The Rest of New Zealand: Kepler Track to Picton

So, after skydiving in Te Anau, Jana and I prepared for the Kepler Track. It was a 2 night, three day beautiful 40 mile trek through the mountains in the fjordlands. We had a 1000 meter ascent the first day (ouch) and 400 the next day. We stayed in what are called "huts"with about 50 other people in basic bunks. The second day was actually sort of scary. We had to walk across the tops of the mountain ridges and the wind was so intense, we had to crouch down quite a bit to avoid being knocked off our feet and down the mountain. One family with younger kids had to turn back. The $3 poncho I bought in case of rain did nada against the rain that day and it was very cold with the wind. I was exceptionally happy when we reached the hut that night. The last day was beautiful as we walked through the valley. That night I met a guy in the campsite kitchen that read my palm. Very entertaining indeed... Looks like I have a few more years till I settle down!

Queenstown was the next stop. The drive there took us along a road overlooking the lake there and The Remarkables mountain range that disappear into the water. I think the name The Remarkables is the most fitting name for these mountains. They were truly remarkable...
Queenstown was a very touristy city, packed with tourist buses and a scene aimed for really young, party-hard tourists that I didn't really care for. I did meet a couple cool New Yorkers one night playing pool though. Other than that, the surrounding scenery is abut the only thing that really appealed to me. On our last night in QT, Jana and I parked the car for the night too close to the city and I woke up to a man handing me a paper through the car window, telling us we had 5 minutes to leave or we'd have a $4oo fine. Yikes! As we drove off, we counted numerous other vans and cars pulling out of their hiding spots after having been discovered and threatened by the same man. It really was comical at the time and boy, we all must have been a cite a for sore eyes to this guy. From there, we drove to nearby towns Arrowtown and Glenorchy. Both places were areas where a lot of the Lord of the Rings was filmed. It was Autumn and all the trees were changing colors, especially the beech trees which turned a brilliant yellow. Jana and I hiked through a beech forest. It was lovely and everything is covered in moss, but there was one eerie aspect- you couldn't hear one bird chirping. The possums and rats have killed off the majority of chicks and eaten bird eggs, that there are hardly any birds left in the south of the south island. It's amazing how much the lack of bird songs can change your perspective of a place. Arrowtown was a charming, quaint, old gold mining town scattered with old-English looking cottages.

Next stop, Wanaka. Supposedly, Shania Twain lives there. Nice town on the edge of an even nicer lake. Not a huge amount to do there if it's not ski season. We left Wanaka after 2 days and headed up the west coast to Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers. We did a guided glacier walk at Fox Glacier which was really great. There was a search and rescue team out there practicing drill too which was fascinating. Both glaciers were massive and the cliffs they carved in the surrounding mountains thousands of years ago, impressive.

At this point, I started to notice that I didn't have that much time left before I flew to Oz, so we got a move on up the west coast, stopping only at Pancake Rocks on the way north. Pancake Rocks are a geological beauty. They are a grouping of rocks that have distinct layers (resembling a stack of pancakes, hence the name) formed a long, long time ago. When it is high tide, the water roars through the blowholes and explodes out of the rock for a spectacular show.
Next stop, Golden Bay. The north of the south island is completely different from the south. Yes, it's still mountainous, but instead of vast lakes and stunning fjords, there are vineyards, orchards with fruit falling off the trees and picturesque rural scenery that I fell in love with. Golden Bay was the gem of the north for me. I did a day hike with Jana through Abel Tasman Nat. Park. At the end of our trek, we were let out onto a gorgeous, deserted cove. I noticed thousands of small mussels growing on the rocks on the beach. As I looked closer, I saw that not only were there small mussels, but also huge ones too. So I began to put at a few to see if they would come off the rocks; they did indeed and after stuffing Jana's scarf with about 2 dozen green lipped mussels, we headed back towards civilization. That night, after searching for a hostel that would let us use their kitchen, we found one. That night, we had the best dinner yet: Mussels, wine, bread and cheese. I think it tasted so good because of the mussel experience on the beach, not just the flavor. We found the best 'home' on Golden Bay. As we got into "bed" aka our sleeping bags in the car, we had the best view of the stars so far on this trip. As we woke up, we woke up to one of the best sunrises on this trip.
Next, we drove back down the Golden Bay coast to the city of Nelson and then Picton. In Picton, we joined the mail-route into the Marlborough Sounds. This boat we went on goes out 3 days a week to deliver supplies and mail to those people how live in the isolated sounds. It was a great experience to see how some of these people live and just how far away they are from, well, anything. Most families would pull up to the pier in a quad, pile their goods in it and head out. Amazing and inspiring how some of there people choose to live their lives. Jana and I also visited a couple vineyards in Blenhiem, south of Picton which was great- how could it not be with free tastings of top-notch wine? I had to say goodbye to Jana in Picton as I had to head south, back to Christchurch to fly out to Melbourne, Australia a couple days later. It was sad to leave her after all the experiences we had together in the past month, living in a tiny car together and basicly spending every waking moment together. I will ever be thankful I had that experience.

Nothing terribly eventful happened between Picton and Christchurch on the bus. I am now in Melbourne, Australia where I am staying with a friend I met in Laos and then travelled with in Vietnam and Cambodia- Chris, the Scotsman. He is living and working here in Melbourne. Yesterday, he and I went out with a girl named Tuuli that we met in Southeast Asia. She is from here and took us to a few great spots in the 'bush' and I spotted my first koala and then we saw a few kangaroos as well. Seeing koalas and kangaroos, a man playing the didgeridoo on the city streets for spare change and being given vegemite with my crackers after donating blood made me think: Ok, I'm in Australia!

G'day!