Round the World 2008

My 12 day drive around New Zealand is almost over.  I arrived this morning in Christchurch and leave Friday morning for Sydney.  The rest of the drive down the west coast was amazing.  The highlight for me was the Milford Sound fjord cruise.  Milford Sound is about 120 kilometers from the nearest town (Te Anau) and I drove there in yet another bad storm.  When I arrived I found that it was only a port for the fjord cruises which I wanted to do in the morning and there were virtually no services.  Since it was dark and stormy I didn’t want to drive back to Te Anau, but luckily there was a backpackers lodge not far from the port.  So I shared a room with several others and it really was like camping.  The storm was intense all night but in the morning it was sunny, perfect weather for the cruise.  The yacht went up and down the sound where there were vertical walls on all sides and since it had rained, waterfalls were flowing from everywhere. 

 After Milford Sound I headed towards the east coast and up to Christ Church.  12 days was definitely not enough here.  It really is a beautiful country with alot of untouched nature.  I’m happy to report that while here I only had one near head-on collision.  I got pretty comfortable driving on the left side of the road…but yesterday after so many days of doing it, I guess I stopped reminding myself and somehow ended up on the right side of the road and when I saw the car coming towards me I just pulled over to the right.  Oops.  No car rental in Sydney which is probably a good thing.  The next time I’ll have a car will be in Tasmania (they’re on the left side too).

Christchurch is a great place to spend a few days after being out in the country for a while.  It’s the biggest city on the South Island with lots of squares, shops and life. This is an approximation of my route while here in New Zealand: 

I finally got the Chinese visa in Wellington and took the ferry back to the South Island yesterday morning. There was a storm and the ferry which is pretty large was rocking back and forth for much of the three hour trip. People were throwing up right and left. I got dizzy but went into the center of the boat where I wouldn’t see the outside…it worked. By the time we got to Picton it was sunny and calm. I drove south through the scenic Nelson Lakes district and over to Westport on the west coast where I spent the night.

I got up early and headed south along the west coast, first through Paparoa National Park. The coast was rugged and spectacular. I kept stopping to walk along the beach and take photos and there were no other cars on the road nor people on the beach. A nice way to spend a Sunday morning. I did a short hike to Pancake Rocks where there were unusually formed rocks that when waves crash into them created these blowholes where water shoots high up into the air.

As I drove heading south with the coastal scenery on my right, the Southern Alps began to appear on my left. Soon I was in Glacier Country where Franz Josef Glacier and Fox Glacier flow down from the mountains. At Fox Glacier you get the first view of Mount Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand (12,316 ft). I hiked to both glaciers but neither was in the league of the glaciers we saw in Patagonia last month. It was late in the day and I wanted to get one last hike in at Matheson Lake near the town of Fox Glacier. It started to get dark while I was on the trail and I somehow lost my way. I figured I’d be ok because it was a full moon…but as it got darker the bird sounds and animal sounds seemed to get louder and stranger. A little creepy but I made it back to the car park eventually.

I started out early yesterday for Abel Tasman National Park from where I stayed in Richmond. Not a rainy day…but not a sunny one either. I did a short trail at Kahurangi National Park leading to a very scenic overlook of the valley and farms below. I thought the forest I hiked through was unusual but it was nothing compared to what I was about to see in Abel Tasman.

There was an 11 km drive over gravel road off the main road to get to the start of the forest trails in Abel Tasman. I chose the Harwoods Hole hike since it was featured in the literature I had. What a great hike. Unusual forests…almost all trees covered in moss and lichen. Green everywhere…then a reflective pond and then a slightly difficult climb through a strange terrain of distorted rock shapes, the trees growing in and around them…then finally the hole itself. There was no way to capture it in a photograph because all it was was a huge, wide, seemingly bottomless hole in the middle of a forest. I climbed over rocks to try to get a glimpse of the bottom but I never did. A Japanese guy took greater risks than I did to see the bottom but I had to leave because I found it difficult just watching him so close to the edge. The hike lasted a few hours and the trail was wet but it was great being out in nature after so much rain.

Back on the main road I headed to the other part of Abel Tasman Park on the coast of Golden Bay. Listening to the radio, you couldn’t tune into any station without hearing about the teacher and six students who were killed in Tongoriro on Tuesday. Weird that I was right there. The roads here in NZ and particularly on the South Island have virtually no traffic. I passed at least a dozen one lane bridges during my drive yesterday and didn’t ever encounter a situation where there was another car coming from the opposite direction. The population of the South Island is only 1 million or so…and it is about a third larger than the North Island which has about the same land area as Pennsylvania. The North Island’s population is around 3 million. So a very sparsely populated country. Towns yesterday were few and far between and there were long stretches where there were no radio stations to pick up.

I stopped for lunch at Takaka before Golden Bay and had a chicken corn chowder which was unusually thick, and a meat pie. The meat pies are very popular here. The drive along the coast was incredibly beautiful. Although not sunny, the cloudy skies provided great atmosphere for photographs. It appeared to be extremely low tide. I thought of the Bay of Fundy. There were elevated curves inland and then an occasional stop for an overlook of a large section of the bay. The road eventually turned into a dirt road and I made the decision to turn back because I remembered I had to call the Chinese consulate to find out the status of my application and it was a long way back to Picton. I wanted to get there so that I could be right at the ferry in the morning

I woke up this morning in Picton to perfectly blue skies. It’s amazing how sun can make a place look completely different. I’m on the ferry now and I want to take some photos of the same scenery I took photos of under cloudy skies the other day. The ferry ride is about three hours. I’ll pick up the passport and then spend the afternoon and evening in Wellington and get the first ferry back to the South Island in the morning.

I submitted my application here in Wellington this morning for the Chinese visa. They gave me a hard time about Tibet being on my itinerary and suggested I don’t go. I’ll have to contact the tour company and see what they advise. Hopefully things will settle down in Tibet by July. I had a hard time deciding what to do during the time the visa application is being processed. It won’t be ready until Friday and the rain hasn’t stopped on the North Island since I arrived. I finally decided to head down to the South Island for a few days and then ferry back on Friday to pick up the visa and spend another evening in Wellington. Then on Saturday I can ferry back to the South Island and head directly to the far south of the South Island toward the must-see destinations of Queenstown, Mt. Cook and Milford Sound. I’ll be backtracking but there is more to see on the South Island and I want to make sure I have the visa for China.

I’m starting to feel time is limited here in New Zealand and there is so much I still want to see. Unfortunately, the weather hasn’t allowed me to see much in the way of nature. It hasn’t stopped raining since I arrived on Sunday making the North Island a complete washout. It really was painful staying outside of Tongoriro National Park with a heavy rain coming down and having to pass on the Tongoriro Crossing through a volcanic landscape which is considered one of the world‘s best one day hikes.*  Still, despite the rain the landscape was very scenic. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many sheep in my life. What I’ve enjoyed most on NZ’s North Island has been exploring the cities: Auckland and Wellington. 

I’m on the interisland ferry and it is just now leaving the Wellington dock. I arrived in Wellington yesterday afternoon and I found a nice place to stay right in the city center…I enjoyed walking around the downtown area last night. It has a small town feel to it but also has a lot of energy. There‘s something eclectic about it, reminding me a little of Toronto and little of Oslo. I liked it more than Auckland and am looking forward to spending another evening there on Friday.

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* I heard after I wrote this that 7 people died in Tongariro Park while I was there yesterday.

It took me a bit over 48 hours to get from Lima to Auckland.  The flight from Lima to Atlanta was 8 hours,  Atlanta to Seoul was 14 hours and Seoul to Auckland, 11 hours.  I had some time in Atlanta to call friends and family.  At the Seoul airport, I had 4 hours where there wasn’t a whole lot to see.  I bypassed the Quiznos and Subway and had lunch at a traditional Korean restaurant.  A tasty spicy fried rice dish with soup.  Later, for the meal service on the plane to Auckland, I had to choose between chicken and a traditional Korean meal called bibimbap.  Being adventurous I chose the Korean meal…the flight attendant seeing I wasn’t Korean, went into the galley and got me an instruction card on how to make/eat the bibimbap.  The Korean guy next to me was laughing because I had to use the instructions, so he told me to just follow him.  It was basically a rice bowl where you had to put in all the ingredients separately with different vegetables, sesame oil and a tube of spicy hot sauce.  It came with a bowl of seaweed soup. Pretty good for airplane food. It turns out I’ll get to spend more time in Seoul next month.  My connecting flight was rescheduled so I’ll get an evening and a full day there.  There’s a subway to downtown Seoul right from the airport so it should be easy to get into the city for a look around.

When I arrived in Auckland I was a little concerned about my drive from the airport to the city because a) I haven’t driven on the other side of the road since South Africa, b) I was sleep deprived after all the travel, and c) it was pouring down rain.  I took it slow, concentrated and kept reminding myself to stay left. My hotel is downtown a couple of blocks from the Sky Tower, supposedly the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere. I got to the hotel too early and my room wasn’t ready, so I decided to go check out Auckland.  The rain had stopped so I walked to the waterfront where there were restaurants, shops and a ferry terminal. I took a ferry to Devonport based on info I got at the terminal. It was a good choice and I ended up spending much of the afternoon there.  Devonport’s a quaint seaside village filled with places to eat, coffee shops, art galleries, used bookstores and antique shops. I followed the walking tour map which I got from the info center and kept stopping at places along the route.  I bought a book on New Zealand road trips at a book shop which will be a good reference as I drive south through the country over the next 12 days.  The views from Devonport of the city were great as you walked along the waterfront. Devonport was one of those places where I kept saying to myself that I could easily live here as I walked around.

When I got back to the city I walked around the downtown area for a while more.  I’m glad I was able to get a full day in Auckland.  Tomorrow morning I’ll head out into the country and start to see some of the natural beauty NZ is known for. 

Today is my final day in Lima (and South America until my planned return to Brazil in October).  I’ve had some time to post photos to Flickr and you can see a slideshow of the Inca Trail photos I’ve posted so far.  The slideshow will update automatically as I add new photos. 

My hotel is in the Miraflores section of Lima which is on the beach and has lots of hotels, casinos and shopping.   I’ve spent the last two days exploring, wandering about and catching up on email.  The most interesting spot in Miraflores is the Larcomar mall which is on a cliff and overlooks the beach.   

I’ve been thinking about the last 6 weeks I’ve spent in South America and it would be hard to say what I enjoyed most — what comes to mind though is the natural beauty of Patagonia, the experience of living and teaching in Santiago and the challenge and fun of the Inca Trail. 

My flight for Atlanta leaves at midnight and I’ll arrive in Auckland on Sunday morning to begin the next phase of the trip:  6 weeks in New Zealand and Australia.  After being with groups for much of the time I’ve spent in South America, I’m looking forward to traveling on my own in New Zealand.  The plan is to rent a car, spend about 5 days on the North Island, take the ferry across to the South Island, and then spend 8 days there before leaving from Christchurch to go to Sydney.  My next group trip is in May to travel the Australian Outback.

I’ve started planning for the Australia/New Zealand segment of the trip:

April 13 – 17 New Zealand North Island

April 17 Ferry North Island to South Island (Wellington – Picton)

April 17 – 25 New Zealand South Island

April 25 – 28 Sydney

April 28 – May 3 Tasmania

May 4 – 14 Outback Tracks (Intrepid)

Experience life in the outback, Join in a bush tucker hunt, Step back in time in ancient Wilpena Pound, Listen to Aboriginal dreamtime stories, Head underground in Coober Pedy, See a magical sunset over Uluru, Hike through King’s Canyon, Discover the stark beauty of Australia’s desert landscapes.

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I leave from Melbourne to Mongolia on 22-May. I’m going to leave the last week open for now.