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

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.

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.

Skies over the Te Waewae bay

As you come out of Fiordland, Tuatapere - a historic town for the Maori who landed in this area - is your gateway to the South coast.
Somewhere between 5 and 6, I drove onto the lookout called McCracken’s nest.
There was so much going on between the sun, the clouds and the sea.
I tried to capture some of it.
Just enjoy this amazing, heavenly light as I have.
The last picture is from a bit farther, on a hill between Tihaka and Riverton.

Bits and bobs on Queenstown

I’m definitely not a fan of Queenstown. I didn’t stay very long.
One night at a sir Cédric’s hostel in town, diner at a pub.by the quays, checking out some shops...
The next day I visited the Dept. of conservation for info and it doesn’t sound good for Queenstown.
Three anecdotes for your entertainment:
Normally shops are on the side walk, maybe have a parking lot, like super markets. Then there is the liquor store. The liquor store has a front drive-through parking space so you can easily ... drive off with your alcohol...
Oh and look at the stunning backdrop, those mountains that surround Queenstown. Shouldn’t the liquor store be halfway up the mountain, reachable after at least an hour hike?

There are a lot of Chinese tourists in and around Queenstown. A lot. And I found out why.
In the second half of the 19th century up to 8000 Chinese men came to the area to mine for gold. They didn’t stay but did spend a decade or two in the country, contributing to the economy and development of the area. Recently, the government recognised having discriminated against the Chinese in the past and, to atone, have restored and reconstituted the Chinese settlement of Arrowtown.

The third anecdote is more a road story as sometimes you see a field crowded with sheep, a thousand sheep, maybe more. It reminded me of the mass of humans queuing at the sky lift in a popular resort. Where you can walk over heads. I suppose it is for shearing - it is summer - or some other treatment. I couldn’t stop at the really crowded ones so look at this one and imagine10 times more sheep.

Lichen story

I have this thing with lichen.
Lichen and mosses are like fractals. They look like something whole from a distance and then, up close, you discover a new dimension with totally new shapes. Ok, so not totally like fractals, but still.

To keep my albums accessible, i’ve learned to keep these pictures separate from the regular ones. This album is where I will be putting all my lichen, moss, plants, birds pictures:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/HoSoJNzl0DRWeg2J2

Let me show you a few already. Here are the lichen (maybe a miss) on the tōtaro, an oak-leave type lichen, some parasite that grows balls around branches, a lichen with tips that make little cups, etc. Aren’t they incredible?!
I hope you are just as amazed as I was at some of them.

On the road again - Greymouth to Stewart Island

... By 3pm I was on my way for Greymouth via Arthur Pass and despite all the photograph stops, I made it to the Global Village hostel by 8pm.
(I had to make a new post because apparently there is a limit per post)

It was raining the next day, fortunately because I reanalysed wanted to go hike these fern tree forests again. BUT my objective was to get to the Southland and spend time there.
So I trodded on.
Greymouth, Hokitika, soon after here the fern tree forest ends, Harihari (but respect the speed limit), Franz Jozef Glacier, Fox Glacier where I stopped for lunch, stunning Bruce bay, until Haast.
 Here the coastal road with it’s impressive dense forests with up to 50m high Rimu trees ends.
It turns inland to follow Haast river and up to the Pass to reach Wanaka.
I didn’t stop at Wanaka. Wanaka is a good base to go see Mount Cook and its glacier but I had a few more hours and was hoping at least to get to Queenstown.
Wanaka was also the end of the beautiful exotic west coast forest area. Here, you are in a large version of Europe. Same but at a larger scale. Boring to drive through.
To reach Queenstown, you drive through a desert area, the road follows a gorge. 
At the Department of Conservation they weren’t very positive when I asked about forests in the area. 
After a night at the Sir Cedric hostel in town I headed to the Bikes and Barbers shop to try an ebike. After a wee tour and a nice chat with the shop team I took off again, on to Te Anau.

Te Anau is base camp to visit Fiordland and specifically Milford Sound, even though most organisers start from Queenstown. I stayed 3 nights. One day to explore and plan a hike. The second day to do the great Milford Sound hike with Trips&Tramps and then take the slow road back, stopping a lot to enjoy the views.
South of Te Anau, I visited Rakatu wetlands rehabilitation project, the giant Tōtara trees and lake Hauroko. It was getting late in the day. the light on Te Waewae bay was amazing (see pics!) but then it was time for the last leg to Invercargill.
From Invercargill, I drove out to the Catlins to see the petrified forest, McLean’s waterfall and some more. The next day, I caught the ferry from Bluff for the only planned part of my trip: 3 night at the hostel in Oban on Stewart Island.

The 11am ferry got me there early, so I took some time to do some reconnaissance. Here are some things to do for me:
- look for kiwis by dusk - done (the looking, not the seeing)
- meet some locals - done, at the Drunken Octopus café
- ask at the DoC for good walks - done
- walk down Fern gully - ...

- do a hike near Maori bay - done
- visit Ulva Island to see the birds - done

one week to go before I fly back...

On the road again - pictures

Greetings from Akaroa, in the most beautiful remote peninsula ever seen, just outside Christchurch.

A quick post to signal that I’ve started a new album for the pictures of my road trip and called it NZ summer 2018 - on the road again.
I’ll be adding my picture along the road - not tonight as my camera’s batterie is empty - until a new chapter starts :
https://photos.app.goo.gl/4et2tBIylU0B6jnc2
Here are the view from Picton,
lunch at the Cod&Lobster Brasserie,
and a view of the views on the heights of old Nelson

On the road again - Waiheke to Greymouth

I thought I’d do a post listing just the places I’d been and the roads I’d taken.
Friday, pick up time for the rental car in Auckland was 10am but because of the storm, I was stuck on Waiheke and only managed to get there by 2pm.
Of course, in the rain, I missed the city entrance to highway 1 South and had to turn around a bit later.
A brief stop in a mall to get some supplies and I was really off.
That day, I made it to Taupō where I found a bed in a 4-p room at Base Backpackers. Great location but super loud with its own bar and the 3 just across the street.

Saturday, I was on my way when I realised I forgot to look for some books at the bookstore, so I turn around and buy the books. Driving off I see 2 lucky backpackers heading for Wellington like me. Lucky them!
A beautiful drive on highway 1, passing through the area around mount Tongariro with the desert and the gorges with beautiful black beeches.
We made it to Wellington just in time for me to drop them off at their hostel and to catch the ferry to Picton. I wouldn’t have to stay in Wellington.
The crossing was choppy to say the least. 5m waves according to the captain. Watching the waves and the horizon, I managed to keep my supper in.
I woke up at Picton’s lovely Sequoia Lodge Backpackers to a delicious 20degrees and a hesitant sun. The most interesting road to Nelson seemed the Queen Charlotte drive. More zigzagging but excellent views.

That’s where I found Alex, “Alex’s walk for life” on FB, who is walking from north to south and had just lost all his gear when a German ran his tent over, him sleeping in it!, with his car... Alex now had to interrupt his walk to go to Nelson to get new stuff. I hope you manage to get back on track Alex!
In Nelson, I dropped him off in the town center, found a parking spot behind the church and an excellent lunch place in front of it. The Cod and Lobster by the way.
Then, why not go check out Abel Tasman National Park? I did, but couldn’t find a bed anywhere near it. So I just drove into one of its inroads, only to find hoards of tourists camped in bungalow parks, and turned around.
I ended up driving all the way to the end of the road, to Collingwood, located in this large valley, protected from the main land by high ranges of mountains and twisty roads. And back, of course. A nervous drive as I was testing the content of my gas tank to the limit...
In Nelson, I got myself a private room at a hostel to get some sound sleep. And a swim in the hostel pool :-)
The next leg was Nelson - Christchurch. Driving through the mountains was a very nice experience but I was disappointed when I dropped by Hanmer Springs, a stop I enjoyed very much in 2008, and found it just a big tourist attraction.
Arriving at Christchurch it wasn’t too late and I let myself be lured by the mystery of the French settlement in Banks Peninsula. Akaroa was the end of the road and too late to change my mind but I was super lucky to find a bed in charming hostel “Chez la mer”.

The next day, I wanted to reach Greymouth but also wanted to visit some of the peninsula and see Christchurch again since the earthquake. There is a lovely scenery drive following the vulcanic peeks with views over the different bays of Banks Peninsula that I ended in Levauchelle to buy some local cheese.
The damage caused by the earthquake to the center of Christchurch is impressive. Almost 50% of its surface has been levelled and cleaned up to make a parking lot. The city with the most parking lots ever! It is hard to get around as many streets are still closed for repair works. I have such admiration for how they got back up from not one but two major earthquakes.
A little walk around the damaged cathedral and then I went to bistro The Villas for a nice fish lunch.
By 3pm I was on my way for Greymouth via Arthur Pass...

(read on about the rest of the trip in part 2, Greymouth to Stewart Island)

Just a nice picture of Auckland seen from Waiheke

Nature hike around Park Point, Waiheke

Tuesday I made my last scooter trip, to Park Point, South of Oneroa, where there is nice hike taking you around this point along the coast, first through some native forest, then some more developed, westernised but still beautiful coast.
You can see the full portfolio on Google Photo via this link:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/6xxa8dDAfi6djHnv2

Here are a few

to give you a bit of an idea of how it was.

From Waiheke to Taupō

As I arrive at Taupo a ray of sun brakes through the clouds and a bit of blue sky appears just before sunset.
For 2 days, a storms has been raging. This almost constant rainfall was a blessing to the inhabitants of Waiheke who had stood dry for 2 months, rationing the showers, the laundries, not watering the gardens. On Waiheke there is no public water supply to the houses. Everyone has their own reservoir and collects rainfall from their roof. Normally there’s enough to go around but this summer has been particularly dry.
After a glorious day around the island with my guide into Māori traditions Puawai Ormsby on Wednesday ...

The sky started to darken and rain was promised for the night. We waited. It came the next day, big time.
Puawai came over with some harakeke , the New Zealand flax, to teach me to weave. As the rain was falling outside the open doors, she taught me how and when to cut the harakeke. As the rain continued to fall, we prepared her leaves for weaving by removing the spines, splitting them and making them more flexible with the back of a knife. I wove a little bag to put my weaving stuff in. I also learned to spin the fibers into a rope and even to make the rope really thin.
I learned that you don’t combine weaving with eating or drinking. Eating and drinking are both grounding and weaving is about letting go. So you stop weaving, go wash your hands and have a bite or a drink away from your work area.
I learned about returning the leftovers to harakeke plants in a nice little package and to deposit it there with a thanking for use of the material and hoping the leftovers will help the plants grow further and provide again.
Now I can harvest harakeke along the road and do some weaving on my stops, just dreaming away.

This morning the wind had picked up seriously. As we arrived at the pier, we saw the ferry swerving away from the bay and disappearing behind the rocks. It wasn’t able to get into the bay because of the huge lateral waves and was returning to Auckland. They would try again at 12. It ended up being 1 before the waves allowed the ferry to reach the island. This all granted us a precious few hours for chatting just the two of us. Here are a couple of pictures of the view from the pub where we grabbed a hot drink.

She dropped me off at the rental company in Auckland and we both went our ways.
By then it was past 3pm. 5 hours later than planned. I wasn’t gong to make it to Wellington today.
I made a brief stop at a supermarket for some road trip supplies and started driving.
I reached Taupō just in time to check into the hostel before they locked the doors at 9pm.

So here I am, like the hobbits leaving the Shire, on my way for an adventure.

New Year’s eve tea at Awaawaroa, valley of the twin rivers

Along the East coast of New Zealand there is an island called Waiheke but whose real name is Te Ara Hura. Most of the population occupies the West half of the island, between Oneroa and Onetangi, the long beach and the beach of sounds.
But if you bother to continue past the beachfront village of Onetangi, take the road to Orapiu and behind the ridge of high hills turn right and follow the signs to Awaawaroa, you might just pass a little gate made of big sticks and overgrown with a very delicate pink geranium. Behind that gate laid the magical garden of story teller Tanya Batt.
When she’s not travelling the world from storytelling festival to storytelling festival, Tanya lives there with husband Peter.
I met Tanya a few summers ago when she was cycling from Denmark to the UK and passed through Belgium where my NZ friend was just staying with me.
Tanya and Peter have been gathering the most amazing plant to put together a garden for dreaming and nourishment.

Now I wouldn’t be telling you all this if I hadn’t been there. And I was there precisely for New Year’s Eve tea with my Waiheke friends. Just a few hours before the world would head into a new year, New Zealand first.
Check Tanya out on Facebook and on her website.
Here are some pictures of the afternoon and of some of the plants.

Awaawarea is also the name of the wetlands in this valley, wetlands where they have just spotted some rare fish that come spawning there.