Kinloch Lodge

I had planned to go out at to party at least one night, for the in depth Queenstown experience. However in the end I couldn't be bothered, sleeping is just too awesome. I then headed off in the direction of paradise. There were a lot of of tracks I wanted to do in that area.

My first ride was an Australian expat. He worked in all the adrenaline related tourism activities, at the time in canyoning and said his job was a joke, pure fun. He was on his way to a fishing spot and left me in Glenorchy("gateway to paradise"). Back in Invercargill a crazy religious nut German woman told me the Kinloch Lodge was awesome. It was pricey too, but I thought if it's really that nice, I'll afford the luxury. So I hitched another ride with an old British couple on the way to a campground. This campground was conveniently located right next to the lodge.

The lodge had advertised that they sold trampers supplies. However when I asked they didn't really have much decent food. In the end I only bought a pack of deep frozen toast for 6$ that was going to be my breakfast along with the jar of peanut butter I had brought.
For dinner I ate at their expensive restaurant. I also joined the yha to get the "free" WiFi, thinking that it might pay off one day.
The next day I got up late and the Japanese guy who had the plan as I had and a car, had already left. Just like everyone else. Oh well tomorrow I thought. So instead I checked out the immediate surroundings and studied the wall maps for tracks. I saw that in theory I could walk up to the start of the Routeburn.
In the evening I tried the spa pool.. it definitely stunk, with the water having a greenish colour. I thought that probably must be super healthy, so I endured it for half an hour, then shower and bed.

Same thing, I got up late but this time decided to try and get to the routeburn. After a bit of walking a car passed, and somehow I just didn't feel like hitching, so just walked on. After leaving the protection of the trees I found myself in the middle of a silt storm. I continued down the road and put on Sun glasses to protect my eyes..just not from the sun. After walking against the storm for a while I saw a track sign and thought: " It goes into the forest. Forest means protection from storm".
The decision was made I started the glacier burn track. Some cars were parked there and the first hurdle was a small stream. I saw two girls who were just walking through. I smugly sandalized the river and walked past them. They told me there was another guy ahead. The girls were Israelis from the accent.

I was in the forest just a few moments later and after a few more minutes passed an old man. I kept walking until I passed the tree line. I looked up the snowy saddle and was quite tempted to climb up in the snow. Instead however I stopped about halfway between tree and snow line, then turned around and sat down to watch the storm from above. I sat there for a small eternity, thinking. I thought it was time to write an article titled broken.

Then I slowly headed down to encounter the Israeli girls again. They told me the old man had told them some guy had "run" past him. So we chatted a bit until I left them behind. I never met the old man again.
When I was back at the road the storm had settled a bit but I still was covered in dust when I was back at the hostel.
The next day I decided to head back to glenorchy to get some food. A woman who was having breakfast at the same time as I gave me a lift.

Queenstown to the sounds

I met many people in Queenstown who took the bus tour to Milford sound or were wondering if they ought to do it. I would avoid that if possible.

Should you decide to go for this option you'll spend most of your day in the bus, to then spend 2 or 3 hours on the cruise.
Then however most people who went enjoyed the cruise and the pictures I saw did look really nice. At this time the cheapest option is about 120$ for bus + cruise.

If you have the time and interest to travel south base yourself in Te Anau or even one of the accommodation options right there in Milford, so you could easily get the cheap cruises - the early morning ones.

Also if you have the money consider going to doubtful sound instead of Milford.

Getting by a little cheaper in Queenstown

Of course all the regular ways of getting by cheap apply, but since I'm still here I'll write down some specific tips. Also if anybody has some tips I'll update this.

Accommodation:

If you have a tent, try asking at some of the hostels, their tent sites are cheaper than the ones of the holiday parks and you probably don't have to pay extra for using pans or pots. The bumbles as an example has a tent site for 20$.

If you don't then there is a motel offering backpacker accommodation starting at 22$ which isn't member of either BBH or YHA and with that price it's cheaper than most bbh as well. It can be found close to the aforementioned hostel.

Supermarkets:
There is a "fresh choice" in gorge road which is a little cheaper than the centric "alpine supermarket"(which is a four square actually). If you have a bike or car you can also go to the new world supermarket in Frankton.

That's it, not much, but hopefully that will help someone a little.

Queenstown: first impressions

So the new hostel is actually worse. I am in a 4 bed room which is hardly big enough for two beds. There is hardly any space left to leave the luggage on the floor. I don't want to imagine the drunk entries at night. At least two other guests(in the same room) seem heavy drinkers. The hostel is accommodating more people than it should, given its size. Accordingly the kitchen is a mess.

The DOC visit, proved fruitless, there doesn't seem to be much in terms of walking directly around here, except short walks. The supermarkets here even more expensive here and the town really seems to be a den for drunkards. Everywhere people with hangover. I was thinking of staying for a while, but I am currently thinking it may be too boring and  expensive . The only thing to do here really seems to be to get drunk or waste loads on silly adrenaline kicks.

Kepler track in 2 days

So I decided to do the Kepler track in 2 days. It actually was a nice track with some really nice views. Very easy to walk and I was usually more than twice as fast as the times given even though I talked to most people I met and did all the side trips. Must have been the lighter load.

There are even possibilities of getting around the use of the expensive great walk huts(there is a standard d.o.c. hut near one of the gw huts for example). I stayed at an expensive great walk campsite though and of course was taken apart by the sand flies (obviously I had forgotten to bring the repellent). Apart from that it's a really nice track though.

I followed the standard itinerary so my first day was uphill to luxmore hut, which is a really nice hut with good views. I left my backpack there for a short excursion to the cave. I went in a bit, but the way is blocked at some point and for longer trips you are supposed to get permission. The cave is being dug out by a little river.
I then returned to the hut to get my backpack and went on my way. After a short uphill section there is the option to go for the
summit of mount luxmore, which I did and spent about an hour there having lunch with almost no wind going and enjoying the view. Then I followed the track again with some very windy parts. I stopped for chats at both shelters. Then I made my way down to the iris burn campsite with the way down dragging on quite a bit.

Finally at the campsite I picked a not so nice spot for the tent in the forest as there were supposed to be fewer sand flies and I was warned that the other spots that were left would be the ones where the smoke from the fireplace was going. Alas the amount of sand flies was still vile.

Three Britons made a fire and after trying out the outdoor meal I bought and chatting with an Aussie family I sat down with them. They were outdoor teachers and invited to a game of pasta pigs (and to a cup of tea in the morning).

The night was really cold (as I learned later temperature apparently went below zero), too cold for my summer sleeping bag, even with the newly acquired silk liner, so I put on my shirt...and then the recently acquired fleece jacket that kinda helped and I found some rest.

In the morning I didn't want to get up due to the cold at first but then decided that it was better to arrive early since it was supposed to rain in the afternoon.
So I got up started to pack everything in the tent then left the tent to get the promised morning tea. After the breakfast I took down the rest of the tent, or at least I wanted to. The floor of the inner was slightly wet so I leaned it against a table so it could dry. I said goodbye to everyone (people started to leave) and then left everything at the site to go for the waterfall. I arrived there when it was hit by the first sunlight. When I returned to site the floor still hadn't completely dried, but it was 10am already and the rain in the afternoon would make sure it would get really wet, so I packed up and left. I caught up with the last people who left fairly quickly at some point met a Danish couple who I met the day before, doing the track in the other direction and finally caught up with the Britons. They offered me a ride back to te anau from the car park saving me quite some distance, so I took them up on that offer.

Now I am back to te anau relaxing and thinking of life and the next steps, not having a data connection sure makes things a bit complicated.

The last ride

So I thought the dairy farmer was my last ride, but either I misunderstood or he changed his mind, when he suddenly was sorry but reeeeeally had to smoke a joint. He left me in a village called Mossburn. It seemed all the people who took me were potheads and ex hitchhikers.

The wait wasn't too bad in Mossburn and this time the guy who took me was not a pothead(but still a hitchhiker). In fact he told me he wouldn't like smokers. He is a bus driver and I never really understood his name. He told me about all the people he didn't like in his bus and that he used to be a skipper. In the end he offered me to take me for free in his bus if there was space and let me out at cafe Hollyford in Te Anau.

Now I am still in Te Anau not really having done much. Everyone here books one of the super expensive tours in Fjordland. The famous Milford sound one or the slightly less famous but way more beautiful Doubtful sound one. I think I won't do the latter one because 250 NZ$ is just a tad insane for sitting around on a boat. There actually is a hike in that area, but apparently people regularly get into trouble around there and wading through water and mud seems to be the rule and I really don't want more of that for now. (Also the DOC people would probably be really unhappy if I was to go there alone...)
Unfortunately there don't seem to be any real daywalking opportunities around here.

The only track around here is the overbooked Kepler track. I am considering to do it in 2 days(if I can get a spot in one of the overpriced/overbooked huts). I met a German guy who did it in one day which doesn't seem appealing to me at all as that would be pushing it the whole day and since there may be snow now this might be a tad bit of torture in sandals. (Unfortunately my feet still haven't recovered from the track on Stewart island). Oh well I might attempt that anyway, at least I wouldn't be carrying a heavy peak, just a day pack. I guess I could unpack my other pair of vibram five fingers I suppose they wouldn't slow me down as much as my sandals(I am seriously starting to consider getting a pair of these sandal-shoe hybrid things) in unfavorable conditions.

On the way to Te Anau

I left Invercargill and it's unstable weather behind. It was raining for 10 minutes and then the sun came out for ten minutes etc. I decided to try hitchhiking. So I went to the border of the city at SH6. After waiting the for an hour at least. Corey a seasoned hitchhiker stopped for me an took me part of the way since he was heading to work. Then I waited at the exit of Winton and the weather was terrible after a little more than an hour of waiting Shay the dairy farmer stopped and told me he'd drive me to te anau, but he'd stop at a friend's house for a while. That is where I am now, waiting and thinking if hitchhiking is something I'll keep on doing or rather not.

Back to civilization

I had a written something for the first five days of the trip updated every day. Then I stopped writing down in the evenings and when I wanted to finally write down the rest, the app crashed and now the article is in an eternal state of saving, inaccessible. I won't rewrite and so my trip will have to largely remain a mystery. Let's just say I had a lot of mud and rain. I didn't stay in bluff on my way back to go for some hikes around there either, because the weather seemed to start mostly bad, except for the next day. So instead I went back to Invercargill to recharge and heal up for the next madness.

Well here are a few summary sentences: I stayed in a really nice backpackers on Stewart island called bunkers backpackers on my last days on the island and got some awesome but expensive smoked salmon from there. Before that I went on a 10 day hike in the wilderness.

On my way to Stewart island

Tomorrow early in the morning I'll try to hitchhike to Bluff and from there take a ferry to Stewart island. Should things go right I'll immediately disappear into the subantartic jungle and this will be the last time anyone saw me for this year. So no early happy new year message from me. I'll be gone for a while.

I spent my last day in Invercargill buying some gear for the track. I am still lacking some things.. but oh well. And the rest of the day in the park. The aviary already gave me an idea of what to expect, but they had other birds as well. The African lovebirds are awesome always cuddling with another bird.

I also marveled at the icon of the city. A giant umbrella. Yes, because it rains so much and the rain could really become a problem in the island as well.
This will be the most difficult thing so far. I hope there will be some edible vegetation and that there is drinking water.

Oh well I'll see

Christmas, sandals and rain

I have been staying in Dunedin for a few days now and the city deserves it's reputation for the terrible weather from what I can tell. I think it rained every day so far. The one day it only rained in the evening we drove to the tip of the peninsula where the only albatross colony that is not located on an island can be found.

Of course there everything was fenced and a overly expensive tour was available, even to just enter the information center cost 5$. Of course we didn't want to pay all that money, and so just walked around watching seagulls and sea lions. After a while we started on our way back but stopped for Larnach castle, the only castle of the country.. which actually is not a castle. Anyway we walked there and when we arrived at the gate we saw the entry fee.. and decided to not pay that fee so instead we turned around and walked back, then drove back to the hostel.

The next day was rainy but it was the last day before Christmas, so we bought food because the hostel held a potluck dinner. Of course since almost everyone was German this wasn't very interesting and meant there wouldn't be anything to eat for me, but oh well. Also since it was Christmas in Europe the others were complaining about not being in Christmas mood/not being at home. We walked around and then walked into the first church of Dunedin. I never expected this. The three are total nerds playing games on their mobiles all day and then they went to sit in a church for half an hour at least. The church smelled of pee and the person playing the organ wasn't hitting the right notes too often. Also even though I am not well versed in churches, I have to say churches here are not impressive. Then we headed back to the hostel to end another rainy day.

The next day was Christmas day in NZ, so everything was closed I expected another horrible day. We went to the steepest street of the world, the Baldwin street. Well steepest street in a residential area or something like that. And that turned out to be the best thing in a while. It was dry when we left the hostel, so I left in my typical attire - sandals, shorts and t-shirt. Then it started to rain, first just a little then it started to pour and so finally after a long time I felt alive again. The street was steep but yeah it's just a street. Then in the evening the potluck was as expected practically devoid of edible food and I was wondering whether I am too old for this since almost everyone I met is younger than 20 and contemplating what to study or how to get drunk. One would think people who come here, come to enjoy the outdoors however party tourism is at least starting to take a hold of nz.

I didn't have conversations options left and so watched whatever was on TV and everyone else was watching. The next morning we left for Invercargill.

Going south

I didn't find a travel partner but I found three German guys (or maybe I should say boys) who also wanted to go to lake tekapo and in general seemed to have a nice route and who had a free spot in their car, so I decided to go with them.

The hostel where we wanted to go didn't have room for all of us so they went to a different hostel. I didn't have any food so I tried my luck with my other bank card to see if it had been unlocked already - I was in luck, although things were super pricey in that village.

Then I met up with the others who wanted to stay in and pay cards however and later watch a movie. So I went out alone for a longer walk around the lake with turquoise water and then through a pine first. Later in the evening I fended off a horny German girl in the hostel who was kind of racist and made me wonder how someone like that could travel around. German travelers are of the highest frequency among the travelers and so far she seems to have been the exception to the rule.

The next day we went up mount John together although I walked the extension of the track alone and found sheep who really flocked together very closely and barely moved. At first I thought they were weird statues, but at some point outer sheep started to fight.. a little.. for better spots.

In the evening I was amazed by the cooking skills of Asian girls one of which prepared an awesome looking meal in 10 minutes. All in all this was a nice stay with people from many countries.

The next day I accompanied the three to mount cook/aoraki. Where we went for a short walk and saw a kea in the distance and had a look at the glacier lake, then we headed back to the car, running from the train and just made it before it caught up with us. We then headed to oamaru where we found a steam punk museum and which in general seemed a steam punk place. At night we kind of illegally watched blue penguins and sea lions as a bonus. We didn't want to pay the ridiculous fee to be allowed to enter the colony, so we jumped down to the beach near a cafe which otherwise blocked the only other entry and was fenced everywhere else. Than we walked down a pier and were able to see everything and the sea lions at the far end of the pier. The thing seemed a sham really there were signs saying to be quiet near the penguins but they had loudspeaker announcements. Then we left and saw yellow eyed penguins in the harbour. It was funny while everyone ess staring at the penguins far away I saw a little fella peeking out beneath the platform everyone was standing on.
Unfortunately it was too dark for decent pictures. We then went back to eat steaks.

The next day we drove to Dunedin and that is where I am currently. The weather here is really effective at preventing me from feeling like going out. Apparently Dunedin is known for for its bad weather and there are newspapers saying it's really not that bad here. The hostel is easy overcrowded with Germans again.