March 25

Today started with a lazy morning. I got up, and had a breakfast of toast with jam, nutella, peanut butter and a banana again. I am starting to think I eat better when I live in a van than when I live at home. This time however, I brought my stuff in and made the food in the lodge to use their tables, toasters, and so forth. The kitchen area was jam packed with folks cooking meals. The Germans were making pancakes, the Belgian was making pasta. With the culinary skills I possess, I head straight for the toaster.

I neglected to mention that I acquired a slight burn from the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. I did use sunblock but with all the sweating I was doing, it was washing away instantly. My forehead and my hands are both slightly red and on the verge of reaching the peeling point. Yeah, I know, gross, but it is what it is. Luckily I have some aloe from the first aid kit and some aftershave lotion.

Contrary to some of the advice I received from fellow lodgers, I decided that I need to head to the southernmost point of New Zealand. I’m so close to the southern coast, I did hear some nice things about it and it would be cool to say that I made it all the way south. So Invercargill it is and I’ll work my way back up through Dunedin (which is pronounced dun-EE-din; I have been saying Done-eh-din all these days and no one corrected me; I’m such a fool). The Belgian recommends visiting the Catlin area so I research some spots near there and find a map that shows me where I can find some penguins. Why not, let’s go find some penguins.

I drive back through the crazy roads and the eerie Homer Tunnel. This time the lights are working. I make it about 40 kilometers from the lodge when I see a guy hitchhiking on the side of the road. I’ve never picked up a hitchhiker before (yes, I’m a horrible person) but this time I figured I’m in a new country driving around with no real destination in sight and no timetable so no better time than now. I don’t even know how this hitchhiking “picking up” thing works. I pull over to the side of the road on the left (remember their roads are opposite; driver is on the right). He walks up to the door, but the window is still closed. Crap, this van doesn’t have power windows and the crank is too far for me to reach. We exchange awkward looks through the window as he waits for me to open the window and I wait for him to open the door. This is getting too awkward, I unbuckle my seat belt, lean across and open the door. “Where are you trying to get to,” I ask. He replies Queenstown or Te Anau. Eh, Te Anau is on my way to Invercargil, I can take you there (its about 1 hour 30 mins away). “Great!, he replies, throws his stuff in the back and hops on. Turns out he’s from Minnesota; a recent college grad doing some traveling before working. I wish I did that. He just finished a multiple day hike and was working his way back to a city. I wish I did that too; at least this I can still do. He had a slight odor, you know the “hey, I’ve been hiking away from civilization and haven’t had a shower in a few days” type of odor, but it was very faint. I think he smelled better after several days of trekking than I do after one day of hiking. I was afraid there might be some awkwardness; the first interaction with the door/window situation was a bad start, but it actually went well. We exchange stories and experiences and actually had a decent conversation the entire trip. I drop him off in Te Anau, wish him luck and make my way to a cafe to grab a quick bite to eat and send some emails before I continue my way to the south (remember I had no internet for a couple of days). The cafe I find has internet vouchers for 50Mb a piece.  WTF! Seriously, New Zealand, what can people do with 50Mb? It is the 21st century, that’s like 5 minutes of browsing. The girl working there is super cool and kind enough to give me a couple extra vouchers.

I make my way back to the van and I run into another kid that was on our Milford Sound cruise the day before. He is in Te Anau and hitchhiking his way back to Milford Sound to do the multiple day trek. Yes, he just came two hours out and is hitchhiking right back to where we came from. I didn’t bother asking why he came out just to go back. I ask him how difficult it is for him to find a ride and he says its not too bad, usually just waits around 15 minutes or so. I’m heading in the opposite direction this time so I wish him well and chalk this up as encounter #1 with a person in two different cities (this happens a few more times).

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There is a video on YouTube as well at http://youtu.be/Cx0giUAEfeQ

Cheers