From A to "Zed"!

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Christchurch-Kaikoura-Abel Tasman National Park-Barrytown-Franz Josef-Makarora-Queenstown-Christchurch-Kaikoura


So now it was time to head from Australia to NZed (yes they say "zed" instead of "Z"). I was in New Zealand for two week during my mid-semester break while I was studying in Australia, but I was pretty excited to get back and see the country again. After catching a ride from Wollongong to Sydney (thanks Lisa!) we flew out to Christchurch, New Zealand, arriving at 1am. By the time we caught the shuttle into town and got settled in our dorm it was well past 2am and we were ready for bed. The only problem was- I couldn't sleep- the man underneath me on the bunk bed was snoring and moaning to himself in his sleep. I did eventually manage to doze off when sheer exhaustion took over and we had a good night's sleep.

Here's some fun facts about the country for those of you who don't know too much about it: New Zealand is an island country (the North Island and the South Island), in the south-western Pacific Ocean. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud. New Zealand is notable for its geographic isolation, situated about 2000 km (1250 miles) southeast of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and its closest neighbors to the north are New Caledonia, Fiji and Tonga. Just FYI: New Zealand was one of the first countries to have a female prime minister (aka their version of a president). Jennifer Mary Shipley was the Prime Minister of New Zealand from December 1997 to December 1999, the first woman to hold this office and the first and to date only woman to serve as leader of the National Party. So how's that for progression in politics! Also, Sir Edmund Hillary was a Kiwi. He was the first person to climb Mt. Everest and is on the $5 NZD.

As I said before, we flew into Christchurch, which is located in the middle of the South Island of New Zealand. Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area. The city is very British feeling with tons of side walk cafes that reminded me a lot of Europe. This is probably because the city was settled by European settlers in 1843. The first thing to see in the city is, of course, the cathedral which sits in the center of Cathedral Square, the main town center. The cathedral was a beautiful Anglican church that was reminiscent of many old European churches. The cathedral was completed in 1904 and is definitely the focal point of the city. All around the square is a number of street performers and the person I wanted to see the most was the "wizard." I remembered watching him when I was here in 2003 and he has since become a staple of New Zealand. The Wizard of New Zealand, also known as the Archwizard of Canterbury, is well known in New Zealand as a public speaker, performer, and eccentric. The Wizard (his legally recognized name) has also been recognized as a "living work of art" by the National Gallery of Victoria and the Robert MacDougall Art Gallery, and as "Official Cosmologer" to the Union of the University of Melbourne. Unfortunately, I found out that he semi-retired in 2007 and our chances of seeing him was quite slim! Still, we enjoyed watching all the street performers and the old men playing chess on the giant chess board in the square.

From the square, we walked down to the Botanical Gardens, past the arts centers. Since it was a Sunday, there were plenty of flea markets and farmer's markets going on, not to mention so many bands playing music all throughout the city. The Botanical gardens were nice and filled with so many flowers and the river that flows through the city, where people were attempting to kayak. I think there must have been at least five marching type bands playing music throughout the city, which really added to its appeal.

From Christchurch, it was off to Kaikoura a few hours north of Christchurch. We decided to do our NZ adventure with a company called "Stray", a hop on-hop off bus. They picked us up early and drove us out to Kaikoura. Kaikoura is a town on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand and became the first local authority to reach the Green Globe tourism certification standard. The town has a strikingly beautiful setting, as the Seaward Kaikoura mountains, a branch of the Southern Alps come nearly to the sea at this point on the coast.

We arrived in cold and rainy weather where I had to wear a good majority of my clothes and was still cold. Therefore, it hindered a lot of our outdoor activities and we spent most of the day eating hot soup and hanging in our hostel. Luckily we woke the next morning to beautiful skies, but still really cold weather! We were on the waiting list for the Dolphin experience (to swim with dolphins) that day at noon. We woke up with high hopes because the weather was so nice. Well, we arrived at the dolphin experience and realized there were so many people waiting to get on the trip since the weather was so bad the day before, they had canceled many of their trips! After waiting until everyone checked in, we were called up to the desk. We were so excited, thinking we made it on the trip, but... they only had room for one person! NO GOOD! So we opted not to take the one spot and decided we would book in further in advance the next time. We are coming back through Kaikoura in a week or so on our way to the north island. So there went our swimming with the dolphins... what to do now!?

We decided to do the three hour walk out to the seal colony at the end of the peninsula. I was a bit disappointed by the time we got out there. It was quite a walk and there were only about five or six (pronounced "sux" in Kiwi) seals. They were still cool to watch and we were constantly reminded of the gorgeous setting around us. We began to head back to town, but not before stopping off at Kaikoura Seafood BBQ. We had heard about this place from a few different people. It was a little stall on the side of the road that has seafood- cheap! Jeff had scallops, Chris had mussels and I had the elephant fish. Everything was really good, but they were out of their seafood chowder, which bummed me out. We were also going to order the crayfish (because this area is famous for it), but it looked really tiny and it was more expensive. I am kind of sad we didn't try it though, I mean... the name Kaikoura literally translates to "meal of crayfish!" For those of you who don't know what a crayfish is (because I didn't), they are small crustaceans that look a lot like a lobster. They cannot live in polluted water and this is why they thrive so much in this area. They are also referred to as "spiny lobsters." Oh well... no crayfish for us!

Other than that, we spent our time cozying up in our hostel next to the fire and trying to stay warm, we also took a little bike ride around the city. Kaikoura was a beautiful little town and a great introduction to the beauty of New Zealand.

From there we were off for the LONG drive to Marahau, our take off point for Abel Tasman National Park. We arrived late and checked in to our accommodation, but not before Chris took a little detour and did some stunt plane action. I was able to go and take video of him and watch him flip around in the air. It was awesome and I wished I could have afforded to do it! We decided to do a full day kayak tour instead.

Abel Tasman National Park was founded in 1942. The park consists of forested, hilly country to the north of the valleys of the Takaka and Riwaka Rivers, and is bounded to the north by the waters of Golden Bay and Tasman Bay. It is named after Abel Tasman, who in 1642 became the first European explorer to sight New Zealand. The kayak trip was a lot of work! We kayaked for four hours before we set foot on land to then do a 12km hike back to our camp! It took all day! The landscape was beautiful and typical New Zealand. I was a bit disappointed in our kayak trip though. I was promised seals and caves in the kayak and we didn't do much but sit and paddle around the ocean. It was still beautiful, but I guess I just expected more! The hike back was nice and we had beautiful views of the beaches as well as the inland valleys. Needless to say, we were absolutely exhausted after the day. It really showed us that we are in bad shape!

From Abel Tasman, it was another LONG drive to Barrytown. Barrytown isn't exactly a town. It's a pub and apparently that's all there is in the town. Well, we stayed with the rest of the backpackers in the pub for the night and had a really fun time with some others from the bus. The Stray bus decided to put on a cross dressing part in the bar that night and provided huge bins of clothing. We had become pretty close with two girls, Sunny and Marissa, from Colorado so we all put on a big old cross dressing family outfit. I was the husband, Marissa was my pregnant wife, Chris was our ballerina daughter, Sunny was his boyfriend and Jeff was the big baby! It was quite a sight. But... if you think that was bad, you should have seen some of the others. Guys were in full dresses with makeup and nail polish. Luckily, we had an early night (unlike others on our bus) because me and the Colorado girls woke up early to do a bone carving. Here in New Zealand, the locals carve necklaces out of bone in traditional Maori (the indigenous people here) style. I love the necklaces and the idea of making my own sounded fun. It took us about 3.5hrs to complete our necklace. We literally started with a piece of cow bone that we traced a design. From there we cut, sanded, sanded some more, sanded even more and then polished the bone and made it into an amazing necklace. It was so fun and I was glad the girls from Colorado were here to do it with me.

Then it was ANOTHER LONG drive to Franz Josef, where the main event is the glacier. The weather had gone from bad to worse, but they were still taking groups out on the glacier hikes, so we decided to do it. Last time I was here I did the half day hike, so I was pretty keen to do the full day this time around. So that's exactly what we did. We woke up to gray skies and prayed it didn't rain too much, but oh we were wrong!

The Franz Josef is a 12 km long glacier near Fox Glacier. The two glaciers almost meet at the top. Fox and Franz both head directly from the Southern Alps down into the rainforest, which makes them really unique! The river emerging from the glacier terminal of Franz Josef is known as the Waiho River.

The glacier is currently 12 km long and terminates 19 km from the Tasman Sea. Fed by a 20 sqm large snowfield at high altitude, it exhibits a cyclic pattern of advance and retreat, driven by differences between the volume of melt water at the foot of the glacier and volume of snowfall feeding the névé. Due to strong snowfall it is one of the few glaciers in New Zealand which is still growing as of 2007, while others, mostly on the eastern side of the Southern Alps, have been shrinking heavily, a process attributed to global warming.

Well, the day we decided to climb started out fine. We had to hike almost two hours on the valley floor and in the rainforest to even get to the glacier. By then it had started to rain. I was still doing ok because I had four layers of clothes on and the waterproof gear the climbing guides provided us. We got to the glacier face and put on our crampons. Crampons are outdoor footwear that include pointed metal parts and are worn on boots to provide traction on snow and ice. They were awkward at first, but we managed to survive and really dig them into the wet and slippery ice.

The glacier was magnificent! It was blue and white and there were streams and waterfalls everywhere because of the rain. The rain actually didn't bother me that much because of all the gear, even though it was pouring! We were climbing up the sides of the ice using ropes and picks and generally having a great time. The only down side was that since we were the lead group our guide had to keep stopping and picking ice chunks out of the glacier so he could create a trail for everyone. Once we stopped moving, we were freezing! About 4 hours into the day, I could no longer feel my toes or fingers! I think at this point all of us were over the excitement we first had and were starting to realize how cold we actually were! I think everyone wanted to turn back at this time, but we still had about 3 more hours on the ice. Don't get me wrong, the glacier was amazing, but we were very cold and tired. As we began to head down, cold and tired, we were heading down some ice steps when I saw a girl in our group go sliding down the ice right past me. In a quick effort to save her from falling all the way down, I tried to grab out for her. It was no use and she kept falling and now I was sliding down the ice with her. She continued to slide- head first, but I only slid a little way before I got my crampons into the ice (and Sunny's leg!) and was able to stop myself. I was fine, with a few bumps and bruises, but the other girl had trouble walking for a few days after the event. This is why so many people die on glaciers- you just slide off an edge. After we finished, we immediately ran- yes ran- to the hot tub at our hostel. Our clothes were soaked (even with the weather proof gear!) and we wanted the warm water quick. The day was exhausting and cold, but we loved it. It really is an amazing experience walking on a glacier for 8 hours. You can only do this a few places in the world and we were lucky that one of them was here in New Zealand.

Again, it was an early morning and long drive to Makarora (pretty much a town of nothing). All 45 of us showed up on the bus to our little chalet hostel and well... that's about it. So we arrived early and had no idea what to do. We watched the pre show for the Oscars, but didn't get the actual awards in New Zealand. We watched them and then prepared for our big karaoke night. All of us on the Stray bus went to the pub and sang karaoke. I started it off with a great rendition of California Dreamin' by the Mamas and the Papas. Throughout the night, I sang about five songs, finally ending the night with a duet with Jeff of "A Whole New World from Aladdin." It was a fun night and I couldn't believe I sang so much with hardly any alcohol in my system. I guess I just showed the world that you can also make a fool of yourself sober!

Then it was off to Queenstown. Queenstown is the self-proclaimed "adventure capital of the world" and we were fully ready to enjoy it! I my first bungy jump in Queenstown the last time I was here at the 43m bridge, this time it was time to go big or go home. I was doing the 134m Nevis jump (440ft). It was almost 4x times higher than my last bungy jump! But I was ready! AJ Hackett, a Kiwi, started bungy jumping here in the 1980's and is called the Father of Bungy jumping. So, if you are going to bungy- you do it with AJ Hackett. The Nevis has a 100% safety rating so really- what was there to be scared of? But, we still had one night in Queenstown before our bungy so we decided to enjoy the city.

Queenstown is built around an inlet on Lake Wakatipu, a long thin lake formed by glacial processes that is shaped like a staggered lightning bolt, and has spectacular views of nearby mountains.

There are various apocryphal accounts of how the town was named, the most popular suggesting that a local gold digger exclaimed that the town was "fit for Queen Victoria". It is now known for its commerce-oriented tourism, especially adventure and ski tourism.

Our first night in town, we went out to pizza with our entire Stray bus of 45 people and then we hit the town. Our driver, Skins, took us to a bar where they serve your drinks in teapots. Although it was cool, the drinks were not all that good. You pretty much stick to beer here in Oz or NZ since the drinks are weak. We still had a great night and enjoyed hanging out with our new friends. By this time we added to our Team America group. Not only was it the trio, the two Colorado girls, but now we had two girls from Michigan. We all had such a blast together.

I don't think any of us slept that night, but we slept in and all met to get a Fergburger (a famous Queenstown burger joint). I know it probably wasn't smart to eat a huge burger before bungy jumping, but it was delicious! Then it was time to head out. We had our group of 7 Americans, 1 Canadian, and a German all ready to bungy and we were all ready to cheer us on.

It was about a 45 minute drive out to the bungy sight and when we got there it seemed bigger than ever! I didn't get nervous though until we were actually on the jump pod waiting to go. Since I was light, I had to wait to go till almost last. My nerves got worse as I sat there and waited. Jeff was the second to jump and did great! He was the first from our group and did a great job setting an example for everyone! He got up there and jumped off so far and perfect. It really pumped everyone up. Chris was a champion as well. Marissa (one of the Colorado girls) was a bit nervous, but still jumped right away. Her partner in crime, Sunny took a bit longer. She was pretty freaked out, but we were all there to support her. After talking her through it for a while she jumped like a champion and was so happy she actually did it! Then it was my turn. As I got up to the platform I actually got nervous, but you know me, I wouldn't show it to anyone. The second I jumped off the platform everything went quiet and it was so peaceful. I was just flying through the air like a bird. When the bungy cord finally caught I realized what I just did and all I could so was yell and pump my fist. It was so much fun! It was a way longer freefall than my last jump and I loved it. The second my feet left the platform, I wasn't even scared. They pulled me back up to the pod and I had a huge smile on my face.

As we all left the pod, the AJ Hackett guys said we could do their brand new canyon swing for 1/2 price. Since we were all pumped up and it is the biggest canyon swing in the world, we decided to give it a go! Jeff and I could go together so the second we finished the bungy we headed straight for it! We decided to do it the scariest way (of course) by doing it upside down. So they strapped us into the harness, hoisted us over the canyon and had us turn ourselves upside down. Then before we knew it, they released us and we dropped 120m down and swung far across the canyon. This swing was fun! I wasn't scared, since I didn't really have time to process it, but swinging across a giant canyon upside down on a swing was hilarious. All I could do was laugh at the top of my lungs and tell Jeff to look down at the river. It was an amazing day of adventure.

By that night, we were exhausted and our bodies crashed since we had been so hyper all day long. We decided to go to dinner with Team America since we would be leaving the two Michigan girls the next day. We had a great last dinner and really enjoyed ourselves!

Queenstown is a beautiful city set right on the lake. It has amazing shops and beautiful views. It is one of the first cities that I would have no problem moving to. I think I would love to come back and work a ski season over here.

From there we repeated a couple places. We headed back to Christchurch, but this time via Mt. Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand at 3,754 meters (12,316 ft). The weather was nice enough so we had amazing views of the mountain from across the lake. Then it was back to Christchurch, where we did little more than hang out with Sunny and Marissa.

Then back to Kaikoura, with hopes of dolphin swimming. I had tried to book the dolphin swim a few days earlier and it was full and our bus driver couldn't get us on either, so once again... out of luck. This time we had Sunny and Marissa to keep us occupied so we trekked it 2k's to the closest winery for some wine tasting. Not my favorite wine in the world, but the views of the ocean from the winery was amazing and it definitely made for a nice afternoon in Kaikoura.

Then it's off to take the ferry across to the North Island and continue our New Zealand adventure. So long, we have loved New Zealand and all it has had to offer. The country is beautiful and the people are amazing!

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Photos

The park in Kaikoura
Those are whale bones!

Comments

[Courtney Enriquez]

Adventures
Talk about gorgeous... New Zealand looks amazing. From glaciers to bungy jumping.. fantastic. I'll recommend your next adventure be sky diving, its incredible! Seems like you are eating better, no more 3rd worlds for you! Stay safe and healthy.. miss you lots! Love, Court

[Scott]

That FOTC shirt is amazing.

[megos]

Jeff is the hiphopapotamus, his lyrics are bottomless. You are the rhymenocerous. Chris can be Mel :)