Sorting it out in Te Anau

Wednesday, December 27

Kimball had to work Thursday and Friday, so just Mom, Dad, Amy and I were able to drive out to Te Anau about 3 hours from Invercargill, pronounced Invacahgle, aka "In for a Giggle". To say Invercargill correctly, think of someone from Boston who pahks their cah in the garage. I'm learning to understand the "language" a wee bit better here in Southern New Zealand. You have to visit for yourself to grasp a true appreciation. To speak like a Kiwi turn your tone up at the end of each sentence like you would if you were asking a question?

Phrases you may hear while visiting S. NZ:
Breckies=breakfast
'at should be a'ight
Catch ya latah
Good as gold
Cool as... (you would expect a word to follow, but I suppose it is left blank so the other person can assume any word they like. The phrase is used to indicate something good.)
Chuck a wobbly=become ill
Spit the dummy=throw a fit/tantrum
Cruisy (in response to "how are you?")
Car park=parking lot
Give way=yield

But I mustn't be distracted from my original story. Taking the scenic route from Invercargill to Te Anau, we saw (can you guess?) fields and fields of sheep. There are some cows and horses, but mostly sheep. The pure terror I felt at first while driving on the left side of the road is beginning to subside. Apparently, counting sheep is good for more than falling asleep. In general, it's a good distraction and cure for what ails ye. Making a quick stop in Otautau, we were able to see Amy's clinic, one of the places she works.

Closer to our destination the fields of sheep became rugged hills of sheep before dropping us into Te Anau. The population of Te Anau is roughly 5000. Their main, and I dare say only, industry is tourism. To support that thesis, I present to you exhibit A: Te Anau has a campground with a capacity of 5000. Does that number sound familiar? Just knowing that one campground doubles the local population and that there are many campgrounds, hotels, lodges, etc. that are filled every summer, I am confident that my thesis will stand. From my few hours there, Te Anau seems to support the heavy tourism that traffics Milford Sound a couple hours drive away. You will hear much more about Milford Sound in the coming entries. Te Anau is situated on a beautiful lake with hotel row facing the lake. Main street is within walking distance and contains shops, restaurants, travel agents, internet cafes, grocery store, and two gas stations. Many of the hotels were full for the night, but we were lucky to find a quaint two bedroom cottage complete with kitchen. After checking in, we start exploring. Our adventure begins...

Deciding that our preferred activities were to go on a cruise and SCUBA dive, we started to make arrangements. Both activities are in Milford Sound, of course. I forgot my dive card in the U.S., so using the internet cafe I was able to obtain the phone number for the YMCA (who certified me to dive) headquarters in Chicago. Next was making the call. First, we had to purchase a phone card from the convenience store, second we had to find a telephone booth. Everyone was very helpful and we were thankful they spoke english. I'm sure it would have been quite impossible otherwise. I finally got through to the YMCA at 6:15pm who was open til 7pm. Kirstie at the YMCA, after many attempts, was unable to figure out how to fax verification of my certification to NZ and ended up emailing it to me. Back to the internet cafe where I forwarded the email to the dive shop. This whole time we were in contact with the dive shop waiting to hear if they had openings for Thursday or Friday. They said to call back in the evening due to some indecisive divers. This gave us some time to browse around town.

We poked our heads in various gift shops and bought you nothing. It started to rain (as is becoming increasingly common) and we ducked into a cafe. Hunger had become part of our troupe at this point and it was time to dispel him for a while. The veggie wrap, curry, mixed vegetable bowl, and pumpkin soup (a NZ summertime favourite) promptly did the trick. We were delighted with the variety in vegetarian options and flavours. Yes, I'm "mispelling" words on purpose. (Now, my other mistakes are most likely not on purpose.) The meal concluded with a chocolate truffle and a passion fruit sundae. This was a great turning point in our vacation. First, Dad realized he could eat passion fruit seeds and it immediately became his favourite dessert. Second, I started realizing my headache and sore throat were probably a cold and not jet lag. But not to be deterred, I press on. More fun awaits. Just go easy on the sweets.

It was evening and time to call the dive shop. No answer. Grabbing their brochure, Amy and I drove in search of the dive shop. Obscure directions and random guesses brought us inefficiently but eventually to the shop. After exchanging puzzled looks with the owners Sarah and Dave, who said we were supposed to call to which we replied that we had tried to call, we were invited into the shop for a safety briefing. Discovering that Thursday was booked, we quickly agreed to dive on Friday. After being debriefed and fitted for wetsuits, we bid them farewell and headed back to our cottage. Diving on Friday meant cruising on Thursday. Not a bad deal at all. A quick family outing to the grocery store provided fresh corn on the cob and soup for supper back at the cottage.