Gannets and Wellington
NEW ZEALAND | Sunday, 14 March 2010 | Views [403]
3/14/2010 8:03 PM
Well today was our last (and most likely warmest) day in NZ. We’re in Wellington right now, but headed to the northern part of the southern island tomorrow (Picton). And then, it’s 11 days of driving south down New Zealand. While it’ll be cold, everybody has been saying that it’s the most beautiful part of NZ, so I’m sure it’ll all be worth the chill. In the meantime, here’s a bit of recap on the past couple days.
Yesterday, we got up bright and early to check out of the hostel and head to Cape Kidnappers for our Gannet Beach Adventures. Gannets are some sort of seagull creature. Actually, I think they’re part of the Booby family of birds, but whatever; they’re just pretty looking seagulls with a funny call. At any rate, Cape Kidnappers had NZ’s (and the world’s?) largest land colony of these birds. So, naturally, we had to check it out. The trek to the birds was a 9km tractor ride along the beach. It was pretty cool at that, because you’re on a tractor on the beach and they point out a bunch of cool things along the way. But the other neat part was that we happened to do this during NZ’s “Sea Week.” That meant that along the way, we stopped every once in a while to pick up trash. Kind of a fun gig; definitely got a lot of trash off the beach, but we also managed to pick up a couple neat shells.
We finally got to Cape Kidnappers, and then started the 30 minute hike to the top where the colony lives. The view from the top was spectacular; absolutely amazing. The birds themselves were pretty neat as well. We saw tons of chicks feed from their mom’s by shoving their heads inside their mom’s beak as the mom regurgitated food into her throat. Crazy. We also saw a couple gannets battle it out. Awesome. The way back along the beach was just the same as the drive up, except we got stuck in the sand a couple of times. The whole time you’re driving in a mixture of sand and waves (and rock / boulders). Naturally, this can lead to soft patches of sand, and sure enough the tractor will get stuck. Fun times. Oh, a cool side note is the name Cape Kidnappers. Back in the mid-1700s, Captain James Cook was moored in the cape and some local Maoris kidnapped a Tahitian salve of his, so … it became known as Cape Kidnappers.
We got back at 1pm, and were starving. Before we hit the 4 hour drive south to Wellington, we stopped by Subway for a bite to eat; it’s not the same as home (no oil or vinegar? … wtf). Four hours later, we were in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. You wouldn’t really know this by driving into the city. Much of the drive was uneventful but fun-to-drive back country. Ten minutes from our destination, we were still pretty much on a two lane highway in the country. Then, you turn a bend, and there’s the city. Hah. It seemed like it came out of nowhere. The city’s also pretty small. In fact, we happened to run into one of the guys who was on the wine tour with us in Napier --- small world, small city.
The YHA we tried to book was $99/night with no private bathroom. So for an extra $15, we booked a stay at the Mercure Hotel with our own bathroom, TV, and free breakfast! What a steal. There’s something about hotel rooms that makes the stay more comfortable. It’s definitely no American-style hotel (no ice machine; a little dungeon feel to it as well), but the room size was wonderful. Tons of space to spread out our things and get settled in.
After a couple beers in the lobby, we headed out for a nice Indian dinner. These have been the most successful meals in NZ for us (even more than kebabs!). After dinner, it was off to The Malthouse. It was some boutiquey wine / beer “pub,” and was exactly what we were looking for. Well … at least exactly what I was looking for --- they had dozens upon dozens of different beers. All styles, and pretty much all regions (including Paso Robles, CA). Sweet. I tried a New Zealander IPA that hit pretty close to home (Hopewired by 8-wire brewery, or something). Basically, I’m going to create a checklist of beers from themalthouse.co.nz and live by it.
That was pretty much it for our first day in Wellington. Although, we did catch a bit of the movie The Red Dragon on TV --- satellite TV!!
Today was one of our most successful and relaxing. We had our free breakfast in the morning (so glad we didn’t pay for it; it was pretty lame), then ran a bunch of errands: fixed the hubcap situation, booked our entire south island hostel stays, got in contact w/our parents and others, and did some more internet related errands. After that, it was 2pm, and we --- well, Jess --- spent a couple hours shopping. By 4pm we were ready for a couple more beers … so back to The Malthouse, then on to a Kebab dinner (worst ones yet).
Now, we’re back at the hotel and just finished repacking everything for the ferry ride tomorrow. Holy crap; just realized it’s quarter to 9. Yikes. Gotta get showered and then maybe head out for the night.
