In Search of Xena, Warrior Princess.

For those not in the know, Xena, Warrior Princess is one of my all-time favorite cult heroes.

She hails from New Zealand, both in fact and fiction. The series had a fantastic run of six seasons from 1995-2001 and was filmed entirely in New Zealand, mainly in the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park in the Auckland area. If you have never seen nor heard of Xena, I suggest you crawl out of your dark hole and Netflix it, beginning of course with the first year, episode one, “Sins of the Past.”

Moving on. What impresses me most about NZ is the lack of people. Which by definition means less idiots to encounter. Even so, we have not met many idiot Kiwis, in fact, every encounter thus far has been pleasurable and informative. We have found Kiwis to be helpful, courteous, lovely, and full of wonderful suggestions of what to see and where to go. They take great pride in their natural beauty and from what we have witnessed, enjoy the great outdoors more than any other culture we have come across. Other than the ridiculously high price of gas (yesterday we paid $7.35/gallon….yes, you read that right, SEVEN THIRTY FIVE A GALLON) and food (ex. bananas-non-organic:  $1.35/lb!), I love love love NZ! I love the jagged snow-capped mountains, the clear turquoise blue water, the verdant rolling hills, the enormous uncluttered, undeveloped wide open spaces, the cute little spring lambs frolicking in the fields, and the pace of life that makes me think this is the way it was maybe 50, 60, 75 years ago in the States. Simple. Easy. Unhurried.  I am also in love with the Kiwis themselves. They are generous, likable, warm and wonderful human beings, and that says a lot from someone who essentially, does not like many humans, as I find I have been disappointed too many times by their selfishness and ignorance. I don’t mean ignorance in the sense of education, but ignorance in their regard for the world at large.

Once we landed in Picton from the ferry, we headed to a remote spot on a bay called Elaine Bay.

Landing on the South Island in Picton.

Looked great on paper and it was certainly remote and pretty, taking about an hour and a half off the main highway on a narrow, winding road. We arrived in good weather, enjoying the sun and solitude, until nightfall.

Elaine Bay before the deluge.

Then the rain started and never stopped. We stuck it out for 2 more wet and cold nights, then pulled the rip cord and finally pushed off towards Nelson, not before almost getting stuck once again in the muddy, wet terrain. We hung around Nelson for the afternoon, taking care of some personal business, emailing, etc., all done in the rain, and then headed to the West Coast, the Sand Fly capitol of NZ. Sand flies are like our black flies; relentless, biting, obnoxious little insects that find ways in which to drive you stark raving mad. Their bite leaves an itch that tests your ability to resist scratching until you bleed and cause infection. And this was only the beginning of our introduction to these pesky little critters. After leaving the Otto-MacDonald DOC campsite,

Lake Mapourika

Enjoying the Pride of the South, Speight's Gold Medal Ale.

we made our way to Lake Paringa, apparently the breeding ground of the Sand Fly. For one brief moment, we enjoyed the spectacular view over the lake from our camp chairs, sipping a beer and having a snack, reading up on our next bit of travel. For whatever reason, this lovely scenario changed rapidly, and we found ourselves prisoners shut up in the van, waiting until night fell and these little bastards abated.

The Sand Flies at Lake Paringa holding us captive inside the Honey Pot!

I figured that must be the time they fly off somewhere to empty their blood bags and gear up for the next morning assault. Thankfully, we had purchased mosquito coils in Thailand which helped to smoke out the sand flies that occupied the inside of the van. We literally had hundreds of dead carcasses lining our windows and floors, dead from inhaling the poisonous fumes.  Needless to say, we bolted out of that site like a prom dress on prom night the very next morning. We never even got out of the van, other than to drive up to the toilet, run to the bathroom, and head for another spot along the route to make breakfast.

We meandered down State Highway 6 (SH6), heading to the Glacier Region. We stopped off at Franz Josef Glacier, hiked to the mouth on a beautiful clear and sunny morning.

Franz Josef Glacier

Back on route, heading south on SH6, we pulled in at Lake Matheison and found a lunch spot, before continuing on towards Haast Pass.

Approaching Haast Pass

For a few nights we enjoyed good weather, fewer sand flies, an intense hike up the Cameron Creek ravine, and gorgeous views at Cameron Flats campsite,

Cameron Flats campsite

Cameron Creek hike

A beautiful clear night with the moon shining bright.

before an older Kiwi couple gave us a tip about Boundary Creek, just a few kms down the road. They said it was a beautiful spot, and they were right.

View at Boundary Creek campsite.

Boundary Creek campsite

From Boundary Creek we spent a few days back in civilization in the lovely town of Wanaka, treating ourselves to some fun and interesting tourist attractions. Wanaka sits on Lake Wanaka surrounded by sculpted snow-capped peaks, with a quaint, outdoorsy pulse.

Lake Wanaka

Starting at Puzzling World, we paid our money to try our hand at the Great Maze, the first of the world’s modern-style maze, designed to be completed in 30-60 minutes

The Great Maze!

Our finishing time of 45:20:)

followed by the Illusion Room. The next evening we sat on a comfortable couch eating popcorn and warm, freshly baked cookies, watching the film, “Oranges and Sunshine” at Cinema Paradiso. Intense film, btw. I recommend seeing it. Gluttony followed, or maybe it was a craving for a good burger, homestyle, and we found it at Red Star Burger! We had not had a good burger, A GOOD BURGER, since leaving the States, and we finally found one in little ole’ Wanaka, New Zealand! Heaven in a bun.

Sad as we were to leave Wanaka, we were excited to travel further south to Aoraki-Mt. Cook, the highest peak in New Zealand, reaching 3754 meters (12316 ft) and the training ground for Kiwi Sir Edmund Hillary before his famous ascent of Mt. Everest in 1953.

A clear view of stunning Aoraki-Mt. Cook!

Aoraki, as it is known to the Maori, lies in the Southern Alps which runs the length of the South Island. I can only say, STUNNING.

Winnie chugging up the frosty Lindis Pass.

Lake formed by glacier melt on Hooker Valley Track.

We spent 3 nights camping under the stars in Hooker Valley with Aoraki-Mt. Cook looming in the distance. Day 2 found us on an “energetic walk” to Sealy Tarns. “Energetic walk” as was described on the trail map, is an understatement, as we climbed vertically for about an hour and a half, with spectacular views all around. This lung buster hike reminded me of my favorite cardio machine at home, the Stepmill, or as some have called it, the Step Monster.

Steep climb on Sealy Tarns track with an avalanche zone crossing ahead!

Our turn...

The payoff...

Gorgeous views of Hooker and Mueller glaciers.

With glorious weather the very next day, we investigated Tasman Glacier and Tasman Lake. It is hard to describe the color of the lake; a milky aquamarine would be the closest I could come. The pictures can’t even capture the color that the eyes see.

Tasman glacier melt.

Finally, a clearing.

After enjoying a flawless day of weather, the forecast was predicting rain and possibly snow at higher elevations, so we headed out to spend the night in Tekapo at a motorcamp on Lake Tekapo. This was our weekly grooming of self, van and clothes. The rainy weather followed us and began sometime in the night, much to our chagrin. After showering in the morning, we came out of the bathroom to a full blown snow storm! Big, fat, fluffy flakes falling to the ground, covering everything like icing on a cake. Beautiful? Yes. Welcome? No. (sorry, have a video but too connection is too damn slow to load) We chugged Winnie slowly down the highway towards Christchurch where the original plan was to stop, check email, etc. and push on to Arthur’s Pass and a DOC campsite for the next 3-4 days. We changed that plan once the torrential rains began and found another motorcamp in Christchurch, where we have remained for 2 days, waiting out the weather.

On our way to Christchurch, we stopped in to get coffee at the Fairlie Heritage Museum,

Coffee stop at Fairlie Heritage Museum.

which turned out to be a cozy, warm, and welcoming place run by a generous and sweet woman named Kate. (A must stop along SH 79) Sidebar: To pronounce her name correctly, you need only to say “Kite” and you will be talking like a Kiwi! Anyhoo, we sat and chatted with Kate over coffee and delicious little lemon muffins, as she was interested and inquisitive about our travels. It felt intimate and personal as if we were sitting in her kitchen and was the injection of kindness that Courtney and I needed at that particular moment. We had been feeling a bit stir crazy in our not-so-spacious van, missing the comforts of home more strongly the closer we get to flying home. As we tried to pay her before leaving, she insisted we keep it, concerned about our budget. Kate, here’s a shout out to you and your simple but lasting gesture of kindness and generosity. You ROCK and it only solidifies my LOVE of the Kiwis with their big heart!! If you ever make it to Boston, make sure you look us up.

Warm and wonderful Kate!

and that’s where I’m at…..