A few small adventures in Fiordland

Yes, I did spell fiord with an I. Yes, I know it's supposed to be a j. This is what happens when the English take over. When they first got here, there were no English words to describe what this place was, so they wrongly called it a "Sound", hence "Milford Sound". Then they found out there WAS a word to describe this place, but were stubborn in their English ways and decided it would help if they called the area "Fiordland", changing fjord to fiord. Ugh. Silly Brits.

Anyway. I've been in Milford Sound now for about two weeks I think (has it been that long?!) and I'm going to start a job tomorrow working on some of the cruise boats that take upwards of 3000 people a day out around the fjord. My job will be less than exciting, but I will talk with visitors, make coffees and hopefully see dolphins again! Last week I went on a cruise myself, as a guest (for free!) and a family of about 15 dolphins played around our boat for a long time, surfing in our boat's waves, jumping in and around and generally being all-around awesome. Too bad my camera battery was dead. I swore I'd bring my camera on every cruise shift I ever have, and will take photos if it happens again. I was so excited, I nearly cried! It was so amazing. It had better happen again!

Last week I went on an overnight camping trip to a place nearby called Gertrude Saddle. My first overnight hike, it wasn't that long on either end but it was quite steep and rocky. The best part was the sunset and sunrise! It was c-c-c-cold up there! Photos are HERE

Yesterday I went on another kayaking trip in the afternoon, and it was reaaaalllly beautiful. There were only 5 of us, and the Sea Ka motorboat took us far out into the sound and we kayaked back. It was pretty gorgeous, but I was tuckered out by the end of it all! Photos of that trip are HERE.

Love you, keep in touch,
xo

Here I Be

My plan from Franz Josef (and oh, what an ever-changing plan that is) was to carry on the Stray Bus, down to Queenstown, up to Milford Sound for a kayaking day trip, back down to Tuatepere and further south to Invercargill, before heading up the East coast to Dunedin for penguin and albatross sightings and hopefully some wages as well.

But then, oh then, my plans changed.

Wanaka was beautiful, I can definitely see myself staying there over Winter holidays (Summer in the Northern Hemisphere) to work at the ski-fields, as they call them. I had an interview with a lovely lady at a Montessori preschool there, and we had a frank discussion about my current lack of qualifications to teach in NZ and the unlikelihood of me being qualified to teach Kindergarten here due to the differences in training requirements between Canada and here. In the end, I met a nice lady with a nice school and we had a nice chat. Nice. Wanaka is pretty chill although there is still lots to do. Like take photos of me sitting on buildings and standing at awkward angles at Puzzle World. Would have liked to have stayed longer in Wanaka, but onwards.

Photos of Wanaka and PuzzleWorld

To Queenstown, adrenaline capital of the world or something. Things I didn't do in Queenstown:
-jump off a bridge with a bungee attached to my ankles
-jump off a cliff with a rope attached to my hips
-jump out of a plane with a parachute attached
As you can see, very little jumping happened in Queenstown. I did, however, encourage a group of fellow backpackers to join me on a hike up Ben Lomond mountain because my guide book said it wouuld be good and very rewarding. Little did we know that it was going to be a steady ascent with actually NO flat bits for catching your breath. It was a BEAUTIFUL hike but very strenuous and I certainly got my exercise that day.


Photos of crazy lady bungee jumping and me hiking in Queenstown.

Then I got to Milford Sound and I couldn’t bring myself to leave.

It’s the first time I’ve really felt like I needed to stay somewhere here in New Zealand. The first time I’ve seen somewhere and thought “we don’t have THIS in Canada” (but we probably actually do in Northern BC somewhere) and wanted to explore it more fully. There are mountains, forests, streams, ocean, waterfalls all in one place. You really have to come out of your way to get here, too, so it means that it doesn’t quite have that same feeling as a stop-on-the-way-to-? because it really is a destination in itself. And it’s a world heritage area.

My kayaking day was gorgeous, sunny and warm. There’s not too much to say about it, but you can look at some photos of me wearing a dorky sunhat and a fluorescent paddle jacket here. I’m told that the sounds (fjords, actually) are more impressive during or right after a rainfall, because the rain causes millions of little waterfalls streaming down the sides of the mountains for hours after any rain.

Photos of Milford Sound and Kayaking.

Which is what I woke up to last night. See, on my kayaking trip I learned that if you see whispy little clouds it means a storm is coming, and we DID see whispy little clouds. Our guide Adrian told is that it’s like a race, if you can imagine the light ones running really fast, the medium sized clouds coming up close behind followed by the big heavy clouds coming last. So if you’re out trekking about, when you see those light whispy clouds you know it’s going to be your last night pitching a tent before you head back for shelter. Sure enough, I woke up to the sound of rain crashing down on the roof last night (I LOVE that sound) and when I pulled back the curtains this morning there were millions of waterfalls outside (yes! Just outside my window!)

I’ve decided I am going to take some time here to work and rest and explore and hike and swim and and and and and. So for now, I am working for my accommodation and food. I changed about 60 bedsheets today and in exchange, I ate like a queen. What a luxury to cook meals with more than 5 ingredients!!! I have access to an entire well-stocked restaurant-type kitchen, which is INCREDIBLE. I made corn and potato pancakes with shallots and parmesan cheese and garlic, with sour cream (!), bacon and a salad. AND THEN I had dessert, Movenpick’s vanilla ice cream with chocolate bits sprinkled on top. I could get used to this. I could also get very very round.

When the manager comes back from his days off, I will apply for work so I can make some money too, instead of just living here for free. It seems likely that I will either get work here, or if not here, on the cruise ships that run day-trips on the fjord. I’m hopeful, and comfortable.

I have no cell phone coverage, so if you want me to call you, I can do that (send money, because it’s big bucks from the payphones!!! ;) but you can’t call me. You can e-mail me though still as I have access to free Internet (yay!) on a regular basis. So even though I am in the middle of nowhere, I would still like to hear from you!

In the meantime, I will be reading, drinking tea, hiking, exploring, looking, listening, writing, swimming, playing in a lodge in the middle of nowhere. If you'd like to see some of what it looks like, I took some photos.

xo V

Things have just been flying around here since just before Christmas, so I’ve got loads to catch up on. Sorry for the not-so-brief hiatus from the blog updates! I’m going to have to keep it brief as it is, the Internet isn’t cheap (free?! HA) and the Internet bus (just picture it, folks!) closes in 30 minutes. So I’ll speed through this!

Bart invited me to his Mum’s place for Christmas in Hamilton, with a stopover at his grandfather’s funeral in Napier. It wasn’t probably the way I pictured my Southern Hemisphere Christmas Vacation Kickoff, but it actually wasn’t all that bad either. Got to meet loads of the extended family and hear some really nice stories about a man that obviously had touched many people around New Zealand and the UK. Onwards, to Bart’s family cottage for some time out at a lake, just so that I could stay in bed for 2 days with the flu.

Pictures of The Lake, Christmas, etc.

Then onwards to Coromandel Peninsula, where many of Bart’s friends put us up in their bach’s (=cottages) and we had a lovely time. It’s so gorgeous out there. The highlight would probably be the day that Lundy drove us up a random forestry road, took us on a ½ hour bush walk and then the trees parted and we were on a little secret beach, sharing with 3 other people, surrounded by cliffs and crystal blue waters. Beach cricket ensued. Other than that, I’ll let the photos do the talking…

Photos of Coromandel and New Year’s Eve

From there, it was back to Hamilton, where Bart’s mum Claire put me up (put up with me?) for another night. She was more than accommodating and welcoming, thanks for that!!! Bart had to fly to Christchurch for work so after speeding him off to the airport (only to miss his flight) I drove to Wellington. I’d had a few brief left-side-of-the-road driving lessons, so I wasn’t totally in the dark. I got there without any incidence, thankfully, and without putting off too many people in roundabouts. Eek! The following day it was farewell to the North Island. Caught the ferry to Picton and hopped back on the old Stray bus to start my exploring of the South Island. What a culture shock! I’d had 7 weeks of somewhat normal living in Wellington, and now it’s back on a bus of rowdies, staying at hostels and living out of backpacks again!

The first night we stayed in Marahau, which is basically a nowhere town at one end of the Abel Tasman National Park. I opted not to do a 3 day hike, and instead just did a one day hike, in and out of the park. It rained the whole day, and I twisted my ankle, but it was still pretty sweet. 22 kilometers, my body still aches! After a sleep in a rain-filled tent reminiscent of a Chinese Water Torture Machine we drove on to little Barrytown, a slightly larger nowhere town where a night of drunken debauchery ensued, because there really isn’t much else to do in Barrytown. The next day I spent probably the best $4 ever on admission to Bushman Pete’s Museum, which was a bizarre journey into the backwoods of New Zealand. I had the opportunity to watch a video outlining the beginning of the deer farming industry (see photo of deer flying below a helicopter) among other enlightening experiences. I opted out of the possum pie tasting.

Photos of Abel Tasman, Barrytown, Bushman Pete….

Onwards, to Franz Josef, where I did an AMAZING full day hike, another 14km. It was amazing, and there’s not a whole lot to say ontop of these gorgeous photos….

Photos of Franz Josef

Keep in touch, I miss you and love you.