21 April 2016

Since the last Log we have experienced an overnight cruise in some amazing wilderness and have driven the entire length of the west coast and are now in warmer weather camped by a beach.

• The overnight cruise on Doubtful Sound started with a 50min boat ride across a lake, followed by a 45min bus ride over the mountains and then embarking on a larger boat with accommodation for the 70 or so adventurers.  The predominant attire amongst the travellers was of the ubiquitous beige, black, brown, blue and other similarly non descript colours of fleece jackets.  Amongst this group was one young woman from Japan who wore light coloured shorts with a lace fringe, red tights and bling in her hair, around her neck and hanging from her ears.  Faux fur formed the collar of her jacket.  A butterfly amongst the moths.
• The cruise included a two hour kayak paddle.  The group included a wide range of water skills but all were very aware of the cold water, the depth of the fiord, the remoteness of the location and the vulnerability of a kayak.  Into this mix there is always one paddler who is somewhat less spatially aware of others and would seem to have a knack of getting too close to others, causing fear of a collision or worse still tipping.  It was in this atmosphere that without a word said the less spatially aware paddler was suddenly on their own with a wide margin between their kayak and other fellow paddlers. As they moved so the margin around them flowed.
• It’s a challenge trying to swat sand flies while ensuring your kayak remains upright and you dry.  There is a sand fly season in New Zealand and if you are planning on travelling here you should attempt to manage your time around these pesky little biters.  For your edification and for planning purposes the sand fly season runs to a day from 1 January to 31 December.
• At the end of the paddle a few brave and might I say younger members of the troupe jumped off the back of the boat for a swim in less than tropical water – ah youth.
• Dinner was a sumptuous feast of varied meats, seafood and salads.  Our table included  two other couples, one from the UK (Peak District no less) and the other from San Francisco.  At this stage conversation is about our mutual agreement that the scenery is overwhelming, the cruise was a great choice, the food is pretty good and that tomorrow will be amazing.  We are all a reasonably homogenous group in appearance, age, quality of photographic equipment and appreciation of the experience.
• It is over dinner however that you suddenly discover the fellow travellers at your table are a senior law lecturer who now runs a ballooning business and a CEO of a multinational advertising company.  Not so homogenous after all.  Both are full of wonderful travel recommendations and email addresses are exchanged.
• Some of our company spend the entire afternoon and next morning taking pictures of themselves with selfie sticks with the fiord, waterfalls and mountains in the background of their own magnificence.  Confession – I do not own a selfie stick.
• New level of self indulgent photography –  taking a picture of the comments you made in the Visitors Book – and what for I ask myself.
• The end of the cruise and we are exhausted from the experience.  As we drive back towards Queenstown we realise that what two days ago was amazing is now hum drum. All scenery now comes a poor second to Doubtful Sound.
• I thought the south of New Zealand was pretty empty with little traffic and no major towns that might include a Maccas or even a traffic light.  Let me say the west coast is even more empty.  It was two days of driving before we came to a town of any significant size.
• We head to the West Coast and discover the town of Haast and its offering of fish and chips for lunch.  Now the town of Haast is pretty much a café, a petrol station and a collection of houses.   It’s a tiny place in a windswept location, trapped between the Tasman Sea and the mountains.  In this remote setting we enjoy fish and chips comprising a large filet of Orange Roughy and for just $16, including the chips.   It was the only fish they offered. These are the gems you find in remote and windswept fishing villages.  Imagine what you would pay for Orange Roughy in a fancy Sydney restaurant, not $16 with chips!
• From Haast our journey takes us to the two most accessible glaciers in New Zealand, Fox and Franz Josef.  A word of warning to all readers if you want to see these glaciers, go now they are retreating rapidly.  Its confronting to see where these glaciers were in 2008 and where they are now.
• Amazing fact; the west coast mountains of New Zealand continue to rise faster than any other mountains in the world and if it wasn’t for glaciers and other forms of erosion would, over the past few million years, be six times higher than they are now.  Well I was amazed.
• I said at the beginning of this trip that we were not good at planning and that our destinations are often decided on local advice as we travel through the country.  And so it was with Ferge Burgers and Doubtful Sound.  We can now add the Abel Tasman national park to that list.  Over the past week when we asked fellow campers where they were heading we often got the reply – Abel Tasman. And so we now find ourselves camped opposite a wonderful beach on the boundary of Abel Tasman national park.  Tomorrow we have a boat ride up into the park where we will be dropped off for a 11km hike and then picked up in the afternoon for our return home.  This afternoon we did yet another kayak tour.  This time it was just us in a double kayak and our guide in a single, so no spatially challenged paddlers, oh no.

That’s it for Log 13.  Our time in NZ is coming to an end with just whale watching and crayfish (lobster) dinners to go.  There will probably be a Log 14 before we return to Oz.