January 5, 2014 S. Island V: Across the Southern Alps

The final leg of the tour stretched north along the western coast to Greymouth. On the way, we stopped for lunch in Hokitika, a small town that grew in the 1860s gold rush era and has recently gained notoriety as the setting of The Luminaries (the latest Man Booker prize award winner, which was a big deal in NZ since the author is a Kiwi). Other than a clock tower, it didn’t have too much going for it.

In Greymouth we boarded a KiwiRail Tranzalpine train that would take us all the way to Christchurch. The train seemed to crawl for most of the journey, but that was ideal since the ride was more comfortable than the bus we’d ridden in for over a week and since the scenery really was worth it. However, as the end of the tour, it was a trip tinged with sadness, both at leaving our now close-knit bunch and at having to start work in a couple of days.

Once in Christchurch, most of the group I’d stuck with had a last supper together, and then another girl and I took a brief stroll through part of the city. We passed parks and some lovely old buildings, but we also saw sections that seemed to be the same as they were after the earthquake almost three years ago. The following morning I didn’t have time to visit any more areas in the city before my flight back to Auckland, which means I’ll just have to make another trip to Christchurch to find the parts of the city that have recovered.

I struggle to sum up the tremendous journey I took. In less than ten days, I travelled almost two thousand kilometers around the South Island and visited a dozen towns. I saw stunning places and felt alive. I felt grateful to be alive and felt cursed to be under so much rain. I made friends and at times made a fool of myself. I experienced many new things and went to whereabouts that I’ll probably never go again, and I did my best to let go of worry and live for the time and place wherever I found myself. To record everything I encountered would take far too long (and would never quite capture my experience anyway), so I’ll close by saying that this trip was one of the most enriching and enjoyable times of my life. There—now go travel someplace you’ve dreamt of going!

January 4, 2014 S. Island IV: Wanaka and Franz Josef

Happy New Year! My tour group found a lively restaurant where we claimed a prime vantage spot on the balcony to see the fireworks set off near Queenstown’s beach. The location and company made for one of the best New Year’s Eves of my life, and as I watched and listened to the show, I wondered if 2014 will bring as many unexpected turns as 2013 did. I can’t wait to find out!

At midday we journeyed north to Wanaka, a town known for its mountain biking and winter sports—none of which I have much experience with, so I wasn’t that interested in staying there. However, our tour manager surprised us with a short trip (due to the rain) to a disc golf course, which turned out to be a blast! The sun finally came out for us to take a walk through the town, and the following day another girl and I climbed a nearby peak, Mt. Iron. Although the sides were steep and the sky occasionally rained on us, the views on the town, on Lake Wanaka, and to the other nearby mountains was certainly worth it. Pictures here. 

After the exhausting climb, our group continued northward to Franz Josef on the west coast. The route to our destination crossed the Southern Alps, which was breathtaking not only because of the scenery but also due to the treacherous roads. The bus wound up and down through the mountains, and multiple areas were lined with traffic cones to mark the sides of the road where falling rocks had smattered across the road previously. Our guide also felt the moment appropriate to tell us about a camper van that had been swept away by rocks a few months prior, which filled us with more confidence that we would emerge from the mountains in one piece. My favorite leg of the journey came when we passed a sign that read, “The Gate of Haast,” which sounded like the title of an Edgar Allan Poe story that ended very badly for a group of au pairs. Oh, and did I mention it was raining the whole time?

We did arrive in Franz Josef alive, albeit in more rain. We celebrated our surviving the hazardous trip by taking over a section of a restaurant with karaoke; other people joined in, which turned the whole thing into a competition, and we spent over an hour battling until our group emerged the victors. Highlights from the evening included a dozen of us bellowing “Living on a Prayer,” and an interesting conversation with a Dutch gentleman who had emigrated to Singapore and who emphatically articulated to me that life is too short, “So make the most of it! Really! Make the most of it!” Words to live by.

The following day we got to be outside (all pictures here), and I got to partake in the activity I’d looked forward to all this time: kayaking. It really is something I enjoy because I find it one of the most pleasant ways to take in scenery, and I longed to redeem my steering record from Paihia, so I excitedly pulled on my gear and climbed into a double kayak once our guides had prepared everything on the shore of Lake Mapourika. Naturally, it rained for most of the kayak tour, and my steering was still pretty dodgy. Despite that (and the hideous jackets we were provided), I still enjoyed the scenery, part of which was in a protected kiwi sanctuary.

The other outdoor activity was a visit to the Franz Josef glacier. It has retreated a great deal in the past 70 or so years, but this means we got to walk through the valley it carved out over thousands of years. The evidence of the glacier—particularly the ice blocks floating down the stream rushing from its base and the sides of the canyon that had been scraped smooth—and not the icy mass itself impressed this traveler most. We passed numerous waterfalls and colorful rocks (gray and white stone covered with red and green growths) that amplified the awesome but surreal atmosphere of the area.

I think I would have had a delightful stay in Franz Josef if the rain hadn’t pounded us for much of our time there, but I still enjoyed taking in the unique scenery, and the snow-topped mountains of the Southern Alps that watched us on the drive out the following morning were an incredible sight to behold.