This tickled me a lot when I was on nights or on call or otherwise in the hospital and wishing I was not, and I thought we should probably visit some of the sounds that don't make any noise.
For those of you who aren't familiar with NZ's South Island, down in the South West there is an area called Fiordland national park. It is an area of outstanding beauty, and it is full of little inlets - fiords (with an i, for NZ likes to be different), if you like - all called Sounds, for reasons unknown to me. Milford is the most famous, named by a Welshman who blew into the harbour and was so delighted with its spectacular beauty he was immediately reminded of Wales. Of course. That's what I thought when I saw that too. Wales! Could have saved myself a right palaver if only I'd known Wales was like that.
Of course Milford Sound rains for 2/3 of the time and is the wettest inhabited place in New Zealand and one of the wettest in the world and usually doesn't look like that but looks likes this
and I guess on a superficial level that would make it very similar to Wales indeed, no doubt a very homely experience for a lonely Welshman far from his native (damp) soil.
The other Sounds in the area include Doubtful Sound (because they were Doubtful whether it was a Sound*), George Sound, Charles Sound, Nancy Sound, Dusky Sound, and a whole load of other Little Sounds who make up a mostly silent family. But Milford is the most accessible and therefore most trafficked. And it is very spectacular.
*it was.
If you are ever there, I would strongly recommend the morning kayaking session, which sets off at 6:30am, and even though this requires you to be up and ready and inclined to get quite cold and wet by 5:30am, I would still strongly recommend it, because it is quiet and beautiful and being so close to the water seals come and play around you and dolphins jump out of the water close by and we even saw a penguin (a lonesome ownsome) and it all makes up for just quite how tired you are.
We were especially tired because, as you know, as I left you on TENTERHOOKS with my tale of midnight baking, we were about to drive from Palmy to Wellington, having not really worked out that our flight from Welly was leaving at a very socially inconvenient time in the morning. And so it was that on the morning of 13 Feb, at about 1am, Tim and I started our long, long Drive of Extreme Tiredness.
I wouldn't recommend it.
We arrived in Welly around 3:30am. I was still feeling quite perky at this point. We lay down in the car and napped until 6am, at which point we got up to check in for our flight, which left at 7am. We arrived in Queenstown, after a short stop in Christchurch and an attempt to nap on the departures lounge sofas (unsuccessful), at about 11am. And then we sat down and we did the 4.5hour drive to Milford.
And the next day we got up and did the 6.30am kayak for 6 hours.
And then we drove the 4.5 hour drive back.
And then
we were
really
really
tired.
Man.
The drive to Milford was a very, very beautiful and special drive indeed. We stopped on the way in Te Anau (for a nap, and a pie), and there we visited the apparent Best Pie Shop in the world, unexpectedly run by a couple of Chinese folk. I don't really associate China with pies (the concept of pastry, large chunks of meat, gravy, and especially cheese, tends to confuse the average Chinese person) but I was WRONG and these pies were, folks, the very best pies we had ever tasted. I would go so far as to say if you are ever in that area, say, you know, Queenstown, Milford, hovering around Fiji, on your way down from Samoa, perhaps aiming for Australia but having missed slightly, it would be worth paying a visit to that shop because everything in that shop was in Perfect Harmony. All the important things about a pie that you don't notice came together in a blend of wondrousness. The pastry was just right - flaky and tasty but not greasy; substantial but not heavy; yielding and soft inside but not damp or gummy. The pie was filled to the top with lots of very tasty large chunks of steak, all perfectly cooked, and no gristle; and there was just a hint of cheese, just enough to know you were eating a steak and cheese pie, but not an obtrusive cheese. A polite, well mannered cheese. A gentleman's gentleman cheese. And of course, plenty of delicious gravy, but not enough to make things soggy. It was, in short, an effortlessly delicious pie.
I go into such detail here because later in our holiday, we had the Most Perfect burger (from Fergburger, of course), and I want you to understand that the little details are important.
***
Fiordland is an area of unbelievable beauty and I have put most of the photos up on facebook so I'm sure you don't need to have them all over again, but it really is so insanely beautiful, and so filled with giant, inquisitive parrots, and so wonderful, and all the rest, we had to have another nap on the way just to calm ourselves down.
We were pretty sleep deprived.
Tim: (on driving through the Homer tunnel - a 1km long tunnel through the mountain; pretty amazing) "holy shit! It's so dark!"
Me: "yeah it is pretty dark'
Tim: "no, I mean I can't see anything. I can't see anything at all! It's so dark! Even the lights aren't working!"
Me: "Er..."
Tim: *panic* *panic* "what's wrong with the lights? I literally can't see - oh. Oh wait. Oh I still have my sunglasses on."
See?
***
We stayed in Milford Sound lodge that night and ate pasta for dinner (filled pasta! Haven't eaten that since my student days - and a load of vegetables on top. Pasta'n'crap! That holy student concoction. With cheese on top! There was so much we had to have the leftovers for breakfast the next day - very odd.) And kayaked the next day, and it was brilliant, and there's not much to say about that except it was one of my favourite things I've done in New Zealand, apart from also the caving, and the surfing, and the snowboarding, and the swimming, and the diving, and the snorkelling, and all the other stuff. I mean to say, it's up there. I mean, what I mean is, New Zealand is pretty awesome.
That night we drove back to Queenstown (two more naps on the way), cleaned ourselves up, parked up in Hippo Lodge, which again I highly recommend should you be in the area - it's perched right up at the top of a hill and has a million steps and the best view in all creation -
and eventually staggered down to conclude pretty much the best Valentine's day ever by feasting on tapas in Queenstown.
It was pretty good.
Tim's present to me was champagne and oysters on the waterfront. We had them every which way - battered, natural and some bizarre way with bacon and balsamic foam. It was a very strange restaurant: I think it had pretensions of grandeur, and served us an amuse-bouche of tomato and olive tea, which was frankly disgusting.
But the oysters were good. And the champagne was good. And the waterfront was very, very good.
And then we had tapas.
And I had the best glass of Pinot Noir I have ever tasted. It was a Brannockburn Pinot Noir, but I was too sleepy to remember where exactly it was from, and therefore the rest of my life will have to be devoted to tasting Pinot Noirs until I become reunited with it in a field of wildflowers, with some romantic music in the background. Word.
And then we went to sleep, for 14 hours
And that was
Amazing
***
The next day, we ate a Fergburger.
We ate it on the waterfront, to the great interest of a large number of waterfowl, who I was at last forced to share my burger with, because it was just too big. And they enjoyed it a lot, from the seagulls to the wrens, even though sometimes the seagulls bullied the wrens slightly, or, as Tim put it, "look! that bigger duck is chasing the smaller duck!"
Ever since Tim made that egregious duck/swan/goose error (you must all know about this. I've told everyone this story. But I love telling it. I'm going to tell it again. Tim: "I saw a weird animal today! It was like a duck, but bigger. And it wasn't a swan." Me: "You mean a goose." Tim: "No - not a goose. It was definitely not a goose. But it was bigger than a duck, and it wasn't a swan. It was goose shaped. But it definitely wasn't a goose." Me: "I have no idea what kind of animal you're talking about. You seem to be describing a goose." Tim: "IT WAS NOT A GOOSE. There is no way it was a goose. If you saw it, you would know it isn't a goose." Impasse. Days pass. We walk by a flock of Canadian geese by the river in Oxford. Tim: "THOSE. THOSE ANIMALS THERE." Me: "Tim, those are geese." Tim: "NO.")
Anyway, ever since Tim has made that error, he now thinks, to be safe, he should classify all birds as ducks/geese/swans. Which is fine sometimes. And makes me very happy at other times, so it's basically a win win situation.
As well as the Fergburger, we also saw a man bungy jump
Which frankly looks hideous and is an activity that has never appealed to me less.
Tim is keen to do it as soon as Nick gets over and visits us in NZ though.
Nick, if you read this, just BE WARNED.
We also played amazing mini golf, involving several incredible constructions - a castle, an oil rig, a rollercoaster ride, a lake, white water rafting, a ski lift, an airport, a space station, a church, a sweet factory (which dispensed little sweeties at the end).....
And we went up the gondola and down the luge and enjoyed the view along the way:
But the main thing is
we ate a Fergburger
A Fergburger is truly a thing of wonder, and, much like the Perfect Pie described earlier, it is the Perfect Burger. First, the bread is sturdy, but very soft and tasty, though full of texture. It can hold the burger together. The filling is the same size as the bread - very important. There are an interesting number of variations, but not too many, and a good number of condiments inside - but not so many as to make the bun slippery to hold over the burger. There is a good amount of salad, and it's all very good salad: fresh, thinly sliced, and evenly distributed. Finally, it's a good size - large enough so that you feel each bite is deeply satisfying, but not so large that you can't get a bite of every single component with each nibble.
When I came back from Queenstown, the first thing that Robin (one of the other UK docs) asked me was - did I go to Fergburger? How was it? Which burger did I have? He approved. Did I enjoy it? Of course I did. How many burgers did I have? Just one? He had 4 in 4 days. I was too full to finish it? Robin gave a sad shake of his head. He was sorry for me. But he couldn't really emphathise.
We're going skiing there in winter - hopefully that will make enough room for me to make another valiant attempt.
In the meantime though, the seabirds were all enjoying the leftovers very much indeed. We even managed to persuade a very timid duck to eat chips from off my knee (word of advice to travellers: you do not need chips with a Fergburger. Just...don't do it. No matter how hungry you think you are. I mean, they're great chips. But you really, really don't need them.) And that was an achievement.
The next day, we went Canyoning, which was all clean healthy fun and involved wearing a wetsuit again.
I have never worn a wetsuit before this 6 months, and now I have worn a wetsuit more times than I can count.
I just wanted to ponder that strange change in my life.
I put a wetsuit on this morning as well, to finish my PADI.
So many wetsuits.
Anyway.
While there, we met some Swedes
They were debating whether or not to go to Milford Sound. As they were in NZ for 6 weeks and they were, essentially, basically next door, Tim and I strongly urged them to go. They seemed diffident, however.
Swede2: "Yah, but some of our friends went last year and they weren't that impressed, you know. They said it's just ok, nothing really amazing."
Us: "But...it's so beautiful! It's...it's just incredible! All that fjordland! It's all ....fjordy!"
Swede1: "Yah, but you know, we have lots of fjords back at home."
Us: "Oh..oh..yeah.....you do."
Tim: "I guess if you've seen lots of fjords before then this is just another fjord."
Swede1: "Yah."
Swede2: "We've seen a lot of fjords."
***
Canyoning involved a lot of jumping off waterfalls, hanging off ropes, abseiling, falling, looking silly in a wetsuit, and seeing some very beautiful scenery at the end of it all.
It's a great way to see the country
I particularly enjoyed this sign, at the beginning of our trip.
***
And then we came back home
Exhausted
Since then, I've been doing my last few shifts in ED, tidying up around the house and generally reading and doing some medicine. I feel very proud of my friends back in the UK who are now receiving job offers - I'm so far away from this it feels like another world. So hard to believe that if I hadn't taken this year here I would too, maybe, be embarking on the next stage of my career. IT all happens so fast, with hardly a blink to think about it. And so I'm grateful for this breathing space, at least. Though I think by the end of Africa, fingers crossed that it will happen, I will be ready to settle down into doing eyes, eyes, eyes for the rest of my life.
For now though, there's still the rest of New Zealand to explore and the rest of my F2 to do and my year out afterwards to plan.
Only a quarter of my foundation training left! How did time fly by so fast?
