Legend of the Lake

Lake Wakatipu has a curious habit of rising and falling 12-20 cm every 27 minutes.  Maori legend credits this phenomenon to the ogre Matau who was capitally punished for abducting a local chief’s daughter.  Matau was burned alive in his sleep.  The heat of the blaze melted the snow from surrounding mountains into the deep "S" shaped hole where Matau fell during his demise.  The resilient beat of his heart could not be stopped though, which causes the eternal pulse of the lake. 

In the past week I’ve gone kayaking, hiking, boating, and 4-wheel canyon driving, but that barely scratches the surface of things to do in Queenstown.  A Reavers coworker is an NZ tourism guide (aka good friend to have) and took me kayaking on the lake.  Mountain weather changes fast, especially here with currents coming from Antarctica, so storms can sneak up on you in the open water.  A storm rolled in on us, but we got out fine.  Some confident kayakers have not been so lucky in the past.  Later we drove into Skipper’s Canyon, a filming spot for LoTR and King Kong and the most hair-raising road I've ever seen.  Kiwis are crazy, they jump off bridges and drive like maniacs!  This “road” into the gorge is a one lane dirt path leading to 

a ghost mining town and the Shotover River.  There are sheer cliffs up one side and straight down on the other.  Tour buses and trucks taking tourists to jet boat and white water rafting sites use the road constantly, and if you meet up them, they have the right of way.  This means you must reverse down the one lane road till a passing point… definitely requires skill.   Tourists get into trouble down there a lot thinking it’s just a scenic drive.  There are plenty of "slips"where not so lucky drivers have died.  There are accidents on a regular basis.  Word to the wise: buy a tour if you want to see Skipper’s Canyon, which you should because it’s AWESOME.

I was going to move out of the lodge, but now I’m glad I didn’t.  The people are awesome, the facilities are great, and the housekeeping staff finds the most ridiculous things people leave behind.  So far I’ve acquired a poker set, an orange top hat worthy of the Kentucky Derby, a bottle of NZ Pinot Noir, a hair dryer, and a camping lantern.  My Vietnamese roommate Wendy makes the delicious curries and noodle dishes. Dougy, a big Samoan, plays guitar and sings like an angel for background music in the common room.  The managers, Dean, Todd, and Kim, are hooking me up with some adventure vouchers as well.  This week I’m going river surfing and maybe to the bungy… maybe.

Erik, a friend from VT, arrived this week.  Yesterday he rented a boat.  Kayaking Wakatipu is great, but jetting across it was a whole different game.  We rode from Frankton Pier to Bob’s Cove and did some fishing.  The glacier water is so clear and so cold!  I’m doing pretty well on my goal of trying something new everyday; yesterday I drove a boat for the first time! After the boat trip, Lauren made a pot roast feast, and we hung out with a full house of roommates at the 39 Gorge house. Erik is staying till Sunday, which means he will be here for St. Patrick’s day.   This town is full of crazy Irish pubs and crazy awesome Irish people, so St. Pat's Day should be fun. 

I’m learning a lot about what people think of the US.  People generalize about every nationality, but the resounding opinion on Americans is that we are loud, obnoxious, and bossy.  Yep, I can be all of those things.  I also heard the term “sepo” or “septic tank yank” for the first time.  They are ugly slangs meaning the US is polluting the world or some bla bla bla you suck it. I won't call names, but given only 18% of Americans have passports, it doesn’t seem fair to judge based on the small percentage of us traveling or what's in the media.  I’m trying not to be so loud, obnoxious, or bossy, but that's hard since I'm always right ...Just kidding...


If you're still keeping up with me via this blog THANKS!!!! I've been slacking and leaving the camera at home.  I'll have a new one up in a few days that involves planes... and jumping out of them :) XO