November 25 - New Zealand: Nelson to Franz Josef Glacier (South Island)
COLD.
I woke up this morning completely freezing and burrowed into my sleeping bag to seek out more warmth. My nose was super-chilled and my toes felt like they'd been outside the blankets for a few hours. But the bottom of my sleeping bag is completely closed up so there's no way my feet were exposed to anything. In fact, the sleeping bag is tapered to conserve energy, so I couldn't even reach down to put socks on.
BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!
Our alarm went off at 7:00, but I was already getting up to put warm clothes on. I raced to the bathroom building to turn on some hot water and try to warm up. No good. When I got back to the car, Jon was already getting breakfast ready, so I began to dismantle the tent. By the time I was done, I could barely feel my fingers, and they ached from the cold. I went into the kitchen, where Jon suggested I fill a sink with warm water to warm them up. He's so smart!
This means that the next week is going to be very tough because we're heading into the deep south and into the mountains. So the weather's only going to get colder. Yikes.
Camp Cat
Before we fell asleep last night, the camp cat decided that he wanted in our tent. He whined and mewed outside our door for a while and crawled underneath the rain cover to the space between the cover and the tent. Then he pawed at the corner of the tent where my head was. If we kept quiet and didn't move, he would stop mewing, but as soon as one of us would move the whining would start all over again. At one point, he wandered around to the back and pawed at the side of the tent, which was Jon's feet. Jon yelled, "HEY!" and it must have scared him because he went away and didn't bother us again.
Nelson Flea Market and SuperLoo
Today was a long drive day. Franz Josef Glacier is 469 kilometers away from Nelson so we had a lot of traveling to do. There are plenty of pretty places to see along the way, but we're beginning to run out of time in this gorgeous country so it's time to get moving. Before we left Nelson, however, we stopped by their weekly Flea Market, which is basically the town's garage sale in one parking lot. But we enjoyed walking around the 30 or so "vendors", and bought some lovely tomatoes and green peppers from a woman with a farm. We also bought someone's Tupperware dishes (2 of them) for our leftovers. After the flea market, we went to use the "SuperLoo" in the parking lot. The SuperLoo is, indeed, a Super Loo. It was a one-story building the in middle of the parking lot and had toilets, showers, and lockers for hire. We paid 20 cents to use the Super Loo and to brush our teeth in the sinks. The SuperLoo was quite clean and very pleasant (if you'll permit me to us that word in association with a bathroom). So this was the exciting start to our day - the SuperLoo.
Bare Feet Allowed
Technically, it's summertime here in New Zealand. But this means that it's 60 degrees in the shade and 80 degrees in the sun (if the sun exists over New Zealand, which I'm starting to wonder about). Regardless, Kiwis feel very comfortable walking around in their bare feet. We see shoeless people everywhere! And I'm not just talking children playing about outside. I mean that adults very often go traipsing through the supermarket in their bare feet as if shoes were completely unnecessary. We thought it was odd the first few times we saw it, especially because - in New York - you wouldn't even THINK about letting your skin touch the sidewalk or streets. Gross!
But now we're used to the lack of shoes here. I'm starting to find it a bit liberating, although I won't conform anytime soon.
Mailboxes
Jon is enjoying the scenery of our drives, especially the mailboxes. Kiwis are pretty creative about what to use as a mailbox. We see the typical traditional mailboxes as well as the fancy ones that look like miniature houses and whatnot. But the truly creative ones are the everyday items that - when put on a stick - becomes an ideal post receptacle. Such as (in case you're ever feeling adventurous): a 55-gallon drum, a 10-gallon paint bucket, and some sort of home-made triangle. We also saw a regular mailbox built into a tree stump. This stump was approximately 5 meters high, painted white, and had a huge hole cut out of the middle of it for the white mailbox. Very ingenious. But - by far - the first prize was the microwave oven on a pole, complete with a flag on the side and everything. Who would have thought that a microwave could be a perfect mailbox?
One Lane Bridges
We love the quaint feeling of driving around NZ. I think that the one-lane bridges definitely add to this experience. The motorways are two-lane roads that narrow down to one for these precious bridges. And there's never a traffic jam on them because we rarely ever see more than the occasional car. But today was especially notable because some of the bridges weren't just one-lane bridges - they were one-lane bridges and railroad tracks. So not only did we perhaps have to allow another car to pass, but we had to be on the lookout for a train too. There were no railroad crossing signals on these bridges, so I can't help but wonder: what happens if we're on the bridge and a train suddenly shows up? Driving etiquette demands that it would stop and wait for us to finish crossing, but this is highly unlikely (not to mention impossible). Does this mean we would become bridge pizza? I wonder....
One-Lane Bridge/Railroad
Franz Josef Glacier Holiday Park (www.Franzjosef.co.nz)
We arrived at the Franz Josef Glacier Holiday Park - the campground - around 6:00. On the way into town, we stopped to book a glacier hike for tomorrow, and then continued on to the campsite. The campsite had a very nice view of the mountains. If only it hadn't been so rainy and cloudy!
View From the Campsite
I should use this opportunity to describe the camping/backpacking culture that abounds here in New Zealand. The campsites are quite impressive, and include power outlets for campervans, level ground for tents, and also the "self-contained-units" for people who want a bed and roof but don't care about the shared bath and kitchen. We opted for this last option for tonight, because we were so cold last night and didn't think the rain would let up any time soon. The self-contained-unit was literally four walls and a bed - and that's it. But we don't care about the shared bathroom or kitchen any more. In fact, it's a great way to meet fellow travelers - while brushing teeth or cutting onions. The camaraderie is quite refreshing, actually. Most people are willing to lend an extra knife or hot sauce, as well as a few recommendations for places to visit or stay.
And the campsites themselves are lovely. The kitchen has a few ranges, toasters, and often a refrigerator, as well as ample dinner-preparation space. The bathrooms have a few toilets and a few stalls, all very clean and tidy. We would never have found this quality anywhere else in the world. So nice!
Because it was so late when we arrived, Jon and I whipped up a meat-and-pasta dish and made extra for lunch tomorrow. Then we turned in and crashed. I was asleep by 9:45!!