Nouvelle-Zelande

Mardi 25 novembre 2008

On the road again...

After two more weeks in Queenstown where I pursued my English classes and had a Great time with my friends at the hostel, I left to Franz Joseph glacier in Sunday afternoon. At one point, I was tempted to stay another night because I wasn’t in top shape after the “pimp and porn star” party, it was raining and 7 hours alone in the car is a long ride. Anyway, even if we like a place, we should know that there is a time to continue our journey ;-) Arrived in Franz Joseph glacier it was raining there also… I was supposed to climb the glacier the day after but with this weather?? After I asked some people “Anyway, it rains everyday here” (fun… interesting place to stay all year long). Ah, I will see how I feel tomorrow.

7h30 am: My alarm clock told me that I should wake up… I don’t want to!

8:00 am: I was late. Ok just a look at the weather… it’s sunny, I have no choice.

8:05 am: I ask the reception if it’s possible to book the trip… the line is busy.

8:20 am: Is too late for the 8:30 trip but I can book the one at 9:15… I’m here so let’s go!

8:25 am: I pack my bag.

8:35 am: I am going to the market to buy food for the day

9:15 am: I am running late to have my breakfast.

9:20 am: I ask the reception, I’m supposed to wait here?

9:21 am: I’m running to the office because I was supposed to be there at 9:15…

9:26 am: They are like me; they are late in their planning so I’m ok…

10:15 am: They give us our material for the climb and I get in the bus and just like that…

I’m on the road again… it is the traveler’s game ;-)

Even if it was raining all day long and I was completely wet, Franz Joseph glacier is very interesting. Before, I saw some glaciers in Canada and New Zealand but it was the first time that I was able to climb with crampons. The blue color of the ice is especially beautiful!

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Dimanche 2 novembre 2008

Road trip: part two

« L’avenue me fait marcher c’est comme ca, cette nuit le ciel est mon plancher trouver-moi, … ».

We want to say thank you to Amelie for sending me this great CD to Indonesia. We played and we play, we play, we play, we play it !

We left you at Bluff and we were supposed to go to the Catlins National Park and... we did that. The Catlins is the winding coastal route between Invercargill and Dunedin passes through natural sights, beaches, side roads and gorgeous vistas. One characteristic of the road trough Catlins National Park is the incredible slogans of the cities for example: Tuatapere, New Zealand’s sausage capital (we can bet that the last mayor was the butcher of the town), Milton “ the city of opportunities” (what’s your profession? ah, it doesn’t matter, we need you anyway) or Owaka “place of the canoe” and Pouwanea “meeting of the water”.

Day 6: First stop, Waipapa point with the sea lions and the lighthouse. Arrived to the beach, a warning sign told us to be extremely careful with the sea lion, especially when they mate so now because they can attack you... Slowly we enter the beach and saw the grumpy one then we escape and find the lazy one who was happy to pose for us. After that, we were ready for some tramping at the fossil forest (forest from the Jurassic time) and to see the yellow eyes penguins at Curious bay despite we were very tired. “Where are the old threes?” Nobody told us that it’s a forest OF fossils. Maybe our archaeological part didn’t really know where she was supposed to look for but saw fossils and rocks and big seaweeds, the most interesting sight. And penguins... they never show up. Tired from our walk, we decided to look an accommodation for the night. We found a very special place: you just stop, park your car, open the door, say “hello anybody here?” then enter in the house, write your name on a sheet of paper and make yourself like at home. The owner turn up at eight o’clock to collect the money... easy way to save a receptionist pay.

Day 7: We stayed in the bed very late, because both of us wanted to jump into the shower but the american girl has been in there forever... or at least, that was what we taught. So it was a big surprise when we discovered that the shower change during the night to a bathtub... The pleasure of sharing a place ;-) So it seems to be the day of the water, while it was raining outside we left for the Matai waterfall then to the Nugget point at roaring bay where we saw sea lions again and finally Dunedin.

Day 8-9: Dunedin is a nice university city in front of the sea. Sometimes, it’s good to be back in a city: cinema, art gallery, coffee and walk without a goal. We went to the Otago peninsula for another attempt to see the yellow eyed penguins with success. In fact, we saw one but it was really cute. It was amazing to observe him coming out off the water to go home. We saw some sea lions again...boring ;-) It’s funny how excited we got the first time we saw them and how rapidly, it’s becoming a normal figure. Also, we managed to see some huge Albatross birds. We are now on the road to Oamaru and another night with miss Monroe...

We are tired... see you tomorrow