16 June: Wow, it's been a minute since I wrote in my blog. Much has happened, many people have been met, new things have been done. I will try to move as chronologically as I can through the last month and a half.
Early May: I was staying with my friend BJ, her husband, Greg and their new born, Morgan. I did some work for about three weeks at YMCA Camp Yarramundi, which is located about ten minutes outside of Richmond. Richmond is a small town on the out skirts of the Sydney metropolitan area about an hour and twenty minutes from the center of Sydney by train.
I was doing mostly logistic support and maintenance for them. While I was there, I moved equipment and did some gardening. Some of it was hard, but it all paid off in the end. I met a lot of great people, and didn't want to leave. Working around little kids in a camp environment can be a little taxing at times, but very rewarding at other times.
When I wasn't working, I would go to the city center and surrounding areas to explore. I came to the conclusion very quickly that all the hype about Bondi Beach you may have ever heard, could be sadly mistaken. To me, it just seemed like another beach. However, perhaps I just didn't stay long enough. Also, it may be rather unfortunate that I am just not into the surfer culture.
Other places I explored in the area were the the center, George St, Darling Harbor, The Rocks, The City Harbor, where the Sydney Opera House is located, Manley, Newcastle and the Blue Mountains.
Sydney is a very nice city in my opinion. I had a great time while I was in the area. I think I have figured out that I enjoy less crowded areas. They city was great for a little while, but I really enjoyed exploring Katoomba and the surrounding area to include Springwood and Wentworth Falls.
From Katoomba I looked out over the Blue Mountains and the three sisters, a rock formation. I went for a hike on this trail form Katoomba and ended up in Wentworth Falls several hours later and after about 25kms. It was a beautiful day. I was all alone, walking through an endless eucalyptus forest in this big valley. It was very peaceful.
Late May: Because there was heavy rain in northern New South Wales, and southern Queensland, there was flooding. I didn't want to chance anything, so from Sydney, I flew to Brisbane. In Brisbane I met the sister and her boyfriend of a friend I had while I lived in Norway. I was great to see a semi-familiar face. I say semi-familiar because the last time I saw Hannah was eight years ago and she was fourteen at the time. Paul, her boyfriend was from New Brunswick. They met during a holiday in Thailand.
I wasn't feeling Brisbane. It didn't seem like there was all that much going on there. It was just another big city. I thought the best part was going for a run along the river. It was great. It was the first run I had done in nearly a month. I hadn't run since I was in Melbourne, so it was very nice.
I was planning on leaving Brisbane the next day. While I was walking out of the hostel, someone asked me if I wanted to work for a day moving office furniture. I told the receptionist that I would. So, Ingo, a German guy and I helped this big guy, Peter, haul furniture for that day. He paid us cash in hand which was nice. I didn't mind spending an extra day in Brisbane after that.
From Brisbane, I took the train to a swanky little town about two hours north of Brisbane, on the coast called Noosa Heads. While I was staying in a hostel there, I met two girls from Denmark. We hung out for a couple days because was were trying to decide if we were going to go on this sailing trip from Noosa to Airlie Beach. It would have been great, but the guy was a little too unorganized. We ended up scrapping the idea and just drove. They had a car so things were easy.
While I was in Noosa waiting, I went on a couple walks through the small national park they have there along the coast. I was great. I got to see koalas, not in captivity. The last night I stayed in Noosa, I slept in a park under a roof housing some BBQs.
The Danish girls, Lisa and Anne and I picked up a couple German guys along the way. They were quite interesting and had done a lot. One guys said that he had traveled over land from Germany to India which I thought would be amazing. Then, he said he lived in India for two years after that. Amazing.
We stopped for the night in a little place called Yepoon, which is on the coast, east of Rockhampton. The girls slept in the car, and the two Germans and I slept behind a building under an overhang. It was a great new way to travel. I wish I had other travel mates that wanted to travel like they did.
We left the two Germans in Yepoon per their request and continued north. We made it to Airlie Beach that night. I didn't want to pay for accommodation after those last couple nights. When I went to a hostel, they said that if I booked a Whitsundays cruise with their travel agent, I would get three free nights, so, I did. Of course, I'm sure I ended up paying for it with the cruise, but it seemed alright to me.
I spent nearly a week in Airlie Beach total. It was a nice place, but I was ready to get out of there. I hung out at the lagoon most of the time. I went running a couple days also. I met a Colombian guy, Tori, who had been in Airlie Beach for over a year. He had been at the hostel over two months.
Something strange about a place with a name like Airlie Beach. The beach there was one of the worst I've ever seen. That's why everyone hangs out at the lagoon. It's just a really big, nice, clean public pool where everybody congregates.
I'm pretty sure a majority of the temporary population of the East Coast of Australia is comprised of somewhere between 30% English or UK, 30% German, 10% Dutch, 10% Canadian, 10% Irish and 10% all other nationalities. That includes Americans in the all others. In the six out of eleven months that I have been traveling outside of the US and Canada, I have met the fewest number of Americans travelers. With a population of over 300 million, you'd think there would be more Americans traveling. I have met far more Israelis, Swedes, Norwegians and Danes traveling than Americans. Having forgotten to include the percentage of Japanese and Korean travelers in these numbers, changes them also. There are a lot of Asian travelers.
So, I went on a cruise around the Whitsundays for two day and two nights. I had a most amazing time. I met tons of great people. I saw some amazing things and got to do some diving as well. Most of the people on the boat were English. It was great. Everybody got along really well. The crew was excellent and the weather was brilliant.
We went to Whitehaven Beach which is a spectacular beach. It's sand is something like 98% silicon. It's white and it makes noise on your feet.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end though. We pulled into port and all split. We got together that night for drinks, but after that, it was really mostly over.
A couple days after that, I hitched up to Cairns. I didn't think I was going to make it in one day, but I did. I took the bus from Airlie Beach to the highway, then stood around for about 30 mins. A skinny, tattooed guy driving his mother home from the hospital picked me up and drove me about an hour north to Bowen. I waited around for another hour and a guy, Pete, picked me up and drove me about 20kms farther. He dropped me off in the middle of nowhere at a turn off he was taking. Less than five minutes later, a girls, Lucy and her boyfriend, Steph drove me to Home Hill. It was about 4:00pm and the sun was getting low. I was still south of Townsville.
As I was walking to the outskirts of town, I noticed a van across the road that had passed me two other times during the day. I thought it would be funny to talk to them, so I did. It was a Spanish girl, Rosa and an Aussie girl, Sarah who were driving an old hippie, painted Toyota van. It was packed full of stuff. They said that's why they didn't stop before. As we were talking they finally offered to drive me north. The three of us squished in the front seat and headed north. Then, they said they were actually headed to Cairns. So, I spent the next five hours in the van with Sarah and Rosa.
10 June: They said they were only going as far north as Gordanvale which was about 20kms south of Cairns. They were turning off the highway to visit a friend before a music festival. I said that's fine, so, they dropped me off and we went our ways. I was really tired to I was looking for a place to lay my head for the night. Five minutes later I heard a vehicle roll up, it was them again. They said, they were going to Cairns in the morning and that I should go to their friend's place with them. When we arrived, I was amazed. It was this huge beach house right on the bay. It was big and open and airy. I slept on a couch like seat on the veranda. It was so cool to wake up listening to little waves wash up on the coast. There wasn't much of a beach, but it was right one the water over looking the bay and Cairns.
Sarah drove me into the city that morning. Because Hannah and Paul were done with Brisbane, they said that I should meet them in Cairns as they were there for a few days before they headed to North America, the States and Canada. I hung out with them a couple nights and then got a good deal on a dive boat.
I went out to the Great Barrier Reef for three days and two nights. The crew and the people weren't nearly that same as the people were on the Whitsundays trip. But we were there for one thing, to dive. We ended up doing 11 dives in total. Two of them were night dives. That was an unforgettable trip. Who needs an aquarium when you have this?! It's amazing from 18m under the water. I saw fish and creatures you just didn't know were there. The colors are brilliant! The coral and the fish come in endless shapes and sizes. We saw sharks and string rays, turtles, I saw dolphins on the way out to the reef. So many different fish.
On the way out to the reef, a few people got sick as it was a bit choppy. That's when I decided that I think I was meant to be on the ocean. I want to work on a boat one day. I wish it could happen sooner than later, but it looks like it's going to be later.
The only person on the boat that I really sort of got to know was my dive buddy, Ben, an English bloke for Manchester. He was a big guy, and had a nice underwater camera setup. We talked about all the diving he had done and working in Port Douglas where I think I will head soon.
I don't have much more time here. I was going to not come home on my return flight because I got a working holiday visa for Australia, but I got a job with a American company back home, so I am coming home on 1 July as planned. I have less than two weeks left. I will probably head north to Port Douglas for a night or two and then maybe as far north as Cape Tribulation. I'm looking into a tour of Daintree National Park, which is supposed to be the oldest rainforest in the world and to have survived the last ice age. After that, I will probably head to Sydney briefly again to hang out with some friends. Then, I need to fly to Auckland, New Zealand where I get on the plane back to LA.
All good things must come to an end, but I'll be back here in a year. Well, I hope.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Thursday, April 30, 2009
1 May 09
23 April: I met my friend James at the train station in downtown Melbourne. It was great to see him because we hadn't seen each other since 2001. Before we even went back to his place, we met up with some of his friends, Dave and Stacey for dinner at the Vegie Bar on Brunswick St. I had a tasty burrito and a beer. Dinner was followed by some gelato that we got across the street.
24 April: Walked around in the center of the city again. Didn't really even see a whole lot. The weather was pretty crumby. Later that evening, James and I went to a couple parties at friends' places. This was the latest I had stayed up in a very long time.
25 April: Recovered from staying up too late. Later James' sister Georgie and I went to walk around the local Saturday flea market. I didn't buy anything because I already have enough stuff. It was ANSAC Day also. Which is kind of like Memorial Day for the States, so nothing was open.
Later that evening, we had dinner with Liz' (James' mother) sister, Angela and her husband Charles. We had steaks which were very tasty. This was the first actual steak I had eaten since between Christmas and New Year's of 2006. After dinner, James and I headed out again to another house party. That was fun, and we stayed up even later. I don't know that last time I stayed up until 4:00. It was actually kind of fun.
26 April: We didn't do anything. The weather was blah and there wasn't much going on so we just hund out at the house.
27 April: I went for a run for the first time since I was Te Anau. That was kind of refreshing. After my run I went into the city and checked out the Melbourne museum. They had the largest selection of bugs I think I have ever seen in my life. The only place that my have had more is the Museum of Natural History in New York City.
On my way back to the train station, I heard some jazz playing in Federation Square, so I headed over to see what was going on. The Melbourne Jazz Festival was going on, so I stood and watched Hoodangers play for about an hour.
Once I arrived back at James' place, they were getting ready to have Marie and her boyfriend (both coworkers of Liz) over for dinner. We had a lamb roast that was delicious also.
28 April: I went to the Queen Victoria Market this day to wonder around. It's pretty much a big flea market only instead of used things, they're new things. I ended up buying a new wallet. I have been looking for a wallet exactly like my old one for several months now and couldn't find anything. Then, out of the blue, there it was! Exactly like my old wallet.
I walked around a bit after that and walked to the Shrine of Remembrance. The Shrine is to honor all the fallen soldiers of Australia over the years. While walking back from the Shrine, I walked along the Botanic Gardens. I didn't go in, but they were still nice looking. I stopped at Federation Square again to watch FLAP! play for a bit before heading back to the house.
29 April: I went to the Center of Contemporary Photography with Georgie. It was really nice and it's nice to see the work of other people. It just reminds you how many, better photographers there are out there. Perhaps they're not better, they're just different.
After checking out the CCP, I went to the National Gallery of Victoria, International. Here I looked at some really old Egyptian and Oceanic artifacts. The more I see artifacts from Papua New Guinea, and the tribes in that area, the more I want to go there. We'll see what happens:)
30 April: I had a little bit of a head cold so I stayed in the whole day. I did go for a run later in the afternoon which felt really good believe it or not. Later, James and I had $4 pizza at some restaurant with Dave, Stacey and some other people he knows.
1 May: I won't be doing a whole lot today either. Just resting and recovering. I feel better than yesterday, but still not 100%. I fly to Sydney tomorrow to meet with another friend that I worked with more than 10 years ago at Camp Michigania. That will be pretty fun. She said she may have some work lined up for me, so I'm going to see what it's all about.
I decided to fly to Sydney instead of take the bus. It just doesn't make that much sense to me to pay AUS$77 to sit on a bus for 13hrs when I paid AUS$82 to sit in a plane for an hour and twenty mins. Does that make sense to you?
24 April: Walked around in the center of the city again. Didn't really even see a whole lot. The weather was pretty crumby. Later that evening, James and I went to a couple parties at friends' places. This was the latest I had stayed up in a very long time.
25 April: Recovered from staying up too late. Later James' sister Georgie and I went to walk around the local Saturday flea market. I didn't buy anything because I already have enough stuff. It was ANSAC Day also. Which is kind of like Memorial Day for the States, so nothing was open.
Later that evening, we had dinner with Liz' (James' mother) sister, Angela and her husband Charles. We had steaks which were very tasty. This was the first actual steak I had eaten since between Christmas and New Year's of 2006. After dinner, James and I headed out again to another house party. That was fun, and we stayed up even later. I don't know that last time I stayed up until 4:00. It was actually kind of fun.
26 April: We didn't do anything. The weather was blah and there wasn't much going on so we just hund out at the house.
27 April: I went for a run for the first time since I was Te Anau. That was kind of refreshing. After my run I went into the city and checked out the Melbourne museum. They had the largest selection of bugs I think I have ever seen in my life. The only place that my have had more is the Museum of Natural History in New York City.
On my way back to the train station, I heard some jazz playing in Federation Square, so I headed over to see what was going on. The Melbourne Jazz Festival was going on, so I stood and watched Hoodangers play for about an hour.
Once I arrived back at James' place, they were getting ready to have Marie and her boyfriend (both coworkers of Liz) over for dinner. We had a lamb roast that was delicious also.
28 April: I went to the Queen Victoria Market this day to wonder around. It's pretty much a big flea market only instead of used things, they're new things. I ended up buying a new wallet. I have been looking for a wallet exactly like my old one for several months now and couldn't find anything. Then, out of the blue, there it was! Exactly like my old wallet.
I walked around a bit after that and walked to the Shrine of Remembrance. The Shrine is to honor all the fallen soldiers of Australia over the years. While walking back from the Shrine, I walked along the Botanic Gardens. I didn't go in, but they were still nice looking. I stopped at Federation Square again to watch FLAP! play for a bit before heading back to the house.
29 April: I went to the Center of Contemporary Photography with Georgie. It was really nice and it's nice to see the work of other people. It just reminds you how many, better photographers there are out there. Perhaps they're not better, they're just different.
After checking out the CCP, I went to the National Gallery of Victoria, International. Here I looked at some really old Egyptian and Oceanic artifacts. The more I see artifacts from Papua New Guinea, and the tribes in that area, the more I want to go there. We'll see what happens:)
30 April: I had a little bit of a head cold so I stayed in the whole day. I did go for a run later in the afternoon which felt really good believe it or not. Later, James and I had $4 pizza at some restaurant with Dave, Stacey and some other people he knows.
1 May: I won't be doing a whole lot today either. Just resting and recovering. I feel better than yesterday, but still not 100%. I fly to Sydney tomorrow to meet with another friend that I worked with more than 10 years ago at Camp Michigania. That will be pretty fun. She said she may have some work lined up for me, so I'm going to see what it's all about.
I decided to fly to Sydney instead of take the bus. It just doesn't make that much sense to me to pay AUS$77 to sit on a bus for 13hrs when I paid AUS$82 to sit in a plane for an hour and twenty mins. Does that make sense to you?
Thursday, April 23, 2009
23 April 09
17 April: I didn't do a whole lot. I walked over to Baldwin St. which is supposed to be the steepest street in the world. Boy was it steep. I'm sure there are streets in San Fransisco that are pretty close to Baldwin St, but it must have that extra little steepness or something.
Later that evening I thought I took a tour of the Speight's Brewery. It's a nice brewery in the middle of the city. It's a little bit different than the Anheuser-Busch Brewery in St. Louis that I took back in 2005. It's pretty big, but not huge. Not to mention, the beer is much better than anything I think I have tried from Anheuser-Busch.
18 April: Amelie, a German girl I met earlier in my travels, took Cecilia and I to the Moeraki Boulders on our way to Mt. Cook. Moeraki Boulders are these strange boulders on the beach near the town of Moeraki. They are large and spherical. Some look like dinosaur eggs and have cracks all over them. They're pretty neat looking.
Amelie wasn't going the whole way to Mt. Cook so she dropped us off at the junction. Before she drove off, the most unexpected group of people picked us up, a Thai family in an RV on a family holiday. The closest I could get to pronouncing their names were Cha'ong and Ursá. I didn't catch the name of the son and daughter. They were really pleasant to ride with and we even got to stop and take some pictures.
Once we arrived at Mt. Cook village, I took off for the Mueller Hut. The hut was full, but the night was supposed to be good, so I camped outside the hut. It was quite the hike to the hut, about four hours strait up. It would have been pretty easy, but I had my whole backpack on which weighed about 25kg. I met a group of young people at the top. Debbie and Hugo were the two most talkative. It was great, they showed lots of interest in Alaska, so, we talked a lot about Alaska.
19 April: I woke up to a most spectacular sunrise. I couldn't have asked for much more, no wind, not too cold, a few clouds, serenity. It was something else.
About half way down the mountain, I ran into David, an English raised immigrant whose family ended up in San Fransisco area. We talked the rest of the way down the mountain and split when I told him I was doing to Hooker Valley Track. An hour and a half later, I arrived at the terminus of the glacier and stopped for a break. I had run into a family from the States who were visiting their son who was studying at university in Wellington. We chatted for a while and I continued.
Once I got back to the village, I had a quick lunch and had to get out of there. The second car that passed, stopped to pick me up. Marco from Switzerland picked me up. He said I was his first hitch hiker with his broken English. He said that he was going to Lake Tekapo and then Christchurch the next day. So, I got a lift to Lake Tekapo. The hostel where I wanted to stay was booked full. I could have gone to other places, but instead I decided that it was a quiet enough place to sleep on the beach. I didn't set up my ten or anything. I just slept under the stars in my sleeping bag. It was kind of nice.
20 April: Marco said he would drive me to Christchurch the day before because he was headed that way also. I met up with him and off we went. Less than three hours later, arrived in the city and we split.
Chirstchurch seemed like an all right place. It was clean, there were touristy things to do in the center of town, but other than that, it didn't seem like there was a lot happening. I stayed one night and decided to go to the little town of Akaroa out on the Banks Peninsula.
21 April: I took a shuttle bus out to Akaroa. It is a little town situated on an inlet. It's pretty touristy and it's claim to fame is that you can swim with dolphins. I didn't, but I did walk around a little instead. I met my Swiss friend Anett out there also. Because there wasn't a whole lot to do out there, I left the next morning.
22 April: I took off on foot about 8:00am. I walked about three or four kms. and got a ride for an older gentleman named John. Originally English, John has lived in New Zealand for the last 32 years. Although soft spoken, and at time difficult to hear over the noise of the car, we had a great conversation for the whole duration of the hour and a half trip from near Akaroa all the way to Christchurch. We talked mostly about the differences in New Zealand and English accents and the linguists behind how, what and why the English language has changed so much between all the different major English speaking countries in the world. It was nice to have an intriguing conversation with him. John was on the way to a Home Depot kind of store to pick up some plumbing supplies as his trade is a plumber. He just let me off at the warehouse parking lot and I was on my way. The last bit of dialogue was nice, “Thank you so much for the ride John. It was a pleasure riding with you”.
“The pleasure is mine, it was nice having some company for the ride”, he replied.
Once I returned to Christchurch, I didn't do a whole lot. I went to the museum and botanic gardens the day before, so I just walked around a bit more the second day I was there.
In the evening, I met up with Anett for sushi. That was fun because it was her first time eating sushi. After we parted ways, I met up with Ziv, as he was back in Christchurch. We had a couple of beers at a pub with a couple people from where he was staying.
23 April: I walked around a bit more just to look around. Not a whole lot happening on this day though. I was just waiting to get on my plane to Melbourne.
Later that evening I thought I took a tour of the Speight's Brewery. It's a nice brewery in the middle of the city. It's a little bit different than the Anheuser-Busch Brewery in St. Louis that I took back in 2005. It's pretty big, but not huge. Not to mention, the beer is much better than anything I think I have tried from Anheuser-Busch.
18 April: Amelie, a German girl I met earlier in my travels, took Cecilia and I to the Moeraki Boulders on our way to Mt. Cook. Moeraki Boulders are these strange boulders on the beach near the town of Moeraki. They are large and spherical. Some look like dinosaur eggs and have cracks all over them. They're pretty neat looking.
Amelie wasn't going the whole way to Mt. Cook so she dropped us off at the junction. Before she drove off, the most unexpected group of people picked us up, a Thai family in an RV on a family holiday. The closest I could get to pronouncing their names were Cha'ong and Ursá. I didn't catch the name of the son and daughter. They were really pleasant to ride with and we even got to stop and take some pictures.
Once we arrived at Mt. Cook village, I took off for the Mueller Hut. The hut was full, but the night was supposed to be good, so I camped outside the hut. It was quite the hike to the hut, about four hours strait up. It would have been pretty easy, but I had my whole backpack on which weighed about 25kg. I met a group of young people at the top. Debbie and Hugo were the two most talkative. It was great, they showed lots of interest in Alaska, so, we talked a lot about Alaska.
19 April: I woke up to a most spectacular sunrise. I couldn't have asked for much more, no wind, not too cold, a few clouds, serenity. It was something else.
About half way down the mountain, I ran into David, an English raised immigrant whose family ended up in San Fransisco area. We talked the rest of the way down the mountain and split when I told him I was doing to Hooker Valley Track. An hour and a half later, I arrived at the terminus of the glacier and stopped for a break. I had run into a family from the States who were visiting their son who was studying at university in Wellington. We chatted for a while and I continued.
Once I got back to the village, I had a quick lunch and had to get out of there. The second car that passed, stopped to pick me up. Marco from Switzerland picked me up. He said I was his first hitch hiker with his broken English. He said that he was going to Lake Tekapo and then Christchurch the next day. So, I got a lift to Lake Tekapo. The hostel where I wanted to stay was booked full. I could have gone to other places, but instead I decided that it was a quiet enough place to sleep on the beach. I didn't set up my ten or anything. I just slept under the stars in my sleeping bag. It was kind of nice.
20 April: Marco said he would drive me to Christchurch the day before because he was headed that way also. I met up with him and off we went. Less than three hours later, arrived in the city and we split.
Chirstchurch seemed like an all right place. It was clean, there were touristy things to do in the center of town, but other than that, it didn't seem like there was a lot happening. I stayed one night and decided to go to the little town of Akaroa out on the Banks Peninsula.
21 April: I took a shuttle bus out to Akaroa. It is a little town situated on an inlet. It's pretty touristy and it's claim to fame is that you can swim with dolphins. I didn't, but I did walk around a little instead. I met my Swiss friend Anett out there also. Because there wasn't a whole lot to do out there, I left the next morning.
22 April: I took off on foot about 8:00am. I walked about three or four kms. and got a ride for an older gentleman named John. Originally English, John has lived in New Zealand for the last 32 years. Although soft spoken, and at time difficult to hear over the noise of the car, we had a great conversation for the whole duration of the hour and a half trip from near Akaroa all the way to Christchurch. We talked mostly about the differences in New Zealand and English accents and the linguists behind how, what and why the English language has changed so much between all the different major English speaking countries in the world. It was nice to have an intriguing conversation with him. John was on the way to a Home Depot kind of store to pick up some plumbing supplies as his trade is a plumber. He just let me off at the warehouse parking lot and I was on my way. The last bit of dialogue was nice, “Thank you so much for the ride John. It was a pleasure riding with you”.
“The pleasure is mine, it was nice having some company for the ride”, he replied.
Once I returned to Christchurch, I didn't do a whole lot. I went to the museum and botanic gardens the day before, so I just walked around a bit more the second day I was there.
In the evening, I met up with Anett for sushi. That was fun because it was her first time eating sushi. After we parted ways, I met up with Ziv, as he was back in Christchurch. We had a couple of beers at a pub with a couple people from where he was staying.
23 April: I walked around a bit more just to look around. Not a whole lot happening on this day though. I was just waiting to get on my plane to Melbourne.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
17 April
27 March: We were still in Nelson so I decided to go for a run up to the Grandpian Viewpoint. What a view. From the top of this big hill, you could see the whole bay and Nelson below. Fantastic!
28 March: We took the bus from Nelson to Punakaiki. Talk about a wonder! This little gem is in the middle of nowhere on the coast of the Tasman Sea. People typically stop there to see what are called the Pancake Rocks. These are rock formations that the sea crashes against. When the tide comes in right, water sprays everywhere. What people don't often see in Punakaiki is the forest. Walking through the forest makes you wonder where you are. It looks like something strait out of Lord of the Rings. It's a rain forest in between the sea and mountains.
29 March: Took the bus to Fox Glacier. Met a Canadian, Kevin, who take 10 times as many pictures as I do. He was a great guy.
30 March: Kevin and I woke up early to catch a sunrise over Mt. Cook and Mt. Tasman reflecting off Lake Matheson. Later, Kevin was going skydiving, so I thought I would go too. What a rush!!! Jumping off bridges in Ecuador, jumping out of planes in New Zealand, what won't I do?
31 March: Kevin and I hiked up Mt. Fox which proved to be more demanding than either of us had anticipated. No problems though. We toughed it out for amazing views of the mountains and glaciers to our left and the sea to our right. That evening Andrea, a German girl she met, Kevin and I went to the beach, 22km from Fox Glacier, and took spectacular evening shots of the beach and this amazing lagoon. I've never seen water so still it was breathtaking. The bug, however, were not.
1 April: Andrea and I boarded the bus for Wanaka. The driver talked about every species of cow in New Zealand and the different grasses each of them eat. Wanaka is another little New Zealand gem. The first evening I walked up Mt.. Iron (549m) which gave nice views of the area. Then I went to Puzzling World which for anyone who has been to the Mystery Spot knows what this is about. It's just a bunch of wacky optical illusions and a big walk through puzzle. That evening Andrea and I went to the Paradiso, a cinema that has couches instead of seats. Half way through they shut the movie down for an intermission. When you get up for refreshments, they have fresh baked cookies waiting in the lobby.
2 April: I walked along the lake 6km to get to the Roy's Peak trail head. Then I headed up the side of this mountain 6km. From the summit of Roy's Peak (1578m) were awe inspiring views of Mt. Aspiring, Lake Wanaka and the surrounding area. Then I ran down the a ridge they call the Skyline Track 10km. I ended up a ways behind the city so I hitched a ride back to town with a man they call “Croc”. He said he was a hunter and had just finished some guided hunting trip. It was kind of funny, he still had blood on his hands. How creepy is that?
3 April: Didn't do a whole lot. I just ran along the lake.
4 April: Didn't do anything, just relaxed.
5 April: I ran up Mt. Iron. Then met this Israeli, Johnny, who further inspired me to go to Africa. Andrea, Johnny and I went to BBQ some local church was throwing down in the park. That was actually really nice.
6 April: Bussed to Queenstown. Now is supposed to be the city on the South Island for adreneline junkies. You can do anything there, jet boating, sky diving, bungi jumping, hang gliding, whatever suits you. The weather wasn't that great so we just walked around a bit. We met up with Urs, a Swiss guy I met in Auckland. We ate Mexican and then went to a cafe called Patagonia. It was great! Not to mention, they had FREE WIRELESS!!! This is nearly unheard of in New Zealand! Then we went out for drinks at a couple places. We met up with Anett who was also in town and a Swedish girl who I met in Wanaka, Mikaela.
7 April: Andrea and I hiked up Bob's Peak instead of taking the gondola. It was a little rainy, but still nice. We met an Israeli staying in our room, Ziv, who turned out to be someone I will remember for year to come. Ziv, Mikaela, Andrea and I went to Ferg Burger. Ziv got “The Big Al”. It was the biggest burger I've ever seen in my life. He ate it faster than I eat.
8 April: Didn't do a whole lot. Just got ready for hiking!
9 April: Andrea, Mikaela, Ziv and I started the Routeburn. It's a New Zealand great walk. A great walk it is! Absolutely stunning! Through forest and over apline. There was snow on the peak around us. It was 32km over three days. I would have run it if I had done it before to take all me pictures.
10 April: Taking picture of the ocean from Conical hill in the middle of the mountains.
11 April: Mikaela and I walked out earlier than Ziv and Andrea because I had a Milford Sound cruise to catch. I was supposed to get on a bus, but because Mikaela was hitching, I decided to hitch with her. We got a ride from a couple coming from Dunedin for the weekend, Richard and his girlfriend whose name I don't remember. We made a stop at this river to take a look before we headed to the Sound. So much water! Before we arrived at the sound we had to stop at a tunnel. I saw a Kea standing in the rain. The Kea is a bird. It's it only alpine parrot in the world. It is also endangered. Milford Sound was great, but I would have been better if it wasn't pouring rain! I took the bus to Te Anau after that. Mikaela was able to hitch a ride back with the same couple we got a ride in from.
12 April: Mikaela and I wanted to do something so we hitched out to Rainbow Reach on the Kepler Track with an older couple traveling from Melbourne. We walked to the Moturua Hut and back to
Te Anau along the river.
13 April: I ran from town to Bond Bay and back. That was the longest run I have done in years. As Forrest Gump would say, “I just felt like running.” I ran for a hour, forty minutes.
14 April: Cecilia, a girl from New York, Mikaela, Ziv and I drove to the Catlins. We headed south along the coast through Invercargill and had lunch. We stopped at Waipapa Point, Slope Point, which is the furthest south point of the South Island of New Zealand, and Curio Bay on our way to New Haven on Surat Bay where we stayed the night.
15 April: I woke up to take sunrise pictures along the coast. I was so excited I almost ran into a sea lion. After that, I was a little more cautious and decided I would just take pictures of them and not try to trample them. The beach I was walking on was long and open. I saw about 14 sea lions along the way. Then was drove to Cathedral Caves, Matai Falls, Purakaunui Falls and Nuggett Point. Boy how I love to ocean. That night I slept in my tent.
16 April: I woke up early again to walked along the beach. This time, when I reached the end, I saw one yellow-eyed penguin. We drove north toward Dunedin, but not the whole way. I Cecilia and I got out at Milton and hitched a ride to Dunedin with a local farmer, Jim. He talked about fishing, farming, everything. When we arrived, I just walked around Dunedin and got some things done.
To all who haven't ever traveled for a long period of time, I have had some interesting things run through my head. For those who have, perhaps you can relate. The biggest thing is a disconnection from reality. I haven''t quite achieved this yet, nor am I trying to disconnect from reality. But I have met some people who have been traveling for long periods of time. It's interesting to hear some of their ideas and ideals. The longer you are away from the things and the people you are most familiar with, slowly become obsolete and you begin a new way of life. The disconnection comes when you have been away for so long that you can no longer coupe or understand people around you who have close friends and routines and a certain number of material things I like to call toys! You know, the fun stuff, a bike, a skis, things like that.
It's a completely different way of life, a life based almost solely on survival. It's the life of a nomad. I haven't reached the point where I must work to live, but their are those who have. You work for a bit and move on to the next place. Then, you work for a bit to get to the place after that. When you stay a place you never really settle and you wonder what your next move should be. Objects in motion, tend to stay in motion, object at still, tend to stay still. It works with the vagabond also. You always feel like you need to be moving. You ask yourself, "where next?"
The thought of material possession makes you think differently about what you really need in life. Do you really need this thing? Can I live without that thing? Living out of a backpack isn't always easy, but it makes you wonder how many "things" one really needs. Even with a bag you will wonder what you can get rid of next to make it smaller, lighter. It's your life in a turtle shell.
28 March: We took the bus from Nelson to Punakaiki. Talk about a wonder! This little gem is in the middle of nowhere on the coast of the Tasman Sea. People typically stop there to see what are called the Pancake Rocks. These are rock formations that the sea crashes against. When the tide comes in right, water sprays everywhere. What people don't often see in Punakaiki is the forest. Walking through the forest makes you wonder where you are. It looks like something strait out of Lord of the Rings. It's a rain forest in between the sea and mountains.
29 March: Took the bus to Fox Glacier. Met a Canadian, Kevin, who take 10 times as many pictures as I do. He was a great guy.
30 March: Kevin and I woke up early to catch a sunrise over Mt. Cook and Mt. Tasman reflecting off Lake Matheson. Later, Kevin was going skydiving, so I thought I would go too. What a rush!!! Jumping off bridges in Ecuador, jumping out of planes in New Zealand, what won't I do?
31 March: Kevin and I hiked up Mt. Fox which proved to be more demanding than either of us had anticipated. No problems though. We toughed it out for amazing views of the mountains and glaciers to our left and the sea to our right. That evening Andrea, a German girl she met, Kevin and I went to the beach, 22km from Fox Glacier, and took spectacular evening shots of the beach and this amazing lagoon. I've never seen water so still it was breathtaking. The bug, however, were not.
1 April: Andrea and I boarded the bus for Wanaka. The driver talked about every species of cow in New Zealand and the different grasses each of them eat. Wanaka is another little New Zealand gem. The first evening I walked up Mt.. Iron (549m) which gave nice views of the area. Then I went to Puzzling World which for anyone who has been to the Mystery Spot knows what this is about. It's just a bunch of wacky optical illusions and a big walk through puzzle. That evening Andrea and I went to the Paradiso, a cinema that has couches instead of seats. Half way through they shut the movie down for an intermission. When you get up for refreshments, they have fresh baked cookies waiting in the lobby.
2 April: I walked along the lake 6km to get to the Roy's Peak trail head. Then I headed up the side of this mountain 6km. From the summit of Roy's Peak (1578m) were awe inspiring views of Mt. Aspiring, Lake Wanaka and the surrounding area. Then I ran down the a ridge they call the Skyline Track 10km. I ended up a ways behind the city so I hitched a ride back to town with a man they call “Croc”. He said he was a hunter and had just finished some guided hunting trip. It was kind of funny, he still had blood on his hands. How creepy is that?
3 April: Didn't do a whole lot. I just ran along the lake.
4 April: Didn't do anything, just relaxed.
5 April: I ran up Mt. Iron. Then met this Israeli, Johnny, who further inspired me to go to Africa. Andrea, Johnny and I went to BBQ some local church was throwing down in the park. That was actually really nice.
6 April: Bussed to Queenstown. Now is supposed to be the city on the South Island for adreneline junkies. You can do anything there, jet boating, sky diving, bungi jumping, hang gliding, whatever suits you. The weather wasn't that great so we just walked around a bit. We met up with Urs, a Swiss guy I met in Auckland. We ate Mexican and then went to a cafe called Patagonia. It was great! Not to mention, they had FREE WIRELESS!!! This is nearly unheard of in New Zealand! Then we went out for drinks at a couple places. We met up with Anett who was also in town and a Swedish girl who I met in Wanaka, Mikaela.
7 April: Andrea and I hiked up Bob's Peak instead of taking the gondola. It was a little rainy, but still nice. We met an Israeli staying in our room, Ziv, who turned out to be someone I will remember for year to come. Ziv, Mikaela, Andrea and I went to Ferg Burger. Ziv got “The Big Al”. It was the biggest burger I've ever seen in my life. He ate it faster than I eat.
8 April: Didn't do a whole lot. Just got ready for hiking!
9 April: Andrea, Mikaela, Ziv and I started the Routeburn. It's a New Zealand great walk. A great walk it is! Absolutely stunning! Through forest and over apline. There was snow on the peak around us. It was 32km over three days. I would have run it if I had done it before to take all me pictures.
10 April: Taking picture of the ocean from Conical hill in the middle of the mountains.
11 April: Mikaela and I walked out earlier than Ziv and Andrea because I had a Milford Sound cruise to catch. I was supposed to get on a bus, but because Mikaela was hitching, I decided to hitch with her. We got a ride from a couple coming from Dunedin for the weekend, Richard and his girlfriend whose name I don't remember. We made a stop at this river to take a look before we headed to the Sound. So much water! Before we arrived at the sound we had to stop at a tunnel. I saw a Kea standing in the rain. The Kea is a bird. It's it only alpine parrot in the world. It is also endangered. Milford Sound was great, but I would have been better if it wasn't pouring rain! I took the bus to Te Anau after that. Mikaela was able to hitch a ride back with the same couple we got a ride in from.
12 April: Mikaela and I wanted to do something so we hitched out to Rainbow Reach on the Kepler Track with an older couple traveling from Melbourne. We walked to the Moturua Hut and back to
Te Anau along the river.
13 April: I ran from town to Bond Bay and back. That was the longest run I have done in years. As Forrest Gump would say, “I just felt like running.” I ran for a hour, forty minutes.
14 April: Cecilia, a girl from New York, Mikaela, Ziv and I drove to the Catlins. We headed south along the coast through Invercargill and had lunch. We stopped at Waipapa Point, Slope Point, which is the furthest south point of the South Island of New Zealand, and Curio Bay on our way to New Haven on Surat Bay where we stayed the night.
15 April: I woke up to take sunrise pictures along the coast. I was so excited I almost ran into a sea lion. After that, I was a little more cautious and decided I would just take pictures of them and not try to trample them. The beach I was walking on was long and open. I saw about 14 sea lions along the way. Then was drove to Cathedral Caves, Matai Falls, Purakaunui Falls and Nuggett Point. Boy how I love to ocean. That night I slept in my tent.
16 April: I woke up early again to walked along the beach. This time, when I reached the end, I saw one yellow-eyed penguin. We drove north toward Dunedin, but not the whole way. I Cecilia and I got out at Milton and hitched a ride to Dunedin with a local farmer, Jim. He talked about fishing, farming, everything. When we arrived, I just walked around Dunedin and got some things done.
To all who haven't ever traveled for a long period of time, I have had some interesting things run through my head. For those who have, perhaps you can relate. The biggest thing is a disconnection from reality. I haven''t quite achieved this yet, nor am I trying to disconnect from reality. But I have met some people who have been traveling for long periods of time. It's interesting to hear some of their ideas and ideals. The longer you are away from the things and the people you are most familiar with, slowly become obsolete and you begin a new way of life. The disconnection comes when you have been away for so long that you can no longer coupe or understand people around you who have close friends and routines and a certain number of material things I like to call toys! You know, the fun stuff, a bike, a skis, things like that.
It's a completely different way of life, a life based almost solely on survival. It's the life of a nomad. I haven't reached the point where I must work to live, but their are those who have. You work for a bit and move on to the next place. Then, you work for a bit to get to the place after that. When you stay a place you never really settle and you wonder what your next move should be. Objects in motion, tend to stay in motion, object at still, tend to stay still. It works with the vagabond also. You always feel like you need to be moving. You ask yourself, "where next?"
The thought of material possession makes you think differently about what you really need in life. Do you really need this thing? Can I live without that thing? Living out of a backpack isn't always easy, but it makes you wonder how many "things" one really needs. Even with a bag you will wonder what you can get rid of next to make it smaller, lighter. It's your life in a turtle shell.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
26 March
12 March: My friend, Marcus, took me to Taupo for the night. He has a Aunt and Uncle that weren't home so we stayed with his cousin at there place.
13 March: We went mountain biking just outside Taupo in a place called “Craters of the Moon”. That was really fun. Once we arrived back in Rotorua, we went to the climbing gym for a bit. We didn't climb a whole lot because he wasn't feeling well, and I hadn't climbed in a while and got pumped out really quickly. That evening some of his friends took me to a place where they were having what they called “Cornevil”. Cornevil is a cornfield with a maze through it. I was great. We went through this maze at 10:00pm and there are people to scare you and all sort of Halloween things. That was really fun.
14 March: John took me to Turangi to climb up Mt. Ngaurahoe, aka “Mt. Doom” from the Lord of the Rings. We met with the Slovenian couple who stayed with them a few days prior. The views were great and the climb was quite demanding.
15 March: I got suckered into a flight seeing tour of the Mt. Ngaurahoe area. There were a few clouds, but it was still amazing.
16 March: I said goodbye to the older couple I was staying with in Turangi, Judith and Colin, and the Slovenian couple who were staying with them as well. I got on the bus and headed to Wellington.
I really like Wellington. They says it has better coffee than Seattle and more cafés, bars and restaurants than New York City per capita. Is it true, well, that may be a matter of interpretation or poor statistics, but they do have a lot. Wellington reminds me of San Fransisco. The landscape is hilly and the atmosphere seems energetic. There is a young crowd, as it is a university city and there is always something going on.
17 March: I took a tour of the Parliament and walked a lot around the city. Not to mention, this day was the first day I had run since I arrived in NZ. Because it was St. Patrick's Day, I drank a Guinness at an Irish Pub called Murphy's.
18 March: I went to the zoo and got to feed a giraffe. That was a lot of fun. Then I took the bus to the botanic gardens. After that, Andrea arrived in Wellington so we hung out the rest of the night.
19 March: Andrea and I just hung out and walked around all day. Then we started a little drink fest at 3:00pm. We didn't stop until 12:30. In the middle of this, We met up with a Couch Surfing friend, Ryan, at the Paramount Cinema for some movie trivia. I was the least help since I don't hardly watch movies.
20 March: Andrea and I hung out all day and walked around the city. We later met up with Ryan at a bar after he got out of work. That's when Andrea and I were randomly handed two rugby tickets. The game started in 15 minutes so, we took off. The game was fun, but I don't understand rugby so it was only okay.
21 March: We had brunch with some Ryan and some of his friends, then got on the ferry to Picton, which is on the South Island. If I had to describe Picton, it would be like Seward, Alaska only situated where Whittier is on Prince William Sound.
22 March: Andrea and I took a water taxi to a place out on Queen Charlotte Sound and did a 14km day hike between Ship Cove and Furneaux Lodge. I had actually considered taking a job there upon arrival. I don't think I will, but it was in a quiet, beautiful location on the sound.
23 March: Andrea and I hitched a ride to Spring Creek with a man named Ray. He seemed like a pretty good guy. He told us about his two kids that live in the States now. From Spring Creek, we got picked up by a Swiss couple in a station wagon heading to Nelson. We made it to Nelson, where we were headed.
24 March: We just hung out and relaxed. I went for a run the last couple of days. Later that evening, a German girl, Anett, who we actually met in Picton, and I went to see Slumdog Millionaire.
25 March: The three of us went for a hike/kayak in Abel Tasman National Park. It's a little more than what I want to spend, but it was will fun. Andrea and Anett had never kayaked, so it was worth it. We had a great day.
26 March: Today we are relaxing again. I went to the geographical center of New Zealand today. It's up on a hill about half a mile from out hostel. We are also going to decide where to go tomorrow as we are leaving Nelson.
13 March: We went mountain biking just outside Taupo in a place called “Craters of the Moon”. That was really fun. Once we arrived back in Rotorua, we went to the climbing gym for a bit. We didn't climb a whole lot because he wasn't feeling well, and I hadn't climbed in a while and got pumped out really quickly. That evening some of his friends took me to a place where they were having what they called “Cornevil”. Cornevil is a cornfield with a maze through it. I was great. We went through this maze at 10:00pm and there are people to scare you and all sort of Halloween things. That was really fun.
14 March: John took me to Turangi to climb up Mt. Ngaurahoe, aka “Mt. Doom” from the Lord of the Rings. We met with the Slovenian couple who stayed with them a few days prior. The views were great and the climb was quite demanding.
15 March: I got suckered into a flight seeing tour of the Mt. Ngaurahoe area. There were a few clouds, but it was still amazing.
16 March: I said goodbye to the older couple I was staying with in Turangi, Judith and Colin, and the Slovenian couple who were staying with them as well. I got on the bus and headed to Wellington.
I really like Wellington. They says it has better coffee than Seattle and more cafés, bars and restaurants than New York City per capita. Is it true, well, that may be a matter of interpretation or poor statistics, but they do have a lot. Wellington reminds me of San Fransisco. The landscape is hilly and the atmosphere seems energetic. There is a young crowd, as it is a university city and there is always something going on.
17 March: I took a tour of the Parliament and walked a lot around the city. Not to mention, this day was the first day I had run since I arrived in NZ. Because it was St. Patrick's Day, I drank a Guinness at an Irish Pub called Murphy's.
18 March: I went to the zoo and got to feed a giraffe. That was a lot of fun. Then I took the bus to the botanic gardens. After that, Andrea arrived in Wellington so we hung out the rest of the night.
19 March: Andrea and I just hung out and walked around all day. Then we started a little drink fest at 3:00pm. We didn't stop until 12:30. In the middle of this, We met up with a Couch Surfing friend, Ryan, at the Paramount Cinema for some movie trivia. I was the least help since I don't hardly watch movies.
20 March: Andrea and I hung out all day and walked around the city. We later met up with Ryan at a bar after he got out of work. That's when Andrea and I were randomly handed two rugby tickets. The game started in 15 minutes so, we took off. The game was fun, but I don't understand rugby so it was only okay.
21 March: We had brunch with some Ryan and some of his friends, then got on the ferry to Picton, which is on the South Island. If I had to describe Picton, it would be like Seward, Alaska only situated where Whittier is on Prince William Sound.
22 March: Andrea and I took a water taxi to a place out on Queen Charlotte Sound and did a 14km day hike between Ship Cove and Furneaux Lodge. I had actually considered taking a job there upon arrival. I don't think I will, but it was in a quiet, beautiful location on the sound.
23 March: Andrea and I hitched a ride to Spring Creek with a man named Ray. He seemed like a pretty good guy. He told us about his two kids that live in the States now. From Spring Creek, we got picked up by a Swiss couple in a station wagon heading to Nelson. We made it to Nelson, where we were headed.
24 March: We just hung out and relaxed. I went for a run the last couple of days. Later that evening, a German girl, Anett, who we actually met in Picton, and I went to see Slumdog Millionaire.
25 March: The three of us went for a hike/kayak in Abel Tasman National Park. It's a little more than what I want to spend, but it was will fun. Andrea and Anett had never kayaked, so it was worth it. We had a great day.
26 March: Today we are relaxing again. I went to the geographical center of New Zealand today. It's up on a hill about half a mile from out hostel. We are also going to decide where to go tomorrow as we are leaving Nelson.
12 March 2009
I have been in New Zealand for just over a week now. I haven't had much of a chance to write yet, as I have been very busy doing lots of things. I have been meeting a ton of great people also. So far, I haven't seen anything stunningly beautiful in NZ, but it is nice. Lots of green, rolling hills, and pastures. I am on the North Island right now in a town called Taupo for the night with a friend.
Day 1: I got pounced by a beagle at the airport waiting for my luggage. His owner was a Customs official. He asked if I had any fruit in my bag. I told him that I had just eatin a banana and that's probably what the dog smelled. Then he looked in my bag and I remembered that the airline gave me an plum sized apple. I said, "oh wait, I do have a little apple". He replied that had I not told him, I would have been in trouble and would have had to pay a fine. Good thing I remembered. Not like I was really trying to smuggle an apple into New Zealand. Heck, it probably came from New Zealand. Then I hung out with an English girl, Charlotte, whom I met at the airport. Went to the Skytower, Kelly Tarlton Antarctic Exhibition something or other.
Day 2 Hung out with Charlotte again for a bit then I did the Coast to Coast hike through Auckland. It's 10 miles from the Tasman Sea to the Pacific Ocean. Halfway through, I met a Swiss guy, Urs, who was also doing it, so we chatted the rest of the way and finished together.
Day 3: Didn't do a whole lot because it was raining, but hung out with a couple, Matt and Jess, from Auckland who I met in Otovalo, Ecuador.
Day 4: I went to Waitomo Caves, in a very, very quiet part of the country and went tubing through a cave full of glow worms. Chatted mostly with a German girl, Carina, then a Canadian girl, Jill, and a French guy, Paskel. We all went to the one bar in the village, Curly's ,for a few hours.
Day 5: Off to Rotorua, I stayed with a girl, Erin, I met in Norway as we were both exchange students at the same school back in 2000-1. We went to a BBQ. I stayed there (Erin's) one night, then I stayed with her parents for the next several nights where I met a guy from Philli, Chris.
Day 6: Still in Rotorua, hung out with Carina because she was in Rotorua a couple days as well. We walked around the town, along the lake and a place called sulfur point. Rotorua is a geothermal hot zone, so there are hot springs and vents through out the city. Then Erin had some people out to an Indian restaurant because she was leaving in a couple of days for Santiago, Chile to see South America for five months. Next night at Lorraine and John's (Erin's parents), I met a couple from Slovakia, Luca and Sasha.
Day 7: Carina persuaded me to go for a horse back ride. That was fun considering that I haven't been on a horse since I was 15. The people who owned the ranch, own the gray horse that starred in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. After that, I went mountain biking on some world class (to me) trails right in town with one of Erin's roommates, Morgan.
Day 8: Erin's mother drove her up to Auckland to get on her plane. I rode Erin's brother's mountain bike around Lake Rotorua, 26 mi (42 km). I took a nap after that. Later, Lionie, another roommate off Erin's, offered to take me to another BBQ. I met several more people there, in particular, Marcus who has been showing me much of the area in the last couple days.
Day 9: Marcus took me to Tauranga, on the Pacific Coast. It was nice, but VERY windy. We hiked up this little hill they have there. He wanted to do some rock climbing. I didn't have any climbing shoes, so I just went bare foot. It wasn't anything too difficult. He showed me how to make cheese and spaghetti toasties, and he exposed me to feijoa. That night I cooked the only thing I know for Lorraine and John, spaghetti. It wasn't the best, but I gave it my best. I suppose I haven't cooked it in a very long time though. After dark, Marcus took me to this place about 30 mins. south of town the locals call Hot & Cold. It's an area where a hot spring joins with a river. It's great! You just sit wherever you feel most comfortable, and it can get HOT!
Day 10: Marcus took me running and around Blue Lake (5 km), then for a swim in the clean, clear, cold water. On our way to Taupo we went to Wai-O-Tapu which they call a thermal wonderland. It was cool, but I've been to Yellowstone, that is better.
Tomorrow, we are going biking again. Back to Rotorua for a night and off again. I will be going to Taurangi with John to climb some mountain with a Maori name I can never pronounce, and then to Wellington, New Zealand's capital. I will be meeting with my friend Andrea, from Texas, who I met in Ecuador, and now NZ, but never in our own country. We will be touring around a bit together as we are both on similar plans, The No Plan Plan.
Things I have noticed since I've been here:
MUST look right, then left; not left, then right when crossing a road.
Sitting in the "passenger seat" aka the driver's seat to us.
Round-Abouts!!! These are ingenious, why can't the US use more of these?
Typically you see a yield and not a stop sign. Who needs to stop anyway?
Very narrow, winding roads. Mostly tar and chip.
Fuel starts at 91 octane. NZ$1.63/liter, X 3.785 (to make gallons) = NZ$6.17/gal / 2 (exchange rate) = US$3.09/gal not too bad.
Small cars!!! Do you really need your SUV or huge truck?
Internet sucks here for being a developed country.
Innovative and cool things, in order to have electricity in a hotel room, you stick your key card in this little device next to the door. That acts as a main power switch. Pull it out when you leave, otherwise you lock yourself out. Get it? Think about it, this ensures you turn the lights out when you leave your room. Very cool. Why can't we have things like that?
Cool toilets with a little button and a big button. Little is for little business and the big one, well... Conserve water with most flushes, brilliant!
2:1 exchange rate!!! Okay, so maybe it's not Southeast Asia or anything, but it's cheap! Maybe it's because things cost more in Alaska, but I find myself paying what I would at home, or less, only you cut it half half when you've converted it to US$. Cheap beer, cheap food, cheap rooms...
I'm only three hour behind Alaska, just a day ahead!
People recycle A LOT! They also compost A LOT! They turn off lights when not using them, they turn off water when not needed. They hang dry clothes.
They use these cool two drawer dish washers. You can wash one drawer and keep filling the other.
Not sure about a lot of the country, but Auckland seems to be VERY multicultural. LOTS of different people from all over SE Asia, India, other various parts of the world.
The 220 volt electricity uses a different power plug.
Words:
Our English - There English
hiking - tramping
trail - track
big truck - lorry
trunk - boot
wind shield - wind screen
sandals - jandals
rappelling - abseiling
dinner - tea
gas - petrol
...and many others.
These are a few things. I could probably ramble on longer if I wanted. But for now, that's it.
I hope everything is going well with everyone. I hope to hear from you soon,
Day 1: I got pounced by a beagle at the airport waiting for my luggage. His owner was a Customs official. He asked if I had any fruit in my bag. I told him that I had just eatin a banana and that's probably what the dog smelled. Then he looked in my bag and I remembered that the airline gave me an plum sized apple. I said, "oh wait, I do have a little apple". He replied that had I not told him, I would have been in trouble and would have had to pay a fine. Good thing I remembered. Not like I was really trying to smuggle an apple into New Zealand. Heck, it probably came from New Zealand. Then I hung out with an English girl, Charlotte, whom I met at the airport. Went to the Skytower, Kelly Tarlton Antarctic Exhibition something or other.
Day 2 Hung out with Charlotte again for a bit then I did the Coast to Coast hike through Auckland. It's 10 miles from the Tasman Sea to the Pacific Ocean. Halfway through, I met a Swiss guy, Urs, who was also doing it, so we chatted the rest of the way and finished together.
Day 3: Didn't do a whole lot because it was raining, but hung out with a couple, Matt and Jess, from Auckland who I met in Otovalo, Ecuador.
Day 4: I went to Waitomo Caves, in a very, very quiet part of the country and went tubing through a cave full of glow worms. Chatted mostly with a German girl, Carina, then a Canadian girl, Jill, and a French guy, Paskel. We all went to the one bar in the village, Curly's ,for a few hours.
Day 5: Off to Rotorua, I stayed with a girl, Erin, I met in Norway as we were both exchange students at the same school back in 2000-1. We went to a BBQ. I stayed there (Erin's) one night, then I stayed with her parents for the next several nights where I met a guy from Philli, Chris.
Day 6: Still in Rotorua, hung out with Carina because she was in Rotorua a couple days as well. We walked around the town, along the lake and a place called sulfur point. Rotorua is a geothermal hot zone, so there are hot springs and vents through out the city. Then Erin had some people out to an Indian restaurant because she was leaving in a couple of days for Santiago, Chile to see South America for five months. Next night at Lorraine and John's (Erin's parents), I met a couple from Slovakia, Luca and Sasha.
Day 7: Carina persuaded me to go for a horse back ride. That was fun considering that I haven't been on a horse since I was 15. The people who owned the ranch, own the gray horse that starred in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. After that, I went mountain biking on some world class (to me) trails right in town with one of Erin's roommates, Morgan.
Day 8: Erin's mother drove her up to Auckland to get on her plane. I rode Erin's brother's mountain bike around Lake Rotorua, 26 mi (42 km). I took a nap after that. Later, Lionie, another roommate off Erin's, offered to take me to another BBQ. I met several more people there, in particular, Marcus who has been showing me much of the area in the last couple days.
Day 9: Marcus took me to Tauranga, on the Pacific Coast. It was nice, but VERY windy. We hiked up this little hill they have there. He wanted to do some rock climbing. I didn't have any climbing shoes, so I just went bare foot. It wasn't anything too difficult. He showed me how to make cheese and spaghetti toasties, and he exposed me to feijoa. That night I cooked the only thing I know for Lorraine and John, spaghetti. It wasn't the best, but I gave it my best. I suppose I haven't cooked it in a very long time though. After dark, Marcus took me to this place about 30 mins. south of town the locals call Hot & Cold. It's an area where a hot spring joins with a river. It's great! You just sit wherever you feel most comfortable, and it can get HOT!
Day 10: Marcus took me running and around Blue Lake (5 km), then for a swim in the clean, clear, cold water. On our way to Taupo we went to Wai-O-Tapu which they call a thermal wonderland. It was cool, but I've been to Yellowstone, that is better.
Tomorrow, we are going biking again. Back to Rotorua for a night and off again. I will be going to Taurangi with John to climb some mountain with a Maori name I can never pronounce, and then to Wellington, New Zealand's capital. I will be meeting with my friend Andrea, from Texas, who I met in Ecuador, and now NZ, but never in our own country. We will be touring around a bit together as we are both on similar plans, The No Plan Plan.
Things I have noticed since I've been here:
MUST look right, then left; not left, then right when crossing a road.
Sitting in the "passenger seat" aka the driver's seat to us.
Round-Abouts!!! These are ingenious, why can't the US use more of these?
Typically you see a yield and not a stop sign. Who needs to stop anyway?
Very narrow, winding roads. Mostly tar and chip.
Fuel starts at 91 octane. NZ$1.63/liter, X 3.785 (to make gallons) = NZ$6.17/gal / 2 (exchange rate) = US$3.09/gal not too bad.
Small cars!!! Do you really need your SUV or huge truck?
Internet sucks here for being a developed country.
Innovative and cool things, in order to have electricity in a hotel room, you stick your key card in this little device next to the door. That acts as a main power switch. Pull it out when you leave, otherwise you lock yourself out. Get it? Think about it, this ensures you turn the lights out when you leave your room. Very cool. Why can't we have things like that?
Cool toilets with a little button and a big button. Little is for little business and the big one, well... Conserve water with most flushes, brilliant!
2:1 exchange rate!!! Okay, so maybe it's not Southeast Asia or anything, but it's cheap! Maybe it's because things cost more in Alaska, but I find myself paying what I would at home, or less, only you cut it half half when you've converted it to US$. Cheap beer, cheap food, cheap rooms...
I'm only three hour behind Alaska, just a day ahead!
People recycle A LOT! They also compost A LOT! They turn off lights when not using them, they turn off water when not needed. They hang dry clothes.
They use these cool two drawer dish washers. You can wash one drawer and keep filling the other.
Not sure about a lot of the country, but Auckland seems to be VERY multicultural. LOTS of different people from all over SE Asia, India, other various parts of the world.
The 220 volt electricity uses a different power plug.
Words:
Our English - There English
hiking - tramping
trail - track
big truck - lorry
trunk - boot
wind shield - wind screen
sandals - jandals
rappelling - abseiling
dinner - tea
gas - petrol
...and many others.
These are a few things. I could probably ramble on longer if I wanted. But for now, that's it.
I hope everything is going well with everyone. I hope to hear from you soon,
Thursday, January 1, 2009
18 Dec, Quilatoa Loop
I slept, but not the greatest as Chugchilán is pretty high in elevation. I got up and got ready. Soon after I got up I heard the air horn of the bus letting everyone know that it was there. As I headed toward the bus, Mama Hilda had made bags of popcorn for us to take as a snack on the bus. She is such a sweet old, indigenous lady.
We all got on the bus and headed toward Quilatoa. The thing about Quilatoa, not only is it a beautiful area, but there is a crater there. That´s the big deal. I didn´t think we were going to be able to see it because during the whole bus ride, it was cloudy.
We arrived in Quilatoa, walked through the quiet village and went to the crater. When we got to the edge I could hardly believe it. There wasn´t one cloud in the crater. I was a magnificient view. A blue lake in the middle of this steep walled crater in the middle of nowhere. It was great. We took some pictures and headed down to the lake. Once at the bottom, we were greeted by indigenous man who promptly offered to rent kayaks to us. We told him that we were planning on doing to the hike Chugchilán from there. There insisted that instead of hiking back out of the crater and then along the rim to get to the trail, we paddle across the lake and head up the other side of the crater to the lake.
I thought it sounded like a great idea, so we did. The had a raft that everybody paddled in, and Erin and I took a two man kayak. Bummer thing was, he ran out of paddles so I used this paddles carved out of a log. It probably weighed close to 15 or 20 lbs. I didn´t get far and I was struggling. It was part of the fun though. More fun included having to tow the raft. He didn´t want us going to far ahead so he tied us to the raft. We ended up pulling them.
We arrived on the other side and $2 later, we were free. Tamara didn´t go on the hike becuase she wasn´t feeling well. She decided to go back with the man, walk out of the crater and take the bus back to Chugchilán.
There wasn´t anything in that crater except the one man with the rafts and a potatoe field on where we where hiking. I´m not sure why anyone would put potatoes in a crater miles away from anything, but someone did.
We started up the side of the crater, through the field of potatoes and the girls were getting a little scared. I was loving it, but they thought there was actually going to be a trail. There was a little one, from whoever was growing the spuds, but it was very steep and they didn´t like it.
We got to the top and what do you know, we couldn´t see anything because the clouds were so thick. Just as we started down, however, it was like someone knew we were coming and moved them out of the way for us. We could see for miles and more importantly, where we were going.
We hiked down along a line of eucaliptus trees and through some farms. We came to the small village of Guayaba. Some little kids ran over to us and wanted us to take their picture. After we took them, one said, "paga, paga" which means pay, pay. We didn´t, and we moved along. We stopped to eat some lunch around the corner in a shady area and took a break.
Thirty minutes or so later, and we came to a cayon that we had to cross. This was really cool becuase there was this tiny little trail that went into the cayon. Down, down, down we went along the windy trail along the side of the cayon. We crossed a little stream and then back up. Up, up, up and about a hour later and we arrived back in Chugchilán. It was a great hike of about eight hours and probably no more than six miles. We all had a great time thought and didn´t get attacked by any dogs or anything.
A got cleaned and rested up and hung out before dinner. I met a cool guy and a work partner of his in the common room. His went by "Dups", with parents from Sri Lanka, he was from St. Johns, New Foundland and lived lived in Montreal. He was there for work. The woman he was working for, well, I don´t remember her name. But she was Dutch and worked for the school in Chugchilán.
They over heard me talking about how I had to leave the next morning to get to the highway to meet with Natura and Michael and we were heading north or Quito the next day to a little place called Mindo. They said that instead of taking the bus, they would drive me to the highway in the morning as they had to pickup some supplies in Ambato anyway.
I gladdly accepted the offer, if not for the sake of being able to get two more hours of sleep, to have someone to talk to. They said, "you can go with us, but you can´t be out at the Jeep any later than 06:15." I didn´t mind.
We all got on the bus and headed toward Quilatoa. The thing about Quilatoa, not only is it a beautiful area, but there is a crater there. That´s the big deal. I didn´t think we were going to be able to see it because during the whole bus ride, it was cloudy.
We arrived in Quilatoa, walked through the quiet village and went to the crater. When we got to the edge I could hardly believe it. There wasn´t one cloud in the crater. I was a magnificient view. A blue lake in the middle of this steep walled crater in the middle of nowhere. It was great. We took some pictures and headed down to the lake. Once at the bottom, we were greeted by indigenous man who promptly offered to rent kayaks to us. We told him that we were planning on doing to the hike Chugchilán from there. There insisted that instead of hiking back out of the crater and then along the rim to get to the trail, we paddle across the lake and head up the other side of the crater to the lake.
I thought it sounded like a great idea, so we did. The had a raft that everybody paddled in, and Erin and I took a two man kayak. Bummer thing was, he ran out of paddles so I used this paddles carved out of a log. It probably weighed close to 15 or 20 lbs. I didn´t get far and I was struggling. It was part of the fun though. More fun included having to tow the raft. He didn´t want us going to far ahead so he tied us to the raft. We ended up pulling them.
We arrived on the other side and $2 later, we were free. Tamara didn´t go on the hike becuase she wasn´t feeling well. She decided to go back with the man, walk out of the crater and take the bus back to Chugchilán.
There wasn´t anything in that crater except the one man with the rafts and a potatoe field on where we where hiking. I´m not sure why anyone would put potatoes in a crater miles away from anything, but someone did.
We started up the side of the crater, through the field of potatoes and the girls were getting a little scared. I was loving it, but they thought there was actually going to be a trail. There was a little one, from whoever was growing the spuds, but it was very steep and they didn´t like it.
We got to the top and what do you know, we couldn´t see anything because the clouds were so thick. Just as we started down, however, it was like someone knew we were coming and moved them out of the way for us. We could see for miles and more importantly, where we were going.
We hiked down along a line of eucaliptus trees and through some farms. We came to the small village of Guayaba. Some little kids ran over to us and wanted us to take their picture. After we took them, one said, "paga, paga" which means pay, pay. We didn´t, and we moved along. We stopped to eat some lunch around the corner in a shady area and took a break.
Thirty minutes or so later, and we came to a cayon that we had to cross. This was really cool becuase there was this tiny little trail that went into the cayon. Down, down, down we went along the windy trail along the side of the cayon. We crossed a little stream and then back up. Up, up, up and about a hour later and we arrived back in Chugchilán. It was a great hike of about eight hours and probably no more than six miles. We all had a great time thought and didn´t get attacked by any dogs or anything.
A got cleaned and rested up and hung out before dinner. I met a cool guy and a work partner of his in the common room. His went by "Dups", with parents from Sri Lanka, he was from St. Johns, New Foundland and lived lived in Montreal. He was there for work. The woman he was working for, well, I don´t remember her name. But she was Dutch and worked for the school in Chugchilán.
They over heard me talking about how I had to leave the next morning to get to the highway to meet with Natura and Michael and we were heading north or Quito the next day to a little place called Mindo. They said that instead of taking the bus, they would drive me to the highway in the morning as they had to pickup some supplies in Ambato anyway.
I gladdly accepted the offer, if not for the sake of being able to get two more hours of sleep, to have someone to talk to. They said, "you can go with us, but you can´t be out at the Jeep any later than 06:15." I didn´t mind.
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