I think I'm ready.
- little heating device
- coat hangers
- yoga mat
- large sauce pan and steam basket
- bottle of Bushmills BlackBush
- medium large ring-band sketchbook
- some special goat and sheep cheeses (I'm cow's milk intolerant)
- eraser
- zipper, needle and thread (to repair my handbag)
Check!
It's like that question, "if you had to move to an uninhabited island, what would you bring?"
Years ago, I drove down the Western French coast, into Spanish Basque Country, up to Donostia/San Sebastian. Youth hostels and back-packers hostels are great for such trips: basic comfort, friendly company and interesting conversations. In Donostia, the youth hostel is located along the coastal Compostela trail. It was full of walkers taking a brake. A wonderfull opportunity for long conversations, to hear their stories.
What struck me most was this common experience they had of shedding. When you leave for such a long travel, you pack everything you think you will need. As you advance on you trip, you shed. They all said it was a very spiritual experience to come to the realisation that every object they had given away, left in a hostel, thrown away, represented a fear or anxiety that they had overcome.
Packing my bags to come here, not for a life-time, not for a visit, but for over half a year, had already been such a shedding exercise. Preparing for lock-down is another one.
What is really important to me? What do I need to feel safe? To feel comfortable?
(Let's keep it real in the sense that, at the moment, we're looking at a month her in NZ. Still very First-World-Problem level for me. Way less harder than for many others)
I will miss people. I had recently been accepted as a member of the Wellington Potters Association where I could share the workshop and other facilities. When I was working there, people were coming and going and I got to know a few a bit better.
Four of us were at work there yesterday around 1:30pm when one of us turned the news on. I was heading out to get lunch at Le Marché Français @lemarchefrancais but stayed on as they were announcing the Prime Minister. As of immediately, all café's and restaurants were to close - no lunch today!... - and everyone had to go home. Schools had 48hrs to shut down, non-food shops had 24hrs. So we had a day and a half to prepare.
- I'm just describing the process as it happened here, but has it been the same in every country going into lockdown? -
As I was cleaning up my work space and wrapping up the piece I am working on, I felt very sad to not know when I could, literally, lay my hands on it again. Very kindly one of my new friends offered to drive me home with my piece carefully held on my lap.
By now it was not even 3pm. After a quick bite and a bit of thinking, I went for the first identified essentials, making haste to get there before closing time between 4 and 6pm:
For my sculpting:
- a turn-table
- a set of basic tools like a cutting thread, a sponge, a hollowing tool
- plastic trash bags
I also needed:
- some baking tools
Having to spend much more time in my tiny apartment, I realised last night that I would have to make better use of my physical interface with the outside world. So I turned all the furniture around in my Kitchen/living space. Now the couch faces the large bay-window and the table is next to the window to maximise daylight in this end-of-summer. As I write this, I see people coming and going
A last thing I did today was to go around the food stores in my neighbourhood to know where to find what.
I have a pile of books to read, my sculpting and carving kits, access to the internet, a smartphone and food for 2-3 days.
Oh, I also bought a 500ml thermos flask to go have a cup of tea somewhere with a nice view. This to compensate for visits to my new favourite café Lido. I'm quite happy with the thermos. I like the idea of going somewhere with a good book and serving myself some nice hot tea and watch whatever life is going on around me (from a distance).
But, in the end, what do I Really need?
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Monday, March 2, 2020
Sunny Summer Sundays
So, what does one do on a Sunny Summer Sunday in Wellington?
Well, one has a nice lie-in to start with, but then:
The New Zealand Festival of the Arts is in full swing and is offering a lot around literature beside the usual dance, theatre, music and the such. In many of my meetings in the previous week, this had been mentioned so I booked tickets to a few events.
I started my late day with a 'conversation' with Alan Duff in the Michael Fowler Centre. Alan Duff was presenting his new book, "A conversation with my country". Best known to me as the author of the novel "Once were warriors" that was made into an impressive film, I discovered him as a highly critical and creative person. Half-Maori on his mother's side, he has delved deep into this side of his life.
His new book is rich in insights. "Returned from living in France, he views his country with fresh eyes, as it is now: homing in on the crises in parenting, our prisons, education and welfare systems, and a growing culture of entitlement that entraps Pakeha and Maori alike." A chapter per topic.
I had a look at the book but it was sold out at the Festival book stand.
Having been saved by re-discovering books aged 15 (his dad is a scientist and his grand-dad a writer), Duff has cofounded "Duffy Books at Home" bringing millions of books in the homes of millions of people who can't afford to have any. There is still a lot of anger in his energy but, like he says himself, he has learned to channel it in creativity and constructiveness.
The Festival bookshop was out of copies by the time I got there but I managed to appropriate another beauty of a book that was presented earlier that day in my absence: "We are here" (see further)
Before heading to my second conference I had a few hours to kill so I headed with my Ukulele to a Uke-in up Cuba street. This was my first experience of such a Uke Jam where ukulele players bring their instruments and the organisers provide scores and a location to just play together.
Now I know that I could play ukulele practically every day of the week in Wellington and surroundings. The "New Zealand Ukulele Network" is the Facebook page to be.
There was still an hour to kill so I headed to my favourite café for a cup of tea, a late lunch/early supper and a read in my beautiful new book "We are here, An atlas of Aotearoa" by Chris McDowall and Tim Denee. It is gorgeous both visually and content-wise! check out some of the content here.
The day neared a closing with a conversation between authors Catherine Robertson, Bronwyn Sell and (British) Lucy-Ann Holmes on issues such as their creative journeys or how society in general and the literary world more specifically treat literature by women and for women.
For my stroll back home, I chose the way leading along the water and all the activity in the little time left before sunset. Walking around in Wellington, it is easy to forget how near to the water you always are.
Have a nice week!
Nga mihi
Well, one has a nice lie-in to start with, but then:
The New Zealand Festival of the Arts is in full swing and is offering a lot around literature beside the usual dance, theatre, music and the such. In many of my meetings in the previous week, this had been mentioned so I booked tickets to a few events.
I started my late day with a 'conversation' with Alan Duff in the Michael Fowler Centre. Alan Duff was presenting his new book, "A conversation with my country". Best known to me as the author of the novel "Once were warriors" that was made into an impressive film, I discovered him as a highly critical and creative person. Half-Maori on his mother's side, he has delved deep into this side of his life.
His new book is rich in insights. "Returned from living in France, he views his country with fresh eyes, as it is now: homing in on the crises in parenting, our prisons, education and welfare systems, and a growing culture of entitlement that entraps Pakeha and Maori alike." A chapter per topic.
I had a look at the book but it was sold out at the Festival book stand.
Having been saved by re-discovering books aged 15 (his dad is a scientist and his grand-dad a writer), Duff has cofounded "Duffy Books at Home" bringing millions of books in the homes of millions of people who can't afford to have any. There is still a lot of anger in his energy but, like he says himself, he has learned to channel it in creativity and constructiveness.
The Festival bookshop was out of copies by the time I got there but I managed to appropriate another beauty of a book that was presented earlier that day in my absence: "We are here" (see further)
Before heading to my second conference I had a few hours to kill so I headed with my Ukulele to a Uke-in up Cuba street. This was my first experience of such a Uke Jam where ukulele players bring their instruments and the organisers provide scores and a location to just play together.
Now I know that I could play ukulele practically every day of the week in Wellington and surroundings. The "New Zealand Ukulele Network" is the Facebook page to be.
There was still an hour to kill so I headed to my favourite café for a cup of tea, a late lunch/early supper and a read in my beautiful new book "We are here, An atlas of Aotearoa" by Chris McDowall and Tim Denee. It is gorgeous both visually and content-wise! check out some of the content here.
The day neared a closing with a conversation between authors Catherine Robertson, Bronwyn Sell and (British) Lucy-Ann Holmes on issues such as their creative journeys or how society in general and the literary world more specifically treat literature by women and for women.
For my stroll back home, I chose the way leading along the water and all the activity in the little time left before sunset. Walking around in Wellington, it is easy to forget how near to the water you always are.
Have a nice week!
Nga mihi
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Lucky number 20?
Do you remember the picture I posted in the previous post. During that flight - the last leg of my travel to Wellington - I was wondering about my seating on each flight. First I flew from Brussels to Washington DC, US, second from Washington to San Francisco, third from San Francisco to Auckland, NZ and finally from Auckland to Wellington. Well, on 3 out of the 4 flights I was seated on row number 20.
Here's what I jotted down on my flight to Wellington:
"20 seems to be my lucky number on this trip. On 3 out of my 4 flights, I was seated on row 20. Twice as an upgrade and now not an upgrade but at the window. On this clear Tuesday, I am going to fly over half of New Zealand's North Island with a view to the part I hadn't visited yet, the land West of Tongariro volcano."
These words make me think two things. First that I am a true optimist, and second that 20 was indeed a number a numerologist would ponder on, because guess what.
Guess what number is the apartment I ended up renting - and no, I wasn't aware of the coïncidence.
It is number 201!!!
Maybe I should investigate as to what went wrong on the flight where I was seated on a different row... Taking that seriously would take me down a whole other mindf**** trip :D
As I'm not into numerology and tend to not being too aware of the numbers around me - I'm dyscalculic (look it up. It's right under dyslexic) - I've probably missed a few other "20" occurrences.
By the way, I didn't have much choice other than apartment 201. During the 2 weeks of my search there were maybe 5 or 6 furnished places but the other were either off the market by the time I applied for a visit or in a poor state.
Housing is a bit of an issue in New Zealand. There is not enough of what the market needs and too much of what the market can't afford. Oh yeah, and then the huge mansions built by gazzillionaires who are never there but have it in case of a major fuck up in the US or a zombie apocalypse. Largely empty and gated mansions and estates.
Prices in Wellington are similar to what you'd pay in Brussels and I don't like the idea that my being here is influencing the price increase up.
This morning I was listening to a radio show taking calls from listeners on the subject of a new law more in favour of tenants rights. It is now looking more like what we have in Europe, or at least in Belgium, in terms of needing a valid reason to get rid of your tenant.
This is a country where despite a few centuries of feeling cold in the winters, houses still don't have built-in heating systems... There is a ventilation system in my apartment to suck out the moist air of the bathroom mostly, the walls are very well sound proofed, and there is excellent glazing in the few windows, but no heating is provided.
People here still buy little electric heaters.
Go figure...
Oh, I see another number 20! since my arrival in Wellington, temperature has been oscillating around 20°C. It's kind of nice, although you have to get used to feeling fresh/cold in the shade and warm/hot under the sun. This makes dressing up a bit complicated. Maybe that's why the dress code is more casual around here.
Oh, one more! one more!! My street number is 2. That's almost like 20, isn't it?
To end this post, shall I say a few words about chocolate?
I visited the Wellington Chocolate Factory yesterday , a bean-to-bar entreprise, and bought some Dominican Republic chocolate - Trinitario beans, just so you know. Over the 12 years of my visits, there has been a significant improvement in the chocolate situation of New Zealand. 12 years ago, I remember seeing some praline production and more of that 2 years ago. This year I'm actually finding different brands of locally produced chocolate bars in the supermarkets. Not all bean-to-bar, but still.
(The picture "Denzien gin, because no great story started with someone eating a salad" is a little free publicity for an award-winning gin maker also in Wellington.)
On this happy note, I bid you a fine day.
Here's what I jotted down on my flight to Wellington:
"20 seems to be my lucky number on this trip. On 3 out of my 4 flights, I was seated on row 20. Twice as an upgrade and now not an upgrade but at the window. On this clear Tuesday, I am going to fly over half of New Zealand's North Island with a view to the part I hadn't visited yet, the land West of Tongariro volcano."
These words make me think two things. First that I am a true optimist, and second that 20 was indeed a number a numerologist would ponder on, because guess what.
Guess what number is the apartment I ended up renting - and no, I wasn't aware of the coïncidence.
It is number 201!!!
Maybe I should investigate as to what went wrong on the flight where I was seated on a different row... Taking that seriously would take me down a whole other mindf**** trip :D
As I'm not into numerology and tend to not being too aware of the numbers around me - I'm dyscalculic (look it up. It's right under dyslexic) - I've probably missed a few other "20" occurrences.
By the way, I didn't have much choice other than apartment 201. During the 2 weeks of my search there were maybe 5 or 6 furnished places but the other were either off the market by the time I applied for a visit or in a poor state.
Housing is a bit of an issue in New Zealand. There is not enough of what the market needs and too much of what the market can't afford. Oh yeah, and then the huge mansions built by gazzillionaires who are never there but have it in case of a major fuck up in the US or a zombie apocalypse. Largely empty and gated mansions and estates.
Prices in Wellington are similar to what you'd pay in Brussels and I don't like the idea that my being here is influencing the price increase up.
This morning I was listening to a radio show taking calls from listeners on the subject of a new law more in favour of tenants rights. It is now looking more like what we have in Europe, or at least in Belgium, in terms of needing a valid reason to get rid of your tenant.
This is a country where despite a few centuries of feeling cold in the winters, houses still don't have built-in heating systems... There is a ventilation system in my apartment to suck out the moist air of the bathroom mostly, the walls are very well sound proofed, and there is excellent glazing in the few windows, but no heating is provided.
People here still buy little electric heaters.
Go figure...
Oh, I see another number 20! since my arrival in Wellington, temperature has been oscillating around 20°C. It's kind of nice, although you have to get used to feeling fresh/cold in the shade and warm/hot under the sun. This makes dressing up a bit complicated. Maybe that's why the dress code is more casual around here.
Oh, one more! one more!! My street number is 2. That's almost like 20, isn't it?
To end this post, shall I say a few words about chocolate?
I visited the Wellington Chocolate Factory yesterday , a bean-to-bar entreprise, and bought some Dominican Republic chocolate - Trinitario beans, just so you know. Over the 12 years of my visits, there has been a significant improvement in the chocolate situation of New Zealand. 12 years ago, I remember seeing some praline production and more of that 2 years ago. This year I'm actually finding different brands of locally produced chocolate bars in the supermarkets. Not all bean-to-bar, but still.
(The picture "Denzien gin, because no great story started with someone eating a salad" is a little free publicity for an award-winning gin maker also in Wellington.)
On this happy note, I bid you a fine day.
Sunday, February 16, 2020
I'm baaack!
I'm a bit reluctant to write again.
My issue is that I don't want to sound too positive about my adventure. Not because it's horrid, on the contrary. It's really nice and I don't want all of you to come over and spoil it.
So you're not getting pictures this time (that would make it look to good :D). Or maybe just one, of Mount Taranaki, as seen from the plane to Wellington.
OK, so, Wellington.
I'm on a sabbatical to try out life in NZ and I have about 8 months. 8 months will take me through winter here to get not just the holiday feel of NZ but more of the real-life feel.
Why Wellington and not, for example, Auckland? Wellington has the government and plenty of culture. Considering my interest in policy and change, this is the place to be. Also I had been traveling through Wellington a few time and it was probably my favourite town in NZ.
We'll see about that in a few months but until now it seems just about right.
It is strange to settle someplace new when you've lived in the same place for 15 years. I'd forgotten about rentals and electricity and location and furniture and stuff.
On these first days, I'm also testing my networking skills but so far so good. Not every contact is achieved as fast as I'd like it too but I'm making friends and nice acquaintances and learning a lot about every thing.
So essentially:
- arrive at destination - check
- recover from jet-lag - check
- find a rental - check
- get a local mobile number - check
- organise to have electricity at the rental - check
- meet new people - check, check, check, check ... and check
- write my first blog post for this adventure - check
My issue is that I don't want to sound too positive about my adventure. Not because it's horrid, on the contrary. It's really nice and I don't want all of you to come over and spoil it.
So you're not getting pictures this time (that would make it look to good :D). Or maybe just one, of Mount Taranaki, as seen from the plane to Wellington.
OK, so, Wellington.
I'm on a sabbatical to try out life in NZ and I have about 8 months. 8 months will take me through winter here to get not just the holiday feel of NZ but more of the real-life feel.
Why Wellington and not, for example, Auckland? Wellington has the government and plenty of culture. Considering my interest in policy and change, this is the place to be. Also I had been traveling through Wellington a few time and it was probably my favourite town in NZ.
We'll see about that in a few months but until now it seems just about right.
It is strange to settle someplace new when you've lived in the same place for 15 years. I'd forgotten about rentals and electricity and location and furniture and stuff.
On these first days, I'm also testing my networking skills but so far so good. Not every contact is achieved as fast as I'd like it too but I'm making friends and nice acquaintances and learning a lot about every thing.
So essentially:
- arrive at destination - check
- recover from jet-lag - check
- find a rental - check
- get a local mobile number - check
- organise to have electricity at the rental - check
- meet new people - check, check, check, check ... and check
- write my first blog post for this adventure - check
Friday, January 19, 2018
About Stewart Island
Stewart island is located some 23km from the bottom of New Zealand’s South Island. It is the Southern most inhabited place with about 350 permanent inhabitants.
They don’t have snow. Some winter the temperatures drop to -5 but it usually stays warmer than on South Island because of the influence of 3 major currents coming from warmer places like the Tasman sea.
85% of the island group and most of the waters surrounded it are protected. Most of it by the pakeha government but quite an area is under Maori protection. The local iwi manages limited hunting and fishing and gathering in view of maintaining a certain equilibrium whilst transmitting their traditions.
As many islands, it is home to some creative projects.
From the start, humans have been bringing foreign species in, for economic and entertainment reasons like hunting or gardening. Botanical collections where believed to be good in the 19th century.
In Halfmoon Bay a community project runs a nursery for native plants. Locals are encouraged to gradually replace their non-native garden plants with native ones and can get them from the nursery for 2$ or more as a donation.
Leigh and Uli own the successful fish and chips joint called Kai Kart (Kai is Maori for food), beside this commercial activity they recently decided to start a “Pay what you want” restaurant, the Drunken Octopus . It is an intriguing initiative. For them it is about focusing on the hosting rather than on delivering a service. I , like most women apparently, struggled with deciding how much I want to pay. Should it refer to similar meals elsewhere or based on my mood, or how much or little is in my wallet at that moment. Price setting is already hard without making it overtly non-rational.
I will need to get used to it but welcome the concept as one where one can waste less energy on being commercial. Or is it actually just the same?
Don’t tell anyone because I would like to keep it to myself but this is the best place for nature hikes. Forget about Fiordland or the West coast. This is it.
The ferry is almost arriving in Bluff. This is the beginning of the end of my trip to NZ. 4days to drive back to Auckland and then the flight home over the US.
I’ll be back
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
The road back - preparation & execution
** see pictures here : https://photos.app.goo.gl/Sw6hl5GBmUITwQPa2 **
Challenge: I am on Stewart Island till Friday and have to return the car and be on a plane in Auckland on Tuesday evening.
How long does it take to drive from Bluff to Auckland?
Google maps tells you it will take 25 hours to drive the 1648km. That is literally 1 day and 1 hour. Cool!
In reality... there is a ferry to take and it is generally not advised to drive 25 hours straight - and no, the wait for the ferry and the few hours crossing don’t count as sufficient rest.
Here’s my thinking:
The best way there is to take highway 1 that goes from Bluff, through Invercargill, via Dunedin, Christchurch and Kaikoura, to Picton whereupon can bord the ferry to Wellington.
From Wellington, highway 1 continues, passing by mount Tongariro and its beautiful landscapes, Taupō and then Auckland.
Beside the sheer distance of this itinerary, there are the following challenges:
- NZ don’t do straight roads! At least not for long. Mountains, big-ass rocks and rivers tend to get in the way, so you’re doing bends.
I must say that NZ roads are probably the best i’ve ever driven, both just in terms of the quality of the tarmac and in the design of the road bends. If they say 100/hr, it will do 100/hr with all the bends. And if suddenly it said 25, you trust it actually means GET THE F*** BACK TO 25/HR!! Road indications are clear and can be trusted (I say this to Belgians who are used to road signs being put up weeks in advance and left from last years road works)
- there is water to cross. Passing the Cook Straight means waiting potentially a few hours for the next ferry crossing and then waiting a good 3hrs in the ferry as it is actually making the crossing. In terms of planning, it only leaves a few hours before or after to do some driving. Practically, leaving from Christchurch in the morning is risky as the drive is at least 5hrs and unpredictable. Kaikoura is safer to start from. When you land in Wellington, you might even make it halfway to Taupō before the night.
- that brings us to nights. I’ve come to master booking.com pretty well but, on a trip like this, I don’t think I will be able to,predict with any measure of precision how far I can get by end-of-day. Still. I need 7-8 hrs of sleep -especially if I’m going to be doing this kind of driving - plus meals and showers and shopping for food.
- and breaks! Add in 3-4 15min-breaks per day and there’s much less left over from your original 25hrs/day
So, concluding, here’s the planning I have in mind:
- Friday: take the 12am ferry from Stewart Island to Bluff and drive to Dunedin to meet my brother’s college friends.
- Saturday: drive on towards Picton and eventually stop for the night in Kaikoura.
- Sunday: if from Picton, ferry over to Wellington and sleep in Taupō
If from Kaikoura, drive to Picton, ferrynover to Wellington and maybe sleep in Palmerston North
- Monday: finish the ride and spend the night in or around Auckland
This plan leave me about a day’s margin. If all goes well, it is a day I could spend in Wellington.
OK, enough of that. As I said at the start of this post: I’m on Stewart Island !!!!
—
Update from Wellington
I’m at Logan Brown’s, a fancy restaurant for what hope is my best meal in NZ
After the ferry ride off Stewart Island I was hungry and got lunch at the Zookeepers café in Invercargill. So it was 3pm before I drove on towards Dunedin where I had the nicest Thaï at the Spirit House with friends of my brother’s. She is an artist who created concrete street sheep for Dunedin. Look it up.
It was still early so I drove a bit further North, to Oemaru where I treated myself to a self-contained motel room. I arrived late but could drive off also before the “heavy” traffic.
No hitch-hikers in my direction so I drove alone.
A short stop for fuel and a sandwich before reaching Christchurch.
Traffic stayed easy, except for a few tourists and trucks I could easily pass. There was a delicious cup of Assam with Manuka leaves in Raikoura, a drive by the view point, and I went on.
Highway 1 around Raikoura suffered greatly from the earthquake. The road there runs between the cliffs and the ocean. Many of these cliffs slid down over the road and into the ocean. We often crept by at 30k/hr over still ongoing roadworks.
Despite it all, I was in Picton by 5pm.
Check-in at the hostel (got a private room!) and walked into Picton for some festival. Nice diner at a restaurant down the marina, a little digestive walk by the ferry bookings and I went back to prep for the next day.
The ferry was almost an hour late so I had to hurry into Wellington to stow away my car at the hostel and walk down to Cuba street and the quays before closing time. I found a lot of nice books to fill up my suitcase and checked at Te Papa about visiting in the morning. Quick shower back at the hostel, a web search for a good restaurant and here I am, 2 blocks away :-). This restaurant, Logan Brown, offers pure delight with its 5-course Chefs choice tasting menu. I could live on the Paua ravioli.
Back in the hostel I settle for a good night. Tomorrow is a long day and the next day I fly home.
Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!
It's 4 something AM and some idiot probably wanted to light one up. We find ourselves on the sidewalk opposite waiting for the fire brigade to give the all-clear...
Monday morning, I head straight for Te Papa museum, have breakfast there to be there at opening. I start on the top floor but have to force myself to move on to the next floor after a couple of hours. A quick lunch there and a visit to Wellington's best comic book store Graphic Comics where I find some 5 little NZ gems at have a passionate exchange with the owner about our favourites.
It's already 3pm and I head out towards Taupo. After an hour I realise I'm bored so I pick up the next hitchhiker. We have such a great conversation that we miss his drop ad have to drive back. He's Belgian but his English is excellent. Law student, travelling for a year as so many, off for a canoe trip of a few days in the Tongariro area. He steps out reminding me to go see the Huka falls in the morning.
As I drive out of Taupo slowly, stopping for different sights, I notice a man walking along the road. When I get to the crossing with SH1, I see him with his thumb up and stop to offer him a ride. This poor man is hitchhiking from Hastings to wellington to find his estranged brother who might just be dead. Not such a brilliant mind as yesterday's passenger but very kind and a representative of the darker side of NZ, stories of poverty, homelessness, alcoholism, domestic violence and mental illnesses.
Traffic is slow and it rains often. I make it to the car rental only 30min before the 5pm deadline but all is good and their van brings me to the airport entrance.
I couldn't sleep during the 12hrs till San Francisco. I manage some 3hrs of shut-eye underway to Frankfurt. When the taxi drops me home, it's been 40 hrs since I got up in Taupo. I just manage to get myself some lunch and shop for groceries. In my bath I fall asleep so I give up trying to stay awake till early evening and get in bed.
Wonderfully, all the dreams I remember having are from my travels. As if I'm still out there.
Challenge: I am on Stewart Island till Friday and have to return the car and be on a plane in Auckland on Tuesday evening.
How long does it take to drive from Bluff to Auckland?
Google maps tells you it will take 25 hours to drive the 1648km. That is literally 1 day and 1 hour. Cool!
In reality... there is a ferry to take and it is generally not advised to drive 25 hours straight - and no, the wait for the ferry and the few hours crossing don’t count as sufficient rest.
Here’s my thinking:
The best way there is to take highway 1 that goes from Bluff, through Invercargill, via Dunedin, Christchurch and Kaikoura, to Picton whereupon can bord the ferry to Wellington.
From Wellington, highway 1 continues, passing by mount Tongariro and its beautiful landscapes, Taupō and then Auckland.
Beside the sheer distance of this itinerary, there are the following challenges:
- NZ don’t do straight roads! At least not for long. Mountains, big-ass rocks and rivers tend to get in the way, so you’re doing bends.
I must say that NZ roads are probably the best i’ve ever driven, both just in terms of the quality of the tarmac and in the design of the road bends. If they say 100/hr, it will do 100/hr with all the bends. And if suddenly it said 25, you trust it actually means GET THE F*** BACK TO 25/HR!! Road indications are clear and can be trusted (I say this to Belgians who are used to road signs being put up weeks in advance and left from last years road works)
- there is water to cross. Passing the Cook Straight means waiting potentially a few hours for the next ferry crossing and then waiting a good 3hrs in the ferry as it is actually making the crossing. In terms of planning, it only leaves a few hours before or after to do some driving. Practically, leaving from Christchurch in the morning is risky as the drive is at least 5hrs and unpredictable. Kaikoura is safer to start from. When you land in Wellington, you might even make it halfway to Taupō before the night.
- that brings us to nights. I’ve come to master booking.com pretty well but, on a trip like this, I don’t think I will be able to,predict with any measure of precision how far I can get by end-of-day. Still. I need 7-8 hrs of sleep -especially if I’m going to be doing this kind of driving - plus meals and showers and shopping for food.
- and breaks! Add in 3-4 15min-breaks per day and there’s much less left over from your original 25hrs/day
So, concluding, here’s the planning I have in mind:
- Friday: take the 12am ferry from Stewart Island to Bluff and drive to Dunedin to meet my brother’s college friends.
- Saturday: drive on towards Picton and eventually stop for the night in Kaikoura.
- Sunday: if from Picton, ferry over to Wellington and sleep in Taupō
If from Kaikoura, drive to Picton, ferrynover to Wellington and maybe sleep in Palmerston North
- Monday: finish the ride and spend the night in or around Auckland
This plan leave me about a day’s margin. If all goes well, it is a day I could spend in Wellington.
OK, enough of that. As I said at the start of this post: I’m on Stewart Island !!!!
—
Update from Wellington
I’m at Logan Brown’s, a fancy restaurant for what hope is my best meal in NZ
After the ferry ride off Stewart Island I was hungry and got lunch at the Zookeepers café in Invercargill. So it was 3pm before I drove on towards Dunedin where I had the nicest Thaï at the Spirit House with friends of my brother’s. She is an artist who created concrete street sheep for Dunedin. Look it up.
It was still early so I drove a bit further North, to Oemaru where I treated myself to a self-contained motel room. I arrived late but could drive off also before the “heavy” traffic.
No hitch-hikers in my direction so I drove alone.
A short stop for fuel and a sandwich before reaching Christchurch.
Traffic stayed easy, except for a few tourists and trucks I could easily pass. There was a delicious cup of Assam with Manuka leaves in Raikoura, a drive by the view point, and I went on.
Highway 1 around Raikoura suffered greatly from the earthquake. The road there runs between the cliffs and the ocean. Many of these cliffs slid down over the road and into the ocean. We often crept by at 30k/hr over still ongoing roadworks.
Despite it all, I was in Picton by 5pm.
Check-in at the hostel (got a private room!) and walked into Picton for some festival. Nice diner at a restaurant down the marina, a little digestive walk by the ferry bookings and I went back to prep for the next day.
The ferry was almost an hour late so I had to hurry into Wellington to stow away my car at the hostel and walk down to Cuba street and the quays before closing time. I found a lot of nice books to fill up my suitcase and checked at Te Papa about visiting in the morning. Quick shower back at the hostel, a web search for a good restaurant and here I am, 2 blocks away :-). This restaurant, Logan Brown, offers pure delight with its 5-course Chefs choice tasting menu. I could live on the Paua ravioli.
Back in the hostel I settle for a good night. Tomorrow is a long day and the next day I fly home.
Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!
It's 4 something AM and some idiot probably wanted to light one up. We find ourselves on the sidewalk opposite waiting for the fire brigade to give the all-clear...
Monday morning, I head straight for Te Papa museum, have breakfast there to be there at opening. I start on the top floor but have to force myself to move on to the next floor after a couple of hours. A quick lunch there and a visit to Wellington's best comic book store Graphic Comics where I find some 5 little NZ gems at have a passionate exchange with the owner about our favourites.
It's already 3pm and I head out towards Taupo. After an hour I realise I'm bored so I pick up the next hitchhiker. We have such a great conversation that we miss his drop ad have to drive back. He's Belgian but his English is excellent. Law student, travelling for a year as so many, off for a canoe trip of a few days in the Tongariro area. He steps out reminding me to go see the Huka falls in the morning.
As I drive out of Taupo slowly, stopping for different sights, I notice a man walking along the road. When I get to the crossing with SH1, I see him with his thumb up and stop to offer him a ride. This poor man is hitchhiking from Hastings to wellington to find his estranged brother who might just be dead. Not such a brilliant mind as yesterday's passenger but very kind and a representative of the darker side of NZ, stories of poverty, homelessness, alcoholism, domestic violence and mental illnesses.
Traffic is slow and it rains often. I make it to the car rental only 30min before the 5pm deadline but all is good and their van brings me to the airport entrance.
I couldn't sleep during the 12hrs till San Francisco. I manage some 3hrs of shut-eye underway to Frankfurt. When the taxi drops me home, it's been 40 hrs since I got up in Taupo. I just manage to get myself some lunch and shop for groceries. In my bath I fall asleep so I give up trying to stay awake till early evening and get in bed.
Wonderfully, all the dreams I remember having are from my travels. As if I'm still out there.
Amazing Kea, mountain genie/us
New Zealand is home to the Kea, an amazingly clever bird.
They gave it little tests to do, devices to unlock to reach food. The Kea just want you to go for a hike and leave them your car to disassemble. With their hook beak they can reach in and pull out the rubber from a car door.
It is very interesting to see them have a go at someone else’s car. 😄
The first time I saw a Kea was in 2008, on the car park of Fox Glacier. A whole gang of them was roaming around, checking out all the cars. As other people walked away, leaving their cars at the crazy bird mecanics’ mercy, I did the same...
This year I was driving past Arthur’s Pass, on the beautiful road from Christchurch to Greymouth, when I spot a group of Asians acting strangely. In this gorge, where I just saw the red Rata blooming in the mist, they were looking up and waving a toy. It turned out that they were calling a Kea they had seen and trying to lure it with their toy Kea. And in fact, a Kea came flying low over us, unfortunately not to join us but to perch on a cliff at a safe distance, but in view.
A sure spot to meet Kea, just like the parking lot at Fox Glacier is the rest area just before the tunnel to Milford Sound. A place to stop on your way in or out of the tunnel and admire the water flowing over black rock from a small glacier just above.
The first day I passed there, as I was waiting for the tunnel’s green light, I saw at least 3 Kea playing around, chased by tourists with cameras. The next day, on my way back from a tramps with Trips&Tramps, I stopped to have a closer look. There was just the one Kea but I did manage to take some pictures of the tourist attention and a shot of its colours.
Look at this show master and the surprising colours hidden under its wings.
They gave it little tests to do, devices to unlock to reach food. The Kea just want you to go for a hike and leave them your car to disassemble. With their hook beak they can reach in and pull out the rubber from a car door.
It is very interesting to see them have a go at someone else’s car. 😄
The first time I saw a Kea was in 2008, on the car park of Fox Glacier. A whole gang of them was roaming around, checking out all the cars. As other people walked away, leaving their cars at the crazy bird mecanics’ mercy, I did the same...
This year I was driving past Arthur’s Pass, on the beautiful road from Christchurch to Greymouth, when I spot a group of Asians acting strangely. In this gorge, where I just saw the red Rata blooming in the mist, they were looking up and waving a toy. It turned out that they were calling a Kea they had seen and trying to lure it with their toy Kea. And in fact, a Kea came flying low over us, unfortunately not to join us but to perch on a cliff at a safe distance, but in view.
A sure spot to meet Kea, just like the parking lot at Fox Glacier is the rest area just before the tunnel to Milford Sound. A place to stop on your way in or out of the tunnel and admire the water flowing over black rock from a small glacier just above.
The first day I passed there, as I was waiting for the tunnel’s green light, I saw at least 3 Kea playing around, chased by tourists with cameras. The next day, on my way back from a tramps with Trips&Tramps, I stopped to have a closer look. There was just the one Kea but I did manage to take some pictures of the tourist attention and a shot of its colours.
Look at this show master and the surprising colours hidden under its wings.
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