Wellington, New Zealand

I spent a couple of days in Dunedin, mostly to check out the city and see the cool public art gallery. In it, there is a New Zealand film archive of about 200 or so films that you can just sit and watch. I watched Jane Campion's "Angel at My Table" done as a mini series in 1991 for New Zealand television. It's based on the autobiography of author Janet Frame (who died just last year). I'm so glad I watched it as it gave me a New Perspective on New Zealand and life here. If you can rent it, do, as it's a beautiful and intelligent film.

I got to Wellington and found my way to Beethoven house. Some friends I had met in Australia; Fiona and Kat, a lovely couple from Manchester, reccommended it. It took some investigating to find the place as it wasn't listed in any of the tour books like Lonely Planet or Rough Guide. The house is literally a house with busts of Beethoven and a sign on the front door that reads "WARNING: All the horrible rumors of Beethoven house are true...stay here at your own risk". I entered the kitchen to put my food in the fridge and a small 70 year old asian man with a camp Brittish accent (Quentin Crisp comes to mind) immediately asked me where I was from. He told me he was from "the cleanest place in the world". His tone hinted that he was making fun of it so I said "Ah...Singapore...yeah they have some weird laws there about spitting and throwing trash on the street I've heard". This sent the little guy into a 15 minute tirade about how a civilised society SHOULD have strict laws involving heavy finds and execution for littering on the streets. After a quarter of an hour of saying the same thing over and over I interjected for the first time by saying "Gotcha...gotta go...it was nice talking to you".

The next morning I was awakend by deafening classical music, what I've come to endearingly call the first awakening to "Classical Bootcamp". Hungover backpackers slowly made their way to the communal garden where the eccentric Singaporean man (his name is Alan) slopped porridge with candy sprinkles into a variety of coffee cups, plastic saucers and small bowls. Tea was served, complete with bread and cheese toasties with hearts cut out of the bread so that an orange cheese heart appears under your nose as you bite in. "Anyone who wants porridge come and get it now! Or forever hold your peace! I don't want to hear about anyone missing breakfast and complaining that they are still hungry at 11 o clock". This is classic Alan, along with the blaring music and the 30 minute speeches in the morning that accompany the breakfast. The speeches, I believe are his way of connecting with people, of practicing his love for theater, as well as being the center of attention. It's a joy to watch.

Alan has run the backpacker for almost 30 years. He is a classic eccentric, and though a bit difficult, has a heart of gold. The rumors abound because of his eccentricities, to the point that older versions of travel books refer to the "eccentric owner". Now they don't mention the place at all and I can only assume it is because some jerks complained without soaking in the full unique atmosphere of the place. Fiona and Kat have been there for a few weeks now,. They love it as well, except one of the assistants is a bit of a pervert and seems to follow their every move, even asking Kat out (knowing she's a lesbian). But it's a minor thing and the guy is just kind of a lost soul who argues with his ex on his cell phone for about 3 hours every night. We have come to the conclusion he's going through some kind of breakdown or something.

I could write loads about this place really, all the characters, travellers, bums, workers (working at subway, dominos pizza, pubs, bakeries etc). The great thing about it is that we all get to know eachother because of Alan's eccentricities and the communal breakfast. It always astounds me how eating together can create such a quick sense of community. It really is primal I suppose but something we rarely ...if ever do outside the confines of our own homes.

Wellington is really happening right now...there is loads going on. A fringe festival, Carnival, all sorts of stuff. I made it to a couple of theater pieces (one about a train called Train Ghosts and another that took place in a pool called "Growing Potatos"). Train Ghosts was at the cool new theater space that is dedicated to new works called "bats" http://www.bats.co.nz/
It reminded me a lot of the Traverse in Edinburgh, but smaller, more intimate, and more active with the local community. I so wish there was a space like it in San Francisco, a space that provided resources for emerging artists. But that takes a government that believes in funding the arts.

Kat and I went to Parliament and took a free tour. They weren't in session, but I'm hoping to go back and watch them debate in the chambers. There is kind of a British style to the debating chambers, where they openly argue and make fun of one another in a quite animated sort of way. The MP's are an eclectic mix representing 6 parties in all (Green Party, Maori Party, Labour and the scary conservative National party, etc) One of the MP's in New Zealand is Transexual and the Prime Minister is a woman! The country doesn't have an air force, and most of the tax dollars that are spent actually go towards things like health care, DOC (department of conservation), the arts, education etc. What a concept! The Parliament even had an art gallery, with one piece of art that was a stone with hundreds of ribbons on it. The ribbons were all made by individual New Zealanders, representing the countries they were from. China, Ireland, Tonga, Chile, Ethiopia. It was quite beautiful. People still drop off ribbons to be added to the piece, a celebration of the country's diversity. America...take note! When the tour guide asked what country I was from, the crowd shouted "Japan! Pakistan! Canada!...etc. I kept quiet...I didn't want to see an American ribbon on the stone. My country didn't feel worthy really to be a part of that celebration of diversity and the world.

Just outside Wellington is a beautiful DOC sanctuary of about 300 hectares that I went walking in with Fiona. It was so wonderful to be in nature so close to the city, not to mention the beautiful bay that the city rests on. All of this really wouldn't be if it weren't for the progressive government and the people of New Zealand.

Hillary and Chris are in town performing with their band Sabot and we got to go see them at this great club here in Wellington called Happy. It was so great to see them both and kind of a wonderful circle in the ending of the trip. Seeing them reminded me how I love being around creative/activist people, how it makes me feel at home and how I need it in my life. They are touring around New Zealand thanks to the band who they played with called mr. sterile assembly. This band is completely AMAZING. Check out their website www.mrsterile.co.nz They mix theater with an eclectic punk sound, using cellos, trombones clarinets...you name it.

I have two more weeks left and am feeling a mixture of anticipation and dread. Returning to the states to see my dog, friends and family will be wonderful after being away, but I am afraid about that rut one gets in with life, that day to day mundane routine that eats up one's time and makes you forget you are alive. I'm afraid of the US, the government but more significantly its culture, and being in that society and the ambitious loneliness that accompanies it. The trip has been great, but I haven't quite grasped how to live abroad without starting completely over on my own...which also terrifies me. I've spent that last six months thinking a lot about the future, but really have just been enjoying the present. Doing so has been a remarkable experience that in retrospect has confirmed in me that I need to just keep pressing on, keep honing what I am doing, and continue learning and travelling, rather than starting on a completely new path. Perhaps this path will bring me to another country to live, I don't know. I hope so. All I can say now is that I know myself just a little bit better and that the world is a magical place worth exploring.

Rakiura (Stewart Island), New Zealand

If you're standing at the bar at the Stewart Island Hotel, and you look to your right, on the wall is a sweet quote that goes something like this:

"There is no point in going through life unscathed. The goal in life is not to reach the end with clean shoes, unscratched, cleanly dressed without a mark. Rather, the goal is to slide in sideways, body completely spent, totally wrecked, champagne in one hand and a strawberry in the other shouting loudly and joyfully 'WOO HOO....WHAT A RIDE!' "

I read that at the end of my 10 days on the island and I'm glad I did. If I read it at the beginning of being there, I don't think it would have had as much resonance.

I met up with Texas in Dunedin and we decided to go to Stewart Island, the southern most point of New Zealand and pretty much the last main stop before you reach Antarctica.

http://www.stewartisland.co.nz/

We arrived at the Ferry in the nic-of-time. I took my sea sickness tablets since the ride had a real reputation for being particularly choppy. In the ferry office they sell t-shirts that say "I survived the Forveux Strait!". I almost bought one when we reached the island. 9 foot swells had my stomach reeling even on dramamine. I held my stomach the entire time and prayed for it to be over.

Rakiura is the Maori term for "land of the glowing skies". In the winter you can see the Australis Auroialis, or southern lights. The sunsets and sunrises are quite a site, unlike anything I have seen. The sky explodes with color. Most people come to the island to see a kiwi bird in the wild as the island is 85% national park and the surrounding island (only one is accesible to tourists) are proving to be succesful experiments in reintroducing native species and saving endangered flora and fauna. Stweart island was lucky enough to be spared from having stoats and weasels introduced, so kiwis and other flightless birds like the weka can survive here. Wild parrots like the Kaka screech across the sky and the beautifully colorful New Zealand pigeon is everywhere.

When I was in Christchurch, I saw a painting at the regional art gallery that really moved me. It was called "The fall of Icarus" by Bill Hammond and was a greenish blue painting of dozends of birds sitting in the forest, with almost human faces. The painting was dripping, as if it was melting, like Icarus's wings and it was a mournful tribute to what has been lost....that New Zealand was a land of birds before man came, and a truly magical eden.

You get a glimpse of what was on Stewart Island. Texas and I decided to take the Department of Conservation Tour to Ullva Island, one of the island sanctuaries completely cleared of all pests like rats, possums, deer etc. It is also surrounded by a marine sanctuary. Jan was our guide and a super cool Maori woman. She was the Cheif executive of her tribe on the north island, and had grown up on Rakiura when there were hardly any roads and only one car. When we jumped off the boat it was like being in Snow white. A small little bird approached us and flitted around watching our move. It was a Stewart Island Robin. The little bird was so sociable, almost tame and waited for us to scratch the ground so it could get at some bugs. It was so cute. The Department of Conservation introduced 20 of the rare little birds a couple of years ago back to Ullva island and now there are 120. The same success is being met with other endangered species who they also track and look after.

The boats (and our backpacks) all need to be inspected for rats as the little devils are known to sneak onto the island in this way. Two rats are caught per year, stowaways who try to make a run for their own little paradise. I really enjoyed the tour, and was reminded, with the painting in Christchurch, just how little we are exposed to pristine nature. When you come into contact with it, it really moves you.

We stayed at a backpacker that had cheap single rooms so we each got our own rooms which was a real luxury. It felt so nice to have my own space. Texas unfortunately was having ankle problems so left the next day.

I stayed and went snorkelling, back at Ullva island. I was the only one in the water. I had to wear a 7mm wetsuit (I felt like the guy in the Mr. Stay Puff suit in Ghostbusters). The water was beyond freezing (it's the arctic waters for christsake!) but as soon as I put my mask into the water...it all became worth it. It made the barrier reef look quite anaemicin comparison. The kelp forests were home to hundreds of fish...including the beautiful blue cod...a ghost like fish that just stared at me whenever I swam by. I couldn't eat them after that. (blue cod is the staple diet on the island...and quite tasty). I kept swimming along the beautiful coast...my face was beginning to freeze and my ears got sore from the cold. The water got deeper and more mysterious and I was getting a little nervous when I looked down and saw a shark. It was a small one, sleeping in the sand, probably no more than 4 feet long, but it was a shark nevertheless. I was excited and freaked out at the same time, so I swam back to shallower waters. It had tiger stripes, and I found out later it was a local harmless sand shark. I spent the rest of the day drying off, warming up and walking the island, spending time with the stewart island robins, who would manage to jump on my shoes and peck at my soles.

They are not as bad as the flightless wicka (or forest chicken as the Maori refer to it). These guys will gladly steal a sandwich out of your hand...which they did to Texas on our tour. The Maori use the oil of the birds for arthritis, but if you use too much, your bones will literally bend. People have tried to market the oil as medicine, but it eats through all types of containers...glass, whatever. You pretty much need to kill the bird, cook it, rub the oil on your skin and then kill another one. Seeing as the wika is protected, that pretty much isn't possible anymore. One thing is for sure, New Zealand has made me find a new appreciation for birds.

I didn't want to leave Rakiura, but I was getting low on money, so I decided to do a tramp for three days on the Rakiura walk. I rented a stove,and some proper gear and off I went. The first day was easy, beautiful, along the coast near where Ullva island is. I arrived at North Arm Hut which sits on a bay where black swans swim (ever seen a black swan swim in the ocean? It is AMAZING!) Slowly other trampers came in, but I kept to myself pretty much. I was walking the track backwards which I am so thankful for now. I noticed everyone starts comparing notes "it only took me 4 hours to get here...not five.." and "it was hard for them but easy for me". I just wanted to enjoy my walk and didn't want to be around people on some kind of personal best competition. That night, a possum entered the hut and created quite a ruckus.

The next day was kind of hard, very muddy (which Stwewart Island tramps are famous for) . Up and down hills, slippery roots on tracks. It started raining quite heavily so by hour five I was pretty much over it. I was glad to reach the Port William Hut and begin to dry out. A nice swiss couple arrived and we started talking.....then the AMERICAN arrived. I knew he was an American when I saw him...perfectly clean boots, clean expensive north face clothes. Of course he walked strait into the hut without taking off his boots (big hut etiquitte booboo). I tried to avoid him but the Swiss couple told him I was an American too. I knew this guy wasn't just an American when I saw him...I knew he was a Republican. I think it was the "I ran here almost the whole way! I'm training for a marathon!" boasting. Maybe it was the fact that all his clothes and backpack were a matching blue? Or maybe it was his extreme earnestness that seemed to try and compensate for some kind of inner insecurity and realization that the world really hates him right now. I don't know what it was...but I knew.

"Hi....I hear you're from THE STATES!!!" he said to me as I pulled my earplug out of my ear because I was reading trying to ignore him.

"Yeah..." I said

"Where are you from?" he said

"I'm from San Francisco,...where are you from?" I said with such a lack of enthusiasm it made the air sink

"I'm from North Carolina!!!"

Immediately... I asked

"You didn't vote for Bush did you?"

"Actually ... I did" he said

"Right, then we won't be speaking to eachother then" I said as I put the ear plug back in my ear and promptly sat down and returned to my reading. He sat there kind of stunned and walked around sheepishly as a German couple glared at him. It just so happened that there in the kitchen was a printout that someone posted of the Bush/monkey connection. You know the one...a chimp makes a face, then there's a picture of Bush making the same face. I don't know if this idiot saw the posting. I always felt that satire was an insult to chimps. Lucky for the republican some Israelis showed up. They took him fishing. The entire hut felt kind of like a microcosm of world politics...the American and Israeli alliance, firmly isolated on a hunting spree, while Europe and the rest of the world tried to ignore them but couldn't. This was due mostly to the American's insecure bursts out loud to the nice swiss couple of "I CAUGHT TWO FISH...WANT TO SEE THE PICTURES?" and "I'm thinking of going on a walk tonight". He seemed to need so much attention, I almost felt sorry for the guy. Then I remembered...this idiot voted for Bush...AND he's travelling. There is no excuse for someone who has seen the world to be so closed minded. If I had the opportunity to push him off a cliff... I probably would have. ... Lucky for both of us that opportunity never arose.

I finished my walk and it felt like somewhat of an accomplishment..to do it on my own and in such a beautiful area of the world. It's safe to say my legs have never been so sore (I hiked about 23 miles in 3 days). It doesn't sound like a lot, but I was out of shape and it was up and down hills and semi mountains. Yeah...I'm a big baby...but I did it...and I'd like to do it again....sans Republicans of course.

I returned back to the mainland on the ferry and rode out the waves while watching the seagulls fly across the sunrise. I cried. Mostly because there are so few places like this, and also because I don't know when I will see this place again. At that point, I don't know if I had a glass of champgagne in my hand, but maybe there was a strawberry or two...it's moments like this that you realize there is still beauty in the world.

West Coast to Christchurch, New Zealand

I noticed a shirt in a shop window. The shirt had three panels of deer crossing-like symbols. The first said Kiwi (stop) the second said sheep (slow down) and the third said possum (speed up!). Driving, you can't help but notice the possum carnage. Every hundred feet or so there seems to be "road pancake" as they call it. Even the mildest mannered and non violent kiwi will swerve all over the road to hit the cuddly little furballs. The reason? Because they are one of the many invasive species on the island that are devouring the plant life at a voracious rate. The same is true with rabbits, stoats, weasels and those cuddly little beatrix potter favorites...hedgehogs. What I don't understand is why doesn't the government just do a massive culling (give money to hunters) to get rid of these little creatures once and for all, rather than slowly and painfully killing them by every imaginable means (including the highly toxic and banned in other counries 1040 poison!). It was humans who introduced them in the first place (to get rid of some other species they accidentally introduced) and it just seems like its an unfair infliction of suffering on these little critters.

That said, New Zealand is lightyears ahead of most countries in terms of its care for its natural resources. The prime minister, Helen Clark, when elected in 1999, put an immediate moratorium on logging of Beech and native forest woods on national land. This effectively saved the west coast of the South island from looking like the East Coast and much of the north island.....English looking farmland scatttered with soon to be logged American made Genetically Modified Pine trees. But her leadership is only a reflection of the national consciousness. Every Kiwi seems to be into the outdoors on some level, surfing, skiing, and TRAMPING. Tramping is so amazing in that its as ubibutous a sport as going to the football game in the states. There are hundreds of formal tramping trails open to the public. Some, you can walk on for days and stay overnight in a hut (some provide meals) and continue walking to the next overnight stay. It's pretty impossible to be outside the cities and get out of shape. Just by being here for a couple of weeks, I feel so fit...having walked up two mountains, a glacier, and probably hiked at least a couple of miles a day on average. And its so effortless, being on such glorious landscape.

I found a good way to keep cool in all this heat...hike a glacier! I took a hiking tour at Fox Glacier as that is the only way to get on the actual ice.
http://www.foxguides.co.nz/trips.asp

The tour (considered low key and for beginners) hiked up a mountain for about a mile, then descended down rocky and boulder laden path, then up the glacier (another mountain really). We had to wear "clamp ons" as that is the only way to keep you from sliding and tumbliing to your death. Interesting note, if Glaciers existed in the US, you'd have to take out a huge insurance policy, but because you are not allowed to sue people in New Zealand, its pretty much no hassle. So there you are, holding onto a rope along a mountain, on one side is solid rock the other side, a 500 foot drop....no harnasses...no helmets. The Glacier is about 7 stories tall at the bottom, and climbs up the mountain..getting increasingly white, free of the sediment at the top. We entered from the side, walked down crevaces, past ice ponds and streams, all from the melting glacier which sat in 80 degree heat. On the Glacier though, the temperature dropped to a cool 50 and was nice, like a welcomed ice cube on a hot forehead. The ice was melting so fast that they had workers out there all day, chiselling steps into the ice so we could actually walk around.

It seemed so futile. The Glacier, in one month has dropped 6 feet. At the moment it is growing(following a natural pattern of growing and receding)but since the big freeze of 1790, the Glacier has receded almost two kilometers. It's amazing to drive into rainforest and be greeted with a sign "the glacier was here in 1790" , then drive through more forest, until you reach a clearing with a rapid river gushing through a rocky moonskaped canyon, and a half a kilometer away, there she is...that giant block of ice. There's only one other place like it in the world....and that would be Patagonia. South Island New Zealand and Patagonia are home to the only tempereate glaciers on the planet. So outside Antarctica, this is the closest you'll get to such a site. We reached the top and looked up the canyon where the glacier gets more white and pristine (and where rich people pay lots of money to get helicoptered up to the top and hike around). Roars and cracks could be heard, ice breaking, boulders falling. It would be very easy to be hurt doing this kind of thing (good thing for the tour agency that we can't sue) one girl fell down a crevace the day before and had to be airlifted out. At the end of the day, it's safe to say I was extremely sore, but so happy I sat on a huge chunk of ice. It's another natural phenomenon that is rapidly disappearing and worth seeing if you can.

Another New Zealand phenomenon when in the great outdoors is dealing with the Kea. The kea is the world's only alpine parrot and also one of the smartest birds in the world. Kea's have been known to tear through tents, backpacks and cars to get to food. They have even been known to kill a sheep or two (a big no no in these parts). They are also extremely rare and I got to see two in Fox Glacier. Loud little guys they are.

The biggest threat at the moment to New Zealand is rampant development. Yep, that age old story. Americans and Europeans (but mostly Americans) are moving here or investing here in droves, driving up land prices, pushing out locals and creating a lot of resentment. Most people are super friendly, but there are occasions when a warm reception turns to a frosty chill when they hear I am from the US. I'm so tired of having the "I'm sick of American culture too" conversation...so I just ignore it. But it does make you think twice about this entire system we're wrapped up in...how wide spread it is and how it effects everyone on the planet. In Dunedin, I had the unfortunate experience of being in the city when an American Princess Cruiseliner docked on shore (it was the same huge ship that I saw in Akoroa just days before). Hundreds of Florida-like, Republican-looking Americans descended onto the town. You could tell the locals had their shoulders skrunched up to their ears to compensate for the irritation. Stomping around...taking pictures..."YEAH!!!I'm from the STATES!" being shouted to a soft spoken kiwi behind the counter. I heard one American woman argue with a man over the proper term for gummy bears. "In New Zealand, we call them Lollies", the young kiwi guy said. The American woman snapped "THEY'RE GUMMY BEARS IN THE STATES!". I snapped back..."Well you're not in the States...are you?" The kiwi guy just grinned...politely...good naturedly. They're so polite here...almost painfully so...and I think to their detriment. Really, they should put a blanket moritorium on foreign investment to stop the selling off of their country to greedy bastards, but they're just too damn polite.

I had the chance to watch some New Zealand TV. There was even a Maori language children's show (completely spoken in Maori). Aporo means apple in case you wanted to know. The media here is fantastic, superb new programming and papers. They have more than their fair share of crap American programming (like CSI and stupid sitcoms) but overall the media reflects the informed populace. I had the unfortunate experience of seeing Bush's state of the union speech in a Pub. Everyone was refraining from throwing beer at the TV (politeness again).

On the news one night, there was footage of a Maori protest, and the Maori leader shooting the New Zealand flag with a gun. The protest was over land, which the Maori believe was stolen from them (and is now being sold off to foreign investment). The dynamics between Americans/ foreigners and the Pakeha is kind of irrelevant to the Maori who beleive that the land was never the Pakeha's (white man's) to sell in the first place. During the protest, the protestors did that intense warrior dance (I think it's called the whaka), portruding tongue, beating chests. It was impressive, and it made me want them to win.....to really win the fight for their land and truly control their destiny and this country. It was inspiring to see such passion for the struggle..which is for their way of life. With all the strife and protests though, it's still impressive to see Maoritanga( the maori way of life) so visible in this society. You'd never see anything like it in North America nor Australia...not anywhere. But I want them to go all the way...and win the big kahuna you might say... How amazing that would be!

I have lots more funny stories of staying in hostels, mostly involving smelly snoring, drunk guys who kept the entire room up all night...but I figured I did enough bitching in the last entry regarding the other travellers so I'll spare you. I'm in a girls hostel now in Christchurch. Hopefully I'll get some sleep in a room that doesn't smell like giant bag of dirty socks. Ugghhh.

Caitlin Coast and Fiordland, New Zealand

Hot weather follows me wherever I go. I've been in a perpetual summer since June. I'm currently at Franz Glacier and its so hot, the giant thing is melting before my eyes. It looks like a dying snowman.

After Dunedin, I drove down the Otago Peninsula to get another look at those yellow eyed penguins. This was a bit more succesful as it was a highly controlled reserve (that cost an arm and a leg to get into). I did get within three feet of the little critter and it barely even noticed me as I was in a military like dugout with camaflauge netting and a 6 inch peephole that was just big enough for my camera lense.

I watched the blue penguins come in from the peninsula that night as well, along with a dozen other tourists who ignored the signs and walked right up to the little birds who were coming in. I ran into this again and again, later in the Caitlins in Curio bay, an Israeli guy went walking straight up to a yellow eyed penguin and sat in front of it, ignoring the signs that said (do not get within 20 meters of the animals as it may prevent them from returning to their chicks). I wanted to strangle every tourist that would do this...which were many. One Kiwi guy I met in Curio Bay felt the same. He spent every day yelling at people to get off the rocks away from the penguins and go to the lookout tower. "tourisms great for the land owners but horrible for the wildlife" he said. He spent the same amount of time yelling at people who harrassed dolphins in Curio Bay which has no real supervision like Akoroa or Otago.

In the Caitlins I came across this cool little gallery of knick nack inventions

http://www.backpack-newzealand.com/gallery/Catlins/curios

It's called the gypsy gallery and is basically a van with all sorts of cool little inventions along the walls and floor. Around the wall runs a toy train that passes light bulbs that light up when it passes. Other inventions include a sea shell ocean wave maker, a card shuffler, and a human powered lightbulb flower. Weird goofy stuff that was the brainchild of a dreamer hippy guy who sat in the corner making more crazy things. It was a cool place that would be (and I think is) in a Bill Bryson book.

Driving this area of the world is amazing. Every hundred kilometers the landscape changes dramatically. One hour you're along a rainforest laden coast, the next hour you're in farmland, and then, mountainous alps, laced with glaciers. I drove the world famous Milford road from Te Anau to Milford which was completely Jaw dropping.

http://www.doc.govt.nz/Explore/002~Tracks-and-Walks/By-Region/013~Southland/Explore-Fiordland/Walks-from-the-Milford-Road/index.asp

The road itself is a world heritage site, along with the region. As you drive along the road the giant waterfalls that descend from the alps leave you feeling the enormity of this glorious planet. At one point, the road cuts through a massive mountain range that is being carved by glaciers. The tunnel was built in the 1930's and descends into the mountain. With dripping walls, the tunnel feels like a freezer. It's black, and you are driving into the earth. When you emerge, light opens up to an amazing alpine vista, giant waterfalls and glaciers surround your dwarfed car. Many people make their way to Milford sound or the world famous Milford treck (hailed as the greatest walk in the world). I ran into many backpackers who were doing these treks and it was beginning to feel like a competition. One Israeli guy began his introduction with "I've done the kepler trek in one day, the routburn track, the divide "and on and on and on.... at the end of his laundry list of accomplishments he asked me "and what have you done?" I told him I'm driving around trying to see as much as I can and he answerd with a haughty "oh, I suppose you can see stuff when driving". I suppose so.

I rented a tent and camped for a couple of days near the sound. One day I decided to go on a trek on the four hour walk of Gertrude's saddle, a glacier/alpine walk that had a somewhat challenging rating. As I made it to the top, I felt a tremendous sense of satisfaction, looking over the alpine vista and drinking water from the glacier creek. As I made it back down and American woman asked me if I made it to the top. I told her I went to the edge of the glacier just yonder and she proceeded to tell me how I didn't see the best part and it's a hard climb up the side of the mountain, and you got to do it, and you can see all of Milford sound, but you need to be in shape and yadda yadda yadda. I wished her luck and resented feeling like what I thought I accomplished didn't amount to anything. Two hours of glorious sites and solitary nature were ruined by an annoying American woman on a power trip. I realised that people spend most of their lives trying to outdo one another, and as a result, end up missing the best things in life. I'm as guilty of that as anyone. About 5 minutes after talking to her I heard a huge roar from above and saw an avalanche coming down the path she was going to head up. I didn't see her, but it is safe to say she was far enough from the avalanche to be effected. I wondered if she thought twice about heading up to the top after that. Nature really doesn't care. If you're in the way of movement or change, then you're shoved aside or quickly and effortlessly removed. I guess I'd rather look at a mountain than climb to the top. I suppose that is why I could be placed in the slacker category. I've never had an urgent need to conquer things, only experience them. It's just different I suppose.

I'm getting weary of the backpacker scene as you can probably tell from this entry. Everyone is very young and annoying. I'll be hooking up with my friend Texas in Dunedin and it will be nice to hang with him for a while. I'm also hoping to go surfing in Raglan...we'll see how the finances hold up. So far it's been lots of home cooked spagetti meals and discount options.