Kiwi Adventure

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I was going to have to fend for myself for the next three and a half weeks in a country that I have never experienced. Flying into Christchurch, I was very excited but also slightly nervous as I didnt know quite what to expect. I was safe in the knowledge though that New Zealanders are renowned for their friendly and helpful attitude. This was evident straight away as the bus driver asked where I was staying and gave me an exact and detailed plan of where to get off and what connecting bus to catch. The sun was beaming down and I was in high spirits for the trip ahead. For the two days I was in Christchurch I stayed at the Jailhouse and as you probably have guessed, yes it is an old jail.
Christchurch itself is a lovely city and I can see why people compare it to one you would find in England. The banks of the River Avon are lined with people enjoying the sun whilst ducks and boats pass under the weeping willows. It has a very relaxed attitude where everybody has got time to have a chat. I sat in Cathedral Square (the centre) and watched as people played chess on a giant board. The city also has a small tram system and dotted around are traditional gothic style buildings amongst more contemporary ones.
Whilst in Christchurch I visited the Canterbury Museum which had great exhibits about the area and its past. The best were the Maori and Antarctic exhibtions. Christchurch is one of the leading centres for Antarctic research and most expeditions to the continent set sail from the city. I also took a trip up the gondala which gave views of the City, Banks Peninsula, the Canterbury Plains and the far off Southern Alps. It was a lovely sunny day so the views were stunning. The complex at the top also has a small ride which gives a tour of the history and how the Peninsula was formed by a series of large volcanic eruptions. Unfortunately I hit it at the wrong time and got caught between a local school party. I was in the car with five screaming boys who couldnt keep still. Im sure I was the same though on school trips. I luckily managed to get a gondola pod to myself on the way down.
Heading back into town I stumbled across a Kathmandu and couldnt resist so had a quick look around. It was huge with two floors. The range over here is quite abit larger than ours in the UK (Kathmandu wetwipes for example) but it didnt quite have the finesse or style of our store. Certainly no pebbles or glass heads.
The next morning I went for a final look around Christchurch. There was one attraction I had yet to see and that was the famous Wizard. I was in luck because as I walked through the square towards the bus there he was standing on top of his ladder talking to a captivated audience. He is really just an eccentric character who was talking about men having to work and how they would rather not. Not terribly interesting and I was even less impressed to find out that the original Wizard had retired and this was in fact his replacement. Oh well, at least I had seen him.
It was on to the bus to head south along the coast towards Dunedin.

As the coach approached Dunedin dark clouds began forming overhead and it started to rain. I was determined to stay upbeat however and headed through the city to my hostel. What did lift my spirits was the smell coming from the Cadbury's factory. Dunedin is definately what i'd call a working town and is a lot more industrial than Christchurch. It's Scottish ties are also clearly evident. The locals have a very faint scottish tint in their accents and there's a large statue of Robert Burns in the centre.
I couldn't come to Dunedin and not visit the Cadbury's factory and both Alys and Edd and a guy at my hostel had recommended it so I got on a tour. It was actually very good with the highlights being the chocalate waterfall and of course the free tasters. Apparently 85% of New Zealand's chocolate comes form Dunedin. See, I learnt something.

I wanted to spend a day on the Otago Peninsula which is regarded as New Zealand's wildlife capital so I booked a night at Penguin Place. It's a small lodge that's run by a couple who have set up a nature reserve for the Yellow-eyed Penguin, the world's rarest. They have repalnted some of the penguin's natural habitat which is under threat from agriculture and have built a system of hides and trenches for people to view them from. When I arrived I was the only one in the entire lodge so I walked to the head of the peninsula where there is a Northern Royal Albatross colony. I only saw a few soaring and you had to pay to go around and look at them on the cliffs but they were still pretty impressive. I was also lucky enough to see some New Zealand Fur Seals on the rocks below. In the evening I had booked to go on a tour to the hides to see the penguins. This was excellent and the sun setting over the hills provided a lovely peaceful atmosphere. We saw quite a few penguins during their moulting period and it was great to see them in their natural environment. When I got back to the lodge I was relieved to see that two American couples were also staying so at least i'd have someone to talk to.
Back in Dunedin the next day I went for lunch and a pint in the infamous Captain Cook's Tavern, a local student hangout. Otago University was New Zealand's first and there are around 20,000 students.
All wildlifed out, tonight I wanted to indulge in another of my passions. I arrived at Carisbrook, aka 'The House of Pain' half an hour before kick off in order to soak up the atmosphere. Although it's fairly shabby and small for an international stadium its regarded as the home of New Zealand rugby so I was very excited to be here. I went to the bar to get a drink and was amazed to find no queues. The reason behind this is instead of messing around pouring pints you just hand over your money and get six packs of Speights in return (or as many six packs as you can carry). How efficient.
Pre-match entertainment was also like none i'd ever seen. It suddenly went quiet and on the roof of one of the stands 'The Highlander' appeared in a cloud of smoke. He reminded me of Mel Gibson and even had the hair. With that, a bloke in a kilt took to the pitch followed by a troop of scottish drummers. They sang the Highlanders' anthem with the chorus going something like:
Otago Highlanders, That's our name
Otago Highlanders, Here to play the game
Otago Highlanders, Winning is our aim
Welcome to the house of pain.
Awesome eh! The rugby itself wasn't the best i've ever seen (oh by the way they were playing the Queensland Reds) with the Highlanders eventually winning 33-17. The downside of the easy access beer was that all of the students in the terrace of which I was in got totally plastered 10 minutes before the end and turned their attention from the rugby to fighting. I made a hasty exit at the end and headed home. A great experience.
There was one last thing I wanted to do whilst in Dunedin and that was a tour of Speights Brewery. Speights is known as 'The Pride of the South' and helped boost morale when Dunedin was on the downturn of its rich industrial past. It was founded in 1876 and is now New Zealand's biggest selling beer. The tour was really interesting and you got to see all the stages of the brewing process. The best part was at the end though where you were invited to try all of the six beers they brew and even pour your own drinks from the bar.

I arrived in Te Anau in Fiordland on a beautiful sunny evening. I had a quick stroll around the shores of the lake and stocked up on supplies. Te Anau was more a stop-off and my last big bit of civilisation for a while. The drive to Milford Sound was incredible as we drove between huge mountains with waterfalls cascading down them. You felt very small as if you were at the bottom of a large bowl and it was difficult to take in all the scenery. The settlement of Milford Sound is tiny and I was staying in the lodge. I was surprised at how nice it was considering it was run on generators. I went for a cruise on the sound (which is actually a fiord) and it was spectacular. There was some low cloud that added to the dramatic atmosphere and most of the other tourist boats had returned back so it was very quiet. We were dwarfed by the the likes of Mitre Peak and the skipper edged the boat under a towering waterfall. We even ventured out slightly into the Tasman Sea. The next stop to the North-west was Australia. That evening I packed ready for the Routeburn.
Another bit of advice from Alys and Edd was to hitch to The Divide as there is only one road between Milford Sound and Te Anau so everyone passes it. After only waiting ten minutes or so I got my lift.
I set off on the Routeburn Track with great anticipation. I had been looking forward to this for ages. It was quite a steep ascent to Howden Hut and just as I reached it, it began to rain. And I mean rain. On went the waterproofs and it was a case of head down walking for the next three hours or so. I did stop for a while to take in Earland Falls which were even more impressive now they were fuelled by the torrential downpour. I finally reached Mackenzie Hut and quickly got a brew on and some warm clothes. That evening the hut warden talked a little about tomorrow's weather saying,
'You don't want to know about it and I don't want to talk about it.
I went to bed slightly discouraged.
Well to put it briefly, the DOC had got it wrong or at least about the time anyway. I set off early and walked in glorious sunshine towards Harris Saddle, the highest point of the walk. As we broke above the tree line there were fantastic views of the surrounding mountain ranges and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. It was a fairly steady climb to the saddle and as there's a track to follow you can enjoy the scenery and not have to worry so much about navigation. In order to fully appreciate the sunshine I had a long lunch on the pass. Very leisurely. The Snow clouds that the DOC had been talking about were approaching so I got a move on. However I found the next section of the walk the most impressive as I passed Lake Harris and down through alpine shrubs and flowers. You had to stop every two minutes to take a photo. I was in a geographers dream. I got to Routeburn Falls hut just in time as it started to sleet. This hut had a huge verander that looked out over the valley below and had the impressive Falls behind. I had dinner with some Australians I had met in the previous hut and got an early night.
I was up at 6:30 in order to catch my bus connection to Glenorchy. I set off with my head torch on into about 10cms of snow which had settled in the night. It was still snowing heavily so there was little visibilty but it was a great feeling to be the only one around. I tried to get down as quickly as possible and bumped into huge amounts of wildlife. I also crossed numerous swing bridges which were a little nervewracking in the snow but eventually reached the road shelter. I was an hour early so on went the tea.
Once into dry clothes in Glenorchy I had one of the biggest and best breakfasts of my life. The hamlet is small (one main street) but has a great picturesque location. I had seen it all in about half an hour so went back to catch up on a bit of kip. I also later discovered that the DOC had closed the track due to the weather so weren't allowing people up there. I was glad I set off early.
Next stop was Queenstown which I didn't know what to expect. Some people like it whilst others say it is too commercialised. My first impressions are that it is a really nice town with a great buzzing atmosphere about it. It's true there are lots of tourist shops and businesses vying for your dollars but it's location is fab on the shores of Lake Wakatipu with The Remarkables mountain range as the backdrop. My hostel is right in the centre and happens to be opposite a Kathmandu. Wasn't planned, I promise. I decided to limit my spending on activities as there's a few that I want to do with Laura but I went jetboating on the Shotover river which was awesome. We did all the tricks and got pretty wet and was well worth the expense. I went to a free guitar concert in the evening which I had seen advertised in the local paper. Han Jonkers, a Dutch guitarist was performing and he was excellent.
On my last full day in Queenstown (St Patrick's Day by the way) I decided to enjoy the weather and visit the Skyline gondola complex on a large hill above the town. However to save money I decided to walk up the steep and winding path to the top. The route was lined with other cheapskate backpackers reluctant to pay the expensive price for the gondola ride. It was worth it though because the views were stunning and the money i'd saved bought me two rides down the luge track. You sit in a toboggan with wheels and hurtle down a 800m track. Not as adventurous as bungy jumping but wicked fun.
Next stop is Fox Glacier on the West Coast where im meeting up with Edd.
See you later.

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Photos

Taiaroa Head on the Otago Peninsula
Just behind is the Albatross colony

The Kissing Turtles
Can you spot them? These are very significant for Maori people.

Stirling Falls.
They were even more impressive due to the rain.

A little cold
I pretty much went through all four seasons on the walk.

Comments

[Chris Lamb]

Missing you
All sounds good if you need an auntie on site or on continent just let me know. Have neice will travel. Enjoy yourself if you need anything. my email is [e-mail] . Lots of love from all the lambs

[Ruth & John]

Wow
the photos are amazing - bet the time is flying by ! Happy easter X