The Milford Track and beyond...

The Milford Track is famously known as “The Finest Walk in the World”. Some people say that it was coined as such by an over enthusiastic journalist who had never even walked the track and that Milford while pretty, was certainly not the finest. I suppose it’s all a matter of opinion and what you’ve seen…what your idea of beauty is, but I found the Milford Track and Fiordland National Park to be the most beautiful area of raw, dramatic, natural landscape I’ve ever seen. As I was walking I kept thinking to myself, how will I ever explain to everyone back home how amazing this place is? No wordy description I can write will ever do it justice. On the trail, the words/phrases “unbelievable”, “oh my god” and “I can’t believe I’m here” kept running through my head.

The journey began on Wednesday the 14th. The bus picked us up in Te Anau and drove us 20 minutes north to Te Anau Downs where the boat transferred us to the start of the track at the top of lake Te Anau. 40 trampers are allowed to begin the track each day. The first day is a bit easy. From the boat ramp, it’s an hour walk along the Clinton River to the first hut which is Clinton Hut. This hour gives you a good idea as to how well you packed your backpack and if your shoulder/back will survive the trip. My bag felt extraordinarily heavy, but after awhile you get used to it.

Clinton Hut is tucked into a neat spot uphill from the river and is built over wetland area at the base of a mountain. The huts have the very basics, such as a main kitchen/dining area, gas cookers, sinks and a woodstove. No electricity but there are flush toilets. There are two separate bunkrooms, each with 20 bunks. There is also a helicopter landing deck at each hut. The first night is fun because you meet the people you will be spending the next three days and nights with. Everyone’s story is interesting…there were people from Germany, Australia, the UK, Israel, Switzerland, and the US. I met a British woman, Anna, at the hostel in Te Anau the night before…we just happened to be in the same room and realized that we were doing the hike on the same day. After we all had eaten our dinner, there was a hut meeting with the DOC (Department of Conservation) ranger (there is one posted at all three huts) to discuss the upcoming section of track for the next day, safety issues and weather. Following the meeting, several of us went a bit down the track with our torches (headlamps to us Yanks) to see glow worms. There were several spots near the river where we found them. They’re really quite pretty….they look like a beautiful starry night or fireflies frozen in place. They are not pretty when you see what they really are, which are insects cling to the roof of a cavern that drip a long nasty goo down to lure and trap smaller insects….ick.

The following morning, after a quick breakfast, I packed up, eager to hit the trail. I left around 8:00 and was the second person to leave. If you leave early enough, you feel like you are the only one out there, it’s great. This leg of the hike which follows the Clinton Valley, all the way up to Mintaro Hut and the base/starting point for Mackinnon Pass is usually completed in 6 hours. I think I did it in 4.5 to 5. This part of the walk is relatively flat, along the valley floor. The first part winds along with the river, then the trail opens up to wetland with the mountains of the Clinton Valley on either side. This part of the track has many avalanche areas. There are signs posted, warning trampers when they are entering such a zone, and not to stop walking until a “safe area” sign appears. Though it was fairly safe, there were several small slides while I was there. They sound like a mixture of thunder and loud crackling. I had to walk across several spots where there were landslides and it’s amazing to see how powerful and destructive they can be. These areas would be huge hills of dirt, rocks, boulders and whole trees piled in mass at the bottom of the hill. When you look up the path it came down, it looks as though a giant razor has shaved the mountainside. There are many pretty waterfalls along this area too. Once you reach the end of the valley, the landscape begins to change. The wetland turns into forest filled with beech trees covered in moss. EVERYTHING is covered in all different kinds of moss and lichen. Then you trail begins to climb uphill, to roughly, 2000 feet. The mountains around you begin to look bigger and have more snow on them. Then you reach Mintaro Hut. Mintaro sits up on a hill, in front of Mt. Balloon, just near Lake Mintaro. We had our first experience with Keas here. Keas are an alpine parrot with huge personalities. They are highly intelligent and big trouble makers. If you dare leave anything outside it becomes a toy for the kea. They destroy boots and clothes and try sneaking into the hut whenever they can. That night at Mintaro Anna taught me how to play a card game called Sh*thead (also known as Palace in the states). We soon had a group of regulars and passed the evenings this way. The next day was to be a big day, as many people find day three to be the most rewarding, scenic and difficult.

In the morning I left around 7:30 and was the second person on the trail. It seemed like the trail immediately began to climb. In this leg up to Mackinnon Pass, you climb switchbacks up for about 90 minutes (just over 1000 feet). It was tiring, but I was surprised at my strength. I should mention that the weather up to this point had been misty with periods of sun coming through but also the occasional light shower. When I reached the top of Mackinnon pass, it was slightly foggy and misty. You could see the surrounding mountains peeking in and out of the grayness. It fog made everything mysterious…like mother nature wanted to keep us in suspense, hiding the grandeur behind a curtain. But the wind suddenly changed and in a matter of minutes every bit of fog was gone and you could see for miles in every direction. It was glorious. I couldn’t believe the extremeness of the beauty all around me. After many photos were taken, we all moved a little down the trail to the Mackinnon Pass shelter, which had a stove and was a good spot for a snack. None of us realized how cold it was until we stopped moving. I was feeling really hot when I went inside, like it was a warm summer day, but I could see the breathe coming from my mouth. I decided to keep moving so I wouldn’t get too cold. I continued on down the trail which leads over the other side of Mackinnon Pass, down into Roaring Brook and the Arthur Valley. Due to the fact that it’s still avalanche season, we were redirected along the emergency trail, instead of the main trail. Coming down the other side of Mackinnon Pass is extremely steep. You descend the entire 3,000 feet in about 3 to 4 hours to reach Dumpling Hut, for the last night on the track. Though steep, it has amazing views, beautiful rivers, and huge waterfalls. About an hour before reaching Dumpling Hut, there is a side trail that leads to Sutherland Falls, the highest waterfall in New Zealand at 580 meters (the fifth highest in the world!) Then it’s another hour to Dumpling Hut. Dumpling was the nicest of the huts. It didn’t have anything special, it was just set up nicely with 4 separate bunkrooms, making things a bit quieter at night. The keas here were unbelievable. One of them woke us up around 3 AM because it was pulling everyone’s boots off the hooks and dragging them across the deck making a “bang, bang, bang” sound. When we gathered them all up and placed them inside one of the rooms, the kea squawked and pecked at the door, trying to get in. They are cheeky little things! The ranger at Dumpling was especially endearing. His name was Ross and must have been in his 60s. He went through the usual gist of things at our hut meeting but he told lots of funny stories about the keas, and lots of informative things about the birdlife.

On Mackinnon Pass

I was hurting on the morning of day 4. My calf muscles were so tight, I couldn’t walk for several minutes when I first stepped out of bed. Everyone was experiencing the same. My pack was feeling really heavy despite the fact that 90% of my food was gone. Again I set out early, around 8:00. You have to leave Dumpling around 8:00 in order to catch the boat at the end of the track to Milford Sound. This leg takes about 6 hours. This part of the track meanders through the Arthur Valley and the Arthur River. More beautiful scenery, the highlights being Mackay Falls, Giants Gate Falls and Lake Ada. The end of the line is Sandfly Point, which is named quite well. The sandflies are relentless… From here, the boat picked us up and brought us to Milford Sound, a 20 minute ride across the way where the bus was waiting to bring us back to Te Anau (a 2 hour drive). The boat ride across was an adventure in itself! The wind was rocking the boat from side to side and we were all tossed about…it was great fun.

The drive through Fiordland National Park was amazing in itself. Everything is so majestic, you really feel small. Most of the mountains are in the 6,000 to 7,000 ft range and the Milford Rd. meanders along the valley between them. We even went through one when passing through the Homer Tunnel. I was in awe the whole time.

A bunch of us got together back in Te Anau for a big dinner and drinks at The Moose restaurant and for a “Milford style” Sh*thead playoff.

Overall, it was a wonderful experience I won’t forget soon. I’ve just left a sheep farm in between Invercargill and Bluff. A lovely family…Paula and Bede MacKenzie. They have three grown kids, Amber, Bridget and Scott. I was doing lots of yard and garden work, babysitting and helping out with cooking/cleaning. I had my own little cottage room and it had a hot tub out back!

To end on an exciting note, I’ve decided to stay in New Zealand until the end of February to volunteer on a Habitat for Humanity project in Invercargill! They would like me to speak (or be interviewed) about my personal Habitat experience. It’s a great opportunity that I couldn’t pass up. In the meantime, I’m thinking about spending some time up in Dunedin. I keep hearing about how great it is so I’m thinking that’s where I’ll spend Christmas.

More to come…. :)

Playing tag with calves...

They chased me down! :)





I've been enjoying farmsitting though it's very quiet. I've been doing a lot of baking and talking to the animals (in the kind of way you do when you get cabin fever). My mornings have been a bit quiet as the two lambs under my care died of bloat, BUT another orphan was found so I have another morning (and afternoon) chore! The thing is, this lamb is a bit older and feistier. It wiggled it's way out of the initial paddock it was put in and found it's way to the calf paddock. This paddock also has two ewes which are pet lambs. They aren't afraid of people...in fact, they come baaing and running after me when they see me arrive. Naturally, you'd think that if you put a little orphan lamb in with two young female sheep, they would look after it and accept it into their group but they weren't having any of it. If a ewe doesn't recognize the scent on a lamb as being her own, she will chase it down and butt it away and that's what was happening here, poor little lambie (I've since moved it to another paddock).

One of the mean hoggets...

Yesterday I went into the paddock with a hot bottle of milk to feed it. Ideally, the lamb should be in a small enclosed place for the first few days, just so it can get used to you bottle feeding it and you can catch it easier. I knew this was going to be a funny task. I'm certain that anyone driving by got a good laugh. Picture this....me, with a bottle in my hand, running through a huge field after this lamb with a herd of calves and two big ewes trailing around behind me...all kinds of mooing and baaaing going on, thinking it was their feeding time. Then I started to think that the calves were ganging up against me because I was chasing the lamb. They were charging around me and kicking their hind legs up like they wanted to trample me (but really I think they were just playing). I was about to give up because the milk was starting to go lukewarm when the lamb managed to get itself cornered in a fence and I dived to tackle it. I had to pry it's mouth open to take the bottle but once it got a taste I let go of it and it was feeding on it's own.

The wool shed...

I'm also in dog heaven here...there are 6 total....I've fallen in love with a sweet little year old pup. I will take a pic tonight and you'll see why. :)

Pretty-faced Song (but not my fave!)



A couple more days here then I'm off to Te Anau...

Queenstown

Another great city, and surprisingly my favorite big city of the trip so far. You hear lots of negative things about Queenstown, especially that it's just a big party city and too expensive. While these things are true...it's still a lot of fun, lots to do and beautiful scenery. I spent 4 days there...walked around, did some shopping, went on the skyline gondola and watched a "haka" performance. I went to Arrowtown, a small old goldmining town 20 minutes from the city.

Saturday night I went out with my roommates (two girls from Long Island) and met up with some other girls from the UK. Such a fun night...did a little bar hopping...got into a little trouble. :)

The girls...

Winnie's Bar-It was their Halloween Party!

The roof opened up with hydraulic pumps!

After a few rum & cokes...

The girls catch me flirting with a cute Brit...

The "Remarkables" mountain range...

View from the top of the gondola...



I've left Queenstown and am now on another sheep farm for a little over a week until I head to Te Anau for the Milford Track.

Till the cows come home...

I feel like I’ve fallen so far behind in sharing my stories and photos. It’s just hard to find places to hook up my laptop at times….so….I’ll start with Abel Tasman, round two.



I had a beautiful weekend in Abel Tasman and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect. I arrived on a Thursday to Marahau and decided to stay at the Marahau Beach Camp for three nights. It was only $20 a night for a dorm bed so I thought it was a great deal, and they are right on the water. When I arrived, it was like a bit of a ghost town aside from a few other people staying in RVs. The hostel was a small one floor home. It had a dining and kitchen area, bathrooms, a living room with a TV and two large bunk rooms…one with six bunks, the other with five. I was the only one there. At first I was psyched to have the place to myself…but as the sun went down and unfamiliar noises crept around me, I realized that a little company would have been nice! It’s such a strange feeling to go to bed at night alone in a quiet house when you are used to sleeping with at least 4 people in the room with you. Anyway, the next morning I went out by boat to Torrent Bay, but first our skipper drove us up to the seal colony which was really cool. They were just lounging around on the rocks, mostly females with their pups. After being dropped off, I hiked the same route I did last weekend but this time went a bit further to Anchorage Bay. I crossed one inlet which is only possible during low tide. I’ve never walked across such an interesting landscape. I felt like I was in the desert, with nothing but flat barren land around me, except I kept crunching down on occasional spatterings of shells and sometimes my foot would sink into a sludgy section of sand. The coast at Abel Tasman is really neat because it’s shallow for what seems like miles.





At low tide, you can walk out pretty far. So once at Anchorage, I had two hours before the boat arrived so I walked around, took some photos (which I’ll post soon) and just relaxed on the beach. I stayed at the same hostel Friday night, but a couple had now occupied one of the rooms so it wasn’t so eerily quiet. My last night there, I decided to stay at a different hostel called The Barn, on the other side of the village. I wish I had stayed there the whole time because it was so charming. The owner had an adorable jack russell terrier named Doris, who sat at your feet with a ball in her mouth, looking up at you with pleading eyes. ☺

On the bus ride back to Nelson that Sunday, my mind was wandering about travel. It’s strange how when you wander, with no set plans, wherever you are feels like home. For a bizarre second, the bus felt like home. Maybe because I didn’t know where I was going to stay once I got back to Nelson and it was just a passing feeling of living in the moment. I’ve just finished reading a book called “The Global Soul” by Pico Iyer. It’s basically about multiculturalism and Pico’s travels to find “home” in a world that is getting smaller. The following is a quote from the book that I’d thought I’d share:

“Birds in flight, claims the architect Vincenzo Volentieri,
are not between places, they carry their places with them.
We never wonder where they live: they are at home in the
sky, in flight. Flight is their way of being in the world.”---- Paul Carter

Back in Nelson, I spent two nights at the YHA Then the next morning, I took a 5 hour bus ride to Punakaiki, which is on the west coast, in the heart of Paparoa National Park and home to Punakaiki Rocks and Blowholes. Punakaiki means “pancake” in Maori.





The rocks are stacked like (big surprise) pancakes and it’s a spectacular site. I stayed at a great hostel called Te Nikau Retreat, and it’s in an absolutely stunning setting. The west coast has a very different feel to it, in terms of landscape. It’s more rugged with the dramatic mountains and crags meeting the ocean. The beaches are rougher, the sand is darker (black in some spots) and the vegetation seems more like an ancient rainforest that you’d see back in the time of dinosaurs. The hostel is an 8 minute walk from a beautiful beach, with a waterfall, but you have to be careful as it’s a bit rugged. When they say, “Keep to the track” you don’t question them. It’s by no means a swimming beach due to the currents, strong rip tides and gigantic waves, but you can walk along the sand if you are brave enough to endure the sandflies! I thought I was going to be alone again that night, with the hostel to myself, but then arrived a sweet guy from Leeds in the UK. He invited me to join him in the morning to go to the Pancake Rocks (since he had a car). We got up around 10:00, and luckily the rain was holding off.



The rocks were beautiful and the blowholes quite a force of nature. After snapping lots of photos, we decided to go for a hike along a nearby river trail. The rain started to pick up and the guy at the info center said it would be a nice hike, just avoid crossing the river due to the heavy rain. Initially, we were confused about where the start of the trail was so we started driving down a gravel road and then realized we were actually driving on the trail! So we parked, got out and walked for a couple of hours. I was more engrossed in conversation than the scenery…It turns out that my new friend is touring New Zealand for 4 weeks and then he is headed to Australia to work for a year. We decided to turn around and head back for some lunch. It was only after we were driving back into town that we realized we were not even on the trail that we meant to be on! Nonetheless, it was fun. He offered to drop me off in Hokitika, my next stop, the following morning. He was off to the Franz Josef Glacier. On our way to Hokitika, we came across the most unusual thing. It was a single land bridge for cars, but it was also a rail track for trains. The thing was, there was no warning system in place to tell you if a train was coming. No lights, no bar….you’d have to drive up, and if there was a train coming, you’d have to back up really fast to get out of the way! It was unbelievable. It must be quite an attraction here because when I got to Hokitika they had postcards of these bridges!

Most recently I spent a week in the Waitaha Valley, not really a town….



just a community of farms, 40 minutes south of Hokitika. I worked on a dairy farm and it was an interesting experience. We started milking at 6:00 each morning and it usually takes 4 hours or so, then we have to do it again around 5:00 at night. It’s a very, very messy job. The milking machines are in a shed, in a line, and there are maybe 35-40 of them. The cattle are pushed in on either side and are lined up with their rear ends toward the middle and their heads on the outside. To keep them distracted, they eat molasses out of a trough. The milkers walk down in a sunken area in the middle where the machines are. I had to wear old work clothes, rubber boots, and a long rubber apron.




The process starts with Stu (the farmer) hosing down the cattle when they first come in. Then we have to clean off the teats with warm water. Once that’s done, we put on the milking machines. Initially, you can see the milk just flowing through a little glass bubble that indicates how much is coming out. When it’s done, you take it off and place it on the cow on the opposite row. Once the entire row is done, we spray the teats with antibacterial glycerine and then send them out. In total, we milk around 200 cows. We are constantly being pissed and crapped on. I don’t know if any of you have ever been around cow shit, but it’s not firm. It’s like a niagra of green goo. I’m constantly rinsing off my hands and arms. I had no idea that it would burn! We also feed baby calves. One day we had to pull a calf out of a cow. We had been watching her because she was long overdue and she was giving us signs that she was in labor. So we brought her into the yard and had to reach in, put a rope around the calves front feet and pull it out. It turned out to be a HUGE bull calf, but it died because the mother couldn’t push it out on her own. We also had several other incidents like a cow with milk fever (a dangerous fever that's caused by the lack of nutrients-they all go into the milk) and a couple of sick calves. So the team was Stu, Rina, a young woman from Japan who has been here for 6 months, and Ellie, a 19 year old from Germany.






It’s long hours and hard work…I dare say that was the toughest work I’ve had to do yet. We usually finished eating and cleaning up around 11:00 PM, then it was back up at 5:45 AM. The day I left the farm, I started to get sick. I had a fever for around 5 days or so with no other symptoms. The nurses I spoke to said it was a flu that's going around, and I'm starting to finally feel better, though still a bit tired. When I left the farm, I went to Franz Josef, site of the Franz Josef Glacier. I was so excited about being there, I went and booked a full day glacier hike for the following morning at 8:15. I should have rested for a few days...but oh well. The hike was amazing, although it poured the entire time. Franz Josef gets more rain in a day than some countries! So I didn't get any photos unfortunately...but there are lots of things online if you want to see what it looks like. They supplied us with all our gear such as coats, overtrousers, hats, mittens and crampons. It was like another world out there. At one point our guide decided to take us through a crevasse. It was so thin, you had to take off your pack and walk sideways. Our guide got stuck at one point. It was a tight squeeze for me! An Irish girl in our group got completely stuck and it took them about 15 minutes to get her out. It wasn't a nice place to be stuck. If you think about it, the ice could shift at any moment... It was great fun though. I was happy to get home and get into bed. :)

Currently I'm in Wanaka, an hour north of Queenstown and it's a beautiful town right beside a huge lake/mountains. I'm not sure how long I'll be here... I'm trying to decide what I'm doing next but I'll keep you posted! :)

Exciting news...

I'm hiking the Milford Track in November!!! I originally thought it was completely booked up but there were spaces available late October and mid-November. October and November is a bit of a dangerous time to hike it because of the risk of avalanches, but the DOC staff seem to keep everyone well informed, so I think it will be fine. The only thing is, if there is a track closure, you either need to be lifted around the danger by helicopter (!) or cancel the rest of the hike. The Milford Track is one of the "Great Walks" here in New Zealand. I'm doing it independently, although 40 people a day are allowed to begin. Bookings are essential due to the hut capacities. The hike is only accessible by boat.

Read about it here

A day in Abel Tasman...

I was so excited to get out to Abel Tasman National Park http://www.doc.govt.nz/templates/PlaceProfile.aspx?id=38455. I booked my ticket for this past Sunday. The whole track takes 3-4 days with stops in huts or campgrounds along the way. I'm not quite prepared as I didn't bring my sleeping bag or a tent so I just decided on a day trip. Hopped on the bus at 7:30 AM and headed an hour north to Kaiteriteri. The plan was to take a water taxi from Kaiteriteri, be dropped off in Torrent Bay, then hike up to Bark Bay, get picked up by the water taxi and brought back to Kaiteriteri. It was a great plan until the sky decided to open up. I stepped into a small shop while waiting for the taxi. A lady walked from out back and started chatting with me about what I was doing. She said, "It will be an interesting ride for you today!" For a split second I thought I should cancel it for the day and reschedule, but I was optimistic that the rain would subside. Several of you will scold me for this but I wasn't prepared as much as I should have been. I had my raincoat, but not my pants (just some hiking pants).

As we boarded the small motorboat (there were 4 others silly as me to attempt the walk), our driver handed us life jackets and said, "it's going to be rough out there today." I thought to myself, "it can't be that bad. I've been on choppy water before" I was so wrong. I've NEVER been on water like that before. It was terrifying and so much fun! The swells were enormous. We would climb to the top of a wave, be airborne for 2 seconds then KA-BOOM! slam back down onto the water, then up, up, up, KA-BOOM! Each time the boat came back down, it sounded as if it were going to split in half and the impact rattled our brains as we lunged forward. I was holding on to the bar in front of me with a white-knuckled grip. The waves were coming from all directions and the driver was constantly looking around us for waves that might come down over us. All the while I was trying to keep my eyes on the horizon towards land, but it was difficult. The boat would lean sideways while we were at the bottom of a swell, then I could feel the boat rise up, the land would appear but suddenly a giant wall of water would block it again, leaving us encircled. It was hard to get a sense of direction. We finally arrived at Torrent Bay. He pulled the boat up to the beach and we quickly hopped off. The rain was torrential and I was already hopelessly soaked and chilled. The scenery on Torrent Bay was stunning. I had my camera in my bag but was unable to take any photos obviously. I took time to appreciate the beach as much as I could, and then hurried to the trail where I could be under the cover of the trees. They didn't help much and the trail was a river of mud. At that point I began to wonder how I would survive two hours of this. I began to walk quickly, keeping in mind there was a hut with a fireplace at Bark Bay where I could eat my lunch and dry off. I took in as much as possible, I didn't want my time here to go to waste. The rain let up for a half hour period as I approached a huge swing bridge. It had a warning sign of a maximum of 5 people. It crossed a river which came down from the mountainside. Looking up there was a huge raging waterfall and down river it led to the sea. It was beautiful. I stood in the middle of the bridge for several moments, listening to the water and feeling the wind rock it back and forth. I noticed movement in the water below and saw that there were seals playing and fishing directly underneath me! It was so cool to see them pop up, sometimes leap up out of the water and carry fish along in their mouths. They looked up at me curiously. I did manage to snap a couple of photos of them. I then realized that my camera bag was soaked through. Time to keep moving!

I arrived at the hut where there were other people taking shelter, their clothes and boots hanging over the tiny gas stove, trying to soak up as much heat as they could. My hand were numb and my fingers barely able to function as I tried to eat my lunch. I had walked so fast that I now had three hours at the hut. The others arrived shortly after me. None of us had the will to explore anymore...we just wanted shelter. I took a nap after eating my lunch, as did everyone else. The rain wasn't letting up. People started to slowly clear out of the hut and head back out on the trail. The water taxi was picking us up from this beach so we just had to wait. At 3:00, the three of us left put our sopping wet gear back on and headed down to the beach. We had to jump on board quickly as the waves were crashing and it was quite dangerous for us and the boat. The ride back was just like the one in, except this time the driver was looking around much more cautiously, and several times he had to go full throttle to avoid waves chasing us down. Two of the ladies on the boat were supposed to be dropped of in the bay above Kaiteriteri but they had to come in with us because it was too dangerous in that bay. So we all breathed a sigh of relief as we pulled up to the shore. As we were handing our life jackets to the driver, he laughed and said "Thank god that's over."

I'm hoping to go back on a nice sunny day. There were so many moments that I wanted to pull out my camera but couldn't. Perhaps if Marmy and Jim come out to see me we can go there. You would love it. :) (hint, hint)

Tailing

Below are some photos that Adi took on tailing day. We drenched, vaccinated and tailed over 300 lambs! The photos below are not gory and they are not close ups, but if you don't want to see tailing, then skip the pics. :)

Vaccinating

I look a little too giddy with that needle in my hand

Me, Hayden (Adrian's son), Tom and Nicky

NEW PHOTOS!

I’ve posted photos! There are too many to post up here so please check out my Picasa site for the full set! The link is on the lower right side. Oh, Danny and Gram- regarding the photo of the fern…It’s actually a tree fern…either a ponga or a black tree fern.

With a heavy heart I left Totaranui. What an amazing place and a wonderful family! I hope that my experiences to come can rival it. Thanks Adi, Adrian & Keelan! I will miss you!

Wellington was a great city. I spent two days at the YHA…and to be honest it was a big retail therapy trip. I shopped, rode the old cable car up to the Botanical Gardens (which were beautiful). I’d say they are right up there with the Boboli Gardens in Florence. I had lunch at J.J. Murphy’s, an Irish pub. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to charge my camera battery before I left for Wellington so I didn’t get any photos. But I may go back.

Now I’m in Nelson. Adi and Adrianne dropped me off on en route to a ski trip they are taking. What a great little town. Nelson is THE sunniest place in the South Island (so they claim). It’s at the very top of the South Island right on the Golden Coast, just south of the Abel Tasman National Park. There’s lots of art and craftsmen, coffee shops, restaurants and galleries. The Nelson Market is held every Saturday, where artists sell their goods on the street. The night I arrived, I met a traveling nurse from the UK. We walked into town to get some wine and then headed back to the hostel where there was an acoustic guitar jam session in full swing. What a fun way to kick things off.

This morning I got up early, as I like to do when I’m in a new place. I like to get out and watch the town wake up….get a cup of coffee, see the shops put out their signs, and plan what I will do for the day. Most of the activity and buzz is on Hardy Street and around the cathedral. I visited the jeweler that created the rings for the movie “The Lord of the Rings”! They have several of them on display in various sizes because when they were filmed, they needed large and small sizes. It was actually quite interesting.

So my next step is to find a job! I’ll keep you posted…

Just thought I'd post a few quick pics from our walk the other day.....These were taken by Irma, a lady in the walking group:



Walking out to the trail from the farm...

On Sunday I'm flying out to Wellington for a few days! I'm excited to see the city. I don't have lots of time (only 1 full day) but I figured since I was up this way, I'd take the opportunity to check it out. Then I'm returning to Totaranui Farm for another week...This farm has been one of the highlights of my trip so far.

A traditional Kiwi meal and my first midwife experience...

Yesterday was cold and full of drizzle. In the morning we went to feed out the cattle and check for new calves. In the early afternoon we mustered some of the sheep for tailing, vaccination and drenching. Tailing is for the lambs…they are placed in a harness and their tails are cut off using a special tool that cauterizes the skin so they don’t bleed as much. It sounds awful and from what I’ve heard, it’s not a fun job, but it’s important for their health because it keeps their rear ends clean and helps to prevent flystrike. It started to rain a little and the day seemed to get away from us so we decided to wait for another day. Adi and I drove Adrian up one of the valleys so he could pick up the digger and drive it home. We stopped at two different river crossings on the way back. The rivers here are beautiful with big boulders and little waterfalls with palm, manuka and gum trees all around them.

We stopped by one of the yards to check on a ewe that began lambing while we were mustering. She is actually a hogget. A hogget is a year old sheep, and they usually run into trouble when lambing, so Adrian had placed her in a separate pen so we could keep an eye on her. So when Adi and I approached her, we noticed that she had started to give birth, but the head was coming out first and appeared to be stuck. This was potentially serious because both the ewe and the lamb could die. With lambs, you want to see the two front feet coming out first. So we needed to help her. We went back to the house for supplies: a bucket with disinfectant, towel, and elbow length plastic gloves. Once we caught her, I held her still while Adi went to work, pushing the lamb back in so she could grab the legs and pull them forward. It’s not as easy as it sounds. It wasn’t a pleasant experience for the ewe as you can imagine. Adi had to fish around for the legs, going under a shoulder bone. Every time she made a little progress the ewe had another contraction and we would have to wait. Finally she found both legs and pulled them forward, getting the lamb in the correct position. We then left her alone to give birth. The less you interfere, the better chance the lamb and ewe will bond. Both are doing fine now. :)

I wanted to take a picture of the scarf I’m knitting but the battery on my camera has run out and I don’t have an electric converter for my charger out here! I’ll have to wait until the next time I’m in town. I call it my swiss cheese scarf because I’ve somehow managed to create a pattern with little holes. I’m using pretty red wool that Adi gave me.

Tonight Adrian brought me outside to show me a possum up in a tree. Then I watched him pluck the fur after he had shot it (I didn’t want to watch the actual shooting). Possum fur is expensive here and you can get good money for it. There’s been lots of hunting going on here. One of Adrian’s sons came to the farm this weekend to do some wild pig and deer hunting. They got two pigs and a deer. I’m not sure if I mentioned this before but Adrian has 4 sons. Keelan (10 and lives here at the farm), Fraser (18 or 19?), Hayden (21?) and Garreth (24). Adi has one son, Daniel, and he is 15 or 16 I think. Other than Keelan, the boys live in other areas.

Tonight we had flounder for dinner and it was fantastic…and I mean a whole fish, not the filleted stuff you see in the frozen section of stores. Adi, Adrian and the boys fish for flounder with spears here in the sounds. They had to show me how to eat it properly because there are lots of little bones. We had pavlova for dessert, which Adi and I made this morning, topped with whipped cream, pineapple and kiwi fruit. We decided to make it because the chooks have been laying eggs like crazy and we need to use them up! The recipe calls for 5 eggs.

Tomorrow there is a walking group coming and we are going to walk one of the tracks that I haven’t seen yet. I’m excited to see a new area of the property….if only my camera worked!!!

The Marlborough Sounds and Totaranui

I arrived in Picton on Friday, the 24th. It’s a quiet little seaport town with a nice downtown area and harbour. This is where the Interislander ferry docks when bringing people from the North Island to the South. I spent three nights at Sequoia Lodge Backpackers just on the very edge of town. It was about a 10 minute walk to the harbour. The hostel was really nice…huge kitchen with everything you could possibly need, lounge area with a log burner, TV room, internet and a cedar spa. I never got around to using that. AND they baked and served chocolate pudding (bread style pudding) every night. I puttered around town seeing the sights. I visited the Edwin Fox…the 9th oldest ship in the world! They have a small museum for it and you are actually able to walk around inside of it.



That Saturday I decided to hike part of the Queen Charlotte Track from the very top, at Ship Cove to Furneaux Lodge. It took around 3.5 hours. Ship Cove is where Captain Cook landed and spent some time when first exploring New Zealand. The hike was beautiful. We couldn’t have had more gorgeous weather. The Queen Charlotte Track can only be hiked one way, and you have to access the starting point by boat. The boat left the harbour around 9AM. There were probably 30 people total. The forest was beautiful with all kinds of palms and vines I’d never seen before. Towards the end of the hike there are some beautiful beaches with aqua blue water. I ventured down to one of them and started snapping pictures. I noticed two bikes on the beach (with no one around) but thought nothing of it as there was a big group of mountain bikers doing the track that day. I heard a strange noise….was that…moaning??? I turned to my left and saw the naked ass of a woman partially hidden by bushes! I immediately turned and walked really fast back up to the trail, with my hand over my mouth, trying not to laugh. They must have thought the hikers were well behind them! The track is unique in that there are little cottages and small lodges/resorts that are connected to the track via side trails. Usually they are down near the water. So if you are hiking along and decide you want to stop for the night (for those that do the whole 4 day hike) you can stay at these places. As usual, I took lots of pics so I will try to post those soon.





Upon returning to the hostel, I decided to look for another farm to work at. I came across a place in the Marlborough Sounds nearby. Adrian Harvey and Adi Watson are my new hosts and they are wonderful …very friendly and have lots of interesting stories about the area. The farm is in Clova Bay. Clova Bay is on a peninsula above the Queen Charlotte Track. It’s a 2 hour drive from Picton or an hour drive if you take the water taxi to Torea Bay (which is what I did). Adi picked me up there. She was a nurse for 30 years but mostly she works on the farm now. Her partner Adrian grew up on the farm. It’s been in his family for 5 generations and they have quite a bit of info about it. They also have an earthmoving business. It’s very, very remote. 2 hours to any stores, gas stations…pretty much anything. They only have a handful of neighbors spread out over several miles. If you are injured, most likely they need to send in a helicopter to bring you to Blenheim or Havelock perhaps. The house is nestled at the foot of a mountain with streams running through the property. In fact, there are mountains on three sides with fields and the bay about a 15 minute walk away. There are beautiful pastures, trails, and old house sites. The house itself is filled with charm. It was built in the late 1800s and has lots of neat little cupboards and contraptions that I’m constantly trying to figure out what they are. There are old hearths and a neat old iron safe, where they used to put hot irons that had been heated by the stove. The original wallpaper is still up in the living room! They have sheep, Angus cattle, chooks, two dogs-Beetle and Belle, a handful of cats, and a pet lamb named Betsy. I’ve been calling her Bitsy because that’s what it sounds like when they say her name. She’s adorable and follows us around everywhere. We also have to bottle feed her which is so much fun! You know when it’s feeding time because she baaas at the kitchen door. She’s even started scratching at it! The cattle are calving right now and so far there are around 12 new calves…just days old. Adi names them and records all the births in a log book. She named one after me… it’s very cute being all black with a grey ear, and just the other day she named one Kayde after my sister.



My accommodation is in a cozy little caravan. I have a fridge and stove and running water…I just have to shower and use the toilet in a separate outhouse.



So far I’ve helped with their veggie gardens and some other clean-up, wall repair, painting, cooking, baking etc…I’m learning a lot about traditional kiwi food here. I dug up an old strawberry bed and separated out the plants because we are putting them in a different garden. You’d never think that such an ordinary task could be such a beautiful thing but it really was. The sun was shining, I was mucking around in the dirt, Betsy was grazing just outside the fence and then snoozed in the shade next to me…all in the setting of these beautiful mountains and pastures. The cherry trees are in blossom too and smell wonderful. This Friday Adrian and I got in the truck and drove around the property to look for Peaches, a cow that had just given birth, but we couldn’t find her. He showed me some of the paddocks and where the old sawmill used to be. We stopped and I picked daffodils and snowdrops that are growing wild where an old house used to be. On our way back, we were driving across streams and rocky pastures, cattle and sheep with their lambs stood in our path and took their sweet time getting out of the way.



The other day I drove the tractor pictured below back from the cattle paddocks. I only stalled it once. You’d be proud Marmy, it’s a manual. Haha Today we had to rescue a ewe and her newborn twins because a southwesterly blew in with cold wind and rain. The lambs would have died from the cold. So Adi and I scooped them up and placed them in a box with some wool while Adrian captured the ewe and loaded her into the back of the truck. They will stay in the woolshed until the lambs are stronger.



Tomorrow Adi and I are going to a mosaic class. She is also going to teach me how to spin wool and to knit!

Wine or whine...you decide.

Today I decided to go to the wineries. I figured I should do it while I’m here…I’m spending all this money on the hotel, I might as well make the most of Blenheim. It is why I stopped here after all. I looked into tours but most companies that I spoke to aren’t running them now because it’s their off season. So the only other option was to rent a car. It’s too far to walk. I pondered this for awhile because it was expensive and I wanted to make sure it would be worth the money. I just decided to go for it…I’d just have to limit my tastings because I’d be driving.

Cloudy Bay Winery

I had a great time… I went to 5 or 6 different places. The scenery was really nice. Surprisingly, Pinot Noir is very big here…surprising because it’s not the ideal conditions for it but there are several outstanding varieties. I had a great (ie expensive & guilt-ridden) lunch at the Highfield Estate.

Highfield Estate

I wanted to buy wine for several of you as surprise gifts. I made my selections, and then excitedly made my way to back to town to the post office, picked out some mailing supplies and went up to the window. “We cannot mail wine to the USA and Canada” the voice from behind the counter stated. “Because of their regulations it’s not permitted.” So I sadly turned to put my mailers back and shuffled home in defeat. Why didn't I know this already?

I considered mailing them anyway but if they check them at customs, would I get a fine or in some sort of trouble? I’m so disappointed. Arrrggghhh!

So Marmy/Jim, ZC/UJ, and Eric….enjoy the photos of your wine.