South Island Excursion, Part 2

We are back in Wellington now, after a simply astounding excursion to the South Island. It has to be said that New Zealand truly does live up to all the hype when it comes to breathtaking natural beauty. The South Island is a jewel and I recommend it as one of the best places in the world to see in terms of variety and contrasting scenery as well as unsullied natural beauty. Geographically it is tiny, but the amount of places and things to do an see is literally incredible. We saw a decent chunk of the island, driving along the north, west and east coasts as well as through the interior. We saw oceans of turquoise water and beautiful beaches, snow-capped peaks and vast plains of golden grasses, alpine lakes encirled by forests, and quaint little towns tucked away amongst undulating mountain passes. And yet we barely saw a fifth of what the South Island has to offer. That fact blew my mind a bit. The people we met on the Able Tasman trail told us about all the amazing things they had seen and done, things to do and places to go that we hadn't even heard of. So we'll be back, probably as soon as we can.

When we left Christchurch we drove south for a bit before driving inland, skirting the lower slopes of the Southern Alps towards Queenstown.

Some of the Southern Alps

Lake Tekapo

The view from our apartment was breathtaking, and along with our view over the town and lake, we were treated daily to the spectacle of a constant stream of colourful paragliders, descending from the mountains like rapidly deflating balloons.
Queenstown is most assuredly a place for aventure seekers and adrenaline junkies. The amount of activities you can choose from is staggering and it is truly the centre hub for adventure-tourism. It's also the place where we did the least in terms of actual activities  The town is abuzz with hordes of juiced-up tourists, high on adrenaline from their last activity or wired with anticipation for their next. This gives the town a kind of surreal quality as the economy of the whole town is plugged into this energy. The view from our apartment was too good to miss out on, so we mostly sat on the balcony watching the activities from afar and taking gentle strolls around the lake and the beautiful surrounds.

Queenstown - the view from our little flat

We did, however, take a trip to a little place about 100km north of Queenstown called Wanaka. The reason we went there was specifically to visit a little independent cinema called Cinema Paradiso. It's a great little place in a rather unassuming building across the road from the local supermarket. It has one screen and the seats are mostly old couches and armchairs. It's like watching a movie in a friend's living room. The best thing about it is that they have an interval during which they served freshly-baked hot cookies. I heard about the place whilst we were on the road and I was dying to check it out. It was an amazing experience, especially because of the movie that we saw there. We went to see  "Searching for Sugarman," the story of Rodriguez, an American musician famous in South Africa, and pretty much nowhere else, and the two South Africans who went looking for him. It's a great story and one which I would recommend to anyone for myriad reasons, but mostly for its art, heart and soul. It was great to see scenes of my home town and the film gave both Elsje and I strong pangs of homesickness. And it was definitely worth the 220km roundtrip :D

Lake Wanaka

We finished off our trip at a place called Hanmer Springs, about an hour north of Christchurch and a town famous for its hot baths. After all the driving and hiking and hardcore holidaying, we thought a couple of days soaking in some mineral baths would do us a world of good.

Hanmer Springs

An Unexpected Detour

We've had an intersting few days. After spending a relaxing night in Golden Bay recovering from the Abel Tasman hike, we set off for the West Coast and the Franz Josef glacier.

As soon as we got beyond Nelson the rain began and we spent the next six hours traversing mountain passes in a torrential downpour. At one point we had to stop because the rain reduced visibility to zero. We finally made it to the West Coast proper and as we drove further south we noticed that the land around the bridges we were crossing was beginning to flood as the rivers swelled. It was a great relief when we saw the sign for the Franz Josef glacier, only half and hour's drive away. But when we turned down the road for the final stretch we were stopped by a traffic official, who told us that part of the bridge up ahead had washed away, and showed us a picture similar to the one below. Needless to say we were heavily disappointed, because there is no other way to get to the glaciers other than a 12 hour detour.

So reluctantly we turned around and headed back to the nearest town, Greymouth. On the way back we recrossed the bridges and noticed that the water levels of the rivers had risen and had begun to widen considerably. We later learned that these areas needed to be evacuated due to flood risk.
When we got to Greymouth we learned that the route north back to Nelson was also closed, and our only way out was to drive east across the breadth of the south island to Christchurch. We decided to wait out the storm in Greymouth and assess our options in the morning. As the night went on we were treated to intense thunder and lighting, more torrential rain and hail, but by the next morning the storm had moved to the north. The routes south and north were still closed though, and so our only option was to go to Christchurch.

Our revised route

It was really disappointing to miss the glaciers, but we were compensated by a drive through an astoundingly beautiful mountain pass across the southern alps we otherwise would not have seen.

We only spent one night in Christchurch. I really wanted to see the earthquake damage and get a feel for the place. It feels very strange, like a ghost town, like something more than just load of buildings was broken. There is a profound sense of loss in the city, particularly in the red zone and it was clearly felt by the other people walking around, looking at the ruins of the city centre, talking in hushed tones.
Susan wrote a particularly poignant poem about the feeling which captures the mood quite accurately:

Toeriste fluisterpraat

Trap versigtig op die heilige? grond

trilgrond

     bewe-grond

          breekgrond

Kliek:  katedraal wat verwese

           oorleun na een kant -

           gestut met staalstrukture

           grafitti teen die muur:

           Jesus saves

Kliek:  afgekordonde nagklub

           Open till late

           Striptease dancers

Kliek:  Verlate woonstelblokke

           krake en verval

           letsels nog rou

           Balkondeur kreun oop

           in die wind

           Stoel sigbaar -

           skeef gestamp

Tuis worstel ek in my slaap

om onder bourommel uit te beur

Ek verstik in stof en bloed en angs

en die oordonderende stilte

                     Christchurch, 3 Januarie 2013

ChristChurch Cathedral

mmm...

Just around the corner from Cathedral square, the city council has set up a little commercial district called Re:START. All the shops and businesses are housed in shipping containers and it is to this little pile of steel boxes that the life of Christchurch has migrated. We sat down and had a coffee to soak up the energy of that little hub of human activity; a stark contrast with the sense of lifelessness of the broken wreckage surrounding it.

South Island Excursion, Part 1

So the first post of the year happens to fall on the first day of 2013. We trust everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable festive season. Susan, Elsje and I are currently sitting - drowsy and content - in a cosy backpackers in Golden Bay, about 80km from the Abel Tasman National Park, on the north-west coast of New Zealand's south island. We have just finished a three-day hike and thought we'd check in and show off some piccies before we carry on :)

Six days ago we took the ferry from Wellington and landed on the south island at Picton. We stayed overnight, and the next day we were off into the Marlborough sounds to look for dolphins to swim with. We found some Hector's dolphins (pictured below) and some enthusiastic 'common' dolphins who gave us the impression they wanted a swim, but ultimately they made a sport of making the humans chase them around the sounds.

A Hector's dolphin checking us out

The very next day we took a drive to Nelson, and after a night in a dodgy backpackers we were off to the Abel Tasman National Park for a three-day hike. It was astoundingly beautiful there: all golden beaches, turquoise water and dramatic headlands covered in lush native forests. The hike itself was also really gentle  so we had ample opportunity to take in the the scenery and to simply enjoy the experience. It gave us all a taste of what New Zealand is famed for, and really, what I think this place is truly all about. We met a lot of foreign tourists who did little more than rave about the natural beauty of the place, and we actually picked up a load of tips and suggestions on places to check out on the rest of our journey.

I call this one 'Point and Click' because that's all you have to do in the Abel Tasman to get an awesome picture.

Walking from bay to bay, we came across many a  private 'bach' (pronounced 'batch,' which is basically a beach house), and I think I now understand something of the Kiwi mentality behind the desire for 'a bach, a boat and a Beamer.' These folks truly know how to relax.

So now, after three days of glorious hiking and a day of recovery in the beautiful Golden Bay, we are headed further south, via the west coast, to see the glaciers.