Welcome to Te Anau

The float plane on Lake Te Anau is very near to my humble abode.

Jess showing me the grapes at her backpackers.

Just chilling in the hammock at the backpackers.

This is right across the street from where I live.  Well kinda, sorta!

Last Night

29 March 2011

It all ends with Persian Love Cake.  

It started just as a regular day.  Went to work.  Learned some stuff.  Did some reports.  Sat around and doodled from boredom.  

After work Jessica and I spent some time hanging out by the lake and enjoying the beautiful weather.  We walked to the outdoor center where Jessica got a certificate that she completed the Milford Track.  She invited me to come and have dinner with her hosts at the backpackers (hostel) she works out.  Jess went on and on about the venison curry that Rosie (the owner) was making.  The venison curry didn’t entice me, but a night of company with some folks did.

On our way to her house I stopped at the dairy and got an ice cream cone.  It was a perfect day for it.  Then we stopped at the grocery store and bought some drinks for our “party” as Jessica called it.

Her hostel was more like a huge house.  It was in a regular neighborhood.  The house has a lovely garden and Jess has a little tiny house in the yard.  Jess and I helped make a salad as Rosie has a broken arm.  The hostel kitchen was more like a combo between a home kitchen and a commercial kitchen and it was full of backpackers brewing fabulous things.  

In total there were 16 of us for dinner.  We started off with a glass of wine and then we moved on to the food!  It was a feast.  We had venison curry, but there was also vegetarian curry.  We had rice, steak stir fry, canoodles, three salads, and amazing pasta!  The chefs came from New Zealand, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, and the UK.

We rounded things out with dessert and a rendition of “Happy Birthday” for one of the Australians.  We had tiramisu, raspberry yogurt with white chocolate, and Persian Love Cake.  

It’s a long walk from Rosie’s hostel to my place so Jess walked part of the way with me in the dark.  The night sky was incredible.  It felt like being in a planetarium or something like that!  The sky is very vast here because while there are mountains they aren’t too close.  And there is less light pollution so we could see stars very low in the sky.  

As usual Jess made me laugh.  We talked about the great food we ate.  How much she’s loved living with Rosie and her husband and her plans for going to Australia.  Jessica leaves on April 1st.  This is the end of her New Zealand adventure.  What I love about Jessica is that she isn’t sad to leave.  She has enjoyed her time here and she’s ready to move on.  I really admire her and appreciate the friendship that she and I developed here.  We’re from quite dissimilar cultures and yet here in Kiwi Land we were able to cultivate a friendship.  I think that is something truly magical about New Zealand.  I will always appreciate that.  

The great metropolis of Te Anau!

25 March 2011

Another day off today.  I worked three days at the hotel and now I’m on day two of my two days off.  Yesterday was sunny and warm.  I actually went on a run! Which I haven’t done in months.  I spent the afternoon by the lake.  I watched the sea plane take off and land.  I watched a helicopter come in for a landing right on a dock over the lake.  I saw people swim, dive, jetski, waterski, and tube on the lake.  I watched the tour boats come and go and other speed boats cruise around the lake.  I also spent a good amount of time snoozing in the sun, reading, and eating!  It was marvelous!

Today I slept in and came to the library where I’ve found free internet.  I’m going to do boring things today like laundry, pay bills, and such.  

On my way to the library I watched an informal parade of old cars from the 50s and 60s drive through town, honk their horns, and wave American flags.  I asked someone what was going on.  She said it’s called Americana and these folks drive their cars all over New Zealand.  It was pretty entertaining to watch the cars.  Everyone stopped what they were doing to gawk at the cars roll by.  I love that Te Anau is the kind of town where things happen!  Even as small as this.  Today and tomorrow Te Anau is also hosting a rodeo and a ballet performance!  Already this town seems more real than Fox Glacier!

Catching Up

19 March 2011

I had to do laundry today which sucked.  But it got done pretty quickly and in the meantime I wrote some postcards and went shopping.  I didn’t buy anything but I might later.  

Then I went to the Queenstown gardens.  They are lovely.  The gardens are located on a piece of land that juts out into the lake so the garden is surrounded by the lake.  The upper part is protected from the wind so it is very warm and still.  This is where the rose garden, tennis courts, bowling greens, frisbee golf course, and skate park are located.  There is a foot path around the shore of the lake too and I got some great photos of Queenstown from the gardens.

I also visited a small farmer’s market on the greens of the church across the street from my hostel.  I bought a pain au chocolat from the baker and enjoyed it in the sunshine while listening to a guitarist play and sing.  Such a beautiful day today.  The sun was out in full force and the sky was so blue!

In the afternoon I took the bus to a little town called Arrowtown.  It was founded around gold panning.  The rivers around here used to be full of gold.  You can still find some here and there so a lot of the stores rent out gold panning supplies and you yourself can go panning for gold.  I just bought chips and ate them down by the river.  

I bought a ticket to see The King’s Speech at the Dorothy Brown theater.  This is a unique theater.  They sell beer and wine and cheese boards to go with your movie!  The seats are nice and large and comfortable.  When they sell you your ticket they assign you a seat like you’re going to a stage performance.

I wandered around Arrowtown before I went to the theater.  I was a little disappointed.  It was mostly eateries and up-market shops.  I like that kind of thing but since I wasn’t in the mood to sit in some fancy cafe nor did I have the capabilities of carrying anything I might want to buy, I just wasn’t interested.  Initially I was disappointed that I didn’t have more time in Arrowtown, but when I got there I was really glad there was a movie theater to go to instead of wasting my time with the shops.

I loved the movie.  They even gave an intermission which I thought was great.  This is the way to see movies!  I was really tired after the movie.  I rode the bus back to Queenstown with a transfer stop in Frankton. 

Back in Queenstown I decided to look for some dinner and buy a Queenstown pin.  I had been looking and looking for a little travel souvenir pin for Queenstown, but they were a lot harder to find than I expected.  I finally found a great one and purchased it.  Then I wandered around some more to find something to eat.  The problem was I wanted something really great, but I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to eat. So I wandered for a long time before settling on some Mandarin noodles.  

All in all I’ve had a great visit to Queenstown.  This is the kind of town that offers so many adventures you could never be bored, but it’s also such a beautiful place that it just makes you want to slow down.  I’d like to come back sometime and slow down here!

21 March 2011

I left Queenstown yesterday morning at 8 am.  We had a short two hour journey on the Stray bus to Te Anau.  After collecting all my stuff I walked to a little cafe/diner and ordered some breakfast.  I killed some time there because I told the Luxmore Hotel that I would be arriving at 12 noon or 12:30 and I didn’t want to turn up too early.  

The girl behind the counter at the hotel checked me into a room because they didn’t know about accommodation for me at that moment.  The room isn’t so great.  It’s pretty old, but very clean.

The sun was shinning so I pulled a chair out on my little balcony and sat in the sunshine for about an hour.  Suddenly my phone rang.  Jessica, my friend from Te Weheka, called me.  She is living here and working at a hostel for her accommodation.  We decided to meet up later.  In the meantime I took a nap.  I woke up to Jessica calling me telling me she was here at the hotel. 

We caught up over some tea at the Sandfly Cafe.  It was so sunny and warm that I really enjoyed it.  Plus I was with such a good friend that it made everything feel very comfortable.  She loves Te Anau and I’ve caught her enthusiasm.  We walked along the lake and then went grocery shopping together.

This morning I moved into my accommodation.  It isn’t great, but I won’t have to live here forever so I guess I’ll try to handle it.  I start my job this afternoon.  It shouldn’t be too hard because I already know the computer system I just have to learn about how this hotel does things.  Wish me luck!

Dry Cleaning & Tea and Cake

18 March 2011

The best part of my day today was getting my drycleaning done and enjoying tea and cake at the oldest house in Queenstown.  Obviously these two things are pretty different!  But I had been worried that my dry clean only work pants wouldn’t get cleaned before I started my new job on Monday.  They suffered three months of hard labor and needed some love!  But I was worried that I’d waited too long to take them to a drycleaner.  But no problemo!  They drycleaned my pants in four hours!  Yay!  Now I can go confidently to work at my new job with clean pants.

I spent the afternoon on the hill overlooking the town.  I took the Skyline Gondola up, had lunch, and then walked around.  I took way too many photos, but the lake here is so beautiful that I couldn’t help myself.  Also the Remarkables mountain range is amazing!

Then I went to visit Vesta, a cafe/boutique, located in the oldest house in Queenstown.  It was lovely, laid back, and quiet.  Compared to this crazy hostel I’ve been living in, it was heaven!  The house is called the William’s Cottage.  The lady was so nice.  Since I was paying with change she charged me less for my snack because she needed the change!  So I kind of got a deal on it all!

Tomorrow I plan to visit Arrowtown, a little town outside of Queenstown.

My Day

17 March 2011

I took the TSS Earnslaw, a steamship, to the Walter Peak Farm today.  It was pretty touristy, but I still loved it!  The steamship has run on Lake Wakatipu since 1912.  On the way to the farm I met a missionary couple from Anchorage.  They are missionaries in Samoa and are here on Spring Break.

At the farm the guide demonstrated how the collie dog herds the sheep.  I was amazed at the way the sheep respond just from the eye contact of a dog.  The sheep behave in a very mechanical, predictable way.  Time after time the dog was able to round them up.  In “real life” one collied dog could round up hundreds of sheep!

Then we watched as the demonstrator sheared a sheep.  As long as the demonstrator kept control of the sheep’s head, he had control of the sheep.  It was like watching someone get their teeth worked on at the dentist.  You can tell the sheep doesn’t want to be going through this, but that she will feel better after it’s all done!

Then to my surprise they served us morning tea with tea, coffee, and snacks.  We learned a lot about the original family that farmed there and the houses they built.  The girl serving us tea actually worked at Vail one season as a ski instructor so she and I shared memories.  

We also had a tour where we met some red deer, merino sheep, alpacas, and Scottish Highland Cattle.  I loved the cattle.  They are so beautiful with their red fur.  These cattle were like huge, gentle giants.  We also had a wool spinning demonstration.  I never knew that lanolin came from sheep!  I learned a lot during the tour.  And the grounds were just magnificent.  Such a beautiful location with lovely gardens.  

On sailing (or steaming!) back to Queenstown I had a call from the manager of the hotel in Te Anau.  He told me he’s had a change in plans and that instead of working in housekeeping and the restaurant he’d like me to do reception.  I’m pretty excited about that as I enjoy reception the most.  

Back in Queenstown I stopped in at the thrift store (or op shop as they call them here) to see about the church I’d researched online.  The pastor of the church was there and she invited me to have tea.  So she and I sat down and talked.  Another lady from Japan who attends the church joined us.  I visited with them for a long time and the pastor gave me the name of some Christians she knows in Te Anau to connect with.

This afternoon I met up with a bunch of people from my Stray bus. We went to the lake and sat around and talked.  A lot of people were already drinking because it’s St. Paddy’s Day.  It’s a beautiful spot with views of the mountains and the lake.  I bought some delicious gelato ice cream and one of the girls painted a clover on my cheek.  Finally we went to an Irish pub where I ordered my once-a-year Guinness, which I only drank about half of.  We went out on the upper balcony and just hung out.  Of course it was crazy loud and packed, but I had a good time. Although I don’t think any St. Patrick’s Day will beat the one I spent in Paris a few years ago when one of my friends Irish danced with Parisians!

It’s only 9:30 pm and I’m comfortably back in my dorm room ready to relax and go to bed while the rest of town rocks and rolls all night long I presume!

Photos

1st nights accommodation with Stray

Stray bus I'm traveling on.

Lunch! Yum!

Lunch spot

Chard Farm wine tasing

Lord of the Rings River

Makarora & Queenstown

14 March 2011

I thought this Stray thing wasn’t going to work out.  While I waited for the bus, Caroline told me that I’ll either love it or hate it.  Well, the bus picked me up about an hour and a half late.  Then I got on and people weren’t very friendly at the beginning.  Also, at our first stop people stripped down and skinny dipped in a lake as part of a dare game the bus group was playing!  People seemed rowdier than I expected!  It wasn’t until lunch that I started to think this might be okay.  People started to talk to me and warm up to me and that was great!

Tonight we are staying in Makarora which is kind of stupid since Queenstown is only 4 hours from Fox Glacier, but whatever.  We’ll get to Queenstown tomorrow.  We had a $10 dinner and then hung out in the restaurant talking.  I really had a great time.  I met a wonderful girl from Victoria, Canada.  I also met some girls from around Europe including Finland, England, Switzerland, and Germany.  We laughed and shared stories about travel.  It was wonderful.  Now I hope I can sleep in a different bed.  I slept so long in the same bed in Fox Glacier that this will be an adjustment.  The hostel is more like staying at Camp Killoquoa because the rooms are actually A-frame buildings with beds and a bathroom in the back.  I was expecting worse from what Caroline told me, but actually it’s not too bad.  It’s clean and that’s what counts the most!  I think Stray might be okay!  We’ll see what happens tomorrow!

15 March 2011

I woke up at 6:30 am to get into the shower before anyone else.  It was a beautiful morning and the stars will still shining in the sky.  I felt like I was camping.  

I went down and had breakfast in the little restaurant and one of the guys from the tour joined me.  It turns out he’s from Bellevue.  At 9 am we headed out on the bus.  We went to Wanaka.  It’s a cute little town on the lake called Wanaka.  In Wanaka I called to find out about the job in Te Anau, but the person I needed to talk to was busy.  I had lunch and walked around the lake.  Then we drove some more.  

This whole area reminds me so much of eastern Washington.  It looks so similar.  They even grow cherries, apples, peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines, and wine grapes there.  In a couple of areas I felt like I was on Highway 2 headed for Leavenworth!  We stopped at a bridge so people could jump off it into Lake Dunston and then we stopped at a fruit stand.  I bought apricots, plums, and nectarines.

We then went to the famous AJ Hackett bungy stop outside Queenstown.  Here people signed up to go bungy jumping or actually went and jumped off this old bridge over the river.  We had fun watching our tourmates bungy. I did not book bungy jumping!

Finally we showed up in Queenstown at about 6.  Queenstown is very much a tourist town.  It reminds me a lot of Beaver Creek and Vail.  It is gorgeous with mountains all around and a large beautiful lake.  I walked around to find the church I’d like to attend.  I did find it, but they weren’t open.  

We all met up again at 7 and went to Fengburgers.  They serve huge burgers.  I just got the cheeseburger and then we all went down to the lake to enjoy them.  Most people went out for drinks afterwards, but I just decided I wanted to chill and go to bed early.  

Tomorrow I plan on calling Te Anau again to find out if there is a job for me or not. I also plan on walking around and booking myself some adventures to experience in Queenstown.  

Moving On

12 March 2011

I only have two more nights here in Fox Glacier.  Part of me is really grateful I got the chance to live and work here.  Part of me is wondering why I wasted time here!  I still have so much more to see of New Zealand.  I’ve been in New Zealand almost four months and I’ve mostly seen this town!  I’ve learned a lot though.  I understand myself better and I’ve gained a lot of experience and expertise from working at Te Weheka Inn.

Monday morning the Stray bus will come pick me up and I will start a new part of my journey here.  I’ve only booked the Stray bus through Queenstown.  Stray is a bus/tour company that helps people see New Zealand and enjoy meeting other people.  I can get on and off as much and as often as I like in a year.  So even though the tour is 28 days I’ve only booked through Queenstown because I think I want to spend some time there before I travel again.

Chris, my boss at work, has talked to other hotels in our chain to see if they need any help and it looks like I could have about six weeks of work at a hotel in Te Anau.  Te Anau is south west of Queenstown.  It has just over 1,000 people.  It will feel like a big town!  So eventually I plan to get to Te Anau too.  

Te Anau is the jumping off point to visit Doubtful Sound and Milford Sound.  These are two beautiful places that I really want to see so Te Anau will be a great landing place for me.  Please be praying that it all works together.  At the moment nothing is definite.  

I still have to pack a ton of stuff and I hate to pack!  I need prayer for packing too!  

This is all new again.  My nerves are quietly rattling below the surface as I try to face leaving my comfortable life here to go adventuring again!

I don’t know when I will have good Internet access again so it might be some time until you hear from me!  Hopefully I will be able to keep you updated on all my adventures!