The Bottom Bus
Much to my woe, hang gliding was cancelled again on Wednesday. So instead I spent the evening gossiping with the girls and learning a new drinking game. Later we went to the bar, and when Rupert joined us I spent quite a while quietly trying to steal his hat. So now I have been on the stealing as well as the stolen end!
The next morning, the 17th, I caught the Bottom Bus - though I would have missed it were it not for Uncle Anders coming to find me and telling me it was waiting around the corner! The bus itself was kind of useless, actually, just a little minibus - not many people do the Bottom Bus, apparently - and I thought very wistfully of Lamb's comfortable, friendly bus. heading up to Christchurch. It was raining, too, so all in all it was rather a depressing trip. I slept most of the way, but though I'd chosen the long back seat so I could sprawl out, Sam sat on the other side and beat me to it!
Dunedin itself was kind of dull; everyone was recovering from their wild Queenstown nights, and there wasn't much to do. We did see the steepest street in the world, but nothing really worthwhile (unless you count stealing a pillow from the hostel as worthwhile...) But since our hostel was above a pool hall, we did have fun with several games of that! Sam is really really good at pool - when we teamed up I have to admit I felt rather a hindrance!
Only after leaving Dunedin did I find out the that I missed out on going to the Peninsula, where all the wildlife is. Grr, very frustrating! But fortunately we saw it all on the Catlins anyway.
It was on Friday the 18th that we were on the Catlins coast, on our way to Invercargill. First, though, on the way out of Dunedin, we had to pick someone up from the airport, which was so funny! A shiny international airport - but it was in the middle of a farm. But anyway, the Catlins! They were so gorgeous. The sun was out, the sea was blue... we stopped at a beach for morning tea and nearly staged a mutiny when we were told we had to leave. After we eventually came grumbling back onto the bus, we got another stop at Nugget Point, where we had a lovely walk in the sunshine, and saw seals playing in the water (and I plotted to steal Anders' binoculars).
After that we went to Surat Bay and went on a sea lion quest! We saw quite a few of them sleeping in the sand - one of whom sat up and posed majestically for us. We called him Jimmy. We weren't allowed to go close to them, in case they attacked, but we had no trouble - even when one guy, much to Kim's (the driver) ire, threw something at Jimmy and made him remove indignantly to the water.
After lunch we trundled onward, doing a nice forest walk to the Purakaunui Falls, and each being fed a bit of pepper tree leaf by Kim. Burny burny on the tongue! Then we went on to Curio Bay, where there were Hectors dolphins! We only saw them from a distance, but Sam actually went for a swim in the (cold, cold, cold) water and got right up to them! We watched and applauded from the shore. After that we went to this cool fossil forest where yellow eyed penguins live, and we got to watch the penguins we dubbed Freddy, Pete, and Jenny go about their lives (though regrettably from a very lengthy distance).
That night we were at Invercargill, where nothing overwhelmingly interesting happened. But the next day, the 19th, I got up early to catch the ferry to Stewart Island! Luckily the weather was good, because the crossing is often quite rough. Samantha, Steph, and Donka the creepy old zombie lady all took the plane over, so they escaped the risk, but we all met up again on the island (where I drew the short straw of sharing a room with Donka, with the result that over the three days I spent as little time there as possible.)
Still, it was good; that first afternoon I went for a cruise around a couple of the islands and Patterson's Inlet, and for a walk around Ulva Island. That was cool; we got to see some really pretty birds and to be taunted by kakas (though sadly they weren't keen on coming close enough for photos). The second day I went for a sail in a glass bottomed boat, admiring all the fish and the spooky kelp forests. On the third day I went for a walk around a bit of the island for a few hours.
Basically it was just a really chilled out couple of days, mostly lazing around in the sunshine and talking to Steph, whose words of wisdom considering the study of Japanese make me want to throw in this whole psychology thing and do that instead - if only I didn't know I'd be terrible at it! It was a really nice place, but I'm glad I didn't stay for longer, as it would have gotten very dull!
On Tuesday the 22nd, I left again - managing to get on the ferry despite a brief drama about losing my ticket! The days of sunshine on the island broke, giving a rather less pleasant passage back over, but luckily I survived without any seasickness, and the worst I suffered from on my way to Te Anau was feeling cold.
It was an alright journey, actually. We didn't get to make jewelery in Riverton like people sometimes do, but we were each given a free paua necklace, and at some sheep farm in the middle of nowhere they had us each try our hands at sheering sheep. (I think I prefer milking cows.) At Te Anau I spent the evening searching for reliable internet (an impossible task) and discussing Japanese porn with Steph. Disturbing stuff - far too many tentacles!
On Wednesday the 23rd - after a delightful sleep in - we were on our way to Milford Sound! It was a very long drive from Te Anau, but the scenery was lovely, so I forgave it. We had perfect weather, too - rain in the morning, sun in the afternoon - so there were lots of waterfalls everywhere, and when we got to Milford Sound it was just amazing. It was just a three hour cruise, but really worth it; mountains and waterfalls, and at one point even a pod of bottlenose dolphins! (Sadly they refused to pose for pictures.) I took many photos, none of which do justice to its beauty, and only a few of which I was able to upload onto the internet.
The drive back to Queenstown was even longer than the drive from Te Anau, and I couldn't even shorten it with sleep. When I got to the hostel, goblins of disorganisation nearly made me sleep in the street; never again will I risk not booking ahead. I was lucky, though, and the nice receptionist man found me a room in the end.
On Thursday the 24th - today! - I decided to combat the goblins of disorganisation with an early start, which meant that my bus to Christchurch (tomorrow morning) and my accomodation there was all booked before I even had breakfast, and at ten o'clock I was finally, finally on my way to go hang-gliding! I'm so glad it wasn't cancelled again - I could have stayed another day in Queenstown, but then I would have been on the same bus to Christchurch as Donka the creepy zombie lady.
Anyway. Hang-gliding. My instructor, Jim, was really fun, and after we'd run intently down a hill in order to take off, he even let me steer a bit! At the end he told me how to go about getting hang-gliding lessons back in the UK. New life aim! It was a gorgeous day for it; great views of the mountains and the lake, and all so clear. It was more like real flying than any other activity I've done here!
The rest of the day was much less intense; I walked beside the lake a bit, caught a movie (Death at a Funeral: very funny) and spent three hours (yes, seriously) uploading my photos so that you fine people may look at them. They're all on my photobucket account, http://s233.photobucket.com/albums/ee71/jobrett/
That's it from me for now! I'll get in touch from further up the East Coast.