Oli Reveals: VIII

Another installment of Oli’s round-the-world emails:

Good morning boys and girls!!

From where I stopped in Queenstown, I picked up the trail again and headed
300 south west to the pretty sea inlet famously known as “Milford Sound”.
The scenery along the drive was (as ever) amazing. First I passed the
“Incredibles” mountain range, then the road from Te Anau lake showing
mountain beech forests, pasture land, lakes and then an ice-carved
amphitheatre signalling that the Homer tunnel was close- over 1km of
mountain-cut tunnel. The weather was so crap, but the Cleddau Canyon and
Hollyford valley were amazing to observe with cascading waterfalls
everywhere, tumbling down vegetated rock faces as if someone wanted to flood
the place. Kayaking was out of the question, as it was also too windy, so I
just did a cruise around the sound and saw waterfalls falling upwards, due
to the intensity of the wind- very cool to see. Spent the remainder of the
day drizing to the town of Invercargill- very small and sleepy like the west
coast towns. The countryside south of the Alps and along the south coast is
very remmincent of England.

Spent the following day driving through a wildlife heritage area known as
“The Catlins”- this coastal route was a mix of a beautifully isolated
forests, windy bays, hamlets and a few waterfalls. To be truthful, I wasn’t
so blown away by the scenary as I’ve learnt over my time in NZ that England
can easily compare to this cherished landscape that people fly 1000’s of
miles to see. Ok, I agree that the Southern Alps are incredible, by the
rest of the countryside just feels like a quiet version of the English
coastline/ inner coutryside. Let’s just say I feel very lucky where I live
Anyways, sidetracked a bit there, got to Dunelin later in the afternoon,
which welcomed me as a city with a thriving student community and as a port
town- the scottish city of NZ. Again, I checked into a homely backpackers,
just like my previous stops, set slightly back from the city centre. I do
this as it’s so much easier to make conversation with people, it’s less
crowded, and run as more of a family-style operation then some conglomerate
who just sees another $25 walk through the door, as if on a conveyerbelt.
It’s cheaper to stay to and normally has some cool perks like a pool table/
free breakfast/ cheap laundry service/ tea & coffee- the little things that
a bigger operation wouldnt offer and also the relatively cheap ancellery
things that make ALL difference. Spent two nights here, skulking around the
city and appreciating its cafe culture, with bars and cafes spilling out
seating onto the streets, packed-out with students., giving it a very
laid-back feel. As the 2nd day in Dunedin was so sunny, I spent the day
driving to and around the Otago penninsula, which was so pretty. Almost
screwed the rental car trying to take a 4×4 trail down to Boulder bay, and
definately lost some tyre tread- horrible scraping sound against the rocks
too!! Managed to 3-point turn the car before inflicting too much damage
though, so all is good. Drove every single road in the peninsula, sighting
nice inlets, farms, villages and unspoilt beaches. I was hoping to see some
penguins, but these guys are way too shy!! If anyone wants to see them here,
go in the evening. Had an awesome time meeting up with my friend Zeynep,
who I met in the Abel Tasman national park and didn’t leave the bar/club
until 3.30- so much fun

The final day in Dunedin involved driving up the world’s steepest hill, and
then up to Mt Cargill for a nice view of the city. Again, the weather
changed as I drove up the coast, with nothing much to see until I detoured
into the hilly interior of the island again, as I knew the weather would
improve and that the scenery was so much nicer. Stayed at lake Wanaka for
one night, after a whole afternoon of driving along desolate roads through
green & brown fields with spring flowers growing everywhere in their pinks/
purples/ whites/ yellows- if mum wants to know, their called “Lupins”, like
the foxgloves in England I suppose. This leg of my journey was one of the
prettiest to date, expansive valleys with fur tree rows, some farm buildings
and harsh blue lakes, all with the snowy alps in the background. Wanaka
itself was small, quiet, and really pretty.

The following day, I double-backed on myself to drive north again, to reach
the Mt Cook national park. The valley where Mt Cook village was nestled in
was so vast- essentially with a hostel, a hotel and a couple of cafes. Did
the Sealy Tarns trail, ascending from the valley floor for 1km to an
elevation of 1250m. The hike was energetic, with snow and sun glaring down
on me. I’d glance at the 3 mountains (Mt Footstool, Mt Sefton & Mt Cook),
the hooker valley and the dimulative village I left behind to remind myself
what I’m hiking for. When I reached the top, I could see Mt Cook aka “cloud
piercer”, it’s the highest mountain in Australasia. The brilliant whiteness
of the mountains was so pure, even more so then the glaciers I’ve seen, but
the peak of Mt cook jutting into the sky was the star of the show- on a
sunny day too?!! (notorious for cloud cover). Retreated to the famous
Hermitage hotel cafe for a copious amount of hot drinks, gazing from the
balcony down the valley to the mountains I was marvelling at earlier- a cafe
view hard to beat!!

I’ve spent the last couple of days in Christchurch, returning the rental
car, cooking MY OWN food in a chinese restaurant using a stove put on the
table and hitch-hiking to the very north of the island to the ferry port
town of Picton, my final south island stay. The 2nd part of my hitchhiking
was memorable (Kaikoura- Picton) as a Porsche Cayan 4×4 picked me up, driven
by a crazy real estate guy from Slovakia, who’s girlfriend was just
encouraging him to drive the vehicle to its limits (they just picked it up
from Christchurch and we running late for their ferry crossing!!!). We
averaged 170kmh on roads where that kinda speed instigates the odd fit of
hysterics at blind bends, bridges, villages and straight open road (all
treated with equal eagerness). We got to picton in record time (half what
it normally takes) and bought a McDonald’s too? Very kind people who said I
should contact them when I reach their hown town of Hamilton- sweet.

So, that’s it for the south island is a beautiful place in terms of scenery
and settlements such as Nelson, Picton, Dunedin and Queenstown. The
activities were great fun too, and are dangerously compulsive. I could’ve
spent longer here, to complete a few more trails and stay in some more
towns, but I think I’ve done the place justice. Write again once the North
gives me something to write about.

Later dayz,

Oli