After Wanaka we traveled a few hours from the central area of the southern island to the south east corner of the southern island. After many winding roads through sheep pastures and steep mountains, we crested a final hill which brought us down into the ocean side town of Dunedin. All of the buildings seem to be no taller than 3 or 4 stories... with a slightly Spanish feel.
Once we got oriented with the map and where we were (a task that takes us about 15 minutes when we come to every new town) we found our hostel. On the top of, maybe the steepest street I've ever been on. On a related note, the steepest street in the world (according to the Guiness Book) is in Dunedin. It's a big tourist attraction, but we seemed to not make it during our 2 night stay there. Our hostel was a culmination of 3 little houses all within the confines of a big fence. There was a hot-tub and a sauna. Both big draws. We settled in that day and then decided to walk around the town a bit.
The center of town is called "The Octagon." There is one main street that goes through the octagon, and the outside goes around this street in the shape of... yes, you guessed it: an octagon. There are loads of shops, malls, and restaurants around here... so we had a nice afternoon poking around in them. The other big draw in the center of town is the university in Dunedin. I forget the name, but Dunedin is a college town... and that uni brings in a lot of the population for the 2nd biggest city in the southern island.
The next day we decided to do all of the "sight-seey," tourist things. We got in Ellen and drove to the end of the Otago Peninsula. This road was another VERY windy road which on one side, had cliffs which were RIGHT against the road, and on the other... an eight foot DROP into the ocean. It was fine until a giant Toyota Camry decided it wanted to come around one corner half in my lane. For that split second I was very relieved to have the full insurance on our car. Thankfully, we didn't need it. I recovered and I think the other 4 bodies in the car may have thrown up their middle fingers at the other driver. At the end of the peninsula is the home of the Albatross (I forget which type) mating grounds. From what we found out, the Albatross' only land mating areas are in NZ... while they're not mating they fly all around the world from continent to continent. Their wingspan can get to be over a yard wide and they can fly at speeds over 60mph. Unfortunately, the albatross had left about a month before we were there. I read in Whitney Taylor's blog that she has been studying/marking albatross on Tern Island off of Hawaii. They very well could be the same birds... but she would know more about whether or not they are.
There is an Albatross information center, obviously complete with a gift shop, at the end of the peninsula where we learned some of this information. After we looked around a bit, we walked down the steep trail to she shore where we were told we might see some seals. We were not disappointed. Right there, in the ocean, not in a pool at the zoo, were about 15 seals swimming around and basking on the rocks. It was my first experience, in nature, with an animal I usually see in the zoo... and it was so amazing!
After we took numerous photos of the seals we took the only other road back towards Dunedin... the road on TOP of those cliffs I mentioned before. So the same windy roads, but with a 400ft drop this time. The views, however, made up for this death defying drive. The mountains all run straight down into these beautiful blue/teal/aquamarine waters. We were told at the albatross building that we might have a chance to see a penguin if we went to a certain beach half way towards town. So we traveled to the parking area, and started the hike down the sand dunes towards the beach. It was a steep hike on the way back, but very fun to run down barefoot. Once we were on the beach, we were happily surprised to see about 10 Sealions laying on the sand together. They were spread out in groups of 2 or 3 throughout the beach. At the end of the beach, near some cliffs with rocks at the bottom, there was a trail that lead up to the top of a bluff where some hiding places were stationed. These were basically wooden sheds with little windows to watch the penguin habitat from. The purpose for these is to keep the penguins from seeing humans, so they don't get scared, and leave the habitat. We sat in the "blind" for almost 30 minutes with no sign of a penguin... until we realized that what we thought was a rock, was actually a penguin sitting on the side of the hill. Perhaps sitting on an egg or nest or something. But without a pair of binoculars, there was no way of knowing. After we had taken enough photos on full zoom, that still didn't show much of a penguin, we walked back up the beach towards the car. A few of the Sealions had started to spar with each other. It was rather cool, but I was slightly afraid because I didn't know how close we should get, and blah blah blah. But we made it by safely, got to the car, and went back to the hostel.
That night we took a tour of the Speight's Brewery. Which is right down the street from our hostel. The tour guide was extremely knowledgeable, and very funny. The brewery gets all of their water for the beer from a spring that is directly below their brewery. They have been brewing, and using this spring water for over 100 years. They also use a special type of gravity fed brewing that I think is only used by a few breweries in the world. Most of the copper brewing equipment is around 60-80 years old, and it was very historical. It turns out that Speight's is the Pride of the South for over 100 years (their motto.) At the end of the tour we were able to go to one of the 7 bars in the brewery (there's one on every floor for the employees.) At the bar we were able to pour our own beer, and sample all of their 6 flavors. There was also no limit, and it seemed that throwing a beer down the sink wasn't a waste at all.
Rain came hard that night, so we stayed in the hostel and played some games. The next day we got in the car for a 4 hour drive to Te Anau.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Wanaka
We have free, UNLIMITED internet in the hostel we're staying in tonight... so I decided to make good use of it and update the blog a bit.
When I last left off we had left Mt. Cook and we were on our way to Wanaka. Wanaka is a very tiny town right on the lake... lake Wanaka. Imagine that. It's a very quaint town with a very friendly feel. The hostel we stayed in had a very nice garden with picnic tables which I used for a meal or two as well as some journaling. During our day there we decided to go kayaking for a bit on the lake. While it was pretty cold, and we got pretty wet, it provided for some amazing views of the mountains. The mountains here are so tall and so steep, and they all tend to plunge deep into a lake, ocean, or river of some sort.
After kayaking we went to a place called Puzzling World. Basically it was like a corn maze. There was a huge maze with towers in each corner (4) and the object was to find your way to each tower... in order. I think it took us about an hour or so. Some people finished before others... but those people also didn't find the towers in the correct order. Cheaters. Needless to say, that after all that walking, about 6km the place estimates, we were quite hungry.
Luckily, there was a BBQ on the green put on by the local christian churches in Wanaka. Now, the food was free... but we also were preached to a little. A small price to pay for free food. The sausages hit the spot and paved the way for a night of indulging in junk food. There is a terrific little movie theater in Wanaka that plays up to date (for Australia and New Zealand) movies 3-4 times per day. The theater is different though because in the actual theater there aren't rows of chairs... there are about 25 old comfy couches all mashed together. There is also an old VW Bug with the top off the you can sit in to watch the movie. It was very much like the drive-in. The feeling was laid back, you could spread out on the couches, and when the reel broke the owner stuck his head out from the projection room and told us it wouldn't be much longer. At intermission... yes, intermission... everyone goes back out to the lobby to buy homemade, still warm, cookies that are as big as your face. Popcorn, dinners, and wine are also available. I got popcorn and asked for butter to be put on it. The kid behind the counter had a confused look on his face and asked his boss if that was ok... she paused for a minute and said "Yeah, we can do that." About five minutes later she came back out with my popcorn with butter spread on it. Butter that she had to melt on the stove. Special. For me. We've been joking since we've been in Toowoomba that we are fat Americans because we always bake and we eat chips and things frequently. We've even converted our German roommate Steffen into a Fat American. But that night... I was a fat american.
Wanaka was a fabulous little town with such a feel of community. The man who rented us our kayaks (who also told us the lifestory of more than one of the townsfolk) also worked at the movie theater. Wanaka seems like a town where I could see myself living later in life. Everyone knows and cares for everyone else in the town, there are beautiful views, and it has a nice laid back feel.
On to Dunedin.
Miss you all!
When I last left off we had left Mt. Cook and we were on our way to Wanaka. Wanaka is a very tiny town right on the lake... lake Wanaka. Imagine that. It's a very quaint town with a very friendly feel. The hostel we stayed in had a very nice garden with picnic tables which I used for a meal or two as well as some journaling. During our day there we decided to go kayaking for a bit on the lake. While it was pretty cold, and we got pretty wet, it provided for some amazing views of the mountains. The mountains here are so tall and so steep, and they all tend to plunge deep into a lake, ocean, or river of some sort.
After kayaking we went to a place called Puzzling World. Basically it was like a corn maze. There was a huge maze with towers in each corner (4) and the object was to find your way to each tower... in order. I think it took us about an hour or so. Some people finished before others... but those people also didn't find the towers in the correct order. Cheaters. Needless to say, that after all that walking, about 6km the place estimates, we were quite hungry.
Luckily, there was a BBQ on the green put on by the local christian churches in Wanaka. Now, the food was free... but we also were preached to a little. A small price to pay for free food. The sausages hit the spot and paved the way for a night of indulging in junk food. There is a terrific little movie theater in Wanaka that plays up to date (for Australia and New Zealand) movies 3-4 times per day. The theater is different though because in the actual theater there aren't rows of chairs... there are about 25 old comfy couches all mashed together. There is also an old VW Bug with the top off the you can sit in to watch the movie. It was very much like the drive-in. The feeling was laid back, you could spread out on the couches, and when the reel broke the owner stuck his head out from the projection room and told us it wouldn't be much longer. At intermission... yes, intermission... everyone goes back out to the lobby to buy homemade, still warm, cookies that are as big as your face. Popcorn, dinners, and wine are also available. I got popcorn and asked for butter to be put on it. The kid behind the counter had a confused look on his face and asked his boss if that was ok... she paused for a minute and said "Yeah, we can do that." About five minutes later she came back out with my popcorn with butter spread on it. Butter that she had to melt on the stove. Special. For me. We've been joking since we've been in Toowoomba that we are fat Americans because we always bake and we eat chips and things frequently. We've even converted our German roommate Steffen into a Fat American. But that night... I was a fat american.
Wanaka was a fabulous little town with such a feel of community. The man who rented us our kayaks (who also told us the lifestory of more than one of the townsfolk) also worked at the movie theater. Wanaka seems like a town where I could see myself living later in life. Everyone knows and cares for everyone else in the town, there are beautiful views, and it has a nice laid back feel.
On to Dunedin.
Miss you all!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Mt. Cook
So I am still LOVING and having the most amazing time in New Zealand. I'm going to do a bunch of posts: one for every place we've been. I think it'll make reading easier and it will also help me compartmentalize the trip... if that makes any sense.
So Mt. Cook:
We took off from the airport in Christchurch in our rental car... a 2000 Nissan Primara Wagon. We named her Ellen. I took the wheel, and driving on the left proved to not be that difficult. Actually, by now I don't even have to remind myself of things like "little left, big right" or "stay left." It's all second nature. Although, when I go to change the volume on the radio my right arm instinctively thrusts straight into the door. I may have bruises...
After about 6 hours in the car driving through wine country, HUGE mountains (much like Colorado), and beautiful green hillsides, we made it to Mt. Cook. The views here were absolutely stunning. I have no way of doing them justice. Not with my descriptions, and not with my photos either. It's just too beautiful for anything to capture it.
The road to Mt.Cook just goes to Mt. Cook. It is 50km long and ends in Mt. Cook. The Village in Mt. Cook is basically just a 5-Star hotel, a cheaper motel, a cafe, and our hostel, and a gas station with gas 2X as much as everywhere else. There also appeared to be a school... but I can't believe that anyone actually lives in that town. Although, the nearest town is 40 minutes away, so that is probably why they have to have a school. We weren't really sure what to expect from the town, but once we got there we realized that we would probably be spending the evenings playing boardgames in our hostel. Which turned out to be a lot of fun. The drive was so exhausting that we passed out early the first night.
The next day we thought about what we wanted to do for the day. There were heaps of options: half and full day guided hikes up the glacier and Mt. Cook, some self guided short hikes, helicopter/plane rides over the glacier, kayaking in the glacier lakes, and even an AUTHENTIC Lord of the Rings tour/sightseeing adventure (I'm not even kidding, these are EVERYWHERE.)
We settled on a short day hike which we did in the afternoon (our alarm was still set on Australian time... so we got up 3 hours late. whoops.) We hiked up Hooker Valley and towards Mt. Cook. We didn't gain much elevation, but we did get some incredible views of the mountain peak. At the end of the trail was the base of the glacier as well as the lake from it's melting. There were huge chunks of ice floating in the water and it was SUPER windy. We hid behind a rock to have lunch, and then hiked back down. It was happy hour at the cafe when we got back, so we enjoyed some New Zealand beer called Speight's (you'll hear more about this in the Dunedin post.)
That night was again a lazy night... we played boardgames at the hostel and went to bed early. The next morning we got up and did our drive to Wanaka.
I'll try and update some more of these soon... but internet isn't terribly cheap here, so I have to ration myself. Pictures probably won't be posted until we're back in Australia... but we'll see. I should take advantage of not having a cap on how much data I can transfer.
Hope all is well at home!
Miss you all!
So Mt. Cook:
We took off from the airport in Christchurch in our rental car... a 2000 Nissan Primara Wagon. We named her Ellen. I took the wheel, and driving on the left proved to not be that difficult. Actually, by now I don't even have to remind myself of things like "little left, big right" or "stay left." It's all second nature. Although, when I go to change the volume on the radio my right arm instinctively thrusts straight into the door. I may have bruises...
After about 6 hours in the car driving through wine country, HUGE mountains (much like Colorado), and beautiful green hillsides, we made it to Mt. Cook. The views here were absolutely stunning. I have no way of doing them justice. Not with my descriptions, and not with my photos either. It's just too beautiful for anything to capture it.
The road to Mt.Cook just goes to Mt. Cook. It is 50km long and ends in Mt. Cook. The Village in Mt. Cook is basically just a 5-Star hotel, a cheaper motel, a cafe, and our hostel, and a gas station with gas 2X as much as everywhere else. There also appeared to be a school... but I can't believe that anyone actually lives in that town. Although, the nearest town is 40 minutes away, so that is probably why they have to have a school. We weren't really sure what to expect from the town, but once we got there we realized that we would probably be spending the evenings playing boardgames in our hostel. Which turned out to be a lot of fun. The drive was so exhausting that we passed out early the first night.
The next day we thought about what we wanted to do for the day. There were heaps of options: half and full day guided hikes up the glacier and Mt. Cook, some self guided short hikes, helicopter/plane rides over the glacier, kayaking in the glacier lakes, and even an AUTHENTIC Lord of the Rings tour/sightseeing adventure (I'm not even kidding, these are EVERYWHERE.)
We settled on a short day hike which we did in the afternoon (our alarm was still set on Australian time... so we got up 3 hours late. whoops.) We hiked up Hooker Valley and towards Mt. Cook. We didn't gain much elevation, but we did get some incredible views of the mountain peak. At the end of the trail was the base of the glacier as well as the lake from it's melting. There were huge chunks of ice floating in the water and it was SUPER windy. We hid behind a rock to have lunch, and then hiked back down. It was happy hour at the cafe when we got back, so we enjoyed some New Zealand beer called Speight's (you'll hear more about this in the Dunedin post.)
That night was again a lazy night... we played boardgames at the hostel and went to bed early. The next morning we got up and did our drive to Wanaka.
I'll try and update some more of these soon... but internet isn't terribly cheap here, so I have to ration myself. Pictures probably won't be posted until we're back in Australia... but we'll see. I should take advantage of not having a cap on how much data I can transfer.
Hope all is well at home!
Miss you all!
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