How ya going? (as kiwis may greet you)
When I arrived back in New Zealand, I went to do some hiking in Arthur's Pass (filming of Vertical Limit and Narnia took place around here). One hike was called Avalanche Peak and reaching the top gave great views of glaciers and the mountain range which had just became snow capped a few days earlier. While having our lunch at the top, cheeky alpine parrots called Keas were trying to nick our lunches.
I back tracked to Christchurch and went on to Picton in hopes of planning a successful trek on the Queen Charlotte Track.

The hostel in Picton has to be one of my favourites so far in NZ, with a central location (not that Piction is a large town) and a homey feel, there is a large outdoor living area with a spa, hammocks and a fireplace. Every night when you heard the bell being rung, it meant that it was time for warm apple crisp and ice cream! I left on my solo 4 day adventure, never having hiked longer than one day on my own. Everyday I had beautiful crisp autumn days. Now, when I say hiking, I don't mean it in the usual sense of the word. Getting to the track can only be reached by water taxi. The taxi company has a deal where, for the price of $80 NZD, you get your packs transferred each day from one hostel jetty (dock) to the next. And yes, I said hostel, there are small hostels spaced out perfectly along the track. The track begins at Ship Cove (where Captain Cook anchored on many of his visits). From this point you can see panoramic views of areas of the sounds. At some points along the track you are walking through farm land amongst sheep, chickens etc. At other times you are hiking along the ridge or along the coast of the majestic sounds.
The first night I stayed in a fishing lodge and had a cottage all to myself, right on the water. The second night I stayed with a 76 year old woman who does homestays, partly so she can travel to exotic places in the winter. She was such a wonderful storyteller, explaining to us that her husband wasn't a flyer so after he died she started traveling in the winter to exotic places on her own and she does these housestays for the extra cash. The way she talked about her husband brought a tear to my eye. She really was quite the woman.
I was glad to have company the next day as it was the most gruelling by far. A woman from the UK and I tackled the 8 hour hike together and met up a few other times along our travels.
Nelson
-Irish concert, lots of rain!, hiked to the centre of New Zealand
Marahua- Abel Tasman National Park
The Abel Tasman Coastal Track is one of NZs 9 'great walks' (for some reason kiwis call them walks, which to me sounds like a park stroll).
-New Zealand has an amazing system where it has huts (cabins) placed along most overnight hikes in NZ.with over 900 in total. I'd say that the Abel Tasman track is one of the most used tramps (hikes). I planned it just right when I decided to go May 1st. Because it is the beginning of the off season, the price of the huts were drastically reduced to $10 a night ($25 normally). Milford 'the greatest walk in the world' is $105.00 for 3 nights, all track huts are priced differently). Getting dropped off by the water taxi, the first day I saw seals, one of which was ripping apart an octopus to eat. The first hut was an old farm house. The second day was pretty brutel as I walked from 8 a.m until 6 (as it was getting dark). I had to wait awhile to do one of the tidal crossings which at low tide was still above my knees. I had a bunk room to myself as there were only 5 of us at the hut at Back Bay. The next day it was hard going. My entire body was aching on the way to the next hut. I had some nice looking blisters as well! The hut that night was actually overbooked or someone was being dishonest and hadn't booked. Mice got into my bag and ate some of my food, lucky I only had one day left! The beach was beautiful and the moon lit the water so beautifully! I must say it was a moment that I felt most at one with nature so far in my life. So many strong emotions came all at once. I wanted to cry and skip around the beach all at once.
The last day it was finally suuny as I made my way back to the village of Marahua.
Cape Foulwind-fur seal colony (finally on the rugged west coast!)
Punakaiki-'pancake rocks' (mudstone rocks) that look like hundreds of pancakes stacked on top of one another.
Barrytown- consists of about 15 houses, a hotel and a bar. The bar didn't have any rules, needless to say the night was pretty exciting, with dressing up in the bars' dress up clothes to get an extra hour of happy hour and playing piggyback pool. Hung out with the locals to try and imagine the life you'd live on the West Coast (About 1% of NZ population).
Franz Josef
Day walk (8 hours) on a guided glacier walk. Apparently you could fit Auckland (32 km) into the glacier. Amazing shades of blue. Walked through small cravasses and through tunnels.
Franz Josef to Makorora
Walked to the famous photo scene of Mt. Cook (tallest mountain in NZ, 3754 m) from Lake Matheson.
Makorora to Wanaka
I fell in love with this tiny resort town (hasn't reached the commercial, homemarket yet, hopefully won't)
-autumn leaves surrounded the lake and the mountain scenery around the town. I did quite a few walks around the area.
-Went to a unique movie theatre with an intermission that sells warm cookies and homemade ice cream. Instead of chairs they have old couches
-Wishing there was a job for me, I felt like I was meant to live here, and I was in constent�AWE of the surroundings...who knows maybe I'll be back living there one day?! (for all of those skiiers, I met the youngest level 4 CSIA skiier and level 3 telemark skiier!)
Wanaka to Queenstown (adventure capital of NZ, maybe the world)
-A.J. Hackett (inventor of the bungy). Saw jumpers at the first commercial bungy site (1988).
-Shotover Jetboat ride- invented by a Kiwi who was tired of walking in his flooded fields. The boat has a jet engine and needs only a few cms of water to run. Did 360s and near misses of the canyon!
-Gondola Ride - view over Queenstons and scenic ride down part of the mountain.
Queenstown to Tuatapere (sausage captial of NZ)
Milford Sound�- fjord boat cruise. Words can't really describve its vastness and beauty. Loads of Asian tourists pushing you out of the way to get the perfect 'shot'.
Farm show in Tuatapera. Local farmers running a tourist farm experience. Got to see the sheep dogs (fully trained dogs can cost $7000 to purchase) in action. I got to sort the sheared from the non sheared sheep. Then we all got the opportunity to shear a sheep. A shearer works 9 hrs a day, 7 days a week and when the NZ season is over, the kiwis travel to other parts of the world (including Canada) to earn some pretty good bucks.
Tuatapere to Invercargill (home of Burt Munro- The fastest Indian)
The ferry ride was cancelled because of the high winds so we hung around the southern town for a few days.
Ferry to Steward Island (NZs 3rd largest island)
-Took two seasickness pills because the ferry is notoriously known for its rough ride�across for the one hour ride. Saw large sea birds (relatives of the Albatrose). I was knoced out most of the day (I don't know what are in those seasickness pills?!). Did a few walks in the area.
-The Island has 380 residents, 16 children at the primary school and high school students go to boarding school on the Mainland. You know it's a small town when the birthdays are posted outside the town general store and the men around the pub had on their usual attire of 'gumboots' (rubberboots) . In the offseason the shops are only open for about 2 hours, so when the weather is bad, there is actually nothing to do.
Ulva Island (took a water taxi to a bird santuary)
-free of any predators, there are birds that have been reintroduced threatened species
birds we saw included:
-Blue Penguines (smallest of the Penguin species)
-Wekas
-Saddleback
-Kaka (large parrot)
-tui
-Oystercatchers
-Steart Island Robins
-wood pigeon (enormous!)
-parakeeets
-Yellowhead
-fantail
We went back on the ferry in severe winds, lots of seasick people!
Dunedin
-Scottish settlement (similar weather), beautiful stone churches, (steepest street in the world!--maybe I'll get in shape)
-student population of 30,000 with a total population of about 100,000
- I am currently staying at a beautiful old mansion that has recently become a hostel, called "Hogwartz".  The hostel is just down the street from the Speights brewery (maybe the popular beer in NZ) and close to the Cadbury Chocolate Factory.  I am looking for a job, hoping that way I can stay until August, otherwise I'll have to come home in July.