Final days on the South Island

Let's see, what do we have here. Me, jumping off one of the cool cylindrical Moeraki boulders, as shot by some random French dude who moments prior to this picture did the exact same thing himself. Some panoramic shots of my drive up South Island's east coast. Some bonus footage from the Milford track including my excited hiking companion Levi doing his best Richard Nixon impersonation. A picture of a "little...LADY...BUG!", as Nicki Minaj would say. Some bizarre and even frightening pictures from the completely unexpected-but-awesome "Steampunk HQ" in the very quirky town of Oamaru. A picture of empty chairs in downtown Christchurch that serve as a memorial to the 185 people who died during the major earthquake that hit a few years ago. I'll have more to say about Christchurch in future posts but suffice to say seeing the devastation in person was haunting -- but the rebuilding, much like New Orleans after Katrina, was inspiring. Including things like people creating a bar out of a bus. Constraint begets creativity! 

Thanks to everyone who's been following along thus far. This blog is going to take an increasingly professional turn in the weeks ahead as my actual work with the NZ government commences, but I'll still try to find time to post personal pictures. Perhaps more importantly, I'm on the verge of renting a furnished, TWO bedroom apartment in Wellington, so those of y'all in the US have NO EXCUSE not to come visit!

Hiking the Milford Track

If you're wondering why this blog hasn't been updated in a few weeks, well, the main reason is sheer laziness. But in addition, I spent four days hiking the Milford Track in the Fiordlands of New Zealand. (Side note: it's impossible for me to mentally think the word "Fiordlands" without invoking my inner Swedish Chef voice.) 

Anyway, for those who may be unfamiliar, the New Zealand Department of Conservation -- referred to as "The Doc" in NZ --  has designated 12 trails (or tracks as they call them here) as official "Great Walks." Since the entire country is stunningly gorgeous, I'm not sure what makes any particular track in New Zealand a Great Walk, but the Milford is particularly famous since someone once said it was "the greatest walk in the world." Accordingly, everyone wants to hike the Milford, the DOC limits the track to 40 people per day, who stay in designated "huts" -- really more like a spartan hostel -- that are set out along the trail. You also have to book a Great Walk waaaaay in advance, at least if you want to hike it during Great Walk season, also known as anytime other than the winter. 

One nice surprise about this system is that you end up bonding with (some of) your fellow hikers as you progress along the track and sleep with them (in the non-naughty sense) in the huts. I ended up befriending another American (Levi the running coach from San Francisco) and an adorable German couple (Chris and Tina) who for reasons unexplained were obsessed with building a snowman on the trail.

With that as background, let's get to the fun part -- pictures! And plenty of them. I literally took more than 200 photos and virtually all of them could have made the cut for publication here, but I've arbitrarily cut it down to a mere 20 or so. Hopefully at least a few of the pictures explain the admittedly somewhat pretentious name I stole for this blog -- there are shadows and clouds! And a snowman. And a Kia parrot that attacked me. (Seriously, it swooped down on me with talons extended, then proceeded to hop around in adorable fashion.)

Second week in the Southland of New Zealand

We'll keep this brief because megabytes are at premium here in the Southland of South Island, New Zealand. Below you'll see some shots of the rocky west coast, including "pancake rocks"; a picture of the tower in Hokitika which happens to be the setting of the Man Booker-prize award winning novel The Luminaries; me hiking the Fox Glacier (check out the stunning cave picture); some random hitchhiker friends appearing to watch a nuclear weapon detonation but in reality using my solar glasses to watch an unbelievable sunset; a sunset in Queenstown on a street so steep it'd put San Francisco's Lombard to shame; a spooky museum picture from the town of Gore that is chiefly famous for its history of trade in illicit whiskey/moonshine; and two curious sheep. Why no fish pics, you might wonder? Not to worry, they have been caught, but when fishing solo I don't want to make them suffer through the ordeal of gasping on the bank. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.