Post 9 - New Zealand routine
It’s been two weeks since I last wrote, I’m a little sorry I didn’t have time to write before when all the experiences were fresh in my mind. Those two weeks were really full of good things when I look back.
So if we go back to the moment I stopped, I left Ta Anau for a few days on Highway 94 towards Milford Sound. I didn’t plan my plans in depth for those days, sometimes it was very nice and sometimes it would have been better if I had devoted a little more thought to the planning.
The first two days on the road I mainly stopped at all sorts of beautiful lookout points and short trails. The sides of the road are truly mesmerizing and this is reflected in the fact that the entire trip was at 60-70 km/h with the gaze moving from side to side in response to the incredible surrounding landscape.
The first night I slept in a campsite where apart from me and about a million sandflies there was not a living soul there. The situation allowed me to throw an underground party to which only one person was invited - me. Snacks, beers and headphones provided the good vibe and allowed me to dance under the starlight and really have a great quality time with myself (if I ever get the chance to sleep alone again I will do a rerun of the party line).
On the second day I went on a spontaneous bike ride on the Lower Hollyford Road. On the third day a trip to Lake Marian which was simply wow, clear water under snowy mountains and from there a cruise in Milford Sound which was powerful, seeing the high mountains emerging from the sea was a very impressive sight. In addition, it was my first encounter with the ocean (or rather the Tasman Sea) So that was exciting.
Lake Marian
Milford Sound
Milford Sound
Lower Hollyford
Highway 94
After the cruise, I drove all the way back to Te Anau on the same Highway 94, but this time with a sunset background that gave all the views I had already seen a golden hue that made every sight even more spectacular. In Te Anau, Maayan and I (a friend I met a few days before Te Anau) took a dip in the Hot Tub overlooking the lake in the holiday park he was staying at, how nice it felt after a few days without a shower. After a few days in the field, I always need to eat a little, shower, rest, and then I can go back to being a human being.
In Te Anau, I retraced my steps to Kingston, where I met Yael, who I met in Wanaka. The campsite in Kingston has a special place in my heart after all the peace he gave me when I was staying in his grounds. The next day, we walked to Lake Alta, which was light and nice, and from there we drove to Queenstown for coffee on the lake with my good friend Roy, who has been with me for a long time. That evening after we sneaked into the hostel to take a good shower, I drove to Glenorchy where I spent the night on the banks of the Rees River. One of the best places for stargazing I’ve ever been to and there was also a very fun evening with Valentino, Sophie and Ian.
In the morning after a few rides I set off on the Rothburn trail which was lovely. I felt that my walking ability had improved since I got here and I could pick up the pace a bit. Breathtaking views again, waterfalls again, snowy mountains again, what can I say, really beautiful. After 20 or so kilometers I ended the day at Lake Mackenzie, where I fantasized all the way about taking a dip in it and breaking free from the heavy sweat that covered me.
That night I tested my new tent for the first time, which made a pretty good first impression after keeping me dry after a rainy night. Continuing the night, the rain continued throughout the next day and it gave a different atmosphere to the trip (although we didn’t see much of the view of the valley, I liked it to some extent that it was a little different from the trips so far)
At the end of the route I tried to hitchhike back towards Queenstown and to my great disappointment I was left with my finger outside as dozens of tourists passed me, when at best they waved at me. I had to take the expensive bus to Queenstown, nothing, everything goes wrong for the better (at least on the way I got to drink hot chocolate at a stop in Te Anau). From Queenstown the hitchhiking journey continued to the car, this time I was more cunning. I put my backpack on, started walking and when a car passed I turned around with an innocent look, they had no chance and they had to stop (I hitchhiked with Carr, a presenter of national radio programs about local natural phenomena).
That evening, I returned back to the same spot on the river The Rees, because a winning horse is not replaced. It was indeed a wonderful evening again, when this time instead of Valentino and his friends were the lovely Yuval and Ofek. In the morning I went for a bike ride to Paradise, it turns out that it is nearby and they simply didn’t inform us.
Routeburn Falls
Dreaming of a swim
At the entrance to “paradise”
Bike ride in “paradise”
Hitchhiking journey begins
Lunch on Conical Hill, Routeburn
In the afternoon I met with Shahar and Maya in Queenstown and we catched up for two weeks of gaps on a trip like friends who hadn’t seen each other in a few years. In the evening I felt the need to empty my longing for a party and went out with Jonathan, whom I met at Lake Marian, and two other Israelis to a club. After the party, which was reasonable minus, I gave the falafel across the street a chance because after all maybe Yosef from Tarshiha sent him the recipe (in the end no, the connection between what I received and falafel is completely coincidental and I think he should be fined for using the term).
Another V that I had to cross was sleeping in a place where it’s not allowed with the car. My criminal senses worked overtime and ended up creating a hiding place in the car’s storage compartment so that it looked like there was no one in the car when in fact I was pecking in the basement I created for myself, a little scary but very cool.
I took the next day off due to the extreme fatigue. What I discovered was that one thing that helped with fatigue was to jump off a mountain. Eddie, may God protect him, was the guy in whose hands I entrusted my life there on the summit. He tied us up and we ran down the slope into the air, just a crazy experience. It got even crazier when he showed me some of the basic laws of physics that still apply when you’re hanging between heaven and earth.
I dedicated my last day in Queenstown to a trip to the summit of Ben Lemond, the usual New Zealand tradition of climbing a thousand or so meters and then returning the same way. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining or anything, but that’s how it is here. The view was very beautiful as usual and it made me realize that if somewhere I had gotten a little used to seeing a view like this and not going crazy, then it was a sign that it might be nice to change scenery. It sharpened my desire to change areas in New Zealand and diversify the scenery.
Yael met me in the city and together we went on an amazing road trip to the southern tip and from there on to the east coast.
Here I am in a tiny town, after seeing glow worms in a cave and taking my first dip in the Southern Ocean, writing about the experiences of the last two weeks.
So far, it’s been a lot of fun and I hope it continues like this. When I look back on these two weeks, I see that I’m in the routine of traveling in New Zealand. I’m no stranger to looking at such special landscapes, getting up in a van to see a lake, or speaking English with kiwis who half of what they say sounds like gibberish. I’m happy with this routine because I feel like I can figure out what will make me happy and what won’t, I’m happy that I meet so many dear people and that I go through a lot with myself.
Even in these two weeks, I felt that sometimes I try to think about what I’ll do next, what the trip will look like after New Zealand. When I thought about it, I realized that perhaps this thought sometimes comes from a place of discomfort in the current environment and a desire to fantasize about a rosier place. As much as I could, I tried not to think about the future and to be in the moment, for example if it’s on trips, simply observing what’s around me.
Looking ahead to the next few days, I’ll try to allocate a little more time to writing now that I realize that there’s a lot to write about in two weeks.
To sum up, it was a really great two weeks and I wish it would continue like this, how much fun (-:
And maybe I’ll start something new and end each post with a quote from a poem or a piece that accompanied me at that time, let’s try.
“It is good for a man to be alone sometimes. Not a book, not a poem, not a friend, not a group, Just him with his heart, with the heart alone. It is good for a man to be alone sometimes.”
Zalman Shazar