That's all folks
Well, I'm back. That's the end of my round the world odyssey (until the next one).
What have I been up to?I've climbed mountains, sailed seas, and crossed deserts.
I've slept on beds, bunks, hammocks, yacht decks, truck tops, tents,
mozzie nets, and between people.
I've travelled on planes, trains, cars, ferries, yachts, utes, kayaks,
trucks and shoes.
I've staying in dorms where people have slept, slept with each other,
cried, snorted coke, and danced.
I've arrived in continents knowing nobody and left with friends I'll
always have.
I've learnt to scuba dive, bake cakes, play didge, and relax.
I've carried all my possessions on my back, and only once stayed in the
same place for more than a week (Kajabbi doesn't count).
I've seen sunrises over mountains, sunsets from beaches, and the stars
upside-down.
I've been so hot I burnt my feet and so cold I couldn't feel them.
I've posted home, a didgeridoo, bolognase sauce, a possum skin, cute kiwi
guys, kava, and many more.
I've eaten kangaroo, crocodile, paua and possum.
I've been eaten by mozzies, sandflies, ants, march flies, and possums
(their revenge).
I've lost track of what month it is, but managed to have the same
afternoon twice.
I've jumped from planes, swum with crocodiiles, dived with sharks, and
been to the toilets with spiders!
I've been close to coming home early, but closer to staying away for
another year.
Yet in all that I've seen, and all that I've done, I have only scratched
ths surface. There's a whole wide world out there, and I intend to see
it.
A slight change in plans
I'm back home.
Two days earlier than I told everyone. (Jen, this is your fault - it was too good an opportunity to pass up.) Still, my Mum's face was worth the change! More later.
Boston Tea Party
Today I've made the arduous journey up to Boston. (All of four hours - it was supposed to be three, more on this in a mo.) It's a really nice place, it feels very new and clean. It's also a big student town - at least 6 universities here.
The reason the journey took an hour longer was that the train was late by an hour. Julian, they aren't always on time! With the combination of that and a complete lack of battery for my ipod I wasn't too amused. But then I remembered being stuck for 8 days and things didn't seem too bad.
In the end the journey was a lot of fun, as I spent the whole time chatting to the girl I was sat next to. She's at college up here studying graphic design, what was really cool was that she went out of her way to show me where my hostel was! It's not often you meet people like this. (Caren, you're now famous - at least to everyone reading this!)
Only a few days left...
Good news, bad news
Booo to the London bombers. Bad form. But it could have been so much worse.
What is funny is that the American media has been covering the bombings, and devoting equal amounts of airtime to the raising of the threat level out here - and nothing's even happened this side of the pond! Surreal.
A random film review
"Mr. and Mrs. Smith" Pretty darn good. It's an action film with a brilliant sense of humour. (No, I haven't turned American in my spelling just yet.) Worth seeing if you've got the time.
(Chumley, you're dead wrong. It's not like watching that at all!)
Olympics
So, they're coming to London. Hooray! And hopefully I'll be living there through it, that's not going to make things at all busy, oh no.
Airports and NYC
Yesterday was a day on the move. I started at 11am when I left the hostel in San Francisco, and didn't stop until 1am when I arrived at the hostel here in the Big Apple. (There was a 3hr time difference though, so not quite as bad as it seems.)
Yesterday was also only the second time I've been searched prior to boarding a plane. The first was in Fiji, and they were pretty lax - they missed the matches and lighter in the bag they searched! (I did give them to them anyway, though.) It was kind of strange to see all my possessions laid out on a table, it showed just how little I own at the moment. The funniest thing was that the girl in front of me had a bra that obviously kept setting the hand-held metal detectors off! I had to try pretty hard not to giggle - probably bad form when around US Customs.
And I still went on board with matches and lighters! Although I did relegate my leatherman to the hold - that might be pushing it a little.
NYC is a fairly nice place, but at the moment it's going down as "just another big city". It's hot here though, the humidity is way up there even if the heat isn't. I had a wander round today, and went past the former site of the twin towers. It's really bizarre, if you didn't know the history it just looks like another building site. It was also kind of surreal to see parents having children pose in front of it. That wouldn't be my first choice holiday snap.
And then...
...there was 10.
End of a road trip
Well, the road trip is officially over. Betty has been returned to her masters. (That's the car before any of you start getting any ideas.) She was battered, covered in crisps and beer, had flies squashed on her, roamed over two thousand miles, and loved every minutes of it.
After Vegas (again) we cruised up to Yosemite. That should be enough for any rock climbers out there, but for those of you who are vertically challenged, let me explain. Yosemite is one of the premier climbing venues in the world. Literally miles upon miles of sheer, warm, granite with spectacular views and some a place in the history of climbing. I climbed with a guy who was there in the 70's when it really took of, and to hear him talk about some of the famous people I've only ever read about was pretty cool.
Some of the climbs take 4-5 days to get up, you have to camp, on a sheer face, halfway up the wall! It's something I'd love to come back to do but I think I might need to get a little more under my belt before I try it.
In a few days I'm flying over to New York and then the trip will be nearly over. As it is I only have two weeks left. I wonder just how much England has changed while I've been away? (Ali, the hair had better be big!)
The story continues
We're having a lot of fun out here, yesterday we cruised up to Bryce Canyon for the day from Zion. (The campsite where we're staying is too nice to leave!) The bizarrest bit was on the way home though, as we drove over the top of a mountain (10,350ft) and there was snow on top! Yes, there we were in shorts, shades and t-shirts playing in the snow. The photos are brilliant!
There have been a couple of mishaps, like driving along with the boot of the car open for a few miles. Fortunately we didn't lost anything out of the boot or go under any low barriers.
Tomorrow down to the Grand Canyon for a couple of nights, and then back to the hedonistic playground that is Vegas. Vegas, by the way, is a lot of fun - so much money has been spent there it's unreal. There's the fastest lift in the world, the brightest beacon, the largest hotel, a half-size eiffel tower, a sphinx, venetian canals (inside the casino), and more gambling than you can shake a stick at. It's a good thing we're not staying there for too long!
Road tripping
So far we've covered a fair few miles, and we've underestimated the time on each and every journey so far. That means we've done things like leaving Palm Springs at about half five in the evening to drive to Vegas... and arriving just after midnight!
We've stopped for two days in Zion which is a nice chance to get out of the car. (By the way, the car is called Betty; Betty the Beast.) We have a SUV! It didn't cost too much extra and has loads more room, so we're not in some pants hire car, oh no, we have a beast. The guy in the rental place told us that the one we'd hired was tiny (we were thinking micra) but it turns out that americans have a different sense of scale as it was more like mondeo. Anyway, all good.
Zion
Another short post, as I'm short on time: I'm in Zion National Park. It's north east of Vegas, and the scenery is spectacular even if it is a little hot! Tomorrow we're heading north to Bryce Canyon before coming back down to the big one: the Grand Canyon.
Hopefully more soon!
Fear and loathing
I've made it to Las Vegas,and to call it America's playground is an understatement. I've never been anywhere quite like this! It's a lot of fun, but a good thing I'm on a budget - I might have to return when I'm working out here though.
More later.
Ooh, mamma
I'm about to fly down to LA, and that means only one thing... the road trip starts tomorrow. I've been shopping for a little gizmo so that I can broadcast from my ipod on fm (for the car radio), and I'm looking forward to cruising down '66 listening to either Easy Rider or Bad To The Bone at full volume!
"In a neighbourhood like this you know it's hard to survive"
I came down from Banff to Calgary yesterday, and met up with Joanna in the evening. Up until that point I'd thought the hostel I was staying in was quite nice. That was when she pointed out the homeless shelter half a block away and the street corners favoured by prostitutes and drug dealers. Doh!
Kind of reminds me of the time we managed to find the red light district in Madrid by mistake - it was just getting dark and all of a sudden all these women in short skirts and high heels started to appear! Remember that Al?
(Bonus points for the artist/song that the title's taken form.)
Jumping through hoops
I went climbing yesterday, woohoo! It was indoor, booo!
That's not entirely the point of this post though. When I went to climb, I had to sign a waiver; nothing very unusual about that. Except this one was four pages long and required three signatures, two initials, and a witnesses signature too! I'm not exactly sure what I've signed up for as I didn't read it fully so if you don't hear from me for a while I'll be working in a mine somewhere.
Even that wasn't the best bit, I had to take a test to make sure that I could belay properly. (Non-climbers: hold the rope to catch someone if they fall off.) That test cost an extra five bucks and took twenty minutes. And I was more qualified than the guy testing me! I did ask, but apparently being an instructor, "doesn't count for anything". Grrr...
The worst bit was that the wall wasn't even that great - small, old and with a campus board that you bash your body into.
I know that this sort of thing is becoming more widespread in the UK but I really hope it stops before it reaches this point. So much of the climbing subculture is about doing your own thing, in your own way, that it defeats the object almost entirely. In my opinion, you shouldn't be climbing if you don't recognise that there's a risk involved. It's an extreme sport, so shit happens. We were lucky at university in that we one came close to a major accident once, butI have no idea what would happen if someone was hurt - who's responsible? Is it the people running the trip, the university, the student's union, or the students themselves?
Maybe that's a little over the top, but I don't like the idea of being told what to do if I accept the risks I'm taking.
Pooh and friends
One of the things about the Rockies is that there are bears about. Grizzly bears. Last year one of them wandered down the main high street in Banff with her cubs! It's all suddenly become more serious, however, as a woman was killed by a grizzly last week in Canmore. (Just down the road from where I was staying in Banff.)
I was planning to go off for some big walks and spend a day or two in the middle of nowhere on my own. In the end I didn't have the time or experience to do it. It is interesting finding out how you're supposed to deal with bears: you can buy "bear bells" to let them know you're coming and "bear spray" which is like a souped up pepper spray with a range of 40ft. It's all pretty scary stuff, but the last time anyone was killed by a bear was a good few years.
That's the price I suppose, if you want the best hiking, running, biking, climbing, and skiing then you have to live with the wildlife.
Banff
The name of this town might ring a bell with any climbers out there as it hosts one of the worlds biggest Mountain Film festivals each year. That should give you a good idea as to what there is to do around here...
As ever I'm too late for the winter climbing season, and the summer hasn't yet begun proper so it's still too cold/snowy for pure rock climbing. But this place is definitley high on my list of spots to return to. Just looking out of the window now I can see a clean slab of rock rising for a good few hundred metres, the temptation to go and try it anyway is very real.
Still, they've got an indoor wall and I've wandered up some of the hills instead of climbing them. Nice to be outside again after spending time in cities.
Maths puzzle
Okay, here's one to get your brain in knots. I spent a while trying to prove that it was impossible only to find out that it's not; it's just a little devious instead.
Four people have to cross a bridge. The bridge can only support two people and they each walk at different speeds, it takes them 1,2,5,10 mins respectively to cross. The problem is that it's dark and there's only one torch. So, one person has to bring the torch back so the next two can cross. (I.e. two go over, one comes back; repeat until everyone's over.)
Make sense? I hope so...
The hard part is this: you only have 17 mins to get everyone over the bridge. Good luck! (Answers on a postcard, please.)
Thanks Matt.
Distances
Australia's a big place, the US of A is bigger, but Canada takes the cake by a mile. I didn't realise that it's the second largest country in the world, that is, until I got on a bus yesterday.
I've just come over from Victoria to Banff. Victoria's just off the west coast on an island, and Banff is inland near Calgary. That's maybe 1/6 of the way across Canada; I started travelling at 8am yesterday, and barring a wait in Vancouver I didn't stop until 9am today. And I'm not even close to be halfway! It's a good thing I'm flying out of Calgary and not Toronto!
Random fact: Canada's twice the size of EUROPE.
Dormitory Derangement
A couple of funny things happened to me while I was in Vancouver. One's actually funny, the other falls more into the worrying category; I'll let you decide which one is which.
So it's about 11:30 at night, and one of the guys wanders in and announces that he's going to see "transwexual wrestling" and do any of us want to come? After managing to stop giggling, I decide that although it sounds like an excellent idea I can't be bothered to get up. I guess this is what people do in Victoria when they're bored.
The other one will have to wait awhile, as I'm in the seediest hostel in the world at the moment and feel the need to run away very quickly.
Links
I've finally gotten off my lazy arse and set the links up. On the right hand side, near the bottom are a few links to other people's blogs, either people I've met or know from back home.
Lazing in hammocks
Was pretty much all we had to do all day! Well, that and go swimming or drink cocktails. Or sunbathe. Or sleep. God it`s going to be hard to go home!
Katie, Justine, & Steph
On Kuata where I bumped in to them. Memo to self: drinking rum straight is not a brilliant idea. (Although playing "I`ll drink to that" is an excellent one.)
Sunset
Sunset from Manta Ray Island. Again, life is hard!
Blue Lagoon
Anyone remember the film with Brooke Shields? This is where it was filmed.
Sunrise island
Sandy beaches, sunny skies, long cocktails. Life is hard...
Sunrise
Getting up early does have benefits. I did go back to bed afterwards anyway...
LA vs Vancouver
I flew in to Vancouver last night. It`s a very different place to LA. From what I`ve seen so far from wandering around, it`s a lot smaller and greener and there are pedestrians here!
Tomorrow sees a short hop over to Victoria which has the reputation of being a, "small slice of England". I`ll let you know...
Grumpy?
It's just been pointed out that the last post was a little grumpy. It wasn't supposed to be, I was more amused than anything else!
Thoughts from a 'net cafe
There's a guy sat opposite me at the moment. It's strange, he's talking to a guy who's three feet away and yet he's shouting like he's just been robbed. It's cool though as he can't see me typing this. Even if he could, he wouldn't be able to read the words (I hope).
I've seriously never seen anyone pace, and shout, and moan, and huff, and swear, over so little. The internet browser crashed. That's a pretty rare occurrence these days, but even so.
Okay, maybe I'm too harsh. Maybe he needs to get online for something important. Still, it's the funniest thing I've seen in a little while. Actually, maybe I've just been travelling too long and have gotten a little too laid back.
...
Whatever.
Animal style...
...means with onions.
I've just realised how dodgy that must've looked - going to a place called In-n-Out and asking for it "animal style". Ah well.
Plans
I've become used to planning my days as they come, but for once I've made an exception. Tomorrow I'm flying up to Vancouver for a couple of weeks in Canada. Then I'll come back down to LA, wander off on a bit of a road trip for three weeks (Vegas, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, etc) and end up at San Fran. Finally, a short hop over to NY for a couple of weeks wandering around that area before home!
Under six weeks to go. Scary.
One cool thing about being here is the streets I get to walk down - Hollywood Blvd, Sunset Blvd, Santa Monica Blvd. (The latter I'm sure is in a Sheryl Crow song somewhere but I can't remember which one.)
First impressions
If you've read much of this you might gather that I don't like big cities too much. Something of a problem given both that I'm in one at the moment and that I'm going to work in two of them - London and New York.
So, when I arrived into LA I wasn't all that smitten. It's a very big place, but pretty sparse, you really need a car to live here. I think it covers something like 1000 square miles altogether. There are some stereotypes about America which are true (so far) there is as much fast food as you can eat, the freeways are
wide and some people wear the funniest things. In this internet cafe earlier was an elvis, and I walked past two wonderwomen just now. Very strange but quite cool.
As is typical, I now know all the best places to go just before I'm flying out. I spent way too long in the travel agents booking my flights, and the woman there gave me a handwritten map of LA with all her favourite places on it and tips of where to go. Looks like I'll have to come back through this way at some point!
Right, time to go. I've been told to check out "In-n-Out", a fast food restaurant California style and to ask for whatever I have, "animal style". Lord knows what that means, but we'll soon find out!
Not very subtle
I'd forgotten about this one...
When I was on Kuata, one of the islands off Fiji, I managed to lose my sunglasses. This wasn't surprising as I'd had a rum or two and wasn't all that worrying as they'd only cost $10 in Australia.
A day or two goes by, and I come to get on the boat to leave Kuata. Lo and behold, there's one of the staff wearing blue-lensed sunnies. Quite a rare breed out here... In fact, a very rare breed - mine! He was nice enough when I pointed this out, and claimed to have been looking after them for me. So, all's well, and the sunnies are on my head as I type!
Fiji
I could spend ages writing down everything I got up to in Fiji, but it'd make things a little bit long and boring. Instead, here's a general impression of the islands.
I haven't been anywhere quite like Fiji yet, the people are so much more relaxed and friendlier. Almost everyone you see says a big, "Bula!" with an even bigger smile. The islands themselves range from basic to plush and differ range in size all the way down to one that you can walk round in three minutes (yes, we did try it).
The other great thing is that the number of people hopping between islands is pretty small. So, after the first day or two you just keep bumping in to people you've met. The best one was bumping in to Steph, Katie, and Laura (friends from home). I knew they were probably in Fiji but had no idea where until I got off the boat and they waved at me from the beach! That makes three countries we've manged to meet up in, whether we'll manage it in the US remains to be seen... watch this space.
I'll post more tomorrow as I'm a little tired after having arrived before I've even taken off! (Don't you just love time zones?)
Sega na leqa
I'm back from my island hopping and have loads of silly things to add. But the net's sooo expensive out here I'm going to wait until I get to LA to do it.
(The title is "no worries" in Fijian.)
Primer
I've seen many films that have confused me, and they're a genre I tend to enjoy. I think I've just found the mother of all of them though. A film called
Primer about time travel. To say that it's hard to make sense of would be ever such a slight understatement.
Well worth seeing if you've got an hour or two to try and work out what you just saw!
Onward and upward
A long time ago, when I was planning this trip, I didn't know how long to spend in each place I was going to so I just went with three months for each. That turned out to be nowhere near long enough for Australia - it's pretty big - and now I'm coming to the end of my time in New Zealand I see it's not going to be long enough here either.
I've tried to delay the inevitable and extended my stay here by two weeks. (I should already have been out of here.) Even so, there are so many place that I didn't make it to, and so many places that I want to return to. This is the catch with travelling: you can never do quite enough.
So, next stop Fiji. I'm looking forward to sunshine, golden beaches, scuba diving while warm, and, of course, kava!
Coming down
Is always easier than going up.
I'm quite proud of this photo, although the effect wasn't intended and it wasn't as steep as it looks.
Hero poses
Are not just an option, they're a necessity.
Meg
Meggy-lou, where are you?
Toilet humour
Everyone's heard of words which mean things in different languages... Like a car called a "Nova" which didn't sell well in France as that means, "doesn't go".
Well, I was talking to a Dutch couple the other day, and I told them what my website was and they burst out laughing. It turns out that plee, pronounced play, is slang for toilet in Dutch. Doh!
Random quote from a book I'm reading,
That's the major failure of showers. There's nowhere to float your duck.
Le Bons Bay
After the manic atmosphere of Christchurch, I've gone to the opposite extreme: Le Bons Bay Backpackers. This is a little place that's a few kilometres out of Akaroa (east of C'church). I thought that any place that scored higher than Lochmara in the BBH ratings was definitely worth checking out!
It's a lovely little place, and the best things are the meals. Every evening they cook a goumet meal - which is lovely, and such a change - for only twelve dollars! Even including this in the price of the dorm was evening it works out cheaper than some hostels I've stayed in.
More countries
Yesterday was another one of those strange, but good, co-incidences. I phoned Steph, on the off chance they'd be anywhere near Christchurch in the next few days only to find they were already there!
This brings the tally up to three times we've met up, in two countries. Having sorted out schedules, we're going to be in Fiji at the same time, and Los Angeles too. That'd bring the total up to four, and then with a quick side trip to Mexico we'd get five!
There aren't yet any more dents in the campavan, although it's still got to make it all the way back to Auckland...
Wardrobe
4 t-shirts
2 pairs of trousers
3 pairs of shorts
1 shirt (well, a pink hippy kind of shirt)
3 pairs of socks
2 thin fleeces
waterproof jacket + trousers
And not as much underwear as I should have
That's the lot! It's going to be bizarre to come home and find all the clothes back there. At the moment all the above can fit into one, pretty small, compression sack. Still, it does give me room in my rucksack for the important things - climbing gear, tent, down jacket, wine.
Big snowy hills
Today was the first time I've taken an ice axe and been wandered up a large hill. Well, I lie, it's the first time I've done it on my own with people who are no more experienced than I am (i.e. not very). It wasn't all that steep, or all that dangerous, although it was just dangerous enough to be great.
I can now see the attraction of taking the risks to get to the snow-line - the views are incredible! We could see Mt Cook (Aoraki) in all her glory, but that one will have to wait for another trip as it's a little higher and harder than the climb we did.
Now, more than ever, I'm regretting not doing any "proper" climbing a couple of months ago when I had the chance as the season has finished. Still, it's a good thing that I'm heading to the US and the Rockies...
I'll try and get the photos from this little adventure online soon as they're worth seeing. We had to take the obligatory "hero pose" shots at the top and we'll see how they turn out.
Rachael and Bonnie
Or is that Clyde? Either way, it's one of the two baby possums who now live at Lochmara.
Kepler Track
This is the track just before it started to rain. And it rained for three straight days! That was kind of fun in a tent...
Goodbye...
And thanks to everyone at Lochmara (you know who you are) it's been a great last month there. If you're ever in London, drop me a line and say hello!
Behind the times
Uh... why did no one tell me that there was an election? It was really bizarre to read the paper yesterday and see the article about Blair looking good to win, and then realising I had no idea when the election even was!
Another foot in it
You might remember a little while ago I wrote something on here about Betsy puttin gher foot in it with the owner of Lochmara - Shayne. Well, last night she told a similar story to the one that got her the first time round.
We were sat eating another feast (whenever someone leaves, we have a feast) and the story from last time came out. That led on to another story which was suddenly interrupted by, "Oh... hello Shayne". His timing was impeccable!
I'm back in civilization properly today - Blenheim - and then I will get around to leaving tomorrow and heading down to Christchurch. I was going to try and do some mountaineering or ice climbing down by Mt Cook, but it's the wrong season and no-one's running any courses so we'll see what happens there.
Next stop...
...Mt Cook. Well, that's the plan at the moment anyway. As is typical, it's the wrong season to do much in the way of mountaineering - I shouldn've done it a month ago. Or in a month's time. Aaaarrrggh!
Glow worms
I wish I was a glow-worm,
Glow-worms are never glum,
How could you be unhappy,
When the sun shines out your bum?!
(On the notice board above the computer here.)
Plans
I've been trying to work out where I should go when I finally leave here, and it's proving difficult! I'll be in Fiji for somewhere between one and two weeks, and I still have to move my flights for that. Afterwards comes the big USA. Steph and co are going to the same places at roughly the same times, so we might end up meeting in four different countries! Stop following me! The short version of my plan is: up the west coast, through Canada and back down. But that'll no doubt change when I get there!
Oh, we have two new additions to the staff here. Bonnie and Clyde - two baby possums. Everyone's been doing the, "Ahhhh, cute!" thing and kind of ignoring the fact that they're pests out here. Still, they do do the funniest things (like going to the toilet on our boss...)
It's also pretty cold. I'm glad I carried that down jacket with me through Australia, even though I felt like a bit of a tit at the time!
Old friends, new places
Last night I met up with Steph, Katie, and co. (For those who don't know
them, these are more Warwick Uni people doing a similar thing to me.) I
last saw them in Sydney, just after they'd arrived in Oz.
They're cruising around NZ in a pretty large campavan at the moment. It's
proving to be an experience - they have a collection of wingmirrors,
guttering and taillights to prove just how much fun it is to drive the
van! It did sound like the ferry crossing into Picton was, to put it
mildly, pretty rough. At least 4m swells, touching 10m in the middle of
the Strait.
For a little while, it - again - felt like I was back home and had never
quite left Leamington. Sat in an Irish pub, with English people. We're
going to see if we can manage to meet up in other countries too, it's
looking like we'll be in Fiji around the same time and maybe the states
too. Very bizarre indeed! But good fun.
You know you've been guiding too long when...
Just remembered this one, and it's a worthy addition here...
On Franz Josef, Siobhan bumped into one of the guides on the glacier:
Siobhan: "Oh, I'm sorry, I beg your pardon." (Add Irish accent to suit.)
Guide: "Baby, from me you wouldn't have to beg for anything."
I had to try hard not to fall over laughing. Although I will be sooo tempted to bring that line out if someone says that to me!
What a job!
One of the guys who was staying here a couple of days ago has a job that's pretty high on the 'jobs kids want when they're little' list - stuntman. He's worke don Lord of the Rings, and has just finished working on the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (which sounds very good, by the way).
It was kind of funny - he looks at rooms and sees fight scenes (props, smashable things, etc) in much the same way as climbers look at buildings and see routes.
It happens to the best of us
As of yesterday, I'm officially old. Not all that old, just another year to add to the tally. It was pretty cool too, we (the staff) went in to Picton for a meal and a few drinks. Sounds silly to say it, but it's very strange to leave Lochmara. To go from such quiet to a town - and Picton isn't exactly bustling!
Anyway, all good.
Down under
Yesterday I went diving for the first time in New Zealand. These were the first two wrecks that I've been down to, and it was pretty cool - but spooky - to swim around them. Especially as the second dive was at night, and there's nothing quite as eerie as going through the wreck (yes, you can swim through some of them) with only the light of a torch to guide you.
The dives themselves were fairly cruisey - not too deep or too long. The only bad thing was that it was cold down there. Well, 15C doesn't sound all that cold but even in a full wetsuit with gloves and a hood I still cut the second dive short.
The funny thing is that both of these wrecks are just next door to where I'm staying. It's about five minutes in a boat to get to them, and they only lie in 10-15m of water. It's almost possible to free-dive down to that depth so I might have a little look when I'm next in the area.
Right, time to get back to the hard work that is learning to play didgeridoo...
Putting your foot in it
There are few things funnier than when someone isn't aware a certain person is within earshot. In this case, Betsy managed to put her foot very firmly in it. We were sitting around a campfire, saying goodbye to three German carpenters (long story) and she didn't realise that Shayne - the boss - was sat just out of view. The rest of us assumed she knew what she was saying...
Still, the look on her face when Shayne announced himself was priceless. And he was fairly pissed anyway! All good!
This is my day off from the hard work at Lochmara, and I'm killing time before I go diving again. There's a couple of ship wrecks just off the coast here so I'm going to check them out. One of them at night too!
Strange parcels home
I think it's time to explain one of the (many) private jokes that's been going on during this trip...
A little while ago, I wrote on the bottom of one of my group emails something along the lines of, "Ros - Which flavours do you want me to send you?" This is funny in itself as Ros wanted me to send her some Watties (bolognase sauce) from down here. I mean, who would really want sauce from halfway around the world?
Some people managed to firmly grab hold of the opposite end of the stick and assumed that I was, in fact, talking about condoms. Yes, people seriously considered the possibility that I was starting a condom importing business. Word of this made its was back to me, and, now that's just too good an opportunity to pass up!
So, a few weeks ago when I was in Wanaka, I went shopping. For Watties and (vibrating) condoms. To say that I received a few strange looks from the girl on the checkout would be something of an understatement. So, I sent this off with a cryptic email and waited...
The parcel landed last week, and now more people seem to want me to send them condoms. It's just sureal. (And kind of an expensive business to be getting into!)
Welcome to the strangeness of my world tour!
Lochmara Lodge
It's been a while since I last posted properly on here. When I was down in Dunedin in fact.
In Dunedin, I had a phone call from one of the hostels I stayed at in the top of the south island. It went kind of along these lines... "Hey Phil. do you still want to come and work here? Can you start on monday?" Given that this was friday morning, and Dunedin is some 950km from Picton I obviously said yes!
That prompted a two-day dash up the east coast. I managed to spend less than twelve hours in Christchurch en-route and made it to Picton with half a day to spare.
That was just over a week ago. I can't remember if I described this place before, so I'll give it another go here. It's awesome (short version). The longer version goes something like this: Lochmara sits on the waterfront in a large inlet of the Marlborough Sounds. This means that it misses most of the bad weather and is generally sunny. Just along the coastline are some friendly seals who will happily play with you in a kayak. There's an incredible spa, plenty of walking opportunities and a very chilled atmosphere.
It was described by one of the other staff as, "one step above other hostels". That's pretty accurate, - the bunks are more solid, the rooms cleaner, the kitchen bigger, the spa better located, the views more stunning, the staff friendlier, the owners more chilled, the seals cuter... (Okay, I'll stop there!)
So, anyway, I'm working here. I did umm and ahh about whether it'd be a good idea to stop for a month or not. (A month is a pretty long time to me at the moment.) But it seems like I've made a pretty good decision! The work here isnt' exactly taxing - between two and four hours per day. Usually much nearer to two than to four!
Yes, I am still here
I've just been having some problems getting to a computer that likes my blog. If this works then there'll be a longer post in short order...
Christchurch, briefly
I had a slight change of plan the day before yesterday. A while ago I stayed at Lochmara Lodge - up by Picton - and loved it. They emailed me the other day asking if I wanted to head back there and work for a few weeks in exchange for accomodation and food, so that's where I'm heading. It's going to be really cool to unpack everything for more than a night! It is taking me many hours on a bus to get there though, Dunedin is kind of at the bottom of the South island and Picton is the top tip. Still, it's all gravy...
For once computers failed me yesterday. I spent way too long crafting an email to everyone I know telling y'all that I was going to stay out here and not bother coming home. (Well, it was April Fool's day...) But then the stupid thing died on me. (That's the standard explanation, I can't be arsed with the technical version. It'd be kind of sad as well...)
Tomorrow I have to get up at stupid-o-clock to get the bus north. Boo.
Chocolate or beer?
Dunedin is famous for two things - the Cadbury's factory and the Speight's brewery. This led us to an interesting philosophical conundrum earlier: if you could work at one of them, which one would it be?
Tough decision. (As ever, answers on a postcard.)
In other news, the bungy jumping fell through! Boo! Due to a combination of time, weather, and my ineptitude in booking the damned thing I managed to run out of time. Still, it's something to head back to Queenstown for, and if I have time I'll do it later. Or do a smaller one in Taupo. Or just wait until I come back to NZ. We'll see...
Imagination
Just for a moment, let your imagination wander....
Oi! Andy! Not that kind of imagination!
Imagine a hill, a fairly large hill. It's 1300m high. Now imagine that you're stood at the bottom looking up; it's 10km to the top and every step of it is uphill. What you're now seeing is
half of the first day of the Kepler Track. The track basically is 'M' shaped, with the last two days being flat on the other side of the M.
The only other interesting thing about the track is that it's in the Fiordland National Park, here it rains on average 200 days out of each year. It didn't disappoint when I walked it - the first day was okay; the second and third days rained solidly. I decided to run the last two days together and get out a day early as I didn't fancy another night in a tent.
That kind of caused another problem. It's Easter weekend, and did anyone tell me? So, most places were booked solid and I ended up in a place that was a bit of a dump really. Still, it was dry and it had a soft bed!
Bungy vote
Thanks to everyone who's replied to my what-should-I-bungy vote. In case you missed it, the options were:
1. Nevis, 134m, scream all the way down from a gondola above a river
2. Para-bungy, 180m, scream for even longer from a parachute hanging off the back of a speedboat
3. Save the cash for something worthwhile (yeah, right!)
I kind of expected everyone to tell me to take the second option, but opinion is divided. Most reckon I should jump from the boat, a few reckon I should take the leap from a gondola for a variety of reasons. Only a couple of people think I should save the money... not that that was ever really an option, I just needed a third choice!
Well, I'll be back in Queenstown in a few days, so I'll set about jumping then.
Franz Josef Glacier
The walk up the glacier was pretty cool (sorry, pun intended), although some parts of it were a tight squeeze. There were also a whole load of ice-cold pools and one girl managed to fall in to one - doh!
Martin in mid air
This is the other guy who jumped at the same time as me, the instructors got pretty close to each other!
A long way down
...and this is the view from the parachute. It's such a bizarre feeling floating downwards, and it's over all too quickly.
View from a plane
This the view I had just before I threw myself out of a perfectly good plane.
If I remember correctly, that's Mt Cook, the highest peak in New Zealand.
Days off
It's bad enough when you're travelling that Sundays occur once a week - I mean, they close everything for a day and no-one tells you about it - but it's worse with anniversaries. They only come round once a year, and there's nothing you can do about it.
Maybe I should buy another watch...
Climbing (at last)
So, it's Sunday. The clocks have just gone back, and it's raining outside.
But I don't care, as I've finally found some climbing to get my teeth into. Admittedly only bouldering at this point, and I'm way out of shape, but it's all gravy. What's better is that I've sorted out my visits to Castle Hill and Payne's Ford (these'll only mean anything to Jack, but what the hell).
Tonight I'm heading in to Queenstown, although I seem to have ticked most of the dangerous things I wanted to do so far. Unless the tax-man suddenly gives me that money tonight I probably won't bother with bungy jumping. What's the point in 3 seconds of freefall when you've done a whole minute?
Terminal Velocity
After all the faffing around with fuel for the plane to go skydiving, I finally did it. We had to wait six hours, but it was well worth it! The company we jumed with is pretty small, and the plane was tiny. There were only two of us jumping, and we only just fitted into it.
I've a horrible feeling that skydiving could prove to be as addictive as everything else I've tried like it: climbing, diving, sailing, windsurfing... It's such an amazing feeling to fall through the air watching the ground coming up to meet you, and then when the chute stops you it's incredibly quiet. It wasn't even that scary, it's worrying to dangle your feet out of the plane, but then you're off and you don't have any time to worry about it - just do it!
The best bit was that you can take your camera up with you, so I've got loads of photos of the plane ride up and from the parachute. (It's kind of hard to use a camera in freefall!) The plane ride itself was stunning, the dropzone is just near the Fox Glacier so you can see Mt Cook, Mt Tasman and both of the glaciers! Photos online soon... I didn't bother with a video though, they were pretty expensive.
Someone's just told me that you can skydive in Taupo for a fraction of the price I paid. Looks like I'll be doing it again when I'm heading back up there.
Tongariro Crossing
This is from when I did the crossing a while ago, back in the North island. It was kind of cloudy that day! I've gone a few better photos, but this one sums it up pretty well.
Coastline
This was just taken when we stopped the other day along the West Coast. It's quite nice, but the weather is usually a lot worse than this!
More Tasman
Another view of Abel Tasman, this time over one of the estuaries.
Swingbridge
There are a few rivers you have to cross along the Tasman track. Some you walk through, others are a little too big. Hence the cool swingbridges.
Abel Tasman Beach
This is what it's all about - pristine beaches in the middle of nowhere. Perfect.
Rope Swing at Lochmara
Lochmara Lodge has a monster rope swing, this is one of the guys in mid air. It's a lot more fun in the dark, as there are phosphorescent plankton in the water and you glow when you hit it!
Queen Charlotte Track
A view from the top of a large hill!
Rotorua Hot Springs
This is what the hot springs look like in Rotorua. They smell baaaaddd...
Jumping from a plane
Well, this is the sort of thing that I could never make up if I tried to.
The weather here is absolutely perfect. It's bright sunshine, few clouds and good visibility. This means that the skydiving companies have been pretty busy, although I booked well in advance so it's not a problem. As we were driving over to the dropzone, the lady with us had a phone call....
They're out of fuel.
Yes, I kid you not. They have no more fuel for the plane; the weather has been that good they've done way more flights than normal. The tanker was supposed to drop fuel off at 1pm, just before our flight, but the driver kind of got confused and drove straight through to Haast (an hour from here). So, either we'll drop later this evening, at sunset, or wait a day or two and do it then. If the weather breaks, I'm going to cry!
Glaciers
Greymouth today, Franz Josef tomorrow.
And you know what that means - skydiving. It's booked, all I have to hope for is that the weather is good so that I can actually jump! 'Ave it!
(Bungy is looking too expensive for what it is, I'll see what my budget's looking like when I get to Queenstown...)
News
Well, I just checked the news here in NZ. And there's a couple of stories that are kind of relevant...
The first is about a tornado in Greymouth that happened on thursday. Guess where I'm heading tomorrow?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3215586a11,00.htmlThe second is about three climbers who died on Mt Cook while crossing the Ball Pass. This is interesting as I was seriously considering doing this (with a guide). By the sounds of it, one of the three slipped and pulled everyone down and over a cliff. Hmmm.... maybe I'll have a proper look when I get to Mt Cook...
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3214237a11,00.html
Travelling by bus
It's amazing the different people you meet on buses. Not backpacker buses, the people on those tend to be kind of predictable, but the normal regular ones.
It's also amazing just how boring some people are. On my one hour journey from Awaroea to Nelson, there was a guy talking very loudly to the driver for the whole way. He's an expect in bridalways and telegraph poles. Yes, you did read that right - telegraph poles. After half an hour of hearing about his 'hobby' I was ready to tell him where to insert his telegraph poles... Even worse, my usual defense (the ipod) was out of battery. So, I can now tell you everything you ever wanted to know about the different vintage telegraph poles.
Ah well, beats working I suppose!
Crossing rivers
Well, if it's Saturday then I'm back from walking the Abel Tasman track. And I'm fairly sure it is, although I've managed to lose my watch again - that's two for this trip - so I'm not certain.
I kind of cheated for the first bit of the walk, as I had a free water taxi that but out the first day's walk. And, well, it would be rude not to! This walk is 51km, and it's all along the edge of the water, beaches galore. I did it in three cruisey days and it really wasn't that hard.
What was a lot of fun were the river crossings, or more accurately the estuary crossings. As most of the walk is near the beach you have to cross a couple of monster rivers at low tide. High tide is something like 4m higher so it's kind of a bad idea. The biggest one I did yesterday, after hanging around all day to wait for the tide, and a few people decided to do it pretty early. The water was up to their waists, and it wasn't even warm. Worrying, especially if you have all your gear on your back and it's going to get wet... I waited, and knee high water isn't anything like as bad!
Oh, and there were a whole lot of sandflies. Like millions of the little buggers. So, I haven't got much of a tan after that, it was long everything for the whole time.
Nelson
Yesterday I wandered over to Nelson; Nelson is midway along the top of the south island and it's close to the Abel Tasman National Park. There's supposed to be some very good walking / kayaking here, and the word on the grapevine is that the walking is pretty much flat. So, I'm going to take a wander through it with my new tent and check it out. (I bought a tent as it'll save me so much money when I'm walking and it's a bit more fun, too.)
It really is a small world when you're travelling out here, much more so than in Australia. I met a couple of girls I walked some of the Queen Charlotte track with as the magic bus stops in the same place as the kiwi experience one; then I got to the hostel and found a guy I met a while ago back in Taupo.
But I'm off now, I've found a climbing wall here and I've got itchy fingertips. More later...
Queen Charlotte Track
Okay, so I got back yesterday from walking the Queen Charlotte Track. It's 71km long and can be done in 3-5 days (or quicker if you're loopy). The first couple of days were hard work: 28km and 24km respectively, but the views on the second day were really good.
The best bit about the track were the hostels. I stayed at one really okay one, one good one, and incredibly, brilliantly, amazing one! The best by far was a place called Lochmara Lodge. It's set in the middle of nowhere, you can only get in either by walking of water taxi, and is right on the water. It's not your average hostel, it's just unreal. There are hammocks all over the grounds, a spa that feels like it's come from a 5* hotel, the friendliest staff in the world and a monster rope swing. (Great in the dark!) I was only going to stay for one night, but I just had to stay for two! I wasn't the only one either, one girl had come for one night and ended up staying for six! Goodness knows how she had enough food to do it!
The walk itself wasn't as hard as I expected it to be. Well, having said that, I did cheat a little - you can have your pack delivered by water taxi to each night's stop so you only have to carry a day pack. That makes things so much easier!
Next stop is Nelson, and what I'm going to do there I really don't know! I've heard there's a couple of good walks so I might have a look at those if I can find a tent.
