As we were waiting for the plane in Hobart, I decided to go on the internet and instead of getting bored and looking over my shoulder, Delia decided to walk around the airport. Hobart airport is not big so it was easy to keep an eye on Delia, just to make sure that she would stay out of trouble - good luck on that one! At one point when I looked up from the screen to see where Delia was, I saw her talking to someone.......hmmmmm......no surprise there, but as I was thinking that he looked familiar........who is that......that almost looks like Mic...is that Mic????....Anyways, turns out that it was Mic - Mic and Annette; the ones that we met in Mole Creek and saw again in D'Angelos......they were on the same flight to Sydney heading home - it never ceases to amaze me - really, what are the chances! We chatted and when we arrived in the Sydney airport, we said our good-byes and exchanged our contact information. With this trip, our world just keeps getting smaller and smaller - cool!
We arrived in Sydney without incident and with a few questions here and there, we got to Anne and Julie's place with equal ease! Julie did come home at lunch, but being a Friday and having logged some additional hours at other times, her admin team agreed that they could manage without her for the afternoon - yeah! We socialized like we were longtime friends and just had a riot. Even though we thought it was a long shot, we called Pauline (from New Castle - 2 hour drive away from Sydney), to see if she could join us. Her son was in town for a visit, but he agreed to do some things on his own while Pauline came to visit. It was so great to see them all again - we just had a fantastic time - laugh, laugh, laugh - we will keep in touch! The next morning, Pauline took us to the airport and headed back home to her son. Delia and I are so fortunate. At times, you just keep wondering when your good fortune will end, but for now - we just keep enjoying the moment.
Leaving Sydney, we were heading for Te Anau, NZ in the South Island via Christchurch and Queenstown to start our tramps. A bit of an adventure, but not too bad I will explain. When we were in Toronto planning our trip, there were certain tramps in NZ that we definitely wanted to do and because the are so popular and they are regulated to protect the parks, we had to book them 1 year in advance. Not knowing the tracks or New Zealand much and having just a little knowledge from the books that we read, we were relying on a bit of guesswork and alot of luck - fortunately, it did all work out, but a bit of a whirlwind from landing to our first tramp.
We arrived in Christchurch at 2 pm on February 6th and we were starting our first tramp on February 8th - okay, 2 days to get there, get our food (bought most of it in Tasmania to prepare ourselves as we were tight for time for our first hike) and pack.....interesting - we can do this. While still in Toronto it was decided that we would stay in Christchurch for 1 night in a hostel and then take a flight from Christchurch to Queenstown, then take a bus from Queenstown to Te Anau where we booked accommodations at a backpackers (close to start of tramp) then to take a bus the next day (that we also booked) where we would start hiking our first tramp; the Kepler Track. We felt like Steve Martin and John Candy in the movie Trains, Planes and Automobiles. It was planned alright, but could we do it???!
To make this story complete, let me step back for a second. Even though we were really sad to leave Tasmania, New Zealand was our dream and really we considered it the "main" part of our journey - we were excited - I mean really excited. I wanted to go to NZ just as much, if not more than climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. Even though I have never been to NZ, I would have to say, a piece of my heart has always been there - waiting for me to come get it...I know corny, but NZ has always felt like my second home - really! I found it hard to contain myself on the plane and when we got closer and I looked out the window and I saw the mountains, it was confirmed that NZ really is heaven!!! We landed in Christchurch and always trying to conserve money to some extent (leaving more money for the fun stuff *grin*), we took a local bus to the hostel. By the map, the bus stop did not look so far away from the hostel, but with a big honking duffel bag, another gym bag and our little knapsacks, it was not a pretty sight. It was only 2 km away, but it was brutal, our shoulders were killing us, but we made it and it could have been worse - it was sunny and beautiful and we WERE in NZ - we could survive it, and we did! Once we got to the hostel, it was nice and the people were friendly and once we dropped the bags off, we were able to enjoy what Christchurch had to offer before we headed off the next day. Christchurch is very pretty - I liked it - small, fairly quiet or at least it seemed, and for a city it was nice - certainly felt safe. We headed back into town (much easier this time around), ate at a local restaurant and had a great meal with a few cocktails to compliment! We enjoyed our relaxed walk back to the hostel and got things ready for our flight to Queenstown. This time we got a taxi - okay get this - $18 for the taxi and $15 for the bus - unbelievable - oh well, live and learn! My shoulders were so happy that I didn't have to lug those bags around again! Once in Queenstown we did have to take a city connector bus to the bus that was going to take us from Queenstown to Te Anau, but this time, it really was just a short walk from each of the bus stops........thank goodness for small mercies! Queenstown is a very "hyper town". A city where alot of adrenaline junkies get their fix - bungee jumping, sky diving, etc., but it is surprisingly a very quaint and pretty town. The views are outstanding and the people are also nice. So far in NZ we have not been exposed to a BIG city. Both Christchurch and Queenstown were still fairly small in my books - a small town feel to both of them. The bus from Queenstown to Te Anau was soooooo beautiful - just a tip of the views that we were about to see, but still you can't take for granted any view - it was beautiful! On our way to Te Anau we had our first taste of the friendly and funny bus drivers. As we will find out later, New Zealanders are generous, fun, kind and are amazing story tellers - they love their country and always have some history and great things to say about it - this is refreshing to see!!! On our way to Te Anau we were trying to organize our steps in order to pick up our park passes at the DOC (Department of Conservation) office (right in town) and how we were going to get ourselves to our backpackers place (Bob and Maxine's) that is 2 km out of town. After chatting with the bus driver he said that he would drop us off at Bob and Maxine's - sweet. So the plan was that I would get off in town, go to the DOC, the bus driver would drop Delia off at our backpackers and then she would find her way back in town and meet me there for dinner. As it turned out, Bob and Maxine's was the last stop so after dropping the other passengers off, Allan; our Bus Driver agreed to come back around and pick me up at the DOC and take us both to Bob and Maxine's (NB: I think that Allan was quite happy to help us out as Allan was a bit older and when he stopped to let the others off, instead of Allan having to climb into the back to get the luggage, Delia insisted that she do it - so he was very grateful for that - she is so sweet).
Bob and Maxine's Backpackers was our home for the next 2 weeks; before and after our hikes and that is exactly what it felt like. Christchurch and Queenstown were small, but Te Anau was even smaller. The town was located on a lake (Lake Te Anau) and was smack in the middle of mountains - I think that is all I have to say. The town was "sweet as pie" - I loved it. Those of you that know how directionally challenged I am, you can appreciate how a small town would excite me *grin*! Like I said, Bob and Maxine's was located 2 km out of town on a large piece of land with the mountains as a backdrop. It was quiet, clean and the Bob and Maxine were fabulous hosts! When we first arrived, there was no one at the reception area - or at least what we could make out that most likely would be the reception area - it was just like going to someone's home with lots of rooms. We dropped our bags and walked around until we found Maxine. Maxine.....ah Maxine, she is caring, generous, genuinely interested in her guests and man, can she talk!!! She gave us the tour - kitchen, shared living space and our room. She showed us where the bikes and bike locks were that we were welcome to use at anytime - made it very handy to get to and from town. I wish that I could have taken a picture of us though - pretty darn funny.....we had different bikes and helmets each time....at times our knees were hitting our chests and other times we were sporting the 'ole "bum shift" cycling style.....we had to constantly fix our helmets from falling to the right, left, back and over our faces all while carrying our groceries - okay, if you can't picture it, you will have to trust me on this one - VERY FUNNY! And don't tell Delia I told you, but there was the colour pink involved too *grin*!!! Seriously, it was all perfect and to top it off, the transportation in NZ caters to hikers - we were picked up directly from Bob and Maxine's and taken to the trail heads and likewise on the way home. We were in NZ, we were settled in to our "home away from home" and we were starting our first New Zealand tramp tomorrow - could it get any better - we were stoked!!!
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