90 Mile Beach and the Cape

We're staying at a lodge in Houhora, it's actually more like a B & B. It's a beautiful house with huge vaulted ceilings and large windows. We woke up and had a lovely breakfast at 7:30. There was toast, cereal, poached eggs, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes and avocado. Delicious. Then we drove up to Cape Reinga. We got up to the Northernmost part of the Island and saw the lighthouse. The 800Pohutukawa tree was sticking off the edge of one of the cliffs. According to maori legend it's the leaping off point for their dead spirits. Also at the Cape you get to see the Tasman Sea from the West meeting with the Pacific Ocean from the East. The Tasman Sea is a teal color and the Pacific Ocean is a darker blue.

Then we drove to the Giant Sand Dunes of 90 mile beach. Leigh and I climbed up some of the dunes and slid down on boogie boards. Unfortunately, even on the extremely steep sand dunes, you don't slide that quickly and you start to slow down super fast. Before sliding down the dunes are intimidatingly steep. After climbing the dune and sliding down a few times we gave up and just sat on the dunes for a bit. We couldn't see the ocean because the dunes in front of us were so high. By the time we left, my shoes were filled with sand and my skin was covered in sand. My pant's cuffs were rolled up while we were at the dunes and when I unrolled them, tons of sand fell out. It was just like that scene from "The Great Escape" when they sneak dirt out from the escape holes in their pant legs. We left and went to buy some ice cream from a general store. It was awesome, we got waffle cones with boysenberry ice cream.

Then we went to Rarawa beach to see the silica sand beaches. They were crunchy. I took a

picture of my footprint because it reminded me of a tar heel.

After we got back to the Lodge, Bruce, the owner, took us down to 90 mile beach in his 4wd SUV. We had a fun chat and talked about shellfish and ambergris. Ambergris is to a spermwhale as a hairball is to a cat. It's apparently something spermwhales hack up and it's something lucky people can find once it has washed up on the shore. Bruce said perfume companies pay between $4-$8 per gram. They use it to neutralize the alcohol in the perfume. Some local dude once found a hunk that was worth $45,000. We drove up and down a bit of 90 mile beach and we didn't get stuck. It was low tide when we drove on the beach. Bruce said that between 6 and 12 cars per year get stuck and then buried once the tide comes in. The nearby forests house lots of wild horses. Unfortunately, we weren't able to see wild horses. They totally symbolize the wildness of Diane Lane's heart.

Also while driving from place to place there were a lot of sheep farms with giant pastures and Leigh kept seeing baby sheep, getting distracted and almost driving off the road. Good times.

It's almost 8 pm and I'm about to crash so peace out.

Cheers,

Molly

Also 90 mile beach is actually 65 miles long. They used horses to measure distances and knew that on average, it would take a horse a day to go 30 miles. However, they didn't take into account that moving through sand is more difficult than normal hills and is going to tire out the horse quicker. So it took the average horse 3 days to get down 90 mile beach even though it was actually only 55-65 miles long.

Failure 2.0

So clearly I did what most people expected me to do, I stopped writing on here. Most likely the few who read this in the beginning have stopped checking it, so my apologies go out into the universe and hopefully I'll get a little credit for at least putting it out there.

Quick synopsis. After leaving Hanmer Springs, I drove up to Orewa which is located a little North of Auckland and crashed at Leigh and Seiger's house. It's a really amazing place with a sheep named Snowy. I've tried to make myself useful around their house: a bit of yard work, some painting, wallpapering and such, you get the general idea.

Gordon left and went back home. I stayed in Orewa and house sat while Leigh and Seiger went to the US and then to London for 3 weeks. After they got back I lived in Seiger's daughter's old room. Leigh and Seiger are the best and I've had an amazing time in Orewa. I spent a lot of my time reading, walking or running on the beach, relaxing and hanging out. I tried bikram yoga, spin class and resistance pilates. Surprisingly enough, none of them were my style.

I also made a bunch of random friends through couchsurfing and I swear I saw one of them on one of New Zealand's tv shows called Noise Control. It's a tv show similar to Cops, but obviously it only deals with noise violations. Yes, it's a great bunch I'm meeting here, but seriously, they're good people even if they are mostly Kiwis. Once again, just kidding, all the Kiwis I've met here been fantastic people.

A few weeks ago I put out a help beacon on Couchsurfing to see if anyone wanted to participate in the Russell Birdman Festival. I got a few responses and the week before the Festival I drove up to Whangarei and worked on my entry with 4 other people. I stayed with a couple, Karen and Colin and we worked to create the entries with another couple, Aaron and Morgan. We watched a lot of world cup and got up at ridiculous wee morning hours to see the games. We constructed our giant kites out of bamboo which the guys cut down from a nearby park and old curtains which Morgan sewed to the bamboo structures. Then we all took turns making little bows to attach as the tail and painted the backs of both kites.

Then the next week rolled around and I carpooled up with an Australian named Michael and an American named Cassie. We watched the All Blacks test match and tried to figure out the rules of rugby, no luck, but at least it's more interesting than cricket.

The next morning we left for the Festival. We were unable to partake in any of the other activities for one reason or another: the spaghetti eating contest, dinghy boat race, bbq cook off and the like. It was sad, but Aaron and I did get to jump in the water in our matching North Power jump suits, courtesy of Colin who actually works for North Power. I also made a red mask that looked kind of like the mask in the Princess Bride.

We ran down the wharf to the song "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite" by the Beatles. An appropriate choice considering Aaron and I both had giant people sized kites. Though I suppose our matching blue and orange jump suits and my red face mask didn't really match the kite idea.

One website I found said that in winter the ocean water temperature in Russell is a balmy 18 C. So the water was the type to knock the wind out of you on contact. So you run down the wharf, jump in the water, jettison your entry so you don't drown and then rescue swimmers make sure you make it to the pick up boats which swoop in quickly. Fun times in Russell.

For more Russell Birdman Festival info, you can see their website http://www.russellbirdman.co.nz/

I went to the Mustang Saloon with a new friend to celebrate the 4th of July with other expats. I don't know why but I really enjoyed meeting up with other Americans to celebrate our Independence. They had a US menu that day and I had nachos.

Leigh, Seiger, Megan (Sascha's girlfriend and Sascha is Seiger's son) and I went to the the theaters to see Inception. What an awesome movie. We saw it on opening night and there were only about 3 or 4 other people in the theater. Small towns rock!

Now I'm in the Northland right now on a road trip with Leigh. We stopped by Tane Mahuta which is the largest Kauri tree and it's supposedly about 2000 years old. So this seedling was hanging out with Jesus.

Then we went to the Wairere Boulders. A nifty place with sweet as volcanic boulders and lots of moss. There was a no entry area that Leigh wouldn't let me go into. Some of the formations (cuts) were have been caused by acidic soil from kauri trees that used to grow in the forest. Weird, but sweet geological formations.

Tomorrow we're going sandboarding i.e. hurling ourselves down sand dunes on top of boogie board. Then we're driving up to the tip of Cape Reinga to watch the Tasman Sea meet the Pacific Ocean, check out the light house and find the 800 year old Pohutukawa tree which is the leaping off point for spirits in Maori Legend.

I'll try to keep up with this a bit more as I'm approaching my exodus from the country. I'm leaving Aug 22, but on Aug 7 I'll be joined by my buddy, Emily and then Aug 12, Jon will arrive and we'll be driving off into the New Zealand sunset. No really, we're going on a whirlwind tour of the North Island complete with a rugby game and glow worms.

Also I went gambling at the Sky Tower in Auckland. I played for 20 minutes with $10 dollars and ended up winning $115. Then I went back the next day and lost $440. I've learned my lesson and I'm not going to gamble anymore. I've been berated many times by many different people.

Cheers until next time,

Molly

Also I'm on "M" in my iTunes list by artist. I'd like to thank my tenacity.

iTunes Library

A few days ago, I think on Thursday, May 13, at least that's when I posted it on my facebook status, I decided to listen to my entire iTunes Library in alphabetical order according to Artist name. To understand the gravity of this situation let me explain the size of my iTunes list. It's 6,109 songs, 15.7 days, 29.14 GB.

I realized that I have not listened to every song that I own. This is ridiculous. If I've never listened to it then it's just wasting my precious computer space. It's strange, but having programs I don't use or random useless things on my computer really bothers me. I like to run a tight ship when it comes to the old laptop.

How did I get music that I don't listen to? Simple, people have given me music over the years. I've gotten entire albums for just a few songs. This means I didn't end up listening to all the songs. I'm sure there are other ways that music has crept into my iTunes Library. Those two examples are just the most likely scenarios. I like to have complete albums, it's definitely part of my completion-ist attitude. It's part of the problem, not the solution. Once I get over that I'll be able to delete the songs I don't like while keeping the ones that I do enjoy.

What am I accomplishing? I'm basically spring cleaning and organizing. I'm starting to rate the songs that I really enjoy with the star system provided in the Library. I'll debate whether or not to delete music, but I probably won't delete anything. I'll make a note and transfer it to my external hard drive when I get home. I'm a music pack rat. I worry that I'll regret deleting some song or album because I'll really want to listen to it or need it one day. I also have a lot of songs that are incomplete and just cut out so by listening to each song I'll be able to weed out the songs that end half way through. I also have a lot of duplicate songs because they appear on different albums and some were just singles that I acquired on their own. This means I have 3 copies of Aretha Franklin's Respect, one from the Forrest Gump Soundtrack, one from the Very Best of Aretha Franklin and just a stand alone single. If I can get over my completionist attitude then I should be able to delete all, but one of these. This is asking a lot because what if I end up wanting to listen to the Forrest Gump soundtrack and I've deleted Respect from there, but kept it in the Very Best of Aretha Franklin? I'll miss out on that song while listening to the soundtrack. I wish iTunes would allow you to double flag songs, that would make this easier. So when I searched for the Forrest Gump album it would show up and when I searched for the Very Best of album it would also show up, but there would only need to be one copy in my Library.

I read, draw and play online while listening to the music. Just so you don't think I'm sitting in a yoga position and focusing entirely on the music. That would be crazy.

I'm currently on The Beach Boys and I have 1, 026 songs where the Artist's name begins with an "A" or a "B". So it's going to be a long journey. I think I'm going to ding dong ditch the Beach Boys into my external. I don't know why, but I always feel like I should like them, but I just don't. Since I own 62 of their songs, I'll kick all but a few choice songs off of my computer.

So I sign off listening to Student Demonstration Time by the Beach Boys.

Working Inn Hanmer

It's way past time to dust off the old blog keyboard. Though the previous sentence suggests that I have a special blog keyboard that is used only for AKFA or that I haven't used my computer since the last blog entry. Now I'm just stalling for time, trying to come up with something interesting to blog about. Apparently when I'm no longer adventuring like the Dread Pirate Roberts, I dread the blog because I know I will only end up filling it inanities. So here goes.

The "In" is intentionally misspelled in the title as I am now working at an Inn in Hanmer Springs and have been working since March 15, 2010. I set out breakfast in the morning. I wash dishes. I clean rooms. Occasionally I work around their house and apartment. Sometimes I clean the holiday homes. I also clean around the hotel. It's every bit as mundane as it sounds, but it's a job. I believe it was Emily P. that once told me that you can do anything for six months. That's what got me through the AICPA and the same phrase is getting me through this. I work 7 days a week, but I also get a place to stay by working 14 hours a week. When the hotel isn't busy we get our own rooms in the hotel, but since it's full at the moment, we're staying upstairs at the family's house.

I used to work just with Gordon and occasionally Karen, a kiwi who also works at the local vet office, but now there's a new German fellow named Eno. Nice to have someone new around.

Hanmer Springs: Wikipedia says that the 2006 census put the Hanmer Springs population at 729 people. This is a mini resort town where people come to relax in the thermal pools. There are two fish and chip shops, a slew of hotels/inns and various accommodations and that's about it. I have cabin fever and the only prescription is getting out of here. I'm looking forward to August because two Chapel Hillians are coming to visit! Hoorah!

More Kiwi-isms:

"Good as gold" - instead of using great or good, insert this phrase.

Example: Got everything you need? Yes, I'm good as gold.

McDonalds - They call it mackers.

"Tea" - They drink it here, but they also call dinner, Tea. Go figure.

There's something akin to an air raid siren that goes off every now and then. I might have mentioned this same peculiarity in a previous blog back when I was in Takaka. They use it here every Tuesday to run fire drills, but it also goes off every time there's an actual emergency. I checked and it turns out they used to use only the siren, but now the fire people have pagers too. When there's an emergency the siren sounds and continues blasting for a long time, cars driven by the firefighters race to the station and then they take off in their fire engine. A few days ago we had our fire alarm go off for no reason. The alarm went off and this triggered the siren at the fire station which is located right next door to the Inn. A few minutes later the truck left the station and promptly pulled into the Inn parking lot. On a completely random note, there was a really cute fireman. Talk about being happy about stereotypes that turn out to be true. Just kidding, I didn't dwell too much on the cute fireman because it was pretty annoying to sit outside and have nothing to do.

I had a wrist injury about a month ago. It was probably from repetitive stress and half my right hand went numb and the wrist itself was quite swollen and tender for many days. We got some anti-inflammatory gel, a few wrist guards and I switched the hand I used to clean. Now I'm good as gold again.

The weather is starting to change. It's the kind of cold where you can feel that the outer part of your jacket is cool, but the inside is still warm. In the mornings my car windows are covered in frost. By the afternoon, the temperature has warmed up, but come evening the temperature drops fairly rapidly. Soon it will be winter and the nearby ski slopes will open. I'm looking forward to some boarding and then a relaxing soak in the thermal pools. I hear the best time for the thermal pools is when it snows. Imagine relaxing outside in the warm pools surrounded by heaps of snow.

I'm starting to plan my North Island Adventures. The first part will be with Gordon, but then he will leave because his visa is up at the end of July. Then mis amigos de Carolina del Norte will arrive and I will continue my North Island travels. After that I'll be heading home to attend weddings, get a job and plan my next adventure. Yes, that is multiple weddings, three at the moment, but who knows who else will get engaged between now and then.

I was having a good time watching the West Wing online, but then it turns out Gordon and I used up all the internet and then some at the Inn. It's impressive because I think they have like 350 gigs a month, but like I said earlier, we don't really have a lot to do here. This is an illustration of how ridiculous we are and how much I miss the unlimited internet back in the States. Heaven forbid if they ever change that.

I'm definitely lactose intolerant. What this means is that I still drink milk, but now I'm certain that it will make me feel bad later. Intolerant is a harsh word. I like to think that I'm a fairly open-minded person about most things, dairy included. So let's call it Molly's dairy discord. Doesn't that seem nicer with a lovely ring of alliteration?

There's a wedding this weekend so the work is about to become insane.

Kiwi-Molly says Kia Ora.

Kahurangi National Park Off Route Tramp

Kahurangi tramp

Got a little beta before the trip, but I wasn't able to get that much information from the DOC office in Takaka. I spoke to one DOC lady who had gone to Mt. Olympus the weekend before, but I didn't have a map and she hadn't gone the same track we were planning. So it was sort of useful, but I was just glad to hear that I probably wouldn't die out there.

2 packs

Just enough food for 5 days and 4 nights though we were hoping to do it in 4 days and 3 nights

1 map

1 compass

1 GPS unit

2 intrepid travelers

We got a late start and drove from Takaka to the start of the Boulder Lake Track. We started walking around 12 on a walk that was supposed to take 7-8 hrs. A lot of the walk was uphill. I prefer sprinting downhill to walking uphill. Gordon was out of my sight for a lot of the walk and I scrambled along after him. We stopped for a bit of lunch and a few water breaks. The walk was through jungle, a saddle, a really exposed rocky area and a ridiculous downhill to the lake. When we got to the hut there was already a pair of trampers there. We rested and had a

nice dinner from a bag.

The next day we got an early start at about 7:30 and walked off through a marshy saddle. It was a relief to get through the marsh which was full of poke your eye out grasses, huge holes and spongy wetlands. Walking through the marsh made me want to give up. I kept falling into hidden holes, stepping in puddles which soaked my shoes and socks and running my eyes into grass. Finally we made it out of the marsh, back onto the track and up out of the saddle to the top of the ridge connected with Clark peak. This is the moment when we left the track. It was pretty windy, cloudy and almost rainy up on top of the ridge which felt ominous before Gordon and I descended the hill into the trees. We found the creek at the bottom of the ravine and it was really dense walk hopping. We had to leap from rock to rock while dipping and diving underneath boughs and trying not to fall into the creek. It was really difficult because the forest was really dense on both sides of the river, but it was also hard to move through the river while remaining dry. We had only walked for about 45 minutes and then we reached a 20 meter waterfall. So Gordon and I had to climb down with rocks, trees and bushes. It was slightly terrifying because we didn't have anyway to safety up with and we were already off balance with our packs. After we scrambled down the cliff, my first concern was how we were going to get back up on the way home and then I decided that it was best to not consider it.

We struggled down the creek until it finally met up with the Clark river. Then the rocks got huge and the gaps widened so we had to jump. We leapt, crawled and staggered from rock to rock until we hit passed a couple of creeks and were able to identify the area where we wanted to ascend Mt. Olympus. We had trouble finding the area because our GPS coordinates didn't match up with the map and the landmarks. So we ended up rock hopping an extra half km to one km before we realized our mistake had to turn around. We made it to the second creek off of the Clark river and decided to camp near there because it was almost dark. Gordon tried to set up the tent in a really small area above the river's edge in the forest. I cooked dinner while he was setting up the tent. I mean I was trying to cook dinner. I boiled the water and then when I was pouring the water into the bag of dehydrated food, it fell over and half the food fell out. I swe

pt most of it back in the bag along with a little grit and a couple rocks. I got the grit and Gordon got the rocks. Later Gordon asked if I can go get the tent because was moving a tree stump out of the way so we could set up the tent. So I went back to his rucksack to find the tent. After digging in his stuff I looked around and realized that he'd set up the tent and left it on top of a mini cliff. So I had to climb up, traverse over the rocks, get to the tent, break it down in near darkness and then climb back down. So I grumpily broke down the tent in near darkness without my head lamp, hopped over the rocks to the new site and helped set up the tent. So we went to bed around 9:30 after walking and rock hopping most of the day. That night I actually understood the expression "too tired to sleep," it was weird because my whole body was tired, but my mind was just running around wildly.

The next morning we woke up at 6:30 am, broke down camp and stowed our packs under some rocks next to the river. We started from the Clark river and worked our way up a creek that came down one of Mt. Olympus' ridges. We climbed up from the river at an altitude of 738m to over 1200m in a distance of about 1km so the ascent was fairly strenuous and steep. Most of the time we were following the river and swinging from tree to tree to keep upright. At some points we were literally climbing up on rocks and pulling moves that would have felt better if I had been tied to a rope. I just kept on going and following the sound of Gordon's forest movements. Eventually we ascended to the top and had a breather. We were a little too relieved when we got to the top and it had only taken us about two and a half hours. Using the GPS we thought that we were really close to the LOTR site and so we drank a ton of our water and ate all of our scroggin (trail mix).

After that break we continued along the top of the peak and then we descended downwards into the void. We descended through clouds and fog for an elevation drop of about about 200m before it became completely fog covered and we couldn't see more than 20 m away. We realized that we weren't getting closer to the site fast enough and it was almost 2 pm. So we had decided to turn back because we were running out of the time we had alloted ourselves. So we ascended back to the top and realized that we'd gotten really turned around. I also realized via my GPS that we had moved even closer to the LOTR site than when we were descending on the other side of the mountain. So I yelled the Gordon "Oy, can I go check out this peak?" After he assented I rocked over and realized that I was getting there a lot quicker than before. So I called Gordon over and we were on our way once again. We found the rocks where the Fellowship hid from the crebain, Saruman's black crows. It was an awesome time. I sat where Gandalf was sitting on the long rock and stood in the place of each of the Fellowship. We had spent longer than expected on Mt. Olympus and we tried to hurry back down to Clark river.

After leaving the site we debated a bit on whether the GPS was correct and where we were because we both thought we were in different places on the map. Eventually we came to a consensus and walked along a ridge and found another creek and started to climb down it. It was incredibly steep and we had to rock climb down some of the really difficult bits. I had to literally shimmy down a tree at one point because there was a 4m flat rock with no holds. We flew down the creek in record time and were ravenous by the time we reached our bags. I also fell down a few feet onto a stick and got a huge bruise on the back of my leg. Then we ate some chow and headed back towards the Boulder Lake Hut.

We rocked hopped (which actually gets pretty tiresome after an hour) until we met up with the little creek again and then Gordon started walking up a rockslide. So we took his shortcut and spent about an hour scrambling up the loose rocks and dodging certain death. After getting to the top of the ridge we realized that we were on the wrong side of Clark Peak and would either have to go back down the rockslide, jump back up the creek, climb the cliff of doom and then walk back up the hill to the top of the saddle or we would have to traverse the scary rocky side of Clark peak. Unfortunately by that time it had grown dark while we ascended to the top of the ridge so we decided that it wouldn't be safe to go either route that evening. So we had to sleep on the ridge.

Gordon was worried about hypothermia and exposure. Since we were on a cliff we slept on the side that was protected from most of the wind, but we weren't able to sleep in the tent because if wind picked up on our side it might blow us off the mountain. So we put on all of our clothes and got in our sleeping bags. Sleeping on the side of a ridge, on rocks and dirt was one of my most uncomfortable sleeps. Every now and then I'd wake up and wonder if I was too cold, if I was going to fall off the cliff or just die. We both survived the night and then we did some recon of the Clark peak side traverse. It looked scary the night before and in the daylight it still looked a bit daunting, but by then it looked passable. So we both climbed at different heights and traversed the rocky crossing. I ended up near the top and had to climb down, but we both made it relatively safely. Then we walked over some hills to avoid the marsh and got back to the Boulder Lake hut in time for lunch. We had a leisurely meal and relaxed for about 45 minutes. Since the Boulder lake track was mostly downhill I did a bunch of short sprints and had to leave Gordon behind. He walks much better and quicker uphill and I am more designed for downhills. So at the beginning of the trip he was leading and by the end of the trip I was leading. It was a tourtous journey back because we walked longer and faster than any of the other days and we had all the wear and tear on our bodies from the previous 3 days. Instead of the trip from the hut to the car taking 7-8 hours, it took us 5 hours and 35 mins.

My body was incredibly tired and my feet were really messed up. I took off my boots and I had 3 giant blisters on each foot. Then we drove away back to civilization. That night I woke up and my feet and legs were swollen and I couldn't go to sleep because of the pain. I lanced all my blisters in the hope that it wo

uld help alleviate the pain. This was a dumb idea as they just oozed all over my sandals the following day. The next two days were full of limping and waddling around because our bodies were complaining and sore. After two days we both felt better and the swelling in our feet went down. We were too sore to do the Abel Tasman so we put it off indefinitely and went back to Christchurch. I know I whinged a lot in this entry about pain and getting lost, but it was actually a great time and at some points I felt like Lewis or Clark or both. Also whenever I got hurt or hit a rock, I'd issue an expletive like "Julie Andrews!" That might have been my first and last off route tramp. I do feel more confident in my GPS and map location abilities now and we found the lord of the rings site! At one point I couldn't think of anything else, but the Cadet Kirk line from the new Star Trek movie saying "I will not allow us to go backwards." I felt like that a lot of the trip because we were constantly turning around after going too far in one direction. It was an intense time because we spent 4 days walking an average of 10 or more hours on rough bushwhacky terrain.

Off route tramps = full of excitement, scariness, adventure and a bit of pain, but definitely worth it.

Stewart Island and the Central Otago Rail Trail

Just a note: Every now and then I make a new facebook album labeled NZ #. Right now I've made 4. So if you want to see a sampling of most of my NZed adventures, just pop on there and take a gander.

Note #2: In NZ they farm deer like cattle or sheep. It is sad because Bambi is the next red meat.

Stewart Island

We arrived at Stewart Island by way of ferry and we left our car at the hostel at Bluff. The ride over was a little bumpy. Every time the we hit a wave I flew a little bit out of my seat. It was a similar experience to my boat to Waya, Fiji. On the way over I puttered in an out of feeling sick and feeling excited going over such fun waves. When we got there it was slightly dreary and we headed off to the DOC office in the tiny town of Oban. We signed our letters of intention which are a safety precaution. They said how long we would be gone for and where we are going. If you don't come back, eventually someone will know to come looking for you. I wandered off to look around the DOC office and when I got back Gordon had struck up a conversation with a nice fellow named Tom. Tom is from the UK and we all ended up walking to the first hut together. It's kind of difficult to describe a walk/hike/tramp unless you're Bill Bryson. At some points we were in forest areas with huge ferns and green trees, it was a cross between a prehistoric forest and jungle. Since we started walking during low tide we were able to take the beach route instead of the forest route in two parts of the walk. It was a nice change and shortened the distance a bit. We got there fairly early in the afternoon and found that we had nothing to do. Gordon and I set up the tent and we both took naps. Tom was staying in the huts and came to visit a bit after dinner. We all went back to the hut to play some cards. Then we met a German named Claudia while we were playing cards. It was nice to be out of the wilderness and inside a hut because it kept the sand flies at bay. We had a nice evening playing cards and all agreed to meet up to walk the second day of the trail together.

The next day we were up around 8 am and met up with Claudia and Tom. Then we set off on our second day of walking. Gordon walks really quickly and had soon hiked out of sight. I kept a good pace with Claudia and Tom. We had some interesting chats while walking and eventually met up with Gordon while he was resting and fixing his lunch. We arrived at the hut and Gordon had already kicked back and started to relax. As Gordon and I were camping and not staying at the hut we found that we had to walk a further hour and a half. So we rested and played some cards with Tom, Claudia, Adrian and Elisa. Basically this was a long beautiful tramp with fun people and a bit of cards.

Then Gordon and I walked to the campsite and both kept an eye out for Kiwis (the birds not the fruit).

During the middle of the night we thought we heard something and got up. Turns out it was an angry hissing possum and not the elusive Kiwi.

On the final day of hiking Gordon was taking a bit of time to eat his breakfast so he suggested I walk on ahead. As he is such a quick walker, I agreed and just assumed he'd catch up. I enjoyed my solo walk. It was calm and peaceful even when I saw a tiny feral cat running around the forest. Again I was hoping for a Kiwi. Stewart Island is one of the few places left where you can see a wild Kiwi. I reached the DOC office in Oban after the 32 km tramp and sat down to wait for Gordon. Eventually he walked up and we set off to order some food from the infamous Kai Kart. I had been looking forward to eating there since we had started to plan the South Island trip. The seafood was delicious. We ate there for lunch and dinner. I had crab, cod, mussels, chips and other goodies. In the end I ate way too much food, but it was totally worth it. On the ferry back to the mainland Gordon and I met some Canadians, Alex and Tim. They were also doing the working and traveling thing. I really like meeting new people especially ones who have done a lot of traveling and have a lot of really fun stories.

Once back in Bluff, NZ we picked up our car and drove back towards Invercargill. We had to crash in the car as we couldn't find a good place the camp between Bluff and Invercargill. The next day we ran into Claudia and Tom in Invercargill. Then Gordon and I finally got showers which we really needed after our three day tramp in Stewart Island.

Then we headed up to Central Otago so we could start the Otago Central Rail Trail which is on the historic Otago Central Railway line. It runs from Clyde to Middlemarch. We started in Clyde and rode to Middlemarch. We had been planning to ride it in five days, but the bike rental people said that we'd get bored if we did it in five days. They were definitely right because we both got a little bored doing it in three days. We stayed in nice little farms and inns along the way. It was pretty easy riding and we ended up riding about 160 km total. I wouldn't want to do it again, but it was nice to get that experience. We had beautiful and clear weather during the whole trip, but it got pretty hot when the sun was high and we had to slather on the sunscreen.

Then we went to Dunedin to check out the Blue penguins. We waited at the Peninsula until sunset and then a few groups of little blue penguins swam up to the shore and started the dry off on the sun warmed rocks. Then they ambled up the hill to their DOC manmade huts in the hill.

We returned to Christchurch to rest a bit after our intense hiking and biking. Gordon went climbing with John and I had a movie marathon with Briony. We watched all three X-Men movies and Wolverine. I love Hugh Jackman.

Then Gordon and I drove up to Nelson and then Takaka to finally go kayak the Abel Tasman. We changed our mind because we wanted to go back to Takaka and put it off yet again. Once back in Takaka we did a bit of climbing and then I found an off track route that I wanted to tramp so we put off the Abel Tasman and decided to kayak it after the tramp.

Also I thought I had a parasite that I must have picked up in the Takaka river when we spent those 2 weeks climbing in Paynes Ford. I finally went to the doctor and had to get labs done. The common parasite tests came back negative so we were back to square one. I'm really glad that I got health insurance before I left because the money is really starting to add up. I told Jon that I thought I had gotten a parasite and he said that out of all of his friends he wasn't surprised that I might be the first to get one. Though we've determined it's not bacterial because the doctor made me take a weeks worth of antibiotics and it's not the common parasites.

Skippers Canyon, Milford Sound and Castledowns

12/2/2010
The next morning we left the DOC site and tried to leave the Canyon. On the way up I began to compile a list of treacherous traps that we had to circumvent or just triumph over. There was sandy pits which consisted of huge sand traps that would spin out our tires if we didn't skirt along the edges and over the rocks. We met triple bumps which was an area with three huge bumps with three deep gaps in between. Our timing wasn't right the whole time and the undercarriage might have been a bit scarred by the second 2 bumps. We were basically on a 1 lane road the whole time so meeting other cars was terrifying. There was one horrible car that went zooming by with no regard to our safety. We were a bit pissed off after that encounter. Since Gordon drove down the Canyon, I drove up it. There was a huge hump and there were more, but I can't recall them at the moment. 7-8 tour vans passed us near the top and that wasn't fun, but after the third one we managed to find a safe place to pull off. Then we went climbing. It was a ridiculous half hike half climb to get to the climb area. Gord freaked me out by trying to climb a ridiculous grade 20. He fell so many times that I started hoping that he would give up and come down. I told him that I wasn't going to belay him anymore on climbs that are too far out of his range. I even used the nylon webbing, but it was still ridiculously scary. He thought it might have been a grade 23 which would have explained a lot. Later that day we spent a solid two hours trying to find a LOTR site called Dee Park Heights. It has about 5 places that were used in the film. We couldn't find it and ended up asking about it the next day only to find that it was closed down and people couldn't visit it anymore. Talk about frustrating. That evening we ended up driving to the Remarkables Ski Field to find the LOTR site, Dimrill Dale. There's a picture in my book where Aragorn is walking through pools and rocks. I walked through the same pool. We got a nearly identical picture next to Lake ?. That night we slept at 12 Mile Delta in our car because we didn't feel like setting up the tent. This is maybe the third or fourth time we've slept in the car. It's just so convenient and while it's a little uncomfortable, we don't have to set up a tent and can literally sleep on the side of the road. Though we always try to park so we can't been seen from the road.

13/2/2010
12 Mile Delta was actually the LOTR site where Sam, Frodo and Smegol had the cooking with coneys scene. We headed back to Queenstown for another sneaky shower. We walked into X-Base (a backpackers) and both headed for the showers. It was a bit easier than sneaking into the Holiday Park. Then we had more Ferg Burgers while we did our laundry. I had a cockadoodle oink burger. It was DELICIOUS. I'm writing this blog right now while in Alexandra and we're pretty close to Queenstown. I'd almost head back right now for another one of those bad boys. After spending several days in and out of Queenstown we decided that it was time to head out to Milford Sound. Originally we had been keen to tramp the Milford Track, but apparently you have to book the huts half a year in advance. Milford is such a popular track that the DOC only lets a few people a day leave for the tramp. I hit a bird on the way to Milford. Gooey bird brain and innards hit the windshield, it was very unpleasant. We got to the Milford area in the evening so we camped at one of the sevenish sites on the road to Milford. We pitched the tent under a tree.

14/2/2010

When we woke up, it had rained so we left up the tent in case we ended up spending the following night at Milford. We got to Milford and found out that the ferry to the Underwater Conservatory had been discontinued so we ponied up and paid for a Milford cruise tour and extra for the Underwater Conservatory. I ended up being rather disappointed with the Underwater conservatory stop and was glad that I took a Milford cruise. My camera died after the first 20 minutes on the cruise. So I missed out on taking a bunch of great pictures of the Sound and the sea life. There were seals and one of the crew even pointed out a baby seal. I might have seen two penguins while we were on the boat, but they were already in the water in front of the boat and once they saw the boat they dove and I lost sight of them. Milford Sound was beautiful. Now I know what all the fuss is about. I was standing alone at the front of the boat and a huge wave hit me with spray. Gordon was standing a few meters back in the boat and watched the whole thing. He thought it was hilarious. I was relieved that I was wearing quick dry pants and my rain coat. We spent about 2 hours on the cruise boat and about an hour at the conservatory. Some people see dolphins and sharks in the underwater conservatory, but we only saw fish and a few things of coral. You walk down stairs and get to be 10 meters under the surface surrounded by windows of incredibly thick glass. The conditions outside the window are special because they mimic waters that are normally about 100 meters below the surface. We saw black coral and red coral which are extremely rare and slow growing corals. There's an enormous fine if you're caught in possession of these corals. Black coral is only black after it dies. On the whole we were both disappointed with the sea life that we saw in the conservatory. The Milford Sound cruise was beautiful and serene. If you go to the South Island, you can't miss this place, it's beautiful to the tenth power. I would recommend kayaking it even though I wasn't able to. I think the experience would be even better. Then we left Milford and headed to the Mavora Lakes with a stop at the LOTR site Fangorn forest. This is a forest that Aragorn went running through. Needless to say, I too went running through the forest. Then we set up camp near the South Mavora Lake. We met Ranger Ruth and paid for our first DOC site, but only because she was such a nice lady.

14/2/2010
Woke up to a brisk morning next to Mavora Lake. Then we drove to the North Mavora Lake. We found the area in the woods where Merry and Pippin were hiding from the orcs behind a tree stump. I know I'm a geek, but these places are beautiful and totally worth it regardless of their LOTR connections. The North Mavora lake was also the filming location for the final scene in the first movie. It's the scene where Frodo tries to boat off alone and Sam comes swimming and half drowning after him. After a bit of car trouble, we were able to recreate that scene with me as Sam and Gordon saying Frodo's lines. Gordon locked the keys in the car and then ripped off a piece of metal in the trunk keyhole. He walked off to get some tools from the adventure scouts who were kayaking in a nearby section of the lake. While he was gone I pulled a MacGyver and opened the car with my GPS unit. Yes, that's right. I can fashion a phone out of gum, a shoelace and a tire. Once we were in the car we got the filming equipment and reenacted LOTR. Then we headed off to Castledowns. This is an awesome climbing area on a really nice farmer's land. He doesn't mind if people climb and there's a paddock to park your car. When walking to the climbing areas you have to walk around cow pies and cross a stream is definitely full of farm run off. Once you've crossed this hurdle you reach some really fun climbs. I led a grade 15 with 3 stars called the Castledown Classic. I had trouble with an overhang and was able to circumvent it by traversing around it. Then I went on to fall into a patch of stinging nettle, my first experience with the stuff and hopefully my last! Then I slipped on a slippery rock and cut open the middle of my foot. By the time I was belaying Gord on his more difficult climbs, I was grumpy and angry, but I pulled through eventually. Gord told me to put water on my nettle stings which helped for a sec, but then the pain returned. Later it was constant pins and needles in my leg and hand. That night we slept in the car for lack of a better place to stay. Castledowns is in the middle of nowhere and most of the roads are gravel. Even though the farmer lets you climb there, he doesn't like people staying there over night. So we drove to Mossburn and pulled off into an alcove of gravel and were asleep by 7 pm.

15/2/2010
We spent the next morning at Castledowns. I got to climb something called Womb with a View. I had to climb it simply because of the name. I also made it up a ridiculously slopey/slabby climb called Never Say Nevis Again. I ended up pumping my forearms out on a climb called Hauler. The beginning was the crux and just dominated me. Then we drove to Invercargill and stocked up for the Stewart Island tramp. We stayed in a backpacker hotel at Bluff and left our car there for safe keeping. While driving around Bluff we say a strange lady at Sterling Point and she was wearing jeans and a jacket with silvery patterns on it. She had Kayne West glasses, silver teeth and cool hair. She was also speaking next to one of those signs that tells you where you are in relation to places that are far away, like other countries. She also had a tricked out silver and black scooter/wheelchair. Somebody was filming her rap (we couldn't hear what she was saying) with a professional tv camera.

16/2/2010
We toted our back packs to the Stewart Island Ferry and were on our way.

LOTR and bathrooms with locks that work

9/2/2010

Camping at Lake Paringa. 1) My bathroom stall didn't lock and I was walked in on by some random dude, but oddly enough I wasn't mortified. Don't get me wrong, I was embarrassed, but not as much as I would have been a few years ago. I must be growing up or something. The black flies at were horrific and cooking dinner was nearly impossible. I fled to the car before it was finished. We had teriyaki veggies with rice. It was delicious and we ate it in the car.

10/2/2010

I woke up around 8ish. Gord had thought the sand flies wouldn't be so bad if we slept in and waited til late morning. I thought it was raining when I woke up and started whinging in my head about having to break down the tent in the rain again. Then I opened my eyes and realized there were about 30 sand flies flying between our rain fly and the tent. I took a deep breath, packed my taun taun, rolled up my sleeping pad and made a mad sprint to the car. Then we drove to Wanaka. Gord went to find nylon webbing so I could anchor myself to trees and rocks when belaying him. If I anchor myself to other things when I belay him, I won't go flying 10 feet in the air when he falls. We ended up going to the same place for nylon webbing at different times and both talking to the same guy working at the outdoor store. Turns out Gord asked the wrong questions or something because the guy told him that they didn't carry what he was looking for. I'm not really sure what happened, but when I walked in, I saw the webbing next to the climbing ropes and bought 4 meters and walked out. There was a LOTR (Lord of the Rings) spot in Wanaka. It's a backdrop used when Gandalf is riding around on his horse. Then we went to look at Mt. Aspiring on a scary bumpy gravel road and Gord hit a bird (more about birds later because it turns out that NZ birds are STUPID). We didn't spend that much time in Wanaka, but there was another LOTR spot where the fellowship was South of Rohan and were passing by some ruins on a high set of hills. I spent a really long time taking pictures and trying to figure out which was the correct hill. When you watch the scene in the movie, it's clearly shot from a helicopter so it's a bit difficult to pick out the location from a road that is lower than the top of the hills. The ruins were CGI, but the location is clearly set in those hills. Since there wasn't much to do in Wanaka we left and drove to Arrowtown which is extremely close to Queenstown. We arrived in Arrowtown 5 minutes after the Holiday park had closed it's reception desk. It was 9:05 pm and we were ready for showers and sleep. So we did what any travelling youth would do, we parked outside the holiday park and snuck in. We decided to take illegal showers in their facilities, but it turned out we needed $1 coins to operate the showers and neither of us had them. We both ended up walking in and out of the bathrooms looking for the other and just missed each other several times. I didn't want to risk walking to the car to try and find a $1 coin and then have to walk nonchalantly back into the park so I just tried turning on the shower as a last ditch effort. Turns out you pay $1 for a hot shower. So I took a fireman's shower and jumped under the icy stream of water, jumped out, soaped up and then tried to rinse off as a quickly as possible. Not really sure why I called it a fireman's shower. In the end I was clean and eventually warm. It took Gordon a bit longer to figure out the shower because I was already back at the car when he came walking up to do something. He mentioned that he just figured out that the showers work without coins and was about to go back to take one. After our super sneaky showers we drove away from the Arrowtown Holiday Park and parked next to a helipad off of a gravel drive by the main road.

11/2/2010

The next morning I went to Kawarau Bridge and bungy jumped. Please see the previous entry about the Bungy. I was so excited after the Bungy that I had to blog about it, even though it was out of chronological order. After my bungy we drove to Arrowtown to LOTR it up a bit. Half of the Ford of Bruinen was filmed in Arrowntown. The Ford of Bruinen is the scene when Liv Tyler and Frodo are being chased by the black riders. The scene by the river when Liv Tyler uses the power of the elves to make the river rise was actually filmed in two places. The side where the black riders waited while Liv Tyler called the river up was in Arrowtown, but Liv Tyler's side was filmed in Skippers Canyon. This is a picture of me pretending to be a black rider (one of the 9 Kings who fell victims to the rings). We also took a picture in Gladden Fields which is a rather unexciting LOTR spot. Arrowtown was a cute little town that apparently is a good spot for tour buses to stop for a little walk around break. It reminds me of Souther Seasons when the old people buses drop them off. Then we sped off to Queenstown for a lovely visit to the adventure capital of NZ. We found the chocolate shop with free wireless. Free wireless might be common in the USA, but it's nigh unheard of in NZ. We heard about Patagonia from a girl we met in Takaka and low and behold it was true, free wireless. Though every time we used it, I bought something because I felt it was only right. Also their ice cream, drinks and food were delicious so it wasn't difficult to patronize the shop. We also went to the famous Ferg Burger. If you ever go to Queenstown, you have to get a Ferg Burger. They are a true famous institution here. Burgers start off at about $10, but are huge and can be two meals. We went there for two different lunches and I ate half my burger for the following dinner both times. The first time we went I got a normal Ferg Burger and Gordon got something huge and monstrous. They were amazing.

Note: We try to sleep in DOC (Department of Conservation) camp sites because they are cheap/free, it's an honesty system. Gordon found one on Skippers Road and it was the closest one to Queenstown. Note 2: I really wanted to go to the LOTR scene where Arwen (Liv Tyler) has Frodo on the horse and is riding away from the black riders and has the confrontation by the river. I really wanted to see where it was filmed, it's called the Ford of Bruinen. The side of the river that Liv Tyler is on was filmed in the Canyon. Unfortunately, we had talked about it and already decided that it wasn't feasible given our car being a tiny Mazda 323 GLX Hatchback. The scene is located down a place called Skippers Canyon and it's 14 - 26 km of torturous driving. Skippers Canyon has a sign that says you need 4 wheel drive and it needs to be your car i.e. no rental cars down the canyon. So after all the warnings Gord had put his foot down because it's a road that sounds like it would completely dominate our little Mr. Collins. Back to the story though, we started down Skippers road and the road became more and more steep and the conditions worsened. There were huge patches of thick sand and lots of large bumps and dips which made our car pop up and crash the underbelly on large rocks. Gordon ignored the warning signs at the beginning of the road because he was determined to get to the DOC site. After a few kilometers we realized that Skippers Road was Skippers Canyon. I was secretly delighted because this meant I would get to find the Ford of Bruinen, but I was little apprehensive because I wasn't sure Mr. Collins would be able to get out of the Canyon. We barely made it down to the DOC site. It was slightly surreal because the DOC site was right next to a historic miners town that had two buildings and was clearly being restored. Also the bathrooms at the DOC site had water! This is highly unusual because most DOC sites have bathrooms, but the toilets are just holes in the ground. So to find bathrooms where the toilets flush was surprising especially after a ridiculous drive into a Canyon that not many people drive down. There are $200 tours that people take to get into the Canyon to visit the LOTR site, there is rafting in the Canyon river and there is a bungy jump there. So people do drive down there, but normally only on tours. If you can't tell, I was very excited about the bathroom. It was a little creepy because we were all alone deep in Skippers Canyon, but then we went on a mini walk away from the historic town and our DOC campsite and we saw a Ranger truck and tent.

More anecdotes from Fiji

I forgot to add some stuff in my Fiji blog. While in Fiji I had my first massage. It was a lomi lomi massage. They used oils, you listened to music or the sound of the ocean and you get massaged while in the nude. No underwear, nada. They said you could leave on your underwear if you'd wanted to, but the massage technique uses the weight of your body or something like that. So I went the full monty. I figured since I'm getting a massage in Fiji, I might as well get it the way it was meant to be had. I did get a towel to cover the nether region and one to cover the upper region. I started it on my stomach, face down on the table with my face in a hole in the table. There was a bowl full of water and flowers beneath my face. I guess this is supposed to be a  soothing visual. She put on calming music, but then the cd began to skip and she just turned it off. I nodded off a few times while listening to the sounds of the sea. It was a interesting technique, a lot of a rolling pin motion with her forearms. It was a little strong and I guess it might have been closer to a deep tissue massage. I felt really strange getting covered in oil. I also was always on the verge of laughing. I'm a bit ticklish and I couldn't stop thinking about the Friends episode with the nontraditional massage. I kept imagining my massage lady using a rolling pin, Tonka trucks and wooden spoons, but I bit my lip and didn't laugh. By the end of the massage I was extremely proud of my reserve and ability to keep from laughing. My mom also got a massage one room over. I can't say that I'm a fan of massages, but I'm a fan of experiences, so I'm glad I got to try it.

Also the perfect shell that the chief gave me was not so perfect. It turns out there was a creature still alive in it and it ended up dying inside the shell. So the Bure smelled like death for awhile and mom eventually cleaned out the shell so it would stop scaring the lady who tidied up our Bure everyday.

My Kawarau Bridge Bungy

This morning I went Bungy Jumping in Queenstown. This is the original bungy jump. It's 43 meters into or just above the river.

My bungy video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo9d9aSYxaM

We woke up early because we had slept in the car the night before and I had to go to the bathroom. So I drove us to Arrowtown to the public restrooms. Then instead of walking around and finding the nearby LOTR scenes we headed to the Kawarau Bridge Bungy. Since they opened at 9 am and we were there right on the dot, it looked like I wasn't going to wait in a line. I paid my money, got weighed and then got sent out to the bridge. Let me note that this is the Anduin river from Lord of the Rings. I got to the bridge and chatted with one of the workers while we waited for the second bungy man to arrive. I was going to be the first jump of the day. I also elected to do it barefoot. He said that I was number 1, but only because I was the first jump. You have several choices on your fall, you can stay dry, just touch the water, hit it chest deep or waist deep. I wanted chest to waist deep, but they warned me it might not work. Since I was the first of the day to jump that meant the cord was a little taut and might not stretch as far as it would later in the day. They did say something about using the super bungy, but I was a bit freaked out at that point. In the video you can hear music playing and it's not something they dubbed over the movie with because you can hear my voice and the bungy dude's voice. As they were strapping me in they asked if I wanted some classic rock. I said sure so they turned it on and then put me on the ledge. Right before the countdown he asked me if I was ready and I said no. Then he said do it anyway. 3 2 1 and I jumped. Those first few seconds were terrifying because your stomach drops, but it's over almost before you realize it. I made it into the water and then my shirt flipped down exposing my stomach. At first I was self-conscious and then I was flooded with adrenaline and didn't care. Once the 2 raft bungy dudes pulled me into the raft, they told me an anecdote from the day before. They had asked a Malaysian man how he'd liked his bungy and he said "it's like chocolate, you don't like it, but you (eat) do it anyway." We all agreed that bungy jumping was nothing like chocolate. Then I sprinted up the rocky road and Gordon brought me some dry clothes. I bought my pictures and video to commemorate my jump. I also got a t-shirt and a certificate for the bungy. It had been weighing on my mind the last few weeks. I'm glad to have done it, but I'm also glad it's in the past.

Leaving Hang Dog

After climbing on 6/2/2010 = Feb 6th, we went to the site where the Hobbits and Aragorn were filmed fleeing from Bree. This scene was filmed on Takaka Hill, LOTR location: Chetwood Forest. We found the spot using my GPS unit: S40 degrees 57.707' - E172 degrees 53.062'. It was a lot of fun and then Alice found me a stick so I could pretend to be Gandalf. We ignored the fact that he wasn't in the scene. It was as LOTR as we could be, given the surroundings. The next day we left Hang Dog.

7/2/2010 = Feb 7th was our last day at Hang Dog camp. There was a cool sign at the front that said "No Chewee You stay here Good Girl." Chewee is the dog owned by the proprietors of Hang Dog. We were planning on going directly into our kayaking trip at the Abel Tasman, but circumstances did not allow this. 1) Gord climbed to hard the day before and his arms were sore. 2) A south easterly was blowing in. (bad weather). Since we didn't want to hang around and wait, we decided to just come back on the tail end of our trip. We also wanted to get singles, but I hadn't eskimo rolled in awhile and Gord had never. So we're going to try it later and get some experience back in Christchurch. It's hard to say what the weather will do and know that it can seriously change our plans. So we're trying to roll with the punches, but it's still a little disappointing. Though, it will all be worth it when we get to kayak in the sun instead of the rain. 

We bailed and headed down to Hokitika. We spent the better part of the day driving and stopped off at Pancake Rocks. They are a unique formation of rocks off the Western Coast of the South Island. Everyone was staring at the rocks in quiet and contemplative manners. It was an interesting stop, but later, you didn't find yourself wishing that you could have spent more time there. We drove through a mining town called Ross. Are mining towns always so depressing? I might have been biased because the weather was cloudy, but it seemed like the life had been sucked out of the town along with whatever was mined. As the day came to an end, we spent about 40 km looking for a Hokitika campground that Gord had stayed at while working with the grad student. We couldn't find it so we drove back to town and paid $12.50 a person to camp at a Holiday Park. There was a kitchen and we made noodles, beans and tomato sauce for dinner. It was a hearty and warm meal that we practically inhaled. When setting up the tent, Gord hadn't been sure if we should lay down the tarp and I hadn't been sure if we needed to put up the rain fly. We ended up setting up both and it's a good thing because it ended up raining and the grass became super dewy by morning. That night we went to the Glow Worm Den. It was magnificent. Those little critters are really bright and there were hundreds of them enclosed in an area no bigger than 30x 30 ft. I took a picture, but it didn't come close to doing them justice. I think part of it is the novelty. We have lightning bugs back at home, but we don't have glow worms, at least not where we live. To be honest it makes me think of the glow worm from James and the Giant Peach. Gordon thought that he saw a really bright patch of glow worms and got really excited, but it turned out to be a house in the forest. It was raining that morning which surprised me because I had gotten up in the middle of the night and seen a mostly a starry sky with only a few clouds. We had a brief respite from the rain which we judiciously used to break down and pack away the tent. Since everything was wet, we threw it all into a trash bag. We're actually quite quick at breaking down the tent. Gord is a bit slow when it comes to putting away his sleeping pad and sleeping bag. I'm glad that I'm faster at packing up because it means I can sleep longer while he's up and putting his stuff away. The following morning we were up at 6 am and on the road towards Okarito by 7 am. When we turned on the radio, it was classical music and reminded me of home. It's almost the only music that my mom listens to in the car and there's always a classical station playing somewhere in our house. On a sad note, the reason we listen to the radio is because our tape deck is busted. We have been using an Ipod and cassette adapter to listen to music in the car, but then it just stopped working one day. It works fine for 3 seconds and then it plays at 80% less volume for 3 seconds and then the cycle repeats. It's extra annoying. Everyday I try it anyway, hoping that if my heart is pure and I want something badly enough that it will happen. 

We drove from Hokitika to Okarito on 8/2 = Feb 8th. I slept almost the entire way to Okarito and woke up as we pulled up to the Okarito Lagoon Kayak Company. Once at the Kayaking Co, we rented a double and then got a quick run down on the route to take while kayaking in the lagoon. Gordon walked away to look at the bird pictures on the wall while the fellow was giving us the talk and had to be called back. He's such a silly guy. We spent 4 hours paddling about the lagoon and at one point we were almost stuck backwards down a little stream path that zigzagged through the marsh. Paddling was fun, but we had trouble getting into a steady rhythm. Gord likes to sprint paddles in short bursts while I prefer to keep a slightly more moderate pace for long periods of time. I like getting into a steady rhythm and just keep paddling. There were tons of birds and beautiful plant life along the lagoon. It was mostly cloudy and the sun popped out from behind the clouds just as we were heading back. My spray skirt was super loose around my middle so I was sitting in a bit of water the whole trip. It was a little uncomfortable, but I was wearing my quick dry pants so it wasn't terrible. If you like kayaking, I would definitely recommend the lagoon especially if you're keen on birds. We saw tons of oystercatchers, a Royal Spoonbill, a Heron and many other birds. After getting back, we both changed and  they served us complimentary tea and I ate wheat bix instead of cookies. The people that ran the kayaking company were really nice. While helping the lady clear away our dishes, she called me a legend. Maybe it's a kiwi thing, but I still found it strange, nice, but strange.

Following the kayaking we decided to go on some walks to the Franz Josef Glacier and afterwards, the Fox Glacier. They were really epic and the glacial melt was freezing (duh). The melt ended up creating a river with insanely fast and rough rapids. Both glaciers were in valleys with huge mountains, rocky walks and long waterfalls. Franz Josef is where they filmed the lighting of the beacons in LOTR when Gondor called for aid from Rohan. Originally they were going to film it in the Mountains near Queenstown, but it turns out there was a fire ban because it had been so dry that summer in the Central Otago region. The walks to the glaciers were easy and just looking at the glaciers was fun, but it made me wish I could book a glacier ice climb. We don't have the time or the money and they are expensive-as. At Franz Josef there was the coolest bathroom ever. On the outside there are two doors and a few buttons in between the doors. They blink green next to the adjacent door if it's vacant and blink red if it's occupied. Then you press a button to open the door and another to close and lock it. It would be a little scary if you were claustrophobic. The bathroom talks to you and explains how the buttons work and if you don't press the unlock and open the door button after 10 minutes it will automatically open. There was a button for toilet paper, a button to flush the toilet and the soap, water and hand dryer were all operated on a motion sensor. Then you pushed the door button and walked out. I may have broken the door because after I left it appeared to get caught open and shake as it tried to close itself. It also made a really loud grinding noise as I walked quickly away. 

Other note: they use a term fossick which means rummage or search. Like we had to fossick for wood in the forest to build a fire.

After Franz Josef, I decided I wanted to get a look at Mt. Cook because it's close as the crow flies, but there isn't a road that directly connects it to the Franz Josef area. You have to go hundreds of km out of your way if you're driving from Franz Josef. This turned out to be a bad idea as I ended up driving us 12 km down a windy and rough, gravel road to Gillespie Beach when I was trying to find the Mt. Cook viewing area. You live and make errors, especially when traveling. It was really annoying because I had to drive really slowly so I didn't jostle the car to pieces. The beach turned out to be a black sand beach chock full of stones. At the edge it looked like the beach just stopped and fell into the water, but on closer inspection you find that it's a steep slope of rocks. The water was chilly to the touch, but not too cold considering it's the South Island.

Then we drove towards Wanaka and ended up camping at Lake Paringa. Fun sand fly stories in my upcoming blog. Not many photos yet because the internet connection is wicked slow right now.

Takaka - Hang Dog - Paynes Ford

The first picture was taken at the top of a climb called Franklin's Tower on the Sea Grass wall in Pohara. It was about 27 m up and right over the ocean. Someone made a bell out of an old fire extinguisher and once you made it up the climb, you got to make a victory ring.

At Takaka (the town), Hang Dog (the camp) and Paynes Ford (the climbing): I made a lot of new friends, climbed a lot, ate really well every night and destroyed my feet. We camped at Hang Dog with tons of other climbers. It's a cool camp for climbers with a shower, bathrooms, a bunkhouse (if you want to pay more), camping areas, places for you to park your car and sleep, a fire pit and fridges. It's really close to Paynes Ford. Paynes Ford is the climbing area and the entrance is about 20 meters away from the camp. Most days we were up by 7:30 am, eating breakfast and getting ready for the day's climbing. Then we'd head out with a packed lunch and climb for hours. We'd get back to camp from early to late afternoon, depending on how hot it was and how tired we were. Once we got back to camp we'd all jump into our bathing suits and go for a swim in the river at one of the several water holes. Afterwards, we'd mosey back to camp and cook up a large and healthy dinner. Most of our days followed that pattern.

The climbing was intense and really pushed my abilities. I was climbing with people who were stronger, had more experience and climbed higher grades. So I'd end up top roping those higher grades more often than leading the lower ones. I did my first solo climb, a few days ago, which means no rope and no clips, just free climbing. John and I started a new game called rock walking. The river is so clear that you can see underwater so we decided to take rocks to weigh us down and run along the bottom of the river. It is very similar to what they did in Blue Crush or the Guardian. This later prompted us to wish that we could breathe underwater so we tried to devise a super long snorkel out of tubing and empty bottles. This didn't work at all. The depth of the water was so great that it caused a extremely strong suction through the tube. This made it impossible for me to draw a breath and pull the needed oxygen down the length of the tubing. One night we tried to find the cave system that exists in the nearby forest. We failed to find it and I'm not sure why we thought we needed to look for it at night. We ended up finding glow worms on one of the tracks on the way back to camp. At camp I ran into a girl who grew up in Asheville, NC. Then I ran into a girl named Mallory that went to UNCA, a year behind me, and was in the Math Program. Then one night when we were at the famous Mussel Inn I ran into another girl who grew up in Asheville and dated a guy that I knew from UNCA. It's a really small world, but Hang Dog has the chilled out hippie community vibe and I'm not entirely surprised that Ashevillians would feel a draw to kindred spirits here.

Fiji

Mom and I flew out of Auckland, NZ to Nadi, Fiji. My other row seating buddy was a Fijian lawyer who offered me a place to stay at her home in NZ. She was my first introduction into "Fiji time," the idea that Fijians take it easy, but work hard when they need to. We got to Fiji and were completely swept away by a warm and humid heat that rolled over us as we stepped off the plane. After walking through the airport, I realized that we had missed out on the silly shell necklaces that they hand out to tourists. Then we got picked up by a shuttle that took us to our nearby hotel. With nothing else to do, we kicked back and relaxed by the pool. I watched an episode of a Korean drama about a lady doctor, from back in the day, who was being promoted by the Emperor to the displeasure of his council. It was amusing and had terrible acting. I also ended up watching Bolt which was a cute movie. The pool was right outside of our room and was nice, but a little too warm. 

The next morning our van from the hotel to the boat was 2 hours late. We got to the boat and clambered on for a 1 hour and 45 minute boat ride. It was pretty bumpy trip and my  stomach would fall every time the boat hopped over a giant wave. It was a really fun ride and made me want to spend more time on boats. I did manage to fall asleep for like 10 minutes. The only annoying thing was having my head hit the metal bar with every bounce. I'm quite proud of my ability to sleep almost anywhere. As the boat pulled up to the island, Waya of the Yasawa Group, we were greeting by a beautiful beach and a group singing the welcome song with guitars and ukes. As an added adventure, we had to time our jumps just right to exit the boat or we'd get run over by the boat and the incoming wave. All the guests who had arrived on the island that day had a little pow-wow with the guy who was the equivalent of a cruise director. Then mom and I wandered off to Bure 14, our little bungalow. Every day was filled with delicious food, warm sandy beaches, a hot sun and cool clear water. At night we'd climb under our misquito netting and try not to move. Every night was incredibly hot and humid. Open windows would bring in a slight breeze and the overhead fan was basically useless. Our bathroom was pretty interesting. In the room that adjoined the Bure was a sink, a toilet and a shower. The shower didn't have a roof and opened up directly to the sky. It was very cool to shower at night and just look up at the stars. 

We also got to try an assortment of fruity resort drinks from the bar. This was basically a cashless resort and you charged everything to your bure, room or bunk. There was a welcoming ceremony the first night where we drank Kava, a local drink derived from roots. Kava has been known to cause hallucinations with large and strong enough mixtures. I didn't hallucinate, but my tongue went numb. On the 2nd day, mom walked to the local village over the hill with a group from the resort. Most of the people who worked at the resort were from the local village, but there were a few from the main island. While she was gone I took my first steps to getting PADI scuba certified with my instructor, Cookie. I watched a video that took 1.5 hours. It was almost mind numbing and it was incredibly cheesy. After I watched the first 3 lessons, I decided that I would rather spend time with my mom while we were in Fiji because the PADI course was going to eat up about 6 hours every day for most of the trip. I also realized that it would probably be more fun if I took the course with a friend. No one else at the resort was interested in taking the Open Water course. Then when I tried to take the 1 day discover scuba course, they wouldn't let me because of my asthma. Go figure.

Mom and I took an incredible snorkel trip. We got on a boat and were dropped off at some gorgeous reefs filled with brightly colored plant and animal life. One of our guides was the village chief. At one point he gave me a perfect shell which I gave to mom because she's a shell collector. We snorkeled around for about 45 minutes and once we found a cave and our guide demonstrated his amazing lung capacity and dove through the cave and then back to the  surface. He offered to let us try, but it was out of our depth. Then we took the boat to a place called Mafia Island, It was so named because a local crime syndicate tried to build a Casino on the island. The remnants of the buildings are still there, but it was never completed. Our guides started a fire and cooked fish and potatoes. We also had soda, salad, fruit and a noodle dish. It was a wonderful lunch followed by an even cooler nap time. I snorkeled off the shore of Mafia Island before we all went on a walk to see the casino ruins. Then we moved onto another dive site and jumped in for a second round of swimming. Unfortunately, I forgot to put on more sunscreen and got a wicked sunburn on my back. When you snorkel, your back is always facing the sun so it's really the perfect way to get a massive burn. Later that night I tried to put on a wool t-shirt and it really hurt. 

One night they slaughtered one of the local pigs and cooked it over a spit on the beach. That night they had a show of local song and dance. We danced, ate the pig and had a plethora of other dishes. There was also a bonfire night where I ended up drinking beer and kava with the locals. While drinking kava, I made friends with the executive chef named Anna and she was really nice and very informative about the resort and the island. Mom claims that I was tipsy when I got back and hungover the next morning, but this is not so. There was another game night called shots for shots volleyball, Fiji vs the world. It was a volleyball game where the Fijians got 6 players and the other team was comprised of any resort guest that wanted to participate. One young girl played and when she got a shot, it was a shot of coke. You earned shots by scoring, hitting the ball well, assisting, being funny or just going all out hardcore. If you were an adult and you earned a shot, it was a mix of tequila and lemonade. It was a really fun game and as I have no skill playing volleyball, I won my shots by going for crazy shots and hitting the sand. At the end of the match Fiji won and they said they have only been beaten twice. You could tell that they were all holding back and could have ended the game at anytime. I walked up to the bar and was rewarded with 3 shots. No one was drinking them so the shot maker and the bartender said "Go for it, now one else is drinking them." So 1, 2, 3 and they were gone. After that I went off to bed. Luckily for me, they were more lemonade than tequila. On another day I went on an intense hike with one other resort guest and a local guide. We walked up a series of rocky hills and ended up resting on a pile of rocks overlooking one of the bays. The walk was physically intense and we all sweated heaps, but had a long running conversation that spanned from books to Australia.

Most days mom and I sat in lounge chairs by the beach under thatched umbrellas. We'd read and snorkel around the reef that bordered the shore. Conde Nas rated this one of the Top 10 beaches. Some people spent most of their time at the pool. I didn't really understand why, but it must have been a social thing. We met a bunch of people from around the world from NZ, Australia, America, Canada and Germany. Lying on the beach, on my back, for two 10 minute periods during one day gave me a burn on my front to match the back. I hadn't put any sunscreen on and the sun felt so nice and warm that I just sat out for those two short periods of time. I chalked it up to sun fail numero dos. By the time I left Fiji I had experienced my first full on sunburn. When you leave the island there's a leaving song sung by another group of resort people. It was nice, but sad to leave the resort. It felt like we had just arrived and were already leaving. I really soaked in the boat ride on the way back and tried to keep out of the sun. In the van on the way to the airport the radio was playing really quietly. I ended up freaking out a little bit because I thought a Glee song was on the radio. Turns out I was right. At first I convinced myself that I was wrong and it was probably the original version. After straining my ears a bit I realized it was a girl singing Somebody To Love. Since Queen usually sings it, I dismissed my earlier assumption that it was the original and listened for the different Glee Cast parts. By the end of the trip I was convinced that I had heard Glee on the radio and I had made friends with another Gleek in the van. A new Zealander lady near me asked if I was talking about Glee and that just pushed us into a whole glee conversation. I love talking about things like that. I'm sure I've forgotten tons of Fiji events and happenings, but there main thing I want to get across is that the water is clear, warm and full of life, the sand is hot and the people are fantastic. Oh and the food is great too.