October 2006 Archives

The odyssey continues...

It's a bright, sunny day in Queenstown, which is quite a change from Sunday's pouring rain (most the day) and Monday's snow. Just returned from a beyond amazing trip to Milford Sound. I'm still kind of soaking it all in, really. Took a lovely motor coach over the Milford Road, and one can easily see why this has been called one of the most scenic drives in the world. This is getting into the part of New Zealand's scenery that you just can't capture with a camera, unless maybe it's an IMAX camera mounted on a helicopter. We had several stops along the way, including Monkey Creek, where we were able to fill our water bottles right out of the stream - yummy. Beats the heck out of city tap water. The rivers and lakes here are so clear, it's kind of hard to believe. At Mirror Lakes (you can imagine why they're called that), we could see very big brown trout swimming around, even though they were quite far from where we were standing. I couldn't help but think how much my Grandma Minnie would have loved this place - so many good places to fish! I took a couple pictures of some good "holes," just for her :)

The weather was a bit dodgy for most of the way, though it got better and better as we approached Milford. This was very odd, since they get about 9 meters of rain year (less than 7 meters and they call it a drought). The overnight option was so great - I can't imagine doing it any other way. By the time we got to the shores of the sound, the sun was shining.

By the time we started out on to the water, all the day trips had come back and we (on the Milford Mariner) and our sister ship, the Milford Wanderer, pretty much had the place to ourselves - and what a place. Huge cliffs, covered in rainforesty ferns, trees, bushes. Waterfalls everywhere (both permanent and temporary ones from snow melt), fur seals, crested penguins, dolphins - well, maybe you get the idea.

After about an hour cruise around the Sound (which is actually a fjord), we tied up in Harrison Cove for the night. After some excursions on the tender craft, we were treated with pre-dinner cocktails and an amazing meal. The company was great (how much better does it get than chatting with fellow travelers on an amazing journey?), and the crew was extremely entertaining and professional. Late in the evening I was up on the top deck, there was no wind, and the stars were out in force. The Milky Way is so easy to see here. The on board naturalist told us a story of a woman from Osaka who had recently taken the trip who had never seen the stars before. Despite the cold, she slept out on the deck so she could look at them.

After a peaceful night, I expected to hear rain falling in the morning. But no. It was cloudless at 6:00 AM, and stayed that way. We at breakfast between snapping pictures of the morning light as it lit up the fjord walls and mountains. As we cruised out toward the Tasman Sea, the crew hoisted the sails as we watched some dolphins surfing at the bow of the Wanderer. The morning cruise was about 2.5 hours, and we returned to shore with smiles on our faces.

The weather held all the way back to Queenstown, where it's still sunny and pretty warm. Lake Wakapitu is glassy, since the wind's not blowing. Truly a magical couple of days.

I've clearly been busy these past few days, since I've not posted in a week. The South Island has been a trip of astounding beauty and contrasts thus far. After meeting up with B. in Wellington (and my first experience with an urban "backpackers" accommodation), we had a nice ferry trip across the Cook Straight (yes, yet another feature named for that busy, busy explorer) to Picton. We ended up having to take a late boat out of Welliwood, so didn't get to see the view through part of the Marlborough Sound, but oh well.

From Picton it was the Tranzcoastal train to Kaikoura. I can say without reservation that the scenery there is one of the most, if not the most epic I've ever seen. High, snow capped mountains with green, green valley running all the way up to the white, all towering over a very blue ocean. Incredible. There's an ocean canyon as deep as the Grand Canyon right offshore, which makes the waters rich in food and, consequently, marine life. Early in the morning our last day there, B. and I boarded a boat and chased a pod of dusky dolphins out into the open Pacific. When the horn went off, we scrambled off the back with a dozen other souls to try and entertain them. We succeeded in spades, enjoying what the Dolphin Encounters crew calls a "one dip wonder" (or something like that) - we were able to spend the entire swim time alloted (35 minutes) with the same group. It's beyond description to have a couple of dolphins come within inches of you, swimming round and round while you try to keep up. I'm thinking the main group that interacted with us numbered maybe 12 or 15. When we got back on the boat for the photo shoot/education part of the trip, it was clear that the total pod was around 20 or 30. Terrific, one of a kind experience.

Next stop was Christchurch which turned out to be mercifully warm and sunny. It totally lives up to its designation as NZ's Garden City, with a 400 acre park that includes a huge botanical gardens. Rhododendrons and many other plants are in full bloom right now, so it was glorious. Combined with the gothic architecture, the picturesque River Avon running through the middle and the artistic/cafe culture, a nice urban pit stop.

B. took off for the States yesterday, and today I arrived in Queenstown. It's sort of a Tahoe-like scene, with the town right on the water and towering mountains right up next to it. Very lovely. I'm lucky enough to have landed here on the first day of the annual Jazz Fest, and got to see the free kick-off concert on the lake shore earlier this evening. Headline act was Galapagos Duck, the "most popular jazz band in Australia." Go figure. Tomorrow I'll spend the day knocking around here, then it's off for my overnight trip to Milford Sound. Should be full of amazing views and lots of rain (Milford gets 7 meters of rain a year). Can't wait!

Day Four in New Zealand is drawing to a close and finds me in Wellington. It's been a busy few days, and I'm definitely sleeping soundly at night!

Today I spent my time before the flight from Whangarei taking in some of the nice walks around the area. Started out at Whangarei Falls (considered one of the most photogenic waterfalls in NZ), and hiked from there to a grove of kauri trees. Kauris can be huge and ancient; some of those I saw today were several thousand years old. Like the towering sequoias in California, these trees really move me for some reason. I'm compelled to touch their trunks and wonder what little blink of human history has gone by why they stood, swaying in the wind. I guess that's also why it's so hard to accept when people callously cut beings like them down for some short term purpose. They deserve better, I think.

I had the path to myself during my hike, which was amazing. The canopy of tree ferns, kauris, and other tall trees was serene, with just some chirping birds and the rustle of plants disturbing the quiet. Can't help but feel soothed by that kind of scene.

Anyway, I could go on and on about the spectacular bits of nature I've already seen, and will do so in later posts (probably). I have an early wakeup call so B. and I can catch a ferry to Picton tomorrow, beginning the South Island part of this odyssey. I made sure to buy some wool base layers today, because I've been cold since I arrived, and the North Island is supposed to be the balmy part of the country! Word is they're still skiing in the South. I'm sure it will be brisk but jaw droppingly stunning. Oh, woe is I.

Getting ready to depart for New Zealand (tonight). Now that the trip is hours away, it's finally dawning on me that I'm really going. Bag is packed (and fitted by a very helpful REI employee named Amanda) - weird to only be taking a backpack instead of a rolling suitcase of doom, but in a cool way. I bit the bullet and only packed two (ok, three, but one is non fiction so it doesn't really count - does it?) books. That's a new record for me! Naturally, my bag is chock-full of electronics, but none of them is a laptop. My hands shook as I typed that last sentence, but it'll probably fade in a couple of days.

I'll do what I can to update this blog as I find little islands of wired-ness on the road. I'm eager to have some interesting tales to tell...