New Zealand Wrap-Up

Our road trip down the West Coast of the South Island was really cool. The thing about New Zealand is that there are interesting walks and waterfalls and viewpoints and rivers around every corner. So as we were driving along, Jasson and I would see a sign for something like "blue pools" or "seal colony" and think, "why not?" And we'd get out and stop and look around, take photos, get back in the car, and drive some more. Here are some little bits and pieces that were cool, but not enough for their own blog posts.

Picton, the town where we arrived at the South Island, picked up our rental car and started our road trip.

The Pancake Rocks.

Mirror Lake.

The Blue Pools.

Swimming with dolphins in Akaroa. The dolphins were fairly elusive, and darted around so fast it was difficult to get any good photos.

Do you see that faint silver smudge in front of me? That's a dolphin!

Our impression of New Zealand is that it is an overwhelmingly outdoor country. It isn't the place to go for indoors activities or urban culture. The big cities are a little on the dull and unattractive side -  even New Zealanders will admit this. There's not much in the way of of outstanding museums, interesting architecture, cool fashion, good shopping, special food or fast internet access.

New Zealand's strength is in its natural beauty - the abundance of waterfalls, mountains, beaches, streams, volcanoes and forests. The hills the color of emerald and rivers of opal and sapphire. The space, the crystal clear air, the quiet broken only by birdsong. It's the place to go for camping, hiking, snorkeling, mountain biking, kayaking, rafting, bungee jumping, skydiving.

It's a country of adventures.

Kayaking in Doubtful Sound

Last week Jasson and I visited one of the most remote places in New Zealand: Doubtful Sound.

We went on an overnight kayaking trip with a small group of five other people and a 22-year-old guide named Simon. Just to get to DS, we had to drive to a tiny town, then take a bus, then a ferry across a lake, then another bus.

image via Wikipedia

Doubtful Sound consists of incredibly steep mountains, dark and deep channels, moss-covered trees and not much else. The only animals that live there are birds, seals and dolphins. The silence was profound. When our guide wasn't sharing facts and stories with us, the only sounds were our paddles dipping in the water, the many waterfalls trickling down the cliffsides, and the occasional bird singing. And again, the water was so pure we could drink directly from it.

Occasionally a tour cruise would hum through the valley, a tour guide's voice blasting over the megaphone. I felt a bit sorry for (and, admittedly, superior to) the cruisers, who were definitely missing out on the serenity and peace of the area.

Although I had kayaked once during college, it was Jasson's first time kayaking, and he quickly discovered that he was not a fan. After the adrenaline rush of whitewater rafting, kayaking is just kind of slow and grueling. The water was very, very still so if we weren't rowing, we weren't moving. We rowed for 9 miles that day.

By the time we arrived at our campsite, which was located on one of the rare patches of flat land, Jasson and I were exhausted. However, a nasty surprise was awaiting us. Remember how I said that very few animals live at DS? I lied; millions and millions of sandflies live there. Sandflies are like mosquitoes except their bites itch and swell up even worse. Despite our overpriced bug repellent gel, they swarmed around Jasson and I by the hundreds as we struggled to set up our tent and change out of our clingy wetsuits. I'm pretty sure I inhaled a few flies. The others in our tour, presumably more accustomed to camping, set up their tents quickly and easily, while Jasson and I huffed and puffed through every hot, sandfly-ridden minute.

Once we finished we ran for the insect shelter, which Simon called "the Palace." It was a small patio framed by mosquito nets. There we were finally able to relax as we cooked our pasta dinner over a gas stove and got to know our rowing partners.

That night as Jasson and I were sleeping in our tent, sandflies beating against the sides like rain, we were woken by the sounds of a kiwi bird calling, which sounds like this. That may not seem very exciting, but New Zealanders are obsessed, obsessed with those big brown birds. Additionally, kiwis are both endangered and nocturnal so you almost never see them. Getting to hear one in the wild is probably the most New Zealand-y experience we could possibly have.

The next morning we got back in the kayaks bright and early. The water was smooth and glassy.

We were lucky enough to see some dolphins from a distance as they played in the wake of a passing cruise boat.

It was a beautiful trip, but by the end of it we were tired, sore, sunburnt, and Jasson is horribly fly-bitten. They really feasted on him. Strangely enough I seem to be having almost no reaction to their bites, so Jasson suffers alone. Sorry Jasson!

The next day we drove several hours through foggy, misty weather. We had wanted to go hiking on Mount Cook but the weather looked pretty miserable, and probably would have prevented us from seeing the good views. So we stopped by Lake Something-Or-Other and had a sad, sad lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. (We've been eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for over two weeks now, mostly because they're cheap won't go bad during long, hot car rides.)

Weary and itchy, we arrived in a small town where we had a room at an Airbnb house. Our hosts, Kirsten and Mark, immediately made us feel at home. "We have unlimited, high-speed fiber optic internet," they said. "Also, we're cooking you some BBQ steaks tonight, is that ok? And would you like to see our pet alpacas? Here's some espresso made from our fancy Nespresso machine."

:D

:D

:D

Really, it wasn't these amenities that were important, it was just the hosts' friendliness and hospitality that meant so much to us. They just really wanted to sit and chat with us, and while we feasted on their amazing BBQ dinner they told us hilarious stories about their couchsurfing days. To feel at home is a precious thing when traveling.

The alpacas were a nice bonus, too!