Category: New Zealand

Thursday to Tuesday I went on a whirlwind trip down to the South Island, which is famous for its scenery. I spent most of the time traveling, which was strenuous but definitely worth it. I specially enjoyed the two train rides I took (much more relaxed than taking the bus) and the day I spent at Fox Glacier (I had to compare those Southern Alps with those in Switzerland, after all… *g*). But let's do this chronologically…

On Thursday I took the bus down to Wellington, which was seven hours. But they went by quickly, mostly because I was so tired that I slept quite a bit. And thanks to a wondrous pair of wristbands, that were putting pressure on pressure points at my pulse, I didn't even get carsick! So once I arrived in Wellington I called Denise's sister Ariana, and we spent a couple of hours drinking hot chocolate, chatting, and having a look at the theatre where the last LOTR movie will premiere in December. It's being renovated for the occasion, so that wasn't very exciting – but at least I saw (and photographed) it! LOL

A three hour-ride on the ferry took me over to the South Island. Unfortunately it got dark, so I couldn't see much of the scenery – but at least I didn't get seasick. 🙂
In Picton I discovered that the hostel I had booked had forgotten to pick me up – but a driver for one of the rivaling hostels took pity on me and gave me ride. In the hostel kitchen I met a Kiwi woman with a funny Russian name (which I can't at the moment remember – bad me!), and we had a nice chat.

The morning I spent walking around the Victoria Domain, which offered beautiful scenery – I'm just a sucker for the combination of water and land. Then I went to the Aquarium, to learn a bit about the local marine life, which was very nice, because it was small and the staff was friendly.
Then I caught the TranzCoastal train to Christchurch, which went along the coast in a very relaxed fashion, offering tons of beautiful views, to be admired from the comfort of the coach as well as from an open viewing platform. I definitely loved that day – scenery, sunshine, a bit of walking and a nice train ride… What more could I want?

In Christchurch I just spent the night and didn't see anything of the city. Instead I got talking with a German girl studying in Wellington, who does her Masters thesis in Geography about LOTR tourism, and was also interested in Maori culture, so we had some interesting conversations about both.
In the morning I took the TranzAlpine, which is pretty famous – but truth be told, I was a bit disappointed. It could have been the weather, which turned grey and wet when we reached the mountains, or the fact that I'm spoiled where mountain scenery is concerned – but I wasn't very impressed. Still, it was nice, and at least in the beginning I saw a bit of the snow-covered Alps.

The train ended in Greymouth, where I switched to a bus that took me leisurely to Fox Glacier. It was a very scenic ride along the coast and through the mountains covered in temperate rainforest, and we stopped in Hokatika to look at some Greenstone (jade) jewellery, for which the South Island is famous. Also on that bus I met Jo, a Londoner, who had booked into the same hostel I had, and at some point it was decided that we'd try to coordinate our activities in Fox. Don't ask me how it happened – but that's just one of those travel things… 🙂

The hostel (Ivory Towers) was very nice, and we had a very nice relaxed evening there – I met two Swiss guys (from the region of Basel, too!) and enjoyed the opportunity to chat in Swiss German and exchange travel tales.
In the morning Jo and I booked a guided walking tour on the glacier, which turned out to be a lot of fun, despite the grey and wet weather. We walked up to the glacier (hard work – we all stripped off as many layers of clothing as possible, just to put them on again once we had reached the ice), and then donned crampons (at least that's my guess as to how it is spelled) and walked on the ice. It was fun – and interesting, too, since Fox Glacier moves incredibly fast (almost a meter a day, if you disregard the melting) compared to the microscopic movements of the Swiss glaciers.

Jo and I got back around 1pm and had a little break before setting out to Lake Matherson by bike. The bikes were crap, but it was definitely better than walking the 6km (which is what a Japanese girl from my room did – very impressive! *g*). Walking around the lake was very nice, specially since the weather had cleared up – although not enough to enable the reflexions of the snow-covered Alps for which the lake is known. So all in all this was a very active day, and we ended it with a drink in a pub and a nice dinner in a restaurant.

The next day I had to head back up North, on a bus ride to Nelson that took more than 11 hours, but went through some more awesome scenery. The West Coast of the South Island is incredibly remote and empty, but also incredibly beautiful. We even stopped at Pukekura (if I remember the name of the place correctly) to enjoy the power of the sea crashing against rocks and forming them.
When we reached Nelson, I was really ready to fall into bed, so the hostel was a bit of a disappointment, because it was one of those noisy ones where lots of groups stop. But there was only one other person in my room (and he was downstairs with the noisy people *g*), so I just crawled into bed with a book and a hot tea…

Over night it stormed, and it was still raining in the morning, but luckily it cleared up a bit after my breakfast, so I could go out and explore a bit. I headed up to see the so-called “Centre of New Zealand” (which isn't the center at all – but who cares… *g*), and then walked along the river for a bit before deciding to go to Mizuyi Park (or something like that), which was a very nice Japanese garden. Going there I passed the Founders Park, which sports rebuilt historical buildings – but I didn't feel like paying an entrance fee and then having to hurry through it, so I went back to the hostel instead, relaxing for a bit before going to the airport.

I'd never taken a domestic flight before, and this one was even divided into two parts (I had to change in Wellington, so that much of the time spent in the air was spent starting and landing – not my favorite ways to spent time… *g*) – but it did allow me to get back to New Plymouth in only a bit more than two hours!
That was specially good because it enabled me to go to a camp out on one of the local Marae (Maori meeting places) and spend the night there, which was really interesting. They even had a hangi (a big traditional Maori feast, steam-cooked on hot stones covered in earth), and I had some interesting conversations. I'm still not sure what exactly I'll do with everything I've learned here, because it's not exactly what I came here to learn about, but I'll worry about that when I get home…

Now my time in NZ is coming to an end – I'll be leaving on Monday for Australia. It'll be a long day – first by bus to Auckland, then a plane to Sydney, and then on to a domestic flight to Brisbane to visit Willa, who I met last year in Washington, DC. I'll be sorry to leave here, but I'm looking forward to two relaxed weeks in Australia – I don't plan to rush around too much, but will rather spend time on a couple of beaches and go snorkeling to the Great Barrier Reef (a dream of mine!).

Hope all is well with all of you – I miss you (but not too much *g*) and am sending you some big hugs!

This weekend I didn't go on a trip, because of little Ellie's third birthday. For it, Denise's mom, her two sisters, and two of her brothers came up from Wellington, and there was a big jungle-themed party on Saturday morning.

The afternoon was spent lazing about in the lovely sunshine, as the morning's acitivities had tired everyone out, but in the evening we went for a drive up Mount Taranaki, which was very beautiful.
On Sunday Denise's family left at noon, and Denise, Ellie, and I drove to the historic site of Koru Pa (where an old Maori village used to be), enjoying the gorgeous weather. On our way back we stopped off at one of the beaches. The black vulcanic sand glittered in the sun, people were bracing the cold water or sunbathing, and Ellie ran around barefoot – it almost felt like summer…

Denise and Ellie had to go to another birthday party, so I drove to the Paratutu (a steep mountain peak right at the sea) on my own. I climbed it, feeling more like a goat than anything else, and spent some time sitting at the top, reading and enjoying the view. When it became dusk, I climbed down and drove a bit further along the coast to find a good spot to watch the sunset (I was not climbing down that mountain in the dark!). Unfortunately, clouds came over from Mt. Taranaki and covered the sun, but it had been a very good day anyway… To top it off, Sibylle called me and we had a nice chat catching up with each other.

This morning I've been organizing the rest of my stay here in New Zealand – I've changed my flight to Sydney to September 22 (shortening my time in Australia to two weeks – barely more than a short vacation), giving me time for my trip to the South Island (Thursday to Tuesday) and for some more research. Let's hope that this is definite!

Hope you all had a good weekend! Miss all of you – I know I've been bad with email, and I apologize… *hugs*

I've been planning my short trip down to the South Island (which is famous for its natural beauty and awesome scenery). Traveling around New Zealand, specially round the South Island (which has only 800 000 people living there) is pretty complicated, even more so when you're pressed for time the way I am. Therefore I'll just do a short trip around the Northern part of the island (there'll be time to go back another time…).

I've also booked a flight to Auckland from the South Island, to catch my plane to Sydney on September 16 – but looking at what I have done so far for my research (which has mostly consisted of waiting for people to hook me up with people to talk to, it seems, plus several instances of bad luck and bad timing), I slowly get the feeling that I should stay on here to do some more interviews and stuff. Denise said I am welcome to stay on with them.

I've been looking forward to Australia a lot, especially because I've been cold pretty much all the time since I arrived in New Zealand – but if staying means that I can go home with the feeling of actually having done more than just sitting around waiting, Australia might just have to wait… I'll let you know when I come to a final decision.

This weekend will be Ellie's third birthday party, and part of Denise's family (mother, two sisters, two brothers) will be here for it, as well as about 20 other kids and grown-ups tomorrow morning. We've decorated a whole room in a jungle theme, and I'll be in charge of the “Feed the Lion” game… So no traveling this weekend, I'm afraid – instead lots and lots of noise and excitement… *g*

(Sibylle, if you read this – I'd love it if you would call me on Sunday! It's ten hours difference, so if you could call between 9 or 10am your time, that'd be cool! *hugs*)

Saturday morning Denise, Ellie and I got up at the unearthly time of 5am and left for Wellington (capital of New Zealand) at six. It was freezing cold in the car, and the weather was pretty nasty all the way to the tip of the North Island, so we were pretty happy to get to Denise's family.
The welcome was warm, the weather not so much, so I was glad to spend a couple of hours in the big Te Papa museum, which has (among other things) a very interesting Maori exhibition that made a really good impression on me. (By now I think I've gotten some idea at least about the problems and issues surrounding the Pakeha-Maori relations today…)

After that I met up with Denise and her two sisters, and we went up Mt. Victoria to have a look over the bay and towards the South Island. Then we went to look for the places where they shot parts of Lord of the Rings, walking through a forest that really looked just like Middle Earth… I'm not sure we found the exact right spot, because for one thing the Location Guide is kept deliberately (and annoyingly) vague, and for the other a lot of the pine trees were bare, changing the whole look of the forest. But it was fun to imagine, and we did find a spot that looked about right! (I wanted to share the picture with you, but am having problems uploading the pic – sorry!) I also bought some merchandise (stamps and a Merry and Pippin pen box), which made me a happy fangirl that day… LOL

On Sunday (an absolutely beautiful day) Denise dropped me off at the train station and I went to explore Wellington some more, walking along the seafront and through some of the major shopping streets and up a mountain with the Cable Car. It seems like a really lovely city and I didn't have enough time by far – so I'll just have to come back, won't I? 🙂
The drive back was much more fun, too, now that the sun was shining and I could admire the beauty of the landscape properly. I don't know, I really love it here, even if I only go on short trips – there's just something about this country… I'm seriously considering trying to do the job practice (also required for my major) here if I can find something acceptable.

Hope everyone is doing fine and not too busy! *hugs*

So it's Monday, and I was supposed to do an interview for my study this morning. But it just seems to be jinxed, because after I had been sick on Friday, today the tape recorder didn't work… Oh well, time to catch up on email and journaling… 🙂

Despite not feeling well we left for Rotorua (the North Island's main tourist haunt) Friday evening, spending the night in a cabin by the lake, “enjoying” the sulphuric air. On Saturday Denise and Ross dropped me off at Whakarewarewa, the oldest thermal reserve with geysirs and hot mud pools, a Maori carving school and a Maori village for tourists. Despite all of this it was very interesting and I enjoyed myself a lot.

Then we headed to Matamata (where they filmed Hobbiton for the Lord of the Rings movies), only to find out that the tours to the field cost 50$ per person. That was just a bit much, so we decided to skip it, much to my regret. But we'll go to Wellington another weekend, and there I'll make up for my failing as a fan by going to all the places around there! 🙂
Instead we went to the coast to a beautiful beach (New Zealand isn't famous for its natural beauty for nothing), before heading over to spend the night with Denise's grandparents.

On Sunday we went to the North Island's other big tourist attraction, the Waitomo caves. That was really awesome – first we went to the Aranui caves, which were very impressive with their huge stalagtites and stalagmites (new words for little Ellie *g*), and then to the horribly touristy glowworm caves. But wow, were they awesome – the glowing worms on the cave's ceiling looked like stars and made you forget about the many people and bad guides (ours should have paid a fine for every time he said “folks” *g*)…

We weren't allowed to the pictures of the glowworm caves, because that disturbs the animals, but I did take a lot of pictures at Aranui, which I'll hopefully be able to share with you, together with the pictures from Rotorua and everywhere else. Ross said he'd try and upload them to this computer here, so maybe I can even share them with you before October. We'll see, I guess…

Okay, Denise and Ellie are back, so I need to get going. My stomach's growling, too, so back to family life! 🙂

Hope everyone reading this is doing fine – drop me a line to let me know! *hugs*

(Oh, and Michi – you can add Gosford Park, Riding in Cars with Boys, and Bend It Like Backham to our movie list. Most movies are horribly expensive, but these were on sale at Blockbusters. Oh, and you'll get The Two Towers in the mail any day now – amazon shipped it!)

I arrived at my final destination last Friday and am now staying with my friends Denise and Ross, and their little duaghter Ellie. I met them four years ago in California, and they're the best hosts I could hope for!

New Zealand is great and I'm looking forward to learning all kinds of interesting stuff about the Maori and the country. We've been to Mt. Taranaki and around the countryside a bit, and are planning a couple of weekend trips to Rotorua, Wellington, Matamata (“Hobbiton”) and the Waitomo caves. Also I've sent my driving license off to be translated, so maybe I'll be driving round New Plymouth myself soon in Denise's old car… Let's hope I never forget to drive on the wrong side of the road! 🙂

Only drawback here is that it's pretty cold, specially considering that I came from almost 40 degress celsius. Actually, my fingers are frozen stiff, so I'll keep this short… *hugs*

A guy in my room gave me the rest of his internet time before he left, so I thought I'd let you know that I've arrived in NZ in one piece.

Tomorrow I'll go to my friends' home in New Plymouth and get started on my field work – but today has been touristy sightseeing. I did a walk through the city, climbed the hightest hill, did a harbour cruise, and hung out at a bookstore (reading not buying for a change *g*). All in all Auckland is a nice city with friendly people (and loads of tourists and immigrants) – but I can't wait for the rest of the country! (A local told me that no Kiwi actually likes living in Auckland – I wonder if that's true.)

It's six pm and I'm very very tired, but at least I've made it through the day – could be worse if you consider that my bodyclock has been turned completely upside down… I wanted to go see Pirates of the Caribbean tonight, but it seems not to be running here yet. So I'll probably end up going to Starbucks for a Chai tea and then turning in obscenely early. 🙂