The restaurant was in a pretty 1920′s arcade called St. Kevin’s Arcade which had a great rock-and-roll tshirt store (picture two old people knitting lap blankets which read “Thug for Life” and “Punks Not Dead”). It also had a view of Myers Park next door, and beyond that the skyline of downtown Auckland. The center of the arcade had a wide stairway down to the park with a large stained-glass sign reading “TO MYERS PARK”. After breakfast we headed pack to the hotel to pack and check out, leaving most of our luggage in the hotel’s storage room. We then headed to The Domain, the city’s oldest and largest park, to check out the Auckland City Museum.

It has an amazing collection of Maori and Pacific art, including some complete Maori canoes and meeting houses. One meeting house was full size and if you took your shoes off, you could go right inside!

And in case you were wondering what a Kiwi Bird looks like…

They are nocturnal animals so they are rarely spotted in the wild.

After spending a couple hours at the museum, we headed to the Newmarket neighborhood to have lunch at a delicious international gourmet deli named Zarbo. We each had quiche (mine veggie, Gabe’s chicken) with an assortment of delicious salads. Afterwards we walked around and did some window shopping while we digested. I needed to pick up a few more souvenirs, so we ended up driving back to City Center and leaving the car in a lot while I ran in some tourist shops. Before we headed to the airport I grabbed a caramel slice at a bakery to take on the plane, and Gabe downed a quick beer at one of the many Irish pubs. Then we were off to the airport… goodbye New Zealand, hope we can come back again someday!

Baaaa Baaaa…

Maybe next time we’ll rent a campervan

After checkout we headed into Nelson for a proper breakfast, and some sightseeing and shopping.  Gabe bought a Mission Playground t-shirt (a San Francisco brand) and went in a few skate shops.  We also checked out the cathedral with the steps quarried from Abel Tasman.

Other sights included the Montgomery Square market, the park, the Queens Garden, and the Methodist Church which had some Maori kids (the boys in traditional skirt/wraps) playing on the fence while their parents chatted under a prehistoric evergreen.

After our sightseeing we headed to the Nelson airport, and caught our flight to Auckland, from where we’ll be flying back to San Francisco tomorrow evening (sigh).  When we got to Auckland we picked up another Toyota Corolla from Budget (red again) and drove to the hotel we stayed in when we first arrived in the country, the Auckland City Hotel.  After checking in and relaxing for a bit, we headed out to have dinner Iguaçu, at a restaurant we’d noticed the last time we ate on Parnell Road, because it had “Best of Auckland” and “Best of New Zealand” awards for the last several years displayed out front.  Dinner was delicious: salad nicoise for an appetizer; chicken jalapeno (tortilla salad) and pumpkin and spinach risotto with pine nuts and goat cheese for mains; and for dessert citrus cheesecake and a banana caramel tartine with “bananoffee” ice cream melting on top.

After dinner we headed back to our hotel room to catch up on our blog: the Auckland City Hotel has the fastest internet access of anywhere we’ve stayed in the entire country!

We woke to the sound of tropical bird calls, and in the background the comforting sound of Genna making some coffee.  As we packed up our personal gear and hung our tents up to dry out the dew and condensation, Genna cooked up a delicious breakfast of French toast, fried bananas, and “shoulder bacon” (Canadian bacon, as opposed to “streaky bacon” which is regular American bacon).  We washed it all down with juice, coffee, and tea; then loaded up the kayaks and set off.

Our first destination was Tonga Island, which has a large seal colony on it in the summer.  Most of them had already headed South for the winter, but we did see a few, including one mother which came out and swam in the water near our kayaks.  She even went under them a few times!

On the windward side of the island we also found a little bay with four pups playing, wrestling each other in the surf and doing little jumps out of the water as they raced along.  We couldn’t go into any harbors today because it was low tide, but we did see some more cool granite rock formations.  We stopped for a mid-morning cake break at Sandfly Bay, thus named by locals hoping to keep the place for themselves; there was a Mosquito Bay as well, and neither had any more bugs than anywhere else in the area.  Lunch was more sandwiches, and since we were making good time we had time for some seashell gathering, plus a little nap in the sun afterwards.

Our final destination was The Anchorage where the water taxi picked up half of our group of seven to head back to Marahu; Genna was continuing south for another night’s camping with the other half.  When we got back to Kayak Abel Tasman headquarters, we returned our “drybags” (clear plastic bags kept dry in the kayak hull) and hardshell camera case (which rode on top), spray skirts, life jackets, and paddling jackets (which we didn’t have to use due to the warm sunny weather and low wind).  They treated us to cookies and juice, and we grabbed our bags out of storage and loaded them in the rental.

Then we set off for a quick 45 minute drive to The Bug “backpacker” (hostel) in Nelson, which is owned by a nice young man named Anthony, and has a Volkswagon Beetle theme.  He’s done extensive renovations on the place, which were documented by some scrapbooks in the lounge, and expanded to the Georgian home next door.  Our room (named “Sunny Bug”) was in the Georgian building and was unexpectedly nice for a backpacker: quality furniture, sheets, and towels; down pillows; neat as a pin; and a blasting shower in the renovated bathroom which we shared with only one other couple, in the room down the hall.

We took long hot showers, then drove into adorable downtown Nelson about a mile away to look for dinner.  We ended up having a very fancy meal out at The Boat Shed Café on the waterfront, which was in a historic building that used to be a boat building and repair shop.  At first they said we would have to come back at 8:30 or 9pm, which was too late for us, but as we were about to leave they ended up finding a table.  We were quite lucky because we ended up having haute cuisine at quite reasonable prices! We got to try some local olive oils with our bread as an appetizer – the Marlborough region around Nelson is known for agriculture, especially hops, olives, apples, and wine grapes.  For dinner Gabe had big-eye tuna wrapped in chicken skin, and I had salmon on top of Filo dough pastry filled with goat cheese and spinach.  Because the portions were small, we had room for lots of dessert: a triple-chocolate Belgian truffle; a dark-Belgian-chocolate tart with blueberries, yogurt, and basil honey; and boysenberry compote topped with a baked brioche crust served with vanilla ice cream and lime whipped cream.  Our meal was especially cozy because as soon as we sat down next to the window, it started pouring rain outside; however it couldn’t extinguish the propane torch outside on the deck, which cast a warm, flickering glow over our table.

After dinner we headed back to the hostel, too tuckered out to take advantage of Nelson’s reputation as the area’s best spot for nightlife and live music, even though it was Saturday night.

After we got our gear, we stored our luggage and then loaded into our water taxi, which would take us to the more remote north end of the park.  The water taxi was a boat with a powerful motor and kayaks loaded on the back, loaded onto a trailer, which was pulled by a tractor.  This was necessary in order to get the boat past the Marahau Harbor tidal flats into deep water.  Once we launched we sped about a half hour north to Totaranui where we took a final bathroom break.

Most of Abel Tasman is accessible only by boat or foot – the Coast Track is most popular and has a series of huts scattered every four hours, plus campsites with non-potable running water and septic-system bathrooms even more often.  It’s New Zealand’s smallest national park, and one of the most heavily used due to the beautiful golden sand beaches.  It’s not pristine wilderness – it was settled by Europeans in 1850, and they proceeded to chop, quarry, burn, and clear until nothing was left but bracken.  They found that the hard granite was scattered amongst too much soft granite, so quarrying was abandoned fairly quickly; but not before they made the cathedral steps in Nelson, the closest city.  The Tasman Bay was also fished out at one point.  The area was made a National Park and marine reserve in 1947 and has regenerated admirably since then, with the exception of having few tall trees and a couple dozen grandfathered vacation homes.  These are accessible only by boat, and have “lifetime leases”: when the owner dies, the heirs must tear the place down.

Our first day of kayaking started off gray, but quickly became sunny and remained so for the whole two-day trip – yay!  The first wildlife we saw was three sting rays – two buried in the sand, and one swimming; the water was unusually clear according to Genna, and the wind was low which made the paddling easier.  We stopped for a delicious lunch of sandwiches and orange slices at a tiny beach which was accessible only by kayak – no facilities, but we had it all to ourselves, not even any sandflies!  Gabe took a panoramic picture to remember it by.

After lunch we headed further down the coast to Shag Harbour (named after the seabirds).  Since it was high tide, we were able to kayak right inside, where we saw a bunch of seal pups frolicking without their moms around; they prefer shallow, calm spots).  We were able to get quite close to them and spent at least a half hour in the harbor before heading further along the coast.

A little farther along, Genna pointed out Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Rock:

We made camp for the night at Onetahui, which means “place where the cabbage tree is cooked”; cabbage tree is a Maori delicacy, and the name is typical of their style of naming places after natural characteristics or human uses.  Dinner was sweet-and-sour stir fry, followed by a chocolate-and-cream roll cake topped with brandy and boysenberries.  After dinner we explored a shallow cave at the south end of the beach and found a small population of glow worms!

After getting ready for bed and a little star-gazing, we turned in for a peaceful night’s sleep listening to the Tasman Bay lap the sand.

Then we went inside the main building and used the internet for another hour to catch up on email and notify people about the new blog updates.  When it was time to go, we said goodbye to the friendly lodge pooch Keely, and gave Felix a tip for the staff.

He actually bought us that bottle of Pinot Noir which we greatly appreciated, and we told him we’d recommend him highly to the fishing folks back home!

Then we hit the road to Motuaka, a little town near Abel Tasman National Park, where we’ll be doing a one-night kayak camping trip tomorrow night.  Abel Tasman was the Dutch explorer who named New Zealand (“New Zeeland” back then) and added it to European maps, although he never set foot on the place.  He was scared off when a small boat being rowed between his two ships (anchored in Murderer’s Bay, since renamed Golden Bay) was attacked by a Maori canoe and four sailors killed.  Along the way we passed by several of the regions famous hop farms, and saw several Braeburn apple orchards.

Towards the end of our drive we followed the Motuaka River, which has some of the most dense trout in New Zealand, known worldwide for its large, sparse, and easily spooked fish.  When we arrived we checked into the Hat Trick Lodge, and had a quick falafel lunch at the sidewalk tables of The Swinging Sultan.  Then Gabe drove back along the river for an afternoon of trout fishing, while Carrie walked around town and did some souvenir shopping.  When she was done she stopped by the grocery and picked up a bottle of the award-winning Epic Pale Ale, which is very hoppy in the style of west coast pale ales in the U.S.  She took the beer up to the sundeck with her novel, and when beer and sun were gone, she went inside to sort through the pictures of Milford Sound.  When Gabe got back, we went out for pizza at Hot Mama’s on the main drag, just a block from our hostel, then took showers and headed to bed.

The second day at Owen River Lodge started with mist and ended with rain… I was feeling lazy and abandoned my plan to drive to St. Arnaud and hike, or go whitewater rafting, or mountain biking, or running again.  Instead I spent the morning catching up on typing up the blog, and I finished The Bone People, which I thoroughly enjoyed and left in Felix’s lending library.  In the afternoon I got restless and drove down the Buller River Gorge through Murchison to New Zealand’s longest swinging bridge.

The park also had some old relics from the gold mining days, and the loop trail passed over the fault line from a 7.5 earthquake in the 1800’s that shifted the ground 4.5 meters.  On the way back I stopped at the Rock Snot Café at Riverside Holiday Park just outside Murchison for a beer; I had a Black Mac, the dark brew from New Zealand’s popular Mac Brewery.

“Rock snot” is slang for the invasive Didymo algae, which turns entire rivers into mats of yellowish slime, and is public enemy #1 to New Zealand’s Biosecurity Department.  Their “Check-Clean-Dry” campaign is ubiquitous in the South Island, and all fishing gear to be used in the there must be checked by D.O.C. (Department of Conservation) personnel and receive a special “clean” permit in addition to the regular country-wide fishing license.

When I got back to the lodge, Gabe was already there.  He didn’t have as good a day as the day before due to the rain which started around 2pm.  His guide Steve was nice though, and he did catch some trout, although not as many and not as large as the day before.

He also wasn’t used to handling such large fish, as you can see in the pic below…

When I got back we went straight to dinner which was salad and Thai curry (mine fish, Gabe and Felix’s chicken) with rice.  Dessert was boysenberry tart with vanilla ice cream.  We also finished our Pinot Noir, and Felix offered us another glass of wine on the house, but we had to turn him down as we had a lot of blogging to do!  Plus it had stopped raining and we wanted to hit that Jacuzzi.

We went back to our room and changed into bathing suits and robes, and grabbed towels.  Then we went back to the TV room with the laptop to post some entries (the wireless didn’t reach to our cabin, which was the only bad thing about the entire lodge).  Once we were done we headed to the hot tub, which was especially nice for Carrie who has a minor allergy to bromine, because it was filtered with ultraviolet light!  Then it was time for a good night’s rest – we slept until 8:45 the next morning, our latest since we arrived in the country!

After the clothes were clean I drove to Lake Rotoroa and unpacked my Owen-Lodge lunch from the “chilly” (cooler bag), sprayed up with DEET, and ate quickly at a picnic table overlooking the lake.  When the sandflies got too annoying I jumped back in the car to head back to the lodge.  On the way I passed the exclusive 1920’s Lake Rotoroa Lodge, which caters to “dedicated anglers, stressed-out executives, and jittery minor celebrities” (according to The Rough Guide).  I personally didn’t see what was worth $300/night although it certainly was far from the beaten path.

I spent the remainder of the afternoon reading and napping, until Gabe arrived around 6:30 happy from having finally landed several large brown trout.

We dressed and dined with the jet-setters and our host, Felix; once again dinner was delicious.  We started with whitebait (tiny whitefish, a New Zealand delicacy) patties with mustard aioli and “rocket” (arugula); and more fresh-baked rolls, this time French.  The butter is delicious here: it reminds me of the Irish butter I’ve been indulging in at Trader Joe’s lately, bright yellow and flavorful… maybe it’s the type of pasture?  I know they brought a lot of the grass varieties over from Scotland and Ireland.  Dinner for me was sautéed portabellas and other mushrooms in mushroom cream sauce (don’t love mushrooms but Jude did a great job and I finished every bite); everyone else had steak; and we all had more steamed vegetables from the raised beds behind the house, as well as roasted tomatoes.  Dessert was panna cotta with blueberries and sauce.  Gabe and I also purchased a bottle of Pinot Noir (New Zealand’s other specialty grape besides Sauvignon Blanc) from a vineyard in the Nelson area, half of which we saved for dinner tomorrow night.

I’d had a cup of coffee to wake up after my nap before dinner, and Gabe had an espresso (called a “short black” here) after dinner, so we ended up staying up late editing our pictures up through the Kepler Track.  No time to post the blog again, the pictures took too long (we had well over 200 to go through) – that will have to wait until tomorrow night (along with the Jacuzzi – let’s hope it’s not rainy!)

The next day we woke up early again since we had a plane to catch in Queenstown after lunch. We tried to get breakfast at the Blue Duck Café, but they weren’t open yet, so we sped over to Te Anau for a late breakfast at The Sandfly Café. It was nice to break up the 4 hour drive to Queenstown anyway. Along the way we stopped at Mirror Lakes.

When we arrived in Queenstown the weather was warm and sunny, and the dusting of snow had melted off the surrounding mountains. We had a little time to kill before lunch so we walked around downtown and took some pictures, and successfully resisted buying any cool stuff at the many snowboard/skateboard shops which cater to the hip locals.

However, I couldn’t resist going back to The Cow to have that Veggie Annie pizza again!

This time I convinced Gabe to split a large with me, and we both got Monteith’s Summer Ales to go with it.

After lunch we drove to the airport, dropped off our car, and caught a flight to Christchurch (the largest city on the South Island), where we had a 20 minute layover before another propeller flight to Nelson. The air transportation system is really great here; everything seems to run on time and a lot of the airports are small (the whole country has only 4 million people – 2/3 of the Bay Area’s population of 6 million) so connection times can be much shorter. Nelson is the main city in the “Nelson Lakes” area, which is located in the northwest corner of the South Island. It’s popular with fishers and hunters, and a great holiday destination. It’s also just northeast of the scenic “West Coast”, which is known for both timber and pot farming. The trout fishing is famous around here, and Gabe has booked a guide for the next two days, along with our most luxurious accommodations of the trip, at the Owen River Lodge. I have the next two days to finally relax, do nothing, read my novels, and catch up with emails and the blog! If I get bored, there is also mountain biking, kayaking, whitewater rafting, and hiking in the area.

Owen River Lodge is frankly way out of our league, but it’s nice to splurge once in a while. We have a real king bed (not two twins pushed together like in many of our other hotels); deluxe linens and towels; delicious toiletries; our own porch overlooking Mount Owen and the Owen River; a Jacuzzi; mountain bikes to borrow; and three gourmet meals a day included. The only other guests are a jet-setting couple from Sydney, Australia (a fly-fishing dermatologist and his golfing wife, both extremely well preserved) who regaled us over our first dinner with tales of their travels to spots like Vail and Jackson Hole. Dinner the first night started off with a local Sauvignon Blanc; the famous New Zealand green-lipped mussels (I still don’t like the texture of shellfish, but I ate them to be polite and the taste was fine along with the garnish of basil, cherry tomatoes, and herb sauce); the fresh baked ciabatta. The main course for most guests was pork chops with applesauce, although Carrie got a whitefish from Nelson Lake prepared with lemon butter and pepper; dessert was plum fool with fruit from the neighbor, served hot with vanilla ice cream. Jude the chef is a wizard! I’m trying to miss San Francisco but finding it very difficult.

When the shuttle dropped us off at the backpacker lodge, we decided to skip showers and head straight to Milford Sound.  First we grabbed snacks and sandwiches for a picnic lunch in Te Anau and got some cash (no bank in the tiny town at Milford Sound), then hit the road.  It’s only a 2 hour drive but there are so many scenic places to stop and take pictures, that it can take up to four hours!  We made only a couple stops and arrived around 2:30pm.  After checking into our private bedroom at the Milford Sound Lodge, we reorganized our stuff a bit (intending to do laundry after dinner) and then took long, hot showers.  Next stop was the harbor to catch the 4pm Mitre Peak Cruises boat for a tour of the sound.

Mitre Peak is a prominent peak near the harbor shaped like a bishop’s mitre (hat) – tall and triangular.  We had great weather for the cruise and were able to exit the sound and go a little way out into the Tasman Sea, where the captain came up to the top deck and gave a little talk.  He said the weather is only calm enough to exit the harbor like that 4-5 days a year!

On the way back through the sound we saw some juvenile fur seals sunning themselves and dozing on rocks.

We also passed the underwater observatory where a spiral staircase leads down below the dark freshwater layer to the brine below, where large windows let non-scuba divers view a garden of the normally-deepwater corals found in the sound.  Unfortunately because we’d arrived so late in the day, our cruise didn’t make a stop at the observatory.

That night we had dinner at the Blue Duck Café, Milford Sound’s only restaurant/bar/café.  We were treated to some live music – a young lady playing accordion and singing in English and German, while her friend played rhythm with an egg-shaped rattle – while backpacker-types played pool in the next room.  After dinner we tried to do laundry, but found that both electric dryers were broken, and the “drying room” was completely full.  Since we had to leave early the next morning, we repacked our dirty clothes for tomorrow’s flight to Nelson.

Gabe had time to fish the river just behind our lodge (that emptied into Milford Sound) right before dark.

We saw even more cool fungi today: red with rounded caps and white spots (just like in Super Mario Brothers!); a purple one; and some light brown ones growing off the sides of stumps and curving up towards the sun.

About an hour before we reached the hut the river ended at Lake Manapouri, and I left Gabe behind to fish while I went ahead to the hut, about 45 minutes further hike along the lakeshore, to claim some good bunk spots. The hut is fairly close to the lakeshore and overlooks a nice sandy beach, which would be more tempting if it weren’t for those pesky sandflies!

I claimed two lower bunks where we could sleep head to head, and spent some time chatting with our fellow trampers: they’re mostly younger couples, or single people our age, plus a few older gentlemen, and the only Kiwis (New Zealanders) we’ve met so far, an older couple. It’s very inspiring to see some grey heads on the trail, and Gabe and I definitely want to emulate them if we are lucky enough to enjoy retirement together! Tomorrow we have a very easy hike – only 1.5 hours to Rainbow Reach, where the shuttle will pick us up and take us back to Steamers Beach Lodge where our car is parked. My bag gets a little lighter each day, since I was carrying the bulk of the food, but Gabe’s gets a little heavier, since he’s carrying the trash. As far as I’m concerned it’s quite fair, since I carried a heavier load up the steep parts! Glad I’ve been running these last few years, although Gabe’s time at the gym these last couple months has definitely paid off as well, and he claims only his calves are sore.

Upon his return to the hut, he was happy to share the pictures of the two brown trout he had caught at the mouth of the river. The other trampers were astonished that he released them back into the water and wasn’t frying them up for dinner instead.

At night, we had a beautiful sunset.

This ended up being the most beautiful day of hiking that we’ve ever done; the only thing we can compare it to in the U.S. is Yosemite Valley.  The trail started out with thick clouds/mist, but we didn’t mind the break from the sun (which is very strong here) since we had a bit more climbing to do in the first part of the hike. We finished hiking up Mount Luxmore but didn’t take the 30 minute detour up to the summit, since the views would have been shrouded in mist anyway. We did get above the tussock line to the rocky summit area however. Although it wasn’t raining, the mist made the cobwebs look like they were encrusted with diamonds.

Between Mount Luxmore and the next peak, after about two hours of hiking, we stopped at the emergency shelter for lunch and used the picnic table and chemical toilet. Then we did our final climb of the trip up the next peak, not nearly as high or steep as Mount Luxmore, and just as we were starting to descend to a ridge line trail, we broke out of the clouds. We spent the next couple hours on a gorgeous ridgeline trail with clouds on one side and sun on the other.

We passed the second alpine shelter and had another bathroom break, then took a small side trip to an overlook and took some panoramic pictures. Steep canyons, waterfalls, “slips” (landslides), alpine tundra, patches of snow on the peaks, and a view of Lake Manapouri way down the valley formed by the Iris Burn river.

From the overlook the train descended steeply for several miles through beech forest resplendent with ferns, mosses, and fungi (apparently this is the time of year that mushrooms bloom and they have some really neat looking ones here). It felt like we were walking through “Jurassic Park” or “Lord of the Rings”! Just when our knees were about to give out, we reached a lovely creek that flowed down to the Iris Burn river, so we knew we were getting close. We followed that for another mile or so until the switchbacks finally flattened out a bit, and soon we arrived at the hut. It was even nicer than our last hut, which was nice because our hike was longer and two days in, we really needed to wash! This one had a private washroom with a plastic mat on the floor and a drain, so you could take a cold “shower” with your water bottle. Once I saw the washroom, I sprayed myself with bug spray (the sandflies were in full force here) and rested in the sun on the hut porch while Gabe tried to catch some fish in the Iris Burn. No luck though. After washing up and having dinner in the common room, we turned in for a decent night’s sleep.

A 360 Degrees Panoramic Shot from the Viewpoint:

The first day of the Kepler Track hike was mostly uphill, although the first hour and a half was flat along the shores of the lake, through beech forest lush with moss and ferns.  We had our first taste of D.O.C.’s high trail standards: the wide, flat trail was “paved” with gravel in many places, had a gutter to keep it dry when necessary, and there were footbridges over the many small streams that we crossed.  Once the trail started to climb, the trees got larger, and we’d occasionally go up a set of stairs; both stairs and footbridges had chicken wire “carpet” to keep you from slipping in wet weather, and the longer bridges had handrails on one side (practical, but you can still see the creek on the other side, which is nice).  After climbing above a limestone bluff, we stopped just below the ridgeline to have lunch.  After lunch, the trees started to be covered with wisps of white moss which looked like Spanish moss but more evenly distributed; soon after we broke through the tree line to the alpine tundra/grasslands, which the locals call “tussocks”.

After another 30 minutes of hiking and stair climbing over mountain tops, high winds started to blow off the clouds, and we were treated to our first panoramic views of Fiordland.  A high-pressure system was forecast for the next week, and we were very happy to hear it!  Soon we reached our destination for the night, a little ahead of schedule since we had fresh legs and lots of excited energy.  Luxmore Hut is above the tree line overlooking the South Fiord of Lake Te Anau, which features some mound-shaped islands of hard rock left by the last glacier to move through.  It has bunk beds with foam mattresses for 55 trampers (there were 50 there that night, from all over the world); a common room with a wood stove for heat (not needed that night) and electric lights in the evening powered by solar panels; a kitchen with propane stoves for everyone to share and sinks with drinkable water; bathrooms with flush toilets; and a private “washroom” with a sink for sponge baths. Pretty deluxe by our standards!  Before we made dinner, we took a little 10 minute hike to a nearby cave, which was formed by the same river as the glow worm cave.  We didn’t go in too far, but saw lots of cool limestone formations.

After breakfast we drove back up the gorge the way we had arrived, because last night it had been dark out already and we wanted to see it.  We saw the Kawaru Bungy center where bungy jumping was invented in 1985 by A.J. Hackett, and an adorable little gold-rush era town called Arrowtown.  After stopping to take pictures at both sites, we drove back through Queenstown to start the two hour trip to Te Anau, where we will begin our four day hike through Fiordland.

Bungy Bridge

Fiordland is the southwest corner of the South Island, bordering the Tasman Sea, on the other side of which are Tasmania and Australia.  It’s a world heritage site due to its stunning beauty and unique flora and fauna.  Lakes, fiords (narrow fingers of lakes), and sounds (which open to the ocean) divide up rugged green mountains with snow-capped peaks.  It’s one of the wettest places on earth with 7 meters of rain a year, and everywhere you look there are crystal clear rivers and waterfalls, all of which are safe to drink from!  Its unique plants and animals are also less affected by introduced species than the rest of the country: 80 to 85 million years ago, New Zealand split off from a proto-continent named Gondwana, which also included Africa, Australia, and Antarctica.  Human beings arrived here only 800 years ago, in boats from Polynesia, and the first white folk not until 1789; both groups introduced non-native species (Maori brought dogs and rats, white people stoats and possums) which have made many native ground birds extinct.  New Zealand has no native predatory mammals or snakes, and plenty of rich food sources at ground level, so many of the bird species here eventually lost their ability to fly and became easy prey for pests.  The underwater environment is just as unique: About 3 meters of fresh rainwater sit on top of the seawater in the sounds, and the freshwater is tinted dark brown with tannins from the forest debris which it runs through to get to the sounds.  This dark layer means that you have a very dark saltwater environment at a shallow depth, and spectacular corals which usually grow only at 40 meters depth grow in the sounds only 4-5 meters below the surface.  It’s a great place to scuba dive, but unfortunately we won’t have time this trip.

When we arrived in Te Anau we first headed to the D.O.C. (Department of Conservation) visitor center to pick up our passes for the huts on the Kepler Track, which we’ll be hiking for the next four days.  Then we headed to our room at the backpacker lodge to drop off our bags.  This time we had a private bedroom with a sink, although the bathroom was still down the hall.  The cold rainy weather had me worried that I’d need warmer clothes on the hike, which covers a lot of alpine territory, so our first stop was an outdoor-wear store.  I purchased a set of one of New Zealand’s most famous exports, Icebreaker-brand merino long underwear.  Icebreaker is an ultra-green company, and my shirt came with a “baa-code” which I can enter online to see where the sheep which grew the wool for my shirt was pastured!  Once I was outfitted, we headed to The Range restaurant and bar for a quick late lunch.  Then we headed to the grocery store to pick up lunch for our days on the trail: a loaf of bread, peanut butter, and jelly.

Our next adventure was that evening before dinner: a tour of the “cave of swirling waters” for which Te Anau was named.  We finally got to see the glow worms which Peter and Alison had told us about!  First we took a boat across the lake to the cave entrance, then walked along raised walkways through the cave (the floor of which was the rushing Forest Burn river).  Finally we reached the glow-worm cavern, where we got in a motor-less boat which the guide maneuvered by pulling on chains connected to the cave walls.  Glow worms are scared by light and noise, so we were cautioned to keep quiet, and all the lights were turned off – the guide must have had the cave shape and the chain placement memorized.  It was pretty creepy!  But we did see a ton of glow worms, which looked like tiny blue stars in the black sky of the cave.

Ferry to the Caves

After the cave tour, we had a delicious dinner at the Red Cliff Café back in Te Anau.  Apparently the crew of the Lord of the Rings movie used to hang out there when they were shooting in Fiordland!  I finally got to try the local sparkling wine which is made in the Méthode Traditionelle (fermented in the bottle).  After dinner we headed back to Steamers Beach Lodge and packed for our tramp.  We meant to update the blog and check in with Chris, but just ran out of time!

Our only other stops on the way to Christchurch were at roadside creeks and rivers for Gabe to fish; he finally landed a brown trout!

We got to Queenstown late and found the key to our hostel room (private bedroom, shared living area, kitchen, and bath) taped to the reception door. We quickly dumped our luggage (tourist car break-ins are a cottage industry here, and we have a nice laptop and SLR camera, plus iPod and iPhone); turned on the radiator in our chilly room (the mountains above the city are dusted with snow); and headed to town for dinner. The Cow, recommended as having great atmosphere by our friend Mike Poreda, lived up to our expectations: it looked very Middle-Ages, built of dark wood, stone, and slate, with a heavy beamed ceiling and a fire going in the fireplace, plus antique decorations such as carbonator bottles and a cash register. We also loved their pizza! I had the Veggie Annie, and Gabe had tomato and pineapple. And I discovered a new favorite beer: Monteith’s Seasonal Summer Ale, which is a thick golden brew with hints of honey and ginger. After dinner it was already 11pm so we headed straight to bed.

After lunch we were able to squeeze in a quick trip to Huka Falls about 5 minutes outside of town, then headed to the airport.  We took a little plane (seated about 20 people, one on each side of the aisle) to Wellington.  I was a little awestruck because I sat behind a lady who was a serial IronMan competitor – her shorts were from IronMan Hawaii, and you could tell by her huge quads and slight limp that she had competed yesterday.  She was travelling with her husband and 10-year-old son.  Our first flight was to Wellington, a city on the south tip of the North Island, which many people say resembles San Francisco because it’s pretty, hilly, set on a bay, and has lots of Victorian architecture.  We didn’t get to see the city except from the air however, since we had to catch a flight right away to Christchurch on the South Island.

Once we arrived in Christchurch, the largest city on the South Island (which is less populated than the North Island, both historically by Maori and today) we rented another Toyota Corolla hatchback, red this time.  We drove straight to our hotel in the city center.  Hotel So was recommended by our friends Craig and Angela; it is a new approach to hotels which forgoes some extras to offer you a lower rate.  For about $50 U.S./night we got a small room (although we did get a free upgrade to a “king” – once again two twins under one sheet) with a pod bathroom which resembled an airplane bathroom with glass walls.  It’s very hip: there is a row of Macs in the lobby and free wi-fi everywhere; no porter to carry your bags; room cleaning and new towels cost extra; no room service food, but a Japanese restaurant with “take away” in the lobby; blue lights under a tall bed (you can put your bags underneath to save floor space, which is quite limited); five colors of mood lighting in the room; a flat-panel TV; and instead of a snooze button, SoSleep and SoWake systems which bring the lights up or down slowly and (if waking) turns on the TV, to a channel of New Zealand landscapes with atmospheric music.

After exploring our room’s features, we headed over to Cathedral Square, then down to “the strip” on Oxford Terrace.   It was hard to choose among the many delicious restaurants, all of which had menus out by the sidewalk.  We ended up at one called Liquidity which specialized in champagne (they had a collection of cool ice buckets), although we didn’t have any of the bubbly.  The music alternated between old-school jazz (which we wished they’d stick with), terrible Euro club techno, and even worse cheesy pop.  Gabe ordered a complete menu of Gruyere fondue, scallops and pork belly with bacon foam, steak, and a fancy tiramisu in a martini glass, which he finished with Carrie’s help.  Carrie ordered grouper (which they call groper, heh heh) with prawns, and it was good except that it also came with sausage and oysters which weren’t mentioned on the menu… ah, New Zealand.

Later… well the weather did clear and I was able to go skydiving!  Check another one off the life to-do list for me (Gabe had already been before, on Oahu in Hawaii).  First I spent the morning exploring the resort town of Lake Taupo, which is at the base of Mount Tauhara and feeds the large Waikato River, which provides the most hydroelectric power of any river in New Zealand.  Checked out the A.C. Baths pools which are fed by a natural hot spring, and bought a new Speedo to replace the one I lost in Whangarei.  Then I walked around downtown, got some lunch and some cash, and bought a CD of local music (Killervision by Salmonella Dub, recommended in the New Zealand section of the Countries of the World book which Patty and Julio gave us for Christmas – excellent reggae-ish tunes with some jazz and electronic influences).  Around 3pm I called Taupo Tandems, which was recommended by our dive buddy Jen, and they said we were on!  I went out to the airport and met my instructor Phil, and signed up for a 15,000 foot jump (recommended by Gabe because it gives you about a minute of freefall before they open the chute, as opposed to a 12,000 foot jump which is only 45 seconds).  Jen was right – your body and mind take a little while to get on the same page once you get out of the plane, so I was glad I had the extra time.  Like on my wedding day, I wasn’t nervous until the last minute, but afterwards I realized how much adrenaline must have been going through my body, because once Phil opened the chute I was shaking like a leaf although I wasn’t cold, and later I felt a bit nauseated for about 30 minutes, a sign of adrenaline withdrawal.

After watching the DVDs and buying my pre-jump photo, I headed back to the lodge to meet Gabe.  He had a great day fishing the Whakapapa River, about 90 minutes from Lake Taupo, with guide Steve and his springer spaniel Flash.  Unfortunately he didn’t actually land any of the many fish he hooked… but the fishing is better on the South Island, where we’re heading tomorrow, anyway.  Once Gabe washed up we headed to dinner at Pimentos, recommended by Lisa who works the desk at Taupo Tandems.  My fish and wine pairing (a local Sauvingnon Blanc, supposedly New Zealand’s best varietal) was delicious, and Gabe enjoyed a chicken pasta dish with mushrooms, and a raspberry crème brulee.  We intended to hit the Laundromat afterwards, but were too tired and headed back to the lodge for an early bedtime.

Morgan was great and we were glad to have him along, because on each of our two dives he helped us find good stuff to see, and cope with unpleasant surprises!  The first dive was at a site called Trevor’s Rocks.  Just a we completed our skills drills, Gabe’s weight belt fell off, which could have ended our dive right there.  However Gabe didn’t panic, and quick-thinking Morgan hammered the buckle together right there under water using a rock, so we were good to go.  On that dive, we saw a green moray eel, and Morgan also pointed out some really cool looking shrimp hiding in a rock crevice – they were red and white striped with long white antennae.

After we got back up we had hot soup and delicious vegetarian bag lunches packed by Dive Tutukaka: cheese sandwiches, banana and apple, and a chocolate chip cookie.  Before our next dive, we motored the two huge and one small dive boat into the Rikoriko cave, the largest sea cave by volume in the world.  It was formed by a trapped gas bubble when the islands were still volcanically active, and has a even domed roof which provides great acoustics.  Apparently they even have concerts on boats there sometimes!  We were treated to a rendition of the Danish national anthem by three female exchange students on the next boat over, then headed out to our next dive site, Nursery Cove.  Once again we went down with Morgan and Jen.  This time Carrie’s mask strap broke as she jumped into the water, but she didn’t notice until she was at depth, because the pressure kept the mask on.  When she noticed she was a little nervous, but Morgan seemed to think I could proceed, and truthfully with some frequent “Tupperware” burping and remembering not to breathe out through my nose, the thing was pretty secure, so we managed to complete our dive like that.  I was glad we did because we were able to swim through a rock tunnel in The Labyrinth area, and later we saw a scorpion fish and two big stingrays.

When we got back to Tutukaka they gave us free t-shirts reading “earned not bought” for our bravery in the face of equipment failure, which was really nice!  We got our log books stamped and hit the road around 5pm for the long drive to Lake Taupo on Highway 1.  First we drove back through Auckland without stopping; the next big city was Hamilton where we had a quick fast-food dinner; and finally we reached the lovely TeMoenga Lodge around 11pm.

Afterwards we walked around downtown Whangarei (pronounced fan-ga-REY) for a bit, then drove to a nearby Dick Smith’s (like Circuit City) and bought a voltage converter/adaptor to charge our cameras, phones (Gabe’s – mine doesn’t work here), and Gabe’s laptop.  New Zealand is on 240 volts as compared to the U.S.’s 110.  Then we went back to the hotel and grabbed our “torches” (flashlights) and drove to Abbey Caves.  We hiked maybe 1-2 miles through pastures and woods, hoping to see some glow worms, but the caves were all flooded from the recent rains.

Fortunately the day was starting to clear up, and it was quite hot and muggy.  We decided to go back ot the hotel and grab our bathing suits, and go for a swim instead of heading straight off to another hike.  Gabe had already figured out that we might still be able to dive Poor Knights Islands on Saturday instead of Friday, if we took the shorter 6-hour route to Lake Taupo on Saturday evening, instead of the longer scenic route that would take a full day.  Also we would get there late at night instead of in time for dinner.

Our next adventure was driving up the north side of Whangarei bay through the Whangarei Heads, a collecion of little beach towns, towards the tip at Bream Head.  We stopped at McLeod Bay for a picnic lunch by a rocky beach, and I jumped in for a swim (unfortunately that night I realized I left my bathing suit in the bathroom!)  Around 5pm we set off on our planned hike up Mount Manaia, a shaded series of switchbacks through lush jungle which brings you first to a lookout over Bream Bay.  The entire trip was to the sounds of birdcalls, and our sandaled feet were often cooled by streams.  The top of the mountain has five rocky pinnacles which are explained by a Maori legend:  A powerful chief named Manaia coveted the beautiful wife of a lesser neighboring chief, Hautatu.  He sent Hautatu off on a raid and stole Pito away (just like King David in the Bible!).  When Hautatu returned, he chased Manaia, Pito, and her two children across the mountain top, but all five were struck by lightning and turned into rocky pillars.  The top of the mountain is tapu, which means sacred/forbidden/cursed in Maori; apparently they used to leave the remains of big chiefs up there.  So we only hiked to the base of the pillars; the tops looked like you’d need rock climbing equipment to get up there anyway.

Gabe took some panoramic shots from the summit. He took several shots then used photoshop to stitch them together. We used one of them for the picture at the top of the blog.

After our hike we headed back to Bordeaux Lodge for our final Monteith’s and showers, then went out to Bogart’s for a dinner of gourmet flatbreads, salad, chips, and beer’s.  This was my first experience with a New Zealand quirk where they don’t serve you exactly what’s on the menu: my flatbread was listed as tomato, basil, and mozzarella, but came without basil but with asiago.  My side salad was yummy though, and Gabe really liked his flatbread with feta and caramelized onions.  After dinner we walked around the Town Basin, an outdoor shopping area with a large yacht harbor, a clock museum, a kid’s playground, and some restaurants.  Apparently it’s very popular with the yachting set as a harbor from Pacific hurricane season: they have a lending library, a package pickup and message center, and good ship repair people.

Yesterday afternoon after Gabe finished editing the photos and finally succeeded in waking me from my 3-hour nap, he was starving and (unusually for him) wanted a steak.  So we went to a surf-n-turf place on Parnell Road called Di Mare.  It was a tiny place in a back alley – very intimate.  Our server, a Brazilian lady, brought Gabe’s “medium well” (actually almost rare) with a mushroom cream sauce, and he finished the whole thing.  I enjoyed Australian “prawns” (actually shrimp) with a garlic butter brandy sauce.  The appetizer “bruchetta” was actually a delicious garlic bread with melted cheese and tomato slices on top.  After dinner Gabe headed straight to bed, but I was wide awake so I walked over to Father’s, a nearby Irish pub, and read Watchmen to the sounds of a live band from Cork.

We woke up pretty early and got ready to check out, then left our stuff in the room then went out to breakfast at Café Cezanne on Ponsonby Road, Auckland’s “foodie” street with a lot of swank shops.  I wasn’t hungry, and Gabe’s eggs benedict took so long that they refunded his money without being asked!  However it wasn’t a total loss – I got to walk around a bit and took a picture of a cool building which now houses a bar specializing in Belgian beers, and discovered what the mysterious “flat white” coffee drink is:  latte with a single shot.  (A “latte” is also served – that’s with a double shot.)  The coffee is really good here!

After breakfast we headed back to the motel to check out, then made one more stop on the way out of Auckland: The Domain, the city’s oldest and finest park.  We took pictures of an enormous tree with magnolia-like leaves (a fig?) and visited the Wintergarden (two glass green houses – cool and warm – connected by a courtyard).  And last, we explored the reason I wanted to visit The Domain: The Fernery, sponsored by the Fernz Corporation, which has over 100 types of ferns in dry, intermediate, and wet habitats.  We shared our time there with a group of photography students.

After grabbing two more delicious coffees to go on Parnell Road, we hit the road for Whangarei, where we intended to dive Poor Knights Islands tomorrow.  However, it ended up raining hard all day, and by the time we arrived at our hotel, the dive outfit had already called them to cancel our trip.  However, the two hour drive up from Auckland was a good chance to see the countryside, which looks a lot like Hawaii except with gorgeous tree ferns everywhere.  And our hotel, Bordeaux Lodge, is beautiful: another kitchenette and living area with sofa and coffee table, beautiful décor and bath, and two comfy robes.  It even has grapes growing on a fence outside the kitchen window!

We dropped our stuff off and headed out to explore.  First stop was lunch at Brauhaus Frings: fresh-caught fish, chips, delicious side salad with sundried tomatoes, and local brews (the beer is good here – and not as strong as in California which I like).  After lunch we went for a couple hikes in the pouring rain: a short loop hike to view Whangarei Falls, was running fast and muddy.

And another loop in A. H. Reed Memorial Kauri park, to view some 500-year-old Kauri trees.  These trees, which have extremely hard wood, have been mostly wiped out since the arrival of Europeans with metal tools.  They are now protected from harvest except in special cases, such as culling a diseased or dying tree, or building a ceremonial war canoe.

Day 1

Our flight over was the best EVER – great movie selection (I watched Ratatouille, Burn After Reading, and Whale Rider); a really nice fleece blanket; great food (I had ricotta ravioli with sweet potatoes, carrots, and zucchini; delish whole wheat roll; cheese and crackers; and FREE New Zealand wine!; breakfast was steamed veggies and potato cakes, full cream strawberry yogurt, fruit, OJ, and a blueberry muffin; they also gave us snacks – cookies and cassava chips); a cool flight tracker including simulated cockpit view and instrument panel; and video games.  Plenty of overhead space, even though the flight was full; water taps near the bathroom for drinking water; free headphones; and an extra-large bathroom with a changing table.  All that in economy!  I love Air New Zealand.

When we arrive they inspected us thoroughly for agricultural products (i.e. pests), and checked our boots and sandals for dirt.  (Gabe had to buy new fishing boots for this trip – they banned felt soles as of last October to help prevent the spread of mud snails and another invasive species.)  Fortunately we left our tent at home; our only backpacking will be Kepler track and we’ll stay in the hut system.  If they suspect pests on any of your gear apparently they take it away for 20 minutes and fumigate it, then bring it back.

After clearing customs we rented a silver-blue Toyota Corolla hatchback from Budget.  It had a standard transmission – 6 speed with an O-ring for reverse.  Fortunately Gabe drove because that’s a lot of newness for me in addition to driving on the left instead of the right.  I navigated through Auckland to our first stop, Gabe’s coworker’s friend’s house.  Sarah Skinner, Gabe’s coworker, is really awesome and so we were not surprised that so were her friend Allison Bonney and Allison’s husband Peter.  Peter’s from California but Allison is a native New Zealander.  They have a beautiful four-bedroom Victorian near Herne Bay where Allison fed us a second delicious breakfast while getting her two kids off to school (she was a caterer in SF before selling the business a couple years ago to move back to New Zealand for more space).  Peter is a software developer.  Their place is only 10 minutes from City Center, but very close to the kid’s school and right next to a park.  Peter and Allison gave us ideas for a great day in Auckland:  pick up lunch at Ripe, a great deli nearby; hike up Mt. Eden near downtown for the view; take the ferry to Devonport (20 minutes from Viaduct Harbor, which is walking distance from Auckland City Hotel where we’re staying) and hike up Mt. Victoria for a picnic lunch.  (The barley-beet-mint salad and caramel espresso bar were AMAZING!)  They also loaned us a couple boogie boards for our trip… we will drop them off before flying out of Auckland again in 19 days!

Our hotel is very green – like a lot of New Zealand, the toilets have two flush settings – low-flow for #1 and regular flow for #2.  The lobby bathroom has a low-flow faucet and no paper towels, only an air-dryer and two REAL hand towels.  Fortunately the shower in our room has plenty of pressure!  The room windows open so no need for the free-standing A/C unit yet (there’s also a plug-in radiator for colder seasons).  The weirdest green feature is that to activate the electricity in your room, you have to put your room key into a slot inside the entrance – so you can’t leave anything on while you’re gone!  The room is big and nice for $50 U.S. (about $100 NZ) though – living area, microwave and stove, sink, counter, empty mini-fridge, large closet with removable wooden hangers, white washable duvet cover and lots of down pillows (a la Hampton Inn).  Right now we’re relaxing with a sixer of local Monteith’s Original Ale that I scored from the walk-in beer cooler in the back of the tiny Liquor Stream across the street from the hotel.  Gabe is editing his pictures from today, and I’m about to start researching dinner options in our Lonely Planet.

We noticed that the majority of the mail boxes had “No Junk Mail” plaques. If only Email Spam Filters were that simple…