we just completed a 10-day, whirlwind tour of the S. island, showing my college friend Teri about, almost killing her on a driving hike of the Routeburn, playing w/ baby seals on the beach,
1st of all, I had to hitchhike up to Christchurch in order to pick up the van, spend the night, & pick up Teri the next day @ the airport, following which I quickly whisked her away from the city to Mt. Cook, the tallest mountain in N.Z., absolutely fabulous. Teri's 1st impression of a glacier: "it's like someone spit toothpaste over a dirt pile."
After a quick 2-hr hike giving us fabulous views in the mtns, we drove to Wanaka, checked out Puzzle World, then hiked to Rob Roy Glacier, where we drove off a foraging kea bird, the only alpine parrot in the world.
The next day we drove to Kinloch, where I'd been working the last 3 weeks, & spent the night in a house, w/ gracious ppl that I'd worked w/ who fed us dinner the next day after a ferocious hike on the Routeburn, following which Teri commented: "I feel like I was hit by a semi." however, what glorious views! snow-capped, rugged, steep, rocky mountains piercing the sky, w/ a background of blue, blue sky, much better than my last attempt up the track that drove icy rain into my benumbed body.
We had to spend the following day recuperating, kayaking around Lake Wakatipu & saying hello to the kids I nannied & the others I worked w/, then dinked around Queenstown a bit, checking out shops, before driving on.
This was a huge driving day, encompassing much of the west coast, w/ brief stops to check out the view of glaciers, Pancake Rocks, & rocky coasts; to stretch our legs, eat dinner (w/ a possum & weka birds wandering about), eat icecream, etc. (I made sure to take her to each & every one of my favorite icecream places, as well as introduce her to mince pies & tim-tams.)
Then it was time to enjoy the beach, driving past Abel Tasman to Wharariki Beach, where we played w/ young frolicking seals (from inches away), took silly pictures @ sunset, had a campfire & made s'mores, & slept out. Phenomenal.
After watching the seals again & wandering around all the caves of the beach, we went to Rawhiti Cave, which has a massive entrace filled with stalagtites & mites in fantastical shapes. After a few days w/o showers & our hike out to the cave, we had to wash off some sweat in the cold river, which was a quick dip! We dried out on our way to the Abel Tasman monument, overlooking the ocean & w/ fantastic rock shapes on shore, then off to Nelson.
We had to take a swim in the ocean in Nelson, as well as do a wee bit of wine tasting, before going down to Nelson Lakes, where we enjoyed an easy morning hike along the shoreline that led to Whisky Falls, which spit out over 70'. Hanmer Springs was our next stop, where we enjoyed the natural thermal hot pools, before heading back to Christchurch, touring which involved visiting the art museum, slurping up a shake from KFC for $1/ea, & the informative Canterbury Museum.
Teri heads out @ 5 a.m. tomorrow, then it's time for me to try to sell the van, then I think I'll head to Wellington to visit another college friend, Jess, who's living there w/ her husband...
