2011: New Adventures, Old Friends

Note: Pictures from this post can be found in the album to the right titled, “New Zealand: Southern South Island.”  A few additional pictures from Melbourne can be found in the Australia album previously posted.

• Wednesday, 29 Dec: Slept in again; collected dry laundry, folded and repacked; had brunch with my hostess and the other two people surfing with her; went to St. Kilda Beach with Nick, the Belgian couchsurfer; after he headed back to the house, I walked around the beachfront area, had some ice cream, wine and a snack, and people-watched; headed back to the house; watched a movie with everyone; crashed early.
• Thursday, 30 Dec: Met up with some couchsurfers in Federation Square; had Chinese dumplings for lunch; visited the Gaol, which is Melbourne’s first jail; participated in a play-acting of the trial of Ned Kelly, playing the incompetent lawyer of the accused; got many accolades for my fine acting; followed half a walking tour map of the city; drank just a little bit of a terrible glass of Riesling; made grilled cheese sandwiches with Martin; went out to St. Kilda Beach again to find and watch the Small Penguins come in at sunset; saw just a few on the rocks, but it was exciting: my first ever penguins, and really rare ones at that! Visited Crown, the largest casino in the southern hemisphere, where my hostess worked as a floor manager; took a look around, had a drink and called it a night.
• Friday, 31 Dec: Got up at 4:30am and called the taxi company; arrived at the airport two hours early for my flight, but realized I did not have a receipt for my outbound flight for NZ, which is required before getting a boarding pass to get IN to NZ; ran around solving that problem for thirty minutes; boarded no problem, easy flight with Air New Zealand; arrived on time in Dunedin and met Matt, long time friend who now lives in Dunedin, who had a lovely “Welcome to New Zealand” sign for me; he drove me to the city center, showing me the Octagon and we had lunch and caught up on the news with each other; headed to his home and caught up with Fiona and met their dog and two cats; we decided on a night in for New Year’s, cracked open some wine and cooked up some steak; had a great time chatting about every topic under the sun; saw some bright and beautiful stars between the clouds at midnight; crashed in the guest room.
• Saturday, 1 Jan 2011: Happy New Year! Slept in, had a lazy day with Matt and Fiona; visited the Queen Botanical Gardens in Dunedin, had a little hike and played on swings and see-saws; ate out for lunch; watched the sun set from the kitchen window, spectacular!; had another delicious home-cooked meal; prepared for road trip with Matt.
• Sunday, 2 Jan: Left the house just half an hour later than planned and headed inland; drove to Gore, home of country music as well as a huge brown trout statue; eventually made it to Te Anau and rented a tiny tin cabin across the street from the lake; visited the wildlife sanctuary and saw some New Zealand birds; did a three hour hike along the Kepler Track; went out for pizza dinner and had a brie and apricot sauce pizza which was not bad.
• Monday, 3 Jan: Drove along Milford Road, which has incredible and awesome scenery; it was raining and low hanging fog and clouds made everything ominous and mysterious; watched waterfalls galore, big and small, roll by; took cruise of Milford Sound, where the sun started to poke through the clouds and eventually broke free; saw fur seals and a gully where a bird previously thought extinct was re-discovered; visited the underwater observatory, which was cool but not as active as usual because of all the rain; finished with a cruise in the sunshine; did some short walks around Milford Sound, then headed back along the Milford Road, stopping to admire lookouts and do some short hikes as we went; booked it down to the south coast to get to Curiou Bay, hitting Monkey Island on the way; visited the petrified forest at Curio Bay, caught site of a possible sea lion, and watched yellow-eyed penguins waddle up the rocks to their nests; pitched the tent and camped out for the night.
• Tuesday, 4 Jan: Woke up later than planned; re-visited the petrified forest and penguins; went to Slope Point, the southernmost point in New Zealand; did several hikes, including two to waterfalls that were quite pretty; visited the Nuggets, some huge rock stacks off the coast, and saw dozens of fur seals, a few yellow-eyed penguins, some spoonbills, and other cool wildlife; walked through two 400-meter tunnels, one of which had glowworms in it; visited an old suspension bridge; ate a turkey-sandwich picnic dinner; eventually made it back to Dunedin; watched tv and unpacked.
• Wednesday, 5 Jan: Went for a walk with Fiona on St. Claire Beach; bought a sim card; explored the Dunedin City Center on my own a bit; met up with Matt late in the day; visited the Otago Museum briefly; rented a movie; caught up on e-mail, picture saving and news; grocery shopped; watched Day and Knight (very silly).

On new year’s eve, I flew into Dunedin, New Zealand, in the early afternoon. There I was picked up at the airport by my friend Matt, who I’ve known since I was thirteen years old. We met through Cuong Nhu, a style of martial arts. He was already a teacher by the time we met, while I was a newbie white belt. All during my teens, I looked up to Matt, five years older than me, and he treated me as a friend and a little sister. Throughout the years since I left for college and the Air Force, we’ve kept in touch and visited occasionally: he came to Minnesota one year while I was in school and I flew to Ireland for his wedding.

It’s quite a satisfying turn of events when you are able to visit someone you like so well, in a country that is at the top of your destination list. Ever since my dad took a trip to New Zealand over a decade ago, bringing back pictures of penguins and incredible landscapes, it has been a must-see destination for me. And especially since I started day-dreaming and planning this trip! It was the one place that I knew I would not forego for any reason. Luckily for me, Matt moved to Dunedin several years ago, and so it happened that I was able to start my new year visiting old friends and exploring a new country.

We celebrated the new year quietly at Matt and Fiona’s home, drinking wine and bubbly, chatting away and eating a nice homemade dinner. Two days later, we were on the road for a three-day road trip to explore the southern parts of New Zealand’s south island. For the most part, Matt had seen it all before, so I had a built-in guide for the trip! We drove across the island to Te Anau, which is the entry point for the Kepler Track. We actually hiked for about three hours on the track, which was a pretty and easy walk. We stayed the night in a little metal cabin, getting an early start for Milford Sound the next morning.

The road to Milford was incredible! I stared out of the window at the windy roads, low hanging clouds, a drizzle of rain for the most of the way, and the endless cascades of water coming down the mountains surrounding us. We saw snow in the mountains, some even quite low and seemingly accessible by just reaching out or walking a short way. We took about an hour and a half to drive the road, finally ending at the boat dock and trailhead for the Milford Track. A cruise around Milford Sound taught me that it is inaccurately named, that it is a curious mix of fresh water (in a layer on top) and salt water (from the Tasman Sea), and that it was good luck that it rained so much the night before and that morning. The waterfalls were in full gush, plus there were many smaller additional falls that aren’t always there when it’s dry. There were all kinds of waterfalls: thin and wide, trickling and roaring, fall from high in the crags or from just a short distance above water level. A visit to the underwater observatory let us look into the salt water base and see some of the fish going about their daily lives.

That same day, we drove to the south coast, pulling off to admire outlooks and take short hikes along the way, or to see landmarks, like an old suspension bridge built in the late 19th century. We arrived in Curio Bay just before sundown and managed to see the petrified forest there, a huge shelf of rock and petrified stumps of trees that holds tidal pools at low tide. There were yellow-eyed penguins coming home to their nests and a possible sea lion or fur seal, wiggling on some rocks. Matt is incredibly knowledgeable about all kinds of wildlife (he currently works at an aquarium and has worked at wildlife preserves in the past), so I learned all about the critters we saw.

After a successful night of camping, we spotted the rare Hector dolphins in Porpoise Bay, and explored more of the south coast, visiting Slope Point, the southernmost point of New Zealand, and the Nuggets, rock stacks off the coast which harbor many fur seals and, at this time of year, their pups. We saw spoonbills and hawks and all sorts of birds, including more penguins. On the drive back north to Dunedin, we stopped at Manuka Gorge Tunnel, which has glowworms inside it, a free alternative to the famed but expensive-to-visit glowworm caves at Te Anau.

My impressions of New Zealand so far: first, beautiful landscapes. Even when it’s just farmland, it’s pretty! And the lakes, bays and harbours are picturesque as well, not to mention the mountains when we’re near them! Second, the weather is completely unpredictable! For the most part it’s been chilly or downright cold, although when it’s mild it’s quite nice and when the sun is out, it’s downright gorgeous. So far, it’s been gray and rainy in Dunedin, with mixed weather that changes during the day when we were out on the road trip. Third, the people are pretty friendly here! Anytime I’ve needed help with directions, people have been more than willing to help, and most folks seem ready to have a conversation if anyone’s interested. Fourth, the food is varied and yummy. I’ve had a lamb burger and a brie-and-apricot-sauce pizza, which was weird but tasty.

After a few days of exploring Dunedin and around while Matt works and gets some errands and chores done, we plan to hit the road again. This time, we’ll head to the west coast and then go north, hitting Queenstown (and perhaps some adrenaline sports?!) on the way before seeing the Fox and Franz Glaciers. We may head back east via Arthur’s Pass after that, taking a look at Christchurch and then heading back to Dunedin.

A new year in a new country with an old friend… what a fantastic start to 2011!

--Z