An Island of Mystic Spaces

If you looked at a map of the South Island, Lake Tekapo looks like God took his almighty thumb and fingerprinted himself smack dab in the centre of the Island. And good gracious, if God ever did get fingerprinted, Lake Tekapo is a fairly spectacular way of thumbing the earth. First off, the water is dyed a brilliant, opaque turquoise which only adds to the awe of the sky slicing mountains that boarder one long side of the lake. Sift on a bit of the icy cold white stuff to coat the mountain tips, and that, my friends, is just the icing on the cake.

I bussed to Tekapo to visit my friend Hugo and his girlfriend Helen who were superb hosts during my weekend stay. My weekend activities included hiking to the summit of Mt. John (and enjoying the awesome 360 degree panoramic views), soaking in the outdoor hot pools (during the only snow storm flurry that I've seen since I left Wisconsin), and attending a Sunday evening service at the quaint Church of the Good Shepard. Company of friends combined with a scenic beauty overload made for a delightful and relaxing weekend.

From Tekapo, I hitched to Oamaru where I was to begin WWOOFing at Chillawhile Backpackers where I was more than happy to just, well, chill a while. The hostel is a hodgepodge of art displays, heart-thumping music, miss-matching comforters and pillow cases, half-tuned instruments, and backyard clothes lines which are consistently hidden under billowing sheets, clothes, and towels drying in the sunshine.

As far as the town goes, there's not so much to see besides the semi-restored, semi-rundown historical district and the infamous blue-penguin and yellow-eyed penguin colonies. I've gone for several walks and, without much help from the windy coast, tried flying my brand-new stunt kite in the park just in front of the backpackers. So, to mix things up a bit, I contacted a fellow Couchsurfer, 50-something year old Peter, a history buff and Otago area tour guide extraordinaire.

So, on a cloudy Friday afternoon, Peter drove and talked me all the way to the Moeraki Boulders, nearly 40 km south of Oamaru. This well-visited beach site is home to a set of round, massive rocks that have settled into the sand. And lucky for us, we arrived at low tide so you could really see just how unique the boulders were. They honestly look as though they are a set of Giant's Marbles, scattered carelessly on the beach. I've never seen anything like it and was quite captivated.

The Moeraki Boulders were only the beginning of an afternoon of intriguing sites that Peter took me too. Just a bit farther up the road, we tried to catch a glimpse of yellow-eyed penguins, but didn't see more than a few tubby fur-seals. Then, a drive through some less traveled roads between Highway-85 and Highway-83 brought about some goose-flesh tingling scenery. In a pasture dubbed “The Vanishing World,” I spotted honey-combed, limestone rock and a protected ancient whale fossil. It's no wonder the jagged cliffs of limestone and lush green pastures of the area brought out the film-makers of the movie “Narnia – the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.” I was able to visit one filming spot in particular, the site of the Elephant Rocks, where gynormous limestone rocks have settled after having been elegantly carved by wind, rain, and rivers. The naturally calming site is so-named for the way in which some of the rocks actually do resemble giant elephants. It's as though Medusa came by, with all her wrath, and looked an entire herd of elephants point-blank in the eye. Whadya know – stoned for life.

Over the weekend, Peter and I met up again to go penguin-spotting near the wharf. It was drizzling lightly and dark (most of the blue-penguins come up to check on their nests around 8pm after the sun's sunk beneath the horizon) but we spotted nearly 30 penguins! They were huddled under branches by the rocky coast or waddling down the wharf. We even caught a couple mating under the street light (not very inconspicuous of them...) and got lucky enough to glimpse a baby penguin crouched and trembling outside it's nest. Peter told me that he's never seen that many penguins by the wharf before, so I was uber lucky! But, as cute as they are, these little fellows create quite a racket and smell like a dumpster load of rotting fish. Thus, I was more then happy to leave the waddling tuxedos for the comfort (and exceedingly nicer smelling) lounge of Chillawhile with a novel, comfy chair, and blazing heater to boot!