Dera had a bit of a lead foot so one of the two Highway Patrolmen we've seen in two weeks on the island waved us to the side of the road. We were clocked at 114 . . . Kilometers per hour, 14 over the posted speed limit and Dera got issued a ticket which is payable in the largest bank in the country, I thought that was a little shady. Anyway on we went, drove past a ton of lakes & dams, alongside huge rivers towards the East Coast. Along the way we came upon some signs of the earliest inhabitants of that part of the country, the Takiroa Rock Art Site… neat, on we went. 
Once and a while Dera gets tired so we pull over for coffee, I learned the Kiwi’s call speed bumps “judder bars” – funny. Our next stop was the Moeraki Boulders, over time the weather & sea have eroded the cliffs here revealing almost perfectly round boulders. They were cool, over even more time the boulders become broken apart by the sea, it was a nice beach but an overcast day so after snapping a few shots we continued on… to Dunedin.This is the largest city on the southeast coast, a college town and home to the steepest street in the world.
(According to the Guiness Book of World Records) Baldwin Street is steep, we drove up and walked back down, and up. Again on an overcast day the novelty wears off quick so he headed into town to check out the “Octagon” as they refer to their circular street engulfing the cities center. It looked like a great place to get drunk but we were on a mission, I wanted to see the Blue Penguin! Onto the Otago Peninsula we drove, the road was incredibly windy and only a few feet above the bay at most points. After driving through many small villages and about 40 minutes we made it to the Royal Albatross Centre, which is where you park above Pilot Beach, home to a flock of around 80 Blue Penguins. We were too early, I was told they show up around 4pm (after hunting in the ocean) but that’s the Yellow-Eyed Penguin, which is located on another part of the island I guess, so we checked out a few Albatross this being the world’s only mainland Albatross Colony. Whatever, I was there to see the penguin so we proceeded back the peninsula to the village of Portobello which was reputed to have internet, but it was closed. We wanted to handle our sleeping accommodations for that evening while killing time before the penguins came home, which we did, but by phone. After that we headed back to Pilot Beach and realized that these apparently elusive penguins would not be coming out of the water till 8:40pm, it was only six and we’d been driving all day, our eventual goal being another three hours away. Ugh, I was not going to wait over two more hours for these birds to come waddling out of the water in the dark (pretty much, sunset’s around 7:45) so after checking out where their nests are located and some lazy sea lions, a sight I’m VERY used to in San Diego, on we went. We both wanted to cover more ground so we wouldn’t have so far to drive the next day. When the sun was going down I took it upon myself as navigator to check a spot called “Nugget Point” for the Yellow-Eyed penguins, since sundown seems to be the time to see these guys. Wrong again, like I said earlier they come home around 4pm and are in their nest by dark, one couldn’t even get to the beach at this spot and the only viewing was from the cliffs above, and it was pretty much dark. I had Dera’s fancy HD night vision video camera but it wasn’t strong enough for that distance, so after 15 or so minutes, to my dismay, we bailed... stupid penguins. 
18 more kilometers inland was the Owaka YHA, our accommodations for the night and the most desolate hostel I’ve ever seen. Dera immediately compared it to the hotel from “The Shining” due to fact that it was quite large & old, had long hallways and a ridiculously huge kitchen. The clerk was drunk as hell when we got there and after handing us our key disappeared, leaving us to our ghostly imaginations. We cooked some noodles, played with facebook and eventually got tired enough to pass out.The next morning we were up early and in the car, gassing up in this small village and on the road through the Catlin’s National Park. After 30 minutes or so we came out of the fog to a beautiful day, the first truly clear day we’ve had since arriving in New Zealand, and we arrived at Matai Falls. I wasn’t sure if we were going to see these but the map said the trailhead was on the road we were driving and when we arrived the sign said it was only 30 minutes out and back, so on we went. They were nice falls, truly woodsy falls reminiscent of where I grew up in Pennsylvania, but with more ferns. One thing New Zealand has a lot of is ferns, seems to grow like ivy in the northeast of chaparral in the southwest. Our next stop was Curio Bay, an area known for its… wait for it… Yellow-Eyed Penguins! Have I mentioned they’re the rarest in the world and 3rd largest?
Anyway it was morning so no chance of seeing these little fuckers, but the bay is also known for its petrified forest remains. The sea washed into this area so fast during the big melt that many of the tree stumps and logs have been preserved, as Lonely Planet put it this place is a “Paleontologist’s dream” I was impressed with the surf but being the farthest south I’ve ever been figured the water was too cold to get in so we snapped some nice shots and moved on. Next we needed to check some internet and transportation stuff so into Invercargill we went, it was a nice city, the largest in the southern part of the island but mainly a launching point for trips into more remote areas. After figuring out that the bus would not get me to Queenstown Dera agreed to get me there since I had booked a Heli-Mountain Biking trip the following day. He was going to Fjordland to take advantage of the great weather and snap some pictures. When we were almost to town there was a disagreement over where the rental car we were splitting would be going so rather than duke it out we decided to jump in the lake we were next to, Wakatipu. (one is always next to some form of water in New Zealand.) The lake was cold but a great idea, after that we checked back into the Melbourne Lodge, our 3rd overnight in this hotel (which was run by Dera’s Indonesian connections) & had some KFC. I verified my trip the next day, drank a few Guiness, played with the internet and eventually made it back to our room to catch some sleep. Dera had passed out early since he was getting up before the sun to head out to the Milford Sound again.I woke up on time and made it to the Vertigo Bike Shop early, due to a low hanging cloud our helicopter flight was postponed an hour. OK, it was looking to be a beautiful day so I figured and hour would just warm it up a bit. I came back to the shop, they hooked me up with a helmet, riding gloves & a bike, which was on the trailer, and we were off to the airport. After checking my weight (I weigh 82 Kilo’s by the way) we were strapped in for my first helicopter ride, it was awesome.
The clouds we still hanging around so we had to take a longer route around and eventually through them, the pilot was cool and made some quick turns before landing on the summit of Ben Krauchan, (1900 meters) one of the main peaks in the “Remarkable Mountains” We offloaded the bikes & gear and off the chopper went, overall a quick ride (20 minutes) but well worth the money since I’d never done that before. 
Here I won’t go into too many details, as soon as he pointed which direction to go I went, after the first rocky section I put my iPod on and listened to Jurassic 5 & Led Zeppelin for the next three hours down the mountain . The scenery was amazing and the single-track was as challenging as anywhere I’ve ridden. I actually popped a tire about an hour in, the guide showed up with the repair kit & it was like AAA but for bikes. At that point I felt I truly got my money’s worth. When we reached the bottom another guide picked us and our bikes up for the 30 minute ride back to town – GOOD TIMES! Once back I grabbed a Fergberger, famous in Queenstown for their New Zealand beef and impressive size… it was good, better than most burgers in the states, the meat had a fresher taste & a more natural feel. Anyway, I spent some more time on the net chatting with my girlfriend, she figured out video skype so now she gets to see me and it’s free, rather than me calling her phone it’s all done through the internet. A few hours later Dera met me in the Café and we jumped in the car for Makarora, that nights’ accommodations and our launching point for the west coast and Glaciers.A few hours’ drive through mountains and the quaint town of Wanaka, which is situated at the bottom of maybe the largest lake we’ve seen, Lake Wanaka. We ended at the Makarora Wilderness Resort, a Lonely Planet recommendation that did not disappoint!
Yes we had to walk to the bathrooms and showers but we had our own A Frame with four beds, it was quiet and the bar had a semi-lively crowd which I knew would be perfect for my St. Patty’s Day celebrations the following night. After I had a few beers and a good night’s rest we got up the next day for our three hour drive north to the Franz Josef Glacier, one of the larger and easier to access glaciers in New Zealand. The drive was gorgeous through Mount Aspiring National Park and the coastal town of Haast, eventually making it to within 30 minutes of this glaciers face. It was great, the glacier has receded over the past 200 years so we were walking on the most recent destruction (for lack of a better word) of this huge block of ice. 
It wasn’t cold, actually kind of warm, and again there were waterfalls lining the canyon. We got within 200 meters of the ice and decided that was good, my experience with the Hooker Glacier was enough for me without crampons and our pictures from that point looked fine. Once back at the car we drove south to the Fox Glacier, a similar situation but with less people and more rocks on top. The canyon was amazing though, reminiscent of Yosemite, I thought for quite a while about whether climbers had explored these vertical walls or not, no one seemed to be on them at the moment. From there we headed to the coast, 
a black sand beach called Gillespies which was a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there. (The sand flies were back with a vengeance!) From there we headed to Lake Matheson, a gorgeous walk known for its reflections of the Southern Alps, but it was slightly windy causing ripples not reflecting the mountains the way we’d heard. Also it had clouded over making the views not quite has spectacular as we’d seen that morning, it was time to start back to our A Frame. 
Along the way we came upon a landslide, huge boulders had tumbled onto the road and they had actually diverted traffic 3o meters around it… road construction is awesome. We stopped at Shipwreck Beach, Dera needed to stretch his legs and it looked like a nice enough place. Pristine and untouched, covered with driftwood, it was something I never see in San Diego. The sand was deep and fluffy, and the views of Fjordland to the south were amazing… the weather had cleared and it was looking like another beautiful night. From there we drove back through Mount Aspiring Nat’l Park, caught some great reddish hues off the Alps for sunset making it back to our resort in time for some minced meat pies and beers. I spent another night listening to bad karaoke but having good conversation with the locals who kept impressing upon me “don’t tell anyone” regarding their Mecca in the mountains. 
A nice St. Pat’s for sure, but not my best, it’s always nice to have old friends around for a holiday like that. The next morning we woke up early and brought the rental car back to Queenstown, actually saw my first rainbow over that big lake which was nice since with all the sun/rain combinations I’d been seeing, I felt due. The rental agency dropped us back off at the Melbourne Lodge, I had a nap and have been on the computer since. I think I’ll have a few beers tonight and then tomorrow we’re off to Auckland and the North Island for a few more days excitement.
AAA for biking - classic!
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