The Center of New Zealand

It is definitely a change going from Queenstown with a population of about 14,000 to 60,000 in Nelson. After my first night, in the strange hostel, I left in the morning to find a hostel that was more pleasing. Travelers I had met in another town had recommended the Paradiso. I decided to check it out. It had a pool and a free breakfast to offer. I did the unthinkable. I booked two nights. I normally book just one night at a time in order to get a feel for the hostel. If I don’t like it, I go somewhere else. By booking two nights at the hostel, they were able to keep me in the same room both nights as well as gave me a $2 discount each night. I discarded my stuff before hitting the town, getting some food and enjoying the sunny weather. When I arrived back at the hostel, there were two others in the room and another joined later. We began talking and somehow the topic of religion and Christianity came up. Each of us having a different perspective, the conversation lasted a good 2 hours.

The next day, Friday, I went into town, going to the library for internet before walking to the geographical center of New Zealand. While upon the hill in which the center was located, I met Christina, another traveler. We talked for a bit and proceeded to walk along the ridgeline as the sun went down. It was dark when I returned to the hostel. Being a Friday evening, one of the tour buses had dropped off a load of travelers. Those that travel via tour bus are generally those ranging from the age of 18-20 on their gap year and tend to party their way around the country. Not my cup of tea. That being said, I spent most of the evening in my room which I shared with some of these travelers.

Nelson

The Center of New Zealand

There were cows along the ridgeline. Of course, I had to take a picture.

The next morning, I had had enough of the atmosphere at Paradiso so I went out to find another hostel. Upon recommendation of another traveler, I found the Green Monkey; a small hostel with only 17 beds; much more my style. I spent the rest of the day bumming around, contemplating what to do in the days to come and going to the Saturday market. A guy who I had met at the hostel while in Queenstown was on his way to Nelson and there was a chance that we would meet up. It didn’t happen.

                           

On Sunday, leaving some of my stuff at the hostel, I packed my bag and went into town with the hopes of catching a bus going towards Abel Tasman. There were no buses going that way in the afternoon. All buses going that way leave in the morning. I spent the next hour and 45 minutes at the I-site planning my trip to Abel Tasman. It’s not as easy as it may sound. I had to arrange the bus to the national park which is an hour away, the water taxi, and book campsites. It only gets more complicated when parts of the walk are dependent on the tide. Because it is a costal walk, there are two places that you can only cross during low tide. The hostel had a tent that I was able to rent so I decided that it would be considerably cheaper for me to camp than to stay in the huts along the way. By the time I had left the I-Site, I had everything booked. I would be leaving the next morning at 7:10 and I would be spending 4 days and 3 nights in Abel Tasman National Park.  Even though I don’t like planning that far in advance, it was a good feeling. Later in the afternoon, I biked 20 minutes to the beach and although a bit cold, I stayed for a bit before returning to the hostel where I got my stuff together for Abel Tasman. I also went to the supermarket where I purchased enough food to last me for the 4 days I would be out in the middle of no where. Included in my purchase were 2 large bars of chocolate (a necessity when hiking), a lighter (for having campfires), and bug spray (to ward off those pesty sand flies). By the time I went to bed, I had everything ready for the morning. All I would have to do was change, eat, brush my teeth, and put my shoes on before walking out the door. Let the journey begin.

In other news: Over the past few days, thanks to my good friend Twigz, I have had this song stuck in my head. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tAWwqKNI7g

Hitch hiking north

Wanting to be sure I had a room for the night, after eating a quiet breakfast by the lake, I made my way to a hostel; checking in before most checked out. After doing so, the first thing I did was take a shower; a great feeling after sleeping outside the night before. In order to inform you all of my where abouts the previous night, I walked the town looking for internet. No free internet was to be found so I caved and paid for internet for the first time since being in NZ. I then took 4.5 minutes to walk through the Gypsy fair that was going on in town. The rest of my day was uneventful, going to bed early. After sleeping on tree roots the night before, sleeping in a real bed, not just a foam mattress, was oh so sweet. It makes me appreciate having a bed so much more.

After a tremendous slumber, I woke up Monday morning with plans of booking another night in the hostel. They were full. I would have to find another hostel. Down the street I went, stopping at the Matterhorn Hostel. To my delight, there was room in the inn. After discarding my belongings, I headed out once again. I went out with the intentions of hiking up a mountain. The mountain was not to be hiked. I began walking along Lake Wanaka. Surrounded by beauty, rather than hike the mountain, I decided to continue along the lake for the next 3 hours until I arrived at Damper Bay. No one was in sight so I sat and enjoyed the peace and quiet for a bit before beginning my journey back. On my return trip, it became evident that it was dinner time for the rabbit community. Over the span of 20 minutes, there were 64+ rabbits. Yes, I counted! When I arrived in town I sat by the lake for a short amount of time, watching the sunset. The moment was short lived when six teenage girls arrived taking pictures, talking loudly, and giggling. Noodles and a can of corn was my dinner for the night. Sitting at the table eating, there were 7 other Americans, two of which were from Minnesota. This was the most Americans I have collectively seen since I’ve been here. After chatting for a while, I called it a night.

Yesterday morning, I woke up in Wanaka, not knowing if I would be able to catch the bus to Franz Josef that same morning, I walked down to the information center just after it opened. I went ahead and booked the bus as well as a hostel in Franz Josef. I had learned from my mistake. I collected my belongings from the hostel and returned to wait for the bus which was to leave at 9:45. Taking the best seat in the house, the front seat, I settled in for the long ride. After an hour of driving, we made our first pit stop at a small café in the middle of no where. Making my way off the bus, I spotted a familiar face. We looked at each other, each of a trying to place where we had met. Then he called, “Minnesota” and I returned, “Fergberger, St.Louis.” I then learned that his name was Ben. We talked while we waited for our bus to continue. Making a few stops along the way, we arrived in Franz Josef at 4:30pm. I disposed of my pack at Château Franz and then inquired about busses out of town the next morning. Since I have seen glaciers before, I didn’t have a strong inclination to see the glacier; it was more of a pit stop than anything else, and because the glacier hikes (other than the heli hike) were canceled due to storm damage making hikes unsafe, I was released from my touristy obligation to hike on the glacier. The cheapest bus north to Nelson was $76; reasonable but still a bit spendy. Knowing that there would be people headed north, I wasn’t too keen on paying for a bus. I think you can all guess what I was thinking. I took a short stroll before darkness set in and I made my way back to the hostel. It wasn’t just darkness that brought me back to the hostel. The sandflies are also to blame. My blood was making for a good dinner and although I’m all for donating blood, it was not to sandflies that I wanted to give my blood. After dinner, a fire alarm, and a philosophical conversation it was time to call it a night.

Possibly the coolest slide ever.
Did I go down it? You bet!

You know you're in New Zealand when...

Franz Josef Glacier is somewhere back there

Being in Queenstown for quite some time, I had collected a fair amount of food and I have been in the process of eating the food I have rather than buying food so my meals over the past two days have mostly consisted of apples with peanut butter, muesli bars, and toast with boysenberry jam or nutella. After showering and eating my breakfast, I once again got my stuff together and headed out the door. I walked the full 3 minutes to the only road going out of town arriving at 8:35am. I crossed to the northbound side of the road and waited ever so patiently in hopes of getting a ride. Here is the thing about hitching a ride out of a small town; in some way, your chances of getting picked up are greater because the smallness brings a friendly down to earth feel to it which I think makes picking up a hitch hiker less intimidating, yet at the same time because it is so small, it makes hitching more difficult because there is far less traffic. I wasn’t the only one looking for a ride out of town; two others placed themselves a few meters further down the road. During a 45 minute period of time, a total of 10 cars passed by. Although this was a significant chunk of time, it wasn’t nearly as frustrating as when I was trying to hitch out of Queenstown and plenty of cars were passing by. Finally, an hour and a half later, a car came to a rolling stop. My first ride for the day was with Alistair, Ellie, and Gracie; what I assume to be a dad with his two daughters. My ride with them was unlike any other rides I have gotten; conversation was quite minimal. For those who know me, you know that I can be perfectly content just sitting and that I don’t need conversation to keep me entertained, but when I’m in a strangers car for a significant amount of time, it seems quite strange not to talk. We had been driving for just under two hours when we stopped in Ross, a small town. They were meeting up with someone they knew there. My options were to either continue hitching or wait until they were finished. I went with the later. While they did their thing, I read. As I sat alongside the road waiting, a car passed carrying one of the other guys that was hitching out of Franz Josef. After waiting a bit over an hour, we went on our way towards Greymouth arriving around 2. Because it was still relatively early in the afternoon, I figured I would continue trying to make it north to Nelson and that if I didn’t get a ride within an hour I would stay put because unless someone was going all the way to Nelson, just over 3 hours away, I would be stuck in the middle of no where. They were kind enough to drop me off on the north end of town which would make hitching easier. I stood outside a gas station and in 10 minutes, a guy by the name of Craig with a truck and trailer picked me up. Probably being in his early to mid-40s, clad in mid-thigh length camouflage shorts, he was an interesting fellow. Going only 20km up the road, my ride with him was short. Had it been longer, I think we would have had a great conversation. In the time we had, he told me a bit of his story before he talked about wanting to hike the Appalachian Trail. He proceeded to ask me if I had heard of Bill Bryson, a man who has hiked the Trail. I had not, to which he seemed astounded. He then proceeded to pull one of Bill’s books out of the backseat and give it to me; a read I look forward to. I don’t know if you have picked up on it yet, but I have a new fondness for semicolons. I probably shouldn’t have mentioned that because now that I have you are going to notice it and there will probably be times that I use a semicolon improperly. Don’t judge me. Anyways, moving on. Craig dropped me off 20km out of Greymouth and approximately 8 minutes later, a sweet old lady by the name of Margaret picked me up. Again, she was only going about 20km up the road. I’ll take what I can get. The stopping point was in the middle of nowhere with traffic few and far between. Thinking it may be a while, I pulled out a book, regularly looking up to see if a car was coming. I hadn’t even read a full page before I heard the sound of a car backing up. Someone was coming back for me. Upon opening the door and asking where the gentleman was going, I was relieved to hear he was going all the way to Nelson. My fourth escort of the day was Trevor (whose name I didn’t learn until the end of the ride), a middle aged man dressed in slacks and a dress shirt who was making his way home after visiting schools in the south that he oversees the maintenance of. Nelson was a good 3 hours away in which we talked 95% of the time with most of our conversation being about traveling, culture, and New Zealand. I now know how to tell the difference between a fence for sheep and one for beef. You learn something new everyday. Arriving in Nelson around 6:30, the sun had gone down. Trevor was kind enough to take me into the town center where I found the local McDonalds. Having not eaten much all day, putting hot food in my belly felt great. While it wouldn’t be my first choice in food, I went there in order to get free wifi, which if you haven’t noticed already, is hard to come by in NZ. I then made my way to the closest hostel to secure a room for the night. $30 was the asking price at the YHA. One street over it was $20. I discarded my things before going back to McD’s hoping to upload pictures to a previous blog. The battery on my computer was running low so I was unable to finish what I was doing and made my way back to the hostel. I sat in the lounge, working on the blog before going to bed.

Homeless for a night

After a delightful nights rest in a real bed, yesterday morning I woke up and packed my stuff; a task that is getting harder with each passing day. The longer I’m here, the more stuff I acquire. Not an abundance of stuff but enough to make a difference when packing. After having breakfast, I headed out the door with my large pack, my day pack, and my food bag. On her way to work, Rachelle dropped me off along the main road going to Wanaka; an hours distance from Queenstown. There I stood with my thumb up. There was a fair amount of traffic and with each passing car my hopes faded. I got various reactions from those that passed; from avoiding making eye contact to a straight on stare, hands up in the air showing that they had a full car already to an encouraging smile and a matching thumbs up. Of them all, the most frustrating were those that would have a visibly empty car but would wave; it was as though they were saying, “I acknowledge you but I’m not going to give you a ride.” An hour went by. I stood there, thinking, praying, and contemplating my next step of action. It was time to put my creativity and practicalness to use. As there are along most roads, was a random assortment of trash (or rubbish as they call it here). In this collection was a large white bag with a texture similar to that of a tarp. With my thumb still up, I stood there thinking; if I could somehow write on the bag my desired destination, my chances of getting a ride may increase. To my dismay, I didn’t have a writing utensil other than a pen which would be ineffective. In my mind, I rifled through my belongings of things that may work. To your amusement and my pride, I came up with a solution; nutella. With a clever smirk, I sat along the roadside, dipped my finger in the nutella and wrote in poop brown letters: Wanaka. In less than 15 minutes, I had a ride from Frederic and Iris, a kind German couple.

With similar views as Queenstown but less touristy, Wanaka is a beautiful town. After a quick stop at the information center, I found a bench near the lake where I settled for the next few hours enjoying a gorgeous sunny Fall day. When 5 o’clock rolled around, I figured I should find a place to rest my head for the night. After quickly surveying the map, I made my way to the closest hostel. They were fully booked for the night. Upon asking for other recommendations, I continued on my search. The next hostel said the same. The third hostel was full as well but was kind enough to call the other hostels who had similar news. The Base hostel had a private room open but would cost a hefty $82; a price I was unwilling to pay. As I left, I had to use all my willpower to keep tears from spilling down my face. I made my way to the waterfront where I found a seat under a tree and a few silent tears rolled down my cheeks as the sun went down over the mountains. I was homeless. What was I going to do? As I sat there, the words of the Desert Song by Hillsong came to my head, “All of my life, in every season, you are still God, I have a reason to sing, I have a reason to worship.” I didn’t have a place to sleep but everything was going to be okay. As the light vanished from the sky, I pulled on my wool socks and recently purchased merino wool top; it was going to be a long night. Across the bay, I saw a spot under some trees that looked isolated enough that I wouldn’t be noticed. With all my gear, I trudged over and using my flashlight, found a little nook amongst some trees. I worked at getting myself settled for the night; pulling out my sleeping bag, the scarf I bought in Rotorua, the hat I got in Queenstown, and the gloves from the lost items at the hostel in Queenstown. Although still cool, thankfully the weather seemed warmer than it had been previous nights. With tree roots covering the ground, I did what I could to get comfortable. With flashlight in hand, I read a bit before calling it a night. As I was lying there silently, all the sounds around me were amplified; from my eyelashes against the sleeping bag to cars driving, people walking, leaves falling, and ducks calling. My senses were very alert to my surroundings. The longer I lay there, the more relaxed I got. This wasn’t going to be so bad after all. Just part of the adventure right? I managed to fall asleep for a while before waking up, needing to readjust from the roots in my back. This continued throughout the night. I woke up around 3am and walked 4 minutes to the bathroom. With the sleeping bag over my head, I was able to stay relatively warm except my feet. When 6am came, I was awoken as the wind had picked up. I nestled further into my nook and went back to sleep. From that time on, I woke up intermittently until I arose shortly after 8. Although not the most restful sleep, I had survived the night.

watching the sunset

My view when I woke up in the morning

my sleeping place

happy I survived the night

On the road again

After a wonderful weekend of an Easter dinner, clean laundry, Frisbee golf, and church, a new week had come. Sunday was my final night at the Flaming Kiwi. On Monday morning I woke up and slowly proceeded to pack my belongings. The sun was out and after being in Queenstown for 5 weeks, it was time to have my first Fergburger, an infamous burger joint in town. I made a picnic of it by taking it to the park by the lake. The afternoon passed and evening came. At 5:30, I made my way to the primary school where the youth group was meeting for an intense Easter egg hunt around Queenstown. After being split into teams of four, we raced around town using clues to find chocolate Easter eggs. Queenstown if a manageable town to walk but when it comes to running from one end of town to the other, I think it became evident to most of us how unfit we are. Well after the sun went down, the race came to an end and we continued on by going to the guys flat and prizes being distributed. I am sad to say, that my team was not amongst those receiving a prize. It was a bittersweet evening; although great fellowship was to be had, it was time to say goodbye to these friends I had made. I was taken home by the lovely Jess and Rachelle, where I would spend the night before moving on. The plan was to leave some of my stuff at their house as I went to Milford Sound for a few days and I would stop by Queenstown on my way back to get the stuff I had left. On Monday night, I had the joy of sleeping in a real bed; one of the things I take for granted when I’m home.

The ghostbuster vacuum

Fellow cleaners: Lizi (Germany) and Melissa (Australia)

Nick (bed maker, England) and Chris (reception, England)

The boss, Kent

The infamous Fergburger

I woke up on Tuesday morning, I put a limited amount of things in my large pack. I was contemplating doing an overnight hike and didn’t want to carry more than what was necessary. As Rachelle went into work, she dropped me off on the edge of town. That’s right, I was going to hitch hike 291km to Milford Sound. I have learned that the more you hitch hike, the anxiety that comes with it diminishes. After 20 minutes, I was picked up by Baltimore and Benny, a middle age Swiss man and a young family friend that was studying in Wellington. Conversation ensued and two hours later, there came a turn in the road and we parted ways. I walked 10 minutes before being picked up by yet another Swiss couple, Andreas and Benita, who took me the remaining 20 minutes to Te Anau. Arriving around noon, I made my way to Lakefront Backpackers where I booked a room for the night. My stomach was in need of food so I made my way to the local bakery where I got fish and chips. Being the first day on the road again since being in Queenstown for close to 6 weeks, I felt a little off so I spent the rest of the afternoon walking and sitting by the lake. I had the intentions of hitch hiking the remaining 2 hours to Milford Sound in the morning. When I went to my room that evening, I began talking to Nina from Germany who was in the same room as myself. She was going to be leaving at 6:30am to go on the 9am cruise in Milford. She had a car and offered to give me a ride.

Yes, I have a hitch hikers thumb.
Putting it to good use.

waiting for my next ride in the middle of nowhere

the lake in Ta Anau

taken for a special 9 year old :)

enjoying the sunset over the lake

Before her alarm went off in the morning, I was already awake. We quietly got our stuff together and loaded up her car. In the cold stillness of the morning as the light slowly entered the sky, we made our way to Milford Sound. The views were stunning as the fog wrapped itself around the mountains. Because I hadn’t booked a cruise in advance, I inquired about availability of the 9am cruise. There was indeed a place for me on the same cruise as Nina. After a short wait, we boarded the boat with about 20 others. Being the first to leave the harbor in the morning, we made our way into the Sound. We cruised along one side of the Sound and returned along the opposite side. The views were stunning. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

When we arrived back on shore, I inquired about short day hikes in the area and then jumped back in the car with Nina. After driving 45 minutes, she dropped me off at The Divide where I was going to do the Key Summit day hike. I started shortly after noon, and arrived at the summit about an hour and a half later. The view from the top far outweighed the effort it took to get there. Possibly the best day hike thus far. I sat at the top for a while, enjoying the view and being amused watching a group of cousins and their families. I made my way back down, arriving at the car park around 4pm. It was time to put out my hitch hiker’s thumb again. Although there wasn’t much traffic, with only one road out of Milford, I figured my chances of getting picked up were high. It took about 20 minutes before I got picked up by Peter, Helen, and Sylvia, a middle aged couple and their friend. When we arrived in Te Anau, they dropped me off at the hostel, where I booked another night. I enjoyed some time in the lounge before making a simple noodle dinner and meeting two fellow American guys, Dustin and Josh. After waking up early that morning, I called it a day early.

Nina

On Thursday morning I woke up, not knowing my plans for the day. Over the past few days, I had been contemplating hiking the 32km of the Routeburn Track. The weather was questionable and because it was an overnight hike that I would be doing on my own, I didn’t want to go if the weather was going to be nasty. I walked to the DOC (Department of Conservation) office to check the weather and availability of one of the huts along the way. According to DOC, the weather was still questionable and there was one spot available. I went back to the hostel to check out, still mulling over what to do. Dustin and Josh, who I had met the previous day, were going to Milford and offered to give me a ride to the start of the track should I decide to do it. I abruptly decided to just go for it. We went back to the DOC office in order for me to book the hut for the night. Ironically, the one spot that had been open 15 minutes earlier had been taken. Maybe this is another way of God protecting me. The guys gave me a ride to the edge of town and I proceeded to hitch hike back to Queenstown. Peter and Claire, a kind Kiwi couple gave me a lift back to the edge of Queenstown. After purchasing a merino top, I walked towards town. Along the way lived the guys from church. Although it was the middle of the day and they were probably at work, I gave it a shot; maybe one of them would be home. There was indeed someone home. After using their phone to call Jess, I hung out a bit before Luis gave me a ride into town. I stayed around town until Jess finished work and we went back to her place where she made a lovely home cooked meal and I made cinnamon rolls, had a great conversation, and went in the spa pool before calling it a night.

Although I had planned on leaving the next morning, I didn’t. I ended up staying another night with Jess and Rachelle. I spent the morning relaxing before walking around Lake Hayes with Rachelle. Again, great conversation was to be had. Jess returned home from work and before long, other girls arrived making for an unplanned girls night.