Queenstown, Milford Sound, and Now

ok ok ok so i've finally caught up with myself.

i am in queenstown.

joel and i arrived on january 22nd, stayed one night at base backpackers because everywhere else was booked, but hightailed it to a different hostel on the second day, a lil place up on the hill called deco backpackers. its pretty nice and has a sweet kitchen, so no complaints there.

our second day in town was spent getting groceries and walking allllll over town to check out hostels for me. basically i was looking for a place where i could work (clean in the mornings) for accomodation, so i could base myself here for a little while and get a restaurant job (ugh, but necessary) at night to make a little money back. basically i've just gotten tired of traveling constantly and bouncing from hostel to hostel. i could wwoof (get farm work), but i figured with joel taking off after all my stray friends have left, it would be a bit rough to go stick myself on a farm in the middle of nowhere. instead i want to work in a town for a month or two just to get a little normality back in my life before taking off and doing something else. so i'm glad to be here and settle for a little while before the travel bug bites again.

anyways, we check out a ton of places on that second day, the majority of which were a) not hiring or b) manky as all hell. so no luck that day, although wandering around trying to find the hostels proved a great way of checking the city out from all levels and heights. it is really a beautiful town, a lot like bar harbor in some ways, but a bit bigger and more bustling. it will do for a couple months, for sure. anyways, that day i also met up with helen, an awesome british chick i travelled with earlier, who is working at southern laughter and winnie's, an upbeat pizza joint and bar that is also possibly hiring some waitstaff...

anyways, the most exciting bit was our trip to milford sound. absolutely breathtaking. we hopped on a bus at 8 in the morning and drove from queenstown to te anau, and then on to milford. the drive was gorgeous, past the lakes and the remarkable mt range (thats the actual name, btw). its interesting to see the landscape change as you drive along. queenstown area is quite dry, and it just gets greener and greener as you drive south. its mostly rolling farmland inbetween queenstown and te anau, very reminiscent of some parts of ireland. after te anau, it becomes a bit more forested, especially with trees such as the manuka, which is a new zealand tree that is pollinated by moths and from which you get a honey with healing properties.

outside te anau, we stopped at a birdlife park and saw a multitude of endemic and endangered new zealand birds. the first we saw was the takahe, a beautiful flightless bird with saphire blue plumage and a red beak. since they are quite shy, we only saw its head and neck poking out from the bushes. we also saw the kea, which is by far my favorite bird (good god i just reminded myself of the liger comment from napoleon dynamite). keas are super super intelligent and cheeky as hell. they are big, green, alpine parrots that will tear anything to shreds if you get it near them. not out of spite so much as curiousity. they are such characters. we saw some later at milford and they were fascinated by the red stripes on joel's shoes. also at the park were other births such as the kaka and kereru, a ginormous pigeon, and the tui, which has incredible vocalizations and also lend their name to tui beer. mmmmm.

Driving into the sounds was spectacular, sheer rock faces on either side, glaciers, and lush valleys. once we arrived we hopped on a 60 person boat with about 20 other people and went out into the sound. it was just stunning, i can't even begin to describe it. so incredibly massive, the boats just look like little birds in the water. we saw a beautiful hanging valley, went right up to two seal colonies, and stuck the nose of the boat under a waterfall, which was just an amazing experience. joel and i went out front for it and stood beneath the spraying mist of water and just beamed. there was even a rainbow alongside the boat, as if it couldn't get any better. we were out on the boat for about 2 and a half hours, drinking tea and eating soup, and just taking it all in. so so greatful to have perfect weather too, since milford recieved 8 meters of rainfall per year. we were definitly lucky, and we were greatful for every second of it.

joel's last day in town, we went down to the beach and read and checked out the saturday market, which has loads of crafts and jewelry. we went out for indian food at the same place i celebrated new years, and then grabbed a bottle of wine and hung out in the park. then we went back to the hostel and watched old school. it was a chill day, and a great way to say goodbye to a dear, dear friend.

this morning he took off at 7:30 for his adventures in thailand, cambodia, malaysia, viet nam, and china. overall, it was a great visit. in the first few days we were absolutely driving eachother nuts, and mostly we got along like wet cats. but old wet cats that really love each other. ha. but really we have so much respect for one another and have really developed a strong friendship, and i am so greatful for that.

so after he left, i had my first day of work at bumbles backpackers, a sweet little hostel on beach street a few blocks from town. it is a super chill place that overlooks the water, and i am definitly happy with it. i'm cleaning for about 3 hours, 6 days a week, in return for a bed in a 4 person room, use of the facilities, free laundry, and loads of free food that people leave behind. sounds gross, i know, but really people leave some gems behind. today i was cleaning the bathrooms, which sucked, but i definitly like the people i work with and i think this will be a good set up. so hopefully in the next few days i will secure a restaurant job, and then i will officially transition into the role of a queenstown semi-resident. woohoo!!

oh here's the website for the hostel i work at:
http://www.bumblesbackpackers.co.nz/

so i'm feeling pretty good, and settling down will mean more interesting blog entries, i think, since i hate doing the whole "and then we did this, and on the 24ths we did this" and i know it makes boring reads. so. i promise to be a bit more lively and read better than a logbook.

cheers and love to you all, hope everyone is well!!

alli