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Published: December 12th 2009
Well, here it is. The moment we have all been waiting for. Our most frequently asked question this week since we've been in New Zealand is: "Where are the mountains? Are the mountains pretty? Does it really look like it did in Lord of the Rings?" Up until now, our experience in NZ has consisted of big cities, government offices, and used car lots. Most of our time has been spent filling out paperwork and researching potential jobs from the confines of our hotel rooms. It hasn't been exotic or glorious or scenic (aside from the Sky Tower dinner in Auckland, but even then we couldn't really see any "mountains.")
Until today.
Today we achieved freedom in the form of a 1995 Toyota Corolla. After the wasted two days going after the Subaru (which turned out to be a dud - thank goodness we found out before we bought it!), the ridiculously nice owner of our guesthouse offered to call a friend who sells cars to see if he had anything that could match our needs. A moment later, he's arranged for his friend to bring by a Corolla he just got in that sounded right up our alley.
The next morning, the Corolla appears, and it was in fact exactly what we were looking for - nothing fancy, but super-clean, presentable, reliable, and in great condition. It was slightly more than we were hoping to pay, but the seller (Dan, really nice guy, like all these kiwis!) promised a guaranteed buy-back in a year for only slightly less than we paid for it...so basically we will get back most of what we put out for it, which works for us!
Actually coming up with the cash to buy the car was a totally different story. We did manage to set up a local bank account without having an actual "address" yet, but transferring funds from our bank at home will take close to a week. As there is a daily maximum ATM withdrawal of $500, we would've been sitting here all week going to the ATM each morning to pull out $500 and wait for the next day. Western Union, even with its crazy fees, proved to be the solution. Or so we thought. Apparently our pitiful dollar dropped even lower between the time we checked the exchange rate and asked my parents to wire us the
money, and the time it arrived and we were able to pick it up the next morning. We had all the cash we needed to buy the car MINUS seventy dollars. We had already withdrawn our daily max, so we had to wait one more day to go and get the last seventy bucks out for the full amount of the car. Argh!! We headed back to the awesome Mexican restaurant for dinner last night to drown our aggravation in yet more nachos and tacos and homemade sangria.
But it all turned out okay in the end...Dan picked us up this morning, we gave him the cash, headed for the post office (of all places) to fill out the one tiny "change of ownership" form, and that was that! We're the proud new owners of our backwards upside-down Toyota with the steering wheel on the wrong side!! After a quick bite and a fill-up ($57 kiwi dollars for 34 liters...I'll let you guys figure out the conversions on that one!), we were off!! Jeremy drove through Christchurch (nearly blacking out from anxiety after going through his first big roundabout...to the LEFT) and we headed south for a while through
Hangin' With the Gang...
Hungry, Haka, Rebel, and an adopted panda from a shoe store...their stories to come!gorgeous farmland...horses, cows, sheep (lots of sheep), and alpacas. Then, about an hour into our drive, the majestic Southern Alps began creeping into view to the west. I finally tried my hand at driving (out on the open road), and it's actually not that bad! You keep wanting to creep left, and intersections/roundabouts are terrifying because everything is mirror-image from what you're used to, and you keep turning the windshield wipers on every time you want to turn...but aside from that, I think we're getting the hang of it!!
😱
A short while later, our road turned due west, and we spent the better part of six hours this afternoon driving through what has to be the most breath-taking scenery on this planet. Yes, there are beautiful mountains in other parts of the world, but the beauty here is how perfectly unblemished and untainted the landscape is. We drove for literally hours without seeing one other person or car. No high-rise hotels, no casinos, no billboards (billboards are actually
illegal outside the main cities!)...just the occasional farm every fifty miles or so. The few "towns" we passed were literally the smallest towns I've ever seen...one gas station, one general
shop, one cafe, and a few homes. That's it. I didn't know places like that still existed.
We must have hit wildflower season, because both sides of the two-lane highway were lined with enormous purple and pink blossoms that swayed in the gusty winds sweeping down off the mountains. Snow covered most of the high peaks surrounding us (keep in mind we are one week away from the official beginning of SUMMER here). We rounded a curve out of a tight valley and a staggering row of peaks came into view...and there was a blizzard swarming at the top! There we were, thousands of feet below, in the bright sunshine and maybe 65 degrees...staring at a whirlwind of snow and snow-capped peaks several miles ahead. It was an awesome sight!
Just when we though it couldn't possibly get more beautiful, we hit the first of two glacier-fed lakes in the area, Lake Tekapo. At this point, we're at about 2300 feet above sea level, still perfectly sunny and super-windy (making it feel a little colder than it was). The lake came into view and I'm not even kidding - it looks like a gigantic neon sign. I don't
know how else to describe it except that you've never seen water this color in your life. It literally
glows blue, like it's being lit from underneath. It's probably some of the purest water in the world, and it shows. It's surrounded on all sides by jagged snow-covered peaks, and it really does look like another world. You just can't believe what your eyes are trying to tell you. Lord of the Rings does a good job of showcasing this country, but NOTHING can prepare you for seeing it with your own two eyes.
So we hiked around Lake Tekapo and, a little further down the road, the equally stunning Lake Pukaki. Honestly, I could go home tomorrow and feel that the trip to New Zealand was worth it, just after the tiny bit that we saw today. To everyone thinking about visiting us, I implore you...YOU MUST!!! It is worth every agonizing hour on the flight over and every penny you have to scrape together to get here. There is literally nowhere else like this on earth.
After a few more hours of driving we arrived at last in Wanaka, on another awesome glacier-fed lake (the appropriately-named
Lake Wanaka). By the way, it's "WAN-a-ka," not "Wa-KNOCK-a," as we've incorrectly been pronouncing it all this time. Our elevation is a surprisingly low 900 feet above sea level, but we are surrounded by Alps (the tallest being Mt. Aspiring at nearly 10,000 feet!) and believe me, it does not feel like summer outside!! The low tonight is dipping to 40 or so, and it's currently raining out, so there are whispers we might get a late-season snow overnight (yay!). We pulled into our guesthouse and headed down to the Lake (one block away) to meet Brad, our contact here who has been kindly housing our boxes of clothes for the last two months! We met him at one of two pubs in town (population of Wanaka? 3500) and exchanged pleasantries over wine and seafood chowder. Tomorrow he's going to drop off our long-lost stuff, so we will at last have a complete wardrobe for our year here!
Tomorrow we plan to hike around the lake or maybe up one of the smaller peaks in the area, then soak in the outdoor hot tub here at the guesthouse (with loads of snowy Alps in the background...sigh...). Monday morning we
should be heading down even further south (because we're not close enough to Antarctica yet!) to our friends Kate and Steve's house in Milton, where we'll hang for hopefully a while to regroup, rest, and begin the hunt for some permanent accommodation and part-time work! With the car, the phones, and a ton of clothes, it's starting to feel like we
actually live here...
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Mary
non-member comment
driving
About driving - you'll get used to the 'other' side of the road soon enough. I learned to drive a stick shift in Ireland and still want to shift with my left hand! Love your posts!