Tuesday night Ann and I went out for free beer (we booked more than $300 at the travel desk in the hostel) and a vegetarian pizza, which we added italian sausage to :P. I had booked a horseback ride through some of the Lord of the Rings shooting locations for the next day, supposed to be instead of doing the bungee, so it was an early evening and up before 8 for my shuttle out to Glenarchy, about 20 minutes away, and the stables. My morning horse's name was Bombey, a nice thoroughbred, about 15.2 hands high. I rode english for the first time since selling Yukon 8 or 9 years ago! I had to laugh at myself at how I had to actually concentrate on my form and posting correctly and all of that, since in western riding you sit everything. My guide, Laura, and the other girl, Flora, a make up artist working on The Hobbit, and I had a good time since we were all experienced riders- we got to canter! Bombey, and Eden, Flora's horse, were both ex-track and so, had a bit of a race a few times, but once we realized that Bombey should go in front, it was smooth sailing! The scenery was amazing too! I galloped past the Misty Mountains, and trod through that river Arwyn uses her elf magic on in the first movie. It was awesome! Then the weather kicked in and, since I was dressed only in a tshirt and my raincoat, I got pretty chilly. I was happy when the roughly 3 hour ride had ended, said bye bye to Bombey, and we went for lunch at the creativley named Glenarchy Cafe before my next ride through even more scenery. This was a much bigger ride, and I got to ride Elvis, one of the horses used in The Return of the King! He was a gentle fellow, I let him pick his own way, basically I just sat on his back and snapped photos. We rode past the place where the Fellowship is stopped in the elf queen's forest in the first movie, and where Borromir died, and also the plain where Sauromon's tower is! The area has been used for other movies too, including Willow, Wolverine, and The Lovely Bones. Also, we rode past a part of The Hobbit set they were getting up to snuff to start filming there the next day! I can't legally say anything more than that, so I will leave it there... Orlando Bloom was actually in QT for filming too, and Flora had informed me that the whole Hobbit crew was going out on Saturday night, which was exciting to learn about. Anywho, that ride was a bit shorter, only about 2 hours, but still, so worth it. I'm really glad I did it. I love horses. I love the feeling of being on their back, of flying with them; you're free. It's something I need to get back into for sure, I will definitely look into getting work with them in Australia.
There's the most amazing busker in QT: Mathias the Piano Man. What busker has got a piano as his instrument, on a trolley/wagon?! And he plays so beautifully, I don't know why he isn't making music for commercials or video games like Final Fantasy or something. You people should check him out, I think he's on Facebook and Youtube.
Besides a bit more partying, that's pretty much me in Queenstown. I really enjoyed my time there and I know I want to go back, when I get my working holiday visa for New Zealand, hell maybe get a job at that stable! Come Sunday morning, Ann and I parted ways as I am headed to Samoa on Wednesday for 12 days and she's staying to explore more of the South Island. I'm excited to get some solo travel experience under my belt, but it feels strange to be alone, after being with the same person for the last two and a half months, pretty much constantly. I'm actually quite, pleasantly, surprised at how well we get along, seeing as I didn't know her that well before we came on the trip; I wasn't quite sure what I was getting myself into. But I'm glad how it's all worked out :).
Samoa will be very interesting and new, for sure. It's still retained much of it's tradional polynesian culture, and as a backpacker, it's surprisingly affordable- $400 return airfare? yes please and thank you!- with their budget accommodation being similar to what I pay here in NZ. I have made a bit of an itinerary for my 12 days, but I don't know that I'll stick to it all even, so we'll see! I have a Lonely Planet book, so that will help me out, but I also think I will get input from locals and that. It's going into the rainy season, so I don't really expect it to be a sunny, and tropical paradise, at least not all the time. It's not a big deal if it's not because it's just as much a part of life there as the dry season, and plus, I won't get sunburned! Although I do have loads of sunscreen with me anyways :). And that's all I have for now! I will post once I return from the South Pacific!
Monday 21 November 2011
Taking the Plunge
Wow! Well Tuesday was spent mostly hungover, but that night Ann and I had some vino and a Big Al (so huge!) from Fergburger, and she and this Irish chick that worked there started talking about the Nevis Bungee that Ann was due to do the next day, and I said "Fuck it! I'm going to do it!" I was pretty terrified when I woke up the next morning, but you know, once you say you're going to do something, you'd better do it (right mom?)... So, tail between my legs, I headed down to the travel desk and booked the same package Ann had, not that I told her that of course- I told Ann that they would only let you book the day before, and so I was coming to watch her jump and act as a moral support. My plan would have succeeded too if the bungee guy, while we were waiting to take the, er, gondola/cage thing out to the bungee pod, hadn't asked who was jumping and who wasn't; I had a ticket to jump of course, so he was confused as to why Ann was telling him I was only watching. I gave him some razz, more so in an attempt not to think about the fact that I was going to jump off a suspended platform 134 meters high into thin air. How insane does a person have to be to pay money to be utterly terrified? I know I say that I'm a bit crazy, but sometimes I wonder if I really am...
The ride out to the pod isn't very calming. Though you're clipped in by your harness, the thing sways in the wind, and you can see right down to the valley bottom courtesy of a grated floor and railing! Once we were inside the pod-again, not calming; glass floor- you were stuck in this very uncomfortable state of anxietyand HOLY SHIT, WHAT AM I DOING?! while all the other jumpers go ahead of you. Unlike the Auckland bridge, there weren't that many people, so I was only waiting for maybe ten minutes, but man, did it feel like ages! And then it couldn't be long enough, once your turn comes up. Poor Ann, hers was the last one!
They sit you in this chair while the jumper jumps, and literally, my hands were shaking like a polaroid picture. I told the guy "You have to tell me when to stop shuffling forward, because I'm not looking down!" And that, my friends, is the secret of bungee: don't look down. Because once you do, you're hooped; you've given your brain that millisecond of time it needs to process the fact that this isn't natural, and you need to GTFO now! But I didn't look down! I just looked out, and on the countdown, I thought 3, 2, 1, BUNGEE! and leapt off into nothing. And fell. And continued falling. It was only 8.5 seconds of free fall, but I can sure tell you it felt longer than my 65 seconds with skydiving. Then I bounced baaaaaaack up, and then plummeted back down towards the earth. Oh yes, I was screaming at the top of my lungs the whole way, you can hear it in the video. I was reeled in upside down, uncomfortable, but such is life when you mistime pulling the cord that brings you up rightside up. I could hardly stand up when they got me back in the pod, my legs were shaking so bad and I was so relieved to have the whole thing done and over with, plus the adrenaline high I hadn't experienced with the Auckland bridge was hitting me full force! It was amazing, I actually contemplated paying for another jump.
Then it was Ann's turn, poor Ann. She was actually nervous as well, which suprised me since she's the adrenaline junkie out of the two of us. But she did it, she jumped! We highfived and cajoled and such afterwards, relief and adrenaline- mostly adrenaline- driving us forwards to do the Nevis Swing, aka the biggest swing in the world! That wasn't scary, it was just fun! The guy getting us strapped in was a Canadian too, so that was kind of cool. He'd even heard of departures! I was wearing my t-shirt ;). We got harnessed in together, and upsidedown!, annnnnnnd then we swung! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D And that was that. That's bungee jumping. I think I prefer skydiving, it's a bit more scenic, less pants-poopingly scary, and lasts longer, but I would say that it was definitely worth it and I would probably do it again. Moreover, I'm quite proud of myself for doing it because I knew I would be terrified and I had the chance to back out (I could've actually paid the money to just watch),and I really didn't think I would actually jump, especially not on the first countdown, but I didn't and I still did it; I conquered a bit of fear that day, kicked it right in the arse, scored a million tries against it; I won against myself.
The ride out to the pod isn't very calming. Though you're clipped in by your harness, the thing sways in the wind, and you can see right down to the valley bottom courtesy of a grated floor and railing! Once we were inside the pod-again, not calming; glass floor- you were stuck in this very uncomfortable state of anxietyand HOLY SHIT, WHAT AM I DOING?! while all the other jumpers go ahead of you. Unlike the Auckland bridge, there weren't that many people, so I was only waiting for maybe ten minutes, but man, did it feel like ages! And then it couldn't be long enough, once your turn comes up. Poor Ann, hers was the last one!
They sit you in this chair while the jumper jumps, and literally, my hands were shaking like a polaroid picture. I told the guy "You have to tell me when to stop shuffling forward, because I'm not looking down!" And that, my friends, is the secret of bungee: don't look down. Because once you do, you're hooped; you've given your brain that millisecond of time it needs to process the fact that this isn't natural, and you need to GTFO now! But I didn't look down! I just looked out, and on the countdown, I thought 3, 2, 1, BUNGEE! and leapt off into nothing. And fell. And continued falling. It was only 8.5 seconds of free fall, but I can sure tell you it felt longer than my 65 seconds with skydiving. Then I bounced baaaaaaack up, and then plummeted back down towards the earth. Oh yes, I was screaming at the top of my lungs the whole way, you can hear it in the video. I was reeled in upside down, uncomfortable, but such is life when you mistime pulling the cord that brings you up rightside up. I could hardly stand up when they got me back in the pod, my legs were shaking so bad and I was so relieved to have the whole thing done and over with, plus the adrenaline high I hadn't experienced with the Auckland bridge was hitting me full force! It was amazing, I actually contemplated paying for another jump.
Then it was Ann's turn, poor Ann. She was actually nervous as well, which suprised me since she's the adrenaline junkie out of the two of us. But she did it, she jumped! We highfived and cajoled and such afterwards, relief and adrenaline- mostly adrenaline- driving us forwards to do the Nevis Swing, aka the biggest swing in the world! That wasn't scary, it was just fun! The guy getting us strapped in was a Canadian too, so that was kind of cool. He'd even heard of departures! I was wearing my t-shirt ;). We got harnessed in together, and upsidedown!, annnnnnnd then we swung! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D And that was that. That's bungee jumping. I think I prefer skydiving, it's a bit more scenic, less pants-poopingly scary, and lasts longer, but I would say that it was definitely worth it and I would probably do it again. Moreover, I'm quite proud of myself for doing it because I knew I would be terrified and I had the chance to back out (I could've actually paid the money to just watch),and I really didn't think I would actually jump, especially not on the first countdown, but I didn't and I still did it; I conquered a bit of fear that day, kicked it right in the arse, scored a million tries against it; I won against myself.
Queenstown!
I've fallen in love with the place, that much was clear after Ann and I booked a room and stored our luggage at Nomad's Hostel around 10:30am, pretty much right downtown Queenstown, and then took a walk about until we could get into the room at 2pm. It's breathtakingly beautiful here: the snowy tips of the Remarkables mountain range rise like the spine of some ancient dragon from Lake Wakatipu. Queenstown is nestled between the lake and mountains, and it really does offer everything else that New Zealand does, only it's all conveniently in one place! There is so much to do here, it's ridiculous! And expensive... I'm fairly certain it would break my bank if I was here any longer than a week! Anything that you could think of wanting to do- hiking, adrenaline activities (obviously, it's not nicknamed the Adventure Capital of the World for nothing!), drinking, fine dining, partying, historic tours, fishing, camping, etcetera, etcetera.
Ann and I grabbed a coffee and some free wifi at Patagonia Chocolates (I'm such a caffiene addict...), and browsed the local crafts market that was on while we waited to get into our room. We had a Fergburger for lunch, which if you haven't heard of it, it's simply the best burger. In the world. Everything about it is perfect, and it's not just a meal, it's an experience.
First off, the thing is massive, and the bun is everything a hamburger bun should be- fresh, toasted but still soft, and tasty. Then, depending which Fergburger you ordered (there's quite a range, from the classic 'Fergburger' to the 'Tropical Swine' to the 'Big Al'), the fillings they put in are spot on; the lettuce is proper and crisp burger lettuce, the tomatoes are juicy, the cheese is melted to just the right degree. The garlic (?) mayo (called aioli here) and their special sauce do nothing but compliment the features and the main star of the whole show: the patty. This isn't any pathetic Macka's (McDonalds) hunk of mystery meat, this is the epitome of a fast food patty, if you could even class Fergburger as fastfood; it's real ground beef, seasoned just right, and prepared fresh each day. Aside from the burger, the staff jovially bounce along to the cool alt-techno-pop-dance tunes blasting just over the din of the crowd gathered (there's always been one every time I've walked past and enjoyed a burger), a perfectly oiled machine of team work that keeps this essential Queenstown experience going. Simply put, if you come to New Zealand, you have to come to QT, and you've got to have a Fergburger, you would have a very lame experience if you didn't.
Saturday night saw us out on the Big Night Out pub crawl (I love how organized these things are here, prizes, bands, "free" drinks and pizza!). We took one of our new roomies, Myles from England, out with us, and boy did we have a great time! He's a real sport, and we danced and laughed and made fun of eachother, eventually getting Fergburger for our late-night-drunken-munchies. We headed back to the hostel at 3, played pool (I lost), and then PTFO'd. Sunday was nice and relaxed, we got ice cream, sat on the beach, skipped stones, booked bungee and skydiving (!), went for a hike and played EXTREME SKINNY, SKINNY, WAKA at the top. In general, just hung out for the day and night, settling down for a Kill Bill marathon in the evening.
Monday was the skydiving. I wasn't terrified at all, in fact, I was just P-U-M-P-ED the entire time! We had to wait ages (we booked the 2 o'clock jump, didn't end up jumping until after 4:30), but man was it worth it! I opted for the photo and DVD package, which I know is a money grab, but whatevs, pretty worth it I think. It was an absolute beaut' of a day, not a cloud in the sky, sun glinting off the lake, completely picture perfect scenery to look at on the ascent to the heavens. I was laughing and smiling, so excited to jump out of the plane at 15 000 feet. I will admit, though, I did get nervous when the door slid open and I wrapped my legs under the edge- you have to make yourself like a banana- "Am I ACTYULLY going to jump out of this plane?" I thought before one rock, two rock, four rock and we were out! Your mind doesn't quite know what's going on for the first 3 seconds after jumping out of the plane, or rather being pushed out by your tandem guy. [Handsome] Greg was my tandem instructor. It's so surreal, being up in the air watching the earth race towards you in slow motion. I know that's a paradox, but that's really how the 65 seconds of freefall felt! When the parachute went up, it yanks up upwards, the harness wrenched up so that part of it was, er, obstructing my inspir-and-expiration. That's what happens when you are on the smaller side of human height, and your tandem is on the other I suppose. It was fine though, Greg pushed it down so that it wasn't choking me so much, and I enjoyed the cruise down to the landing site; Greg wheeled us in tight circles, I stuck out my arms like a bird, simply reveling in the experience. Touching our bums down, or rather sliding, left me with an amazing feeling, it was just awesome. Definitely in the Top 5 Best Experiences of My Life, probably in the Top 3. I know I'm going to have to go again, it was over all to quickly. Skydiving is defiitely going to be a thing of repetition for me! Good thing I work in mining :P... Though who knows, maybe I'll be that person who takes the photos one day ;).
Monday night, we went out on the Nomad's Bar Crawl, Tramp, tacky, and/or bad taste themed. Out of 130 people, Ann and I were the only ones who dressed up, but what ev's, we had a ball, especially with our new friends, Myles and Danielle, his travel buddy, also from England. They're so much fun, and they're going to be in Sydney when we are, so we'll definitely meet up then too! We went to five bars, and inbetween our 3rd and 4th one, they had a contest, 2 for 1 bungee, and the winner was the first person into the lake from the start of the pier, clothes optional. The girls, or rather girl, that girl being me :D, had a sooner starting line than the boys, and I made it to the railing first, but slowed down. A few boys jumped in, before I said "Ah fuck it!" and jumped in anyways. That water was COLD AS. I ran back to the hostel to change before heading to the next bar and carrying on with the evening, which was grand! Called 'er a night around 3 am, happy with the night's random and awesome and drunken string of events.
Ann and I grabbed a coffee and some free wifi at Patagonia Chocolates (I'm such a caffiene addict...), and browsed the local crafts market that was on while we waited to get into our room. We had a Fergburger for lunch, which if you haven't heard of it, it's simply the best burger. In the world. Everything about it is perfect, and it's not just a meal, it's an experience.
First off, the thing is massive, and the bun is everything a hamburger bun should be- fresh, toasted but still soft, and tasty. Then, depending which Fergburger you ordered (there's quite a range, from the classic 'Fergburger' to the 'Tropical Swine' to the 'Big Al'), the fillings they put in are spot on; the lettuce is proper and crisp burger lettuce, the tomatoes are juicy, the cheese is melted to just the right degree. The garlic (?) mayo (called aioli here) and their special sauce do nothing but compliment the features and the main star of the whole show: the patty. This isn't any pathetic Macka's (McDonalds) hunk of mystery meat, this is the epitome of a fast food patty, if you could even class Fergburger as fastfood; it's real ground beef, seasoned just right, and prepared fresh each day. Aside from the burger, the staff jovially bounce along to the cool alt-techno-pop-dance tunes blasting just over the din of the crowd gathered (there's always been one every time I've walked past and enjoyed a burger), a perfectly oiled machine of team work that keeps this essential Queenstown experience going. Simply put, if you come to New Zealand, you have to come to QT, and you've got to have a Fergburger, you would have a very lame experience if you didn't.
Saturday night saw us out on the Big Night Out pub crawl (I love how organized these things are here, prizes, bands, "free" drinks and pizza!). We took one of our new roomies, Myles from England, out with us, and boy did we have a great time! He's a real sport, and we danced and laughed and made fun of eachother, eventually getting Fergburger for our late-night-drunken-munchies. We headed back to the hostel at 3, played pool (I lost), and then PTFO'd. Sunday was nice and relaxed, we got ice cream, sat on the beach, skipped stones, booked bungee and skydiving (!), went for a hike and played EXTREME SKINNY, SKINNY, WAKA at the top. In general, just hung out for the day and night, settling down for a Kill Bill marathon in the evening.
Monday was the skydiving. I wasn't terrified at all, in fact, I was just P-U-M-P-ED the entire time! We had to wait ages (we booked the 2 o'clock jump, didn't end up jumping until after 4:30), but man was it worth it! I opted for the photo and DVD package, which I know is a money grab, but whatevs, pretty worth it I think. It was an absolute beaut' of a day, not a cloud in the sky, sun glinting off the lake, completely picture perfect scenery to look at on the ascent to the heavens. I was laughing and smiling, so excited to jump out of the plane at 15 000 feet. I will admit, though, I did get nervous when the door slid open and I wrapped my legs under the edge- you have to make yourself like a banana- "Am I ACTYULLY going to jump out of this plane?" I thought before one rock, two rock, four rock and we were out! Your mind doesn't quite know what's going on for the first 3 seconds after jumping out of the plane, or rather being pushed out by your tandem guy. [Handsome] Greg was my tandem instructor. It's so surreal, being up in the air watching the earth race towards you in slow motion. I know that's a paradox, but that's really how the 65 seconds of freefall felt! When the parachute went up, it yanks up upwards, the harness wrenched up so that part of it was, er, obstructing my inspir-and-expiration. That's what happens when you are on the smaller side of human height, and your tandem is on the other I suppose. It was fine though, Greg pushed it down so that it wasn't choking me so much, and I enjoyed the cruise down to the landing site; Greg wheeled us in tight circles, I stuck out my arms like a bird, simply reveling in the experience. Touching our bums down, or rather sliding, left me with an amazing feeling, it was just awesome. Definitely in the Top 5 Best Experiences of My Life, probably in the Top 3. I know I'm going to have to go again, it was over all to quickly. Skydiving is defiitely going to be a thing of repetition for me! Good thing I work in mining :P... Though who knows, maybe I'll be that person who takes the photos one day ;).
Monday night, we went out on the Nomad's Bar Crawl, Tramp, tacky, and/or bad taste themed. Out of 130 people, Ann and I were the only ones who dressed up, but what ev's, we had a ball, especially with our new friends, Myles and Danielle, his travel buddy, also from England. They're so much fun, and they're going to be in Sydney when we are, so we'll definitely meet up then too! We went to five bars, and inbetween our 3rd and 4th one, they had a contest, 2 for 1 bungee, and the winner was the first person into the lake from the start of the pier, clothes optional. The girls, or rather girl, that girl being me :D, had a sooner starting line than the boys, and I made it to the railing first, but slowed down. A few boys jumped in, before I said "Ah fuck it!" and jumped in anyways. That water was COLD AS. I ran back to the hostel to change before heading to the next bar and carrying on with the evening, which was grand! Called 'er a night around 3 am, happy with the night's random and awesome and drunken string of events.
Headed South
We have made it to the South Island! Albiet a bit later than we intended to, but I'll admit I am rather pleased with how things have turned out. The ferry ride over was a bit of an ordeal- I lost my adaptor, bought a new one, lost it in the hour it took to walk to the train station, buy groceries, and get to the ferry terminal >.<, not to mention our 2 o'clock sailing was cancelled and we were put on the 6 o'clock [read: 7 o'clock because the Interislander is apparently always late...] crossing, which of course they inform us of at the 'reasonable' hour of 8:30 am (pfft, when you're a backpacker, the day doesn't really start until 10:00am, 12 if you went out the night before; everday is a weekend!). The point is, we did make it to Picton, around 11pm, and us, being the seat-of-our-pants travellers that we are, of course didn't have a hostel booked or nothing. I was expecting, and rather hoping, to just pitch a tent on any available stretch of grass, but the nice shuttle lady ensured we had a hostel room for the night, a 6 bed dorm all to ourselves!, by calling the nice hostel lady to let us in. Picton's a small town, it actually quite reminded me of Smithers, very quaint, very nice, and when I come back to NZ, I will be sure to spend some time there!
We ventured forth in the morning for internet before catching our train, the Tranz Coastal, to Christchurch at 1:30. What a train journey! You have the Kaikoura Range on one side, and the sea on the other! Unfortunately for us, our train ran over a sheep (or a large rock, but a sheep sounds cooler, and really, how the hell would a big rock end up on the tracks? There was a large thud! in any case), so we had to stop for about half an hour/forty five minutes while they took out the broken down carriage (an air hose was broken on the brakes apparently). After that it was smooth sailing- I really do love train journeys, plus Ann let me play the happy photographer with her camera- until our arrival in Christchurch. We saw some of the devestation of the February earthquake- their still in the process of taking down unstable buildings, mostly old, architecturally interesting churches and the like. In fact, one nice man, who was helping us get to the grocery store, was a bit frustrated with the whole process as he had been transferred down from Wellington to help rebuild the roads and since his arrival four days previous, had done literally nothing as his boss wasn't the most, er, go-getter of types. It's too bad, really. All in all, it was pretty staggering to see that kind of destruction; buildings, half torn apart, their innards just there, for the world to see, not sure if it's from the earthquake or the cranes standing still beside them. The whole Central Business District is cordoned and fenced off, which of course, there are no signs saying what street is a closed off/a dead end >.<.
We left ChCh, as I've seen it referred to, on the Tranz Alpine train, "One of the Greatest Train Journeys of the World", on the Saturday. It's not hard to see why it's called this, really; the scenery takes a dramatic and simply breathtaking turn as you move westward across the South Island to Greymouth. It is a lot like BC here, with the snow capped peaks and that, but it just doesn't seem real, it seems like a card board cut out. The mountains rise sometimes like jagged teeth, at others like an oblong pregnant woman's belly, from the idyllic river valleys, sometimes from canyons carved out over the aeons. You can't help but feel small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things, a great reminder that you are, in fact, still a mere mortal with an expiry date. It's refreshing. Unfortunately Ann's camera had died, probably from my overenthusiasm of the previous rail trip, so I took mine out. It's not that it doesn't take good pictures or anything like that, it's just slow, and by the time you've turned it on and gotten the settings set up, your photo-op has already raced by. Ah well, it's shock proof, water proof, dust proof, cold proof, and best of all, BEER proof! We got to Greymouth around 1:30pm, and fortunately caught a free shuttle to our hostel, Noah's Ark. The rooms were animal themed (not surprisingly), we got the sheep room, and after perusing the interwebs on our complimentary data (I <3 free internet!), we met up with a couple Canadian boys from back home that Ann knew. Well really, they're from Haida-Gwaii, but it's all the same when you're that close, relatively speaking. We enjoyed a good tea, and contemplated doing some karioki that night, instead opting to play a Kiwi game called "Skinny, Skinny, Waka" and have a jam session. Basically you roll 3 beer caps in your hand, calling out what you think it's going to be, Skinny standing for the S on a Steinlager cap (writing up), and waka being the Maori word for canoe, so cap upside down. You have to call it exactly, or else you have to drink. It was a good night, with many laughs, and we called 'er around 2am, after I spun some fire poi that one of the guys had- WICKED!
Ann and I left Greymouth the next day, intending to, gasp!, hitch hike to Franz Josef, a town about 180kms south. I know you wont be thrilled to hear that, Mom and Dad, but it did work out okay :). We started walking from the town center around 10:30am, down the highway to get to a good hitch hiking place. We then came up with the insane idea to just walk the 40kms to the next town. Normally, with out the ~80lbs of gear and food between us, not a big deal, but oi, that was a mission and a half! We stopped for lunch around 1:30 at a bus shelter just outside city limits, I'm guessing we walked around 4-5kms, then resumed our march. Shortly afterwards, we stuck out our thumbs and it wasn't long, relatively speaking, before a nice elderly couple stopped and gave us a ride to the Kumara Junction, probably about 15kms down the road. We walked another kilometer after that, probably, before taking a rest (hey the sun was out), and waved at all the drivers passing by before a young Aussie couple stopped and took us all the way to Franz Josef, luckily where they just so happened to be going. Don't worry Mom and Dad, I won't ever hitch by myself, but it just goes to show that it can be okay to do so if you've got a buddy!
We had thought we were going to go for a glacial hike, but it was a bit steep and really, we can go up Hudson's Bay if we reaaaaally want to walk on a glacier, so we took the bus to Wanaka the next morning, Monday. Wanaka was really quite nice, we ended up staying there until Friday. Situated right on Lake Wanaka, this pretty little town is very relaxed and easy going, with a quaint little street that quite reminds me of Main Street. I will say I was taken a bit aback upon walking into the book store to see Christmas garland and bobbles bedecking the ceiling on the bright, sunny, and green day. We did a kayak and a hike and went to Puzzling World over the course of the four days we were there, Puzzling World was very enjoyable, there was a big maze and optical illusions rooms, and tables with puzzle games on them- all in all, a great way to spend a very sunny and hot afternoon (unfortunately I got a wee bit of heat exhaustion).
From Wanaka, we went to Cardrona for a night- Ann has a friend in Canada who's parents own a resort there, so we got a good deal on a really nice room for the night. In the morning, we packed all our stuff out to the road and stuck out our thumbs, once again, and after only 5-10 minutes, got a ride with a nice lady and her young daughter to... Queenstown!!!
We ventured forth in the morning for internet before catching our train, the Tranz Coastal, to Christchurch at 1:30. What a train journey! You have the Kaikoura Range on one side, and the sea on the other! Unfortunately for us, our train ran over a sheep (or a large rock, but a sheep sounds cooler, and really, how the hell would a big rock end up on the tracks? There was a large thud! in any case), so we had to stop for about half an hour/forty five minutes while they took out the broken down carriage (an air hose was broken on the brakes apparently). After that it was smooth sailing- I really do love train journeys, plus Ann let me play the happy photographer with her camera- until our arrival in Christchurch. We saw some of the devestation of the February earthquake- their still in the process of taking down unstable buildings, mostly old, architecturally interesting churches and the like. In fact, one nice man, who was helping us get to the grocery store, was a bit frustrated with the whole process as he had been transferred down from Wellington to help rebuild the roads and since his arrival four days previous, had done literally nothing as his boss wasn't the most, er, go-getter of types. It's too bad, really. All in all, it was pretty staggering to see that kind of destruction; buildings, half torn apart, their innards just there, for the world to see, not sure if it's from the earthquake or the cranes standing still beside them. The whole Central Business District is cordoned and fenced off, which of course, there are no signs saying what street is a closed off/a dead end >.<.
We left ChCh, as I've seen it referred to, on the Tranz Alpine train, "One of the Greatest Train Journeys of the World", on the Saturday. It's not hard to see why it's called this, really; the scenery takes a dramatic and simply breathtaking turn as you move westward across the South Island to Greymouth. It is a lot like BC here, with the snow capped peaks and that, but it just doesn't seem real, it seems like a card board cut out. The mountains rise sometimes like jagged teeth, at others like an oblong pregnant woman's belly, from the idyllic river valleys, sometimes from canyons carved out over the aeons. You can't help but feel small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things, a great reminder that you are, in fact, still a mere mortal with an expiry date. It's refreshing. Unfortunately Ann's camera had died, probably from my overenthusiasm of the previous rail trip, so I took mine out. It's not that it doesn't take good pictures or anything like that, it's just slow, and by the time you've turned it on and gotten the settings set up, your photo-op has already raced by. Ah well, it's shock proof, water proof, dust proof, cold proof, and best of all, BEER proof! We got to Greymouth around 1:30pm, and fortunately caught a free shuttle to our hostel, Noah's Ark. The rooms were animal themed (not surprisingly), we got the sheep room, and after perusing the interwebs on our complimentary data (I <3 free internet!), we met up with a couple Canadian boys from back home that Ann knew. Well really, they're from Haida-Gwaii, but it's all the same when you're that close, relatively speaking. We enjoyed a good tea, and contemplated doing some karioki that night, instead opting to play a Kiwi game called "Skinny, Skinny, Waka" and have a jam session. Basically you roll 3 beer caps in your hand, calling out what you think it's going to be, Skinny standing for the S on a Steinlager cap (writing up), and waka being the Maori word for canoe, so cap upside down. You have to call it exactly, or else you have to drink. It was a good night, with many laughs, and we called 'er around 2am, after I spun some fire poi that one of the guys had- WICKED!
Ann and I left Greymouth the next day, intending to, gasp!, hitch hike to Franz Josef, a town about 180kms south. I know you wont be thrilled to hear that, Mom and Dad, but it did work out okay :). We started walking from the town center around 10:30am, down the highway to get to a good hitch hiking place. We then came up with the insane idea to just walk the 40kms to the next town. Normally, with out the ~80lbs of gear and food between us, not a big deal, but oi, that was a mission and a half! We stopped for lunch around 1:30 at a bus shelter just outside city limits, I'm guessing we walked around 4-5kms, then resumed our march. Shortly afterwards, we stuck out our thumbs and it wasn't long, relatively speaking, before a nice elderly couple stopped and gave us a ride to the Kumara Junction, probably about 15kms down the road. We walked another kilometer after that, probably, before taking a rest (hey the sun was out), and waved at all the drivers passing by before a young Aussie couple stopped and took us all the way to Franz Josef, luckily where they just so happened to be going. Don't worry Mom and Dad, I won't ever hitch by myself, but it just goes to show that it can be okay to do so if you've got a buddy!
We had thought we were going to go for a glacial hike, but it was a bit steep and really, we can go up Hudson's Bay if we reaaaaally want to walk on a glacier, so we took the bus to Wanaka the next morning, Monday. Wanaka was really quite nice, we ended up staying there until Friday. Situated right on Lake Wanaka, this pretty little town is very relaxed and easy going, with a quaint little street that quite reminds me of Main Street. I will say I was taken a bit aback upon walking into the book store to see Christmas garland and bobbles bedecking the ceiling on the bright, sunny, and green day. We did a kayak and a hike and went to Puzzling World over the course of the four days we were there, Puzzling World was very enjoyable, there was a big maze and optical illusions rooms, and tables with puzzle games on them- all in all, a great way to spend a very sunny and hot afternoon (unfortunately I got a wee bit of heat exhaustion).
From Wanaka, we went to Cardrona for a night- Ann has a friend in Canada who's parents own a resort there, so we got a good deal on a really nice room for the night. In the morning, we packed all our stuff out to the road and stuck out our thumbs, once again, and after only 5-10 minutes, got a ride with a nice lady and her young daughter to... Queenstown!!!
Tuesday 1 November 2011
Auckland, Cape Reinga, Paihia, The Final, and Beyond
Well the last two weeks have been busy, busy, busy! Also, I am going to be much less detailed in my posts as something Jim said to me really hit home: By putting my stories up on the internet for you, I'm letting you know what's going on, but then I won't have any stories to tell when I get back because you'll already know them all...
Anywho, so after Jim and Marcia's for that one night, we were off to Auckland to stay with Keri Dias, a girl from Smithers who now lives here. That night we went on an international pub crawl, 4 bars, 4 drinks, for $10. It was a lot of fun and quite the way to break Auckland in; there were games they put on, much drinking and dancing, and in the group of us that went, we had a bucket list for the night that involved things like getting peoples' numbers and writing them on our bodies or getting drinks bought for you. I, in true Cavallin fashion, crossed off quite a few of the tasks, and I am pretty sure I won! Not surprisingly, we spent Friday hungover.
Saturday was the first Semi Final, between France and Wales. Ann and I painted our faces, or rather I painted our faces, saying WALES across our cheeks, each letter in the colour of the Welsh flag. I shall just say there's always a problem when you paint your face looking into a mirror... The atmosphere on the way to the match was good, though during was a bit boring as our section wasn't very cheery, and they stopped selling beer at 10:30, wtf?! That's okay, I got a yummy hamburger and took many ketchups and some tartar sauce from the canteen. Hey, I'm a backpacker, and it was free. Plus the lady at the till thought it was hilarious. The Welsh unfortunately didn't pull through, but ah well, can't do much for that, stupid French, you can blame 'em for everything! :P
Afterwards, we went out with Terrence, an Irishman we met in Raglan, and a met up with a bunch of other Raglan people at this bar called Degree. It was pretty happening, so we stayed there for the entire night, Ann calling 'er a night earlier than I (who knew I was such a party animal?), and me eventually sneaking away with this hombres awesome tophat! It's black with a white fern, but it's a legitimate fabric tophat. Score! There was a group of dudes dressed in black jackets and these hats, most of them super wasted, so I used my ninja skills and got it off one of the guys, who then found another one by the end of the night, so I just kept it. They probably brought extras because they're such legit kit, you could never have too many AB hats! I ended my night around 5am that night, and basically spent all of Sunday in bed/being a bum before heading down to the Fanzone at Cooks Wharf to watch the AB-Australia semi around 7ish. It filled up by 8, the game started at 9; it was pretty packed. It was amazing when the All Blacks scored, EVERYBODY jumped up and started screaming/cheering and hugging and high fiving. Ann and I went out afterwards, back to Degree, but it was wayyy too crowded, so we decided to make the ridiculously long walk to the Ponsonby district to meet up with our Wellington friend, Michael, and his brother. It took us about an hour, we both considered going back, but stuck it out, which was good because it was a reletively decent night. The bar was cool, good vibe, and the drinks good and legitimately made; none of this shot of x, press the button for the mix crap; the bartender took lemon, mashed it with a pestal in the glass, added ice, then shot, then mix, then sugar (?), then garnish and straw. Legit.
Monday saw us meet up with Terrence, whom had decided he also wanted to head up to Northland and Bay of Islands to scuba dive, so we rented a car, Irma. Oh man, driving on the left side of the road is a bit of a headache, honestly I felt like I was learning to drive all over again! Basically, I'd try to turn on the turn signal, but instead would get the windshield wiper! At least the gas pedal was on the same side as back home... Terrence knew i was a bit nervous of driving, so he drove us all the way to Paihia, which was a super windy drive. I'm just going to say it because it has to be said, but their road engineers are terrible over here! Also, their speed limits are ridiculous! They change very frequently, so as soon as you've sped up, you have to slow down, and then as soon as you slow down, you have to speed up -_-. Eugh!
Anywho, so we got up to Paihia, a super nice and chilled out town for the week. On Tuesday, we went up to Cape Reinga, the northernmost point in New Zealand. It's quite beautiful with the lighthouse and you can see where the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean merge, although I honestly thought the wind was going to blow me away! Pictures are on their way, although Ann has posted some on her Facebook. After we had our fill of the Cape, we went sandboarding on this massive dune! 90 Mile Beach was somewhere in the vicinity, which is actually only about 70 miles long and famous for it's sand dunes, but we never got there. It was a bit of a hike to the top of the dune, this thing was huuuge! And at the top, it was a bit gulp!-enducing. My first run was hilarious, I ended up falling off the boogie board about halfway down and rolled, rather ungracefully (my MO, it seems), all the way to the bottom. It was fun, and funny to watch I'm sure, sand got EVERYWHERE- my mouth, ears, eyes, nose etc.- but I got up and did another run, albiet slowing myself down with my feet quite a bit. We called 'er a day soon after, and barely made it back to civilization as poor Irma was running on fumes, but thankfully we were able to eek it to a gas station, and back to Paihia.
Wednesday, Ann and I just hung out in Paihia, poked around a local market that had been set up for the cruise ship patrons that were in town for the day and explored. That night, we went out for dinner for the first time, aside from buying drunk McDonalds or what have you, to a rib place. Yum! Of course, not as good as home, but it was such a good meal: a big plate of ribs, a platter of assorted finger foods ie. kebabs, battered fish, wings, samosas, two drinks each, dessert, and a glass of port (ooo la de dah! :p). Talk about thoroughly satisfied! Thursday, Ann and I took a boat tour around the Bay of Islands, over the course of which we learned some of the history of the area- it's where white man first established a colony, where NZ's first capital was, and the first white man was born in NZ. We got to see dolphins, so cool!, and the Hole in the Rock, which is a tunnel through an island that's the last bit of land before the Pacific Ocean. That was neat, we also saw some interesting lava flows- straight up and down- which got me thinking about rocks, damn you geology! That night, Ann and I made a large pot of sangria, which I more or less drank half of, and as a result, was rather witty and hilarious; "As a backpacker, sangria kills two birds with one stone: you get drunk, and you don't get scurvy!" We went out to a sports bar for karioki and rocked the house down! The next morning, however, I did not feel like such a rockstar...
We had planned to go see the Kaori Forest and the Father of the Forest, the oldest tree in NZ, approximately 120km away in the morning, but didn't really get on the road until about 1. It was a great day for a drive, even if the roads are super windy and annoying to drive on. As it turns out, we couldn't find it. The forest wasn't very well marked, there might have been two of them or something, and we wanted to be back to watch the bronze final at 8/8:30, so we said "Screw it!" and drove back to Paihia, stopping for 1/2 an hour at some natural hot pools, perfect for my tired little body. We watched the game at a bar across the street, then headed to bed for an earlyish start the next morning to get back to Auckland.
Saturday night was tame, didn't go out in preparation for Sunday night and the Rugby World Cup 2011 Final, which was INTENSE! I seriously considered splurging for a ticket, but thought the better of it thankfully, and predrank at Keri's- I am the facepainting master, apparently- then went to a fanzone down the street. It was the most amazing thing when NZ scored, EVERYBODY got up screaming and shouting and hugging. The last ten minutes were so incredibly quiet and tense, but oh man, when the end whistle blew, to see the tears of joy down some Kiwi's faces and the general jovial atmosphere, the cheering, hooting, hollernig, "ALLLLLLL BLAAAAAAACKS!", high fives, smiles, laughter, everything, it was AMAZING. Of course, we went out and got liquored, had a great time, stayed out 'til the cows came home, and were super tired and hungover, but happy, the next day.
We had thought to leave on Monday, but that didn't happen due to our state, and so spent the night in Auckland again [partying], this time on a yacht, as one of Ann's hostel roomies from Wellington had made some sweet as connections the week before! First time I've ever been on a boat like that, man it was cool! I wished we could have sailed it, but then that was probably not the greatest of ideas. Tuesday, we got out of Auckland and headed to Rotorua. Once there I discovered I had left my wallet at Keri's house (damnit!), but thankfully I still had my passport and a decent amount of cash. Wednesday saw us go ZORBing, which is basically rolling down a hill in a hamster ball, adding water to the mix if you like. Only a Kiwi would think of such a thing! On top of being so much fun, it was a bit special to me because in departures, thebesttvshowintheworldthatIcouldgoonforeverandeverandeverabout, they go ZORBing at the same place. On Thursday, we went to a place called Paradise Valley, which is a nature reserve, only slightly more bad ass because there are [native New Zealand] lions there! Ha who ever would have thought that my first encounter with the large cats would be in NZ? We got to pet the cubs, and then watch the adult ones feed- their roar is scary, and super loud! That night, we went to a hangi (Maori feast, where food is cooked in the ground) and Maori concert. The food was delicious, I loooove mussles!, though because of a gas leak we weren't able to see the hangi :(. There were a bunch of people at our table, a few from OZ, a couple from Spain on their honeymoon, and a British guy. We had good conversation and a few laughs during dinner. The concert was cool, they had such beautiful voices, and they did poi and at one point, got some ladies up to try it, and some men up to haka. After, it was back to the hostel to get our stuff as Ann was headed to Taupo (toe-poe) and I, back to Auckland to grab my wallet and some other stuff we had forgotten.
Friday was a long, long, looooong day, spent mostly on the bus. I left Rotorua at 8:30 am, got into Auckland at 12:15, caught a cab to Keri's to grab my stuff, and was back on the 12:45 bus to Taupo, which arrived at 5:45. -_-. I slept much of the way, but of course, it's never a restful sleep on a bus, so I was pretty blah for the rest of the night. The next day, with two other people from our hostel, we went sailing! I got to get a bit hands on, hoisting a sail and helping to jibe (move the back sail from one side to the other), and even manning the helm for a bit! It pretty much confirmed to me that I definitely want to get more experience on a sailboat. We sailed out to this big Maori carving which is actually only 30 years old, a gift to the people of Taupo from two Maori brothers. It's a beautiful piece of art. After, we went to Burger Fuel, an amazing burger joint, for some post-sailing munchies, then back to the hostel to hangout, playing two games of RISK (which me, being a ninja, I totally kicked ass at!) inturrupted by a very difficult game of Trivial Pursuit- the Canadian version is hard enough, but the New Zealand version?! It's tough. After I conquered most of the world, but alas due to Mission Cards didn't secure the win, we called 'er a night, Ann and I planning on catching the bus back to Wellington so we can get to the South Island ASAP!
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