Suprise!
I'm home. In Canada. Back in waterdown...yay
I was supposed to stay until Christmas, working just for November and December but upon doing some job searching realized I would return with $0. So I booked the flight back for late October but after our river journey and the money recovering slash celebrating our victory as well as looking at the upcoming weather and the cost of returning to the things we missed, it made sense to come back a little earlier. I wanted to leave New Zealand on a high note so I spent the last week surfing and swimming with sharks and was back in time for Thanksgiving where I was able to surprise my parents and frank. They were delighted I was home and I'm sure the novelty will continue until I am at Boundless and I won't once get on their nerves.
So I'm home, New Zealand was grand, I can't wait to go back.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Friday, October 8, 2010
An Idiot I suppose
We left Raglan and headed to Auckland as the springboard for the next part of the journey. I realized it has been almost a month since I've been in a big, major city and I definitely prefer the smaller towns. Auckland is central to any options of heading to the East Coast, the Cormandel or up North which is what we're leaning towards.
While I'm not the biggest fan of the city, I have to admit that Auckland has its merits. Its fairly clean for a city of its size, has a nice waterfront area and although there is a large amount of traffic it is nothing compared to something like Toronto. But that is not all.
Auckland is a city of balance.
I went for a walk through the CBD last night and a few minutes into the walk was approached by a guy about my age who was wearing a vest that said "Don't forget Jesus" and was trying to hand me a pamphlet while urging me to repent. I declined the pamphlet and the repentance but briefly considered asking him where he shops for vests.
Further down the street the balance of the night was restored when I was offered not to repent but to retire to a building filled with women who would ensure that I have a splendid night. For a price. Balance.
Apparently, although it is not as well advertised as Amsterdam, prostitution is perfectly legal in New Zealand. And while not as advertised as in Rome, religion is also considered a completely legal enterprise in this country. So these touts had joined in the ones hawking pizza and accommodation. Balancing each other out.
This morning I got to do somethign I have always wanted to. I swam with sharks.
I got to the aquarium which is underground and under sea level and pulls its water as well as its attractions from the water around Auckland. I was the only person signed up to do the shark swim so at 10am this morning I was met by Jess, my guide slash shark body guard for the morning. Jess came into the lobby in a wetsuit, hair dripping and said "You must be Mike! Follow me" and took me to the restricted behind the scenes area. I noted that Jess was much smaller then I was and as her job was feeding and swimming with sharks I assumed she was a better swimmer. Slower and meatier, I'd be the ideal snack.
She outfitted me with a wet suit and brought me to the area above the tank where we climbed into the cage. It was not a metal cage but one that floated on top of the water so you could surface. The bottom of the cage, about 5 feet below the surface was made of plexiglass to see through an dthe sides of the cage were made of netting with holes big enough to stick your hand through...which Jess told me in no uncertain terms would be a bad idea.
We floated the cage out into the middle and I got to spend an hour in the cage with a mask and snorkel looking at the fish, the 200lbs sting ray and the four species of shark swimming around and underneath. The highlight came when I was holding myself under the water on the handles on the plexiglass and two sharks approached the side of the netting. One was slightly shorter then I was and the other was clearly larger and both decided to not slow down upon reaching the side. The netting of the cage has some give so I came about 3cm away from giving a very large broad nosed shark an eskimo kiss. It was incredible.
The rest of the time in the cage the sharks became a little more curious but not as adventurous and would circle the cage keeping there eyes on me as I was the only one underwater with them.
Swimming with sharks in cold water is a good way to get the blood going and wake up in the morning. Not sure whats on tap next but it probably has less teeth.
While I'm not the biggest fan of the city, I have to admit that Auckland has its merits. Its fairly clean for a city of its size, has a nice waterfront area and although there is a large amount of traffic it is nothing compared to something like Toronto. But that is not all.
Auckland is a city of balance.
I went for a walk through the CBD last night and a few minutes into the walk was approached by a guy about my age who was wearing a vest that said "Don't forget Jesus" and was trying to hand me a pamphlet while urging me to repent. I declined the pamphlet and the repentance but briefly considered asking him where he shops for vests.
Further down the street the balance of the night was restored when I was offered not to repent but to retire to a building filled with women who would ensure that I have a splendid night. For a price. Balance.
Apparently, although it is not as well advertised as Amsterdam, prostitution is perfectly legal in New Zealand. And while not as advertised as in Rome, religion is also considered a completely legal enterprise in this country. So these touts had joined in the ones hawking pizza and accommodation. Balancing each other out.
This morning I got to do somethign I have always wanted to. I swam with sharks.
I got to the aquarium which is underground and under sea level and pulls its water as well as its attractions from the water around Auckland. I was the only person signed up to do the shark swim so at 10am this morning I was met by Jess, my guide slash shark body guard for the morning. Jess came into the lobby in a wetsuit, hair dripping and said "You must be Mike! Follow me" and took me to the restricted behind the scenes area. I noted that Jess was much smaller then I was and as her job was feeding and swimming with sharks I assumed she was a better swimmer. Slower and meatier, I'd be the ideal snack.
She outfitted me with a wet suit and brought me to the area above the tank where we climbed into the cage. It was not a metal cage but one that floated on top of the water so you could surface. The bottom of the cage, about 5 feet below the surface was made of plexiglass to see through an dthe sides of the cage were made of netting with holes big enough to stick your hand through...which Jess told me in no uncertain terms would be a bad idea.
We floated the cage out into the middle and I got to spend an hour in the cage with a mask and snorkel looking at the fish, the 200lbs sting ray and the four species of shark swimming around and underneath. The highlight came when I was holding myself under the water on the handles on the plexiglass and two sharks approached the side of the netting. One was slightly shorter then I was and the other was clearly larger and both decided to not slow down upon reaching the side. The netting of the cage has some give so I came about 3cm away from giving a very large broad nosed shark an eskimo kiss. It was incredible.
The rest of the time in the cage the sharks became a little more curious but not as adventurous and would circle the cage keeping there eyes on me as I was the only one underwater with them.
Swimming with sharks in cold water is a good way to get the blood going and wake up in the morning. Not sure whats on tap next but it probably has less teeth.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Lady lady love me becaue I love to lay here lazy
Raglan is a great town. It is very small, two streets, one little supermarket, a couple cafes, a few surf shops and that is about it.
I've spent the last three days getting up early, having a hearty bowl of knockoff cocoa puffs and then headed out for a few hours of surfing. After surfing all morning we get back to the hostel in the early afternoon, maybe have lunch or maybe just lie in the hammock in the sun reading and napping. After some naps a long walk on the beach, some skim boarding or just more time in the hammock is usually in order.
After dinner we've been having a few cold beers in the hot tub, then a few more beers and hanging out with native english speakers (a unique experience in hostels for us so far, the majority of travelers here are German).
The surfing has been absolutely incredible. So much work to finally get to a wave and 80% of the time I can't do anything with the wave. I was able to stand up a couple times my first day and most times the last two days. I have only been able to actually ride the face of the wave twice but its an amazing feeling. Going from lying on the board to feeling the wave pulling you back, bringing you to its crest and then pushing you forward as you glide along the water. Then standing up and actually turning onto the open face of the wave in front of the white wash and feeling some measure of control over gliding over the surface of the water is great. It is more then worth the getting up early, putting on a damp wet suit and getting into the cold ocean. I think I may be staying here a couple extra days just for that feeling alone.
Also, it is pizza night at the hostel. They supply the dough, we supply the toppings and get whatever kind of pizza we want.
I've spent the last three days getting up early, having a hearty bowl of knockoff cocoa puffs and then headed out for a few hours of surfing. After surfing all morning we get back to the hostel in the early afternoon, maybe have lunch or maybe just lie in the hammock in the sun reading and napping. After some naps a long walk on the beach, some skim boarding or just more time in the hammock is usually in order.
After dinner we've been having a few cold beers in the hot tub, then a few more beers and hanging out with native english speakers (a unique experience in hostels for us so far, the majority of travelers here are German).
The surfing has been absolutely incredible. So much work to finally get to a wave and 80% of the time I can't do anything with the wave. I was able to stand up a couple times my first day and most times the last two days. I have only been able to actually ride the face of the wave twice but its an amazing feeling. Going from lying on the board to feeling the wave pulling you back, bringing you to its crest and then pushing you forward as you glide along the water. Then standing up and actually turning onto the open face of the wave in front of the white wash and feeling some measure of control over gliding over the surface of the water is great. It is more then worth the getting up early, putting on a damp wet suit and getting into the cold ocean. I think I may be staying here a couple extra days just for that feeling alone.
Also, it is pizza night at the hostel. They supply the dough, we supply the toppings and get whatever kind of pizza we want.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
I'm [out of] a boat
I think "Without a Paddle" is a seriously underrated movie. Mark and I went and saw this movie back in highschool and have loved it ever since. The premise is that three childhood friends go canoeing in the wilderness, tip their canoe, lose their stuff and have to find a way out. Its a great movie to watch, didn't quite think I'd have to live through it.
We got to the put in for the river after a night in the tent where it poured rain non stop. Two guys dropped us off at the put in, one recommended waiting 2 hours for the river level to go down, the other saying we would be fine to go right now. There was a rapid just upstream of the put in and we were assured that was the biggest one would we would see. We decided to wait an hour and a half
A few minutes into the paddle the waves and rapids we were seeing were 5 or 6 times the size of the one at the put in. We were hitting everything perfectly but the boulders, calm pools and areas to take out that were promised in the river guide were not there. We came through one particularily big set and were very happy to have made it when something hit our boat (there were large submerged boulders as well as full trees floating down the river, so we're not sure what it was). We capsized and although I was able to hold onto the canoe for a while I wasn't able to swim it to shore as it was loaded with all our gear and the river ust kept rushing us through more and more whitewater where it was supposed to be calm. We abandoned the canoe and paddles and hauled ass to shore where we were just across the river from the campsite that was supposed to take us 5 hours of hard paddling to get to...2 hours after put in, paddling lazily (except for the whitewater) and including a 5-10 minute swim. On the side of the river we came out on there was nothing so after drying our stuff out in the sun for a bit we hiked up through the backcountry hills for a while until we came upon some farm land. We went through a few pastures, startling goats and sheep and cows until we finally came to a road. After walking along the road for a few minutes a car pulled over and asked if we needed a ride (we were wearing our lifejackets, carrying our soaking wet clothes and covered in mud).
We took the ride into town to the i-site where Mel at the Tamaranui I-site made us coffee, brought us cookies and called Helene over at the Holiday Park. Helene and Phil run the holiday park and they agreed to put us up for a couple nights if need be despite the fact that we had no wallets, passports or clothes other then what we were wearing. We got the Holiday Park and Helene handed us a key to a cabin, sleeping bags, towels, soap and two cold beers.
We were treated to some more cold beers and dinner the first night and on the second day Helene called the local police who called the Wanganui police who had found the canoe (what usually would be a 7 day journey took our canoe without paddles less then 24 hours) and all our stuff was still strapped in. We received our stuff yesterday afternoon (presented in police evidence bags) and dried it out while digging into our food supply for the five day trip.
Today we left the holiday park, which was a little sad because we met some very amazing people there who we would not have gotten through the ordeal without. We hitched up to Hamilton, halfway getting a ride from a farmer named Grant who brought us first to his house, gave us a beer and made us bacon and eggs (this hospitality was not presented as an option) and then toured us aron dthe neighbouring towns before dropping us just south of Hamilton. One more ride from a guy from Nova Scotia and a bus and we are now in Raglan.
The hostel we are staying at is amazing. There is a free hot tub, sauna, hammocks, skim boards and kayaks to use. The hostel overlooks the river right before it meets the ocean and has the cheapest surf rentals in town. We are staying here for three nights (at least) and the plan is to spend the next three days enjoying the sun, surfing (or attempting to) and resting assured that our passports, wallets and clothes are back safely in the room.
We got to the put in for the river after a night in the tent where it poured rain non stop. Two guys dropped us off at the put in, one recommended waiting 2 hours for the river level to go down, the other saying we would be fine to go right now. There was a rapid just upstream of the put in and we were assured that was the biggest one would we would see. We decided to wait an hour and a half
A few minutes into the paddle the waves and rapids we were seeing were 5 or 6 times the size of the one at the put in. We were hitting everything perfectly but the boulders, calm pools and areas to take out that were promised in the river guide were not there. We came through one particularily big set and were very happy to have made it when something hit our boat (there were large submerged boulders as well as full trees floating down the river, so we're not sure what it was). We capsized and although I was able to hold onto the canoe for a while I wasn't able to swim it to shore as it was loaded with all our gear and the river ust kept rushing us through more and more whitewater where it was supposed to be calm. We abandoned the canoe and paddles and hauled ass to shore where we were just across the river from the campsite that was supposed to take us 5 hours of hard paddling to get to...2 hours after put in, paddling lazily (except for the whitewater) and including a 5-10 minute swim. On the side of the river we came out on there was nothing so after drying our stuff out in the sun for a bit we hiked up through the backcountry hills for a while until we came upon some farm land. We went through a few pastures, startling goats and sheep and cows until we finally came to a road. After walking along the road for a few minutes a car pulled over and asked if we needed a ride (we were wearing our lifejackets, carrying our soaking wet clothes and covered in mud).
We took the ride into town to the i-site where Mel at the Tamaranui I-site made us coffee, brought us cookies and called Helene over at the Holiday Park. Helene and Phil run the holiday park and they agreed to put us up for a couple nights if need be despite the fact that we had no wallets, passports or clothes other then what we were wearing. We got the Holiday Park and Helene handed us a key to a cabin, sleeping bags, towels, soap and two cold beers.
We were treated to some more cold beers and dinner the first night and on the second day Helene called the local police who called the Wanganui police who had found the canoe (what usually would be a 7 day journey took our canoe without paddles less then 24 hours) and all our stuff was still strapped in. We received our stuff yesterday afternoon (presented in police evidence bags) and dried it out while digging into our food supply for the five day trip.
Today we left the holiday park, which was a little sad because we met some very amazing people there who we would not have gotten through the ordeal without. We hitched up to Hamilton, halfway getting a ride from a farmer named Grant who brought us first to his house, gave us a beer and made us bacon and eggs (this hospitality was not presented as an option) and then toured us aron dthe neighbouring towns before dropping us just south of Hamilton. One more ride from a guy from Nova Scotia and a bus and we are now in Raglan.
The hostel we are staying at is amazing. There is a free hot tub, sauna, hammocks, skim boards and kayaks to use. The hostel overlooks the river right before it meets the ocean and has the cheapest surf rentals in town. We are staying here for three nights (at least) and the plan is to spend the next three days enjoying the sun, surfing (or attempting to) and resting assured that our passports, wallets and clothes are back safely in the room.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Rig Jockey Highway Slammer
We got to ride in a transport truck. It was awesome.
We left Windy Welly on the train and took it a little while out of the city to a place where we could start hitching. Our first ride could only bring us ten minutes further down the road but he had done the Whanganui River paddle before and said it was one of the best things he had ever done.
Our next ride was in a transport truck. The truck pulled over, we climbed in with Mark in the passenger seat and I was sitting on the drivers overnight bag in between. It gave me a great view of the road and what the driver was doing as well as a fantastic opportunity to consider various massage and chiropractor options for the end of the road. He was a former farmer turned trucker and that was about the extent of what we could understand with his accent. He seemed to enjoy the company and I found if I smiled, said "oh wow" and every so often mentioned how impressive driving such a huge truck on small windy roads was it kept him fairly happy. Two more rides got us to Wanganui, the first being a guy who works at a caving adventure place in Waitomo and recommended a couple places for us and the second being a professional cricket player named Tim. Tim was a guy slightly older then us, had driven past us but pulled over up ahead, turned around and came back to get us. He just got back from a month long tournament in South Africa playing some of the best cricket sides in the world.
We camped out behind the hostel we had stayed at previously in Wanganui and got up early today to hitch to Ohakune. We got a ride with a photocopier repairman who took us all the way to Ohakune, which is just on the other side of the mountain we climbed on teh Tongariro Northern Circuit.
We are all set up for our paddle beginning tomorrow. It was fairly expensive to rent the canoe, barrels, jackets, paddles and gear plus get our DOC pass (tomorrow is the official start of the great walks season) so we opted for the cheap campsite option. We are paying $4 to stay the night at a DOC campsite but its a few clicks out of town so its about a 45 minute walk from the outfitters, closer to an hour from the center of town. We have to be at the outfitters by 7 at the latest tomorrow so between packing, slow morning moving and weather time we'll be getting up before 6.
We have all the stuff we need for the paddle, the outfitters given us a detailed map of the river including information about all the rapids, islands and campsites we'll need to know. Some of the campsites apparently have great day walks from them including some natural hot spring pools that we can go in. It's supposed to rain until about lunch time tomorrow and then be sunny days for the next week.
The paddle should take us the next four nights so we will probably be back out into civilization by October 5. It looks as though we could do the paddle faster but I think we're hoping to take our time and explore the side trails and some of the streams that can lead you towards some nice waterfalls (the botoom of the gentle falls, not the top of a big one).
We're both really excited about the paddle, we've been trying to get to this for a few weeks now and even though its costing more then we hoped we figured this is one of the ones thats worth it.
The plan after the paddle is to either hitch out to the west coast to do another mountain walk or up to Taupo to do our skydive. It'll all depend on weather and rides I suppose.
We left Windy Welly on the train and took it a little while out of the city to a place where we could start hitching. Our first ride could only bring us ten minutes further down the road but he had done the Whanganui River paddle before and said it was one of the best things he had ever done.
Our next ride was in a transport truck. The truck pulled over, we climbed in with Mark in the passenger seat and I was sitting on the drivers overnight bag in between. It gave me a great view of the road and what the driver was doing as well as a fantastic opportunity to consider various massage and chiropractor options for the end of the road. He was a former farmer turned trucker and that was about the extent of what we could understand with his accent. He seemed to enjoy the company and I found if I smiled, said "oh wow" and every so often mentioned how impressive driving such a huge truck on small windy roads was it kept him fairly happy. Two more rides got us to Wanganui, the first being a guy who works at a caving adventure place in Waitomo and recommended a couple places for us and the second being a professional cricket player named Tim. Tim was a guy slightly older then us, had driven past us but pulled over up ahead, turned around and came back to get us. He just got back from a month long tournament in South Africa playing some of the best cricket sides in the world.
We camped out behind the hostel we had stayed at previously in Wanganui and got up early today to hitch to Ohakune. We got a ride with a photocopier repairman who took us all the way to Ohakune, which is just on the other side of the mountain we climbed on teh Tongariro Northern Circuit.
We are all set up for our paddle beginning tomorrow. It was fairly expensive to rent the canoe, barrels, jackets, paddles and gear plus get our DOC pass (tomorrow is the official start of the great walks season) so we opted for the cheap campsite option. We are paying $4 to stay the night at a DOC campsite but its a few clicks out of town so its about a 45 minute walk from the outfitters, closer to an hour from the center of town. We have to be at the outfitters by 7 at the latest tomorrow so between packing, slow morning moving and weather time we'll be getting up before 6.
We have all the stuff we need for the paddle, the outfitters given us a detailed map of the river including information about all the rapids, islands and campsites we'll need to know. Some of the campsites apparently have great day walks from them including some natural hot spring pools that we can go in. It's supposed to rain until about lunch time tomorrow and then be sunny days for the next week.
The paddle should take us the next four nights so we will probably be back out into civilization by October 5. It looks as though we could do the paddle faster but I think we're hoping to take our time and explore the side trails and some of the streams that can lead you towards some nice waterfalls (the botoom of the gentle falls, not the top of a big one).
We're both really excited about the paddle, we've been trying to get to this for a few weeks now and even though its costing more then we hoped we figured this is one of the ones thats worth it.
The plan after the paddle is to either hitch out to the west coast to do another mountain walk or up to Taupo to do our skydive. It'll all depend on weather and rides I suppose.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Take a shower, shine your shoes
The Queen Charlotte track is a no go.
In order to get to the track you have to take a water taxi from Picton. To walk the track you need to buy a $12 track pass, then $9 per person, per night for camping. Not too bad until you factor in the water taxi price of $90. We looked at how expensive it would be, plus food and decided we can't make the walk work. We were both really disapointed and I was having a bit of a hard time as we were walking by the Picton Water Taxi office. Looking at the prices I was reminded of a SNL skit featuring Obama addressing concerns held by the Chinese government in regards to the '$8billion loan. I wondered if the water taxi prices included dinner, because in the words of SNL, "I like to be bought dinner before someone makes sex to me". I muttered something to this effect as we left.
We spent the day walking around Picton, doing a few hours of day hikes on the other side of the sound from the Queen Charlotte. It was over 20 degrees, sunny with a little breeze and really an amazing day. After the walk we came back to the hostel, I finished my book, napped in a hammock for a while before we played some chess on one of those outdoor boards with the big figures and went for a bike ride around town. We borrowed a rugby ball and played in the park across from the hostel for a bit and ended up booking our ferry tickets (much larger boat, much further distance, less then half the price...) for Wellington tomorrow morning.
We are going to spend the day in Wellington, checking out the national museum and a world photojournalism exhibition and plan the next leg of our journey. If the weather is good and the water levels are low enough we will be headed to the Whanganui River paddle, if not we will head to the East coast, Napier and Gisborne and try to get to the other Great walk we attempted to start on.
Thats the plan for now, but as I'm learning that means very little. Who knows what will happen next.
"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadisde, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming--'wow what a ride!'''' --Lucius Annaeus Seneca (courtesy of Ms. Mutton)
In order to get to the track you have to take a water taxi from Picton. To walk the track you need to buy a $12 track pass, then $9 per person, per night for camping. Not too bad until you factor in the water taxi price of $90. We looked at how expensive it would be, plus food and decided we can't make the walk work. We were both really disapointed and I was having a bit of a hard time as we were walking by the Picton Water Taxi office. Looking at the prices I was reminded of a SNL skit featuring Obama addressing concerns held by the Chinese government in regards to the '$8billion loan. I wondered if the water taxi prices included dinner, because in the words of SNL, "I like to be bought dinner before someone makes sex to me". I muttered something to this effect as we left.
We spent the day walking around Picton, doing a few hours of day hikes on the other side of the sound from the Queen Charlotte. It was over 20 degrees, sunny with a little breeze and really an amazing day. After the walk we came back to the hostel, I finished my book, napped in a hammock for a while before we played some chess on one of those outdoor boards with the big figures and went for a bike ride around town. We borrowed a rugby ball and played in the park across from the hostel for a bit and ended up booking our ferry tickets (much larger boat, much further distance, less then half the price...) for Wellington tomorrow morning.
We are going to spend the day in Wellington, checking out the national museum and a world photojournalism exhibition and plan the next leg of our journey. If the weather is good and the water levels are low enough we will be headed to the Whanganui River paddle, if not we will head to the East coast, Napier and Gisborne and try to get to the other Great walk we attempted to start on.
Thats the plan for now, but as I'm learning that means very little. Who knows what will happen next.
"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadisde, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming--'wow what a ride!'''' --Lucius Annaeus Seneca (courtesy of Ms. Mutton)
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Highway 61 revisited
The trip has taken a turn.
In Queenstown we got some very disapointing news. Fiordland, which is home to three great walks including the famous Milford track was the victim of the weather as well in Southern New Zealand. The roads getting to the tracks were closed and the tracks had severe avalanche warnings placed on them for the entire week, with bridges already removed and advising against traveling. The DOC workers told us another weather front is expected to hit early next week that will once again close the roads and add another week or two to the avalanche warnings. Not wanting to get stuck in an avalanche we decided to avoid heading in on a trek. I was supposed to hear about a job offer at a bar in Queenstown but the manager didn't get back to me in time before Mark was leaving with his car relocation to Christchurch. If I stayed and waited the two weeks I might have made it into the treks but would have to work in a hostel bar for two weeks and then miss out on a lot of other things Mark and I wanted to do before he heads back. So after a second night in Lizzie I decided to give up on Fiordland and head back to Christchurch with Mark.
The plus side in Queenstown was in our wanderings we found an arena where they rented skates and sticks. They let us go out and play hockey for a few hours which put us in a much better mood. There was a family visiting from Australia and the Dad started talking to me about how interested his kid was in playing ice hockey. I found the kid a smaller stick and got him shooting and playing a bit and now have a standing offer of a place to stay in Australia...something to look into I guess.
We left for Christchurch in a huge truck we christened Samantha. She was manual so Mark drove for the majority of the first day, except when he decided I should learn. Trying manual for the first time on the left hand side of the road in a car that takes up a lane and a half was an interesting experience. I didn't stall at all but when we started getting into traffic and round-a-bouts I pulled over and let Mark deal with. One night spent in the truck and we arrived in Christchurch early this morning.
The sun was out for the first time, the temperature got near 20 degrees and we decided to just start walking. We walked about 25km outside Christchurch, including through the towns that got the worst of the earthquake, some of the buildings were condemned and on a slant still. We got tired a little after lunch and decided to try hitching our way further north, hopefully to Kaikoura.
Our first ride was in a Mini Cooper...we laughed when we saw the car about how there was no chance and in it pulled. He got us to the next town, one more ride to the next town and we were waiting with our thumbs out for about half an hour. Then the house pulled up.
Our last ride was not a mobile home, it was an actual house on wheels. It used to be a bus but the outside has been re-done with wood and painted purple, it includes a pointed roof, an attic/loft area over where the driver sits and a back porch. Inside was hardwood floors, wooden cabinets, walls, a desk and a woodburning stove. The guy driving has been in this caravan since 1997 and tours with a group that every weekend for 8 months does a festival/fair where they perform music, plays and other entertainment while selling things they find or make. He was an ultimate hippy. The inside the of the caravan looked like a passengers cabin on a ship from the 1800's but was filled with Bob Dylan album covers and pins, various crystal and bead trinkets, including a massive crystal on a piece of bone dangling various animal teeth. He also had a pitbull named Jego that was very friendly and excited to have passengers for the very long drive to Kaikoura (while extremely slow in terms of car speed, it moved faster then any house I have ever been in).
We arrived in Kaikoura as the sun was setting over the mountains, set up our tents and are planning to hitch up to Picton tomorrow where depending on when we arrive we can hopefully do the Queen Charlotte track before headed back to North Island.
In Queenstown we got some very disapointing news. Fiordland, which is home to three great walks including the famous Milford track was the victim of the weather as well in Southern New Zealand. The roads getting to the tracks were closed and the tracks had severe avalanche warnings placed on them for the entire week, with bridges already removed and advising against traveling. The DOC workers told us another weather front is expected to hit early next week that will once again close the roads and add another week or two to the avalanche warnings. Not wanting to get stuck in an avalanche we decided to avoid heading in on a trek. I was supposed to hear about a job offer at a bar in Queenstown but the manager didn't get back to me in time before Mark was leaving with his car relocation to Christchurch. If I stayed and waited the two weeks I might have made it into the treks but would have to work in a hostel bar for two weeks and then miss out on a lot of other things Mark and I wanted to do before he heads back. So after a second night in Lizzie I decided to give up on Fiordland and head back to Christchurch with Mark.
The plus side in Queenstown was in our wanderings we found an arena where they rented skates and sticks. They let us go out and play hockey for a few hours which put us in a much better mood. There was a family visiting from Australia and the Dad started talking to me about how interested his kid was in playing ice hockey. I found the kid a smaller stick and got him shooting and playing a bit and now have a standing offer of a place to stay in Australia...something to look into I guess.
We left for Christchurch in a huge truck we christened Samantha. She was manual so Mark drove for the majority of the first day, except when he decided I should learn. Trying manual for the first time on the left hand side of the road in a car that takes up a lane and a half was an interesting experience. I didn't stall at all but when we started getting into traffic and round-a-bouts I pulled over and let Mark deal with. One night spent in the truck and we arrived in Christchurch early this morning.
The sun was out for the first time, the temperature got near 20 degrees and we decided to just start walking. We walked about 25km outside Christchurch, including through the towns that got the worst of the earthquake, some of the buildings were condemned and on a slant still. We got tired a little after lunch and decided to try hitching our way further north, hopefully to Kaikoura.
Our first ride was in a Mini Cooper...we laughed when we saw the car about how there was no chance and in it pulled. He got us to the next town, one more ride to the next town and we were waiting with our thumbs out for about half an hour. Then the house pulled up.
Our last ride was not a mobile home, it was an actual house on wheels. It used to be a bus but the outside has been re-done with wood and painted purple, it includes a pointed roof, an attic/loft area over where the driver sits and a back porch. Inside was hardwood floors, wooden cabinets, walls, a desk and a woodburning stove. The guy driving has been in this caravan since 1997 and tours with a group that every weekend for 8 months does a festival/fair where they perform music, plays and other entertainment while selling things they find or make. He was an ultimate hippy. The inside the of the caravan looked like a passengers cabin on a ship from the 1800's but was filled with Bob Dylan album covers and pins, various crystal and bead trinkets, including a massive crystal on a piece of bone dangling various animal teeth. He also had a pitbull named Jego that was very friendly and excited to have passengers for the very long drive to Kaikoura (while extremely slow in terms of car speed, it moved faster then any house I have ever been in).
We arrived in Kaikoura as the sun was setting over the mountains, set up our tents and are planning to hitch up to Picton tomorrow where depending on when we arrive we can hopefully do the Queen Charlotte track before headed back to North Island.
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