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Published: April 22nd 2009
Day 1 (Sunday) - We arrived in Picton tired and hungry. Fortunately the harbor was adjacent to the train station because we only had an hour or so to walk to the station, eat lunch and catch the train. We caught the train down to Christ Church, a five hour haul, and were privy to some beautiful sights along the way. The train runs along the eastern coast of the South Island. Kirk and I spent most of our time on the outdoor sight seeing car, which had no seats but standing was a pleasant change and kept me awake. We glided past blue waters crashing into various types of beaches on our left and mountains used for ranching on our right. Half way through the trip we stopped at a small town and were surprised to see Anna boarding the train, who we had parted with in Taupo. It was good catching up with her; it made the rest of the trip seem to fly by. When we got to Christ Church, a newly converted New Zealand couple (the guy was from Ohio) helped us find our way to the hostel. Anna had booked the Jailhouse hostel. Kirk and I
had come without a plan, so we just decided to follow her to hers. The girl working there was really cool and gave us our own private room for the price of the dorm. That was a nice break as we were all pretty tired. We were a ways out of town so we decided to just get some food and call it an early night as Anna and I would be returning later in the trip, it was a ways into town and we had an early train to catch.
Day 2 (Monday) - We woke up early and headed to the train station. It was another long train ride ahead for us. I sat with a nice Australian couple who were going to meet their grand child for the first time. And across from me, with Kirk, was another group of Australians from Brisbane. It was quite an enjoyable trip. There always seemed to be conversation or two going on, which definitely sped the time up. This trip was across the continent, east to west. It cut across 100s of kilometers of mountains through small towns, many of them abandoned mining towns. It felt like going through
time. After about 4 hours and a couple stops, we got to Greymouth, the stop for the night. It was just after 1pm, it was starting to rain and we had no accomodations planned for the night. Fortunately there was a van outisde the train terminal with the owner of the hostel Aquarius ready to take anyone who needed a bed for the night. From my experiences these type of places either go one way or the other, great or terrible, with many more being of the latter. However, this hostel was one of the previous type. For the price of a dorm, we were given our own room (how spoiled were we three, two nights in a row). And the local bakery delivered its excess goodies at 4 when it closed. That night, the three of us went to a brewery tour. We met up with Joe that evening by happenstance then moved on to a bbq and went down the street where Anna was kind enough to endulge me on the dance floor when ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ came on. We didn’t stay out too late before we headed back to the hostel so as to get a decent
night of sleep before the magic bus came rolling in the next morning.
Day 3 (Tuesday) - This day we were heading to Franz Josef. It was interesting being back on the bus with the 4 amigos: Joe, Anna, Kirk and myself. However, Joe had been apart so far he had mad a whole slew of other friends, who were good people as well. On the way to Franz Josef, we stopped at a small mining town, where those that wanted to could pan for gold. I chose to enjoy the warm sun instead. This seemed like a pointless hour long stop to me but oh well. We got back on the bus, at which point we were made aware of our options of activities. Franz Josef is a glacier that is accessible for hiking with a guide. Our bus driver told us that the best hike was by way of helicopter; it was quite a bit more expensive but got up higher and therefore had a better chance of getting into ice caves and blue ice. Kirk, Joe and I signed up for the Heli-hike but upon arriving into town, found the sky socked in, which meant no
helicopters. Kirk and I opted to do the full day hike the next day, prolonging our stay in town an extra night. That night a group of us went to a local restaurant/bar for some pizza. The pizza was excellent. Joe introduced me to two girls he had met along the way, Tash and Jemma. Tash was a native New Zealander, an exception on the bus, and Jemma was her English friend. It was a fun time but Kirk, Anna and I had to call a night farely early due to our hike the next day. We were in just before 1. Fortunately, Kirk and I had managed to get ourselves on the 9:15 hike, not the 8:15 hike with the rest of the Magic Bus folk.
Day 4 (Wednesday) - Even without being on the early hike, the morning came early enough. We got up and walked the block to the tour office. From there we received a safety talk, then got all geared up with boots, pants, jackets and gloves. From there we took the bus to parking lot for the glacier. Kirk was worried about a recent hip injury but toughing through it. Our tour consisted
largely of people on a rival tour company, Kiwi Experience (the best known party bus). The hike started with a 45 minute hike to the base of the glacier. When at the base, we attached the spikes to our boots and started to ascend in a smaller group of about 10. We got the choice of being in the fast moving group, the medium group or the slow group. As we were all going to see the same route, we decided to go with the medium group. Franz Josef glacier is a young glacier, with the average ice having a 60 year duration in the glacier; it is continually added to by snow a ways down the island that compacts into ice then under the weight of the snow above it pushes out the sides. We walked about 3 hours before lunch uphill. It wasn’t a very difficult hike and had quite a lot of neat scenery along the way. After lunch, we continued up the glacier to the treking portion of the glacier, where we would hopefully find the blue ice and caverns. It was sligtly disappointing that we didn’t find caverns but we did find a little blue
In the Mountains
Between Christ Church and Greymouthice as we walked through large cracks in the ice. Something that caught everyone in the group off guard was how much waiting we seemed to do. A large portion of the time was spent resting while the guides found paths. After an hour or two of going maWe went back to the hostel, where we got cleaned up and crashed out on the couches for a while. That night, we went back for pizza at the place from the night before. It was good as the night before. Afterwards, we stayed around a little while and shared stories with the group. We talked to those who did the Heli-hike and two of them had found caverns, which made both Kirk and I jealous but many others did not. We called it a night fairly early as we were tired and had a long day ahead the next day.
Day 5 (Thursday) - The trip to Queenstown was a long one. We first had to stop to drop off some others at another destination along the way. On the trip, I did run into Tash and Jemma again from two nights before and they introduced me Jessica, a Chicago
girl. Though the trip was long, sharing conversation with them along the stops made the time pass by quicker. We got into Queenstown around 3 but were the last ones dropped off after nearly an hour of puttering around to many other hostels. Finally, it was our turn. Queenstown is the launching town for many outdoors and adventure activities. Milford Sound is one of the best known places in New Zealand and it launches off from Queenstown. After the day on the bus with a driver who was a little too friendly with the brakes around lots of turns, the last thing I wanted to do the next day was spend most of it on the bus but I also didn’t want to spend the next day relaxing just to spend the next on the bus. I decided to bite the bullet and go book a trip for Milford Sound the following day. Anna and Kirk decided to join me so we headed to the travel office where we booked our trip. After booking the trip, we moseyed around town a bit, bought some snacks for the next day and finally had dinner at quite a nice Thai restaurant. All
of us were tired so we decided to head back to the hostel.
Day 6 (Friday) - We had to wake up early to be outside the travel agency by 7:50am. We had a long trip ahead to Milford Sound. It was about a 4 and a half hour drive plus stops to grab a coffee and/or snack. The ride to Milford Sound was long but nicely broken up by our food stops and our stops to get outside and enjoy the stunning views that were around every corner. And we were joined on our trip by Jemma, Tash and Jessica. The weather was perfect: a bright sun and a gentle cool breeze. We got to Milford Sound around 12:30 before the 1:00 boat. We all went on the top deck, where we enjoyed the beautiful scenery for the following hour and a half. It was probably the most gorgeous place I have seen to date. The water is a deep blue, surrounded by large, green mountains, which are riddled with waterfalls. It is remarkable. When the boat ride was finished, we all piled back on the bus and made the journey back to Queenstown. It was a shorter
ride with fewer stops, which made it far less enjoyable. Many of the people on the bus started to feel queasy along the way. When we got back into town, the day was losing the battle against night. Everyone was pretty tired. Tash, Jemma, Jessica and Anna all decided to call it a night after making plans for the following night. Kirk and I were too hungry to go back now so we decided to head back to the Thai restaurant from the night before where the portions were of good size. After dinner, we were both pretty tired but went to a bar that we thought we might catch up with some others from the Magic Bus. There at the bar we met up with several others, including Joe. We were only there till about midnight, then escorted some girls home and finally were happily in our beds.
Day 7 (Saturday) - Valentine’s Day. I woke up late and was very happy to do so. Today was a day for rest. I got up and kind of piddled around. I felt like grabbing a coffee and on the way found out about a little Saturday morning in the
park event going on with music, coffee, vegetables and sweets. I had a nice time walking around the tents. I stopped at one for a coffee then found a sweet I liked at another and enjoyed both in the crisp morning air as I browsed the other tents. It made for a pleasant morning stroll though the park was quite small and there were no more than 20 tents. Afterwards, I walked along the lake down closer in to the center of town. Upon bending around a curve, I found that there was an art bizarre going on in a little park. There were several restaurants surrounding the park so I decided to walk back up to the hostel to retrieve Kirk and Anna, whom I had plans for a full breakfast with upon my return. We sat outside eating breakfast and in the short time it had taken me to get them and come back it had heated up substantially. Not having put any sunscreen I took a wide brim straw hat they had offered. It was a late breakfast and afterwards we all walked around the art bizarre. We all had errands to run so we broke up
to do that after fully examining the art bizarre. That afternoon, I got some writing done and then watched a little TV with Kirk and a girl named Sophie who I had met on the Magic Bus. It was a nice relaxing afternoon. That night Kirk and I had the great pleasure of being 4 girls’ (Anna, Jessica, Tash and Jemma) Valentine’s Day dates. We had all already eaten dinner, so we just went to a club together to grab some drinks and do some dancing. We started at the bar from the night before then made our way to another club for more intense dancing. By the end of the night, I was danced and sweated out. Tash and Jemma left but the rest of us grabbed a pizza across the street. The pizza filled the hole and then it was back to the hostel to get some sleep.
Day 8 (Sunday) - It is an odd feeling to travel with someone for a while and then not, especially when they are going home. In Kirk’s case, we spent the better portion of his three week vacation traveling together but for me it was a small slice of
the pie. We were on our way to Dunedin this day. The trip was relatively quick. The only stop was at a place where we could get out for some ice cream. I am not the biggest ice cream person but I got out to just walk around. I went into the ice cream parlor and found the ice cream to be so cheap that I got a cone with two scoops. It was a little more than a $1 US. In a country where everything seemed to cost a lot of money, it was nice to finally get a deal. I purchased more because of the deal than I did the homemade sweets. We got to Dunedin in the early afternoon. I had chosen to do a wildlife adventure that evening, which I had to be ready for by 4. I was hungry so I ventured to the supermarket, which I initially walked right past despite it being painfully obvious. I hurriedly put some fruit and chips in my cart and then headed back to the hostel after stopping for a premade sandwich along the way. I made it back to the hostel just as the van showed up
to pick us up. I ran into the room to grab my water and was on my way. Along the way to our first stop, we saw some indigenous birds that were spotted out by our tour guide. Our first official stop was to see albatrosses; I thought they were extinct, shows how much I know. They are a marvelous bird and as large as I imagined. Watching them glide upon the air with their expansive wings gave me the feeling that I was watching royalty. It was getting colder so after 30 minutes or so, I went into the information center to grab a coffee. After sufficiently warming myself, I piled in the bus to head to our next location. We were on our way to see some yellow eyed penguins and hopefully some sea lions. We were in luck; there were quite a few penguins. We watched as they surfed in from the water, dried off and headed up to their homes. From our viewing area up the beach, we could also see some sea lions though it was hard for me to make them out through all the drizzle. Next we walked to the other side of
the hill and saw many seals and there pups playing about. It was quite fun to watch them. With that the tour was done and we headed back to our hostel. We were the last hostel to be dropped off and were therefore not back till nearly 11. I had planned to see Anna that evening as it would be our last together but she couldn’t make it and I was exhausted so it was if off to bed. It was a shame though because from my walk through town, I found Dunedin to be an absolutely lovely town (population around 300,000) and had very little time to explore.
Day 9 (Monday) - We left the hostel on another early start. Before heading out of town, the bus headed to Baldwin Street, the world’s steepest. I found the walk up to be a little difficult and gave a shot at running down - bad idea. I couldn’t stop and had to run the remainder of the way lest I trip and fall the rest of the way. The destination for the day was Lake Tekapo. It was another hop skip and a jump away but we stopped along the
way at another lake and then stopped at a non denominational cathedral. We got in during the early afternoon. It was my last day with Tash and Jemma so I had planned to spend the afternoon with them. We were to go on a walk in the late afternoon after they came to meet me at my hostel but got lost and accidentally did most of the walk themselves then came back to get me (at least they were nice enough to invent a good excuse). They were tired of walking so we just went down to the beautiful lakefront and put our feet in the icy water then laid about in the streams of sun that made their way through the surrounding trees. Constant adjustments were necessary. It was interesting talking with them. They reminded me of myself when I was 22 or 23 in their outlook on life. Things seemed so different then and in that moment I realized how much I had changed. Back then I used judge relationships by what was right, now it seems I judge them by what is wrong. I don’t know if it is pessimism or if it is me maturing in
my relationships, wishing to spend energy where it is well served. Soon enough we were hungry and they invited me to share with them the dinner they were going to prepare. I purchased a bottle of wine so as to bring something to the table and we had a lovely dinner on a bench of the lawn of their hostel. It was hard to say goodbye in the end but it had to happen. I walked back to my hostel, where I waited for the sun to go down so I could view the stars in the night. It was one of the better views I have had of the southern stars. The black sky was riddled with little flashes of light. It was quite calming and I became lost in thought as I stared upwards. When I finally got into the dorm room I was staying in, everyone else was asleep and I was not far behind.
Day 10 (Tuesday) - The bus felt a little lonely. I had met a new friend, Sophie, over the couple days previous but it was odd not traveling with any of the few with whom I had built a strong connection
over the last few weeks. Today I was on my way back to Christ Church, the last stop on my tour through New Zealand. I would be heading to Australia early the next morning. It was a short jaunt by bus, getting in early in the afternoon. I actually stayed in the heart of the city this time and the experience varied greatly from the time before. To start out the day I walked with Sophie and 2 of her friends to the central square, where we grabbed lunch. The afternoon we spent strolling around town, including going to a police station where Sophie’s phone had been sent for free by another police station after she left it on a bus (unbelievable). That evening we went to a little street suggested by the lonely planet. Christ Church has an interesting situation; there are just over 300,000 people and 35,000 more women than men. The women actually go out cruising for guys. It was pretty unbelievable. We had gone to a wine bar to talk and group after group of girls came in and gave the place a look, combing for guys. Keep in mind that this is Tuesday. We didn’t
leave till after 1, which means that we didn’t get back till 2 and then I had to book a ride to the airport the next morning at 4:30. There was not a lot of sleep in the cards for me that night. I debated staying up to make sure I caught my ride but chose instead to catch what little sleep I could. Wrong decision…
Day 11 (Wednesday) - I overslept and missed my ride to the airport. Luckily I was able to get a cab quickly enough and make my flight but I was definitely pushing it. Not the start to the day that I was hoping for. But soon enough, I was on my plane and leaving New Zealand.
New Zealand is a gorgeous country. I enjoyed my trip but I couldn’t help but think that it may have been better to rent a camper van with a group and do the traveling yourself over a longer time frame. I met very few New Zealanders, excluding the Rugby tournament and for me traveling is also about the interaction with the locals, which found lacking.
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