Stewart Island and the Rakiura Track

Kia Ora everyone,

Ok, so this is my second post in quick succession. If you haven't seen the first, look on the toolbar to the right, and click into it from there. This is catch up work, but I would say that once classes start, one post every two weeks will be about average.

Last Friday, the 19th, two friends and I were eating lunch and discussing possibilities for a short weekend trip. We just happened to notice a bus running from Dunedin to Invercargill, at the southern tip of the country, that was leaving one hour later. We threw down our food and literally ran to our flats, threw our backpacking gear together, and sprinted to the train station at city center, barely making it in time to hop on the bus to the Southland. Three hours later we were in Invercargill, an unimpressive little city bordered by the Foveaux Strait to the south, and marshy farmland in all other directions. It was pouring rain, night was falling, and we didn't have a place to stay. After unsuccessful attempts to get a room in the local hotels and hostels we found a small campground and spent the night there.

The following morning we loaded up our gear and caught a shuttle to the outpost of Bluff, where a ferry runs between the South Island and Stewart Island, our ultimate destination. We didn't have reservations for the ferry either, and just happened to luck onto exactly 3 openings at the last minute. The hour long ferry was insane. The boat was pretty small, carrying about 60 passengers over breakers that were easily 10 feet high, and people were getting seasick left and right. Looking back on it now, it was probably pretty dangerous.

At about noon we finally arrived in Oban, the only inhabited place on Stewart Island (pop. 400). After buying some supplies, we quickly set off to find the Rakiura Track, one of New Zealand's famous and aptly named "Great Walks". The scenery was stunning, as untouched beaches climbed into dense rainforest for the length of the 24 mile track, which we completed in 3 days.

The backpack was actually so good that I checked two lifetime goals off my list on this one trip. The first was to camp on a beach, which we did the first night at a place called Maori Beach and the second at Sawdust Bay, which was even better. The second goal achieved was to cook and eat mussels that I had found on my own. We were able to find heaps of them at Sawdust Bay, and steamed them in my camp stove. They were delicious, but I don't think my Jetboil will ever smell the same. Our night at Sawdust Bay also allowed us to mingle with some natives, as we had to wrestle food and trash away from about 5 possums sometime in the middle of the night. We were unable to see the elusive Kiwi though, and although about 20,000 live on Stewart Island (it is really the only place they still exist in the wild), it is still extremely difficult to find one because they are nocturnal.

We were not completely alone on the track, but those we did meet and camp with were great. There was a group of four French travelers who were really funny, a bush pilot from Alaska, and a Canadian couple who attend the University of Otago as well. Interestingly enough, the only Olympic coverage I have seen came once we arrived back in Oban, where we were able to watch the USA vs. Canada hockey game in the local pub with our Canadian friends. It was great, especially since the Americans won! The following morning we caught the 8AM ferry back to the mainland and arrived back in Dunedin in the afternoon. This trip was definitely worth the money we spent on the travel, and was without doubt the most impromptu trip I have ever taken in my life. It was fun, but I will want to plan a little better in the future.

The pictures I am loading here are my favorites, but there are a lot more that I have from the trip. Loading them all would be messy, but I feel like these give a good impression of what it was like.

Next goal is to buy a car, because the scheduling of busses is ridiculous here, and the cost is pretty steep as well... Anyway, I hope you all are enjoying my blog, and that everything is going well in the states. I will talk to you in a few weeks with new adventures!

Cheers!

First Week and About Future Posts

Kia Ora everyone,
Sorry for the delay. The first week in New Zealand was extremely busy, and since actually getting to my final destination I have been going non-stop. What I am going to do here is give a recap of my first week in NZ, from arrival to getting in to Dunedin. This one will also be longer than normal, so I apologize in advance for the forthcoming wall of text...

I arrived in New Zealand at about 5AM local time on the 11th of February, after leaving Boise at 11AM on the 9th (the international dateline is a weird thing). The flight over was not as bad as some people make it seem, and as I am a champion at sleeping while traveling, jet lag was a non-issue.

Auckland: If I had to be absolute in deciding whether or not I enjoyed Auckland, I would have to say that I did not like it. It was very humid, very cramped, not extremely clean, and many signs were in various Asian languages rather than English. It really felt like I was in an Asian city. The highlight of the one day I had in the country's largest city was definitely Mt. Eden. It is a small volcano (one of about a dozen that rise up out of the city), and was the first place my group visited after clearing customs. The view was tremendous, although only of a smoggy metropolis. All in all, a little disheartening as far as first impressions go. It goes without saying that I was happy to move on to other, less claustrophobic surroundings the following day.

Rotorua: Rotorua is a somewhat small city located near the center of the north island, and most of my orientation was spent here. One thing of note though is that on the drive from Auckland to Rotorua, my group stopped in Matamata, which most of you will know as Hobbiton from the Lord of the Rings movies. It is a pretty cool little place that has clearly embraced its inclusion in the films, and yes, the farmland around there does look just like the Shire, which is great.

Rotorua is pretty much the center of the Maori world today, so the place just reeks of the culture. Something else it reeks of is sulfur, as the entire city is situated upon an extremely thin crust over the top of some serious thermal activity. Bubbling mud pools and steaming pots of crystal clear water that drop off into the abyss litter the landscape, and were fantastic (less cool than Yellowstone though). While in Rotorua, my group learned to play rugby and were constantly reminded how much tougher Kiwis are than Americans by our leader Cappy. We taught him ultimate frisbee though which was even more fun! We also learned the haka that the All Blacks do prior to each rugby game, called "Kamate Kamate". As with every haka, there must be a leader, or chief, and our Maori teachers decided to pick me to lead my group because I apparently exude leadership (awesome...). By the end of it, we were in full Maori garb, which is essentially face paint and loin cloths for the men, pretty dresses for the women, and I was out front, screaming the lyrics for my tribe of 30 to echo. While I am against us Americans butchering something as special to a people as the haka is to the Maori, it was really fun to learn about the culture through the experience. Even better though was the traditional hangi feast we were able to attend, where Maori cooked a meal in the earth for us, making for some delicious food. We also went Zorbing one day, basically getting pushed down a hill in a giant rubber hamster ball. Fun, but not as fun as I had anticipated.

Our last day on the North Island was spent traveling to the famous glowworm caves of Waitomo. I could tell it would be a good day from the beginning, waking up to a downpour and driving through misty forest to the little town about 2 hours west of Rotorua. We didn't just go into the glowworm caves though. That would have been what tourists do. A group of about 12 of us went up into the Tumu Tumu cave to do what is called "blackwater rafting". We strapped on wetsuits, headlamps and helmets and walked about a mile up into the trees and down into a small sinkhole, where a crack in a rock allowed us to abseil into the cave. From there we got wet, following a subterranean river into some sections that required us to swim through pinches. It was claustrophobic and a little scary a times, especially knowing that albino eels lived in the waters we were stuck in. Eventually we hopped into what the guides called "tyre toobs", flipped off the headlamps, and floated down a small cavern looking at a ceiling covered in tiny lights. Glowworms hung from the rock by the thousands, creating something easily as amazing as the best night sky I have ever seen. Later on we stopped and ate a NZ specialty; chocolate covered strawberry flavored marshmallow. It sounds weird, it tastes weird, but I guess you could say its "as kiwi as". On the way out of the cave we got to see some wetas. These are NZ's token insect, and they really do look like a cross between a cricket and a cockroach. Oh yeah, and they can grow to the size of a human hand, making them the largest, heaviest insects in the world! The whole experience (about 3 hours underground) was by far the highlight of the first week in New Zealand. (cameras weren't allowed in the caves, so no pics here. Good in my opinion, because pictures couldn't do it justice.)

Dunedin (First Impressions): We arrived in Dunedin on the 16th of February and were simply dropped off at our flats. It was an abrupt end to our orientation, and I think everyone felt a little lonely, but it gave us some time to explore the city. My first impressions of Dunedin are mixed. It has a great location with some beautiful hills and is set on an peninsula along the pacific coast. The city itself is larger than I anticipated, which isn't a good thing, and the student party scene is HUGE here. Flats around campus are pretty rough and dirty, although I like mine, so I suppose I lucked out. One thing that really bothers me though is that it is borderline impossible to see the Olympics from here, as barely anyone has TVs, and those who do only pick up maybe 10 channels. My only culture shock thus far has been my separation from sports, haha. Another easily noticeable thing about Dunedin is that there is definitely less money available to go into school facilities. The University of Otago is beautiful, but its urban setting and other differences from Colorado actually caught me a little off guard. I'm sure it will grow on me as I go along. One thing I have been blown away by though is the awesome gothic architecture in the city center, known as the Octagon. Dunedin was founded by the Scottish, and its hills and churches really scream the culture, which I love.

Well, it is now officially "O" week here at school and classes start soon, so I have that to look forward to. Coming shortly is another post from my first actual trip in New Zealand, which was amazing. It should be out very soon.

Thanks everyone, hope all is well, and I'll talk to you soon!