Mt. Cook roadtrip (30.04.-3.5.2011)

My camera has been suffering from serious neglect and I also needed to get back on the road. Good timing because my friend Katrin was about to leave Christchurch via Mt. Cook and Queenstown and so we decided to catch up and meet halfway. I had hired a car from Queenstown and left for Lake Tekapo on a beautiful, sunny and warm Indian summer Saturday, allowing for various photo stops along the way. After I had reached Lake Tekapo I found Katrin sunbathing on a park bench overlooking the lake - what a great idea! We got rid of her luggage, organized fish & chips for lunch and continued sunbathing. Later we headed off for a photo shot at the church of the good sheppard and also at the Mt. John Observatory - right in time for sunset and a beautiful display of different colours. At the YHA hostel I later cooked dinner and encountered the same old questions: 1. Why do backpackers only eat pasta? 2. Why is recycling so challenging for some people? 3. Is it too much to ask for to turn off the stove when finished cooking?
Sunday came and we left for Mt. Cook (not without the mandatory stop at Lake Pukaki of course). Although a few clouds had found their way into the sky it was still warm and sunny and the clouds are quite a nice feature in pictures anyway. We stopped numerous times on the way to Mt. Cook Village as Mt. Aoraki overlooms every other mountain and mountain range in the area. Breathtaking as usual and we understand how lucky we were to actually see the mountain as it usually shyly hides behind the clouds. In the village we took a short walk into the Hooker Valley before making ourselves at home at the YHA hostel and spending a quite night with a bottle of wine.
I couldn't wait for monday as I had booked a tour with the Glacier Explorers. My second tour it proved to be and I was looking forward to seeing how things had changed. The walk across the moon like landscape down to the Tasman Lake was intriguing. Here a few facts about the Tasman glacier and lake: The glacier is the biggest in New Zealand with 27km these days. 18 thousand years ago, its lengths was 100km. In 1973 the Tasman Lake began to form as the Glacier continued its retreat. In 2009, the lake measured 2km at its widest point, 6.5km at its longest point and 200m deep at its deepest point. It started raining during the tour and it felt like temperatures were dropping too. That might as well have been the windchill, as the boot sped over the lake to allow for different views. Most of the icebergs broke off the Tasman Glacier during the February Christchurch earthquake that was felt in the Southern Alps as well. The guides kept their distance to the Glacier itself due to the fact that only 10% of an iceberg are visible above the water and nobody knows how far the 90% underneath the water are extending out into the lake. As icebergs melt (sunlight, warmer water that surrounds them) they continually try to keep the same ratio and that makes their movement unpredictable. I loved doing that tour again and I might as well be back in the future for a third trip!
We had to get back to Queenstown on the same day and so we said our goodbyes to Mt. Cook Village. When we got back into Queenstown a few hours later, it was almost time for sunset and we got rid of the car, went shopping and had yummy pizza before making ourselves comfortable in the hostel. The next day we headed back into Milford and Katrin stayed with me for a few days to relax and befriend a few sandflies. Mission accomplished I would say!

the season so far...

Oh boy, the summer season is nearing its end. And what a season it’s been! The crew this year has been far from perfect and easy to work with (and that’s the most polite way I can express my feelings), it’s been much quieter than I remember from previous seasons and time has been flying extremely fast. There have been many reasons for Milford being quieter than usual and two of them have been the earthquake in Christchurch in February and the massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March. People are recovering from those tragic events and have other things than travelling in mind. The media has broadcasted an image of a broken and devastated Christchurch and a country in ruin and that has put many people off travelling.

Christchurch is the gateway to the south island of New Zealand and yes, a lot of infrastructure in the city has been destroyed and there are less hotel beds available than usual. The CBD is still cordoned off and nobody is allowed inside, for different reasons like cleaning up, making sure nobody gets hurt from unstable buildings etc. New Zealand is popular with self catering tourists who travel the country in motorhomes and there are less of those available as well, as many of them are being used as alternative accommodation for the thousands of families who have lost their housing during the earthquake. Unfortunately Christchurch has lost the Rugby World Cup to other cities in the south island as well, due to the facts I have stated above. That’s a major psychological blow and it will take Canterbury a long time to recover from it. Nevertheless, life is going on and the city is being rebuild – slowly but with lots of passion and thought as to how to make Christchurch a safer place in the future.

Milford businesses are suffering from declining tourist numbers but we are more than optimistic that next year’s summer season will see an increase in numbers again, as we’re still the number one tourist destination in New Zealand!

So, what have I been up to this season, people may ask. I have been on a few missions, starting off with the Catlins late last year, Stewart Island, Queenstown/Arrowtown/Wanaka/Kinloch and just recently Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula. To be honest, I have been either too busy or too lazy (or a combination of both) to write a story for the last two trips, but you’ll be able to enjoy the photos on picasa. I loved the Otago Peninsula for the wildlife and the many photo opportunities but with those opportunities come the painful pleasure of going through hundreds of albatross shots to choose the best ones.

Early this week Milford has celebrated its annual End of the Season Ball to farewell those people that will leave us at the end of this season. As every year, staff numbers will drop at the end of may from around 160-200 in summer to 50-60 in winter. Although, this winter is going to be a little bit different as there is a lot of construction work going on in Milford to improve the flood protection of the village and therefore we have quite a big number of construction staff staying with us over the winter.

And there is good news for my friends in Europe and esp. in Germany. After a lot of thought and research for alternative holiday destinations during our winter season I have decided to fly home to Germany in June to see my family and spend heaps of quality time with my little darling nephew Henry. And if possible I will try to travel Europe, so look out for me, I might pop up on your doorsteps….

Stewart Island (23.01.-27.01.2011)

When my friends Tina and Frank from back home asked me whether or not I was interested to come to Stewart Island with them, I didn’t have to think long. I have been to Stewart Island twice already but there’s no harm in visiting this beautiful place for a third time. In order to save some time we had decided to take advantage of Stewart Island Flights and took a 20 minute sightseeing flight over to the island. The weather was gorgeous and so were the views especially when approaching the island. Like last time with Tina and Frank we had booked the Rose Cottage and when we arrived there after a steep but short climb up the hilly road, I was instantly hit by memories. Everything looked the same as in 2007 and the interior hadn’t changed at all. I moved into my little room and chaos took over. With no hooks or wardrobe everything ends up on the floor and that’s where it would stay for the next few days.

Well, what is there on the island you might ask. The only town on the island is Oban so let’s call it the capital. Locals have everything they need; the general store that has fresh bread and eggs twice a week; a post office and the mail/newspapers coming in early in the morning on the first flight over from Invercargill; South Sea Hotel that serves as Hotel and Pub/ Restaurant; a café that sells handmade jewellery made from fishing gear; a takeaway; glowing sky clothing shop (and it all started out on Steward Island!); the red shed aka the Tourist Information Centre; DOC Information Centre that is especially important to all those people coming to Stewart Island to hike (either Rakiura Track or one of the Circuits); the fernery gift shop; a police station; a rugby field (unfortunately Stewart Island residents struggle putting teams together for regular matches, but one of the regulars is the annual Maori vs Pakeha match), a Presbyterian church, the church hill restaurant, quite a few lodges and cottages to accommodate all those visitors; even a YHA and many many boats. There are only a few kilometres of sealed road and a few cars that need to have a valid warrant before coming over to the island. Recently they even started offering a wee rental service for tourist tired of walking all those hills. The hills require a bit of an effort to climb but there are no other ways and so people have learned to live with them. Locals without a car mostly own bikes (can’t see where that helps because you still need to put a lot of effort in getting up there, but nevermind) or motorbikes.

As I said, Oban isn’t big at all but in order to see all the different places, bays and ‘attractions’ you need to walk a lot as they are all located at different ends of town. Or you head down to the red shed and either book the Village & Bay Tours or the taxi service, which also takes you to the most popular places. I did the first and although I had seen all those places before, I really enjoyed the tour for all the information I received from our informative guide Kylie. The insight into local life was priceless! We also did the Patterson Inlet Cruise with Stewart Island Experience on a rainy day because we wouldn’t want to spend all day walking in the rain. Again, the information we received were highly appreciated as you normally don’t get that kind of information and insight from a travel guide. We also stopped on Ulva Island, the bird sanctuary for a short guided walk. That walk wouldn’t have been enough for us as we like to explore things and take pictures, so luckily we had been to the island 2 days before and had spent almost 6 hours with watching birds and enjoying the sun at West End Beach.

My highlight of this trip was definitely the kiwi spotting tour we had booked for one evening. I had never been able to see kiwis in the wild and had only seen them in a nocturnal house and that needed changing! We booked BRAVO ADVENTURE CRUISES who have been operating for more than 20 years with an amazing success rate. In the last 2 years there was no single day without at least one kiwi to be seen on their tours! Before we left the boat and headed into the night we received some useful information about kiwis, grabbed torches and filed behind the guide on our walk through the bush. It was pitch black and completely silent as nobody dared to speak. After about 15 to 20 minutes we saw the first kiwi searching for food and I stood in awe watching the bird. She knew we were there but didn’t feel hassled and stayed. Most New Zealanders have never seen a kiwi bird in their life and probably won’t. And here I was, looking at one! After a while we left her alone and kept on going, down to Ocean Beach. The kiwis love to come out to the beach because they feed on the little sand hoppers that appear in big numbers at night time (maybe even at daytime, I don’t know actually) and so we didn’t need to walk long before we saw the second kiwi. It was a female again (they have a longer beak that’s also curved) and she also was busy searching the sand. Our guide Greg had warned us to look out for sea lions that like to hang out on the beach and that he would not want us to run into them in the dark. Fair enough I’d say! He carried a long stick to be able to defend us in an emergency but luckily there were no sea lions tonight. Later on we saw a male kiwi, that was disturbed by someone in the group couching and he ran away hastily. But on the way back we saw him again so he must have come back to his spot immediately after we had left. Time is flying when you are having fun and I assume that most of us could have easily spent some more time on the beach but we needed to head back. At 12am we arrived back at the boat and with no vision at all but his radar the skipper took us back to the wharf.

As I said before, that tour was the highlight of my Stewart Island trip and I can’t believe I haven’t done that before! When I come back to the Island, I will be back on Ocean Beach!
After 5 days on the island we flew back to Invercargill and headed straight back into Milford Sound as I needed to get back to work for the next day. Tina and Frank stayed overnight and joined a cruise the next day before they left Milford and continued to enjoy their holidays in their motorhome; off to new adventures!

my Top 5 of 2010

I hope everybody has had a wonderful christmas time and a great start into 2011. My holidays were quite unspectacular. I was lucky enough to be off over christmas but I stayed in Milford anyway to be here for our annual community christmas dinner/party. It was raining for 4 days straight and so there wasn't much to do for me accept for having looong sleep ins, cleaning my room and watch a lot of movies. New Years I was working and I had a BBQ invitation from one of our skippers. It was 8 of us and we enjoyed a few drinks, sausages and mince paddies and a good laugh about this and that. I didn't get much sleep last night but at least I wasn't hangover like some of my workmates which I wasn't too happy about (party hard, work hard!)

In retrospective I'd like to share my Top 5 of special moments and events of 2010 with you.
1. Seeing my little nephew Henry for the first time and holding him was very special to me and I was looking forward to that moment a lot when I was still back in Vancouver. Right now I am not too sure when I can see him again but I hope it won't be too long.

2. Being part of and experiencing the 2010 Olympic Wintergames in Vancouver and Whistler is something I will never forget. I have experienced the Wintergames in all aspects possible; first working for VANOC recruiting the Games' Volunteers, then ensuring everybody's safety while working for Contemporary Security Canada and later volunteering for the Paralympics in Whistler. I don't want to miss any of those special moments and most dear to me is seeing the dress rehersal for the opening ceremony. It couldn't have gotten any better than that!

3. Being back in New Zealand and Milford Sound and cruising the fjord again after being absent for the last 2.5 years. Back on the boat it really hit home that I am back where I belong and where I feel content and home. Permanent Residency is my goal and I won't leave Milford before I managed to get that stamp in my passport!

4. Being able to travel the Canadian Rockies and take all those beautiful pictures of lakes, mountains, frozen waterfalls, tons of snow and heaps of other stuff was great. For the first time ever I snowshoed, tried hiking with crampons and saw footprints of bears. I realized that sometimes I am as brainless as all the other tourists I always complain about; reaching Lake Louise I was a little bit disappointed to see it frozen because I was so looking forward to taking pictures of mountains reflecting in the lake; it had never crossed my mind that in the middle of winter a lake could be frozen (to all fairness, that would not happen in New Zealand....) !

5. Last but not least, I finally saw Niagara Falls. As one of Canada's icons the Falls should be on everybody's list and although I wasn't really happy with the hype in Niagara (the casinos, bars, loud music, carrousels etc) I really enjoyed the Falls. Powerful, pure and definitely wet (as I experienced myself)

Have a wonderful 2011, may you come closer to implementing your dreams and plans for your future.

Catlins roadtrip

My first New Zealand adventure after arriving back in the country was long overdue, therefor I hired a car and went off to explore the Catlins. This was not my first trip down south as I have been there many years ago but no harm in visiting again, right?!

Day 1 of my trip and I picked up my Budget rental car in Queenstown, made my way down to Invercargill with a few photo stops inbetween (now that I finally got the chance to stop wherever I wanted!). Shopping, sightseeing and collecting information regarding the Catlins took quite some time and when I finally headed off on the Southern Scenic Route it was late afternoon. Time to put a few miles behind me! At early evening I arrived at Curio Bay's Lazy Dolphin Backpacker, had dinner and went to see the penguins at the fortified forrest (the fossilised remains of an ancient forest). Patience is of the essence and many tourists frankly lack the patience for wildlife viewing, hence the beach was almost empty by the time the Yellow-Eyed-Penguins (hoiho) finally came on shore. A bit clumsy and anxious, the penguins who had remained in the nests, walked down to the shore to welcome their parents/partners. The arriving penguins were busy cleaning their feathers and checking whether or not the coast was clear. I stayed until it was completely dark and left them to their own devices, giving them the chance to settle into their homes.

Day 2 and I headed to Slope Point, the South Island's southernmost point. It was just past 10am but temperatures were on the rise and it should be getting even hotter! Waipapa Point was my next destination and it is one of my favourites in the Catlins. In the last few years it has been developed to a major tourist spot with a proper landscaped carpark and toilets. I found three sea lions doing different things; snoozing, chasing flies away by throwing sand on their bodies and taking a refreshing swim. I needed refreshing myself as temperatures were high up and so my short sleeve top made way for the sleeveless top, thongs replaced sneakers and my body saw some sunlotion. My feet also experienced sea water again, which they haven't in a very long time!

Before finding my accommodation for the night I paid a visit to McLean Falls, Lake Wilkie and the beautiful Florence Hill Lookout. Following a recommendation of a friend, I stayed the night in Papatowai's Hilltop Accommodation and I loved it! Tranquil, up on a hill (who would have guessed, seing the name....) and surrounded by countless sheep, I spent a relaxing evening processing my pictures and getting started on my blog (the German one that is).

Day 3 started off with a waterfall again, this time the famous Purakaunui Falls. It was already hot and I was glad for the shade provided by the forest. Next destination was Jacks Bay and the Blowhole. It didn't blow at all but the scenery was awesome and I worked on my tan (without having much to do). While climbing the hill up to the lookout, I was watched by inquisitive sheep who usually don't get much of a change during the day. Back on the beach, my feet took a bath in the water and I watched sea lions what looked like fighting. After a while I figured they were actually mating. After a few pictures I left them alone and headed further to Nugget Point, one of the Catlins main attractions. At nearby Kaka Point I ignored the beach and forest walk, enjoyed fish & chips for lunch and had to say goodbye to the Catlins as I needed to be back in Invercargill for the night. I arrived there in the early evening and went to see the new Harry Potter movie. Great flick!

Day 4 came and I had to say goodbye to my wee Toyota. My workmate Sara (born and bred Invercargiller) gave me a lift back to Milford and we were greeted by sunshine and hot temperatures. The summer had finally arrived in Milford!!!

back in Kiwiland

Oopsy daisy, I guess I owe you an update about my wherabouts and doings. After having worked for Fraserway RV in Vancouver over the summer with fantastic workmates who I will miss dearly, I have left Canada in mid September to fly home. Still in Vancouver I had already started the process of getting all my paperwork ready for New Zealand immigration in order to apply for a work permit straight away once I would be back in Germany. Heaps of money I have spent for my medical, blood test and chest x-ray and luckely I have received all my results just a few days before I left the country. Back in Germany I was able to send the paperwork on its way to the embassy in Berlin and then I played the waiting game. I have very much enjoyed being back home and especially seing my little nephew Henry who I fell in love with in a heartbeat. My brother and his family don't live close to my parents house so I was trully thankful for every chance to see Henry and spend as much time with him as possible. He is a little more than 4 months now and a real charmer!

It took a bit more than 2 weeks for my visa and I was faced with the challenging task of finding an affordable flight on very short notice. With some help from a lovely friend I booked a flight Frankfurt-Osaka-Auckland-Queenstown and left Germany on October 13th. I can't describe how heartbreaking it was saying goodbye to my little Henry, knowing I won't see him again for a very long time and next time we'll meet he probably won't remember me. What a shame!

Two days later I finally arrived in New Zealand and was in for a little shock! Lufthansa had lost or forgotten to transfer my luggage in Osaka and left Air New Zealand to deal with the aftermaths. What was good for me in the end because those guys did an awesome job couriering my luggage down to Milford Sound in a record time. Only 2 days later I had my stuff!
Most of you probably already know that I am back in Milford Sound enjoying Fiordland and work on the boats. I have no idea how long I'll be here for, making plans isn't one of my strenghts (anymore) and so I'll see what the future might bring. For now I am more than happy to be back in New Zealand and that is all that matters!

Paralympics in Whistler and a whole new experience

The thing that really strikes me about anada is the people's willingness to dedicate their time to a good purpose and volunteer for all sorts of things. When I worked for VANOC and interviewed all those people and heard their stories and volunteer history I was deeply impressed. That would not happen back home to such an extend since people are too busy working their paid job to earn a living.

I was determined to do my share as well and since my security job finished with the Olympics I was available for a new adventure. While still working for VANOC, I had signed myself up as a volunteer and scored a position in the Whistler Athlete's Village in resident services. I felt very priviliged as I was entitled to sleep in the village, too; next door to all the Paralympic athletes and delegates.

The pace of live and work was so much different up here than back in Vancouver during the Olympics and I first struggled to adjust to not having much to do, just sitting around being approachable to volunteers and athletes and trying to make everyone's stay at the village at comfortable as possible. But you get used to it very quickly and I enjoyed the winter time with my fellow volunteer budies. We were seen reating artwork in the snow, starting snowball fights with everyone rossing our path, exploring the village and using the athlete's video lounge to watch DVDs ourselves. Almost everyday we made it into Whistler to explore the township, go shopping, go for a coffee, see the Paralympic elebrations, see competitions and the victory eremonies and much more. I loved being up there for about 3 weeks and get to see Whistler from a different point of view most tourists and visitors won't get to see. I also tried my luck skiing with my friend Kate but we are no ski bunnies, that's for sure. It took us ages to actually get off the mountain again safely and when I had finally made it back into Whistler township I wouldn't wanna touch skis again!

To finish off our Paralympic experience, we watched the closing eremony in the Amsterdam pub in Whistler as we couldn't get any tickets for the event. The athlete's parade passed right outside the pub before entering the stadium to commence the show. What a great way of saying goodbye to the world. Once the show was over we were all just sitting there in disbelief. No way our efforts to organize the Olympics and Paralympics had come to an end! A relief but also a scary idea. What comes next?!?!