A Month with Marlene

Traveling around NZ by van(Marlene) was the way to go. There are the buses that run pretty comprehensive routes across the island, but they pack in travelers like sheep, glazed-eyed staring out the window as they pass by a gravel road that looks incredibly inviting. The problem for me is, that road is not on the bus route. Marlene has proved to be a perfect match for me. Capable of tackling some pretty hairy roads we’ve made our way off highways, down gravel, across a couple creeks and onto the pot-holed dirt roads that have recently become more and more muddy. The further down the gravel and dirt I go, the more I think to myself, “This is it. This time I’m getting stuck with no one around to pull me out.” Trudging up hillside dirt roads in first gear at a roaring 10 kph I try and convince myself to turn around, “but the road is not wide enough and if I stop moving I might get stuck. Then I’ll have to back down that whole way!” I think back to the last road, when I didn’t turn around, and how happy I was at the top when I was rewarded with the view over a beech tree forest canopy spanning miles till it disappeared into the ocean.

I’ve spent little time in the towns here. Not the they are unpleasant by any means, they’re dwarfed and lost from thought due to the immense green landscape around them. I’ll make a stop every couple of days for some fresh veggies to accompany my tuna and pasta dinners, get a refill of propane for my cooking stove, and some gas to get me out to the next dirt road.

Describing the landscape is tough. It’s the best parts of the US, the best parts of California, multiplied a couple times, stuffed into a peanut shell and sparsely populated. Just watch Lord of the Rings. Instead of Frodo and Sam running away from Orcs, while Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli give chase, imagine me with my camera and binoculars in either hand, walking towards the birds that don’t fly away. If you were a cruel person you could actually whack some of these birds right from the air as they flutter within arms length of your face, looking at you with as much curiosity as you are looking at them. No binoculars necessary for some of the bird watching here. Mountains are tall and snow capped, trees are extremely abundant, lakes have amazing turquoise blue glacier water, the coast makes me feel as if I’m back on PCH driving though Big Sur, sheep, tons of friendly people, some weird ones too, endless hiking trails, braided rivers, rain forests, fjords, waterfalls, Maoris’ eager and ready to educate you on their native culture. It’s an endless island of mother natures best.

My route so far: (A map might help sort it out)
Beginning in Christchurch
SW to Mt. Hutt area and Mt. Sunday area
S to Peel Forest
Onward S to Timaru, eagerly moved further south
Oamaru, Kakanui, Moeraki Boulders, Shag Point
Back up NW to Elephant Rocks, Lake Aviemore, Lake Tekapo
S to Lake Pukaki, Tasman Glacier, Mt. Cook
SE to Dunedin and Otago Peninsula
S into the Catlins Forest, Curio Bay, the Petrified Forest, Slope Point
Leave Marlene in Bluff and take a ferry further South
Stewart Island, Halfmoon Bay(Oban), Ulva Island
Back onto the mainland
N to Lake Mavora, and Fiordland National Park, Te Anau, Milford Sound
N to Queenstown and surrounding area, Cardrona Pass, Wanaka
Mt. Aspiring National Park, NW to Lake Hawea, Lake Wanaka
NW to the coast from Haast to Tai Poutini National Park
N to Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers
N to Ross, Hokitika and the Hokitika Gorge
E across Arthur’s Pass
Currently in Christchurch, recharging to tackle the Northern Section of the South Island.

Foods:
All the seafood is amazing.
The best fish and chips I’ve ever had
Lamb-fabulous
Paua (abundant relative of our abalone, meat is black instead of white)
Green-lipped mussels, mussel patties
Feijoa, native fruit
Marmite, Kiwi version of Vegimite
Pineapple lumps, a great candy that puts a smile across your cheeks
Some traditional Maori eats…
Kina (sea urchin) straight from the ocean, sweet and creamy
Muttonbird (Sooty Shearwater) cooked in stew whole, pulled out and de-boned, very pungent smell and taste, fatty and oily, not my favorite but enjoyable

Bird favorites:
Kiwi (vocals only, no visual…yet)
Blue Penguins
Yellow-eyed Penguins
Royal Albatross
White-capped Mollyhawk (albatross)
Petrels
Royal Spoonbill
Australian Harrier
NZ Falcon
Weka
Pukeko
Spur-winged Plover
Wood Pigeon
Kaka
Kea
Red-crowned Parakeet
Kingfisher
Saddleback
Fantail
Tui
Bellbird
Tomtit
Australian Magpie…and many more

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