Blenheim

May 31, 2011

Blenheim has been a bit of a disappointment.  Oh nothing to get worked up about. Although I came close to tears of frustration a few times here.  

We left Kaikura for Blenheim on Monday.  On our way we stopped at a waterfall where baby seals come to play in the pools and river.  Our Stray driver called it baby seal kindergarten.  Their mothers are out hunting so they come and play and fight with each other here.  It was incredible to see them so close and personal and in their natural environment.  There were so many of them!  I’ve never seen so many seals, let alone babies!

Our drive into Blenheim was gorgeous.  Mountains and the sea and the sun in the blue sky.  When I got here I went to the I-site for help in finding accommodation.  In about half an hour I was at my hostel.  

It’s a nice place in an odd setting.  It’s a large house in an industrial area.  It has a great kitchen and for the first time I’ve felt like cooking so I made some paninis.  Several of the people staying here are working in the vineyards so it kind of has a homey feel to it.

After checking in I went to search out the town.  Blenheim feels a lot like the agricultural towns of California.  It’s very flat and big semis are driving through all the time taking goods from one place to another.  Around Blenheim are some golden hills which give even more of a California feel to the town.  Plus, even though it’s pretty cold and winter time, it’s still sunny.  

I wanted to walk up into the golden hills on some special walks, but I got confused by the map and went the wrong way.  This was the first part of my frustrations!  I still enjoyed my walk, but I really wanted a good view of the area and I would have gotten one if I had made it to the top of the hill!

Today I rented a bike from the hostel and set out to conquer the wine trail of Marlborough, the name of this larger region.  I didn’t realize how far I would have to bike to get to wine country.  I was pooped by the time I got there.  Partly due to a head wind, partly due to not having my bike seat at the proper height, and as much as I hate to admit it, partly due to being out of shape!

Eventually I made it to a nice winery where I had a delicious lunch by their large, open fire.  I had a Waldorf salad with the most lovely pears and rocket cheese.  I also had a marvelous cheese souffle.  I biked through the vineyards some more.  I felt better after lunch and I also grabbed an ice cream cone and took a little snooze at one of the wineries.  Eventually I got tired of taking vineyard photos and decided to check out the chocolate factory.  I had free chocolate tastings, but the prices were too high to buy any chocolate.  

By this time, my butt hurt.  My wrists ached, and my legs were just plain tired.  It was still early, but I turned my bike toward home.  I even got off the bike for a bit because it was just plain easier and more comfortable to walk than bike. 

Let me tell you one of the scariest things I did today was ride my bike through several roundabouts.  In Blenheim its against the law to ride your bike on the footpath or sidewalk.  So I had to take those roundabouts head on just like I was in a car.  The town doesn’t have any traffic lights so there are a lot of complicated roundabouts. And don't forget they drive on the other side of the street here! But I succeeded and made it back to the hostel in one piece!

Tomorrow I head to Picton.  It’s only a quick 30 minutes from Blenheim but I’m hoping I enjoy it more!

Kaikoura

May 29, 2011

My stay here in Kaikoura has been interesting and different than I expected.  On the whole it’s been really nice.  I had that first nice walk with Siskia and Rhianna.  The next day I was supposed to go on my whale watch and I was so excited.  In the morning I walked around town.  I went to the I-site and the beach and I trolled the shops.  They have really unique and creative boutiques here!  

Then when I went to the whale watch it was cancelled.  I was pretty bummed.  But Siskia and I ended up doing the peninsula walk.  The walk took about three hours.  First we walked out to the seal colony where we saw loads of seals.  Everywhere seals.  Then we climbed up the hill to the pasture land.  The walk took us along the cliffs overlooking the beach and the Pacific Ocean.  We mostly walked through cow and sheep pastures.  It kind of reminded me of the guided walk I went on in South Africa, but on a smaller, less magnificent scale.  

That same evening I ran into some other folks who were on my Stray bus.  We had chips together and watched a movie.

Today I went to church at the Presbyterian church.  It was a lovely little service and what the pastor said really spoke to me.  I went to a cafe and sat outside in the sunshine afterwards.  It was a lovely, warm day.  The weather does not feel like winter weather!  

I kept praying that my whale watch would go today and that we’d see a lot of whales!  Well, my prayer was answered.  We only saw one whale, but we saw a lot of him!  It was a male sperm whale.  They kind of float at the top and then dive under and splash their big beautiful tales.  We also saw between 200 and 300 dusky dolphins swimming in the sea.  It was incredible!  I’ve never seen anything like it!  They move so fast.  I would have been happy to watch them all day long.  We also saw a seal and many albatrosses, the largest sea bird I’ve ever seen.

I went back to church this evening because they were having a region-wide service for people from all the different churches and denominations in the area.  The Presbyterian pastor preached.  This guy really has a heart for winning people to the Lord.  He spoke on revival.  He really wants to see revival for Kaikoura.  It was pretty neat.  Afterwards I had tea and biscuits and talked to a few people.  One older man really wanted to talk to me and I ended up staying and chatting to him.  He is really interested in the US, but he said he’s too old to travel there now so his best chance of learning about it is to talk to an American.

I met up with Siskia after church.  We shared our experiences from the day.  She went swimming with those 200-300 dolphins!  Overall Kaikoura has been a great stopover.  I’m glad I got off the bus here and I’m glad I got to connect with some Christians while I was here.  That’s just as important as seeing sperm whales and dusky dolphins!

Mt. Cook

May 25, 2011

Starting out in Dunedin, we went to Baldwin Street.  Formerly, Baldwin Street was the steepest street in the world.  Then apparently GPS came around and as Spike, the driver, would say “the bloody Americans fucked up the measuring” and Lombard Street in San Francisco is actually steeper.  Still, we had a good walk up it and it is still labeled as the steepest street in the world.

Not long after departing Dunedin we went to the Moeraki Boulders.  These are large, massive round rocks on the beach.  What a beautiful day!  Again blue skies and since we arrived in the morning there was still a tinge of colorful light in the sky.  A lovely setting.

We pretty much booked it all the way to Mt. Cook so that we could make it in time for our iceberg tour.  The largest glacier in New Zealand is here and it’s called the Tasman Glacier.  At the base of it is a lake, formed only in the 1970s.  Pieces of the glacier will break off and fall into the lake and become icebergs.  They reckon it takes 300 years for a piece of ice to make it from the top of the glacier down into an iceberg on the lake.

We took boats out on the lake and got up close and personal with all the icebergs.  We picked ice and ate it and took photos with big chunks of ice.  It was a lot of fun.  

After the icebergs we watched a 3D movie filmed here in Mt. Cook.  If you didn't know, Mt. Cook is New Zealand's highest peak.  It's also where Sir Edmund Hilary honed his climbing skills before taking on Mt. Everest.

Tomorrow we leave from here late and head to Rangitata.  I was looking forward to this bit because they have water rafting there.  But apparently the water rafting is over for the winter.  So I guess we’ll just do some walks and chill.  

The Catlins/Dunedin

May 24, 2011

What a long, but wonderful day!  I woke up in Stewart Island.  We watched the sun rise from Oban and caught the ferry to Bluff.  The ferry was beautiful because the sun was still coming up so there was light all around.  The ride took an hour.

Once in Bluff the five of us drove to Invercargill.  We had a quick stop there to pick up the other Stray passengers.  Only about twenty minutes out of town I got carsick and had to move to the front of the bus.  Carsickness affected me most of the day, but fortunately we had so many stops to get out and get fresh air that it wasn’t too bad.

Our first stop we saw the last wooden-built lighthouse in New Zealand and a couple live Sea Lions.  I’d never been so close to a Sea Lion before.  They are huge and kind of scary.  I just stayed behind other people.  I figured they’d get attacked first if the creature decided to get violent.  But it was a lot of fun!

We also stopped at the southern most tip of the South Island.  For those who hadn’t gone to Stewart Island this was the southern most point they would reach while in New Zealand.  We had photos there.  Again beautiful.  I don’t think there are words to describe the sky.  Or at least I don’t know the words to describe it.  It never got completely bright out.  There were clouds over our heads but all around at the horizon there were open patches. But the sky at the horizon line never looked blue.  It was always pink or purple everywhere we went today.

The area we traveled through is called the Catlins after the man who first owned the land, Mr. Cattlin.  It’s very remote and mostly farmland.  Sheep and green rolling hills as far as the eye can see.  And sometimes beyond the sea.  

We next stopped at Porpoise Bay, where normally you can see the smallest dolphins in the world.  We didn’t see any, but I still got some lovely photos.  We went to a petrified forest nearby.  That was a lot of fun too, mostly because Spike, our driver, got excited about them like a little kid.  We went to a couple waterfalls too that were mostly forgettable. 

But then we went to see yellow-eyed penguins come up out of the sea and onto shore to feed their young.  We had to stay really far away because they get easily scared and go back to the sea.  If they go back to sea then they can’t feed their young.  Even from far away they were really fun to watch.  They hopped and wobbled on the sand and rocks.  They even climbed right up the hillside into the grass.  

The sun was setting as we watched the yellow-eyed penguins so we drove to Dunedin in the dark.  The whole bus sang along to Queen songs as we sped through the night.  Spike was into it more than anyone else.  It was a fun drive!

We are staying at a hostel that is a very old hotel.  The name is the Leviathan Hotel.  It’s pretty nice and the whole bus is taking up the dorm rooms so it feels very safe and comfortable.  I’m rooming with Fiona and Hannah again.

I took a short walk around the city center.  I saw the “Octagon” at the center of town and took a few photos of the buildings.  They have some great architecture here.  I walked past the Cadbury factory and it smelled like chocolate!  Yum!  Too bad I’ll be missing the tour.  

Stewart Island

May 23, 2011

I left Te Anau today.  I’m going to miss that place.  It’s so beautiful.  My hope is that someday I can go back and do some of the tramps.  Maybe go on a tramping holiday!

We left Te Anau on the Stray Bus at 9am.  We had a lovely drive through rolling hills filled with sheep farms and dairy farms.  We took an extra long toilet break in Winton because they had fancy electronic bathrooms that talk to you and tell you how to lock the door among other instructions.  You even have to press a button to get toilet paper.  Half the bus used the toilets just to try them out.  It gave me a chance to get to know our driver a bit better.  His name is Spike.  He used to drive regularly for Stray about five or six years ago.  He’s just filling in now for fun and to earn some extra money for a holiday to the UK.  Because of this he’s a lot more fun than the other drivers I have had.

Only four of us decided to go to Stewart Island and not stay in Invercargill.  The other three are all from England.  There’s Sam, Fiona, and Hannah.  Spike also came over to the Island.  The four of us passengers took a plane to the island.  The plane only held ten people including the pilot.  It was amazing.  I never imagined I would fly in such a small plane and I never imagined I would take a plane to the island.  I had assumed I would take the ferry, but it wouldn’t get me there in time to enjoy the island.  And the plane wasn’t that much more expensive and totally worth the price!  

To top it all off it was a beautiful, gorgeous, sunny, warm day.  We had beautiful views and the flight wasn’t nearly as scary as I thought it would be!  We arrived and checked into our hostel.  Then we went to the DOC and found out about some lovely walks.  We walked over a good portion of the island and took in some lovely views.  We got bit up by some lovely New Zealand sandflies!  

After our walk back to Oban, the name of the town, we split up.  I walked up the other hill on the other side of town to the Presbyterian church.  I walked around the corner and then went to a secluded bathing beach.  No one else was there so I just had some quiet time with God.  It was the kind of beach where any minute I expected a mermaid to come up out of the water to sunbathe.  But I suppose I came too late in the day and all the mermaids had returned to sea.

We went out to dinner at the Pub.  I had some lovely blue cod with veggies.  We followed that up with a drink in the bar section.  We laughed and talked.  Spike joined us for dinner and drinks.  He’s so fun and knowledgeable and not crazy like my last driver!  I am very happy!  Tomorrow we go to Dunedin.  Sam and Fiona are going to stay a few days longer and I’m a bit jealous, but I think I will still have a great time!

Saying Goodbye to Distinction

May 20, 2011

At 1:30 this afternoon I couldn’t wait until work came to an end.  I was so bored.  Bored. Bored. Bored.  I knew it was the end.  The end of working for Distinction Hotels.  The end of working for the rest of my time in New Zealand.  Even possibly the end of working for a while.  But I still couldn’t wait to be done!

Then at 2:30 my boss, Jocelyn brought in a chocolate frosted banana bread cake and coffee.  She even gave me a present.  All the staff around the office congregated in the back and we chatted and said our goodbyes.  Jocelyn gave me a book about Fiordland and some Manuka honey lotion.  I feel so loved.

I also feel a bit sad that it’s all over.  I might work again in New Zealand, but if I can I’d like not to.  Distinction Hotels have been my home here in this foreign country.  They have housed me and fed me.  A good number of my friends in New Zealand I met through working for them.  Distinction has been a bit of an anchor for me and now I’m leaving it behind.

It’s time to step out in faith again.  It’s time to take a leap almost as big as my first leap I took to come here.  I’m letting go of my security blanket and stepping out into a bit of the unknown.  

Unknown, here I come!

So if you’re interested in what that unknown will probably be here is a kind of itinerary -- if nothing changes!

Monday, May 23, 2011 Stewart Island

Tuesday, May 24, 2011 Dunedin

Wednesday, May 25 Mt. Cook

Thursday, May 26 Rangitata

Friday, May 27 Kaikura

Saturday May 28 Blenheim

Staying Kiwi

May 17, 2011

How I’m going to stay Kiwi in the US.

I’m not technically a Kiwi, but I’ve been living with a few of them for a few months now.  And I only have a couple of weeks left here in New Zealand and I’m beginning to think about my life after this adventure.  One thing I know for sure is that I want to take the attitude and the good qualities of New Zealanders back home with me.  

Most of all I admire how New Zealanders just go with the flow.  They often stay cool in situations where I would panic.  And they don’t play the rat race, which I appreciate incredibly.  It isn’t that they don’t want to do their jobs well or be successful, but they seem to appreciate that there is more to life than a career.  I’m sick of trying to measure up to the standards of my American culture and working in New Zealand has been a breath of fresh air.  So when I go home my main goal is to not try and play in the rat race either.

This ties in with the other qualities I appreciate about New Zealanders which is their love of life and food!  New Zealanders love food.  They love food and wine and coffee!  I have so many recipes and food that I want to bring home and enjoy regularly.  Anzac and afghan cookies and savory muffins/scones are on the top of my list.  

I want to cherish the outdoors like Kiwis do.  I want to appreciate getting out and enjoying nature.  I also want to remember to be adventurous and do some things that might scare me a little bit.  That adventurous spirit of New Zealand is going to come home with me to the US.

When I go back to the US my priorities are going to be different.  No more trying to be better than my peers.  My career is not going to be my focus and priority in life.  Work will not be the end all be all of my life.  I want to appreciate my food more, my life more, my family more, and my time more!  Help me stay true to these goals and priorities!

Friends

May 14, 2011

Well, I’ve had some very exciting couple of days.  Well, compared to my normal boring life!

Sunday I visited a different church and had a fabulous time.  Wonderful worship and prayer.  I got some words from people from God and just enjoyed fellowship.  I met two lovely ladies: Sandra and Nita.  Nita invited me over to her home for dinner on Thursday night.

She picked me up after her kids were finished with school.  She has three daughters: Esther, Debbie, and Hannah.  Hannah is only four months old.  We visited Sandra.  Sandra has a few kids too!  When we got to Nita’s house I helped the girls with their reading and spelling homework.  Then they took me out to get the eggs from the chickens and feed the chickens.  Well, that was truly a new experience to me!  I’m such a city slicker!

We had a nice simple dinner and played Monopoly Deal.  It’s like Monopoly but with playing cards and the game doesn’t last forever.  But it took me a really long time to figure out how to play!  It was wonderful and cozy in their home.  We had a wood-burning stove and watched a movie.  Poor Nita fell asleep on the couch after breast feeding Hannah and I had to wake her up to take me home!

My former co-worker from Fox Glacier, Caroline, has come to town for a visit.  She ended up missing her Doubtful Sound overnight cruise yesterday and had to postpone it to today.  In the end I think it worked out better because the weather is much nicer today.  She and I had coffee and hung out before I had to go to work.  It was great to catch up with her and hear about all the going-ons in Fox.  She’ll be back next week so we’ll hang out again then.  Maybe go for dinner.

I only have a week left here in Te Anau and only seven days left of work.  I’m going to miss this beautiful place and the lovely people I’ve met.  Maybe I can come back someday!

My Castle

May 4, 2011

Do you ever have moments when you realize how wonderful life is?  Tears well up in your eyes because life is so beautiful in just that moment?  Life suddenly blazes forward and you see it for what it is.  You see past all the bad stuff and circumstances and you know that life is worth living?

I had one of those moments this morning.  I suddenly realized how happy I am.  I’d known for a few days that I was starting to really feel settled and comfortable in Te Anau.  But today it was like fire welling up in me warming me and comforting me.

I brought one fiction book with me to New Zealand.  It’s very small, and pretty short so it tucked in nicely in my bag.  It’s my favorite book.  I hadn’t picked it up to read it at all since I left home, but I decided it was lame to bring a book half way around the world and not read it!

So a few days ago I picked it up and started reading.  Since it’s my favorite book I didn’t start at the beginning and I skipped the parts that break my heart.  I wanted to read the good stuff.  I think I can be excused since I’ve read the book so many times.

This morning I as I read it I came to a passage that just makes me exult to be alive!  It rings so true to my life.  That’s why I’ve always loved this book: it’s so full of truth for me. It’s like my life with small varying differences.  While it is fiction there is so much truth in it.  I think that’s probably a major reason why we all have our favorite books, they ring true in our hearts.  

Today I read this: “no one else could ever have this perfect hour.  She surrendered herself utterly to the charm of the moment.”  And later in the same passage another character says this: “ ‘That’s true,’ said Barney.  ‘If you buy your experience it’s your own.  So it’s no matter how much you pay for it.  Somebody else’s experience can never be yours.’” 

That just touches your heart.  It may not touch your heart.  But that’s okay.  You probably have passages in your favorite book that touch your heart and change you.  Perhaps today is a good day to pull out that old favorite and remember how great it is to be alive in this “funny old world”.

PS: It’s called The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery.

Doubtful Sound part 3

The night before the crew had warned us that we didn’t need a wake-up call or alarm set because they would be turning on the engines at 6:30 am!  Sure enough at 6:30 the engines started and away we went.  I didn’t want to miss anything so I tried to get ready as quickly as possible.

It was hard even to stop to eat breakfast and not turn my full attention on the views and scenery.  I wasn’t too hungry though because of the feast we’d had the night before!  It was clear and beautiful again.  I spent time on the deck and then went inside to warm up before going out on the deck again and repeating the process over and over again as we sailed Doubtful Sound.  

At one point I was going inside to get more hot beverages when someone asked me if I was Annemarie.  He was a tall, older guy.  I was surprised but said yes I was.  He smiled and introduced himself.  He was also from Seattle and had met the family from Wellington who told him about me.  We had a nice chat about Seattle, living in New Zealand, traveling, and all that kind of thing.  He was on a backpacker’s holiday because his work had told him he had two weeks off and his girlfriend works for Amazon.com and apparently they never get vacation.  So off to New Zealand he came!   

We sailed into one of the arms of the fiord and right into the sunshine!  It was amazing.  I had a cup of tea in my hand and I sat on the deck.  Here we all observed a moment of silence to really experience the sounds of nature.  It was lovely and peaceful.  A moment to be remembered.

Then we slowly sailed back to Deep Cove where the cruise ship harbours.  It was just about time to say goodbye.  I sure wasn’t ready.  I’d been on Doubtful Sound 20 hours, but it wasn’t nearly enough time.  But we had to head back to the buses which would whisk us back to Lake Manapouri.  My new friend from Seattle sat next to me on the bus and boat ride back to Manapouri village.  By now he’s probably back in Seattle.  It just reminds me how great an experience I’m having here in New Zealand.  He only got to spend 10 days or so on the South Island.  He wasn’t even getting to see the North Island.  And here I am still in New Zealand enjoying everything it has to offer!

Doubtful Sound will definitely be a special memory for me here in New Zealand.  I’m starting to really collect them!  

Doubtful Sound part 2

May 1

After kayaking, I changed into some dry clothes and the staff served us soup to warm us up.  We all gathered in the dining room.  I sat with a couple from Dunedin, New Zealand, and a couple from Australia.  Well the wife was Swedish and the husband Irish.  We had a lovely leek, potato, and mushroom soup.  

After soup we had a couple more hours until the main dinner was to be served.  We sailed out to the mouth of Doubtful Sound.  There are some rocks out there where baby seals played in the shallow waters while their parents lazed about on the rocks.  When we reached the mouth of the fiord the sun was lowering in the sky.  It was a beautiful sight to see the sun dip into the sea and set.  I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a sunset quite like it before and the crew claimed it was the best sunset they had seen all season.  

Soon it was dinner time, and what a dinner!  I sat with the family I was sharing the quad share room with.  They were from Wellington, New Zealand.  But the daughter who was about my age had just returned from living in Vancouver, BC.  We had a lot to talk about.  As far as New Zealanders went, I think they had traveled more in the US than any other New Zealander I had met so far.  They had been to places I haven’t had the chance to go to yet!

For dinner we had a lovely buffet with salads, roasted vegetables, sauces, carvery meats, vegetable options, and smoked salmon.  And so many more things that I can’t remember all of them!  I went back for seconds.  Dessert was also really nice.  I was so full by that time that I didn’t try everything.  I just had a slice of cheesecake and a fruit crumble.  But they also had chocolate cake, pavlova, and fruit salad on offer.

After the dinner we were invited to a nature presentation slideshow. I wasn’t expecting much -- I thought it might be like the slideshows the rangers used to put on at Lake Chelan.  But in fact it was much better and way more informative.  I’ve heard a lot of information and facts about New Zealand’s native flora and fauna, but never so in depth and interesting as this presentation.  I could tell that the presenter really cared about New Zealand’s wildlife and the things that are deteriorating it.

After the presentation I could barely keep my eyes open.  But since we were in the middle of nowhere I decided to go out on the deck and check out the stars.  They were beautiful, but I didn’t think they were any more stunning than they are in Te Anau.  I did see one shooting star though.  Before I knew it I was cuddled up in bed asleep.