January 26, 2005

Kia ora! (Hello in ancient Maori tribe language)

The South Island treated me just as well as the North, despite a few rainy days here and there. I took the ferry from Wellington in the North Island down to a little town named Picton and headed straight for Nelson. It was the neatest little town. All along both sides of the commercial area of town are hanging flower baskets filled with so many colors. The shops were tempting as well so I had to keep my distance!

The next night it was off to Greymouth where I ate a $3 USD all you can eat barbeque. It was simply HEAVENLY considering I have re-introduced the diet I was on in China back into my life again=peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It's the cheapest thing on the market and, quite surprisingly, I am not sick of them yet!

Franz Josef was our next stop and this is the home of enormous glaciers. I was supposed to go on a "heli-hike" which is a helicopter ride to the top of the glacier and then an exploration of the ice caves on top. I had paid my fee, gotten dressed up in all of the gear they gave me and then the helicopter went up to check out the weather and said it was going to be canceled due to the fast approaching rain clouds. Darn it! I was really looking forward to that the whole time. It gives just one more reason to try to make it back here at some point.

On the way to Queenstown we stopped at the coast where there are rock formations that the people here call "pancake rocks." The literally look like tons of pancakes stack on top of one another. I got some great photos with the crystal blue water and golden beaches in the background. We stayed in Queenstown for the next two evenings and I really enjoyed the town. It's not too big but it is hopping with excitement and activities. We saw the place where the bungy jump was first done commercially on the way into town and watching those people do it made me wonder what I was thinking back in Taupo when I did mine. It's not easy to watch someone else. Quite frankly, I think I would rather do it myself! The next day I went on a very long bus ride through the mountains to a place called Milford Sound. The views were fabulous! There were waterfalls everywhere and the fog coming down off the mountains and into the valleys was simply breathtaking. I have never seen anything like it in my life.

Then we decended upon the college town of Dunedin where I got a lot of "house keeping" done. I did some food shopping, transferred my digital photos onto a CD (there were about 500-already!) printed a few out, sent some packages home, and relaxed...a word that hasn't appeared in my vocabulary for quite a few weeks.

Our last night was spent by the lakeside in Tekapo. We were staying in a hostel that cost less than 20 bucks for a view that one would die for! This is prime property and they bulit a hostel on it! I couldn't get over it. I layed in bed that night and watched the sunset out of my sldiing glass door around 10pm from my bed. I can't think of anything more relaxing. What a way to go to bed.

As we were driving to Christchurch the next day, we got stopped in the road because there was a huge heard of sheep blocking it! It was hilarious to see what they did when the bus came plowing through. There are so many sheep here, and when I say so many, I mean SO many. We arrived in the city in the midafternoon and realized that we had gotten there in the middle of a weeklong festival of street performers. It was quite fun to run around the city and see all of the different kinds of entertainment. I went to the airport around 7pm that night to set myself up for, yet another, night in the airport so I could catch my early flight to Auckland in the morning.

Well, well, well...Here I am back in Auckland wondering where the past two weeks just went?! I just checked into the Fat Camel hostel for the evening and it cost me about $14 USD. Along with my room and free sheets, comes a free beer and a free dinner. Now we're talkin'! Free...a backpackers favorite word.

Tomorrow evening I head out to Sydney where I will meet up with a friend and stay with her for a bit until I get my feet on the ground and figure out what I am going to do there for the next 4 and a half months. Oh, decisions, decisions...

Lauren P. Coker