At Least I Had Fish and Chips

Okay, so I'm back from Stewart Island and it was sort of a downer.  We'll just jump into the journal entries.

January 13th 9:33PM

Back on the track again.  This time it's the Raiura: a 3 day loop on Stewart Island.  The island is reasonably sized and below the southern most tip of the South Island of NZ.  It is sparsely inhabited with about 350 people.  Most of them live in the township of Oban.  And just to prove I know a lot about Stewart Island, commerce revolves around fishing and tourism and is it is a haven for native plant and bird life since most introduced species haven't made it down that far.

What I'm most interested in are the isolated and scenic beaches.  The water isn't warm so people don't flock here like they would to the golden sandy beaches up North (and there's a lot of sandflies here too.  A LOT).  This is also my best chance to spot a kiwi.  Normally shy and nocturnal, the kiwis here are rumored to brazenly wander about sometimes even in daylight.

I finished the first day of hiking after arriving 4 hours earlier by a ferry from Bluff.  It was a fairly sunny day which made me happy.  Stewart Island gets quite a bit of rain so I really am tempting fate.

Bad news.  My knees were really feeling creaky at the end and are still bothering me now.  I'm staying in the Port William hut for 2 nights so I'll have ample time to rest them.  I'm dismayed that I didn't read anywhere that there was an abundance of ups and downs and stairs.  Theses factors wear out my knees quickly.

But I'm optimistic.  the downhills aren't intense and I can take as much time as I need.  I'm rethinking my idea to hike the Wilkin Youngs Circuit though...

On a side note, I forgot to mention that I met a really nice Australian couple at the Routeburn Flate campsite.  Hoody and Jaime.  They were really easy to talk to and fun people to spend time with.  They also shared their dinner of curry w/ fresh veggies (something I hadn't enjoyed in a week).  It's unfortunate I didn't get to spend more time with them.  But in general, all the Aussies I've met have been genuinely nice people.  I'll have to make a journey to that country some time as well.

January 14th 5:42PM

I didn't even bother walking today.  I spent all day lounging around Port William Hut because my knees were still too sore.  I've decided to abandon the tramp altogether and head back to Oban.  I imagine it will take a while to get back as my knees have bothered me just walking around the hut.I suppose with my extra day I'll either rent a kayak or bike and do some non-walking exploration.

January 17th 5:31PM

I haven't been writing much because there hasn't been much to report.  On the 15th I made it back to Oban without any knee pain, which was a relief.  However, the important discovery of the day was that I will never have to eat fish & chips* again because I have found the best.  Kai Kart is a permanently parked bus that serves your general fried fare.  But it is anything but general.  I had 2 pieces of blue cod and an order of kumara (a sweet potato like tuber) chips.  Oh my God.  It was exceptional.  Lightly breaded and not over fried.  Nice flakey delicious fish.  Mmmmmm. 

*Fish & chips is a national obsession here.  The 24 hour AM/PM type corner store have them.   All restaurants have them.  Some places only advertise that they serve fish & chips.  Despite all the walking Kiwis' do it's probably because of fish & chips, and their other greasy good food obsession: meat pies, that New Zealand is a nation with a largely obese populace.

After Kai Kart I settled into my tent and went to sleep.  The next morning I went to a coffee shop to read, rest my knees and use the internet.  As it turned out there was only one working computer and a German woman had already claimed it.  So I waited.  And waited.  And waited.  She spent almost 3 hours writing emails.  the barista told me she felt bad for me because she knew I was waiting for a computer.

 I replied, "That's okay, I don't have anything better to do.  But out of curiosity, how much did she spend on the internet?"

"$35.  Can you believe that?  She just paid my gas bill."

My jaw dropped.  $35!  That's more than a monthly bill for internet.  I think that woman needs to write some postcards or make some phone calls or fly back to Germany to tell these people first hand what is on her mind.  Either way it will be cheaper than using internet.

Well there's my rant.  I'm proud, since I do believe that is my first and only rant in this blog.  Correct me if I'm wrong loyal readers.

For the rest of the afternoon I read "Island of the Sequined Love Nun" for a second time  I already finished "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" and surprisingly enjoyed it.  One book was enough though.  I doubt I will continue with the rest of the series.

As the afternoon turned to evening I cooked up and ate pasta w/ sauteed veggies and then went out on the "town."  I stopped at the South Sea Hotel to knock back some pints at their bar.  Inside I was taken aback* by how many rowdy locals there were.  There was a group of about 30 or 40 of them shuffling from bar to table to pool table in no discernable pattern.  there had to have been 3 different generations of locals all doomed to return to this bar just like their ancestors did.  They even had fossilized pint glasses and darts on display from when cavemen came to this bar to get drunk.

*Another surprise was to see the NZ version of American Idol on TV.  Apparently two different towns were competing against one another - Taranaki and Bluff.  Bluff is the port town where you catch the ferry that shuttles all the tourists to Stewart Island.  So the TV got a lot of attentions.  The bartenders would crank up the volume whenever any Bluff performers came on.  It was, however, the same awful television as it is in the States.

One of the younger guys, Bill, began to chat me up while I was ordering a beer.  It went something like this:

"So where are you from?"

"The States."

"What?"

"THE....STATES...."

"Oh!  You're a Yank!"

"I'm guilty."

"Hey, you know that country was founded by Free Masons?  Yeah, no shit.  They got all these symbols and they wrote the history and came up with the government and all your presidents, and, fuck, everyone was a Free Mason."

"Oh.  Hmmm..."

"Yeah it's okay.  It'sd fucking shit though.  You like Stewart Island?"

"Yeeeeeah....."

"Oh aye?  You done any walkin' yet?"

"Yeah.  The Rakiura Track."

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

"I like Martin's Bay."

"Cool.  Hey I think it's your shot."

"Uh? Fuck, okay."

Bye Bill.  He had some seriously blood shot eyes and was using the pool cue he was holding for balance.  Quite a buzz considering it was only 7:30PM.

After 5 pints I had enough of the local color and decided to mosey.  On the way back a most delicious smell was emanating from Kai Kart.  Cruely or fortunately, however you look at it, it was on my way back to my tent.  There was no way I could resist.  I munched on another blue cod filet and a half order of chips before heading to bed.

Today I made it back to Queenstown and I honestly don't have as much of an aversion to it as I did at first.  It's become familiar to me and now feels like my New Zealand home.  I almost have a routine and I definitely have some favorites.  My favorite bar has nice outside seating on a busy corner.  The bar is never busy so I can usually go back and forth between concentrating on writing in my journal or people watching.  My favorite restaurant is Kim's Korean Barbecue.  Damn, Kim makes some good grub.  And we always have a competition for who can say thank you the most.  Kim always wins.  He follows almost every word with thank you.

Tomorrow my plans are to go to Makarora for 3 days to do some hiking.  My knees are still iffy but don't worry, I have two plans:

Plan A

Catch a jetboat to take me upriver and hike the 8 km to the hut for 2 nights.

Plan B

Basecamp in Makarora and just do two day hikes.  

I'm favoring the jet boat option because I'll be able to see more.  Though it will cost me $165 NZ....  I'll just have to play it by ear.  Until then.