NZ Part 4: Journey South

It's been a while.

I haven't written since the beginning of a rather longer chapter in the world of Kiwis.  We have been a bit busy, but also I have started to become attached to the chapter organization of my blog.  I've usually done it like, okay, let me tell you everything that has happened since I last wrote.  But the New Zealand portions this time around have been in fairly well-defined segments; Settling Into NZ, Fruit Picking, and Kumara Harvest.  So waiting to write until the end of the most recent segment meant waiting quite a while.

And then usually when I write segments, I do my best to write them chronologically.  This time I cannot.  Three months is too long to remember the order in which things happened.  So this time I want to write by experiences.  It's going to be less organized and I won't be able to put them into any kind of order except how I remember them during the writing process.

I left off in Dargaville.  We had had a warm and friendly experience there and we were sad to leave Derek, Martina, Peter, and Colleen.

Derek and Martina had been putting money into the purchase and campervan designing of their "Banana Van."  Derek loved to buy materials to build the bed, the storage, the curtains, and various other features.  It was all tricked out, but it meant that they hadn't saved hardly any money.  They asked Peter and Colleen if they could stay just a little longer while they were working for another farmer in Dargaville, and of course Peter and Colleen said yes.

We took a few days off between the end of the kumara harvest and when we would leave.  We applied to many jobs in the South Island and one came up to work at a restaurant in Lake Tekapo.  One position would be as Front of House staff (which I had been hoping meant hostess) and one would be as Back of House staff (as a dishwasher).

I have worked in a restaurant before and don't like it at all.  If you don't know me very well, I'm an introvert and I like my alone time.  I'm not a hermit--I do like people--but I need time to myself.  The dishwasher position appealed to me more, but the manager, "Phil," sounded more interested in me as a Front of House staff.  My shaggy fiance, not so much.  He asked us to make it down before Easter weekend, which meant a very quick tour of the west coast of the North Island.  Since the small town of Tekapo didn't have much flexible accommodations, Phil made a reservation at a hotel for "backpacker" rates.

We said a sad goodbye to our Kiwi parents and the Italians.  Like I think I have said before, I like being one of the first to leave because I don't like being left by others.  That's probably an indication of some dark psychosis, but oh well.  The Italians kissed our cheeks and Peter and Colleen's hugs lingered, and there were glassy eyes all around, our own included.

We stopped in Auckland on the way down to say hello to Jutta and Rudi and pick up mail.  They graciously allowed us to stay the night.

Unfortunately because our time was so short we had to skip seeing a few things in order to make it down before the Easter weekend rush.  We started driving along the western side of the North Island, eventually making it down near Egmont National Park.  We made it there before darkfall, but only just, and there was a heavy, heavy, heavy fog impeding our view of what the map hinted was a very round and beautiful volcano mountain.

The circular shape of the park had me so intrigued!

It was disappointing, but it was starting to feel like a trend; any time we wanted to do sightseeing in the lovely Land of the Long White Cloud, there were long, pesky white clouds.

In case I haven't said before, New Zealand was first populated by Pacific Islanders people, Maori.  The name they gave the country was "Aotearoa," which in Maori means "Land of the Long White Cloud."

We made it early enough in the day to stop and see Stratford, the little town on the eastern side of the park.  I had read in the guide book that they had a Romeo and Juliet themed clock tower that put on a musical show at certain hours of the day.  As a literature junkie, it felt like a must see.

The Stratford clock tower.

The show was actually quite awesome--probably a good ten minutes long on this four-story tall clock tower, complete with mannequins of the protagonists that mechanically moved in and out to a choreographed short version of the play.  It was cool.  And of course I was being so careful to not move the camera during the whole thing that I didn't notice that it wasn't recording and I missed capturing the whole thing.  Oh well, it was probably better in person anyway.

We headed into the park area, which was an ascension into the thick fog.  I really wanted to see this mountain, but it did not look relenting.  So we chose a spot by the side of the road that could possibly shield our car from passing cars and shuffled some things out of the back seat to make room for sleeping bags.

This kind of camping is pretty cool to me; it's all self-contained and sort of convenient.  It's a small car but the seats fold down and in a pinch there is a flat surface for sleeping.  Don't get me wrong, I love my tent.  But the car is mostly water-proof and you don't have to set it up.

Then again I said it is only sort of convenient.  What my little mind forgets is that in order to have a flat surface, you have to pull everything out and pile it in the front seats (and cover the boxes of kumara with the rain fly of the tent because they don't fit in the car with us).  Then the mattress pads and sleeping bags still need put out, and even then you're still left on a very hard if flat surface with very little room.  Then there is the mess of do you want to put the windows down a little to keep from suffocating, but also risk getting wet or eaten by bugs.  And no matter if you put the windows down or not, it takes at LEAST a good 20 minutes of full fan action to get the condensation on the inside of the windshield and windows under control.

Is it really that convenient?  I'm not too sure either way.

It was a long night, but we managed a little bit of sleep and were revamped in the morning for more journey.  We quickly saw what we could of the surrounding area (not much; thanks long white cloud) and pressed on to Wellington.

Somewhere around this time, there was a place called Virginia Lake.  Where, I don't know.  We happened to be driving and saw it was a good place to stop and boy are we ever glad.  We fed ducks and walked around this beautiful place.  It was so lovely and so nice to have a little exposure to some sun!

They're hungry and therefore not responsible for their actions.

  Wellington's weather was not much more impressive, but it was pleasant enough.  We strolled along the beach walk where there were hundreds and hundreds of amateur joggers going past in all directions.  It was nuts!  I have never seen a city whose population is committed to running on the beach side in the evening hours.  And they all looked so fit!

We ate some fish and chips and Joe parked me and the car in the parking lot to wait for the ferry and I fell asleep in the back seat nestled amongst bags and clothes while he went back out walking in the city.  A recurring theme here is that Joe is significantly more ambitious about sight-seeing than I am.  I have my spurts, but for the most part, his energy sometimes annoys me.  So I was grateful that he let me stay to sleep locked safe in the car, and I think he was grateful to not be prevented from having the ultimate New Zealand experience by his lazy fiance.  The partnership works.

When it came time to drive into the line of vehicles waiting to drive into the belly of the ferry, it was dark, quiet, rainy, and took way too long.  It was really neat to drive in and have that experience, but it is now crossed of our lists and we don't feel the need to do it again (though we will in about a week's time from writing this, but more on that later).

Loading on the ferry

We got out of the car, locked it, and left the deep belly for the upper decks where the lounges were.  Lounge is too fancy of a word.  It was just a room of seats, nothing fancy.  We were torn on where to sit, but eventually Joe found the perfect spot where we could sit in the seats, but also had full access to a large area of unused floor space, which we used to sleep on.  The sleep was fitful and cold, but not altogether bad.  We slept through most of it.  Normally I would want to be awake for the ride, but not when it was an overnight ferry and there is nothing to see.

We got out on the other side in Picton, drove down the ramp and out of the ship, and took to the road, but not without napping on the roadside.  It was glorious.

Then on to Christchurch.  The drive was short, but Christchurch was confusingly laid out.  On the way we got a call from our new boss Phil, who told us that we should try to arrive by Thursday to start working on Friday.  I was immediately annoyed because he had originally made it seem like we should be there by Tuesday or Wednesday, which is why we rushed through the journey down to the South Island.  Now we were within three hours and he changes his mind about wanting us to start just yet.  I tried to be excited to have time to see Christchurch, though in the end it was a little bit extra frustrating because the weather was so wet and uninviting for sightseeing.

The downtown area was still in considerable mess, considering it has been several years since the earthquake.  There aren't many people on the street and we heard rumor that it is a risky place to work because housing is scarce and it is mostly populated by men.  And of course when the ratio of men to women is around five to one, testosterone tends to peak just a bit.  It was a city where it was not recommended for women to stay out for long after dark.  Like all risky cities, just be careful and you'll be fine, but it definitely did feel a little bit like a ghost town whose ghosts were starting to stir the dust.

We found the main area and went walking in what looked like a huge park.  We saw very little of it, especially since it was so rainy, but it was just lovely!  There were ponds full of happy ducks, cobbled bridges, water features, and huge old trees.  There were even sculptures and art about.

Christchurch park view at night

We went back to our car and found a side street to park in.  We wrangled stuff around in the car and attempted to sleep some, but we were both nervous that there was traffic going past.  It was more fitful sleeping.

The next morning we gave into our civilized sides and paid to have a shower in the downtown area at a gym.  It had really only been a few days, but it had been bad sleep, lots of moisture, lots of exercise, and cramped spaces.  We were ripe.

After the showers we went back to the big park to a museum we had seen that was free.  It ended up being the coolest museum I had been to yet.  There was just so much information and exhibits and it was all so well put together.  And free on top of all of that!  The nerdy people that we both are were celebrating the free learning!

Riding the penny-farthing at our new favorite museum

We decided to go out of the city to sleep that night (after eating some amazing Pakistani food) in hopes that it would be less fitful.  We almost got lost trying to find a campground somewhere near Geraldine, but we pulled in after dark in the pouring rain.  More bad sleep, but we did seem to get enough of it.

By the next morning the landscape was drenched.  We had to modify our routes to keep from going down roads that were washed out.  Later we would find out from the news that the bridge we had skipped on account of high water had been entirely washed away!

We headed out from Geraldine towards Lake Tekapo.  This was the drive through "MacKenzie Country," named for James MacKenzie, a man who stole thousands and thousands of head of sheep and ran them through the basin with his sheep dog named Friday.  The locals must have disliked him not just because he stole their sheep, but also because he did it repeatedly, even after being caught several times.  He was eventually banished, but the high plains with astonishing views kept his name, along with MacKenzie's Bar and Grill where we were going to work.

Breaking through past a couple of hills on the way into Lake Tekapo is breathtaking.  I know big and beautiful mountains, as the Grand Tetons are our backyard, but this view may have even been more beautiful.  There is this lake so blue it looks like an exaggerated painting, but it's not.  It's glacier-fed, which is where it gets the bright and deep blue color.  The village of Tekapo sits on the south end of the lake and when you look over the lake, along the north side are the violent and striking mountains of the Southern Alps rising out with dramatic lighting from a clear sun.  No matter what demons we may have fought over the months in the village, the view was always reason enough to stay.

Right now I should probably add my own photo of the lake, but it is surprisingly hard to catch the beauty in a photo.  So I will be using someone else's photo from the internet for illustration of the grandeur.

There were no flowers when we were in Tekapo, but the view is awe-inspiring in its own way during winter

We finally got to Tekapo.  The first business on the main street was "The Godley."  The Godley is a hotel that looks like a slightly outdated fancy ski lodge.  I said to Joe, man I hope we're not staying there--I bet it's expensive!  We drove up and down the main street in a matter of 12 seconds, parked, and started to stroll our new home.  We did a quick hair and make-up update and headed towards MacKenzie's, not really sure what to expect.