Stewart Island

The ferry ride to get from Bluff (at tip of the South Island) to Stewart Island was terribly rocky, and people were getting sick left and right (yes, some threw up). It's an hour-long ride, too. There was a storm going on so we couldn't see much outside of the windows with the crashing waves and rain. I usually don't get seasick, but I did this time and almost lost it. The boat was battered hard several times by big waves -- I suddenly had even more sympathy for the people who immigrated to New Zealand via a three-month boat ride that we had just learned about at the Otago Settlers Museum in Dunedin. There's a recreation of the sleeping quarters there -- no windows, just a small hard bunk.

little town of Oban, the only on Stewart Island

We made it to the hostel (a small, quaint place where they don't even give you keys because there is a trust policy that seems to work alright) after toting our luggage in the rain and later headed down to the dock again to see the little blue penguins come in for the night. There were only three, but they were cute to watch as they swam up then hurriedly slipped behind the rocks to make it to their hidden nests on shore. We came back the next day too and saw three again, but one did a little show and jumped off a rock into the water before disappearing.

 

The next day we lingered in the hostel waiting for the rain to let up. We darted over to the visitor center, me trying in futile to use an umbrella and having it not work at all and then expressing my anger at NZ weather. I'm not a fan of being wet. By mid-day the rain had cleared enough that we suited up in our rain gear and went out for a walk along one of the shore paths. It was nice enough and we saw some NZ birds along the way and some cool seaweed on the rocks. At dusk, we went to a nearby area that is known for kiwi sightings, but unfortunately we didn't get to see any -- just lots of other birds hunting for worms in the rain-soaked field. The short rainforest trail we took was cool though, and haunting at night. It's nice to not have to worry about predators here.

 

naughty kea birds about to be fed on someone's porch

New Zealand wood pigeon (so big!)

rainforest walk

 

treated ourselves to fish & chips after the hike

The ferry back the next day was much better and calmer. We all stood at the back in the fresh air to avoid the claustrophobic feeling of the cabin, and it seemed to work and no one got sick this time.

Tauranga and Mount Maunganui

On our one day in Tauranga, it decided to downpour. One of my tutorial students lives near the popular beach on the north side of the city, and we had planned to meet up for breakfast and go for a walk around the scenic Mount Maunganui which is on the end of a small peninsula. We had breakfast and I again encountered the weird custom of them serving the pancakes with a big scoop of plain yogurt. I assumed it was whipped cream and made it through about half of it before realizing there was no sugar in there, just tartness. I still don't understand what the obsession with putting tart yogurt with sweet things is. They also didn't provide any syrup. Three pancakes with berry compote and a scoop of yogurt for $16. Sigh. D encountered the thing picky eaters worldwide can't stand -- when a menu lists supposedly all the ingredients, but then leaves off a bunch of them for no apparent reason. He ordered a breakfast burrito without mushrooms or tomatoes, and it still arrived with unlisted spinach and a mystery orangish sauce. Also $16. My student ordered an omelette, but I didn't pay attention to what it had on it. We were too busy talking. 

After a long while, we decided to walk around the mount despite the rain because it seemed to be letting up. There were sheep undisturbed by the rain and some pretty rocks in the water. Soon into the walk, it started downpouring. We plowed ahead anyway and ended up soaked with puddles in our shoes after about 45 minutes. We drove her home and went back to our Airbnb place to change and eat lunch before driving to Gisborne. I have no pictures from Tauranga because of the rain, but everyone kept telling us it was beautiful when sunny!

Here's a picture of Mount Maunganui on a sunny day which we did not get.

Auckland's Rangitoto Island

It was a long day out to Rangitoto Island, a volcanic island that is now a predator-free, scenic nature reserve about half-an-hour ferry ride from Auckland.

Downtown Auckland is not very good at advertising its parking garages. After braving the traffic and finally finding the garage closest to the ferry terminal, we found out that the 10:30am ferry to the island had been cancelled because of alleged bad weather. It was sunny and clear out, so it was a bit fishy, but we bought tickets for the 12:15pm crossing and had to find something to do for a bit.

We opted for the free Auckland Art Gallery several blocks away. The downtown felt like any other big city, with virtually no indications that it was in New Zealand. Every time I go into a modern art gallery or museum, I am reminded that modern art is really hit and miss for me. Sometimes, like with the corrugated art at the Rotorua Museum, I really like it. A lot of times, though, I just can't see how it can be considered art by anyone except the artist. If anyone could make it, it's hard for me to see the skill involved. Like the piece of graph paper with a triangle colored in and half of a circle drawn -- this looks like geometry homework. I guess I really prefer the classic stuff.

Once we returned to the ferry terminal and were on the boat headed out to the island, the captain announced that because of "bad weather" we would have to go to the further dock on the island. Unfortunately, this meant that the hike to the summit (the main one that everyone does) was up a wide dirt road instead of a trail. We encountered only a couple tui and a fantail bird and saw and heard little else. By this point in our trip, we were getting exhausted faster and had heavy packs since there are no food or water facilities on the island. The views at the top were nice but perhaps not worth the $30 ferry ride and long journey. A storm cloud was coming in so we took pictures just before the rain started up. We happily returned to catch the ferry home, eagerly anticipating dinner. We opted for Denny's since it's reliable and treated ourselves to a snow ball, which is deep-fried ice cream just like at some Mexican restaurants back home.

Auckland Zoo

It was pouring rain off and on all night, plus thunder and lightning for good measure. This Airbnb place in Auckland is a bit run-down (no microwave, no frying pan, no seals on the doors, ants in the kitchen, etc.), so that's a bummer. It does have a huge TV though.

We left late to avoid the worst of the rain and spent the day at the Auckland Zoo. They had numerous places where the animals were very close to the walkways, something I'm not used to. Most of them were out and visible. I got to see several more tui birds which are my new favorite (along with the pukeko). In the nocturnal area, I saw the legs of a kiwi bird way at the back of the really dark enclosure. They are really elusive! The big cats were great as always. We saw a bird catch a fish and then down it in a couple chugs. That was a first!

Several displays emphasized how many important discoveries have come from the rainforest and how deforestation is destroying the plants and animals that call it home. Palm oil, in particular, was singled out as something consumers should stop buying. It's in a lot of processed food now (and isn't good for you), but it's hard to get companies to take any responsibility for sustainability. Another reminder of how destructive industrialization has been on our planet...

red panda

kakapo

elephant out for a walk around the zoo

wallabee

some kind of beautiful bird

Tasmanian Devil (looks like a mole)

alligator or crocodile

lemurs taking the sun

meerkat pile

so cute!

tui

takahe

it's about to swallow this fish whole

cheetahs on their "cat condo"

lion has better things to look at than us

Hobbiton

We finally made it to Hobbiton. It was raining, cold, and muddy, unfortunately, but that's New Zealand. Unpredictable weather always. There were lots of hobbit hole facades and real fruit and vegetable gardens. I recognized some of my own plants there which was cool! Since we've watched the behind-the-scenes documentaries of the LOTR and Hobbit movies, there wasn't much new from the guide. We had the ginger beer (ginger ale soda) in the Green Dragon Inn and a chocolate chip cookie with lemon frosting. We would have appreciated a little more effort toward atmosphere on the tour, as listening to Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and other pop music on the bus ride to and from the set wasn't quite the movie soundtrack and experience we were expecting. They packed a lot of people into our group and the walkways aren't designed for that many people, so there was a lot of crowding (especially with us all using umbrellas). We plunked down a bit in the gift shop for some souvenirs and were on our way to Auckland.