Queenstown (again)

We're back in Queenstown for the moment, after having spent three nights in Fiordland. We found a nice hostel in Te Anau with a nice view and a private bathroom, which was really nice. We spent three days there.

We spent one day in the Catlins, which was a long drive but worth it as we were able to see a yellow eyed penguin (the world's rarest species) come out of the water after a long day of fishing, and the sunset over Nugget Point was pretty spectacular.

Yesterday we went on a cruise on Doubtful Sound which was pretty nice, the weather didn't cooperate much but we were able to see a bit of it when the clouds cleared. No dolphins, though. Gina enjoyed the trip into the Manapouri Power Station.

We are stopping back in Queenstown for the moment, we're heading up the West Coast and hoping to make it to Fox Glacier tonight.

We're learning how to get on whilst traveling, including how to make the most of our budget and especially food. We filled up the car today and it cost nz$59 (us$43), which pretty much blew our daily budget of nz$160. (Rooms are costing nz$60 a night and the car rental is nz$23).

We've met a few interesting folks, including a few clueless Americans who flew here on a whim with no money, a guy just out of the Japanese Navy who was looking for work as a helicopter pilot, and a twentysomething pair from the Midwest who decided to come here for a year to work. They are living out of their car and working as they can find it, including an interesting stint on a pig farm somewhere on the North Island.

Basically we got here thinking we were hard-core backpackers, but we're feeling kind of wimpy. Some folks come here and really rough it.

And we've already learned to dislike Germans. They travel in packs and are ridiculously loud. Kinda like freshmen.

Anyway we might not blog for a few days as we travel up the remote West Coast. All is well with us and hi to all of you back home.

- g&b