little interactive games. Oh and loads of interesting stuff on Maori culture. The whole shabang really. Doctor rachel also took me out for a couple of meals- really kind and it makes a nice difference from bread and peanut butter.

This takes us to today. I smartened myself up as much as possible (which is still pretty scruffy) and went in with Rachel to work. Her practice is in Poirua, with a demographic of 40% Maori, 40% Pacific Islanders and 20% White. Hypertension, Diabetes and Obesity are high in the population. As is Swine Flu. Yayyyyyy. Rachel was hit by it pretty hard last week. I saw two patients with suspected cases today. I wore a mask, but hmmmmm. At least I have some Tamiflu we never used in Laos (effective against Bird Flu) I can take if I get knocked down by the symptoms. Would prefer not to ge the old flu though. It takes 3-7 days for symptoms to kick in so tick. tick. tick.

I shall leave you on that reassuring note as I have a Nakedbus (trust New Zealand to even sex up there transport) to catch up to Turangi tomorrow where I will meet a mate and give the olde Tongiriro (sp!) Crossing a pop if the weather is kind.

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