Our first picking experience was on gold kiwi. We did it a few times but never multiple days in a row. They paid us per hour for these kiwis since they are delicate and damage easily. When we finally got to pick the green kiwis, we went full out, six and a half days straight of hard labour, moving 3 tonnes of kiwi each per day minimum. It's a crew of 20ish people (lost a few who didn't enjoy the job and added a couple). It took a bit of time for some of the people to pick up their speed, but the threat of being let go from decent paying job seemed to help. After we finished this first week, our company boss said it was the best crew he had in 10 years. No major issues yet, though a few people are getting sore hands. Picking should last into mid May but we have a good group and I really enjoy where I'm living. Plus as many kiwis as we can pick up off the ground.
But onto the stuff I should have written weeks ago. TRAVELLING!
The first bit I skipped was right before Christmas. I must say seeing snow, holly, and santa painted onto windows is weird in summer weather. For work, starting on the 27th of December. Otematata was going to boom in population for a few weeks with all the kiwi vacationers coming to the lakes for lake stuff. For whatever reason, I was giving about 5 days off and decided to leave the area for a few days right before that. First was to visit Laurien (sp?) in Queenstown. She's from France but I met her once before in Toronto during a games Jorai hosted. Her study visa expired and instead of going home, she came to New Zealand. Jorai put us in touch and we texted a bit about our travels down here. She then got a job at Panagonas in Queenstown and found a really nice place to live with a Swedish couple that have been in the country for a few years. Place was in Arthur's Point, so cheaper and nicer area then Queenstown proper, but bit of a bike ride for work.
I spent a couple nights in Queenstown and we did a bit of site seeing. We went up the gondola to the mountain top, I really wanted to do the luge since I was on the one in Rotorua. The luge was fun though a very long line and not quite as good as the one in Rotorua.
After that, we went to the beach and Karen suggested a small garden at Little Paradise Lodge. It's a small hotel run by a couple (though they are selling it) where the man is an artist that spent years filling up the lodge and garden with his work. The drive itself was really nice and the garden was very unique and cool.
We spent some time just wandering and hanging out before I left. After that, I travelled alone down to Milford Sound. Spent the night in my van and it rained hard over the night. I was initially disappointed but after driving, all the waterfalls and mist everywhere was gorgeous and it was great driving. especially after the sun came out. While there I had to make a choice, the boat ride in the sound or glow worms in Te Anua. Decided on the glow worms. Unfortunately I couldn't take any pictures but it was a two hour tour with a 40 minute tour of the cave and a boat ride under the glow worms. Very cool experience, if a little expensive. After that I took a slow drive back to Otematata to go back to work for the 27th.
The rest of my time in Otematata was very busy. Lots of late nights, drunk people, and customers. Though I didn't have as many issues, Melanie, Holly, and Sam were not the happiest at the place. about mid January, Melanie asked about doing a road trip to the very south of the island which I hadn't gone to yet. It was great timing for giving me a reason to quit since I could see myself getting sucked into staying longer out of convenience. I therefore quit and left a week earlier than Melanie. Went to the Jimmy Carr show and ended up in Queenstown again for a few nights which I hung out with Laurien again. Once Melanie joined us we spent a few days in Queenstown hanging out with Laurien while she wasn't working. Went to the lake with her co-worker and it was also to give Melanie a chance to get to know her and the Swedes since she was looking at a job in Queenstown and might have tried to take over Laurien's room.
Though Melanie made plans for what she wanted to do, everything changed constantly on the trip. Our first stop was going towards Milford Sound when she mentioned having an old friend from Boston in New Zealand. We only spent a day down in Milford Sound since she was coming back in a few weeks. Went on a few of the smaller tracks and enjoyed nature. After we headed to Te Anau where we met up with her friend. Her friend worked in the glow worm caves and brought us in for free. We also met two girls she Woofed with previously who were leaving town that night. Ended up spending 3 nights in Te Anua and went swimming in Manapouri with her friend before heading out.
After Milford Sound, we had initially planned to go to Stewart Island, but with how long we ended up in Te Anau and the cost vs. what we could do there, we decided against it. We left Te Anau and traveled down towards the Catlins. We stopped at a light house on the way and got to see sea lions and then found a cute cafe in Orepuki which had a bunch of scrapbooks with the history of the area and historical pictures. We stopped at Gemstone Beach for lunch and slept just outside Riverton. Alone the way, we stopped at a beach before heading to the free campground. The weather was going to turn bad in a couple days, so we decided to skip Invercargill and head into the Catlins. We stopped in Curio Bay for lunch and to swim. It was a very nice beach, if a bit crowded, but the most amazing part was the dozen or so dolphins that were in the bay swimming among the people. I unfortunately didn't get a good video with me in the water but got a few from the shore. After that we found a nice track with a waterfall before deciding to head to Dunedin to wait out the storm. Along the way, we stopped at a few random things that caught our eye, the biggest one being the Teapot exhibit some person had set up in their yard.
We spent the next day while it down poured in Dunedin, visiting a few shops, the rail station, the museum, and went out for food. The next day, though still a little rainy and cold, we decided to visit Larnach Castle. We just did the garden which had a few Alice in Wonderland hidden gems and some great views of the bay towards the ocean. We decided to start heading back to Queenstown so Melanie could pick up her car and head off to Christchurch. We were recommended to stop off at Tunnel Beach on the way which had a nice 45 minute and very steep walk down and a 20 meter small tunnel which ended at a small cove which was unswimmable due to the currents and rocks. After we returned to Queenstown we parted ways with me spending a couple more days in Queenstown to plan my next moves.
While in Queenstown, I applied to some jobs and looked into what I wanted to do. I hung out with Laurien at night, but she had work. Not to over stay my visit, I headed up to Christchurch to see the east side of the island which I haven't been to yet. I stopped at a few places along the way but it was a relatively short drive. Once I hit Christchurch, I went for my car's WoF and applied at Golder Associates as stated last post. Between the time I stopped by and interviewed with them I went up to Kaikoura. I heard a lot about there and it was one of the places that were really devastated by the earthquake 8 years ago, losing all road access from both the north and south. The main thing I wanted to do was go whale watching. I spent the night in a campground just south of the town and went there the next day. I booked my whale tour for the next day and spent the day hiking and swimming. While at the beach, there was a pod of like 50 dolphins swimming close to shore. I tried to swim out to them but unfortunately the boats may have scared them away or they just moved on. After that I walked along the Point Kean Viewpoint to see the seals. I spent the night in a free campground north of the town and returned for the whale watching tour. Our tour was very lucky, seeing 3 sperm whales, two blue, and a fin. Generally a tour is lucky to see more than 2 whales. I spent another night in the campground before heading back to Christchurch for my interview.
On my way back from Kaikoura, I went to Hammer Springs and stopped at a random free campground I found along the way. There was a 2 hour hike that went up the mountain which I decided to climb. Luckily the sun was hidden by the clouds so it was relatively cool and a fun walk.
After interviewing, I talked with Melanie again and she was heading up to Nelson to interview at a cafe and hostel. Since I was killing time waiting around to hear from my interview, I headed inland to met up for a night and day. We ended up visiting Bealey where we went on a hike to see the waterfall then headed up to Victoria Forest. We split ways again here, I was rejected from Golder and went to the north island two days later.
This concludes my time on the south island. Though I know I probably missed some things, I covered most of what I wanted to see and had a good time there. It was almost 7 months of my year visa and time to move on. I've also now spent a month and a half in Tairua and will need to make a new post soon with my adventures up north. But that's a story for another time. I have many pictures with only a few making it on here that I'm sure people will eventually see.
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