Sunday 11 July 2010
Mom and I got our stuff ready and went to the bus stop. We had to await the arrival of the bus. Thus far, we had the Naked Bus line (I know it sounds bad, but apparently it is named because it is "stripped" of all the extra costs). This time we had InterCity. We got on and rode to Gore. Through the pass, it was really icy. In fact, the bus driver had to call a connecting bus and say he would be late. He had never seen it so icy. We were on the connecting bus, so we were really glad they would wait for us.
We took the bus all the way to Invercargill. This is almost at the bottom of the South Island. We went into the i-site to get warm. We met Alison and decided to look around town for a bit. We then came back (the city does not have much to speak about) and got a coach ride from Invercargill to Bluff (the very tip of the South Island). The bus driver was picking up people, but they were not there, so he called someone. He found out he needed to pick them up at the airport. He was obviously upset, because when he got there, he asked us, "Do you see any stupid people around?" We were silent.
We had to throw our luggage into big bins and then check into the ferry terminal. There were only a few people there and most of the people lived on Stewart Island (which is where we were headed, by the way). It took about an hour boat ride to get there. Alison and I were hearing horror stories about the boat ride. Well, maybe not horror stories, but every time someone would ask us how we were getting to Stewart Island, they always gave us a look and say, "Oooooohhhhhh." We were getting really nervous, but the ride was perfect. Although, we concocted quite a story for the Captain and his wife and sent it as a text.
We actually got a complimentary ride to our hostel (which was only about a two minute walk from the wharf). It was a bed and breakfast called Jo & Andy's. It was really cute and the couple were adorable. They had so many stories they shared. Andy (the husband) was from the States. Jo (the wife) was a missionary child who was born in New Zealand. Her parents went to India, and she followed them shortly after at the age of 2. She was the youngest passenger to travel by herself. She really has had an amazing life. It was fun to just listen to them.
We went out for dinner, then went back and played phase 10 until about 10pm. We had a mission. We were hoping to see the Southern Lights. As soon as we walked outside, we saw an incredible amount of stars. I saw Scorpio. It was the only one I could identify clearly, well, besides the Milky Way. We travelled way out to darkness. It was so dark, we could only feel if we were on the road by our feet. Alison and I got down in the middle of the road to look up at the stars. We were just hoping no cars would come by, or we would really have to move fast.
Well, fortunately we did not encounter car while we were on the road, but we did not see any Southern Lights. So, we just returned home. Mom and I realised that although there were two bathrooms, there was only one toilet. So 5 people shared one toilet. Interesting.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Friday, August 13, 2010
Pictures of our Tramping Trip
A pond in Ivonside Park.
A fun swing.
A stoat trap.
This is a rare indigenous bird. Good thing we went to the wildlife park.
A parakeet.
Lake Te Anau.Tramping in Te Anau
Saturday 10 July 2010
Today, we got up and decided to go crazy tramping (hiking). We were quite successful...going crazy I mean. We went to an i-site (an information centre in New Zealand). It looked like we would end up at some caves. So we started out and were walking leisurely until we came to a wildlife park. It was a park with indigenous birds in cages. We got to see parakeets, kea, pukeko, and a rare bird that was believed to be extinct. There are VERY few out in the wild. They are quite large and blue. One was laying in the grass and one was eating the whole time. It was quite exciting to be able to see them.
We stayed and ate lunch and walked on. It was unbearably cold and the trail had mud at times. We got to a section where the trail split in three directions. We had no idea where to go and ended at a place that said not to touch the plants, because it was sprayed. I was chicken and wanted to go another way. So we started on another path, which ended up being the same path we started on. Then we saw another path across the way. We took it and ended up being in someone's driveway. We saw a hammock and a bench. We sat on the bench a while, then we continued back.
We saw another trail, and decided to take it. It said Ivonside Park. So we walked along and saw a small stair case. We went over it and wandered around. We went up a major hill. At the top was a picnic table and a tree with a rope and a stick at the end of a branch. I went on it and started swinging around a while. It was actually kind of scary, because if the rope snapped, I would be rolling down the hill into oblivion. As I was swinging, a woman was walking up and down this major hill. We went down the hill and ran into her again. It was like she was following us.
We went to the Fiordland Park Visiter Centre and looked around. We looked around town for a bit then returned to the hostel to pack for our next trip.
Today, we got up and decided to go crazy tramping (hiking). We were quite successful...going crazy I mean. We went to an i-site (an information centre in New Zealand). It looked like we would end up at some caves. So we started out and were walking leisurely until we came to a wildlife park. It was a park with indigenous birds in cages. We got to see parakeets, kea, pukeko, and a rare bird that was believed to be extinct. There are VERY few out in the wild. They are quite large and blue. One was laying in the grass and one was eating the whole time. It was quite exciting to be able to see them.
We stayed and ate lunch and walked on. It was unbearably cold and the trail had mud at times. We got to a section where the trail split in three directions. We had no idea where to go and ended at a place that said not to touch the plants, because it was sprayed. I was chicken and wanted to go another way. So we started on another path, which ended up being the same path we started on. Then we saw another path across the way. We took it and ended up being in someone's driveway. We saw a hammock and a bench. We sat on the bench a while, then we continued back.
We saw another trail, and decided to take it. It said Ivonside Park. So we walked along and saw a small stair case. We went over it and wandered around. We went up a major hill. At the top was a picnic table and a tree with a rope and a stick at the end of a branch. I went on it and started swinging around a while. It was actually kind of scary, because if the rope snapped, I would be rolling down the hill into oblivion. As I was swinging, a woman was walking up and down this major hill. We went down the hill and ran into her again. It was like she was following us.
We went to the Fiordland Park Visiter Centre and looked around. We looked around town for a bit then returned to the hostel to pack for our next trip.
Pictures of Doubtful and Glow Cave
Okay, I know this is out of place, but this was a picture in our hostel in Queenstown. I just thought it was hilarious If you can't read the caption, it says,"Pull out, pull out!...You've hit an artery!"
These two pictures are of Lake Manapouri.
These two pictures are in the Power Station. The first is in the tunnel, the second is in the station with people actually doing some work.
This was our first glimpse of Doubtful Sound. Around this area, Jurassic Park III was filmed. 
These are all pictures of Doubtful Sound.
We were not allowed to take any pictures in the glow worm cave, so I took a picture of the sign.
This and the following pictures are pictures of a picture. This is what the glow worm netting looks like. The netting is invisible in the darkness.
This is a picture of what the actual glow worm looks like. Quite nasty.
This is what the adult glow worm fly looks like.Doubtful Sound and Glow Worm Cave
Friday 9 July 2010
I woke up with a massive sore throat still, but was feeling heaps better. I was ready for the day when I got up. We were going on another tour. This tour was the Doubtful Sound cruise. It is south of the Milford Sound and not as well known, but it is three times as large. The tour was much longer, but I got it for the same price! Research can really come in handy.
We got on the tour bus and picked up a couple people. This was a family owned business, and there was a huge group of people who were going to be late, so we just waited for them. It was kind of annoying. They finally arrived, and we immediately boarded the boat. My ears were still plugged, so it was quite difficult to hear the commentary. This time, I was outside most of the time. I loved being outside and feeling the wind in my face. I love being on boats! The sights were beautiful and Mom and I were really excited, but we realised later, that we were not in Doubtful Sound at all, but Lake Manapouri. We had to go across Lake Manapouri, drive through the Power Station (something we didn't expect to do), drive to the Sound, and then take a boat in the Sound. So we got a bunch of extra things we didn't expect.
Everything around this area was absolutely beautiful. We were in the Fiordlands National Park, and it was stunning. While we were in Doubtful Sound, we got to see dolphins for a second. The driver pointed out several sights. We went up several arms in the Sound. At one point, we stopped and the driver said, "I hate to admit this, but I have been flapping my jaws and wasn't paying attention to where we were going. So I am lost..." It was kind of funny. Its not like he was really lost with his GPS, but still. We floated for a couple of minutes until he got situated. Then we were off again. Apparently, we were going to go out to the Tasman Sea, but the sea was too rough. So he took us around the arms instead. We could see the Tasman sea at least. We don't seem to have much luck when it comes to the Tasman Sea.
There was this island that a family wanted to build their house on. In 1952, this area was considered a National Park, so the family wasn't allowed to build the house on the island. So they put stilts in the water and built it over the water. The government wasn't happy, but they couldn't do anything about it. Now, it is vacant, but is called a Hotel and Cafe. Obviously, they wouldn't get much business. There was another island that a school teacher lived on for three years to study birds, but he went crazy.
We started heading back and arrived to Lake Manapouri. Then we took the boat back and got to the hostel around 5:45. Then we gobbled down our dinner and headed out to our next location. We had another tour at 7:00 (which included more boats). We went to the Glow Worm Cave. We went from Te Anau to the Glow Worm Visiter Centre. Our guide had a soft voice and with all the running water and my ears being plugged, it was quite difficult to hear him. I got the gist of what he was saying, but I struggled.
We only went through a small percentage of the cave, because it would take 2 to 3 days to go through the whole thing. You actually have to have a licence to go through the whole thing. We walked into the cave 2/3 of the way in. There is a walkway, low ledges that he point out with his torch (flashlight) and hand. Through most of the tour, we were not allowed to talk.
Glow worms are more like a fly larva that move around in caves. They make a little net for things to get stuck in (I guess like a spider web). This net is their saliva that is sticky. Their butts are lit up when they are hungry, and bugs get attracted to the light and fly towards it. The hungrier they are, the brighter they glow. The result is the bugs get stuck in the net and the glow worms get their dinner. The glow worms are very aggressive and will attack each other when they get too close. When the larva grows up, it becomes a fly that does not glow. If these flies get disoriented or confused, they can get stuck in a net, and eaten by the glow worm. Weird to think of the younger part of the species feasting on the adult. Anyway, the light of the torch and talking distracts the worms, and they can stop glowing, which is why we need to be quiet.
There was a waterfall that we were over while we waited for the boat. The guide fetched the boat and brought it to us. It was really small and narrow. After we all got in, the guide walked along the two inch boarder of the boat to get to his spot. I thought he was crazy and going to fall in the 3 degree water. Then all the lights turned off, and the guide brought us around the cave. There were thousands of little blue lights all over the place. Some were clustered together and others were by themselves. The best description that I can give is the description Alison gave a couple days ago. It was like being in the Peter Pan ride in Disneyland. You know how you are floating around London and Neverland? All those stars that stick out everywhere? That is what it seemed like, only you couldn't see anything but those stars.
Everything was moving in slow motion. It was surreal and amazing. We stopped at one point and looked at a wall cluster of them. I found myself trying to make the Big Dipper or some odd shapes, animals, or letters out of them, when something distracted me. I saw a glow worm moving across the water. It was so strange and did not make any sense. It started to disappear when I saw another one moving in the same direction. It then dawned on me that it was a second boat and they put a glow on the front and back so the guides would see it and know where to move so they won't crash. So we continued on till we reached the point where we boarded the boat. There was another group that was going on our boat. So we got off, and they went on.
We then boarded the boat back to Te Anau. We had six boat rides today! We arrived at our hostel around 11:00 pm. After all this traveling, tomorrow we have no agenda! See what trouble we can stir up!
I woke up with a massive sore throat still, but was feeling heaps better. I was ready for the day when I got up. We were going on another tour. This tour was the Doubtful Sound cruise. It is south of the Milford Sound and not as well known, but it is three times as large. The tour was much longer, but I got it for the same price! Research can really come in handy.
We got on the tour bus and picked up a couple people. This was a family owned business, and there was a huge group of people who were going to be late, so we just waited for them. It was kind of annoying. They finally arrived, and we immediately boarded the boat. My ears were still plugged, so it was quite difficult to hear the commentary. This time, I was outside most of the time. I loved being outside and feeling the wind in my face. I love being on boats! The sights were beautiful and Mom and I were really excited, but we realised later, that we were not in Doubtful Sound at all, but Lake Manapouri. We had to go across Lake Manapouri, drive through the Power Station (something we didn't expect to do), drive to the Sound, and then take a boat in the Sound. So we got a bunch of extra things we didn't expect.
Everything around this area was absolutely beautiful. We were in the Fiordlands National Park, and it was stunning. While we were in Doubtful Sound, we got to see dolphins for a second. The driver pointed out several sights. We went up several arms in the Sound. At one point, we stopped and the driver said, "I hate to admit this, but I have been flapping my jaws and wasn't paying attention to where we were going. So I am lost..." It was kind of funny. Its not like he was really lost with his GPS, but still. We floated for a couple of minutes until he got situated. Then we were off again. Apparently, we were going to go out to the Tasman Sea, but the sea was too rough. So he took us around the arms instead. We could see the Tasman sea at least. We don't seem to have much luck when it comes to the Tasman Sea.
There was this island that a family wanted to build their house on. In 1952, this area was considered a National Park, so the family wasn't allowed to build the house on the island. So they put stilts in the water and built it over the water. The government wasn't happy, but they couldn't do anything about it. Now, it is vacant, but is called a Hotel and Cafe. Obviously, they wouldn't get much business. There was another island that a school teacher lived on for three years to study birds, but he went crazy.
We started heading back and arrived to Lake Manapouri. Then we took the boat back and got to the hostel around 5:45. Then we gobbled down our dinner and headed out to our next location. We had another tour at 7:00 (which included more boats). We went to the Glow Worm Cave. We went from Te Anau to the Glow Worm Visiter Centre. Our guide had a soft voice and with all the running water and my ears being plugged, it was quite difficult to hear him. I got the gist of what he was saying, but I struggled.
We only went through a small percentage of the cave, because it would take 2 to 3 days to go through the whole thing. You actually have to have a licence to go through the whole thing. We walked into the cave 2/3 of the way in. There is a walkway, low ledges that he point out with his torch (flashlight) and hand. Through most of the tour, we were not allowed to talk.
Glow worms are more like a fly larva that move around in caves. They make a little net for things to get stuck in (I guess like a spider web). This net is their saliva that is sticky. Their butts are lit up when they are hungry, and bugs get attracted to the light and fly towards it. The hungrier they are, the brighter they glow. The result is the bugs get stuck in the net and the glow worms get their dinner. The glow worms are very aggressive and will attack each other when they get too close. When the larva grows up, it becomes a fly that does not glow. If these flies get disoriented or confused, they can get stuck in a net, and eaten by the glow worm. Weird to think of the younger part of the species feasting on the adult. Anyway, the light of the torch and talking distracts the worms, and they can stop glowing, which is why we need to be quiet.
There was a waterfall that we were over while we waited for the boat. The guide fetched the boat and brought it to us. It was really small and narrow. After we all got in, the guide walked along the two inch boarder of the boat to get to his spot. I thought he was crazy and going to fall in the 3 degree water. Then all the lights turned off, and the guide brought us around the cave. There were thousands of little blue lights all over the place. Some were clustered together and others were by themselves. The best description that I can give is the description Alison gave a couple days ago. It was like being in the Peter Pan ride in Disneyland. You know how you are floating around London and Neverland? All those stars that stick out everywhere? That is what it seemed like, only you couldn't see anything but those stars.
Everything was moving in slow motion. It was surreal and amazing. We stopped at one point and looked at a wall cluster of them. I found myself trying to make the Big Dipper or some odd shapes, animals, or letters out of them, when something distracted me. I saw a glow worm moving across the water. It was so strange and did not make any sense. It started to disappear when I saw another one moving in the same direction. It then dawned on me that it was a second boat and they put a glow on the front and back so the guides would see it and know where to move so they won't crash. So we continued on till we reached the point where we boarded the boat. There was another group that was going on our boat. So we got off, and they went on.
We then boarded the boat back to Te Anau. We had six boat rides today! We arrived at our hostel around 11:00 pm. After all this traveling, tomorrow we have no agenda! See what trouble we can stir up!
Pictures at Milford Sound
The Kea bird. I will be mentioning more about this bird further down our trip.
The Chasm Walk.
Classic pictures of Milford Sound. This peak is the most pictured spot in the Sound. It is the most known for Milford Sound.
Mom and I on the boat.
Our last picture. We were getting soaked, even if it doesn't look like it.The Milford Sound Adventure
Thursday 8 July 2010
I woke up this morning and felt absolutely miserable. I had a pounding headache and a massive sore throat. I felt nauseous as well. We had to be in the town centre at 6:50, so sleeping in was not an option.
We caught our bus and gave him our luggage. This was a tour bus that would take us from Queenstown, to Te Anau, to Milford Sound (which would include a 90 minute Milford Sound cruise), back to Queenstown with the option to drop us off at Te Anau (which was the option we took). During the bus ride, I tried closing my eyes and resting my head every once in a while to settle my stomach. The roads were really twisty. So twisty, in fact, that several people mentioned the roads would close sometimes when it snowed. It is a very dangerous road.
The tour guide gave a lot of commentary on the mammals in New Zealand. There were a lot of deer farms around. The deer were brought to New Zealand for recreation, hunting. The deer adapted quickly to their atmosphere, and the people did not hunt them as much as expected. The deer did massive devastation to the vegetation, so they wanted to do something about it. So New Zealand actually hired professional hunters and captured them. They also got helicopters to lower people on the backs of the deer. Ropes were tied around their feet, and they were helicoptered away. So that is why there are a lot of deer farms. Actually, the population of sheep has dropped dramatically. You can see just as many cows or even deer as sheep. The milk industry has increased. Lamb is actually very expensive, so people here do not eat as much lamb.
There are only two native mammals on New Zealand, and they are both small species of bat. Everything else was brought. Rats were brought by the Europeans. The rats are doing major devastation to the native bird species. The stoats were stealing eggs from birds (especially the Kiwi bird). They have stoat traps everywhere and the trees are marked with pink triangles to indicate where the stoat traps are.
Also, the Moa bird (a huge bird that used to roam New Zealand that kind of resembles an ostrich), are extinct, because the Maori would hunt them by setting forests on fire. They would eat the meat that was cooked by the fire, but they destroyed the bird and their habitat. New Zealand has lost 44 of its native bird species.
New Zealand is formed by glaciers and tectonic plates. It faces 14,000 earthquakes a year, but only 200 are felt.
Okay, sorry for all my commentary. So, we got to our first stop and had 1/2 hour of time to get out and enjoy Te Anau. I had the chills and was freezing. My toes felt like rocks and hurt so bad from the cold. I could barely walk, but we needed to go to the store for fruit, so I hobbled around like an old lady with two club feet. We of course couldn't find the store that was two minutes away and impossible to miss in a minuscule town, so we asked a couple and they pointed us in the right direction. We made it and got food. Then I hobbled several feet behind Mom and went to a souvenir shop to warm up. As soon as we got in, we had to leave, because the bus was about to leave. So the five minute trip took about 30 minutes due to my severe handicap.
Then we headed out to Milford Sound. along the way, the driver made several stops so we could get out and take photos. We drove and took pictures of mountains, valleys, rivers...The ground was completely frozen. There are 71 species of plants found no where else in the world but in this area. Not that we saw them all or anything.
We stopped to see the Kea bird, which is the only true southern Alpine Parrot. Then we did a Chasm walk. Then we finally got to Milford Sound. We boarded the boat and I was trying to listen to the commentary, but was declining fast. Throughout this whole time, I was trying to hide how I was feeling so that Mom would not be worried about me. I wanted her to be able to enjoy her trip, but she knows me well and had her suspicions. Although, when I decided to drink tea, she knew there was something majorly wrong. For those of you who do not know, I HATE tea. It is a vile vile drink and I stay away from it as much as I can. Well, my throat felt like it was caving in, so I tried to sooth it with tea. Every time I took a gulp (no sipping for me, I tried to get rid of it as fast as I could), I apparently made a horrible face. Mom told me I looked quite hilarious. I choked it down, and went outside a couple of times, but toward the end, I couldn't do it anymore. I was shivering so bad.
After the sound (which was amazingly beautiful by the way), our guide dropped us off in Te Anau. We walked to the hostel. At this point (if I didn't know before) I knew I had a fever. We went out once more to get some soup. The only thing I had to eat today was some bread we got at the store. I managed to drink some of the soup, then set a record for going to bed...6:40.
I woke up this morning and felt absolutely miserable. I had a pounding headache and a massive sore throat. I felt nauseous as well. We had to be in the town centre at 6:50, so sleeping in was not an option.
We caught our bus and gave him our luggage. This was a tour bus that would take us from Queenstown, to Te Anau, to Milford Sound (which would include a 90 minute Milford Sound cruise), back to Queenstown with the option to drop us off at Te Anau (which was the option we took). During the bus ride, I tried closing my eyes and resting my head every once in a while to settle my stomach. The roads were really twisty. So twisty, in fact, that several people mentioned the roads would close sometimes when it snowed. It is a very dangerous road.
The tour guide gave a lot of commentary on the mammals in New Zealand. There were a lot of deer farms around. The deer were brought to New Zealand for recreation, hunting. The deer adapted quickly to their atmosphere, and the people did not hunt them as much as expected. The deer did massive devastation to the vegetation, so they wanted to do something about it. So New Zealand actually hired professional hunters and captured them. They also got helicopters to lower people on the backs of the deer. Ropes were tied around their feet, and they were helicoptered away. So that is why there are a lot of deer farms. Actually, the population of sheep has dropped dramatically. You can see just as many cows or even deer as sheep. The milk industry has increased. Lamb is actually very expensive, so people here do not eat as much lamb.
There are only two native mammals on New Zealand, and they are both small species of bat. Everything else was brought. Rats were brought by the Europeans. The rats are doing major devastation to the native bird species. The stoats were stealing eggs from birds (especially the Kiwi bird). They have stoat traps everywhere and the trees are marked with pink triangles to indicate where the stoat traps are.
Also, the Moa bird (a huge bird that used to roam New Zealand that kind of resembles an ostrich), are extinct, because the Maori would hunt them by setting forests on fire. They would eat the meat that was cooked by the fire, but they destroyed the bird and their habitat. New Zealand has lost 44 of its native bird species.
New Zealand is formed by glaciers and tectonic plates. It faces 14,000 earthquakes a year, but only 200 are felt.
Okay, sorry for all my commentary. So, we got to our first stop and had 1/2 hour of time to get out and enjoy Te Anau. I had the chills and was freezing. My toes felt like rocks and hurt so bad from the cold. I could barely walk, but we needed to go to the store for fruit, so I hobbled around like an old lady with two club feet. We of course couldn't find the store that was two minutes away and impossible to miss in a minuscule town, so we asked a couple and they pointed us in the right direction. We made it and got food. Then I hobbled several feet behind Mom and went to a souvenir shop to warm up. As soon as we got in, we had to leave, because the bus was about to leave. So the five minute trip took about 30 minutes due to my severe handicap.
Then we headed out to Milford Sound. along the way, the driver made several stops so we could get out and take photos. We drove and took pictures of mountains, valleys, rivers...The ground was completely frozen. There are 71 species of plants found no where else in the world but in this area. Not that we saw them all or anything.
We stopped to see the Kea bird, which is the only true southern Alpine Parrot. Then we did a Chasm walk. Then we finally got to Milford Sound. We boarded the boat and I was trying to listen to the commentary, but was declining fast. Throughout this whole time, I was trying to hide how I was feeling so that Mom would not be worried about me. I wanted her to be able to enjoy her trip, but she knows me well and had her suspicions. Although, when I decided to drink tea, she knew there was something majorly wrong. For those of you who do not know, I HATE tea. It is a vile vile drink and I stay away from it as much as I can. Well, my throat felt like it was caving in, so I tried to sooth it with tea. Every time I took a gulp (no sipping for me, I tried to get rid of it as fast as I could), I apparently made a horrible face. Mom told me I looked quite hilarious. I choked it down, and went outside a couple of times, but toward the end, I couldn't do it anymore. I was shivering so bad.
After the sound (which was amazingly beautiful by the way), our guide dropped us off in Te Anau. We walked to the hostel. At this point (if I didn't know before) I knew I had a fever. We went out once more to get some soup. The only thing I had to eat today was some bread we got at the store. I managed to drink some of the soup, then set a record for going to bed...6:40.
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