The East of the South : NZ Chronicles pt 4 (12 Feb)
Had I been writing this here update on the day I should have written it, I would undoubtedly have named it after a well-known internet phenomenon featuring islands and boats. By now, I know better, and I’m saving that one for later. With that being said, today WAS another adventure, even though one would have expected it to be relatively normal.
Then again, I really try to treat every day like an adventure, and not just in New Zealand, so maybe I should not be the one to judge… When treated with enough reverence, even cycling up the Karl-Marx-Allee can be exciting!!
But anyway, today started early, with Anne running off to secure some almond-filled croissants from Pandoro, which she claims is the best bakery in the country (until now, she seems to be right), while I was off to my usual slow start. Long story short, we met up at the check-in lounge for the big boat that would carry us to Picton, on the South Island. Hooray! I’m on a boat!
Turns out, it’s not nearly as exciting as some people make it out to be. Most of the time, it was so misty that you really only could see white – although the blasts from the mist horn were pretty sexy – and the first on-board movie was Confessions Of A Shopaholic, which only made me sad. The second movie was Igor, a harmless little animation flick about a land filled with evil scientists and their Igors. It looked promising, but by the time the climax was just about to start, the boat had arrived. So it sadly goes. I might look into it again sometime, cause I missed most of the dialogue.
Once in Picton, I was introduced to Das Kleine, Anne’s 1984 dapper Toyota Starlet 1.4 Automatic (hatchback edition) that was to take us to Christchurch and beyond, along the East Coast. So off we went, after some much needed coffee.
It was my first encounter with the New Zealand coastline, and it was pretty adventurous to say the least! Also, the moment we had the chance (and lunch) I went and dipped my feet into the Pacific Ocean for the first time in my life. I think I only need the Indian Ocean now, to complete my collection of World Seas. Apart from that, I had a blast marvelling at the rocks on the right and the sea on the left – the absence of dunes or beaches made no sense whatsoever to a Dutchy like me, although I’m used to it by now – trying to take pictures from the moving car, catching up with my sister, and … oh look!! Baby seals!!
Yeah, that’s right! Hidden in plain sight on some rocky outcroppings was a colony of New Zealand Fur Seals (zeebeer in Dutch! Hooray for seabears!) and their young’uns (not the cute white variety but still pretty cutesy), minding their own business and having a good time. Boy did I feel close to nature! Of course, we couldn’t get TOO close, what with the big old pater familias eyeing us suspiciously, but it was enough for my very first brush with that famous NZ wildness. And I know I sound over-enthusiastic, but it’s things like this that really make a city slicker like me happy. So there.
To top it all up, shortly afterwards we strolled up to an idyllic waterfall where Anne took a swim, and then we bought a fresh crayfish.
After we had left the coastline, some more stuff happened involving supermarkets, gas stations and sweet sweet suburbia before we finally arrived at Anne’s place where we were enthusiastically greeted by Tobi, two cats, and one chicken.
We ate the crayfish, and all was well…