May 8, 2024

PART 01.

Howdy! It’s been a minute since our last update. We won’t get into every little detail that happened over the past four months (that would quite literally be a novel), but we’ll chat about the highlights for sure!

When we wrote our last update we were in a small town called Roxburgh for our cherry picking job. We spent the month of January working long hard days picking. Here’s Drew to explain more about it:

Cherry picking is spoken about in the backpacking/WHV world with high praise. The season is short, the hours are long, and the cherries are light (compared to avocados or kiwis), meaning that you have maximal earning potential without breaking your back. While idly looking at jobs one night after Christmas I came across a job posting and fired off an application. When I went back the next day to show Allison, it had already been taken down. We shrugged our shoulders and forgot about it. You need to be quick to get jobs here and we’ve gotten used to being slow. Well, lo and behold, I got a response offering us the job and saying we needed to be in Roxburgh (2 hours away) in two days. Not wanting to let this golden opportunity pass us by, we regretfully informed Allison’s family we were leaving a day earlier than expected to secure the job.

The job itself was straightforward: pick as many cherries as you can. We started each morning by grabbing a harness from a giant box and a ladder from a pile and then walking to the assigned block for the day where we were given a row (or part of a row) to pick. And then it was off to the races! You’d put a bucket in your harness, arrange your ladder amongst the cherry tree branches, and start dropping cherries into your bucket until it was full (about 10kg). You’d then replace the bucket and repeat the process three more times until you had four full buckets, at which point you’d carry them all to the end of the row to be checked, tallied to your name, and collected.

Depending on the quality of the cherries, you’d either be flying through buckets or dragging ass. They only wanted you to pick the cherries without blemishes, rot, or bruises, as well as those with the stem still attached, so there was a learning curve. Generally, to make minimum wage you had to pick 24 buckets per day. After our first day of picking we had each picked 10 buckets so felt pretty disheartened. Maybe the hype was overdone? Well, after four straight days of picking we had figured out how to up our speed. I was soon making well over minimum wage and Allison was breaking about even.

While we didn’t get to know too many of the other pickers due to us staying at a different holiday park, it was definitely the largest array of nationalities at a job that we would have. Of those that I can remember, the countries represented were: USA, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, UK, France, Germany, Latvia, Czech Republic, Japan, Malaysia, India, Taiwan, Singapore, Italy, Hungary, and New Zealand. Overall, I enjoyed the job and the experience. It was good exercise and the pay did end up being quite good. It easily paid for our next two months of traveling.

We finished off our cherry adventures with sore bodies from all the heavy lifting, but full bellies of fresh fruit; a good rewarding balance. The first week of February consisted of visiting:

• Cromwell: a little city initially put on the map thanks to gold mining, but has evolved to being a hub for stone fruit.
• We had a lovely little catch up with our friends Chloe & Max.
• Wānaka: as mentioned before, this gem is one of our favorites. It’s been described to us as a smaller, quainter Queenstown. Wānaka has a gorgeous lake in town where we spent a few afternoons lazing around and swimming. We also visited the Wānaka Lavender Farm and some cute cafes.

• We hiked Roy’s Peak Track, an epic hike consisting of 4,300ft of elevation gain over the course of 10 miles of steep switchbacks. This hike had some incredible views of Lake Wānaka and the surrounding area.

• We also spent an afternoon at a place called Hook, a “lake to plate” salmon fishing and restaurant attraction where we had the opportunity to fish for salmon, bring it to the counter, choose how we’d like it prepared, and eat our catch.

• Mt Cook National Park: an INCREDIBLE place. We drove into the park early on the morning of February 5th to catch the end of sunrise and get an early start for a busy hike called Hooker Valley Track. We later camped at Mt Cook Campground (White Horse Hill) for a few nights. Over the next few days we attempted backpacking to Mueller Hut but were unable to because of the weather/wind so we decided to do it as a day hike instead. This hike was truly an unreal experience…we were in Mt Cook. It was breathtaking.

Drew turned 31 over here on February 7th! We celebrated the day before with an UNBELIEVABLE hike in Mt Cook National Park (pictured above). The day of Drew’s birthday we drove back to Wānaka, one of our favorite towns on the South Island, and spent the afternoon swimming in the lake and going out for dinner and drinks.

Hayden & Phil arrived for their Excellent New Zealand Adventure on February 9th. It was so incredible to see these two and catch up. Our time spent together was very special to me. Thank you for coming to visit. Here’s what we got up to during our week together:

• FEB 9: Met up in Fairlie where we caught up over an easy dinner in.
• FEB 10: Left Fairlie and headed to Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki, explored there for the afternoon, and drove to Wānaka where we spent the evening playing Uno and drinking wine.

• FEB 11: Explored Wānaka: We dropped Phil off at a cute cafe called Big Fig to work for the afternoon. Hayden, Drew, and I went to the Wānaka Lavender Farm, checked out That Wānaka Tree, shopped around at the farmer’s market, and had some pies from The Doughbin Bakery.

• Later we drove to Queenstown where we enjoyed a lovely drink by the water at the Pier, and enjoyed some of the best fish & chips from Erik’s Fish & Chips. After our full day of exploring we drove to Kingston where we stayed the night.

• FEB 12: Drove to Te Anau where we watched the Super Bowl at The Ranch Bar & Grill. After an exciting football filled afternoon we drove to Manapouri, one of the entry points into Fiordland National Park.
• FEB 13: Explored Doubtful Sound, a striking landscape of ancient, glacially-carved valleys described as both precious and powerful.

• After an adventure-filled day on our walk back to the holiday park we made a quick pit stop at Two Wee Bookshops, quaint little bookshops owned by Ruth Shaw, a fascinating woman who wrote Bookseller at the End of the World, a great read.

https://www.eventfinda.co.nz/2022/featherston-booktown-the-bookseller-at-the-end-of-the-world/greytown

• FEB 14: Left Manapouri and headed south, taking the Southern Scenic Route. Our stops throughout the day included Gemstone Beach and Invercargill, where we spent the night.

• FEB 15: Hayden, Drew, and I went shark cage diving! You read that correctly; I can’t believe it either. It was a chilly and exciting day. Here’s Drew to tell us all about it:

Last June when we were kiwi pruning with our friend Kim-Lan she told us how she’d gone shark cage diving off of Bluff. It immediately planted the seed in my mind that I was going to do the same, no matter what. After surprisingly little convincing, Allison got on board. I floated the idea to my parents as an activity for their visit and received a “yes” from my mom and a “yeah, no” from my dad.

Fast forward seven months and Allison, my mom, and I were boarding a boat at 6am in the rain in Bluff about to travel for 1 hour across Foveaux Strait to *hopefully* see Great White sharks. Upon arrival at the cluster of islands where we’d be spending the day, we all squeezed into wetsuits, hoods, and gloves and waited patiently as the crew released fish oil into the water to attract sharks.

After about an hour of waiting, bingo! The first shark was sighted. With space for four in the cage hanging off the back of the boat, everyone patiently waited their turn to climb down into the death box, I mean protective cage, and watch Great White’s emerge from the gloom and make passes close by. IT WAS FUCKING AWESOME.

Over the course of the day we saw three different sharks. It was incredible to be so close to such a beautiful yet feared animal. You would stand in the cage scanning the water while looking for a flash of silver when all of a sudden a dark mass would appear. They were curiously cruising around, taking their time, but would then switch direction on a dime and be lost beyond your line of vision just as quickly. I’m getting goosebumps thinking about it right now. It truly was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I’m so happy I got to experience with my mom and Allison.

• FEB 16: Left Invercargill and headed towards the Catlins, driving along the Catlins Coastal Heritage Trail. Stops we made included: Waipapa Point (a cute little lighthouse), Slope Point (the southernmost point of the South Island of New Zealand), Curio Bay (a petrified forest and home to rare penguin sightings), and Tautuku Bay Lookout on top of Florence Hill (showing a breathtaking coastal viewpoint).

• From there we headed to Dunedin, a cute little city known for its Scottish and Maori heritage, Victorian and Edwardian architecture, and large student population, where we stayed at a holiday park. Our last evening together consisted of Dominos, wine, phone tutorials, laughter, and wonderful conversations in Hayden & Phil’s campervan.
• FEB 17: Explored Dunedin: our last day together was filled with farmers market visits, checking out the Dunedin Railway Station, walking to the Octagon, and saying our farewells. From here Hayden & Phil headed north and Drew & I headed to Moeraki.

• Here’s a map of our full route together. An incredible time was had!

The next few days consisted of visiting:

• Moeraki Boulders
• Kātiki Historic Reserve where we attempted to see penguins
• Nugget Point Lighthouse
• Roaring Bay where we attempted to see penguins yet again
• Purakaunui Falls: my favorite falls we’ve seen
• Lost Gypsy Curiosities & Coffee: a gem of a find full of bits and bobs and trinkets and toys

On the evening of February 20th we took the very rocky ferry to Stewart Island. The skipper’s introduction included a greeting along the lines of, “Well, this isn’t going to fall into the 100 best crossings.” We came to Stewart Island for a few reasons. First, how could we pass up the “third” island of New Zealand? Second, we wanted to tramp another one of New Zealand’s Great Walks, the Rakiura Track. Third, we wanted to see a kiwi in the wild. Well, all three things were accomplished! Here’s Drew:

Most backpackers we met hadn’t been to Stewart Island and had no intention of visiting. In fact, most Kiwis (humans) we met had never been. As a seeker of off-the-beaten path destinations, that pushed Stewart Island to the top of my list. Add in the fact that there was abundant hiking and a good chance of seeing a kiwi (bird), I was sold. The island itself is quite interesting. It’s unsurprisingly a fishing and hunting-centric place with a standing population of 400 people. The main town, Oban, houses the majority of those people and is where the ferry from Bluff (on the South Island) arrives.

The main reason people visit is for the above mentioned reasons — hiking and kiwis. The island is home to the Rakiura Track, one of the Great Walks, as well as two longer tracks which take 5 and 10 days, respectively. The 10-day track intrigued me, but we didn’t have the time or pre-planning to pull it off. I did, however, spend an evening at the hostel speaking with an American student from Stanford who was on a quarter-long sabbatical to hike around NZ who had just completed the North West Circuit over 9 days. He told me about sections of trail where the mud was up to his waist and he had to slog through it with his pack held above his head. I heard that and thought, “What a great adventure!” Allison heard that and thought, “Never in a million years.” Opposites attract.

Now as to what we did. We hiked the Rakiura Track over three days and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly, only encountering calf-deep mud at points that we could relatively easily avoid. The best part of the hike had to be our search for kiwis. Kiwis are wild in a handful of places on the North and South Island, but they’re very elusive and are nocturnal, making a sighting very difficult. Well, on Rakiura, due to the small human population and massive forested area to roam, the kiwi population is over 10,000 and they’re not exclusively nocturnal. All that being said, you’re still not guaranteed to see one.

Our first night on the track, Allison and I set off from our tent around 11pm with our red headlamps to try to spot a kiwi. After crashing around in the trees for 30 minutes, Allison lamented that she wasn’t sneaky enough and left me to creep about on my own. Over the next 30 minutes I heard several kiwis rustling in the bushes, saw the shadow of one 15 feet away before it dashed into the undergrowth, and was startled by a bold possum. I realized my headlamp’s beam wasn’t quite strong enough to illuminate a kiwi unless it was right in front of me. Feeling defeated, I got into our tent, filled Allison in, and she said, cheerily, “Don’t worry, we’ll see one on the trail tomorrow!” I rolled my eyes and went to bed.

The next morning, being habitually slow starters, we didn’t leave camp until 11am, well after everyone else that had been there the prior night. As we hiked over the first hill of the day, we rounded a corner and BOOM! Could it really be? No way. NO WAY! A KIWI was standing about 10 feet away, beak deep in the dirt. We abruptly stopped, exchanged silent, wide-eyed looks of triumph, and then watched it look for bugs and slowly saunter off into the ferns over the course of five minutes. We let out a massive cheer once we couldn’t see or hear it anymore and spent the rest of the hike on a massive high. Hoping to ride that luck, I did look that next night for more kiwis but was unsuccessful. We did, however, hear several calling out while we laid in our tent. For those of you that don’t know what it sounds like, it is haunting and doesn’t sound like it could come from such an odd bird.

After our hike, Allison took the ferry back to the South Island and I stayed two more nights. One of the days I visited nearby Ulva Island, a predator-free bird sanctuary. I spent four hours walking the paths, listening to the constant bird chatter, and seeing countless birds, both familiar and new to me. Its brochure describes Ulva as what New Zealand sounded like 300+ years ago, prior to the introduction of rats, mice, possums, and countless other mammals that have decimated the bird populations throughout NZ. It was a unique look into what that world may have resembled.

The morning of February 24, Drew and I had breakfast at the Snuggery, a groovy vintage cafe full of beautiful furniture and vegan treats. I said farewell to Drew, leaving him on the island for a few days of alone time, and caught the ferry back to Invercargill.

We later finished off February in Mossburn at a really cute and affordable holiday park called Mossburn Country Park with tons of open green space, farm animals, including llamas and peacocks, and great weather.

Jump over to May 8, 2024 - PART 02. Read it here.