Furneaux and Wellington

My only full day at Furneaux Lodge began with a fairly slow morning before eventually making my way over to breakfast with my grandmother. As we were finishing some pleasant, but fairly expensive food, one of the lodge employees came over to us and noted that another room had become available, and they wanted to offer the two of us a free upgrade. This of course elicited a slightly confused, but emphatic, yes. We were then told to get our baggage ready, and that when the room was available for us to move in, someone would come to take our things. This slightly delayed my departure for a walk I wanted to do that day, but I was extremely happy to change rooms and excited to see where they would end up putting us. I took the opportunity to do some writing and explore the grounds a little more, but just after 10 a man arrived at our old room with a golf cart and directed us to the new room after loading our bags. He had to greet an incoming boat (with plenty of baggage to be moved), so took a quick detour, but I walked over to the front desk to receive our new key, and we followed the signs to our upgraded room. I was thrilled to discover that we had now been placed in a suite, with a separate bedroom, living room, and beautiful bathroom. We now had a beautiful ocean view, and were even close to the lodge hot tub! Excited by our new accommodations and still a little stunned by the upgrade, but a little anxious to get my exercise for the day started, I packed up some food and water and set off along the Queen Charlotte Track towards a landmark known as Ship Cove. The walk started along the water near some other beautiful properties, but quickly rose in elevation. Not far from the coast, the views were spectacular, and the path crossed a number of fern-lined creeks. I met several nice people along the way, a retired couple on a local cruise who offered me some snacks, and a large group just beginning the whole track in the opposite direction. The final stretch before the cove, after the trail dipped to a small beach, was a sizable climb to a beautiful pass and then descent. At the cove I found a beautiful monument to captain James Cook, who spent significant time in the area and was the first to call it ship cove. There were also some signs about the history of the area, and a traditional Maori carving. Wanting to make it back in time for our dinner reservations, I didn’t stay long and started my hike back after taking some time to explore the cove. The way back moved quickly without any real stops, and by the time I got back to the lodge my feet were feeling quite sore. I first made my way back to our new room and took great advantage of the wonderful shower. Afterwards I relaxed for a little before heading over to dinner, feeling tired and thoroughly satisfied with my day’s exercise. At dinner I shared shrimp dumplings and (I believe my first ever) venison with my grandmother. The venison came with a wonderful berry jus, beets, and parsnip puree, which I thoroughly enjoyed. We also both tried a glass of local wine and shared a delicious date pudding with ice cream and chocolate for dessert. After dinner I spent some time in the hot tub and felt some of the lingering soreness melt away before bed. What a wonderful day!

The next day was largely focused around travel. We couldn’t begin until our boat away from the lodge arrived at 11, so we took some time in the morning to pack up, enjoy another breakfast, and say goodbye to the lodge/grounds. When the boat arrived, we embarked with our bags for the trip back to Picton where the rental car was waiting. The route back was especially quick, with very few stops, and it wasn’t long before we were back to the car. We then drove just over 2 hours into Nelson, and returned our car at the airport. Maybe the calmest airport I have ever flown through, Nelson had almost no security and a small walk out to the Air New Zealand prop plane we would take into Wellington. After a turbulent flight across Cook Straight we arrived in Wellington fairly late. Far away from our hostel for the night, we called a ride and got dropped off instead of trying to navigate public transit. After arriving, with only a few more nights before we would both leave the country, we decided to cook some remaining pasta and use some tomato sauce we had been carrying with us for some time. I made a quick run to the store for a few vegetables and brought them back to the hostel. My grandmother did most of the cooking and we ended up with a delicious pasta meal, which I then cleaned up. I stayed up a little longer playing Uno and Jenga with a few other hostel dwellers, then stepped upstairs to get some sleep for one last full day exploring New Zealand.

Our full day in Wellington started with a breakfast of leftover pasta and some eggs. I also tried some toast with NZ honey, having heard so much about it and grateful for the hostel providing some for free. After finishing up, my grandmother and I walked together towards the Te Papa museum, a free national museum located just off of the water in the middle of Wellington. After a nice walk with just a bit of heavy rain, but lots of urban views, we arrived and stepped into the beautiful modern building. It featured several distinct exhibits, all open to the public free of charge. There was a large and quite moving exhibit focusing on the battle of Gallipoli in WW1, particularly the kiwi contingent of soldiers, many of whom died and the rest of whom suffered several long months of miserable conditions, all for fleeting and eventually nonexistent gains (this also included a number of remarkable larger-than-life models, and was produced in close collaboration with the local and LOTR famous Weta Workshop). There was a large selection of exhibits on the NZ natural world, showcasing the incredible species that are found there, many of which are found nowhere else in the world. This included a Moa Pelvis with Haas Eagle talon marks, the world’s largest whole/preserved colossal squid on display, and recordings of dozens of local birds, with silence instead for the dismaying number that are now considered extinct. There was an exhibit on NZ history, from the first Maori that arrived hundreds of years ago to the English who have shaped so much of the country’s history, to the more recent cultural assimilation of thousands of refugees from various crises, paying respect to the cultural influences of all of them. There was also a massive selection of art, traditional Maori weaving patterns, experimental modern art pieces, and classical oil paintings. We wanted to see the botanical gardens as well, and my grandmother was getting tired, so we decided to start the walk over there around 2:30 pm and I cut my time with the art (located at the very top of the museum) a little short.

The walk to the gardens took a fairly long time, as there was a lot of uphill and I wanted to make sure my grandma made it up safely. Eventually we made our way up to the top of the park and consulted the map for a good route to take through the park without exhausting my grandmother too much further. We found a nice path that led mostly downhill and started off through the park. I was of course unable to see it all, but I saw tons of beautiful plants and even several wonderful local animals. I took several pictures as well but eventually we reached the end of the walk and the days sightseeing had to come to an end.

We rounded out the evening with a final meal of fish and chips before going to bed for an early morning flight the next day. After so many days in New Zealand, it felt awfully surreal to have the end on the horizon, not to mention the end of my time with my grandmother. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and it was getting towards time for the next step of my adventure!