Track #1 Bob's Bay

I finally tramped my first track: Bob's Bay, in Picton. Today I'll tramp the Snout.













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Location:Gravesend Place,Picton,New Zealand

Picton, New Zealand

The Rough Guide travel guide placed the location of my hostel on the wrong side of town. I booked a bed at the Tombstone Backpackers, next to the graveyard. It is run by a couple and they have tried to make the hostel homie. They have succeeded! They picked me up in their minivan as I was walking down the Main Street looking lost. I showed Gary the owner the guidebook, and sure enough, the guidebook has the hostel marked in the opposite side of town, nowhere near the graveyard.



The hostel is on a hill next to the graveyard, walking distance from both the train and the ferry staion, on the "wrong side" of the rail tracks - the opposite side from the center of town.







All rooms, including the dorms, have panoramic views of the bay. The hostel offers free wifi, coffee and tea, and free breakfast, which includes homemade scones. The facilities includes laundry, pool tables, full kitchen, outdoor BBQ, and a hot tub. Also included are cute pets - a fluffy white cat I first took for a pillow, and a dog.

Picton is a cute seaside resort town, with ice creams and jem stores. It is also the host of the New Zealand Ruby Rock aka Goodletitle. It is a gemstone comprised of ruby, sapphire, and tourmalines. These three precious stones were fused together 40 kilometers under the earth through volcanic action. Westland New Zealand is the only place on the planet this rock is found, and was only marketed as a gemstone appx 30 years ago. Locals just thought these pretty rocks looked good in their gardens, not realizing the crystal makeup of the unpolished stones. The stones were originally dug up during the gold rush era and tossed aside by the miners. Now these stones are treasured and cost thousands of dollars retail. The combination of the three stones melted together gives each rock unique color and designed, some stones looking like clusters of purple grapes cut with green strings of kelp.



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Location:London Quay,Picton,New Zealand

Coffee on a ferry

I am finally settling in to the rhythms of the road. Last night at the YHI I slept for 8 solid, uninterrupted hours. I have not slept like that in over a year. One reason I wanted to travel was to unpack my overloaded brain and relax. My mixed men/women dorm was occupied by normal backpackers - no strange, needy talkers like the woman the night before. (She was a trip, unpacking and repacking all night, telling us all stories about how she was in NZ for a man she loved but doesn't love her back, how she lives as an artist in the Netherlands, but is originally from Japan and has lived in Washington, San Diego, and now NZ. She asked me for workout tips; I taught her how to use a strength band. She is to be avoided at all costs.)



Now I am on the inter island ferry, traversing through the Cook Straights, between the north and South Island, with a hot coffee in hand. The ocean is pretty calm, waves of three feet. But the weather is cold and rainy. The ferry is mostly enclosed, 7 decks of bars, cafes, lookout rooms, a movie theater. It has a feel of an ocean liner, not a small ferry.



Coffee is BIG in NZ. Apparently in the 1990's coffee replaced tea as the "go to" caffeinated beverage in NZ. There are more coffee shops here then there are Starbucks in the USA. And unlike in the U.S., they serve primarily coffee, not 26 oz hot sweet milk creations.

The coffee craze took off with a drink called the "flat white", which appears to be a no foam cappuccino. Espresso with a dash of warm milk. Other popular coffee drinks are the long regular, the short regular, and the Americano. All three appear to be variations of espresso and different amounts of hot water added. (I love the long regular.)

NZ loves their coffee so much that they import raw beans and roast and grind the beans locally. (Which the U.S. also does, and then drowns their coffee in milk and sugar, or just omits the coffee completely.)

I usually travel with Nescafé packets, but here in NZ, I do not need to bring emergency dried coffee. I am in coffee paradise. On a boat.


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Location:On a boat!

Northern Explorer - notes on a train

Once the train staff hear I am from California they want to talk about "Arnie", our ex-governor. I explained that Jerry Brown is back, and Arnie is making movies again. They knew we had midterm elections too, even if unrelated directly to the change of California governor.

(There are many US influences in Auckland. The pubs play college basketball; Ohio State was on all the TVs yesterday. And the clerk at the hostel was wearing a Michigan Spartans jersey.)

(Another side note: A difference I love is the abundance of aioli. With my venison burger last night, the choice was aioli or chutney, no ketchup. I love mayo - aioli on everything!)

Fun facts from a train:

1870 is the year that NZ began freezing meat, specifically lamb.

Auckland is "the city of sails" (due to the many boats - more per head of population than anywhere else in the world.)

Wellington is now the nation's capital. It once was Russell in the north, then Auckland, and finally moved to Wellington.

Kai is the Maori word for food, and is a common word around the country.

Mt. Ruapehu is the highest mountain in the north island, at 2797 meters. Our train will be passing this mountain, and has an open carriage for viewing.

Hamilton, two and a half hours south of Auckland, is the biggest dairy producing area in NZ. It gets much rain and sun all year long, for much grazing. The rolling hills are covered in milk cows. Hamilton was populated in 1868 by the British. It is known as a "cow town". It now has over 130,000 in human population. The grassy countryside is spotted by cone volcanoes and space tree coverage, as the local trees were harvested to decimation for the building of Victorian era homes in Sydney, San Francisco, and local houses.



The Finn Brothers, of Split Enz fame, are from the Hamilton area.

I cannot spell any of the Maori references, so no fun facts on the Maori people here yet. However, the area is rich with history of battles between the local Maori people
and the British colonials.

Maui - he was a Maori God, with goofy brothers, who formed the north island, South Island, and steward island. The fish, the boat, the anchor.

NZ Xmas tree - has red flowers, and a Maori name.


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Sleep

I don't have jet lag; I slept 9 hours on the plane and arrived at 7:00 am. Spent the whole day exploring Auckland. But.... You know when you have one crazy person in your dorm and they spend the whole night going through their suitcase, and prop the hallway door open to light the room? Yeah, we got one of those ... And she asked me to wake her up when I got up. Guess who "forgot" to wake her up....(I don't think she was asleep anyway.) So now I'm exhausted due to crazy lady propping the door open and messing with garbage bags at 2 am, 4 am etc....


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Velvet burger

Velvet venison burger with local double brown beer




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Auckland, New Zealand

After a cancelled flight, a missed connection, a transfer to a different airline and airport, and a "lost" ticket, I made it to New Zealand! First day in Auckland I checked into the Nomads Hostel, booked a train for Wellington, and took a "hop on hop off" bus tour of the city. The highlight of the day has been the beach - beautiful Mission Bay. Lovely walk from Bastion Point lookout.

Oh, there were five travelers from Michigan in my airport shuttle van. Who knew Michiganians flock to New Zealand in December!
















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Location:Fort Street,Auckland,New Zealand