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| New Zealand |
| Population: 3,864,129 Ave Income: NZD$ 17,700 per year Currency: $1US = NZD$2.25 |
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Having never visited New Zealand before, 'the Land of the Long White Cloud', I had expected for some reason for it to be similiar to Australia. How wrong I was! Where Australia's interior is hot, dusty and flat, New Zealand is diverse, mountainous and well-watered, a haven for naturalists and holds
surprises at every bend in the road. The Maori heritage adds an interesting twist to what some could perceive as even more Anglified culture than Australia. If you ever wanted to get away from it all and bliss out on nature and spectacular scenery, New Zealand is the place.
South Island I flew into Christchurch, south island, on a rainy and slightly chilly february night. The first thing that I noticed was the alarmingly English-looking semi-detached houses on the bus from the airport. Coming from the stunning sunshine and very different Australia, this was quite a shock. Although the rain had cleared by the next day, it wasn't enough to keep me in town: Christchurch itself is quite nice, but too quiet for me and with just a little too much Englishness to seem like I was far enough away from the familiar. I stocked up on warm clothing and fleeces, for although it was summer in the southern hemisphere, most of the South Island is mountainous where I hoped to do some trekking. In the hostel I was lucky to meet an American guy called Mike who had spent some time hitching round New Zealand and had some great stories to tell. Deciding in a rare instance to throw caution to the wind, I took a bus to the outskirts of town and thumbed a lift south towards Mount Cook. Fortunately, I got a lift straight away with three Kiwi guys, Andy, Puff and Joe, who I am actually still in touch with. They were just back from London and on a surfing tour of the south coast in a VW van with surfboards strapped to the top. In the end, I ended up travelling with them as far as Queenstown. Lake Tekapo After leaving the lowlands of Christchurch, we headed into the centre of the South Island, towards the Southern Alps, and began to climb in altitude. Our first stop, Lake Tekapo, is a beautiful crystal-blue lake fed by glacier water from the surrounding mountains. I discovered why NZ is known as the Land of the Long White Cloud - every afternoon, a long thin white cloud appears over the South Island, and follows up the mountainous spine of the island. We took a short trek around the Lake and then drove out of town to a forest to set up camp. Spent freezing night in tent. |
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 Trekking round Lake Tekapo - click to enlarge |
 Lake Tekapo - click to enlarge |
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Mount Cook
At over 3000m, this is the highest mountain in NZ. The road from Tekapo to Wanaka, a town in the cradle of the mountains, is beautiful. One of my main reasons to do this route was to stop off in the town of Twizel to do some helibiking. It sounded amazing: you are flown to the top of a mountain in a helicopter with mountan bikes strapped to the outside. You are dropped off, and bike all the way down back into town. In fact, in this small town, there is an annual competition to find the fastest helibiker. Anyway, going up in the chopper is pretty cool; as it hovered higher and higher Mount Cook came into view. We were dropped off pretty high up, in fact snow was on the ground. Led by trusty Al, we all started our descent. Although I had done a fair amount of biking at University, this was completely different and quite hard going! But the views were fantastic. Unfortunately I had only been riding for about 30 minutes before my wheel hit a rock sideways and I went flying. I landed on my right arm and shoulder on a rock - that was the end of my biking. Very fortunately Andy was a First Aid Instructor and so fully bandaged up my arm, although I had to walk all the way down - another three hours. Fair to say, it was a fantastic walk - apart from the pain - and nothing that a couple of glasses of wine didn't sort out later although my arm was bandaged for quite a while. That evening we drove across to Mount Cook National Park, as dark storm clouds gathered around us. We visited the Tasman Glacier, and almost got blown away by the high winds. Camped in the most amazing spot, surrounded by hills, sheep and the foreboding shadow of Mount Cook. Wanaka After a short drive, we reached the funky town of Wanaka, on the edge of the Mount Aspiring National Park. Was forced to take glacial swim in Lake Wanaka (see photo), then stocked up on beer and took a hot shower on a campsite - wow. We spent a drunken night at some of the 'Alpine' bars and then camped outside town. |
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Queenstown
What a fantastic drive from Wanaka to 'adventure-capital' of New Zealand, Queenstown. We crossed high over the Coronet Pass, which in the ski season is a popular resort. Winding along the almost-dirt road, Queenstown came into view through the valleys - the end of our little trip. Queenstown, for all the hype, is actually quite a small place, trendy, with lots of al fresco bars and expensive outdoor clothing shops. We played boules and one-armed frisbee by the lake, and camped out of the van one last time in a clearing by a river outside town. The next day, I sadly said goodbye to the guys, who were going off trekking in the far south. They had been fantastic and generous travelling companions, giving me insights into Kiwi culture. However, I was waiting for my friend Gavin to arrive from the UK, and also needed to rest my injured shoulder. Using my injured arm as an excuse to get out of bungee-jumping, I spent another couple of days in Queenstown, before Gavin and I hitched to the town of Te Anau, on the edge of Milford Sound National Park. |
 Sheep, outside Queenstown - click to enlarge |
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Milford Sound
One of the most amazing natural places in New Zealand. Part of the Fiordland National Park, Milford is the most well-known of the glacier-carved fiords in the Park. Gavin and I had hired a car to take us there, which was a great adventure in itself. The scenery is spectacular the whole way. We drove through lush green valleys covered in thick forest filled with all kinds of wildlife. One aspect of this part of New Zealand is that it has very high rainfall - everywhere we stopped en route was the gentle sound of cascading streams and mini-waterfalls. As we neared Milford Sound, the rain started to pour down, and the landscape changed dramatically, with green slopes giving way to sheer granite cliffs topped in mist, covered by huge waterfalls. Despite the pouring rain, we found the carpark and bought tickets for a later cruise round the fiord. In the meantime, we took a short nature trail through a forest. For anyone who has ever imagined an enchanted forest, this had to be it. As the rain cascaded down, huge lichen-covered trees rose up and blocked the light from the sky. Everywhere was the sound of rushing water, and as we picked our way along the trail, every plant appeared different and exotic. Needless to say, while wandering around in dreamland, we became totally soaked by the rain. However, once we boarded the boat, it let up a little and we began to dry off. Milford itself is amazing. Sheer cliffs rise up out of the water, down which thundered huge waterfalls from the mist. As we sailed along, a pod of dolphins swam alongside our boat. It really was an unforgettable place - there are a number of treks you can do through these areas but we had neither the time nor the equipment needed. Drove back to the hostel in Te Anau, and at night we drove out of town with a couple of other people from the hostel. The night sky in this part of NZ is absolutely amazing. One of the guys with us knew a bit about star constellations and pointed out not only the Milky Way, which was easy to see, but the edge of the Milky Way as we looked at it from an angle. Mount Aspiring National Park Back in Queenstown, we took a bus to Wanaka to do a one-day trek in the Mount Aspiring National Park. We stayed in a comfortable hostel that dropped us off in a valley where a trek up to the glacier would take 3 hours. We started along the valley floor and then through forests, climbing up and up as the temperature dropped. To our left was a raging torrent, pure water melted from the glacier ahead of us. At times, the torrent was so strong that it blocked parts of the path and we had to hack our way through dense undergrowth to find a way through. Which we eventually did, and found ourselves staring at a huge majestic glacier high up and ahead of us. After being attacked by New Zealand's version of crows, we headed back down. In true NZ-trek style, it poured with rain and we got completely soaked. |
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Mount Aspiring, part of the Southern Alps |
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"We saw what appeared to be a streak of mist running between two peaks ... Abreast of Mount Cook, close inshore, we could see distinctly that it was an immense field of ice, entirely filling up the valley ... and running far down into the low land." - Frances and Young, explorers from Canterbury in their ship's log, 1859 |
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Fox Glacier
Franz Josef Glacier and Fox Glacier are two of South Island's top attractions. Having studied glaciers in geography at school, recalling them as some kind of random ice objects, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. However, Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers are unlike your average ice-age glacier. At just 300m above sea level, the glacier is very accessible, and armed with a pair of spiky boots and walking stick, you can clamber all over it. Fox Glacier is actually quite amazing. It IS a big chunk of ice, but as you hike over it, you can see where it has forced it's way down the valley. Greymouth The west coast of the South Island is covered in ancient rainforest and is pretty remote. We stopped overnight in a small backpacker's outside Greymouth. Abel Tasman National Park This is just outside Nelson, in the far north of the South Island. Basically it is a coastal trail, although most people choose to kayak along the shore and camp on a beach. And that is what we did. Gavin and I joined a kayaking trip with a bunch of Kiwis, 4 guys and their wives/girlfriends. We were provided with kayaks, (obviously) waterproofs, tents and waterproofs. It was almost like joining a motivation office outing - the guys all seemed to have something to prove, racing each other in the kayaks, doing the barbeque and putting their tents up; their wives gossiped and separated themselves into doing the cooking and clearing up. And they weren't that interested in talking to us - which was ok, as we gently wafted along the coast, taking in the sunshine and looking at the stunning coastal scenery. I found muscles I never knew existed! The second day was the best, we saw penguins (much smaller than I imagined them), seals and (maybe) dolphins. Back at the hostel I bumped into a guy I had met in Indonesia, from my home town, who I remember leaving in a horrible town struck down with food poisoning - fortunately he seemed to have forgotten this. We hooked up with an American and a German pilot and went on a much-needed drinking session in Nelson. With only 10 days until I was due to fly out to LA, I had to head up to North Island. I decided to take the ferry up to Wellington, saying a sad goodbye to Gavin who decided to wander round South Island for a bit longer. North Island Wellington The capital on NZ, meant to be a cool capital city, a chance for me to check out some bars and appreciate 'cosmopolitan' life again; however, there were plenty of things I wanted to do in the North Island, and spent only one short night here. Had time to visit the Natural Science Museum, which was really cool. Took the bus north. |
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Tongarirro Crossing So-called 'The best one-day walk in New Zealand', this is a trek up and across the craters of three volcanoes. One erupted in 1997 and is still smoking. I started at about 7.30am, and soon there were plenty of other trekkers around - no chance of losing the track. The climb was steep, and hard work, but after a couple of hours, the track opened up onto a moon-like landscape. A dusty track led over the crater, and down onto the most amazing view of the surrounding country. Lots of this part of NZ is volcanic, and as you gaze over the horizon, you can see similiar smaller volcanic-looking landscapes. It also looked over these small lakes (see above) which smelt strongly of sulphur but were nice to look at. The rest of the track went down and down, through thick mist and smoke from the craters, into what finally turned into a beautiful rainforest. Alone from other trekkers at this point, I stopped and listened to the swaying of the trees and the birdsong. It really did feel like I was back in time. |
 Emerald Lakes, Tongarriro Crossing - click to enlarge |
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Roturua
The next morning I hitched through small towns to Roturua, Maori town and centre of volcanic activity. The 'volcanic wonderland' just south of the town was well worth a visit. It is best described as a thermal park, a series of bubbling multicoloured ponds and mudbaths (see photo). |
 Thermal Wonderland, Roturua - click to enlarge |
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At night, although quite touristy, I went and visited a Maori 'show'. This was a fairly light-hearted musical show, led by a very camp head Maori, about how the Maori people came to Aoteroa (New Zealand) from Hawaii.
The Poor Knight's Islands Named by Jacques Costeau as one of the best dives in the world, these islands lie off the North Islands' far northern coast. I took a bus to the town of Whangerei and stayed in a really surreal youth hostel run by an old man. The dive school was one of the best I have ever come across, with helpful well-informed staff who gave a complete briefing on the dive before we were on the boat. Most of the dives I've taken have been in tropical waters of temperatures 250c and above, so it was quite different getting kitted out in full wetsuit and thermal gear for water that would be pretty cold. The dive itself was pretty cool, we spotted a group of stingrays - so graceful in the way they move - and dived into a cave, following the blue light of day out the other side. However, the highlight of this dive trip was probably the way back! We came across seagulls dive-bombing the water ahead of us, and stopped in the boat to take a look. From out of nowhere, a huge pod of dolphins appeared. They seemed to want to stick around the boat, and as we eventually sped back to the shore, they raced alongside and piroutted in the air just ahead of the boat's bow. Really amazing. Bay of Plenty I teamed up with an Anthony, a Scottish guy that was on my dive, and we drove up to the Bay of Plenty. Essentially North Island's holiday place, with a warmer climate and beaches. It was strange to be in a place where the further north you go, the warmer it becomes. Spent a night out on the town, and a day on the beach, reading and relaxing - probably the last beach of my trip, as I was soon to be heading back into the colder northern hemisphere. A nice spot, but a little too polished for my liking. That night, we drove all the way back down to Auckland, from where I was flying out to the States. Auckland Has more of a big city feel than Wellington, but also not the nicest place. Much of 'Once Were Warriors' was filmed in the poorer suburbs here. The day we arrived there, New Zealand had won the America's Cup, and the town was in the mood to celebrate. Anthony and I took advantage of the strong pound against the NZdollar, and went for a top meal in town. All the fresh air must have gone to our heads, as we ended up in a smart bar on the marina, drinking bottles of Bollinger. I still have no idea how I got up the next morning to fly to LA. |
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| Links | |
| www.glaciercountry.co.nz - a really good site about glaciers and how they're formed etc. | |
| Šusethebuddha.productions2002 | |