Cruisin' : Arthur's Pass, Dunedin, and the Sounds

 05/04/24

So Here is Where it Gets Interesting...

Arthur's Pass

Since I arrived in New Zealand, I have been told "you need to go to Arthur's Pass, that's where the kea are"! As this was going to be my last shot at seeing a kea in the wild, I really wanted to make it happen. Plus, that would mean mom could see the world's only alpine parrot with me! How special is that? Needless to say, it was a bit of a whirlwind. Still, we saw the beautiful parrot! 

Here is the story: 

I was so so so so so so so so so so so excited for this day! Out of all of the things I had planned for my mom's visit, this was definitely the most ambitious. I rented a car, planned for us to hike one of the most beautiful falls in New Zealand and I reloaded my Christchurch bus card for us. The plan was pretty solid, but we ended up not actually porting until an hour past our original port time. This was a minor delay as we were only going to stay at Arthur's Pass Village for a couple hours. The day started out beautifully! We got off the boat after a hearty breakfast and immediately hopped on the Lyttleton to CBD bus. We made it to the rental car place by 9 and were on the road by 930. As I primarily use public transport, this was one of my first real drives on the left side of the road. I feel comfortable enough with the traffic rules here, but I was still a bit nervous about how far we were going. Nonetheless, we pushed on! Our first stop was the Kura Tawhiti, these stunning limestone boulders. Historically, the landscape would have been ocean, but now these formations remain. Check out these sick rocks! 

We spent about 20 minutes ooo-ing and ahh-ing at the boulders and then continued on to the famous pass. The drive was honestly gorgeous. The mountains surrounded us as we drove the winding rode into the village. After a brief construction stop, we were on our way. Then I hit the curb. Womp womp. 

Ok. I'll admit, I do hit curbs on occasion. I don't make a habit of it, but I am just a girl! Generally, it is never an issue. Bump and run! But today, my mom and I heard a slow motion POP! as air hissed out of the front left tire. Thank goodness I got full coverage just in case. 

The plus side of popping the tire in the middle of Arthur's Pass village is a) you are in Arthur's Pass Village and b) there is still cell signal. The downside of popping a tire in the middle of Arthur's Pass Village is a) the closest repairman is an hour and a half away and b) you will never live this down until the day you die! I called the roadside assistance and they were so helpful. Thank you EziCars! They told us the repair man would be there asap (there was no spare tire kit in the car) and to spend the most of our time there we could. So, we grabbed lunch at the Alpine Parrot and continued on as originally planned! 

Honestly out of all the places I could've messed up the car, this was by far the most convenient. We were only a couple minutes walk from the stunning Devil's Punchbowl Trailhead. This trail was spectacular. It was a beautiful snapshot of New Zealand bush, had some fun bridges and a stunning waterfall at the end. Even though my mom was ready to kill me for making her go up all the stairs, I would say the view was worth it. It was one of the most stunning waterfalls I have ever seen. We got the call that the mechanic had arrived as soon as we finished the track. Talk about perfect timing!

At this point, we were running a bit past our intended leave time but he worked fast on the tire while we had a brief look in the gift shop. It was at this point we finally saw them! Cheeky and adorable, two kea poking their heads around the gift shop patio. BEST DAY EVER!

As soon as the mechanic finished up, we said our thanks and got on the road. We were immediately stopped by construction. This time, it took 20 minutes to pass through the site and we knew. We weren't going to make the ship. As I did my best not to crash the car on the spare, mom called the cruise line to make them aware of our tricky situation. After a few unhelpful representative, we finally got ahold of our captain and he said if we made it by 5:50 we could make it on board. Even though the spare speed limit was 80 km/hr, I started pushing 95. Mom was directing like her life depended on it. We still had to drop off the rental car and the port was 20 minutes away. Would we make it? We met the Uber driver at the rental car drop-off, explained the situation and he drove as fast as he could. As they let us through the port gate, I caught a glimpse of the time. 5:49:19. I felt my high school cross country legs kick in as we sprinted to the dock. 5:50. By some miracle, we made it. We were both very happy to jump in the hot tub that evening. What an adventure!

Dunedin

Oh beautiful Dunedin! What a pleasure it was to go to Dunedin after such a whirlwind the day before. I was very excited to take mom to my favorite bao bun shop, and the Tūhura Museum! Our day started by walking around the Anzac gardens and exploring the FRINGE festival exhibit in the railway station! Taking in the Dunedin city after living there for the last few months was really heartwarming. We even got to meet up with my Quest co-worker Kyle to catch up for a bit! We did a bit of shopping for souvenirs and stopped at Papa Chou's for tofu bao buns! They are my absolute favorite and my mom really liked them. We continued on to the Botanic Gardens, Tūhura, and my favorite sweet shop, Cookie Time! My mom really liked the butterfly exhibit and I got some time to check out the geology and bird sections. It was a full day, but this time we made it back when we were supposed to be on the ship! We passed by the albatross colony one last time before saying goodbye to Dunedin. Later in the evening, we got to watch an interesting magic show on board!

Dusky, Doubtful and Milford Sounds

After Dunedin, the boat got incredibly rocky. It felt like we were crashing through the ocean all night long. Mom and I were very sea sick. I was a bit sad with how sick I was feeling because this was one of the most unique and beautiful parts of the cruise. The Fjordlands. I have been looking forward to going to the sounds for a while and it did not disappoint! We arrived at Dusky Sound at sunrise. Even thought I felt I was going to vomit off of the side of the boat, it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. Here's me photographing the photographer (i.e. mom)! 

As soon as we finished watching the petrels dive at the bow of the ship, I headed back to the stateroom to lay down. The movement of the water was so much for my stomach! I ended up forcing myself out of bed for the next two sounds, but I am so glad I did! 

The next sound we came across was the Doubtful Sound. Now, Milford is on everyone's must do lists in the Fjordlands, but Doubtful Sound tends to get missed. Still, the views were marvelous. As far as the eye could see it was mountains and mountains and mountains. Take a look for yourself!

I tried to stomach some fruit and prepared myself for Milford. My eyes were mesmerized at how spectacular it truly was. My mom and I took a few beautiful photos of the waterfall and the mountains. The Milford Sounds makes you realize how truly small we all are; it shrunk the size of our gigantic ship. We also happened to get one of the only sunny days out of the year in Milford. Usually it is always raining in the sounds, but we got a delightfully, warm sunny day. Lucky us!

After the Sounds, I started to feel a bit less woozy and decided to hit up the casino! I will likely never gamble again because I lost $50, but it did help distract me from the nausea! We ended the day with watching some movies from our little stateroom. 

Next up, Aussie Aussie Aussie!!!