New Zealand. Whoa.

As advertised, New Zealand is amazing. It is more than amazing. Consider this: the water runs all the time, there are always lights and plugs, hot water comes from the tap(!), almost all of the roads are paved, there are refrigerators around like there was a nation-wide clearance sale on them, and there exists the notion of customer service. These are all pretty much absent in Fiji and their presence alone would have made this a great trip. But, New Zealand really is an amazing place.

So, here is what is has looked like so far. We got here on Sunday night and spent a day in Auckland between our flight from Fiji and our domestic flight to the south island. Auckland was cool. We ate veggie wraps and had our first dark beer in about 2 years. It was like heaven. I’m not kidding. Monteith’s Black Beer is a wonderful, wonderful creation.

The wrap was good too. Anyway, we had just a few hours to walk around a western city, marvel at the cleanliness, the traffic signal where the green guy signaling to walk actually walks too. He moves and looks like he is doing a little dance. Anyway, that night we flew to Christchurch and stayed at a backpackers called Kiwi Basecamp.

Here we are marveling at the wonderful treats the New Zealand has to offer.  Sally also like me.

In the morning, we picked up our car. It started a little inauspiciously as the car didn’t work. A little backstory here: I have been scouring the web for cheap car rental places in NZ and this was the cheapest advertising old, but reliable, cars for discounted rates. Well, they got the old part right. The good news was that it never left the lot and we got a little upgrade. We are traveling around in a little Mazda 4-door hatchback thing. It works. As for the driving, remember that I have not driven in 4 years and I haven’t driven on the left hand side of the road in almost 10 (Australia). Did I mention that it is a manual and that you have to shift with your left hand? The first few days were a harrowing experience for all but after a few narrow misses, it is old hat. I even parallel parked that thing yesterday with little fanfare.

From Christchurch we headed south towards Dunedin, stopping along the way at craft distiller in Oamaru to try some whiskey. They had a tasting room like wine. Good stuff. Unfortunately, the whiskey maker went belly up and they aren’t making it anymore. We got to try the tail end. We didn’t buy any; I can make better. (Before I forget, there is a barrel of whiskey aging in my basement as we speak that I made before leaving for Fiji. You are all invited to the uncorking to give it a try when I get back.)

That tasting necessitated eating lunch and walking around to avoid driving under the influence on the left hand side in a manual, but Oamaru is a really neat place. The waterfront is all old warehouses that once served to supply the world’s wool. There is still a bunch of wool packing done there but the majority of the spaces were being turned into shops and alehouses and places to try whiskey.

After sobriety, we continued south to the town of Dunedin and then out to the Otago Peninsula, where we stayed in a little hamlet called Portobello for a couple of nights. The draw here was for me: birds. Specifically, penguins and albatross! We stayed at a really small place called Bus Stop Backpackers, which stopped operating 3 days after we left. The owners retired. So, I would really recommend it only, you can’t go there. Sorry. I spent my mornings running around going crazy about new birds and Sally spent them trying to get warm. I am sure that it is not particularly cold here but after a few years in Fiji, it feels pretty cold to us here.

The highlight for me was the night that we watched the little Blue penguins (smallest in the world) come ashore in groups of 25 and waddle to their nests. As long as you keep still they just walk right by you and a couple came as close as 10 feet, milling around, trying to remember where they left their babies. Super cute. We also did some good hiking and got to see my first albatross. There is a point on the peninsula where they nest and so were flying all around. These were Royal albatross and until you’ve seen one, it is impossible to explain just how big they are. With a wingspan of 9 feet, they can just glide like it’s nothing—so amazing.

We went on a few hikes as well, mostly along ridiculous beaches where the waves crash on-shore like in California and Oregon. I forgot how much I missed that. In Fiji, there aren’t any waves at the beach because they all get knocked down at the fringing reef. The beaches in Fiji are quiet, docile affairs. Beaches in New Zealand are chaotic and loud, and thanks to my heritage, I prefer the latter. Then again, I didn’t swim in these waters (cold!). On the beaches, we got to see fur seals and sea lions and lots of more birds.

After Otago, we hit the road inland to Te Anau where all of the New Zealand’s tourists end up. The town is amazingly beautiful and reminiscent of Lake Tahoe, with its town situated on a massive lake. We stayed at a gigantic holiday park that had fields of tents, rows and rows of campervans and mobile homes and cabins all over the place. I don’t recommend these. It was pretty cool to see how everyone travels but there were really a lot of people there. Te Anau on the other hand is worth the price of admission.

First of all, there were the glow worm caves. Whoa. The only way to see them is to take this tour but it is worth it. The cave is pretty standard. You walk in with a guide and she tells you all the cool stuff about caves and water and you look at crazy formations and underwater waterfalls and the like. But then you get into this little Gollum-esque boat and the turn off the lights and you paddle into this grotto which is totally black expect that these worms that live there glow on the wall. They are everywhere and they make constellations all over the walls and roof. It was amazing. Do this if you are in New Zealand. Sorry, no photos of this—not allowed as the wee beasties don’t like it.

Just outside of Te Anau, we took the road up to Milford Sound. First of all, this road is really beautiful and had we not taken a boat into the Sound (really a fjord, not a sound at all), the drive would have been worth it. I guess that I have not seen many glacial valleys in my life outside of Yosemite, but they are unbelievable. Crazy mountains, impossibly deep valleys, waterfalls everywhere, and lakes with water colored like it is straight out of a toxic waste dump. We went on a hike in those mountains following a part of the famous Routeburn track that people reserve months ahead of time to hike over 3-4 days. We just did a day hike there so we didn’t need to book it. Beautiful forest full of trees from some other planet, lots of birds. Then we got up above tree-line and impressive views of the surrounding mountains opened up. Cool.

Milford Sound is a bit of a tourist mecca, but worth it despite the crowds. The draw is the boats that tour the fjord and we hopped on one of those. We took an early morning boat to avoid the crowds (and because it was cheaper) and were happy we did. We spent a couple of hours cruising the fjord and just staring agape at the world around us: waterfalls, mountains, glaciers, birds, fur seals. It was great.

From here, we head off to the west coast. More to come!..