IT'S OVER!!!
Well, almost. I'm currently waiting in a quiet hallway in LAX for my flight to Boston, chugging hot chocolate to fend off the jetlag. Thanks to the magic of the timezones, I'm watching the sun set on March 14th for the second time. Pi Day squared… A = πr²? Nah.
To answer your next burning question, yes Mitchell and I survived our adventure of driving/camping across the South Island (a.k.a. Te Wai Pounamu 'The Greenstone Water', due to abundance of greenstone in the area). Mother Nature was quite kind to us with the weather (apart from the cold nights), and we saw a variety of scenery that can be described only as 'choice'. I'll give you some pictures right now so you can ooh and ahh until you forget to inhale and then pass out.
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| Surprisingly, more cow farms than sheep farms |
Our approximate itinerary from March 5 to 14 was as follows, described à la flux de conscience. There's a map, lovingly modified in Paint by Mitchell, so you can follow along! Check out his more florid post here.
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Use the colors to decode the map! It's like a Paint by Numbers puzzle, except
not at all. |
March 5: Queenstown (early flight, pick up rental car, name her Shmabel, walk through the city and the gardens, checking into a hostel unannounced, burger dinner = YUM, filling out the New Zealand census [required by law], then writing the Ling paper ugh)
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| Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown |
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| "Cockadoodle Oink" = chicken + bacon + tasty sauces |
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| Where the sunlight pours down the mountains |
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| The path just keeps going...onto private property >:-( |
March 6: Queenstown (a brief hike up a hill, being in awe of Queenstown's gorgeous surroundings, so much paper writing 'cause we're good/cranky students, and 'freedom camping' in a 'scientific nature reserve' outside the township of…)
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| View of the lake from atop the hill |
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| Mitchell surrounded by cairn invaders |
March 7: Te Anau (long hike along the lake, seeing cool birds, cooking an ersatz curry noodle stirfry dish for writing inspiration, and being up most of the night in a hostel FINISHING the paper, while being distracted by American TV shows)
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| I know why the caged kea sings...and squawks |
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| Probably a deadly mushroom |
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| Where the mountains blend with clouds |
March 8: Milford Sound (getting up early to submit the paper, rejoice in actually being done with the FSP, long drive to the Sound via a scenic highway, walk along the beach at low tide, getting misty-eyed looking at the misty mountains, swatting bugs, heading back to visit a gaping chasm and stare into some Mirror Lakes, strollin' on a river, then legit camping...still in the car)
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| Those are waterfalls of unknown (to me) origin |
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| The Sound is rather soundless but still mind-blowing |
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| Clever signage |
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| [insert 'Fields of Gold' lyrics here] |
March 9: travel (sleeping in a bit, then leaving camp early to fuel up, get groceries, and drive all day through Queenstown and Wanaka, stopping only once at Fantail Waterfalls, ending up slightly past Haast, freedom camp on Lake Moeraki)
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| Winding mountain roads |
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| Mitchell modelling this season's half-shorts half-pants look |
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| Lake Moeraki's mysterious black swans? They made weird noises |
March 10: Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers (in Māori, Te Moeka o Tuawe and Kā Roimata o Hinehukatere) (another early start to hit the trails at Fox Glacier with the tourist crowd, curse the expensive tours that let you actually walk onto the glacier, more meandering at and around Franz Josef, looping back to explore the usually-reflective Lake Matheson with all the other Chinese and German tourists, and crashing at the legit campground-cum-parking lot off of a beach on the Tasman Sea)
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| People scrambling around on Fox Glacier |
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| Franz Josef looks like an elephant head |
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| All the meltwater from the glacier |
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Some of the cows around Lake Matheson that were
especially loud in the morning |
March 11: Greymouth and Pancake Rocks (super early wakeup call to see Matheson Lake at sunrise, yes it was beautiful and reflective and no I don't have pictures, heading toward Greymouth, stopping first at a cute tourist trap to look at socks and used books, then at a lovely little town called Karoro ['seagull'] for beachcombing and lunching in the cemetery, heading further north to Punakaiki to witness the power of time and tide at the Pancake Rocks [made of limestone], discovering a mysterious cavern that led nowhere, rambling down a long rocky beach toward a rock shaped like a shoe, eventually return to Greymouth for gas and food to head toward Christchurch, finally freedom camping near a bridge halfway to 'Chch')
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Lake Matheson (Mitchell has better photos,
I'll steal from him later) |
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| Deceptive sock store; they were too expensive |
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| Pancakes minus syrup and butter and flavor |
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| Scrambling through the slippery, echoey cave |
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| There was an old lady who lived in a shoe |
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| Mitchell, rejoicing at relocating his prodigal jandals |
March 12: Christchurch (sleeping in a little before warming up and hitting the road again, maneuvering through the city's construction-riddled streets [some call it an 'urban dystopia' due to post-earthquake rebuilding], poking around the shipping-container mall, exploring the botanical gardens and all their quirks, crashing briefly at the rather homey hostel to recharge before meeting a bunch of friends, who had been hiking, at their hostel for pizza and beer dinner, story-sharing, FSP-reminiscing, and fond avowals of 'I'm gonna miss you' and 'Have a safe trip home')
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| Shipping containers work pretty well as stores |
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| So many roses |
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| 'World Peace Bell' that this one kid wouldn't stop ringing |
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| Black and white ducks...yin and yang? |
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| One of the many traffic-causing construction projects |
March 13: travel (morning at the local library to check email and figure out directions/campsites, last-minute duct tape run, then an approximately six-hour drive from Christchurch back to Queenstown, through such hopping urban centers as Geraldine and Ealing, only hitting one bird, weaving through Beautiful Valley and past Lake Tekapo to arrive back at Queenstown for some wonderful ice creams and settling in at the most legit campsite yet, just before nightfall)
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| the aptly-named Beautiful Valley |
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| The road goes ever on and on |
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'Mascarole cheese and forest fruits' plus 'Fig and pistachio' equals
mind-numbing pleasure |
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Twelve-Mile Delta was the filmsite of the scene in one of the LotR
movies where they're camping at Ithilien! Thanks for that tidbit, Mitchell
(who still hasn't seen the movies or read the books) |
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| Goodnight, sweet Shmabel |
March 14: departures (packing up in an empty church parking lot, devouring most of our remaining food supplies so as not to waste space packing them, returning the rental car [goodbye, Shmabel], getting my peanut butter and condensed milk confiscated, flying first to Auckland then, after doing all the baggage necessities, one last lunch at KFC and Tank before heading to the international terminal and parting for real [it still hasn't sunk in yet] as Mitchell goes to China and I return to Amurrica)
You might wonder what we were eating to sustain ourselves throughout all this. Being savvy/crunchy/hungry hikers, we opted for such nonperishable foods as hummus, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, capsicum, muesli, apples, kiwis, apricots, dried mangoes, dried bananas, beef jerky, trail mix, peanut butter, regular crackers, salt-and-vinegar rice crackers, lemon biscuits, and chocolate (for dessert and breakfast only, due to daytime melting). This ensured high caloric intake, a decent array of flavors, and very minimal preparation.
In addition to the experiences we had on the beaten path, there were quite a few enjoyable moments in-between events, like keeping track of the ridiculous names of the streams we passed over (Mimi Creek = 'Pee' Creek), eavesdropping on tourists in different languages (a grumpy old man clearly not enjoying the Pancake Rocks: 'just more rocks and water'), and running through fields of gold just because no one was there to tell us otherwise. I should have some deep insight to offer about these off-the-record experiences, but I feel increasingly like @NotTildaSwinton, as my departure time draws near and I prepare to head home for the last time.
To sum up: it's been real, it's been fun, and it's been real fun, South Island. I hope to come back someday to explore the many places I've yet to visit: Dunedin, Nelson, Akaroa, and Stewart Island (Scottish heritage FTW). Lots more wildlife yet to see, including mini-dolphins, seals, and of course kiwis of all kinds. Should I ever find myself in New Zealand for a conference or something, I'll have to find a way to get back on the open road again. I'll post the rest of my pictures on FB once I have few spare hours to caption.
I might post again soon with more post-trip reflections, but in case I don't here's my big thanks to everyone who helped make this FSP possible, and to those who made it as amazing as it was. I don't even know where to start, so I'll just end by saying one more time, kia ora tātou.
