A Whirlwind Touches Three Islands

July 28-August 10

Timetable:

Mon	Tues	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
Chi --> ChCh	ChCh --> Wellington	Wellington	Wellington -> ChCh	ChCh --> Greymouth	Greymouth --> Arthur	Arthu --> ChCh
ChCh --> Stewart Island	Stewart/Ulva	Stewart --> ChCh	ChCh	ChCh	ChCh --> Chi

July 29th Mon 

Recovery day

B arrived. The traditional presentation of the local transit card was made. Six months was a long time too go without those really good hugs.

Piwakawaka guards your transit funds.

Sumner on a cloudy evening - The very steep Flower Trail (thus kicking off one theme of the trip "stairs." Only rained on a little.

Spicy cold noodles made with love the day before in anticipation of Brennan's arrival.

Brennan's notes: Excavator moving rocks one at a time onto the beach.  Exposition on the ubiquity of public restrooms in NZ.

[I touted the ease of toileting in NZ, copious and often quite clean public restrooms.  This was demonstrated by toilets at Sumner's wee park, in the bus interchange, and in the central business district (CBD)]

July 30 Tue 

Airbnb booked - Wellington, Te Aro neighborhood. Flight to Wellington

Rainy walk along the wharf (teaching Brennan te Reo Maori pronunciation, wh is more of an English "f" as in "fox." Whanau is family, tangata whenua is people of the land, and a wharf is said farf.)

Walk into the hills (Mt Victoria greenery - So many Tui. Did not make it as far as the place where they filmed the Hobbits hiding under the tree roots when they first encounter the Black Riders).

Comedy medley at The Fringe (Femmes and Thems). Also, the worst cider of the trip, Brennan said it tasted like medical adhesive.

Slept in a tall tower with a view of the bay, sound of the whistling winds, hard rain. Not a speck of blue sky all day.

B: Domestic flight proof of ease

First Cuba street walk

Wellington Writers Walk

Kaffe Eis - NZ gelato

July 31 Wed 

Wellington all day

Cuba Street

Tour of New Zealand parliament “the Beehive”

Te Papa (National Museum)

Brewery date night, burgers sans beetroot.

Rained on all day. Changing into dry socks is a cozy miracle (take I).

B: NZ parliament tour  That terrifying taxidermy “dog”

[Don't worry, I'll share a picture of this dog when Brennan sends it to me.]

August 1 Thur

Morning in Wellington then Fly back to CHCH

Botanic garden in the rain. Rose garden all trimmed for overwintering the only sign this is the dead of winter. Everything green.

Rangpour limes found at the fancy grocery (sweetest skin, tartest juices). I love a fancy grocery store.

Lads on Tour Cabaret @ darkroom - met up with Pearse and Michele, fellow ex-pats.

B: That fancy grocer, rangpour lime.  Lads on Tour

2 Fri Aug

Train to Greymouth from Christchurch 08:15AM--1:10pm

Rad car hire - U426875

Punakaiki blowholes and Pancake rocks

Viewed the Tasman sea, wildly beautiful west coast majesty. Nikau palms. Arrows on the road in case you forget which way you’re going after you pull off and stare at an awe-inspiring view/ of cliffs and sea and primordial forest.

Saw weka, loved weka, wanted to learn everything about these kleptomaniacial chickens, flightless and prone to fearlessness around human. Weka = omen of thievery, phone stolen. Heard weka “cooo-eet, coo-eet" in the dark. Stargazing, Milky Way with a background of crashing waves. Red buckets for safety/visibility/keeping tourists from going over the cliff on the crazy switchback road up to our Airbnb. Soaking in the tub and reading Maori myths.

B: Got photographed by the whole train.  Met Jo and Russel (Airbnb)

3 Aug - Sat leaving Greymouth for Arthur’s Pass via TranzAlpine

Jo fixed us breakfast, tomatoes and poached eggs and so many jam options for toast. Fancy home espresso machine.

Wood’s Creek - old gold mining trail, dino ferns, I was too skairt to go all the way into the old tunnels.  Dinosaur ferns around every corner.

Offroading in a Yaris.

Train to Arthur’s Pass - Greymouth 2:15PM-4:00pm

Read the super specific botany of the hebe book, read the cannibalism book, finished the Maori myths. Lots of grumpy old men throwing tantrums and 1) stomping to reroute rivers 2) killing a daughter for her drinking the bedside glass of water 3) pitting sons with no quarrel against each other in mortal combat. It made me want to dream up better modern myths.

G+T with rangpour lime while gobbling a big plate of triple cheese pasta and broccoli. Feijoa wine and star gazing - dark skies, no moon, Big Milky Way, wrapped in coats and blankets. Finally, winter that felt like winter.

B: Jo’s walk by the sea [Point Elizabeth Walkway - we got to the scenic outlook just as the sun slipped over the hills and sent sunlight flooding down to the water, highlighting crazy little scudding mist that hovered just over the crashing Tasman Sea.]  Little pink mushrooms first spotted.  Wharf walk in Greymouth.  Squash Club for 50!

Stargazing in Arthur’s Pass, cooking dinner together.

4 Aug - Sun

Devil’s Punchbowl, Arthur’s Pass Walking Track (parallels the road) to Bealey chasm

Train to ChCh - 07:00PM

The land of the waterfall.  Kea as stolen watch salesman. (Brennan got some action shots of it flirtatiously opening its wings on the patio in front of a cafe, waiting for people to let their guard down so it could steal crusts, or at least the plastic sandwich box containing crusts). Kea have truly wicked looking beaks.

B: The Wobbly Kea.  889x2 steps up and down to see waterfalls with weird ice.  Fascinating plant frost ice crystals.  Public S----er.

5 Aug Mon

Fly to Invercargill -- Stewart Island flight 

Christchurch to Invercargill: Departure → 5/8 8:45am arrive Invercargill 10:10am4

WK161 Ivercargill depart 13:00 → arrive Oban 13:20

Stay at the South Sea Hotel http://www.southseahotel.co.nz/accommodation.html

Smol plane flight - just a little guy!  Planes flown by teens. Okay, that one had a mustache, so planes flown by people who probably couldn't buy beer in the US. 2-3 rainbows per/hour from arrival to sunset.

Kiwi hunt (may as well have been snipe - also missed opportunity to be Very Goth and stand in cemetery at night in the rain)

B: Dog on a plane! [6 month old border collie puppy, went to town because owner had a dentist appointment -- what puppy did while owner was at the dentist is anybody’s guess]

Perhaps the biggest trees in all of Stewart’s Island.  Kaka sighting on observation rock.

Ate first type of potatoes at only bar in town. [Possibly kauri trees.]

1 - Stewart Island Flights - They have two plane sizes, Smol and Just a Little Guy.  I flew on whichever the bigger one was, it seated 8 people (including the pilot/co-pilot)

I'm basically in a sky minivan.

6 Aug Tue

Boat to Ulva island

09:00

Water Taxi Golden Bay-Ulva-Rakiura Water Taxis return 12pm RKMZPDJ

 https://www.alltrails.com/trail/new-zealand/southland/ulva-island-walking-track 

Ulva island 

Yellowhead magical chorus with kakariki hanger-ons.

Rant about Molly Winter’s More, which I started after my vey good and non-sensational book about cannibalism.  Brennan said I heaved a deep sigh approximately every 10 pages.

B: Boulder/ ?Sea lion in woods.

Ferryman/barber in training.

That is not a boulder. It arched its head and looked me dead in the eye and then went back to napping.

The sealion was napping kind of like this.

7 Aug Wed 

BUS Tour

10:00

Stewart Island (Oban)

WK162 Depart Oban 13:30, arrive Invercargill 13:50

Booking reference: DJKMPH

Departure -- 4:10 PM from Invercargill Arrival CHCH 5:30 PM

Dawn chorus.  Still 0 kiwi, but kaka and kakariki and tui galore.  Van tour--the super local guide, got the scoop about the difference between locals and cribbies (those who own property but don't live on Rakiura year-round.) Also got to know about the group text neighbors can have about where the one cop on the island is at all times.

B: 2 hour sunrise

Van tour with Shonna

Rakiura museum.

8 Aug Thu - CHCH

Sleep in!

Crossword puzzles and Frances Nation for breakfast

Library - Turanga zines

Candy tasting + Sri Lankan food, meeting up with Pearse, Michele and Jeff.  Everybody thinks Brennan’s candy flavor descriptions are hysterical.

B: Bread and buttering

9 Aug Fri - CHCH

Red zone bike ride - soggy.  New Brighton Pier (and library). Changing into dry socks is a miracle of coziness take II.

B: New Brighton.  Ramen

10 Aug Sat

Brennan in Christchurch to catch Fiji flight home

Breakfast together, fried eggs on toast and a new (to us) type of avocado.

Real Fruit Ice cream, a New Zealand style Brennan hadn't gotten to try yet.

B: Good dog watching, terrible fountain commentary.

[1996 paint job inspired this letter to the local paper: "cause(ing) flu-like symptoms when looked upon.]

Photographed by Bernard Spragg.

At the end of this trip I had seen 10 new birds with Brennan, along with incredible light (sunrise! sunset! afternoon sun leaping out from behind clouds!) and scenery and skies and stars. Now I need a nap and some routine for a bit.