The Church of the Good Shepherd
Mt Cook way in the background
Well, we finished out the morning in Akaroa by finishing up our town history tour from the day before (there was so much, we just hadn't gotten around to doing it all the first day). From there, we swung through Christchurch to get our film and then headed down to Timaru, where we had an invitation to call in on some folks we had met in Picton (they were on the vintage car rally). Helen and Terry live in a beautiful home that they purchased less than 2 years ago in Timaru, which has just enough garage space to house the 3 vintage cars they have (one of which they just purchased on the road rally for US$250 -- a Morris Minor 1000 that is in great shape!) and the one "normal" car they have. Anything else has to park in the driveway. They also offered us free internet and scanner access, which is why you saw more pictures appear on the travelogue a week or so ago! Thanks again, Terry and Helen!
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The Church of the Good Shepherd |
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Mt Cook way in the background |
We had lunch in the cafe at
the Hermitage, a rather famous hotel overlooking Mt.Cook.
Blurry Blue Penguins (It was at night!) |
Round Moeraki Rock |
Round Moeraki Rocks |
A yellow-eyed penguin |
The next morning, it was pouring madly. We had planned to head through the Catlins, although better weather would have been much more desireable. The day before, however, Kirk had made SUCH a big deal about one of the attractions in Dunedin, I didn't DARE leave without making a stop there. So, we didn't pass go, we didn't collect $200 (we NEVER do!)...we went STRAIGHT to... CADBURY WORLD! Yes, that DOES mean "chocolate"! We almost didn't get in, as they were booked solid until late in the afternoon, but the tour that was booked for the time that we arrived (a tour of 16) never showed and so, in we went! And they STUFFED our pockets with chocolate! I ate a bit at the beginning, but soon resorted to putting it in the many pockets of my jackets and pants and just couldn't even carry anymore. It's a good thing the tour ended when it did! Kirk was glad we went, because the tour was very different than the one he had been on before (in England).
Purakanui Falls |
McLean Falls |
Slope Point |
Kirk, Donna and John Leask on Stewart Island |
The next morning, well...it was pouring again. And if possible...it was harder than ever. But we were going fishing and that was that. So, we got up and dressed and headed down to the wharf to meet John. Another man was there when John pulled up and asked if John needed a deck hand...he told John it was too wet to work and John said sure, so he jumped aboard; his name was Phillip. He was 1/2 Maori and we had a wonderful time getting to know him better! The boat trip was wonderful although the fish just weren't cooperating. John, knowing that I love Paua (that's abalone to you Americans), took us out to a shelf since it was still low tide and Phillip offered to go in (YAY!! THANKS AGAIN, PHILLIP!!). Kirk and I went ashore and collected a bucketful of mussels while Phillip got Paua and Kinis (i.e., sea urchin). We ate a TON of them on the boat! It was wonderful. Kirk was skeptical about the kinis at first, but even he warmed up to them, I think. Then, we went looking for blue cod. I caught a few fish, including the largest, Phillip caught some too, but Kirk got none. The fish must have been hiding indoors out of the rain. We just didn't get the sheer numbers of my last trip. But we came away with more paua and mussels than we know what to do with (not really...we know to eat them!! :) ).
Anyway, I'm gonna do something unusual here... John is a really great guy. He's a fifth generation Stewart Islander and a fabulous seaman and fisherman. His wife, Airdry makes fresh bread for the trips and he cooks lunch for you on the boat plus you have tea onboard. Kirk and I had a wonderful time. If you are EVER on Stewart Island, we recommend calling John and booking a trip with him. His rates are VERY reasonable. PLUS you get to take the fish home with you (and he cleans 'em for you too). It's called Mareno Excursions (he doesn't advertise) and his number is (03) 219-1023.
We had mussels for dinner that night. They were delicious. Then, Caroline, Kirk and I walked down to the hotel to see the bonfire/fireworks for Guy Fawkes night (if they were still on, since it was STILL raining). Guy Fawkes was some guy who tried to blow up Parliament, but got caught, so they celebrate his capture, or something. It turned out that the bonfire/fireworks were cancelled due to the rain and wind.
The next morning, our last day on Stewart Island, wehadn't decided what to do yet. (Did I tell you it was sunny...raining...sunny...raining?) Ann came over to say John had called to say he'd be on the wharf to change his oil and we were invited to come over for tea if we wanted. Well, YES, we wanted! So, we packed everything up and headed over for tea. Tea turned into lunch and then more tea! John taught me how to make (burn?) scones! We had a great time. He even gave us the name of his sister, who lives in Winton, and suggested we call on her, if we drove through Winton on our way to Te Anau. Finally, after harassing him for several hours, we said our farewells and let him be!
We spent a little time looking around the little Stewart Island Museum and the beautiful Church on the Hill. Finally, we headed down to the little hotel/pub to hang out on the patio until the ferry left. We ran into Dan (from our hostel) and chatted with him for a bit. Hopefully, we will see him again in Australia or the UK. (Hi, Dan!!) Just as we were about to board the ferry, John Leask came running up to us. He had driven back around the island after sailing back home-- he had called his sister, told her we were coming. She was expecting us to drop in, had tea (dinner) waiting and was expecting us to spend the night! Wow!!
So, after another ferry crossing back to Bluff, off we were to Winton to meet John's sister, Marion! She was a lovely Christian woman with a beautiful home. She did, indeed, have tea waiting, since she had choir practice at 7pm and we arrived shortly before 6. But she was extremely hospitable and we were grateful for her and her kindness.
Manapouri Power Station |
Then, we drove into Te Anau, which was only a few kilometers north and checked into a fairly new holiday park. The rain had finally stopped (for a wee while). We pitched our tent and had an early dinner (which we needed, since lunch had been long since forgotten) and then went walking around the town a bit.
Milford Sound |
Falls in Milford Sound |
Falls in Milford Sound |
Milford Sound |
We went down to the camping area and found only mud and rocky sites, and with the increasing rain, we decided to drive back to the entrance of the site and join the other cars and vans there that were Freedom camping in the turnaround spot. So we threw everything in the front seats and slept in the back of our wagon. It is big enough for even 6 foot tall Kirk to stretch out!
This morning we came into Queenstown for breakfast and this Internet Update, and if it clears up we may go see a few sites around here, otherwise we will head on to Wanaka tonight. We have plans to go to thewonderful Cinema Paradiso they have there. A wonderful movie theater that we will tell you about next time.
Cinema Paradiso |
Donna in the low gravity room |
Isn't Kirk Strong? |
A Kawarau Gorge Bungy Jumper |
The next day we went to a church in Wanaka at the Wanaka New Life Church. The singing was pretty good, but no one came up to us afterwards and we left without speaking to anyone.
Next we went to Puzzling World. A really neat place with a human-sized maze. We had a great time doing the maze and they have lots of other puzzles and illusions there, too.
Fox Glacier |
Cheeky Kea! |
The next morning it was still raining, but we headed up to see the glacier anyway. It was gorgeous. You could walk up to the terminal face. You could see the blue of the ice. We got some good pictures there. They had Keas in the parking lot. Keas are alpine parrots and are locally known as "Cheeky Keas" because they get into everything and like to eat the rubber off of your cars. I parked between several other cars to minimize the chance of them selecting our car. We got away unscathed.
Franz Josef Glacier |
Heading North we stopped at the "Bushman's Center" A weird little museum on the side of the road. They have captive Possums, a feral pig, eels, and all sorts of information on hunting and such. Lots of info about what the destruction done by the possums and why they should be removed. Apparently they have a Giant Sand Fly that normally hangs out front of the store, but it was taken in due to high winds.
Then it was on to Hokitika, where we spent a night and did some of our Christmas shopping. It is a great place to buy Greenstone (Jade), paua and bone jewelry.
Pancake Rocks Blowing |
Next, it was on up through Buller Gorge, past Hawks Crag (an amazing section that has been hacked out of the mountain side -- barely high enough for a bus to drive under) and into Nelson, where we saw an interesting movie, "The Hard Word" and stayed at a nice campground called Brooks Valley. The next day we booked our tramp on Abel Tasman Track. They didn't have hut space so we would have to carry our tent. We also finished up our Christmas shopping in Nelson. We drove up that evening to Pohara and prepared for the Abel Tasman track.
On the Beach on Abel Tasman Track |
It is kinda small, but Kirk's hair is now SHORT! |
Another one of Kirk |
We hiked on the next day to Awaroa. The track is kind of interesting in that many sections can only be done at low tide because you are crossing tidal flats. Whenever we did that we switched from hiking boots to our sandals to walk through the water and sand. Pretty fun! There were billions of shells on some of the beaches and lots of neat driftwood too. That night, after we camped and had our dinner, it was getting a little cool, so we went into the hut and played games with some of the people there. We taught them Speed Scrabble, which is very fun with more than two people.
The next day the low tide wasn't until after 12 noon, so we waited around the hut again in the morning playing more Speed Scrabble. The crossing was pretty fun, you have to wade about knee deep in the water to cross the tidal flats. Some of the early birds left too early and the water was too deep and they fell in. This day had many more fabulous views and a few sections where you just walk along the beach. When we got back to our car, there were some guys that Donna had talked to earlier who they needed a ride since there is no bus service to Totoranui. We piled them in the car and were off to Takaka. When we got there, we realized that their final destination (the Heaphy Track) was along the same direction as our destination, so we offered to take them directly to their track. After a visit to the grocery store we were off.
It was a nice drive out to the track and we got to drive through several stream fordings. Pretty good for a car with about 3 inches of clearance! We dropped them off at the track and were off to Pakawau. This is in the extreme north west end of the South Island. We had a nice campsite in a holiday park right on the beach.
Cape Farewell |
Cape Farewell |
Cape Farewell Caves |
Donna at Cape Farewell with the Farewell Spit in the background |
After Cape Farewell, we headed back towards Nelson. When we drove through Takaka we saw some hitchikers getting soaked in the rain and offered them a ride. They were heading to Motueka (there were actually two more that had been picked up by a car just ahead of us). We brought them to Motueka and when we stopped there I heard the unmistakeable sound of metal-on-metal when I applied the brakes. I pulled over into a parking lot and removed one of the front wheels to confirm my suspicions and it was true. Our disk brake pads were completeley worn out. I put the tire back on and we walked to the only place in Motueka that would have the parts. Unfortunately, they didn't have them. It was 3:40 PM on a Sunday afternoon, and they said the nearest place was in Richmond (next to Nelson)about 20 km away. I drove on to Richmond, this time not touching the brake pedal at all. (Thank goodness for the hand brake). Donna was a bit nervous and I gave the cars ahead an extra long following distance. She was calling out every turn and or possible slow down point way ahead. We did make it to the car parts place in Richmond and they in fact had replacement brake pads. I changed them right there in the parking lot.
After the new brakes were on, we pushed on all the way to Picton, driving over the very curvy Queen Charlotte Drive, to try to stay at Lochmara Lodge (a place we had discovered when we were on the Queen Charlotte Track). Unfortunately, we arrived there around 6:15 PM and the last water taxi to Lochmara left at 4:30 PM. We decided to try going to another lodge that we could drive to, and turned around, drove back over the very curvy Queen Charlotte Drive. As we were about to head out the Peninsula, we checked the gas gauge and realized we didn't have the gas!! So, I had to drive over that curvy road a THIRD time!!
We called our friends the Pettigrews who we were planning to stay with on the next day anyway (Nov 18) and asked if we could come by a day early. They were very gracious and invited us over. We had a wonderful evening with them and the next day spent a lazy day in Picton, and shipped off our Christmas presents and had the car looked at. If you remember, the car had been leaking Automatic Transmission fluid. It turns out we believe the leak is coming from the transmission seal on the input shaft to the transmission inside the Torque Converter housing. Not an easy fix. We decided to just keep putting fluid in it (21 liters so far).
On the 19th, we took the ferry from Picton back to the North Island into Wellington. It turned out our scheduled ferry was cancelled due to bad weather (it was a smaller one) but we were able to get on the larger ferry on stand-by. The crossing was pretty rough, but neither of us got sick. Some other passengers did, though. When the ship hit some of the swells, it put up some fantastic sprays from the side. It was pretty cool!
We arrived in Wellington and met up with our friend Mark, who we had originally met in Cape Reinga. We followed him to his flat and stayed with him the next several days. That night he made us a wonderful fettuccini bolognese dinner. Thanks Mark!
The office building next to Parliament, known for obvious reasons as, the Beehive. |
After lunch we went to the Te Papa museum in Wellington and toured their many exhibits. That is when my stomach started to feel bad. The museum is very large and has wonderful exhibits especially on the birds and animal life of New Zealand.
That evening we played some games at an Internet cafe until late and didn't get back to Mark's until 11:45 PM.
The next morning it was raining and we had some bad news. During the night, someone broke into our car while it sat on the street across from Mark's flat and stole some of our camping gear. They broke the quarter light window of the rear passenger door (the one that doesn't move). They stole our sleeping bags, Therma-Rest mattresses, rain pants, 54 rolls of unused film and other assorted stuff. I think they were probably looking for money or drugs, neither of which they got. We called the police and had the car fingerprinted and filled out the police report. Then we canvassed the local pawn shops with our list of stolen items; one shop was nice enough to fax our list to all the other shops in the area. We have also contacted our insurance company and faxed on the list and replacement costs for everything we lost. It is a pain, but we hope to be able to replace most everything they stole though we will be out our deductible. The big problem for us now though is since they stole our sleeping bags, we can't tent-camp again until we get replacements. We looked all over Wellington the next day for replacement bags, but no one here makes a design that we want. So we ordered replacements from REI that will be shipped to our first destination in Australia. All this time I (Kirk) was pretty sick with some sort of intestinal virus (I had the runs).
Tunnel to the base of the Durie Hill Elevator |
Elevator control building at the top of the hill |
War Memorial Tower at the top of Durie Hill |
Us at the top of the tower |
Mt Taranaki, aka Mt Egmont |
Marakopa Falls |
Cows blocking the road on the way to Waitomo |
Donna in the Piripiri Caves |
Kirk in the Piripiri Caves |
The next morning, THIS morning (11/24), we got up and just made it onto a tour of the Waitomo Glowworm caves just before a big tour group got there. The caves are very large, and much cleaner than the ones the night before. Near the end of the tour they put you on a boat and you float through the Glowworm Grotto. Fabulous! They look like tiny little blue stars in the sky. There were over 20,000 of them. Very impressive!
Us and all the Sheep at the Agrodome |
Donna feeding the sheep at the Agrodome |
After that we drove on to Rotorua and found another holiday park cabin to stay in. Tonight after we send off this update we will probably go to a movie.
11/30/02 We're Outta Here! Rotorua->Auckland
On Monday November 25, 2002, we were in Rotorua, NZ.
We spent some time in town updating the web site with
pictures and text, doing some errands, etc.
Ross, Karen, Donna, Kirk |
A humourous sign we saw on the way to Auckland. |
That afternoon, we went back to our hostel, had lunch, and then went on into city center to pick up our Round-the-world tickets from Air New Zealand. We got the tickets without a problem. We did a little browsing, got a photo album for our pictures, and picked up a used copy of the Bill Bryson book, Down Under. It is a very funny book, and good reading if you are heading to Australia. We then went to the cinema and saw "Bend it Like Beckham", which is a very good and funny movie. My niece, Meghan, Donna's cousin, Katie, and anyone else who likes women's soccer would like it. After that, we went back to the hostel and put the pictures in our new album.
On Wednesday (11/27), we stayed around the hostel and caught up on our scrapbook, diary and labeled everything in the album. Our car didn't sell in the noon auction, which was a bit disappointing, but we entered it in the 6:00 PM auction hoping that it would sell. We tried to call after the evening auction, but they were closed and we would have to wait till the next day for our news.
On Thursday (11/28) we called the auction house in the morning, and HOORAY, the car sold! In fact, it sold for NZ$1750! That is $50 more than we bought it for 2 months ago! So, that really minimized our car costs. It only cost us the auction fees, repair costs, and gas. That evening we had a Thanksgiving dinner in our hostel with several other of the residents. The hostel owner had bought some chickens and fixings, (the only turkey was frozen and we didn't have time to let it thaw), and we had a professional chef on the premises (Lars, from Germany, but who normally works in Australia), so we had a good feast.
On Friday (11/29), we did some errands: picked up our newly sharpened knife, got some photos back from the developer (you will see the good ones of those soon) and mailed a box of our stuff back home to the US that we won't be needing anymore. We went back to the hostel and did a little rock-climbing on their indoor rock-climbing walls. Pretty fun! That afternoon I went back to the auction house and picked up our check for the car, and walked around and looked at all the beautiful cars that were getting ready for the Classic Car auction the next day. Very nice. They had an Aston Martin DB2 Sports car, a 1960's Daimler Sports car I had never seen before, several Morris Minor's, a hot rodded 1930's Ford coupe, a few Triumphs, and many more.
Kirk and the Amerigo Vespucci |
That's it from New Zealand, the next update will be from our next country in line, Australia!
Good bye from the "Land of the Long White Cloud."
If you are reading chronologically, click here to go to Australia.