Doubtful Sound part 1

27 April 2011

I just returned from spending the night on a boat in the Doubtful Sound.  What an amazing place.  And not only an amazing place, but a fabulous experience.  

The shuttle from Real Journeys picked me up in Te Anau and drove me out to Manapouri where we picked up a Real Journeys’ boat to the Manapouri power station.  This boat took us across Lake Manapouri, which is almost as beautiful as Doubtful Sound.  It is surrounded by mountains towering above it.  To top it all off it was a gorgeous, blue skied day.  A little bit chilly, but so beautiful.

When we all stuffed ourselves onto the small boat, I was looking for a place to sit and found two ladies sitting with their backs to me and no one across from them.  I went to sit across from them and it turned out that one of the ladies was Rosie.  Rosie is the lady who my friend Jess worked for here in Te Anau.  So immediately I had a friend to chat with.  She introduced me to her friend.

Rosie has done the overnight trip twice before so her excitement for it got me even more excited.  Doing this trip was a dream coming true.  

We transfered from the boat to two coaches that drove us over the Wilmot Pass to Doubtful Sound.  Yeah, it’s that remote.  We loaded the boat and enjoyed cruising along the fiord.  Eventually we stopped and did water activities.  We could choose between kayaking, speed boating, and then we could also go swimming.

I chose to go kayaking, which was a first for me!  I was super nervous about it and the guides didn’t give us any tips on how to kayak.  Another guest on the ship was kind enough to give me some help.  I ended up at almost the end of the pack of kayakers.  I just kept zigzagging!  When one of the guides asked me if I was alright, I said I wasn’t very good.  His response was, “Well, you haven’t fallen in the water yet so you’re doing okay!”  So that was their standard, huh?

Anonymity

26 April 2011

Te Anau is a beautiful town.  I think I’ve mentioned it before actually.  The main industry is tourism followed by farming and fishing.  The thing about most tourist towns is that there is usually a time of year when tourists stop coming.  Business gets slow.  That’s what we’re coming to now.  But this past weekend was an extra long one for Kiwis.  Good Friday and Easter Monday were holidays.  And this year it happened that their special day to commemorate the military, Anzac Day, also came on Easter Monday.  

So most people had a long weekend and many of them came to Te Anau to celebrate.  They went boating.  They sailed on the lake or powerboated.  Some rented the fancy bicycles that carry four to six people.  A lot of them went on walks and I’m sure many went to visit Milford and Doubtful sounds.  The town was buzzing.  And fo the first time in a long time I felt like most of the people I passed on the street and in my walks were people who spoke English with a New Zealand accent.  Because frankly most of the time I can tell that the people I pass speak English as a second language or with a different accent.  

Te Anau isn’t very large.  It seemed huge when I first came to it.  Compared to Fox Glacier it felt like a real town!  And it is a real town! But that’s it, it’s a town.  I love it here because it is beautiful.  More sunny days than I ever experienced in Fox and even more than I would experience if I was home in Everett.  But it’s still small.  It doesn’t bother me that it doesn’t have the amenities of a larger city.  I mean it has a grocery store, some clothing shops, a library, lovely parks, and movie theater.  There isn’t much more I feel I need.  But I do miss one thing.  And that is anonymity.

I never realized how important that was to me before.  At home, and even in the “small” town of Avon, Colorado, I felt somewhat anonymous.  People don’t usually recognize me or remember me.  If I’m walking down the street I rarely run into anyone I know.  If I go into a grocery store I usually have a different cashier every time.  Plus I have multiple grocery stores to go to.  Not just a pick of two like in Te Anau.  

I have run into multiple co-workers in town as well as people from church.  It’s not too bad, but almost every time it happens I wish it hadn’t.  I just don’t want people to know what I’m up to or what I’m doing.  It’s not that I’m doing anything bad per se, but I just don’t want them to know.  

Even people I don’t know recognize me and know me. For instance a lady who works for one of the local tour companies came to the hotel and spoke to us about her tours.  And she went, “Oh you’re the girl who walks by the office all the time.  So this is where you work!”  I didn’t know this woman, but because I have to walk past her office almost anytime I want to go anywhere she recognized me.  I didn’t even know her and she sees me walking all the time!  

I wonder if this isn’t what celebrities experience all the time.  Every time they go to buy a coffee everyone knows!  It’s not that bad of course.  The whole world isn’t looking at me, but I feel like this town knows what I eat for dinner every night!  It’s not exactly creepy.  I just want my anonymity back!  But I think it’s a good experience to have.  It’s good to know what it’s like to live in a town this size.  And no matter that I can’t buy a box of cookies without people knowing it, I will always cherish this time here in Te Anau.  But can you blame me if I’m looking forward to buying a pint of ice cream without anyone in my town knowing?

A change

Isn’t it amazing how the simplest things can turn your day around?  For me, today it was a little, old lady wearing a hot green beret, a purple blouse, and a grey granny sweater.  The beret was like the color of a ripe kiwifruit and it was secured on her grey and black curls.  The contrasts of colors was stunning!  I was immediately impresed and I told her how stunning it looked.  She laughed and said she needed a haircut!  But the visual masterpiece and the simplicity of colors reacting together made my day.  It perked me up and made my attitude change.

Sometimes it’s a song I love.  Or a song I just haven’t heard in a long time.  Most often it’s a walk, a beautiful view, a deep breath, a little prayer under my breath, that changes my day.  Everything seems better after that moment.

What changes your day?  What turns your day around from glum to cheery?

Heavenly

Here’s an update on Te Anau.

The cold weather came upon us with a burst.  Bam!  Now it’s cold.  This happened during the week last week so I froze on my way to work early in the morning in the dark.  Because it got so cold I started contemplating what I would need to buy to keep warm as winter started creeping up on us.  This is still autumn by the way, but it feels like winter.  We had some snow in the mountains too.  I bought some gloves and that helped keep my hands reasonably warm.

I started feeling crumby on Wednesday and much worse on Thursday.  By Friday I had aches and chills.  Fortunately Friday was the worse day and I worked the morning shift.  I finished around 2:30 and went home and stayed in bed for most of the day except for a short walk to the store for some Nutella.  I slept in a pair of tights, socks, sweatpants, pajama pants, pajama top, sweatshirt and snuggie with a hot water bottle.

I woke up on Saturday feeling so much better!  No more aches and chills.  Still a sore throat, but overall I felt much better.  It was warmer outside too. After going to the library I went to my favorite cafe the Sandfly Cafe.  I ordered their soup of the day which comes with bread and amazing herb butter.  I also had a chai tea latte.  They make a really really good one!

I finally bought the Icebreaker jacket I’d been drooling over since Queenstown.  Icebreakers are awesome sports and outdoor clothes made from Merino wool.  The first one I tried on in Queenstown I fell in love with. A light purple pullover with thumb hooks and really long sleeves, plus incredibly flattering.  But I didn’t purchase it because it was pretty expensive.  Well, I did buy it on Saturday.  I love it.  I couldn’t pass it up.  And I figure I can use it for skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, and just staying warm here in Southland, New Zealand!  Plus it can last me for years.  Of course lasting for years means that I must not lose it or outgrow it.  More on that later.

I spent the rest of the afternoon by the lake reading and watching the sailboats from the sailing club float up and down the end of the lake.  

In the evening I went for a late walk.  Because day light savings time has finally ended it gets dark really early now.  Saturday was such a beautiful day that there wasn’t a could in the sky!  The evening sunset with a bit of peach-tinted light peaking out through the mountains and shining across the lake--well, it was just breathtaking.  The close-by mountains were silhouetted while the mountains in the distance glowed with the late sunlight.  The moon was already out--all slivery and shining above the mountains. 

 I felt like I was in a theater and God had put this scene together for us to enjoy.  Everything seemed to shout and sing and praise him.  I got to be a part of that.  It was magical.  I reminded myself that this was just a little preview of heaven--only heaven is going to be so much more amazing.

Sunday I went to church where the pastor (surprise, surprise) talked about heaven.  It was such a good reminder that no matter how beautiful or how difficult this life is this isn’t it.  There’s more than this!

In the afternoon I went to the small theater in town and saw Tangled.  What a cute movie.  I loved sitting in the huge red seat and just relaxing and being comfortable. I enjoyed that the movie promoted following your dreams and when you reach that dream find a new dream!  That’s never a problem for me.  I’ve always got new dreams cropping up all over the place.

In the last couple of days I noticed that my pants are starting to tug a bit around the hips and thighs.  Uh oh. It might be all the Nutella, cookies, and chips I’ve been eating.

So I decided since I’m feeling better I would go on a run this morning.  Nothing makes you feel better when you have a cold than sweating out the toxins right?  It actually felt really good.  I only ran for fifteen minutes but it was enough to get  sweat going.  I wore my new Icebreaker jacket and it felt really good.  It was also a source of inspiration.  New clothes are always a great excuse to get outside and show them off!

The arch of a rainbow glowed for most of the walk.  It started out just as a little piece on one side and then the opposite side appeared.  But there was blue sky between the two sides so there was no center.  Then a cloud moved into position and I could see the whole complete arch.  

Rainbows always remind me that God keeps his promises.  The promise of heaven came to my mind and I thought about our family friend Jay Sutherland who just passed away.  It’s good to know that God welcomed him right in.  One of the things the pastor said about heaven is that there’s no waiting line to get in.  When we pass away we are welcomed right in.  There’s no wait.  This rainbow seemed like a portal right to God and to his presence, to heaven.  I can just imagine Jay walking right on in and being welcomed with open arms.

OK. Phew! Now you’re all updated!

Te Anau Glowworm Caves

4 April 2011

Wow.  Can’t believe it’s the beginning of April already.  While time went slowly in Fox Glacier, it speeds along here in Te Anau.  I’ve already been here two weeks!  

Yesterday I went on the Te Anau Glowworm Cave tour.  I was most excited to get out on the lake for the first time.  The caves are on Lake Te Anau but north of the town of Te Anau and on the other side of the lake.  To get there we take a large boat that goes really, really fast like a speedboat.  It’s a thirty minute ride.  

When we arrived at the caves half of us went in first while the other half stayed in the Cavern House for a presentation on the worms.  The caves are pretty awesome and it’s impressive that they’ve built all these ramps throughout it.  The entrance is very small and I had to stoop down very low to get in.  I bumped my head on the rock too!  So right off the back I had some issues!  

Our guide takes us through the caves which are beautiful and have a large creek running through it and forming it.  Eventually our guide loads us on these little square boats.  He climbs to the front and pulls us along on the water by cables.  It’s completely pitch dark and very spooky.  I couldn’t see a thing.  All I could hear was the rushing water as the guide forces us not to speak.

Shortly we come into a small cove with glowworms covering the ceiling.  They light it up pretty well and I could see the reflection of their lights on the water.  The whole experience feels like a boat ride at Disneyworld.  Except it’s pretty real.  But in the back of my mind I couldn’t help thinking that we’d be going down a steep waterfall like on Pirates of the Caribbean.  We didn’t.

We walked back out of the caves and I saw the man in front of me bump his head on the cave ceiling too.  I almost think they should make us wear helmets as we enter the caves at least.

Back at the Cavern House they gave us tea and coffee and a presentation on the glowworms.  I enjoyed this bit the most.  Frankly, I’d seen glowworms before and while it was cool to see them in the caves, once you’ve seen them you’ve seen them.

I learned that the glowworms shine light out of their bums to attract the insects they eat.  They produce this gelly-like thread that the insects get stuck to and then the glowworm pulls the thread of and eats them.  A moth could take a glowworm 2-3 weeks to eat.  A small sandfly could take 2-3 days.  The glowworm stage is the second stage of their life.  They stay in this stage the longest.  When they actually turn into a flying insect they only last a few days.  The chemical process that produces the light is a natural phenomena from their digestive system.  The glow sticks we use for celebrations imitate this chemical process.

We took the boat back to Te Anau after the second group of people finished their tour of the caves.  I think a lot of people on the tour really enjoyed it.  It’s not that I didn’t enjoy it, it just wasn’t that exciting.  The tour is probably best suited for people who haven’t seen glowworms and won’t have time later on in their journey to see them in other places where it won’t cost them a thing!

Milford Sound

2 April 2011

My life is fabulous, but it isn’t perfect.  I was over-the-top excited for my cruise on Milford Sound today.  Unfortunately I may have been too excited because I didn’t sleep so well last night.  I kept having nightmares and waking up in a panic.  

When it was time to shower for the day I took a really hot, steamy shower.  Which made the fire alarm in my building go off.  (This is quite a common occurrence with New Zealand fire alarms.  We had this issue a number of times at the hotel in Fox Glacier.)  So I woke up all my neighbors at 7 am on a Saturday morning.  I, of course, had just gotten out of the shower when it went off.  I threw on some clothes and stood in the cold with wet hair feeling ridiculous.  

When we were finally able to go back into the building I was worried I would be late to pick up the coach to Milford Sound.  Fortunately I cut some corners and made it in time.

I learned so much on my journey out to Milford. The journey takes about two hours from Te Anau.  We passed a very neat valley called Knob Flats because when the glacier came through it flattened all the land except for some areas where there was a hole in the glacier.  So it is this flat land with little hills all over.  It was so cool looking!

We went through the Homer Tunnel.  The road and tunnel to Milford Sound was built during the Depression when the government sent men out there with shovels and pick axes to make the road -- even though by then they already had much better equipment for road-making!  The men needed jobs so this is what the government did.  The tunnel opened in 1954.  It’s kind of shocking to go through.  It is one lane and it doesn’t feel safe, but thousands of tourists drive through it everyday so it must be OK!

Did I mention I got this trip for free?  Because I’m working at a hotel and may sometimes need to sell the trips to guests one of the local companies offered to let me visit Milford Sound for free.  They even paid for a picnic lunch for me!  I feel so blessed because this trip tops my experiences in New Zealand so far.

The amazing thing about Milford Sound is that it is a deep fjord surrounded by towering mountains.  (I learned the difference between a fjord and a sound.  A fjord is created by a glacier and then it is filled with ocean water.  A sound is created by a river bed and then filled with ocean water.  Milford Sound is a misnomer because it is a fjord.)  The most famous mountain is Mitre Peak which reaches 1,682 meters.  Many of these mountains are sheer rock walls rising almost vertically out of the fjord.  

Cascading down all these cliff faces are waterfalls.  The first one we saw is called Fairy Falls and we even saw a rainbow in it.  Because the fjord is so freaking deep the cruise boat can go right up to the cliff face.  One of the best moments I had was when we went right up to the Striling Falls.  There are not words to describe how I felt when I saw the water free fall right in front of me and then spray me as it hit the sea.  I stood out on the front of the boat and I was sprayed by a waterfall.  I can’t put the feeling into words, but it was magnificent.  

Our cruise went all the way out into the Tasman Sea.  This was the only part I didn’t enjoy because I can get a bit sea sick.  The nature expert onboard said this was very calm for the Tasman so I’m grateful for that at least.  

On our way back we saw a New Zealand Fur Seal basking on a big rock.  I was on the “nature” cruise as opposed to the “scenic” cruise.  But I know that just because nature is in the name doesn’t mean they guarantee you’ll see any nature.  Just when I thought I’d go relax inside the boat again the nature expert called out that there were bottlenose dolphins beside the cruise.  

Amazing.  Incredible.  The most amazing thing I could have seen. The dolphins were like the cherry on top of the whole experience!  There was a whole pod with maybe 10 dolphins in it.  We watched them play and spray and dive and flop!  Wow.  I was squealing like a little kid every time they rose above the surface.  I feel so blessed to have seen them.  I guess it doesn’t happen everyday.  What an incredible experience.

I wish everyone I know could come to Milford Sound.  I seriously think it is one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had in my travels.  It ranks right up there with the walk on the Gold Coast of South Africa, Mont St. Michel and the Loire Valley in France, and Arches National Park and Canyonlands in the US.  And so far it is the best adventure experience I’ve had in New Zealand.