Day 19 - Wanaka - Job Hunting and Cinema

On day 19 I dragged myself out of bed early to canvass the neighborhood looking for a job. By lunchtime I had  Work For Accommodation (WFA) at Mint bar. I had also joined the job agency and been around town applying to other jobs. As well as this I applied for jobs online. Because I got WFA I decided to spend at least 2 weeks in Wanaka to earn enough money to get home. That night I went to the cinema as a last treat and to celebrate getting work for accommodation. Cinema Paradiso is not what you would expect from a cinema, with airline seats, lazy boy recliners, sofas, beanbags and even an old Morris Minor provided as seating for the movie. I got comfy in one of the few rows of old cinema seats, and watched Avatar. It's a really good movie, and it's a shame that I didn't get the chance to see it in 3D. I highly recommend it. Now that I'm staying here for a while, I'm dispensing with the day-by-day account, and I'm gonna blog the first week, followed by highlights. Believe me, it's better that way.

Day 18 - Franz Josef to Wanaka - Money Troubles

On day 18 I was as stiff as I had been after I crossed the Tongariro, and it didn't help that there were 2 Magic buses, and a lot of confusion as to where each person's luggage would go. Noirin, Annette and I decided that we should get on the second bus, because the driver was completely filling up the first bus before sending people back, and we would probably get more space on the second bus. I was right, but the seats were really uncomfortable bench seats. I managed to finally position myself so I wasn't in too much pain, and we were off. We passed through Fox Glacier early in the day and stopped to pick up some folks at the YHA. The first proper stop was Lake Matheson, also known as 'mirror lake', and it was the place of a thousand postcards, since everywhere you go in New Zealand there will be a postcard with this lake on it. When I got to the lookout, it was easy to see why. It was truly breathtaking, with the mountains being reflected perfectly in the still lake surface. You should see the photos I took. We then continued on our way and we went for a while until we reached a small cafe. Obviously it wasn't expecting such a large group, and the queues for food were ridiculous. I was starving, and thankfully I noticed a small shop next door, so I got a snack lunch of crackers and fruit chutney. It was really nice, too. After everyone had been fed and herded back onto the buses we were on the way again, and the next port of call was a lookout over the sea. It was a really nice view, and we had time to take some pictures and visit the ubiquitous long drop toilets before heading on our way, next stop Wanaka. It was at this stage in the trip that the activity sheet came round for Queenstown, and I decided to check my bank balance by text before signing up for anything. Shortly afterward I discovered just how bad things were in the land of bank. I had a grand total of just over $300 in my bank. Not good. I had to decide between going straight to Queenstown or trying to find a job in Wanaka. I decided that my money would probably go further in Wanaka, and I decided to stop here. I checked into the YHA, and went out to look for work, not that there was much that present day. I had a very cheap (and bad tasting) meal of tuna and rice, and went to bed feeling very worried and miserable. 

Day 17 - Franz Josef - One Big Ice Cube

Day 17 dawned bright and early, and the weather couldn't have been more different to the previous day. It was a fresh, crisp morning and the sun was getting ready to shine. I met up with Noirin and Anette and we walked down to the Glacier guides hut to get kitted up for our glacier hike. Yet again I was a bit worried about their boot sizes, but I was amazed when they told me they had up to size 25! (And i'm only a measly size 14!). We were provided with a waterproof jacket and trousers, hat and gloves, boots, crampons and socks. We even got a bum-bag to keep the crampons in. After we were all ready to ge we climbed aboard the bus and were shipped out to the glacier. We got off at the start of the public trail to the glacier, and we were told that we had a bit of a walk before we even saw the glacier. We walked for a while before we were split into groups. I was in group 4 with Annette and Noirin and a bunch of people, most of whom were with the Magic bus. This meant we were in the medium fitness group. We walked further until we reached the barrier which said 'no admittance past this point without a guide'. Our guide held the barrier down whist we hopped over it. We were now right at the terminal face of the glacier, an it was time to put our crampons on. We were also told that once we started to move closer, we weren't to stop until we reached the way up onto the glacier, a roughly hewn set of ice-stairs, with a guide rope. These were quite a challenge, especially as the steps were near vertical and we were only just getting used to the crampons. We then regrouped and our guide, Tay, told us where we were going. It looked so far off from where we were. we were also told that we would follow a pre-cut path for the first part up until lunch, and then it was down to the guide to cut it for us. We took a long time to get to the ice-axe bin, and there everyone was given a pick-axe. The first thing she told us as soon as we got them was, 'these are walking sticks and supports, this isn't touching the void'. Suddenly my ideas of scrambling up cliffs using the axe for support were dashed,. It was still a really great experience, though, as there we were on a giant slab of ice full of cracks, fissures and caves. There was one crevasse which we had to fit through, and I was worried because I thought i'd get stuck, and I nearly did. It's really amazing that the formations of ice actually looked so much like waves. Sadly I decided not to take a camera because I didn't want to risk getting water in it, but Noirin and Annette did, so there are pictures. After the hike and out return to the bus, I felt so stiff, but I didn't worry because we agreed to go to the hot pools up the road. It was heaven. We were in there until it closed, and then we headed back to our relevant hostels for bed before the next days travels towards Wanaka.

Day 16 - Greymouth to Franz Josef - Rain, Pounamu and a Horror Movie

The trip from Greymouth to Franz Josef was pretty uneventful, really. Apart from the weather, which was awful. The rain never stopped. We had a stop on the way at the Greenstone (also known locally as Pounamu, and is actually nephrite jade) factory at Hokitika, which also had the last big supermarket before Greymouth. We decided to go shopping first, and buy stuff for a shared meal. We got a bit damp on the way, but we got back in time to have a look around the factory shop. I bought myself a Greenstone pendant, and I got an (almost) matching one for my girlfriend, Alannah (nearly  months on, and I still haven't sent her it). The rain got even heavier as we got closer to Frans Josef, and we were told that the half day hikes for that day were cancelled. I didn't worry, because I was taking the full day hike the following day. The roads on the way were actually partly flooded, and we got concerned for our luggage in the compartment below us. We arrived in Franz Josef with our luggage completely dry, an I got settled into my backpackers, which was across the road from Noirin and Annette. We had some spag bol together at my hostel before setting out to have a look at the i-site, which also had an informational video about the glacier. it was quite informative. We then headed back to my hostel were a few of us sat round and watched 'The Darkness', which was an incredibly unrewarding horror movie. It didn't even have a good ending. After that, we decided to call it a night and get ourselves rested for the glacier hike the next day.

Day 15 - Nelson to Greymouth - Meals, Seals and a Piss-up in a Brewery

Greymouth was one of the places on my journey I was least looking forward to. I had been there previously a few years back, and thankfully I was only there for a few hours, because the only way I can describe it is Grey. On the bus that morning I met Noirin and Anette, two primary school teacher from Ireland (don't ask me which part). We got chatting and decided to stroll around the Nelson market (our fist stop) together. I bought nothing more than some licorice (it was good stuff, too). Back on the bus and we chilled out and chatted on the way to Westport, where we stopped at the seal colony. I was a nice spot, with some long drop toilets (I was used to them by that stage) and seals weren't the only wildlife. I also manged to get some shot of wekas, which resemble almost a brown hen, but thy have a funny shaped beak. After some long distance shots of seals, we moved on and stopped at another place further down, with a walk through forest to a hidden cove. He walked down and enjoyed the view before we noticed a lone seal on the beach. It was quite cute, but we didn't get too close. The next stop on the trip was Punakaikai, home to the pancake rocks. These strange geological features made for some nice photos. I also got an ice-cream. A short while after, and with the ice-cream long gone, we arrived at our destination, Greymouth. It was still as grey as I remembered, and the weather, which had been good most of the day, changed. We had all booked the Montieth's brewery tour, and I got dropped off at my hostel and got changed before the bus arrived. The tour also included dinner. We arrived at the brewery and were given ample time to enjoy the delights of the gift shop before the rest of the group arrived. We the took a short tour, where most of us learned very little, and went on to the brewery bar for the tasting (you didn't honestly think we actually wanted to know how beer's made, did you?). We sampled about 8 or 9 beers and a cider before being allowed to pour a pint of our choosing. After that,we were all a bit tipsy (we hadn't eaten yet), and my camera has a few candid shots of our antics with a mounted moose's head. After that, the minibus that took us to the brewery returned and shipped us off to the Railway inn, for a lovely barbecue style dinner. The steak was to die for. We also had some quite cheap jugs of beer, which stayed quite cheap until 12pm, when the bar obviously decided to try and slow us down. We weren't having any of it, because we'd been told before that they were cheap all night, and eventually we decided not to put up with the manageress' bad attitude, and we left en masse. It was raining when we left, of course, but we made it home safely, with me and Anette trying in vain to have a conversation in German, for some strange reason. After arriving at the YHA, I headed straight for bed.

Day 14 - Wellington to Nelson - Turbulence

It was an early start the next morning, as I had a plane to catch. My day started off not too bad, apart from the minor inconvenience of a broken lift. I made it downstairs and decided to complain to the receptionist about the broken bed. The receptionist seemed annoyingly un-apologetic. In fact, I think his exact words were "Oh, yeah, that one." I decided not to push the issue, as it would be as successful a dentistry for a rooster. I took a bus out to the airport for the first stage of the day's travel, a flight in a small plane across the Marlborough sounds. And when I say small, I mean small. There were only 9 seats, and one of those was next to the pilot. There was also turbulence on the 20 min flight. This was the type of turbulence that wouldn't even bother a normal sized plane, but in something so small it made things quite interesting. I wasn't overly concerned though, as I was too busy taking photos of the astonishing scenery unfolding below me. We arrived at the airport shaken, but not stirred (I'm sorry, I couldn't resist), and on our final approach we had to abort landing and go-around for another shot. Why, I hear you ask?. Engine trouble, ATC problem, another aircraft on the runway? No, the guy in the tractor cutting the grass was a bit too close to the runway. That wouldn't happen at Heathrow, would it? We pulled up at the terminal (a house), and the minibus arrived to take me to the ferry terminal, so I could get the Magic bus. To give you an idea of just how small the plane was, the minibus was probably slightly bigger. I arrived at the ferry terminal and found that I had a slight wait for the Magic bus, so I got a comfy spot and read some of my book. The bus to Nelson was uneventful, and we didn't stop anywhere on what was a short trip. I got dropped off at the YHA, only to find that by some mistake (I don't know whose), they had me booked for a different date. They also had no vacancies. Thankfully, another backpacker's, Paradiso, did and so I caught a cab over there. They also had a swimming pool and a hot spa, and they were cheaper than YHA. Result. I took a swim and then decided that I couldn't be bothered cooking, and I went out to find some food. I eventually stumbled upon a bar with a fish and hip shop next door. I ordered my food and headed to the bar, to find that they did big bottles of take-away beer. I got myself a bottle of cider and took my fish and chips back to the hostel with me. Now that was a good feed. After my feed I settled down for the night, went on the internet, watched some TV and got lightly sozzled on the cider before I went to bed for the night.

Day 13 - Taupo to Wellington - Lasagna, a Broken Bed and a Whole Lot of Bull.

On day 13 I awoke feeling very stiff. So stiff that it was incredibly painful to carry my heavy bag downstairs to the bus, and the seats weren't overly comfortable. The long trip from Taupo to Wellington was not very eventful. As we left Taupo our driver, Rangi, who was incidentally my first Magic driver, decided not to stop for pics of the mountains. This was because the weather was awful. We instead decided to make up time and try to get to Wellington earlier. On the way to Wellington we passed through a small town named Bulls, and some of the shop names were un-bull-ievable. The Doctor's surgery was live-a-bull, the pub was soci-a-bull, the $2 shop was afford-a-bull, the op shop was trash and treasure -a-bull, the breakdown service was tow-a-bull, the estate agent was relocate-a-bull, Mc Donald's was Mc Value-a-bull, Subway was submerge-a-bull, the school was education-a-bull, the recycling bins were response-a-bull and last, but not least, the public toilet was relieve-a-bull. And that's just the short list. Upon our early arrival in Wellington, the first stop was the top of mount Victoria which gave 360 degree views of Wellington and the Hutt valley. After a short stop (it was freezing up there), we all scramble back aboard the bus to go to our hostels. I was staying at the Nomad's capital, and I was pleased to find out that there would be a free meal of lasagna provided. That was only a first impression, and lasted as long as it took me to get to my room. For some reason, although I was only staying one night, I was put in the long termer's room, and I had a top bunk, the last one left. It was also broken, and sloping precariously. I decided to deal with it later, and went down for a short walk about town. I returned after a stroll down Cuba street and decided to go and ask about the free meal. The receptionist was very reluctant to give out a free meal voucher, and I still haven't got my free drink voucher. I proceeded to the 'house' bar (actually next door) and I decided to pay a little extra for the larger portion. After a snack of  poorly cooked lasagna (I dread to think how small the regular portion was), I purchased some chips to actually fill me up. I got them, half an hour later. After eating these chips and willing myself not to complain, I took my leave and went for a walk along the harbor front. Because it would be an early start for me then next morning, I decided to urn in early, and I went upstairs. I tried to climb into bed, and the bed decided to lean even more violently. I decided that I wouldn't risk the bed collapsing (and crushing the poor bugger underneath), and so I took the mattress off and slept on the floor. The floor was surprisingly comfy.

Day 12 - The Tongariro Crossing

I had an early start on day 12, and so I suffered for the previous night's antics at the Poker table. After a quick brekkie I got my stuff together and headed out to wait on the bus. When it arrived I was disconcerted to find none of the others on it, but I just assumed that they were on another bus. Despite trying my best not to, I fell back asleep on the bus and I awoke when we stopped at a hire store, where people were given the opportunity to hire walking poles or boots. I decided to stick with my comfy trainers and then we headed out towards the track. I felt much better for the sleep and I got ready to set off as soon as we arrived. I assumed that the other guys were probably ahead and resigned myself to doing the trail alone. Lucky I had brought my I-pod. After 20 mins of walking I reached the Mangatepopo hut and stopped to use the toilet. i also grabbed a quick snack before heading on my way. I reached the path and ended up behind a familiar looking group. Believe it or not, I had found the other Guys, Ingmar, Anouk, Paddy and Emma. We headed on and found the path to Soda Springs to be quite easy. We stopped there for a short while before heading on to tackle the Devil's steps. I kid you not, they were EVIL. They seemed to go on forever, and each new flight of steps up the mountain made your thighs burn even more. By the end, I was about ready to turn and head back, if it wasn't for the fact that I'd have to go down the steps. I pushed myself, and found that we were in a large, flat crater. It was so amazing to find this strange plateau on the mountain, almost an acre of completely flat, desolate landscape. Apart from the steady stream of walkers, of course. We reached another climb, which was tough, and then stopped at the high point for a break. We decided to push on slightly further before stopping to have lunch. We stopped for lunch on a rocky area next to the red crater, and the views of the route ahead and the green and blue lakes was amazing. Paddy was slightly concerned, however, because we were on top of a volcano and there was steam. I explained to him that it was normal, but he didn't seem convinced, and so I told him that the ground was also hot. After that we decided to head off and we set off down a slope which seemed to me to be like a vertical cliff. Paddy helped to talk me down slowly, and we leaned into the slope and sort of jumped down, allowing the gravel to slow our descent. We reached the bottom in one piece (thankfully) and set off along the track toward the blue lake. Just before the blue lake there was a small climb, which seemed like no problem until I got a touch of extremely painful cramp in my knee. I stumbled the rest of the way to the lake, and then stopped and sat for awhile. I seemed ok after a rest, and I continued on towards the Kaitiahe hut. The path was quite cruel, because although the hut wasn't far away, the path kept zig-zagging and it took a good hour or two to reach. When I arrived I caught up with Paddy and Emma, and joined the very long line for the toilet. By the time I had finished, Ingmar and Anouk had arrived. I waited for them and we stopped for food. Emma and Paddy went on ahead and I set off later with Ingmar and Anouk. We walked down a still winding track and after we passed a sign showing that we were at the last of the 16.9 kilometers, we descended into what was almost rain forest. I went on ahead of the girls, and the last k seemed endless, walking through this dense forest. After what seemed like hours I finally arrived, exhausted, at the bus pick-up point. Ingmar and Anouk arrived about 10 mins later. The buses arrived after about half an hour and I got put onto the same bus as the guys, because the other bus had to wait for some stragglers. When I arrived back at the hostel the first thing I did was book the bus to the hot spa. It was gorgeous for my aching muscles, and the hour or so I spent there did me the world of good. I had no trouble sleeping that night.

Day 11 - Rotorua to Taupo - Wetas, a Waterfall and Rubber Ring.

The trip from Rotorua was one which I had been looking forward to because, I was going to the Waitomo Glowworm caves. After leaving Rotorua, our first stop was the Arapune Dam, which provided a lovely photo opportunity. Then, on the way to Waitomo, the activities list came round. I had just planned to visit the caves, but the driver, Greg, told us that afterwards we would have to wait for an hour and a half for the other, who would be doing other activities. That's when something else on the list caught my eye. Black water rafting. I had a debate with myself for a while before coming to the conclusion that i would probably never get another chance to do this, and I just went for it. We arrived into Waitomo and my debit card screamed as it had yet another $100 forcefully removed. We then headed to the hut to get our wetsuits and boots and (shock, horror). They actually had some that fit me. We got changed and put on our helmets before all struggling in our tight wetsuits to get into the minibuses. We all then held on for dear life as the minibuses thundered along the dirt tracks to the caves. On leaving the minibuses we had to walk across a farmers field to get to the cave mouth. If cows could talk I dread to think what they would have said about this strange looking force of aliens trudging across their field as if they had just messed in their pants. We posed for a group shot before being given our 'rafts', which turned out to be inner tubes from either a tractor or a lorry. We descended into the cave itself. We were given a safety briefing at the mouth of the cave, where we were warned about one thing. Cave Wetas (an insect resembling a large cricket). We were told that these lived in some parts of the cave and we would have to turn off our head torches at this point, or else they might swarm and be drawn to our torches, at which point they may land on the face of the person with the torch. I didn't need to be told twice. We were also told about the waterfall, which we would have to jump off backwards. I decided not to even try to think about that until we got there. We then headed off down the cave. We saw our fist glowworms before we reached the water, and we turned off our torches to see their magnificent glow. We tramped down util we reached water, and then we put on our inner tubes. As we wandered through the waters of the caves, we were told to grab the shoulder of the person in front with one hand and the wall with the other. We were then told to turn off our torches. We were in Weta territory. Further along the cave, and with our torches back on, we reached the waterfall. We were told to stand on the edge, hold the rubber ring onto our backsides and fall back. I got to the ledge an froze. The guide just pushed me off. I felt like a right tit when I reached the bottom with a splash only to discover that the waterfall was only 1 meter high! We were then organised into groups, and sat into our rings. The person in front had to grab the feet of the person behind and they had to grab the feet of the person behind them, and so on. I was th the back, and so I didn't have to grab anyone's feet. We then put our torches off again and started to float though the cave. it was amazing, an looking up is seemed as if we were viewing a night sky covered in galaxies of glowworm stars. I was glad that I had decided to tick the Black Water Rafting box. After a good twenty minutes of this floating we reached the last obstacle, the slide. That was fun. After trudging a few more meters down the caves we found the steps, and the exit. We took the minibus back to the hut and it was now even more fun (and dangerous) because our wetsuits were sliding all over the bench seating. We got showered and changed an headed back to the office to look at the pictures of ourselves and not buy them (well, they were too expensive) before getting back on the bus to Taupo. We stopped again on the way at Huka Falls, and I got some more pics. Finally we dropped off the skydivers before getting to our hostels. I walked up to pak 'n' save to get some shopping and then I got back to the hostel and made copious amounts of lunch and snacks for the next day. After that I had planned to go to the hot pools and soak before an early night, but that all changed when I saw the signs advertising a free poker tournament. I joined, and discovered that to be able to re-buy or to have a shot at the wildcard draw you had to buy drinks. Well, why not, I thought,a and I thoroughly enjoyed myself right before I got knocked out. I re-bought, and I got knocked out again. Low and behold, I then won the wildcard draw and ended up on the final table. I got knocked out again, finally, placing ninth, and I stayed to see who won before heading off to bed. So much for an early night.

Day 10 - Rotorua - Wasted Plans, A Pool and a Trip to the Cinema

I had planned to go for a walk on day 10. I was gonna explore some of the natural geothermal areas in Rotorua. The weather changed that, though. It was raining when I got up to go for a walk, and so I decided to go and find something else to do. First, I researched some more on the Tongariro Crossing at the I-site. Then I took a stroll through the town where I came upon an indoor shooting range. I took a few shots with an air rifle, and, upon hitting nothing, gave up. I then ambled about town until I came upon the cinema. Oh, well. Why not catch a movie? I watched Sherlock Holmes and I quite enjoyed it. I then headed back to the hostel and took a swim in the pool, as it had stopped raining. I the went back to the room, where I got chatting to one of the other guests, and we talked about our travels for quite a while. It's just a shame that I can't remember the guy's name. After that, It was yet another early night for me.