I got up early and finished packing. Regan dropped me off at the Wellington airport. The sun was just coming up over the hills and the sky was amazing! The tide pools glowed and the air was perfectly still.

The lovely coastal drive to the airport

The only way to check in was at large automated kiosk centers, so I jumped through the appropriate computer hoops. I had been assigned to a center seat in both cases, but I managed to change the second flight to a window. I then went to turn in my checked baggage. I was technically just outside of the "do not drop off checked luggage before 2 hours" rule, but the guy took it anyway. He said the policy was more for people who are 4 - 5 hours early.

I kept waiting to see security as I walked through the terminal but there wasn't any. Eventually I discovered that each individual gate has its own security screening set up... which is bad, because once you go through the gate, there are no facilities. I also couldn't fill my water bottle since there is no water fountain on the other side but you also can't bring water through. There was a vending machine you could buy it from though, how generous.

Unfortunately there was no internet at the airport, so I entertained myself by watching the small planes come in. There was only one outlet that I could find in the whole waiting room, so of course I snagged it. Again, the screaming baby that seems to follow me on all my flights was in full loud force.

The view of my gate (although not my plane)

We boarded and left on time. There was ample leg room, which was good because I was in a center seat and the plane was very full. The woman at the window seat slept the whole time (wasting it) but I suppose it was cloudy for most of the trip anyway.

Instead of the usual safety video, they had made a highly entertaining one using Bear Grylls, the adventure guy. Using airplane seats set in the the remote New Zealand mountains, they went through all the safety features, plus some segments of him chasing a moa (I won't spoil the ending for you!) and eating a glow worm (looked fake though).

The video was written up in the in-flight magazine. Very cute!

We flew down the coast at 26,000 feet, which offered us a lovely view when there was one between the clouds. We were served water and a "biscuit" (or chocolate chip cookie).

Leaving the North Island

Flying over Kaikoura

We landed early but the attendants couldn't get the walkway gate attached, so we had to wait a while to actually get off the plane. Even the pilots came out of the cockpit to help. The airport was even more of a mess... it took a while to find a connecting information monitor... then another while to find the gate. Then once I got there, you weren't allowed through until boarding time. So I joined the hoards of other people waiting for all 8 gates... with not enough seating. Actually, there might have been enough had it not been so "artfully" done. I found a small table and ate my leftover pasta lunch. Over time it became apparent, as the various gate numbers were called and people got up to board, that many of the people weren't passengers but rather just seeing someone off. That probably worked fine when the airport wasn't as busy. It was indeed too small for the crowds now.

When the announcement was finally made for my plane, I realized why they wouldn't let us go to the gate early... because there was no gate. We walked down a long corridor then straight onto the tarmac. It's been quite a while since I've done that. Luckily we didn't have to go through security again.

Walking to the plane

The flight left on time and I enjoyed my window view. It was a small plane, with only 68 people, but very full. A couple passengers were holding their toddlers on their laps for take off. Fortunately the flight attendants didn't allow it.

The land quickly got lost in the thick white carpet of clouds but the mountains rose above them. We slowly made our way toward them, then turned and followed the coast a bit. Huge wide rivers had only mere trickles of streams within them. Probably from the current drought. We eventually crossed over the hills and the clouds were left behind. Numerous farms began to appear, as well as sheep and cows (yes, we were low enough to see them!).

The sea, the land and the mountains... and a very dry river

A couple large lakes

The clouds just couldn't make it over the ridge.

Just outside Invercargill

Awww... living luggage

Invercargill was a VERY small airport, basically one large two-story room. We had to go outside to another building to collect our luggage. I grabbed a shuttle to town and got off at Tuatara Backpackers. Inside, they had a tourist info counter where usually you can buy bus/ferry tickets... but not here. Not only did they not sell tickets, they refused to give any kind of help at all. They said I had to call the bus company and arrange it myself... oh, and I also had to look up the phone number myself on-line... oh, and in order to use the "free" internet, I had to buy something at their snackbar.

So, having no choice really, I went over to buy something. But the girl at the counter said I didn't have to if I didn't want to. So I proceeded to try to find the Riverton Passenger and Freight company. The first number I called was wrong... someone's house. The second also sounded like a private residence but eventually the guy admitted to it being a company and then gave me the cell phone number of the driver. So I called Owen and arranged to be picked up at 4pm. Since I now had a bit of time to kill, I decided I would buy something. I ended up getting an extremely thin, watery, flavorless banana milkshake. It wasn't even cold... or even cool.

Several minutes before 4 pm, I headed outside. The little blue van was already there waiting. Owen, the driver, said he'd finished dropping off all his packages early. There was one girl in a school uniform already on board and they were still waiting for one more. I paid him my NZ$7.50 (a great deal, since the 5-minute ride from the airport cost $10, while this was taking me much further); the other school girl arrived; and we were off. He had to make a couple stops at the tiny towns along the way. One of the stops was at Thornbury, a place of around 300 people. Owen explained that over half the people are employed by one company in town... a place that makes "slinkys"... which he explained was not the toy but rather lamb skins.

In the small van

Owen and the girls were very friendly and chatty as we made our way through the rural countryside. He said Riverton had a population of around 2,500 people. He also knew where Leah (the woman I was going to stay with through workaway) lived, since I didn't have an actual address. So no problem there. When I asked about returning on Friday, he said that all transportation regarding Riverton was not going to be running that day since it was Good Friday (aka a holiday). The only bus option I had to get back to Invercargill would be 2 pm on Thursday. So I was going to have to figure something out. Either way, I was certainly not going to stay at that backpacker's place!

After a quick stop at the nursing home, we pulled up into a long driveway. Leah came out to meet us. She was a very friendly, happy woman in her 60's (although she easily looked 10 years younger than that). I dropped my bags off in the beautiful guest room and we had some juice while we chatted for a while.

The lovely guest room

Her husband, Bob, had passed away just under two years ago, so she was still adjusting to life without him. He grew up in the house next door to where we were now, and this lot had been owned by his family. Leah had moved to Riverton when she was 14 and met Bob a couple years later. They had been together ever since. They built this house in the 90's, tearing down the small old one and building it from a "kit" (where they deliver all the pieces but you put it together).

She had discovered the whole workaway thing quite by accident when she was asked if she had some room for a German woman to stay. The woman helped her in the garden, was great company, and told her about the workaway website (including helping her set up a profile). The ball was now in motion. The day before I arrived, she had been hosting Stefan, a young guy from Germany, who helped dig up the potatoes and hang hooks on the wall.

Dinner was a new creation. Leah had never dealt with a vegetarian before and didn't know what to make. But she had an overflow of zucchinis (they call them courgettes) from the garden, so they were going to find their way into the meal somehow. The result was a vegetable pie with, naturally, lots of zucchinis, some leftover mashed potatoes and carrots, an onion (that brought tears to my eyes while cutting it), a couple eggs, some tomatoes (also from the garden) and a nice helping of grated cheese. It was delicious! We washed it down with some ginger beer (very sweet and carbonated but rather tasty).

Mmmm... veggie pie!

The bottles had old-fashioned pull-tab tops.

While the sun still lingered in the sky, we hopped in the car and I got a quick tour of the area... down the main street, past the Jacobs River Estuary (where the Aparima and Pourakino Rivers meet and then flow out to sea) with the boat harbor, and along Rocks Highway which followed the coast until it ended at the point. It entertained us with several small bays, Riverton Rocks, some cormorants, and flocks of wandering sheep.

The small city of Riverton, the old bridge, and the estuary and boat harbor

It was very low tide.

Some of the Riverton Rocks... which of course can also be said as "Dude, Riverton (totally) rocks!"

The right of way?

Taking in an evening view

Cormorants gathered on some rocks

The end of Rocks Highway

It was here, at the remote end of this road, many many years ago when Bob (Leah's husband) was in his teens, that he and a friend decided to park the car and explore... while leaving the car doors open. When they returned, several small blue pengiuns had climbed into the car! The boys (being boys) decided to leave them there and take them for a drive around the town. Eventually they brought them back here, let them out... and then had to clean out the car!!

We turned around and headed up a steep hill to the Mores Scenic Reserve in the Howells Hills, then back down to Colac Bay. By this time, the sun had started to share its setting hues with a nearly-full moon. A beautiful thick mist lay on the water while gentle waves lapped the shore. We turned back at the end of the bay and headed home.

View of the town (and some cows) from the reserve

The moon in the mist

Colac Bay

A couple of cleverly painted bus stops... the Simpsons and...

... windsurfing (complete with its own board that you can stand next to and hold onto)

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