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Gerbie on tour 28
Feb. 13th, 2001 12:54 pmNew Zealand, part two: South island
What a very beautiful island. I finally understand everybody who kept telling me that I needed to go as fast as possible to the south. Even though I am still convinced that the north island shouldn't be ignored either, I do share the enthusiasm about the south island now.
Just for a change I will change my usual town by town account in the primary school style of and then and then, but will just write some bits and pieces. Whichever way, it is very difficult to catch a lot of the beauty in words, but I'll give it a try anyway.
Let's start with the most underrated place. Greymouth. A little dump on the western coast, not much to see and do, but beautifully situated at the mouth of the river Grey (hence the name), with mountains behind it and the river and sea on its edges. It has a lovely old cemetery, with old tombstones, touched by time, telling whole family tragedies, it also has the famous three dollar 'all you can eat' barbecue (sausages and salads). And it is the starting point of the TranzAlpine, one of the top six railwayjourneys in the world (who decided that top six is still a mystery to me though), crossing the isle over the alps all the way to Christchurch.
Another train, the TranzCoastal led me from Christchurch back up north all the way to Picton, offering five hours of views of mountains on one side, bridges with several rivers underneath us and plenty of coastline on the other side. Christchurch is a city wort visiting on its own, where I spent a few days. It is being called the most English of cities in the country, which is very visible in the older buildings near the centre and in the name of the river crossing through it: Avon.
Dunedin apparently is the most Scottish town on the island, though I guess it has much to do with the fact that the Scots founded the place, though it could have something to do with the weather as well. Rain and wind, grey sky to go with it. Close there, in the Catlins, I joined some birdwatchers at Roaring bay waiting for the yellow eyed penguin to show up. There's only 3000 living examples of them left apparently, so having seen a dozen of them crawling out of the water onto the beach is a good score I guess. It's a very wonderfull event when you see the birds appear from the sea, waggling away onto the sand, stopping to rest for a few minutes and then continue for only a couple of meters. Fascinating!
A highlight was taking a cruise on the water of the Milford Sounds, a fjord on the southwestern coast of the island. Rocks, mountains more like, on both sides rise up until nearly 2000 meter (6000 feet?) straight from the sea you're at, with waterfalls coming from these rocks on both sides and sealions and dolphins as an added bonus.
In Queenstown I did stand and watched people jumping off the very famous A.J.Hackettbridge, where the first bungyjumpers started the rage in the mid-eighties, but lack of budget and lack of guts made me decide to leave it at watching. The glaciers on the westcoast were definitely another highlight on the island, even though I got completely soaked seeing them. The Fox and the Franz Jozef glaciers apparently are unique in the world for coming down as far as they do, only until a few kilometers of the sea, with rainforest on the side of them. It was very impressive to see the mass of ice and the river coming from it, with lumps of ice in it, immediately next to where you're standing.
The obligatory hike I did in Arthur's pass, in the middle of the alps, again being lucky that the weather was with me that particular day. After a couple of hours climbing I stood on the summit of the Avalanche Peak, just over 1800 meters, but with a feel like you're on top of the world. The view one has over there can't be captured by any foto- or video camera.
They are a few of the things I did see and do during the last three weeks. Obviously I regret having had to take a few decisions missing out on some walks, towns and activities, but that's the way it is. Now back on the north island, on my way back up to Auckland, the beginning and the end of my journey in this country I will be visiting some places I have missed out on, on my way down. All about them in the next Gerbie on tour!
While in the country, which is most of the time as there are few cities, answering my email sometimes can be either very complicated or very expensive, so I'm a bit slower on doing so. Bit I still read every mail I get, so keep them coming!
Hasta la pasta,
Gerben
What a very beautiful island. I finally understand everybody who kept telling me that I needed to go as fast as possible to the south. Even though I am still convinced that the north island shouldn't be ignored either, I do share the enthusiasm about the south island now.
Just for a change I will change my usual town by town account in the primary school style of and then and then, but will just write some bits and pieces. Whichever way, it is very difficult to catch a lot of the beauty in words, but I'll give it a try anyway.
Let's start with the most underrated place. Greymouth. A little dump on the western coast, not much to see and do, but beautifully situated at the mouth of the river Grey (hence the name), with mountains behind it and the river and sea on its edges. It has a lovely old cemetery, with old tombstones, touched by time, telling whole family tragedies, it also has the famous three dollar 'all you can eat' barbecue (sausages and salads). And it is the starting point of the TranzAlpine, one of the top six railwayjourneys in the world (who decided that top six is still a mystery to me though), crossing the isle over the alps all the way to Christchurch.
Another train, the TranzCoastal led me from Christchurch back up north all the way to Picton, offering five hours of views of mountains on one side, bridges with several rivers underneath us and plenty of coastline on the other side. Christchurch is a city wort visiting on its own, where I spent a few days. It is being called the most English of cities in the country, which is very visible in the older buildings near the centre and in the name of the river crossing through it: Avon.
Dunedin apparently is the most Scottish town on the island, though I guess it has much to do with the fact that the Scots founded the place, though it could have something to do with the weather as well. Rain and wind, grey sky to go with it. Close there, in the Catlins, I joined some birdwatchers at Roaring bay waiting for the yellow eyed penguin to show up. There's only 3000 living examples of them left apparently, so having seen a dozen of them crawling out of the water onto the beach is a good score I guess. It's a very wonderfull event when you see the birds appear from the sea, waggling away onto the sand, stopping to rest for a few minutes and then continue for only a couple of meters. Fascinating!
A highlight was taking a cruise on the water of the Milford Sounds, a fjord on the southwestern coast of the island. Rocks, mountains more like, on both sides rise up until nearly 2000 meter (6000 feet?) straight from the sea you're at, with waterfalls coming from these rocks on both sides and sealions and dolphins as an added bonus.
In Queenstown I did stand and watched people jumping off the very famous A.J.Hackettbridge, where the first bungyjumpers started the rage in the mid-eighties, but lack of budget and lack of guts made me decide to leave it at watching. The glaciers on the westcoast were definitely another highlight on the island, even though I got completely soaked seeing them. The Fox and the Franz Jozef glaciers apparently are unique in the world for coming down as far as they do, only until a few kilometers of the sea, with rainforest on the side of them. It was very impressive to see the mass of ice and the river coming from it, with lumps of ice in it, immediately next to where you're standing.
The obligatory hike I did in Arthur's pass, in the middle of the alps, again being lucky that the weather was with me that particular day. After a couple of hours climbing I stood on the summit of the Avalanche Peak, just over 1800 meters, but with a feel like you're on top of the world. The view one has over there can't be captured by any foto- or video camera.
They are a few of the things I did see and do during the last three weeks. Obviously I regret having had to take a few decisions missing out on some walks, towns and activities, but that's the way it is. Now back on the north island, on my way back up to Auckland, the beginning and the end of my journey in this country I will be visiting some places I have missed out on, on my way down. All about them in the next Gerbie on tour!
While in the country, which is most of the time as there are few cities, answering my email sometimes can be either very complicated or very expensive, so I'm a bit slower on doing so. Bit I still read every mail I get, so keep them coming!
Hasta la pasta,
Gerben
