birthday blog

can't complain -- spent my birthday kayaking milford sound and enjoyed my fellow paddlers singing to me while rafted up! My german bunk-mate offered dinner (unknowing that it was my B-day) when I returned to the hostel in Te Anau from the trip and we just spent a 3+ hours over good food and wine discussing universal themes of work, travel and men . . . 

Thanks to all the early birthday wishers with the 21-hr time difference! Good math!

Kayaking on milford was a bit treacherous today, but the combination with last week's doubtful sound experience really gave me a taste of the fiordlands. Drove through the Homer Tunnel today -- 20yrs in creation, making milford sound accessible by 1952. Stopped in the Gunn Camp Museum down the Holyford road at the end of the day, with lots of Homer Tunnel paraphernalia I'll share later . . .

Kayaking was my "splurge" activity -- though I'm mostly skimping on all the tourist traps (read: I did not see the glow worm caves). It's been blissfully inexpensive with the choices I've made, so I intend to return to Wellington April 8 to find a job and continue to see more of the south island until then. Tomorrow I head over to Queenstown to meet Liew again to drive up the west coast. Will revisit Franz Josef glacier (checking on retreat since my last visit in '97) and the free glow worm caves at Fox glacier + thermal pools. :)  Will meet up with Homer-Kiwis later in the week.

Oh, did I mention BEGGS music stores? Charles Begg brought the first piano from england to NZ in the 1800s and the store is still going strong -- in all major cities. Here's the one I stumbled upon in Dunedin.

penguin spotting and other assorted passtimes . . .

Hello from Dunedin! Just back from an evening on The Octagon celebrating Earth Hour, complete with fire throwers, drumming circles, folk band, and a kiddie pool for floating lanterns. These scots-kiwis down here really know how to celebrate (and kept the center circle dark, with only paper lanterns, for much more than an hour + cafes ringed the octagon with candlelit tables). So those of you reading this on the other side of the dateline have time to plan your earth hour!

Liew (my Malaysian travel mate who's used to driving on the left side) and I pulled into Dunedin this evening after completing the 'southern scenic route' all the way from Manapouri. I had an amazing kayaking and camping trip on Doubtful Sound with two couples -- kiwi newlyweds from Christchurch and a young doctor couple from the Netherlands. Our guide, Will, and I rounded out the 3 double kayaks for two incredible days in the fiords. Promise to upload albums soon . . . (here's a taste)

I joined Liew in Manapouri Thursday and we headed south, overnighting in Riverton (west of Invercargill) then on to the Catlins Friday and most of Saturday. Stumbled on a great shared beach house for a night in tiny Porpoise Bay (right next to Curio Bay) and spotted a rare yellow-eyed penguin after sunset. Watched it in silence until well after dark among the petrified logs from the jurassic period encased in the rocky beach. Today we continued with stops at Jack's Blowhole and Nugget Point, finishing off the Catlins with fish & chips at Kaka Point. Also ate NZ's best oysters in Bluff (rivals to KBay?) and visited the real southernmost point of the south island (not Bluff) at Slope Point. We've had sunshine the whole 3 days (making up for 2 days of rain on doubtful sound), or as the weather reports say, "fine" or "rain clearing by morning then mostly fine."

Tomorrow we'll explore the Otago Peninsula, then split up until Wednesday when we'll drive together up the West Coast. I'm returnnig to Te Anau for a birthday kayak on Milford Sound (now that the road is open -- it was closed all week!) and Liew and her car will see Wanaka, where I've already visited. I'll be back on the Naked Bus (which is not naked and not always a bus -- discuss). I think naked refers to the no frills mystique . . .

Homer meets Te Anau

Here I am in Te Anau, gateway to fiordland. I had a day kayak trip planned on Milford Sound, but the milford road is closed due to some pretty massive storms and landslides -- tomorrow is day three of the closure, with another big storm predicted tonight. That's the only way to the sound (short of the 4-day tramp on milford track), so my trip's cancelled. No worries. I'm an alaskan and used to mother nature deciding what's on (I might be the only one in town that's in a good mood -- I do love a 'natural' challenge). So I've decided to do an overnight camping trip and kayak on Doubtful Sound (bigger than milford, but not as popular, nor as congested) Wed-Thurs.

Thursday evening I'm off for a loop of the southland with Liew (from Malaysia) and her rental car. Nice to meet like-minded travellers and save on bus fair! We're both eager to see the Catlins and the public transport down there isn't good. Will probably swing back this way next week to see if milford is open before heading up the west coast to golden bay.

updated photos in albums -->  (Wanaka and journey)

Had a great day of mountain-biking in Wanaka and a nice hike along the lake the second day (see my route here). Loved the purple cow hostel, though my cottage at the Te Anau hostel is pretty hard to give up!

on the way to Wanaka . . .

New albums uploaded to right with pix from this week's North-South journey and brief visit to Christchurch. Travelled by bus from Auckland to Wellington Tuesday, taking the "desert road" past Mt. Doom (Mt. Ngauruhoe), Lake Taupo (caldera formed by eruption 26,500 yrs ago~ almost 100x bigger than Krakatoa), and finishing up on the Kapiti coast, north of Wellington. Travelled by ferry Thursday across Cook Strait to the south island (calm seas and sunshine!) then on to Christchurch by the TranzCoastal train. From Christchurch to Wanaka today by bus, through the McKenzie high country, and I'll continue down to fiordland this coming week. Sorry, my pals of norwegian heritage, they spell fiord with an i down here.

Hostels have greatly improved! Clean, quiet, and smaller. I even have an en suite kitchenette for the next couple nights for my $18(US) room. Working backwards, I enjoyed the trip through the high country today with its lakes of glacial milk, especially with our amusing driver -- a young trekking guide on a rampage about copycat cairn building in national parks.

Staying with Peter and Mary in Christchurch (Thurs-Sat) was a treat -- I need to get back and see the Banks Peninsula (learned much about native plants and geology from Peter). I was wowed by Christchurch's art centre and the canterbury museum (complete with King Island kayak among the local water craft . . .), and the depth of the antarctic exhibits and conservation themes. 

The coastal train (Thursday trip) had an open-air viewing car where I enjoyed a good hour of high winds without losing any appendages to surprise tunnels and happily returned unscathed to my Scottish seat mates. I had 90 min between ferry and train in Picton, so took a nice hike to a lunch spot along Queen Charlotte Sound.

Wellington you heard about in my last post (just did Te Papa since I'll be back). The bus trips, both north and south islands, have been surprising -- I'm really seeing the dry climates of New Zealand this time 'round (though it has been a dry summer). Brief stop in Rotorua at lunch, so I walked down to the lake to visit the black swans. And last but not least, the metal buildings in the form of a sheep and a sheep dog in Tirau were a major highlight.   :)

Beh-eh-eh-eh-eh-ggs 

Te Papa -finally!

Well, if they hadn't waited til '98 to build this fantastic museum I would've seen it in '97 (what an ill-timed trip)! It's been a long wait, but I don't think it was the anticipation that blew me away. It truly is one of the best museums in the world (but we all know where the best one is). I'm now triply excited to be applying for jobs there (but am feeling pretty humbled). If you're not familiar, check out Te Papa's website. I spent the entire day mostly with my jaw on the floor, but yes, also holding back tears in some places. Some favorites: 

• Our Place -- excellent short films on individual kiwis and why they live here, how they are connected to their land or place (I'm talkin' Miriam-quality films); 
• the introductory space to Earth, Blood, Fire (the environmental conservation exhibit) where you touch a stone from each corner of the country while reading a label about how it was given by a community and split with Te Papa in show of iwi (tribal) support of Te Papa's mission (1/2 remaining in community); 
• the deep treatment of the Treaty of Waitangi . . . at every turn its importance is so clear -- I was particularly impressed with the efforts to apply it to traditional knowledge, preservation of intangible heritage and art forms attributed to groups -- something intellectual property rights don't touch. Go New Zealand. This place is a model in so many ways.

Oh, the cafe was good too, the outdoor Bush City and sculpture garden with views of the harbor, listening to a lecture in the marae (Sir Christopher Frayling, none-the-less) . . . I could go on and on . . . was I just there 6 hours?

Just this brief stop in Wellington before getting on to the south island tomorrow. Leaving my big "year" bag in storage here and looking forward to a couple weeks of backpacking in the far south (fiordlands, etc). Returning to Wellington (and work) April 1 (whether Te Papa, temping, or other). I have a 5-month house-sitting gig lined up for May-Sept in a Wellington suburb on the water, so things are falling into place.

Looking forward to meeting my dad's old friend Peter tomorrow in Christchurch (a Kiwi living in Samoa when dad served in the Peace Corps) . . .  and YES I did go to an irish pub tonight. Enjoy your St. Paddy's Day!

sweet as a card-carrying kiwi

Business today -- new phone card to call US landlines for US 2.8cents/min ("sweet as!"), acquiring tax ID so people can PAY me (and I can pay New Zealand), and opening a KiwiBank account for my prospective New Zealand dollars . . .

Enjoyed a long walk through Auckland Domain, university area, tried out the new phone card and did some grocery shopping (no, eggs are not refridgerated in NZ). And, of course, adding to my NZ slang: "Sweet As" is pretty cool, nice, awesome, etc.

I'll try to add some more photos to the Auckland album (at right). To Wellington tomorrow . . .

007 delivers

Thank you Air New Zealand (flt.007) for leaving that seat next to me open! It made the 13 hours from San Francisco to Auckland FLY by! Fed my relatively little jet lag by going on a hike on Rangitoto for most of the day. Never got to this island last time I was here 13 years ago. A beautiful day (70s and sunshine) made for spectacular ferry ride back in the salty sea air!  But a little different than my Homer home . . . kicked off the shoes  on a black sand beach and dipped in the water, which was NOT 50 degrees . . .  AHHHH.  Rangitoto is a realtively dry island with short trail to the summit, lava caves and a long road around the island where I found McKenzie Bay -- also plenty of historic baches (beach cabins) and military outpost remnants. Vegetation is relatively new on this (only) 600-yr-old volcano -- nice interpretive signs w/historic photos to pass the time waiting for the ferry pick-up. Museum girl was happy.

Hoping to hook up with Lisa, Taki and meet little DJ and Peter Siaki -- family of dad's friend from Samoa Peace Corps days. (Relocated to Auckland since last I saw Lisa in DC in '06.) Heading south Tuesday to get the remainder of summer in the higher latitudes (awkward writing that). Nevermind the confusion of daylight's savings time down under . . . today we are 22 hours ahead of AK, tomorrow 21 hours (AK daylight's savings begins), and in 3 weeks, 20 hours ahead (NZ daylight's savings ends). No really.

Tips for your visit:

1. Clean your hiking boots and declare them! (10-min wait while all of Alaska was removed from my boots -- which I was almost fined $200 for because I mistakenly thought I'd last worn them in snow!)
2. Don't stay at ACB --- grrrross bathrooms and just co-ed dorms (though I'm the only female in my 8-person bunk room, they are a bunch of quiet British boys with thick books)

. . . to be continued . . .