There is really nothing in Lake Tekapo. It was just an over night stop to and from Mt Cook National Park. I was still paranoid about my things when I got to Mt Cook national park. I arrived a few hours before check in time. I had two choices for storing my things while I went hiking. I could put them in the sauna, which was off or pay $2 to put them in the storage lockers. Well, I was too cheap the pay the $2. So I put the large backpack in the sauna and took the electronics with me on the hike.
I selected a 4 hour hike up to Sealy Tarns, a point on a mountain near Mt Cook, but had heard that there was snow on the mountain that may block the way. I had not even reached the mountain before I began to wish I wasn’t carrying a computer on my back. It was heavy. Several times up the mountain, I was tempted to either stop and turn back or to ditch the computer under a bush. But I kept going until I reached the snow. I tried to go thru the snow, but my socks were getting wet and my footing wasn’t sure. The prospect of tumbling down the side of the mountain was not appealing so I turned back. Most hikers turned back at the point also. So I felt good that I made it as far as most people - even with a computer on my back.
On the way down the mountain, the wind started to pick up. And I could see a storm coming over the mountain. There were lots of rain and wind in this storm and my room leaked during the night. Luckily, the leak was not over the bed. It rained most of the next day, so I just hung out in the hostel until the bus came to take me back to Lake Tekapo. When I left Lake Tekapo the following day, I forgot to turn in the key and get back my $10 key deposit.
By this point I admit I was growing tired of New Zealand. I was no longer looking forward to doing anything. I would spend a week in Christchurch doing absolutely nothing and be fine with it. I did buy a 1-week membership at a gym and worked out for 5 days.
Within 3 hours of placing my food in the kitchen of the YHA in Christchurch, someone had stolen my bottle of pineapple juice. The next day, I checked out of the YHA and into Charlie B’s - not because someone stole my juice, but because the YHA didn’t have room for the next night. I spent the rest of my time at Charlie B’s. On the last day there, I went to make a turkey sandwich and found the empty container in the fridge. Someone had eaten my turkey lunch meat - and one of my meat pies.
Charlie B’s was the first hostel I’d stayed in where they didn’t not provide free linen in the dorm rooms. Good thing I had a sheet in my pack. I had brought a sheet & pillow case it because I had read that hostels charged extra for linen, but this was the first one that did.
My biggest pet peeve with hostel living is that people don’t know how to wash dishes. The glasses always look like they hadn’t been washed, yet everyone washes up after themselves. Then I saw it. You know the brush you use to remove large particles from pots and pans? Over and over I saw people using that on a drinking glass! Do they not look at the glass and see that it isn’t clean? No. My second biggest pet peeve is ovens that don’t get hot. Two drumsticks should not take an hour and still require the microwave oven to finish them off.
My feelings about New Zealand are mixed. The landscape is just absolutely amazing. Everywhere is beautiful. Every picture you take is amazing. If you want to see natural beauty, you won’t be disappointed. There is still lots more for me to see on my next visit to New Zealand. I don’t know when that will be, but instead of a tourist bus, I’ll rent a car. Renting a car for one person will be more expensive, but the additional flexibility of going where I want, when I want will be worth it.
So the land is just beautiful. But what about the people? I heard over and over about how friendly the people of New Zealand are - especially in the smaller towns on the south island. However, this was not my experience. Most of the New Zealanders I encountered were white, not Maori. And there were too many times when people looked the other way when they passed me on the street or did not respond when I said good morning. There is on-going tension between whites and the darker Maori people. When I was there, there was a raid on a Maori village. The Maori say they are just trying to keep their culture alive. The government says they are running a terrorist training camp. And the whites say the Maori need to get over themselves. So, New Zealand is very beautiful, but the people… not really.
My time in New Zealand has come to an end. I spent my last night at the airport because I needed to check in at 4:45 in the morning, for my flight to Melbourne, Australia.
I selected a 4 hour hike up to Sealy Tarns, a point on a mountain near Mt Cook, but had heard that there was snow on the mountain that may block the way. I had not even reached the mountain before I began to wish I wasn’t carrying a computer on my back. It was heavy. Several times up the mountain, I was tempted to either stop and turn back or to ditch the computer under a bush. But I kept going until I reached the snow. I tried to go thru the snow, but my socks were getting wet and my footing wasn’t sure. The prospect of tumbling down the side of the mountain was not appealing so I turned back. Most hikers turned back at the point also. So I felt good that I made it as far as most people - even with a computer on my back.
On the way down the mountain, the wind started to pick up. And I could see a storm coming over the mountain. There were lots of rain and wind in this storm and my room leaked during the night. Luckily, the leak was not over the bed. It rained most of the next day, so I just hung out in the hostel until the bus came to take me back to Lake Tekapo. When I left Lake Tekapo the following day, I forgot to turn in the key and get back my $10 key deposit.
By this point I admit I was growing tired of New Zealand. I was no longer looking forward to doing anything. I would spend a week in Christchurch doing absolutely nothing and be fine with it. I did buy a 1-week membership at a gym and worked out for 5 days.
Within 3 hours of placing my food in the kitchen of the YHA in Christchurch, someone had stolen my bottle of pineapple juice. The next day, I checked out of the YHA and into Charlie B’s - not because someone stole my juice, but because the YHA didn’t have room for the next night. I spent the rest of my time at Charlie B’s. On the last day there, I went to make a turkey sandwich and found the empty container in the fridge. Someone had eaten my turkey lunch meat - and one of my meat pies.
Charlie B’s was the first hostel I’d stayed in where they didn’t not provide free linen in the dorm rooms. Good thing I had a sheet in my pack. I had brought a sheet & pillow case it because I had read that hostels charged extra for linen, but this was the first one that did.
My biggest pet peeve with hostel living is that people don’t know how to wash dishes. The glasses always look like they hadn’t been washed, yet everyone washes up after themselves. Then I saw it. You know the brush you use to remove large particles from pots and pans? Over and over I saw people using that on a drinking glass! Do they not look at the glass and see that it isn’t clean? No. My second biggest pet peeve is ovens that don’t get hot. Two drumsticks should not take an hour and still require the microwave oven to finish them off.
My feelings about New Zealand are mixed. The landscape is just absolutely amazing. Everywhere is beautiful. Every picture you take is amazing. If you want to see natural beauty, you won’t be disappointed. There is still lots more for me to see on my next visit to New Zealand. I don’t know when that will be, but instead of a tourist bus, I’ll rent a car. Renting a car for one person will be more expensive, but the additional flexibility of going where I want, when I want will be worth it.
So the land is just beautiful. But what about the people? I heard over and over about how friendly the people of New Zealand are - especially in the smaller towns on the south island. However, this was not my experience. Most of the New Zealanders I encountered were white, not Maori. And there were too many times when people looked the other way when they passed me on the street or did not respond when I said good morning. There is on-going tension between whites and the darker Maori people. When I was there, there was a raid on a Maori village. The Maori say they are just trying to keep their culture alive. The government says they are running a terrorist training camp. And the whites say the Maori need to get over themselves. So, New Zealand is very beautiful, but the people… not really.
My time in New Zealand has come to an end. I spent my last night at the airport because I needed to check in at 4:45 in the morning, for my flight to Melbourne, Australia.
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