18/11: New Zealand, at a glance...
NZ was awesome, I am sitting in Kuala Lumpur on the 17th of March recalling the great adventures i had there. I have a list of stories I wanted to write and never had, or took, the time to make it happen. It seems like a long time ago now, but it was such a special time for me to be travelling with my mom and I have a heap of great memories that are not willing to fade. Mom and I did a whole month together, no arguments over anything serious, and only once did we actually want to get some space from each other, which we did, and we both appreciated it.
Anyway, after skiing on the volcano we hightailed it for the south island, grabbing a ferry out of Wellington and crossing on a fantastic sunny day with sparse fluffy clouds and a moderate sea breeze. The seas were rolling at just a few feet and even though all the touros were huddled in their shells and fleece, the guys who work the boat walked about taking care of their tasks with their jumpsuits peeled down, with the arms tied around their waists, and just T-shirts to shield them from the cool ocean breeze. Doing some reading on the walls inside the boat about the 10m seas and gusting winds that they often encounter on this wind whipped straight, it made sense that the seamen were soaking up whatever rays they could.
Heading down the East coast of the South island, it was like a condensed California landscape; amazing rocky coastline skirted by green and gold grassy hillsides, backed by towering Sierra-like snow capped peaks. We felt very at home and kept commenting on where in California we were driving through now...
We were skunked for surf, but it gave mom and I a chance to do some hiking on the coastal headlands in Kaikoura. We made it down to Dunedin and went straight to the beach on the south side of the city. I was looking for a point break called Murdering Bay and as we pulled up to the beach boardwalk to have a look at some very average looking onshore beachbreak, I noticed an old character coming down the boardwalk at a casual, "I do this everyday" stroll reminiscent to the coastal walk of so many West Side Santa Cruz locals. I said to mom, "this guy'll know", and called him over to the car for some directions.
Not only did he know where it was I was looking for, but he confirmed our choice of caravan park, gave us a tip on dinner for the evening, apologized for not being able to guide us around town tomorrow, had not one of his beloved friends not "kicked the bucket" he would have been happy to, then he identified himself as Jack Alprez the "Jazz Man" and invited us to watch him play that evening in his quartet that would be starting up around 9 just down the road from where we should be grabbing dinner. He offered to "shout" us a drink should we decide to come in. I was up for it and told him he was on, mom was uncertain, but she was game. Dinner was good, rack of lamb for mom, and down to the bar for some jazz and a "shout". Jack was a man of his word, the place was cool, University town hip, and the band was ripping, I even bought a CD.
The next day I grabbed a morning surf at the beach that we had visited the day before, the swell was not big enough for the point I wanted to surf, so I settled on the beachy, but ended up getting some really fun waves and meeting Jason, a good local lad who plans indigenous, sustainable gardens and rides “fishes”. He was intrigued by the 5'6" "Fish" style surfboard I was riding and he told me that to get one here he had to have it custom shaped. I couldn't believe it, they're an old style surf board, but they are all the rage in California when I left and are a godsend when the surf is small because of their width and flat bottom that allows you to generate speed in the most awful of onshore springlike conditions. That afternoon, after trading boards, waves, and stories in the water with Jason, we were off to the Catlyns, the southernmost accessible terrain of the south island, desolate, wooded, and never flat...oh yeah??? Well, do we have a beef with the Catlyns... It was wooded. But it was flat, I surfed for an hour and caught 2 knee high waves and froze my buns off in the coldest water I had experienced yet. Reminded me of home, which is not necessarily a good thing when talking water temperature.
The evening we arrived happened to be Friday evening, and a holiday. Oblivious to both time and date, mom and I were clueless as to what we were in for. A group of 2 families from a town in the vicinity had come to spend the weekend and claim their "locality" in audacious displays of ignorance and arrogance towards any and all around them. They pulled into this gorgeous, serene valley and parked their cars, opening all 5 the doors, blasted the stereo and set up camp...the stereo did not turn off until 4am. The 3 wheeler ATV cranked up at just before sunset and continued ripping up and down the dirt road that flanked ALL the campsites continuously until about midnight, and then only randomly until sunrise. The only thing they lacked was the "yahoo" scream and shout that would have invariably identified them as some of the least educated and ignorant people on the planet. We spoke with a Dutch husband and wife the next morning on our way out who shared with us that they had confronted the "Father" the next morning on one of his escapades down the dirt road on the 3 wheeler. They asked him if he had any idea of how much disturbance he had caused through the night, his response was, "Oh, I hadn't noticed." They had clearly come to claim their "ownership" as locals and rumor was that the next night they would be "burning the beach" with a big bonfire when more of their friends came down to join them. They could have it, we were back on the road.
We stopped in Invercargill, took a look at the "Fastest Indian" motorcycle and split. Heading for Milford Sound, we made it to Te Anau and hunkered down for 2 days of rain. Internet, guitar, book, food, wash, rinse, repeat. The highlight in Te Anau was the beautiful lake and scenic temperate rainforest hike we took for an hour and a half on one of the tracks. NZ is covered with "tracks", really well developed hikes that run along incredibly scenic routes with sleeping huts conveniently located for multi day treks. We did an hour and a half, then back to the comfort of our home on wheels.
2 days later we were headed to Milford Sound. We got good weather, some clouds in and out, some rain, even some snow over the pass, and some sunshine. But turns out this is perfect Milford weather. With the rain the waterfalls were flowing full capacity and with the clouds moving in and out the excitement of grabbing little glimpses of the higher peaks was a rare and enchanting experience. We did a cruise on the Milford Sound on a 65' motor boat, we booked it late in the afternoon, after all the day trippers on the tour buses had come and gone, leaving the boat quiet with plenty of space to move around. The cruise was exceptional, my favorite part of the NZ tour, like Yosemite meets the ocean, we set out from the harbor and cruised the 5km or so out to the Tasman Sea to meet the open ocean rollers and catch a glimpse of a reef break left hander that the captain said gets absolutely massive on large winter swells. We got to see penguins and seals, everyone is so amped to see the seals, but being Californians, we were pretty dulled to the awe inspired into some of the touros by the sea lions. "Look at the whiskers on the seals", they would croon, and then you would hear, "Sea lions, not seals," as any guide within earshot would invariably correct them.
We spent one night in Milford Sound and got up early to go down to the water for what is generally the clearest part of the day, and it was. We were blessed with patchy blue skies, a low tide, and mirror like conditions on the sound which made for extraordinary photographic conditions and i scored some great shots. Mom and I soaked it up and then walked back to the hostel and hit the road. Bound for Queenstown, the adrenaline center of NZ. I was amped.
Anyway, after skiing on the volcano we hightailed it for the south island, grabbing a ferry out of Wellington and crossing on a fantastic sunny day with sparse fluffy clouds and a moderate sea breeze. The seas were rolling at just a few feet and even though all the touros were huddled in their shells and fleece, the guys who work the boat walked about taking care of their tasks with their jumpsuits peeled down, with the arms tied around their waists, and just T-shirts to shield them from the cool ocean breeze. Doing some reading on the walls inside the boat about the 10m seas and gusting winds that they often encounter on this wind whipped straight, it made sense that the seamen were soaking up whatever rays they could.
Heading down the East coast of the South island, it was like a condensed California landscape; amazing rocky coastline skirted by green and gold grassy hillsides, backed by towering Sierra-like snow capped peaks. We felt very at home and kept commenting on where in California we were driving through now...
We were skunked for surf, but it gave mom and I a chance to do some hiking on the coastal headlands in Kaikoura. We made it down to Dunedin and went straight to the beach on the south side of the city. I was looking for a point break called Murdering Bay and as we pulled up to the beach boardwalk to have a look at some very average looking onshore beachbreak, I noticed an old character coming down the boardwalk at a casual, "I do this everyday" stroll reminiscent to the coastal walk of so many West Side Santa Cruz locals. I said to mom, "this guy'll know", and called him over to the car for some directions.
Not only did he know where it was I was looking for, but he confirmed our choice of caravan park, gave us a tip on dinner for the evening, apologized for not being able to guide us around town tomorrow, had not one of his beloved friends not "kicked the bucket" he would have been happy to, then he identified himself as Jack Alprez the "Jazz Man" and invited us to watch him play that evening in his quartet that would be starting up around 9 just down the road from where we should be grabbing dinner. He offered to "shout" us a drink should we decide to come in. I was up for it and told him he was on, mom was uncertain, but she was game. Dinner was good, rack of lamb for mom, and down to the bar for some jazz and a "shout". Jack was a man of his word, the place was cool, University town hip, and the band was ripping, I even bought a CD.
The next day I grabbed a morning surf at the beach that we had visited the day before, the swell was not big enough for the point I wanted to surf, so I settled on the beachy, but ended up getting some really fun waves and meeting Jason, a good local lad who plans indigenous, sustainable gardens and rides “fishes”. He was intrigued by the 5'6" "Fish" style surfboard I was riding and he told me that to get one here he had to have it custom shaped. I couldn't believe it, they're an old style surf board, but they are all the rage in California when I left and are a godsend when the surf is small because of their width and flat bottom that allows you to generate speed in the most awful of onshore springlike conditions. That afternoon, after trading boards, waves, and stories in the water with Jason, we were off to the Catlyns, the southernmost accessible terrain of the south island, desolate, wooded, and never flat...oh yeah??? Well, do we have a beef with the Catlyns... It was wooded. But it was flat, I surfed for an hour and caught 2 knee high waves and froze my buns off in the coldest water I had experienced yet. Reminded me of home, which is not necessarily a good thing when talking water temperature.
The evening we arrived happened to be Friday evening, and a holiday. Oblivious to both time and date, mom and I were clueless as to what we were in for. A group of 2 families from a town in the vicinity had come to spend the weekend and claim their "locality" in audacious displays of ignorance and arrogance towards any and all around them. They pulled into this gorgeous, serene valley and parked their cars, opening all 5 the doors, blasted the stereo and set up camp...the stereo did not turn off until 4am. The 3 wheeler ATV cranked up at just before sunset and continued ripping up and down the dirt road that flanked ALL the campsites continuously until about midnight, and then only randomly until sunrise. The only thing they lacked was the "yahoo" scream and shout that would have invariably identified them as some of the least educated and ignorant people on the planet. We spoke with a Dutch husband and wife the next morning on our way out who shared with us that they had confronted the "Father" the next morning on one of his escapades down the dirt road on the 3 wheeler. They asked him if he had any idea of how much disturbance he had caused through the night, his response was, "Oh, I hadn't noticed." They had clearly come to claim their "ownership" as locals and rumor was that the next night they would be "burning the beach" with a big bonfire when more of their friends came down to join them. They could have it, we were back on the road.
We stopped in Invercargill, took a look at the "Fastest Indian" motorcycle and split. Heading for Milford Sound, we made it to Te Anau and hunkered down for 2 days of rain. Internet, guitar, book, food, wash, rinse, repeat. The highlight in Te Anau was the beautiful lake and scenic temperate rainforest hike we took for an hour and a half on one of the tracks. NZ is covered with "tracks", really well developed hikes that run along incredibly scenic routes with sleeping huts conveniently located for multi day treks. We did an hour and a half, then back to the comfort of our home on wheels.
2 days later we were headed to Milford Sound. We got good weather, some clouds in and out, some rain, even some snow over the pass, and some sunshine. But turns out this is perfect Milford weather. With the rain the waterfalls were flowing full capacity and with the clouds moving in and out the excitement of grabbing little glimpses of the higher peaks was a rare and enchanting experience. We did a cruise on the Milford Sound on a 65' motor boat, we booked it late in the afternoon, after all the day trippers on the tour buses had come and gone, leaving the boat quiet with plenty of space to move around. The cruise was exceptional, my favorite part of the NZ tour, like Yosemite meets the ocean, we set out from the harbor and cruised the 5km or so out to the Tasman Sea to meet the open ocean rollers and catch a glimpse of a reef break left hander that the captain said gets absolutely massive on large winter swells. We got to see penguins and seals, everyone is so amped to see the seals, but being Californians, we were pretty dulled to the awe inspired into some of the touros by the sea lions. "Look at the whiskers on the seals", they would croon, and then you would hear, "Sea lions, not seals," as any guide within earshot would invariably correct them.
We spent one night in Milford Sound and got up early to go down to the water for what is generally the clearest part of the day, and it was. We were blessed with patchy blue skies, a low tide, and mirror like conditions on the sound which made for extraordinary photographic conditions and i scored some great shots. Mom and I soaked it up and then walked back to the hostel and hit the road. Bound for Queenstown, the adrenaline center of NZ. I was amped.
