New Zealand Middle Earth Epic: Queer Lodgings

So up next was my Doubtful Sound Day Cruise.  This unfortunately wasn't what I had booked because way back in July, I had book an overnight cruise.  Then about 24 hours before I was supposed to set out on my cruise, I had an email saying there was an issue with the boat and they weren't going to be able to sail, but there were still day cruises available.  I sucked up my disappointment and settled for a day cruise of Doubtful Sound instead.  New Zealand has two well known sounds, or fjords: Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound.  You can get to Milford Sound by car and it is, thus, a lot busier.  To get to Doubtful Sound you have to take a boat across Lake Te Anau, a bus over a mountain pass, and then you get to Doubtful Sound.  This all means it is a lot more secluded and peaceful.  I wanted to see this one instead of a busy, crowded one.  While with the overnight tour we would have had the opportunity to traverse all the legs that come off of it, we would only do one on the day tour.

Crossing Lake Te Anau

But first, I had to arrive bright and early!  Check-in started at 7:00, which meant I was there at 6:58.  A little before 7:30, we started loading onto the boat that would take us across Lake Te Anau.  The lake was so calm...thank goodness because I realized after getting on the boat I forgot to take my Dramamine.  I'm not always great on boats.  We crossed the lake and then got onto a bus.

Doubtful Sound

Our bus driver told us stories and really bad jokes on the hour or so long bus ride over the mountain pass.  When we got to the top of the pass, there was a place to pull over and we were able to get off and take pictures of Doubtful Sound.  It was gorgeous!  He told us that we were lucky because a lot of times you get up there and see nothing, but the clouds you're in.

He also told us that back in the early 1900s, Canada gifted New Zealand 14 moose.  7 males and 7 females.  They were released in Fiordland (the region of Doubtful Sound).  They thought they had all died out years ago.  And then last year a Canadian tourist who was out hiking swore he saw a moose.  He told them exactly where he saw it and scientist came out to investigate and actually found moose DNA.  So apparently there is at least one moose in New Zealand.

Doubtful Sound

We got down to the boat and boarded.  It made me laugh because our captain was in shorts and his pressed captain's shirt.  It was chilly and I was really wishing I had one more layer on!  I wasn't expecting it to be so chilly.  The first part of the trip was great!  Doubtful Sound is made by a bunch of glaciers that carved out the sound, thousands of years ago.  There are some huge island in the middle, which I really didn't even think of as islands until I looked at a map and realized that technically they were.  They've been working to rid these islands of the same pesky small mammals as everywhere else and have had some luck on a few of the islands.  Those islands are now becoming flush with birds that have been struggling elsewhere since they arrive!

Seals!

As we neared the mouth of the sound, the waves got bigger and my stomach started to get a bit queasy.  I said, "NO!  You are not allowed to do this!  I want to see the seals!"  And so I was able to hold my breakfast.  Out at the mouth of Doubtful Sound, where it emptied into the Tasman Sea, is a large seal colony.  Unfortunately, these are the best pictures I have for right now, until I can replace this picture with one from my camera.

Doubtful Sound

From the mouth of Doubtful Sound, we ventured into Crooked Arm.  Once we got up to the elbow (because the arm bends at roughly a 90 degree angle), they cut the engine and asked everyone to find somewhere to sit or stand without moving for the next five minutes.  And then we sat there in the quiet of Crooked Arm, no one talking.  It was amazing.  You could hear some waterfalls and birds.  It was so peaceful!  From there we made our way back to port, the bus, and port again.

After finishing my cruise I got back in my car and drove south.  Invercargill was my destination.  Almost south south New Zealand.  The owner of the hotel was very personable and gave me a map of the lower south-southeast coast and told me everywhere I needed to stop along the way.  From the hotel, I walked to supper a few blocks away, where I had the most delicious meal.  I ordered a loaf of tear-apart bread as an appetizer, which was actual bread pan loaf size!  I joked (to myself) that my waiter was going to go home that night and tell her friends about the woman who ate a whole loaf of bread by herself (I didn't.  I had 2 pieces left, which was perfect for breakfast!).

Silhouette of Stewart Island

From Invercargill, I went south.  South to Bluff.  I had been under the impression that Bluff was the southernmost point of the South Island, but the hotel owner told me that was incorrect and if I wanted to hit that spot, I'd actually need to stop at Slope Point a bit later in the day.  I still stopped in Bluff though, and did a hike in around Sterling Point.  From there you could see Stewart Island, which is a decently sized island just south of the South Island.  It doesn't have any major settlements on it and is mostly wild with lots of hiking and birding.

Cliffs at Fortrose

My first stop after leaving Bluff was Fortrose.  It's barely a town, but there were some cliffs there that overlooked the South Pacific.  It was so lovely and empty, that I considered grabbing my book and sitting down for a bit.  I didn't, however, as I was still trying to figure out timing.  I had to be to Cathedral Cave between 3 and 6, and I had been told I needed to stop at Curio Bay for penguins between 3 and 6 (this was faulty information).  And I still wasn't sure where I'd be spending the night, so I left and continued on.

Waipapa Point Lighthouse

From Fortrose I stopped at the Waipapa Point Lighthouse.  Really, I don't have much to say other than the whole scene was beautiful!  Bright blue ocean against bright blue sky.  I then moved onto Slope Point, which if you recall from above, happens to be the southernmost point of the South Island.  I walked out the point and of course took my picture with the sign.

I made it!

Up next was Curio Bay, where I was told there were penguins, dolphins, and a petrified forest.  I saw the petrified forest.  Basically a long time ago a forest was bulldozed by a volcanic eruption, which resulted in petrification of the trees in this certain area right down on the coast.  You can see what appears to be whole logs felled by the eruption.  Around this time I was starting to formulate my plan for the evening.  I found an Airbnb in Curio Bay that was a good price and open so I snagged it.  I would then continue on to Cathedral Cave and double back for the night.

Petrified Wood

Cathedral Cave is a seaside cave that the ocean has been blasting into for millions of years and slowly eroding the rock away.  It is only accessible at low tide and roughly the 2 hrs before and after.  Otherwise it is underwater and you can't get to it.  Because of this, the time it is open shifts every day, so if you decide to visit, check the website.

Cathedral Cave - From this picture you can really see how large it is.

After visiting the cave, I made by way back to Curio Bay to look for penguins.  Upon still not finding penguins, even though it was between 3 and 6, like I was told, I decided to go to the web for answers.  Answer?  Dusk.  3-6 might be correct in winter, but not in summer.  Shoot!  Sunset was set for 9:32!  I wasn't sure I could stay up that late!

Porpoise Cove

I got checked into my room for the night, which was this neat tiny home called the Gypsy Wagon.  And even more neat was it was about 1-2 minutes walk from the beach.  After cooking some supper, I wandered down to the beach with my book and a towel to sit on.  I lasted about 20 mins before getting cold and heading back.  I then fell asleep before making it back out to look for penguins. :(

The Gypsy Wagon Airbnb (no ridiculous cleaning fees here!)

I woke this morning, quickly grabbed clothes, and headed to the beach.  I had been told that morning was a good time to see dolphins out in the cove.  I got down there just in time to see 2 or 3 swimming around.  The dolphins in the cove are Hector's Dolphins.  The smallest of dolphins (so they say, but I feel like they were bigger than the grey river dolphins we saw in the Amazon last year) and with a mouse ear dorsal fin.  I got some pictures on my camera meaning I'll have to look at them when I get home.  I also wandered up and down the beach and found signs that the penguins had been there.  I could see tracks both heading out of the water and back in.  They spend their day catching food and then at night come ashore to feed their young before heading back out in the morning again.  

Penguin Tracks!

After packing up, I started out again toward Cathedral Cave, but this time stopping at a couple of waterfalls along the way that I had bypassed the day before.  I had some time alone at the 2nd one, so I had some fun!

McLean Falls

In Papatowai there is this place called The Lost Gypsy Gallery.  I had been told about it twice, once each by each of my two previous hoteliers.  They said you have to stop there.  The best way to describe it is whimsical.  Some guy has spent the past like 20 years building little gizmos out of found things.  They move and make sound.  Wandering through his gallery was worth the $10NZD.

One of the gizmos at The Lost Gypsy Gallery

From Papatowai I had a roughly hour long drive up to Nugget Point.  The maps said lighthouse and seals.  I saw a lighthouse and seals!  Mission accomplished!  From Nugget Point, I continued up to Dunedin (Doo-knee-din), where it turns out the hotel/hostel I booked is the student dorms at the local university, which is now on summer holiday.  It's actually not bad.  A private room and the dorm I would put at less than 10 years old, so it is still in good shape!  Anyways, long post!  

Nugget Point

New Zealand Middle Earth Epic: (So Much) Inside Information

As I've said, this trip is a Lord of the Rings Pilgrimage of sorts.  I'm no Stephen Colbert when it comes to LOTR, but I love the score and watching the movies.  While the movies were filmed in a variety of places around New Zealand, something like 40% of all of the LOTR films was film in the Queenstown area.  I decided that perhaps the best way to deal with visiting so many of those sites was not to go by myself, but to have the local experts take me, so I did a full day LOTR filming locations tour.  Technically it was 2 half day tours, combined into one long day!  There were 4 of us who did the full day, while 8 others on the first tour and 6 others on the second tour only did the one portion.  The morning portion started at 8am and we finished about 12:30, while the second started at 1:30 and finished about 6:00, so we're talking 9 hours of LOTR!  And it was amazing!

We had different guides for each half and both of them are having the time of their life!  Benji in the morning said he can pretty much quote the entirety of all 3 films, while Tristan had 2 LOTR tattoos and moved from the UK specifically so he could give LOTR tours because he loves them so much.  You could tell these were fans and not "fans" or tour guides that learned enough to give tours.  

If you follow the road down, down, down, you'll hit the river where they shot Arwen's Ford of Bruinen scenes.

We started out the morning heading to more of an overlook than an actual location.  That's because the actual location where they filmed Arwen's "If you want him, come and take him" scenes for the Ford of Bruinen were filmed about an hour down a gravel road and we weren't going that far.  So Benji said "if you follow that road, you will find the location where Arwen's scenes were shot for that."

The Remarkables

But from this overlook, we also got our first view of the The Remarkables were jokingly referred to as The Reusables by Peter Jackson because they were used for so many scenes and/or they are seen in the background of many scenes.  It is where the Fellowship are led by Aragorn down the slopes of the Dimrill Dale towards Lothlorien.  They are also the mountains of Mordor.  You can see them behind fleeing Rohan citizens.  They are always there watching you!

From the overlook, we headed down to Arrowtown where the Ford of Bruinen scenes involving the Nazgul were shot.  So now you know, the two scenes were not shot at the same location.  Also, another thing I learned.  The Nazgul, when on their horses, were played by a bunch of teenage girl horseback riders because the Nazgul aren't living, meaning they don't weigh anything, meaning a horse can't look like it is laboring under the weight of a grown man, so they used girls.  So the next time you watch LOTR, just remember that those fierce Nazgul chasing Frodo around the Shire and beyond are teenage girls (when on horseback).

Ford of Bruinen and the Nazgul

Up next was the Gladden Fields where Isildur was attacked by orcs (in the extended edition - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Akw9CIxGEPA) after defeating Sauron, and killed.  In the regular version you only see him floating down the river with arrows in his back.  The river in question is only maybe 1 1/2-2 ft deep, so that poor stuntman had to float down a cold river, his face and body getting scratched and beaten by rocks.  The forest itself looks quite a bit different right now because it is summer and there are leaves on the trees, whereas the scenes were shot in winter, so no leaves.

Poor, dead Isildur

After leaving Arrowtown, we headed up to the Kawarau River which plays the role of the River Anduin and the location of the Pillars of the Kings or the the Argonath.  The Pillars themselves were CGI, but the location the 3 boats floated down the river was real.  Apparently the boats were built to Tolkien's books and not so much to proper boat design so they were rather unsteady.  Twice while filming these scenes Orlando Bloom had to help rescue Gimli's body double who fell into the water in heavy chainmail, while his own Elvish costume was a lot lighter and easier to deploy a hidden life preserver underneath.  I had actually visited this location the day prior, but obviously missed out on the storytelling portion.

Location of the Pillars of the Kings

Up next was the cosplay portion of the tour where they let us dress up in costumes and play with some old props and/or purchased replicas.  Who doesn't want to be Frodo with Sting?

Nerd!

Our last location on the morning portion took us up an overlook from whence we could see Deer Park Heights which was used for multiple scenes in the films.  Right behind it is the Remarkables so some of those scenes I mentioned earlier were actually filmed here with the Remarkables behind them, such as the fleeing Rohan refugees.  Also, Gandalf wandered this hillside at one point.  

Deer Park Heights with The Remarkables behind.

Looking another direction from this overlook you could see the location of multiple attacks on Rohan villages, though honestly I can't find any video of the scene in question, but I'm pretty sure it was an extended edition scene.

This rounded out the morning portion.  After a brief break for lunch, we started on round 2!  This time we were heading up towards the town of Glenorchy and beyond to Paradise.

Our first stop was at 12 Mile Delta.  From there, looking in one direction we could see the hillside that was used as Amon Hen from the end of Fellowship of the Ring.  In particular, this area was where the ruins where built that Boromir and Frodo argue just before the breaking of the Fellowship.  This land we couldn't go on because it is private land...now owned by Peter Jackson, who built his Queenstown home on a different portion of the hill.

Amon Hen in red, Peter Jackons' house in yellow.

Also at 12 Mile Delta were numerous filming sites.  This area was used for the scene where Sam, Frodo, and Gollum see the Oliphants and Faramir and his ranger ambush them.  An interesting fact is most of the extras in the scenes are soldiers from the NZ army!  The army was used multiple times during filming when they needed soldiers, or Uruk-hai, or orcs.  Sometimes Peter had to remind them that they had to lose and to not fight so hard. The interesting thing is this exact same area was used for the famous "Po-TAY-toes! Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew" scene. 

The site of the Oliphants.

From 12 Mile Delta, we continued toward Glenorchy.  We stopped at an overlook from which you could easily see Mt Earnslaw and it's glacier.  This is where the scenes of the Fellowship trying to take the pass to Caradhras were shot.  They were all helicoptered there, except for Sean Bean who is frightened of helicopters and hiked up there in costume.  Also, funny story, Bill the Pony isn't a pony, because they couldn't get a pony up there.  Instead it is two local women in a pantomime donkey costume.  Mt Earnslaw is actually seen quite a few times in the movie in different locations similar to The Remarkables.

Mt Earnslaw is just right of center, with all the snow on it.

After passing through Glenorchy we hit Lothlorien!  The forest used for Lothlorien is a semi-diciduous forest that is constantly losing and growing leaves so the forest floor is littered with gold leaves.  There we got round two of cosplay, and this time I did my best Arwen.

Lothlorien

The last location we were heading was on private land in Paradise.  Our tour was the only one allowed onto the private land, thanks in part to a friendship between the land's owner and the owner of the tour group!  This land has actually been used for other films as well, such as X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Chronicles of Narnia, and some upcoming Brad Pitt movie.  And apparently also Taylor Swift's Out of the Woods music video.  But in our case, this land was important because it is the location of Isengard in the LOTR films, and Beorn's house in The Hobbit.  

Isengard is located where the grey river gravel is in the middle and Fangorn Forest is to the right.  Mt Earnlsaw Glacier is just behind.

From Paradise, we made our way back to Queenstown and the end of a very long, exciting day.  It was definitely worth the cost of the tour and makes me think that perhaps I'll see if there are tours for the outside of, but near Wellington filming locations.  Unfortunately sleep was not to be had that night because it was boiling inside the hostel room.  The a/c wasn't turned on or it wasn't working.  Whatever it meant, I couldn't sleep.  At 5am I got up and went to take a cold shower, before returning to bed, feeling a little better.  But I made my decision that I was leaving Queenstown a day earlier than planned, in part, because of that.  But also because I had seen the things that I really wanted to see and anything I did that last day would mostly be filler.  So after packing up, I set out for Te Anau.

On the way to Te Anau, I made one side venture that I wouldn't have had time for if I hadn't left a day early.  I made my way to Lake Mavora.  To get there, I spent an hour driving 30km down a gravel road.  As I neared the lake, I hit the location on the edge of Fangorn forest where Eomer and the Rohirrim burn the orcs, and Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli fear maybe Merry and Pippin.  Also the site of the famous "Did you know that when Aragorn screams after he kicks the helmet, it's because Viggo broke his toe when he did that" scene.  

Orc burning scene was shot in this area.

So what is so special about Lake Mavora?  See if you can guess from these two photos...

That's right!  This is where the final scenes of Fellowship of the Ring were shot!  The scenes on the banks of the river where Frodo heads off and Sam is "coming with you!"  And a little ways away in the forest is where the scenes of the Uruk-hai and battle between them and the Fellowship take place.  So worth the trip!

Forest where the Uruk-Hai battle takes place at Amon Hen at the end of FOTR.  This is the area where Merry & Pippin hide out.

From there I headed into Te Anau just briefly.  It was there that I learned my long awaited for overnight cruise to Doubtful Sound had been canceled due to major boat issues.  That is a huge disappointment because I had booked that all the way back in July and it was the basis of the timing of my journey down the coast.  Instead, I'll have to just do a day tour which means only about 2 1/2 hours on the Sound instead of 18.  Bummer!

New Zealand Middle Earth Epic: Out of the Frying-Pan and Into the Fire

Trail to Monro Beach

Upon getting up at my hotel in Franz Josef, I packed up and set out.  Wanaka was to be my final destination for the day.  I had a few stops saved in Google Maps for the day.  It is a nice way to split up the drive.  The first stop was an easy hike to Monro Beach.  Up to this point I have mostly been bug bite free.  That all changed after the hike to the Monro Beach.  The hike wasn't a bad one, by any means.  The first part of it took you through a forest covered in moss.  It was a sort of magical area.  As you approached the beach the bugs came out.  I think they were the sandflies I had heard about, though I have seen mosquitoes in New Zealand, so they are a possibility.  But as it was as I got to the beach the bites came, the sandflies are the obvious culprit.  I also had my hopes up as I got to the beach because there were signs saying this beach plays home to a breeding colony of Fiordland Crested Penguins.  The signs had said that the penguins breed and raise chicks between July and December and then return to the sea until the following winter.  It appears that these penguins had already left for the year because there was not a sign of any around.

Ship Creek Swamp

From Monro Beach, I hopped back in the car for the short drive to Ship Creek Beach.  Here there was a swamp!  Did you know that it was possible to have a swamp with no alligators or crocodiles or murderous snakes?  Neither did I.  There was a boardwalk through the swamp and then it continued out towards the beach.  The dunes along the beach had beautiful plants that help keep the dunes from washing away.  This area had a lot of big waves rolling in.  Back in time this area was covered in glaciers that emptied into the sea.  As the glaciers retreated sand and sediment filled in creating this flat portion of land near the coast.  Most of the rest of the coast had been mountainous up to this point with steep drop-off or maybe a max of 1km of flat land between the mountains and sea.

Ship Creek Beach Dunes

Up next as I snaked through Haast Pass were a series of waterfalls and then I reached Blue Pools Track (here you'll see "track" instead of "trail").  By this point in time it was raining; and not just a light rain.  I opted to pull out my rain pants for the first time on the trip.  I threw my rain coat on and then hiked the 1 mile out to the Blue Pools, which unfortunately weren't the bright blue color they were supposed to be due to the intense rains of the previous few days which pushed more sediment into the water, so they were more of a grey color.

Just a little wet!

Not a Blue Pool

It wasn't long before we left the rain behind and hit the northern edge of Lake Wanaka, the 4th largest lake in New Zealand.  What astounded me most was how blue it was!  The lake reaches more than 980ft deep and is cold! (I stuck my feet in it!)  But it was so pretty!

Lake Wanaka

I made it to Wanaka, checked into my hotel, made supper, and then went and got some ice cream!  And then woke up in the middle of the night scratching my bug bites.

The next day was to be LOTR filming location seeing and then hiking.  I was on my way back to Wanaka when I hit something in the road and seconds later my car sounded funny.  I pulled over into a driveway and got out of my car...flat front tire!  Not in the plan.  The first thing I had to figure out was how to call roadside assistance because on this trip I've had an e-sim for data, but no cell service.  I had to figure out how to get a day pass activated on my phone so I could call for help.  About an hour later, a tow truck arrived to haul me back to Wanaka.  Thankfully I was only about 12 km outside of town so it wasn't too terribly far (roughly $95 in towing charges though).  Then I had to get a new tire!  Yay!  Everyone was really nice and I was back on the road about 2 1/2 hours after the whole ordeal started, though I was $250 poorer thanks to the towing charges and new tire.  And I had also learned I had been pronouncing Wanaka wrong the whole time.  I had been saying Wah-NAH-kah, but it is actually WAN-uh-kuh.

Sad day. :(

But because this ate up a couple of hours, I switched up my plans.  Instead of doing the short version of the Diamond Lake trail and following that up with another trail, I just did the Diamond Lake to Rocky Mountain trail.  This trail offered amazing views of the lake and a LOTR filming site.  After finishing the trail, getting back to the hotel, showering, and making supper, I went to the movie theater across the street to see Wicked, which of course hit theaters the day I left on my trip.

Diamond Lake

On my last morning in Wanaka, I took a nice walk out to see That Wanaka Tree.  That is literally what it is called.  It is a lone tree growing about 100m out into Lake Wanaka.  I feel like I've seen pictures of it before.

That Wanaka Tree

From Wanaka, I took the Cardrona Pass to Queenstown.  There are a bunch of nice overlooks on the way into the valley from the pass.  At one of them you can look straight to the airport runway.  Before I left on this trip, one day while I was setting up the SkyCourier flight simulator up for a tour, I put in the Queenstown airport to try to fly out of.  I learned it was a tricky one when I test flew the simulator to make sure everything was working.  There are mountains everywhere in the area that make a nice gently sloping landing difficult, butt it was a pretty flight.  And seeing it in person, the area surrounding Queenstown is just stunning.  Quite literally, if New Zealand wasn't so far away from everything, I would say this is my dream town.  Mountains, a lake, not too big, but not too small.

Looking down into the valley towards Queenstown.  Airport is about 1/3 of the way from the left side of the photo in the middle.

As I got down the pass, instead of turning towards Queenstown, I turned the other way to stop at the gorge where the bungee jumping is.  Watching people jump off that bridge, it's just absolutely insane!  You can barely get me to jump off a 3m diving board at a pool and here people are diving in the abyss off a 43m tall bridge to the Kawarau River. 

Umm...no.

After that I headed to the Kiwi Park.  One thing you have to do in New Zealand is see kiwi, right?  This seemed the perfect place to do it.  They had a large conservation park with New Zealand animals, an animal show, and a kiwi chat.  New Zealand is weirdly bereft of natural mammals beyond a few bats and marine mammals.  However, as I previously mentioned, stoats, weasels, rats, and possums found their way to New Zealand and have been killing many of its natural species, which are mostly birds, including a lot a ground dwelling and ground producing birds.  The country is working with a goal to demammalize the country by 2050 using traps.  It is starting to work, just slowly.  In 2010, there were roughly 50 million possums, but now they estimate only 30 million.  One of the keepers at the park said during the show, "this is the only place in the world where people swerve to hit possums instead of avoid them."  Kiwi are nocturnal animals so their exhibit is kept dark, with a hint of moonlight, so people can see them moving about.  Female kiwi are larger than males, but still probably only about large chicken sized.  Female kiwi lay gigantic eggs that are roughly 20% of their body weight!  Male kiwi also have smaller beaks than female kiwi.

A kea again!

Also at the Kiwi Park I saw a Tuatara, which is a reptile that looks like a lizard, but broke off from actual lizards millions of years ago.  They've been around since the Jurassic period, but today are only found on New Zealand's outer islands where none of those mammals live and they are able to survive.

A tuatara.

After the Kiwi Park, I got checked into my hostel.  It is the first time this trip I've been in a dorm room at a hostel.  I have stayed at a few other hostels on the trip, but always in a private room at them.  I made the decision when booking my Queenstown stay, that I would rather stay in the middle of everything, where it was easily walkable.  And unless you're staying at a hostel, you're looking at much more expensive hotels.  So essentially I could stay in a dorm at a hostel for 3 nights for the same price as one night in a private room.  During this process I also found out what a pain parking is in the Central Business District.  I ended up parking almost a kilometer away so I didn't have to pay for parking.

After some ice cream and supper (yes, in that order), I headed off to bed.  One thing I did find interesting is it is obvious this place is different than, say, a city in Europe.  5 out of 6 beds had people in them by 10 last night, whereas most hostels I've been in in Europe, have at that time of night, had maybe only 1/3 of the people in them because the rest are out at the bars and clubs.  Here I think most people are getting up and getting out hiking or adventuring, which is better started early.

About 50 steps from my hostel.