Ostrich Farm

After our fun night in Fairlie, we drove up to Christchurch. On the way we saw this ostrich farm. Unlike deer, sheep, and cows, ostriches will flock towards you when you approach. It’s a little scary.

The Town That Time Forgot

No, really! Still a bit shell shocked from Lake Tekapo's clunky leap towards cheap modernization, we drove cautiously into the tiny town of Fairlie and our heads exploded. Fairlie is like driving into 1960, only with really good Asian food and a kick-ass internet connection. The homes are beautiful - Iain said it was like a "real old-fashioned Kiwi town" which is funny because it totally reminded me of a real old-fashioned USA town. It also seems like the average age of the Fairlie resident was 75, so Iain was beside himself.

Here are pictures of the motel we stayed in -- $90 a night! Reasonable (and really good) food! Cheap wine! We had a blast. I mean, when was the last time you ate dinner on a veranda?

Vineyards

After peeling out of Lake Tekapo, we stopped off at a local winery for a light lunch. We sat outside with some ridiculously aggressive ducks - they were like dogs. I could've stayed there for a while but my driver made the responsible decision to leave after lunch and one glass of wine. I can't remember the name of the town, but they were very fond of their stone statues.

Kountdown to Kwarantine!

10 days until the kitties get out of jail!

Central Otago... or New Mexico?

On Friday, we drove from Glenorchy to Lake Tekapo. When Iain used to live in NZ it was a small town that was great for fishing and sitting by the lake. It's turned into an overdeveloped cheeseball touristy suburban craptown. We were horrified. We kept driving.

But check out this landscape we passed on the way -- it's just like the American southwest.

Tahuna Beach Holiday Park

We just arrived in beautiful Nelson. After 6 hours of driving, we decided that the least stressful way to find a motel was to arrive in town and have a beer. The idea was to relax, then drive around and find the the best place. But after a pint of beer, the best place is the one with the most accessible bathroom. We only looked at 3 motels and here we are. The motel boasts a Go Kart hire, mini golf, and a giant worm farm (I have GOT to see that!) Our room is actually fine but the wireless internet is a joke, so I'm not sure how successful I'll be with posting the latest pictures.

Back to Civilization - sorta

We arrived back to the town of Glenorchy yesterday afternoon, desperate for showers, a bed, laundry, and food that isn't freeze dried. The nice motel we'd stayed in prior to camping was booked, which left the communal backpackers' camp (no way) and two motels. It's a VERY small town!

In our exhaustion we chose a room based on the friendliness of the staff -- stupid. Really stupid. It meant a crappy night in a tiny overpriced room with no TV, no phone, and the world's worst shower. But the people were really nice, they had cats, and a great outdoor café. This hardly made up for it, but we tried to make the best of it. Just glad to be back from camping, we ate and drank for many hours, but cast the occasional longing glance across the street at the other motel (run by a complete Mama's boy who we didn't like). We discussed what incredible amenities we were probably missing by choosing the wrong motel, like free champagne and massages, and silk sheets. I'm sure the place wasn't much better, but it was a lot newer and had balconies. Damn it!

Keas and other birds

We were walking up one of the mountains and were suddenly bombarded with the sound of birds. We'd come across a spot where the Kea and other native parrots hang out - the sound is incredible. (Please ignore me saying "Cool" towards the end - I totally forgot I was recording.)

Camping

We went camping for two nights in Fiordland on the north island. Specifically, we hiked up and down the Greenstone and Caples rivers, but mainly stuck to flat surfaces since it was the first time I’d been out with a full pack on my back.

Our first campsite was amongst a bunch of rabbit holes, so we spent the evening wandering around the meadow rabbit spotting. I admit that I was half-hoping that all of the rabbits would sense that I meant them no harm, and wouldn’t run away. Alas, I am not Dickon from The Secret Garden. The rabbits all ran for their lives as soon as we were within 20 feet. I blame Iain, who used to hunt.

We brought with us steak, packaged risotto, nuts, dried fruit, oatmeal, powdered milk, freeze dried veggies, and a small bottle of whiskey. The whiskey was gone by the first night, as was the steak. After it got dark out we brought our sleeping bags out on the grass so we could look at the stars. I’ve never lived anywhere that wasn’t near or in a city, so seeing stars in a pitch black sky is a real experience.

The next night we walked about 5 hours to a lake, which was awesome for swimming (although a bit mucky near the shore, which made getting in and out pretty gross). We were out of steak, booze, and there were no rabbits this time, so we had an early night and got back on the track early the next morning.

The worst thing about camping (besides no Law & Order: SVU) is the sand flies, which look like fruit flies (you’re the fruit) but bite like mosquitoes. We were covered head to toe in sunscreen and bug spray at all times. They don’t bother you while you’re walking (thank god) but as soon as you stop, they swarm.

On the third day we wandered out of the woods and to our car, where a 20 something guy asked us for a ride into town. We said sure - and immediately regretted it. He'd been camping for 4 days and had not taken advantage of the lovely lakes and rivers to bathe himself. He reeked -- it was like the Seinfeld episode where the valet stinks up Jerry's car so badly he has to leave it. Thankfully the ride to town was only about 15-20 minutes, so no permanent damage was done.

Offline for a few days...

We're going camping tonight and Iain is asking me to please get offline so we can pack up and get on the road, so we'll post some more stuff in a few days!

Creepy Moss Dinosaur/Monster Creature

Kicking Ass

We went for an incredible hike around Lake Te Anau and it kicked our asses. We left our room at 9:30am and got home at 3:30pm. We walked a total of 12 miles (mainly on flat surface) on a really cool path that ran parallel to the lake. We celebrated with a fantastic swim in the lake, a steak (lean!) dinner, and boxed wine. The bottoms of our feet are killing us! More wine!

We’re hoping to do a bunch of walks like this, in order to prepare for a few nights of camping (I’ve never camped, so that should be interesting…)

I used my new $60 knee brace for the downhill parts, then stupidly removed it when we had lunch and left it. Super!

Times Are Tough

The budget is getting a little lean (and the two of us - okay, me - are anything BUT), so we’ve sworn off restaurants for a while and went grocery shopping today. We purchased healthy staples like fish, brown rice, salad, veggies, but we’re not ready to give up the booze yet. To stay within budget, we bought the boxed stuff. It’s actually pretty delish, which is good because it’s all we can afford.

Marriage

We drove around again trying to find a cheap place to stay – I drew the line at the “tourist flats” that have everything except bathrooms. As someone who pees roughly 17 times a day, a bathroom is a necessity, not a luxury. Thankfully, Iain also has a small bladder and agreed that we should “splurge” on a motel with a bathroom. The only room available has 2 twin beds. We’re both sleeping like rocks!

You can take the girl out of Philly...

We were on the porch of our motel in Te Anau, enjoying a glass of wine, when I suddenly heard a certain familiar sound. Someone had one of those awful Nextel walkie-talkie phones. I slowly grew annoyed, and then angry, then rageful. Needing to share my fury, I said to Iain, “What the hell? Can you hear that stupid phone?!? Who brings one of those to a vacation spot??? This is unbelievable!!!”

He couldn’t hear it. We waited a few moments, I heard it again and said, “There!!! Can you hear that???” I was informed by an exasperated Iain that “the fu*king cell phone” I kept hearing was actually the cry of the native Tui bird.