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'Baby' World Tour - Part 5
The 'Baby' World Tour (Part 5)
Rugby World 7s to Wanaka to Milford Sound to Dunedin and back to Wanaka
Hello everyone. Today as i write it is Monday 26th Feb. I'm on the South Island of New Zealand in a small lakeside town called Wanaka. Wanaka is centrally situated in the district of Otago at the head of the 45km long Lake Wanaka. It's hot at the moment. I've been swimming in the lake every day to cool off. Lovely!! I'm a bit stiff cause I did a walk yesterday up a 4000 ft hill overlooking the lake. The hill is called Roy's Peak. Outstanding views from the top, but owing to my inadequate footwear and susceptibility to pick up blisters i was glad to get down and go for a swim in the glacier fed lake. I'm sure i saw steam coming off my feet when i dipped em' in the lake!
Wanaka is renowned for its hot summers and cold crisp winters. And yet if you were to fly 120 km west of here you'd be in fiord land, an area which receives the highest rainfall of any other part of New Zealand. Colossal amounts.
There are lots of little microclimates in New Zealand. I've just come back to Wanaka after spending 4 days on the Otago Peninsular just out of Dunedin. The weather in Dunedin was much cooler. In fact it rained hard overnight a couple of times, but what a fine place.
Albatross, Sea Lion, Fur Seal, Blue Penguin, Yellow Eyed Penguin can all be viewed from the hilly sheep grazing terrain of the Otago Peninsular. It reminded me of some of the inlets and peninsulas you find on the West coast of Ireland and Scotland. I was alternating the wildlife exploring with the busking in Dunedin. Indeed, one of the many good things about this fine old city is that you can be out on the peninsular in only 30 minutes on a bus.
I stayed at Bus Stop backpackers, an intimate peaceful place run by enthusiastic organic gardeners Bob and Isabella just out of Portebello at a place called Harrington Point. Bob and Isabella have put a bus in the front garden where people can sleep.
Bob is also a keen fisherman. Hard not to be when you are surrounded by such rich marine life. I was lucky enough one day to watch a sea lion feeding on a squid. It was thrashing it about, shaking it with its powerful jaws and slapping it hard on the water. There was bits of squid flying off in all directions. Nice!
Now for the diary. Apologies for being a while since the last entry, but you know what it's like. One day runs into the next, and before you know it 3 weeks have gone by. I must also apologize for informing you prior to my trip that i would be cycling in New Zealand. Unfortunately the cost of hiring/buying a bicycle has proved to be too much for my limited budget. This is something I kind of regret but I'd rather try and complete my journey round the world than risk coming home earlier having shelled out a large quantity of cash on a bike.
The other problem with cycling is that I would be unable to make as much money busking if I'm out all day cycling. I do however hope to do some day cycling on the south island because it really is wonderful terrain.
Wed Jan 31st
An old Maori lady approaches me while i am busking on Cuba Street early in the morning. She is carrying a black plastic bag. She has a wad of $5 notes. She hands 2 of these notes to me. I say "are you sure you want to give me all that money?"
"It's no good to me' She answers. "I've plenty. I just come into town and pick it up from the bank whenever i want. Now you take it."
I don't want to argue so i willingly take it and thank her for her kindness.
This lady has spirit in her eyes. Maori spirit. She goes on to explain to me that her grandfather was a rua (prophet) from the Bay Of Islands up north. I notice that when she walks away from me she drops more notes into the old Dutch guy's banjo case down the road. Hey Hey!! It's raining money today for the buskers on Cuba Street.
I just hope the woman is giving because she genuinely has an abundance of money and an empathy/liking for buskers and the music they create. I would hate to think she had lost her marbles and would be broke by the end of the day.
People are amazing eh!!
Later on in the morning I'm busking on Lambton Quay when a policeman approaches me. He informs me that he has received a complaint. Oh dear. I guess it might be the jewellers shop i am next to. The policeman looks a wee bit serious. Note book in hand he looks as though he is about to fine me.
"Do you have a busking license"? He asks.
"Er no"
"Well you need to get one from the town hall", He explains in a slightly more personal tone.
So off i go to the town hall and pick up a license there and then. It is free as well.
It turns out to be a very hot afternoon. I end up having a sleep on the sofa in the hostel next to Bella the cat.
Thurs Feb 1st
I busk on Lambton Quay outside Sommerfields where People begin to line the whole length of Wellington's main street. There is anticipation in the air. It is the day of the Rugby World 7s parade. The teams come by one by one in procession
Rugby World 7s opening parade along Wellington's Lambton
Argentina - Headed by latino drumming and dancers.
USA - Elvis Presley impersonator.
England - Austin Powers.
Scotland - A bagpipe player (No surprises there).
New Zealand, Samoa, Fiji, Canada.
Surprising how young the players look. Apparently the 7s is an ideal opportunity to blood the quicker younger players at international level. You get the feeling the Sevens weekend is going to set Wellington alight with colour and noise.
Sat Feb 3rd
I wake up and can still hear music. Some of the rugby fans have been drinking all night!
I am moved from my usual top bunk in room 9 of Rosemere Hostel to room 19. This is to accommodate the huge influx of people owing to the Rugby World Sevens. It seems that every room in Wellington is booked this weekend. I'm lucky to get a room at all. At one stage it was looking like I'd be on the sofa at best.
I busk outside Dymocks bookstore. Make $170, my best day so far. This is largely due to the good will shown by the people in fancy dress. I grab a bite to eat at New World supermarket. A tray of roast veggies.
About 12 Rambos outside the store have a pretend gun fight with their toy machine guns. Soon the Red Indians and Cavemen get involved, lots of beating of chests and grunting going on. A real party!
Sun Feb 4th
There is no let up in the drinking. The Samoans and Kiwis continue to party on the outside deck. How they stay up for so long is something of a mystery. I think a few are feeling it now mind.
In the evening we watch the final on TV at Rosemere. Great to see the underdogs Samoa beat Fiji. I wish I'd bought a ticket I think to myself as we watch fireworks go off signalling the end of the tournament. It has been a truly great weekend in Wellington. Some are saying it has been the best Rugby World 7s ever held.
Mon Feb 5th
Catch train from Wellington to Paraparaumu. It's 1 hour up the coast. I'm off to see old friends. Gordon, Karina, Eliot and Oliver. I had stayed at Gordon's last time I was in New Zealand in 2000. It's good to see them after so long.
We go for a swim in afternoon. The seawater up here feels extraordinarily warm to me compared with Wellington. I feel achy and tired. I think i might have the trots as well. Oh dear! Not good when travelling and staying in hostels. I hope I can shake it off soon.
Gordy, Karina, Elliot, Ollie, with friend in their garden
Tues Feb 6th
Have a poor night's sleep. Had to keep getting up to the throne every 20 minutes or so. The day is a hot one. The aches are still there. I doze in the late morning/early afternoon. It feels hot up here. In the evening Gordon drives me back to Wellington. The city feels like it's still recovering from the rampant Sevens weekend and has an air of anticlimax following all the excitement.
I decide tomorrow I will head for the South Island even though I don't feel too well. Feels like the right time to go.
Wed Feb 7th
I feel better for a good night's sleep back on my top bunk in room 9, although visits to the toilet have proved lively encounters. I bid farewell to some of the regulars at Rosemere Backpackers and hope I will see them again when coming back from South Island. They have been genuinely good company.
It's good to get on the ferry and breath in fresh air. It is a lovely sunny day. The Cook Straits are in a benevolent mood. Arrive in Picton and book into Picton Lodge Backpackers. I phone up my bank account details. I'm leaking money quicker than I thought. Need to find a way of getting around South Island cheaply. I consider hitchhiking from Picton. I had looked into the option of hiring a car but this is far too expensive for me. I go to Picton i-site (tourist info) and ask the young girl at the counter if she knows of any really cheap ways of getting about. She tells me about this new way of booking on the net where you can get coach deals for $1. Wow!! The website is called www.nakedbus.com
I double check with the girl that it's not a scam and proceed to book my coach ticket from Picton to Westport on the West Coast. For a distance of 294km it costs me a total of $3.60. That's good value. In the evening go for a walk around Picton Harbour. The place radiates a real peace after the noise of the city. The sound of Wetas (grasshoppers) in the bush is kind of hypnotic. I record the sounds on my mini-disc recorder. It's funny how you don't notice how much background hum you get in cities (no matter how nice) until you leave them and head for the countryside. On the walk-boards near where the boats are moored I spot a couple of Stingrays gliding in the serene clear water. What a place Picton is. Welcome to the South Island!
Took this shot of a Stingray swimming near moored up boat
Thurs Feb 8th
12.30pm we are off from Picton heading for Nelson, then onto Westport. The coach is a shuttle bus seating roughly 20 people. A moustachioed shaven headed bloke called Steve drives it. He is an excellent steady driver. Again it's a hot afternoon but it's nice and cool with the windows open. We wind through hills that level off as we hit Blenheim and wine growing country. Here there is mile upon mile of vineyard flanked by the distant inland Kaikoura mountain range.
There is a quick change of driver and bus at Nelson. The next driver is a Greymouth boy. Tattooed and not happy that the coach's handbrake is up the creek, he turns out to be a good steady driver as we head through Scottish style mountain passes and rain-forested gorges. It starts to rain, the first time for a good few days. It rains hard. We drive along the side of the Buller Gorge. Its blue green waters are quite startling. Stop at Trippin hostel Westport in evening. An old Edwardian manor house run by a friendly middle aged kiwi couple. I book a single room for the first time in ages, primarily due to my unsettled stomach. You know how it is. Bit of privacy's good once in a while.
Fri Feb 9th
Race to get the early morning bus from Westport down to Franz Josef Glacier. The West Coast is rugged and windswept and dense with native scrub and bush, such as the Cabbage Tree (Ti Kouka), with its thin tall grey trunk topped by spear shaped leaves and clusters of hundreds of white flowers. It is is so named because Captain Cook's ship crew decided that when its leaves were boiled in water it tasted like Cabbage.
It starts to rain heavily. The RG states as follows:
'No discussion of the West Coast would be complete without mention of the torrential rain which falls with tropical intensity for days at a time. Such soakings have a detrimental effect on the soil, retarding decomposition and producing a peat like top layer with all the minerals leached out. The result is pakihi, impoverished poor looking paddocks that characterize much of the West Coast's cleared land. But the abundant sunshine that alternates with the downpours produces excellent conditions for marijuana growing, a significant component of the local economy.
Enthusiasm for dope growing is matched only by the springtime rush to catch whitebait.
The boom and bust nature of the West Coast's gold and coal-mining past produces scores of ghost towns.'
The wild west coast of New Zealand's South Island.
The Wild West Coast. Rugged eh!
Looking a bit worse for wear.
When you add into the mix a wild native tree clad coastline rich in minerals such as the beautiful Greenstone (fabled by the Maoris), and the silvery blue green purple swirls of the Paua Shell, you realize this area is blessed with the presence of real gems.
The shuttle bus pulls into Franz Josef. I check into Montrose Backpackers hostel. I feel tired and am on the top bunk in a 4-bed dorm. There is also in the room Mike from Holland, Phil from Northampton, and Franz, a 65 yr old Austrian who is cycling around New Zealand with his golf clubs. Franz is to play at every golf course in the country. What a character.
In the evening Phil and me go and watch Australia V England in the cricket. It's the first final in the tri series. England have had a shocking series thus far. However they perform miracles tonight.
Paul Collingwood hits the winning runs after scoring a century (i would expect nothing less from a Sunderland fan). It is a fitting conclusion to a heroic display. Phil and i celebrate with a 3rd pint of Tui.
The trots have not entirely left my system. I pay for the 3 pints later on by having to get up and go to the dunny no less than 5 times! That combined with Franz' heavy snoring must have disturbed Phil and Mike's sleep no end. I would have slept in the lounge but all the sofas were taken.
I've only myself to blame and perhaps the England Cricket team.
Sat Feb 10th
Do very little today recovering from a severe lack of sleep. In the evening go for a stroll getting views of the towering Alps above. The tops have a major caking of snow on them. There are very few mountain ranges on earth that receive as much snow as the NZ Alps largely due to close proximity to the ocean.
In native woods just out of Franz Josef I meet Haast, a German lad, who has just completed an 8 hr walk called The Alex Knob Track, an amusing name for a walk. Haast says you get very good views of the glacier from the top of the Knob, so to speak.
I will do this walk tomorrow.
'Defiance Hut'. Formerly a mountain retreat
Sun Feb 11th
I start the walk with 2 young German girls B & J. They have a car and had kindly offered me a lift the night before. They have been in NZ since Sept 2006. We climb through steep native bush and they tell me of their experiences in NZ so far.
One of their experiences was unknowingly booking into a 'Lesbian Only' hostel in Wellington. They tell me they had a lot of fun. One of the features of this hostel was open-showers in the garden!!
My mind begins to race.
The walk is long and hard through steep rainforest but the sound of the birds combined with the views makes it highly pleasurable. I get to a viewpoint looking down on the Franz Josef Glacier. The Franz Josef Glacier is a great tongue of ice that descends from the high Southern Alps. At the top I am the only one here. The views are obscured by cloud but the atmosphere is silent and serene away from the noise and bustle further down the valley. Justin, a lad from South London, soon joins me on the summit. Justin is a Millwall FC Fan. We get talking about the mid 1980s when Millwall fans had a dreaded reputation for football hooliganism.
While we are eating our sandwiches Justin tells me a funny story about one of his mates who chose to do a sky dive and apparently fainted on the way down. He missed all the views. This story kind of reassures my inclination not to do a sky dive, largely because i reckon there is a strong chance I would do something similar. Plus the fact it costs 300 dollars.
Later on in the day go for walk to Franz Josef Glacier itself with a Korean lad called Kim and two lasses Maria and Nina from Sweden. Kim is studying to design cars and is returning to Seoul, Maria is a social worker in Northern Sweden, and Nina is a graphic designer. They are here in NZ for 4 weeks to escape the icy clutches of a North Sweden winter.
We walk up to the glacier. It's big and imposing and I'm conscious we've walked well past the safety roped off area. A falling block of ice would cause some damage.
On our return to wait for a shuttle bus back to Franz Josef village, we spot a Kea on top of a red parked car. The Kea is a striking green mountain parrot found in the Southern Alps. This particular Kea starts ripping the rubber lining from the car's window.
We try and chase it off but it's a persistent old thing. These birds are highly intelligent and very amusing but are considered something of a pest by locals. They will steal just about anything from you. Keas have been known to work in groups using their beak and claw to untie knots and rucksack clips just so they can get into walkers' packed lunches.
A good view of the Franz Josef Glacier.
Franz Josef Glacier from Alex Knob track
Hey Hey !! He-Man.
Maybe not.
A right cheeky ole bugger is The Kea!
The Kea
Mon Feb 12th
Relax all day after the strenuous Alex Knob track. In the evening manage to sell a CD to a Canadian chap who has moved into my dorm and is to walk on the glacier tomorrow. He seems genuinely interested in my music when I tell him what I do back home.
Tues Feb 13th
Get the shuttle bus from Franz Josef to Wanaka, a journey of 300km. I get chatting to an American couple from Maine who are cyclists and have their bikes attached to the front grid of the shuttle bus. Also get chatting to a Korean lady now living in New York. I raise the topic of George W Bush. The couple from Maine obviously don't like him. They say they don't know anyone in their neighbourhood who voted for him. Must be frustrating for so many Americans who are unwillingly represented by George W.
Further south on the West Coast.
The driver of the shuttle bus is a real card. Very gently spoken he tells me he hales from Dunedin. He has glasses and tattoos and a relaxed dry appealing sense of humour.
'The birds, the bees, the flowers and the trees'. He almost whispers into the microphone. 'That's what my mother told me. Now then folks let me tell you firstly about the birds.'
He then proceeds to rattle off names of native birds such as the Tui, Tomtit, Fantail, Kekapo. When it comes to the bees he points out the dark coloured Manuka bush on the roadside. This bush keeps the bees happy. The bees then go on to create the medicinal and tasty Manuka honey. He then tells us about the flowers and the trees.
All this as we hurtle over high mountain passes, dense rainforest, river canyons and desolate lakes flanked by bare rocky mountains. A particularly memorable lake we pass as we approach Wanaka is Lake Hawea. It is vast and virtually uninhabited around its edges. True wilderness I'd say.
Arrive in Wanaka late afternoon. The lake is just too inviting after long hot journey. I jump in. It's lovely and cool. The water is clean and blue.
I check in to a quiet relaxed backpackers called Holly's.
At night I notice how clear the sky is here. The stars and the Milky Way are as clear as a bell.
Wanaka is not half as busy as I'd thought it would be. That's good. It feels like a mountain retreat, undiscovered and a bypassed utopia.
Lake Wanaka.
Wed Feb 14th
Move to a new hostel in the morning as Holly's is all booked up for tonight. After phoning around find a good hostel just up the road near the Wanaka war memorial called Mountain View backpackers.
After checking in go for swim in lake and ponder busking. Problem is Wanaka seems a wee bit small for busking. There is no real centre, just a line of cafes.
I decide i will have to go around the cafes/bars and ask if they need any live music. The first pub i go in to is called Slaintes. It is an Irish bar. It is long and narrow with wooden floors. I immediately think of the acoustics. I speak to Greg the landlord, an affable Kiwi. I ask him if he would consider putting me on. He seems keen after seeing my album and card. I have the baby with me. I play Greg a song there and then. Van Morrison's 'Crazy Love', fitting as it is Valentine's Day.
'Can you play tonight?' Greg asks.
'Yes i'd love to', I reply.
Bingo!! Result in the first pub I walk in to. I'm happy with that.
Greg explains that he wants me to play tonight and Sunday as it's the pub's final day before closing for good. Sad really, but with competition from other bars and the fact that Greg is starting a family with his wife and wants more sociable hours, I can understand the difficulties in running the pub.
I do the gig in the evening. It goes down well. I don't have a PA but am up on a small little stage in the corner. As the evening goes on and the pub fills i play some requests. 'Wild Rover', 'Country Roads', 'Wichita Lineman', 'Persuasion', 'Behind Blue Eyes'.
I chuck in a few new tunes that I had originally come up with while in Wellington including an instrumental involving lots of harmonica. They work well. I'm pleased with that.
On the way home under the stars I am well happy. The day has exceeded all expectations.
Thurs Feb 15th
Head for Queenstown, as I am to do Milford Sound tomorrow on the coach. Book into Alpine Lodge Hostel run by a Welsh lad called Taff. Room has 4 beds.
Queenstown feels like a busy noisy city compared to Wanaka.
One of the lads in my room is a Para glider from the Isle of Man called David. He is off paragliding in Brazil in a few days time.
In evening I walk through woods heading for top of skyline gondola but gets dark so turn back near top.
Fri Feb 16th
Set off for Milford Sound early. 8.00am coach. Takes 4 hours to get there running alongside the 400 metre deep lakes of the remote Lake Wakatipu and the even more isolated Lake Te Anua.
An incredible journey! An incredible destination! Can't really begin to describe it, it's that grand. From Sheep, dairy and deer farming paddocks we enter into the heart of vertical avalanche prone mountains. Streaming waterfalls drop hundreds of feet into native moss and lichen floor forest. Even on a coach surrounded by 70 people I still get a spooky spine tingling feeling that I'm heading into a vast true wilderness. We then reach the remarkable Homer tunnel.
This is what the RG says about the road to Milford Sound and the Homer Tunnel itself:
The 120 Kilometre road from Te Anau to Milford Sound has to be one of the world's finest, though this hasn't stopped folk from hatching outlandish plans to circumvent it (basically it's only some 70 km from Queenstown to Milford Sound as the Crow flys and thus incredibly tempting to find ways of getting there quicker).This two hour drive can easily take a day (in our case 4 hours) if you grab every photo opportunity. Anywhere else the initial drive beside Lake Te Anau would be considered obscenely scenic but it is nothing compared to the Eglington Valley, where the road penetrates into the bare rock walls of the seemingly impassable head of the Hollyford River. The Homer Tunnel then cuts through to the steep Cleddau Valley then straight down to Milford Sound. No road existed until two hundred unemployment relief workers with shovels and wheelbarrows were put on the job in 1929. The greatest challenge was to puncture the headwall of the Hollyford Valley: Work on the 1200 metre long Homer Tunnel began in 1935 but was badly planned from the start. Working at a one-in-ten downhill gradient, the builders soon hit water and were forced to pump out continuously, a pilot tunnel allowing the water to drain westwards was finished in 1948 at which point the whole project was shelved until 1952. The road was finally completed in 1953.
We arrive at Milford Sound. Milford Sound is a seawater fiord. It is a drowned glacier valley impossibly deep and surrounded by impossible overhanging cliffs and behind that, impossibly eye-catching snow capped mountains. Milford Sound is in Fiord land, and Fiord land is big. Indeed the scale of the place begins to play tricks on the old perspective. On the boat tour we go near a waterfall that plunges vertically into the Sound. The waterfall looks no more than 200 ft high. It's actually 500 ft and higher than the Niagara Falls.
Dolphins swim about alongside the boat.
Milford Sound is some place. The wettest place in New Zealand and one of the wettest places on earth stayed dry today. A privilege.
The scenery on the way from Queenstown to Milford Sound.
God's own country!
Milford Sound. Huge towering mountains
Milford Sound
Sat Feb 17th
I walk up to Queenstown skyline café and get great views of The Remakables Mountain range and Lake Wakatipu. Swim in lake in afternoon. Bloody cold although 400 metres deep in places probably takes a while to warm up.
In evening try my hand at busking outside a cafe in central Queenstown.
Goes very well. People sitting outside enjoying the late summer evening/night are receptive to my music and give generously.
Queenstown with the 'Remarkables' mountain range
The same view, uninterrupted.
A very steep gondola ride.
Yeah, maybe next time i'll have a go at that.
A shot of the 'Baby' outside a restaurant in Queenstown.
Busking in Queenstown
Sun Feb 18th
Depart Queenstown early morning back to Wanaka. Need to be back in Wanaka for gig in evening at Slaintes Bar for its big final night send-off. I get to the pub a bit too early and end up watching the cricket on the pub's big screen, New Zealand v Australia from Auckland. Superb game. Australia set NZ a total of 340 runs, a one- day record. NZ then go and break the record again with a pit bullish batting display by Macmillan.
Greg the landlord has rigged up a PA. The gig goes well. I sell a CD to a local Wanaka lad.
I try out a new instrumental that I came up with Wellington. It's kind of a frantically strummed thing that stops and starts adding to the dynamics. The punters seem to love it.
One bloke yelps cowboy style every time there is a pause in the strumming. Then it starts all over again whipping me into a kind of frenzy. The ole' adrenalin is pumping. Who needs a bungee jump when you can strum the hell out of a guitar? I feel a right lucky sod that I can get so much enjoyment out of playing and see everyone else enjoying it at the same time.
Mon Feb 19th
Another lazy day in Wanaka, the weather here continues to be outstanding. The sun rises over in the east then travels over the lake enticing swimmers in. The mountains continue to fascinate me. The sky at night is intense. I know I will find it very hard to leave this place.
Other people in the hostel say the same thing.
A bit of trivia for you! Shania Twain has apparently bought a house here. Makes sense if you have the money. I do however hope this doesn't set a precedent for major development. If this place turns into another Queenstown it will be a tragedy.
Tues Feb 20th
Temporarily leave Wanaka for Dunedin. Catch 9.30am shuttle bus. On the journey get talking to Jim and Jan, a lovely English couple now living in Canberra, Australia. Jim is a former fell runner and was England's fell running coach for a couple of seasons.
They had just completed the Milford Track. We get talking about the problems Australia face as regards their severe drought, which leads onto a wider debate about the environment in general. We all kind of agree on the idea that humans will have to change and move away from a culture of materialistic gain and move towards far more sustainable ways of living. In other words working with nature and not against it. I know it's hippyish but it's true as far as I'm concerned.
The conversation then moves onto Iraq. A cheery discussion I know. Overall you can't help coming to this conclusion. What an utter balls up us humans have made. Selfish bastards.
On the flip side however, I busk in Dunedin late afternoon near the Octagon, a small area of grass in the heart of the city, and find the people generously dropping money into my case.
Later I check into Bus Stop Backpackers, a wonderful intimate location overlooking the Otago peninsular. Go see little Blue Penguins come out of sea late on with a friendly Hawaiian couple called Heather and Paddy originally from South Africa. The penguins are late coming back from their day's fishing and the expectant crowd, roped off from the beach have their cameras ready. Finally, just before it gets pitch black, the first Blue Penguin waddles out back to its burrow, followed shortly by about another 12. Back at the hostel get chatting to Alastair, a landscape gardener from Worcester. Alastair is a big fan of NZ and has been back here 4 or times. He is in his early 60s, a fit keen walker and has done many of the tramps NZ has to offer. Alastair has a car and asks if I'd like to do a walk in the morning starting on the other side of the Peninsular. Should be good.
Dunedin railway station.
Paua Shell hanging from a hut at Bus Stop Backpackers.
Bus-Stop Backpackers, Harrington Point, Otago Peninsular
Wed Feb 21st
We park up early morning. We get out of Alastair's car and just as we do so a group of cars arrive altogether. They are a rambling club based just outside Dunedin. The average age of this jolly group of 15 must be about 75. Today, Bob a retired farmer from the Invercargill region leads the group with whistle in hand to keep the group in check. These older ramblers have so much energy. It is a pleasure to walk and talk with them. I get talking to another Bob who hales from Holland but has been here since the late 50s. He arrived as a young engineer by boat! Took 5 weeks to get here. Bob said the boat wasn't up to much but struggled its way here via the Panama Canal. When Bob arrived on NZ soil he couldn't speak a word of English. Can you imagine it? Must have been difficult. Bob really missed home initially but explains to me that it was no good whinging as in those days it was impossible to go home if you didn't have the money. As it happens Bob has since married fellow rambler Marie, also from Holland. He seems very happy in Dunedin.
We head towards a volcanic rock formation known as the pyramids, rising out of paddock fields and serving as an entrance to the long white sandy beach known as Victory Beach. This beach is enclosed in a wider bay called Wickliffe Bay. Along the beach interspersed at irregular intervals are huge Sea Lions basking in the sun and covering themselves in sand. They look well chilled out until Marie gets a little too close and it starts to lift its enormous head in disapproval. It can't be arsed to give chase though, far too much effort.
We do get chased by a much faller seal further round the bay in a secluded estuary while we are having sandwiches, but again it gives up cause it can't be arsed and goes back to sleep.
The Seals and Sea Lions that inhabit the beaches.
Just around the corner from the shack you might just be a
Sandfly Bay. Otago Peninsular.
You have a good scratch! Sandfly Bay, Otago Peninsular.
A seal entering the brine.
Unfortunately i didn't get any photos of the penguins.
Thurs Feb 22nd
Go busking in Dunedin. Fascinating place with lots of old style buildings, heavily inspired by Edinburgh. Dunedin is actually Gaelic for Edinburgh. The people of Dunedin seem receptive to my music.
One middle aged chap who puts money stops and chats. He has lived in Dunedin for the last 25 years. He is originally from Kirkby Lonsdale and went to school in Milnthorpe. I ask him if he has been back. He tells me last time he went back to England was in 1988. He says he felt like he had never been away. He says he almost felt like a walking ghost. I kind of know what he means.
"Every now and then I really wish i was back in England" he explains.
"But now Dunedin is home".
On my way back to the bus stop I notice a sign stating that the Manchester Unity Society have organised a public speaking competition tonight. I don't know what the Manchester Unity Society is but since I have a couple of hours to wait for the Peninsular bus, I decide to go and watch. At least I'll get out of the Dunedin evening chill.
Upstairs in a town hall type building owned by the university I hear the muffled tones of a speaker coming from a room nearby. On the door to this room is a Japanese looking woman. I hang about on the hallway. She kindly lets me in after a speech is finished.
It turns out each speaker gets 10 minutes. Then after every speech a panel of judges sitting at the back get 2 minutes to right down their notes.
I listen to a speech by an extremely eloquent chap in a dark suit. The topic of his speech I can't pinpoint for sure but it was something along the lines of: It's in the developed world's interest to keep the third world in poverty so that we (the developed world) can reap the rewards of cheap labour and cheap third world produce. He wasn't endorsing this policy, far from it just stating what he thought was going on. Fair point I reckon.
The other speaker I listened to obviously had a speech impediment but gave an excellent speech on the history and politics of Uganda.
Really glad I popped in.
The city of Dunedin.
Bus stop, Dunedin.
Fri Feb 23rd
Alastair drops me off in Dunedin for me to do more busking. He is on his way up the east coast to do a three-day tramp (walk) called the Banks Peninsular.
Before we say goodbye Alastair tells me a funny story relating to his last tramp. Apparently he did this walk called The Routeburn Walk with a lad from the U.S.
The Routeburn is a 3-day walk. This lad bought 3 days worth of tinned beans and carried them in his rucksack. During the 2nd day he had enough of carrying tins of beans in his rucksack so binned them. He lived off salami sandwiches for the next day and a half. He was christened Billy Bean after that.
Shouldn't laugh. I have been known to do similar things from time to time.
Hitch back to Otago peninsular. Had to wait 20 minutes or so for a lift before a lady, originally from Invercargill and now living on the Peninsular, and her son with dog in back kindly pick me up. I needed the lift back in order to catch a boat called the Monarch. This is a small fishing type boat that goes to view the Albatross, Penguins and seals underneath the Otago Peninsular's high rocky cliffs.
We get great views of the Albatross. Two fly over the boat. Huge 3 metre wingspan. What a privilege. One glides low over the water near the boat. They can reach phenomenally high speeds with those huge wings. Up on the grassy banks above the cliffs are other Albatross. They often sit up there incubating the eggs in Jan and Feb.
Apparently the Albatross mates for life but separates from its partner to fly in an opposite direction to its mate around the world. They can travel 190,000km a year. They have a life expectancy of 45 years. As the RG says: 'The Albatross has been the subject of reverence and superstition: The embodiment of a dead sea captain's soul, condemned to wander the oceans forever. A solitary creature, the albatross spends most of its life on the wing or at sea.'
Believe it or not, that is an Albatross.
You might just be able to make out an Albatross flying.
Sat Feb 24th
Head back to Wanaka for gig at Uno wine bar. Before the gig I busk outside a cafe. I'm knackered after all the travelling.
Sun Feb 25th
Get up at 6.00am to do the 1500 Metre Roy's Peak above Lake Wanaka.
It's 6 km walk along the road to get to start of walk. Bloody steep.
Views from top are superb. Get back to bottom at 2pm. Hitch back from bottom. Get picked up from first van that comes past. Turns out to be an English couple with their daughter. Where are they from? Kirkby Lonsdale just down the road from where I live in the UK!! They've lived here in Wanaka for the last 5 years. I get the impression they love it and will stay.
Dawn skies above Wanaka on the way towards Mt Roy.
On the long road from Wanaka to the foot of Mt Roy
Wanaka, nearly 4000 ft below. Taken from the top of Mt Roy.
A view of Lake Wanaka from Mt Roy.
Dunedin.
Busking in Queenstown
