New Zealand

[  Back to Introduction  |  Table of Contents  |  On to Australia  ] Volume I 24 October, 1994 - 21 March, 1995 how long can i see myself chained in this prison chained in this world the time has come to take my good life in my hands and gallop to the sublime finally purified i'm no more polluted and from now on i'll take my quests directly to God Himself i was given at my birth all the estates and mansions it will be a heresy to accept only a doorkeeper's job once i alter this doorkeeper's attitude once i change the essence in my mind happiness will replace misery now my dear heart since you and i are all alone having your midnight message i'll do exactly that which you know once i grow wings in place of my slow feet all obstacles will vanish and i really can fly in time and space again -Rumi ghazal number 1391

26 October	Auckland	$1=$.617US
After months of work, the time has finally arrived. I am on my way! I left the folks in NY and took two long flights: New York - LA, LA - Auckland, taking 5 hours and 13 hours. Even the super powered sleep pill Mom gave me only provided 3 hours of sleep, but I'm functioning OK. After checking into Auckland Central backpackers ($16 for bed in 3 share), I wandered around town. I found a great public library with an excellent travel section, and generally just relaxed all day, adjusting to the thought that I will be travelling for years now. Auckland's a nice town, but not all that much different than most US towns of the same size.

27 October	Auckland
I wandered around town most of the day. A short nap in the park after lunch felt good, but it left me a bit sunburnt. The Auckland Domain is a nice park. It has some beautiful trails going through jungle-like surroundings. There were streams, palm trees, and some strange hollow trees. I'll need to look up what those are. Another nap back at the hostel made the day fly by. Carter was moving into the room as I woke. Later, the two of us went to the bar on the 7th floor for our free drink, "courtesy of the hostel" - of course just to get us up there drinking. It was a nice hang out place, but not much was happening. We walked out to the Tapas Bar - a backpacker bar. Nothing special but at least there was dancing, better music, and the place was just livelier. We stayed out late drinking and talking. Carter's from Jersey, knows Kim Weisman from Lehigh. He is doing a similar tour of 5 months - New Zealand, Australia, South-East Asia, and China. He's flying into Denpassar around 5 Jan, so we may meet up later. I don't want to make any hard plans this early in the trip, so we just agreed on a town in Bali we both will probably stay at around that time. Nothing more specific.

28 October	Auckland
Again, just relaxed all day, getting my travel legs. I decided to ditch the tourist concerns and signed up for the "Kiwi Experience." N$316. It's sort of a tour. Their bus will take me to all the places I wanted to check out, plus along the way, we stop off at interesting sights. They'll handle hostel bookings, deals on activities, etc. But they also run at least 3 times a week, so I can always stay longer anywhere I want to do my own thing, then hop on to the next bus coming through. It's a bit of a kamikaze tour, but I don't have much time here, and there's lots to see and do. I'm not in this country to check out the culture, just to have some fun, and start my travels off on a high - if expensive note. While reading the itinerary, Rebecca moved into the room. She's from Toronto, doing a tour of New Zealand, Australia, Bali, then home. She's relaxing to talk to. We went to a food court, grabbed some food, and talked. Despite the standard Canadian attitude, she's nice. Back at the hostel, we went up to the deck on the 7th floor. We met a couple of Kiwis from Wellington, completely pissed. They're funny to talk with, and gave us more of the Kiwi viewpoint. Very insecure individuals, though. The one guy was always talking "fairy" this and "real man" that. He was married at 18 because his girlfriend became pregnant. Now, 3 years later, they're divorced. She's getting her life back together, in college, etc. But he's spent the last 5 months drinking, sleeping with every woman he can find, and just getting by. I'm sure she misses him dreadfully. He does send her money even though he doesn't need to, out of personal obligation, so he's a decent sort, despite all else... He started hitting on Rebecca, even though he could barely stand straight, so we moved inside. I bought us drinks and we sat down against the wall. The Kiwi bloke hooked up with some girl who looked as drunk as himself. They were all over each other, then disappeared... We turned in rather early.

29 October	Waitomo
The bus driver this morning was an absolute nut. She and her friend were going all over the place, hiding other drivers' buses (with passengers inside) around corners, flipping the insults around, asking us how to get there. It was our driver's first run on this route, but she still had some interesting information about the places we were passing. Such as the plant with 6 smokestacks. One was a fake just to make it an even number! (*smirk*) NZ is 50% hydraulic, mostly from 1 river. Excellent. A couple in the bus (well actually van) with us were from Auckland (or nearby) and were going to write a story for Style magazine on the "Lost World" tour. (Dec '94) They were trying to get the last mug to complete their collection of KFC's Loony Tune collection - Wiley Coyote. We kept stopping at KFC's along the way, but no luck. When we got to Waitomo, I quickly checked into the hostel and walked down to the museum to begin the "Haggus Honking Holes" tour. It was excellent. First, we abseilled (rappelled) down about 50m through a waterfall into the depths. Then for the next 3 hours we walked, slithered, crawled, and swam through passages so tight, we sometimes got stuck and had to be dragged out. There were even times when we had to literally swim underwater to get through to the next passage. The guides were great, they kept playing pranks with us. I had a problem with my head lamp about halfway through and spent a lot of time literally in the dark. We're talking slithering on my elbows through passages barely larger than myself, up to my chin in cold water, completely in blackness. It was fun! There were only four in our group, so we got to see many sites larger groups wouldn't see. There was Dave from the States, Joe from Pirol, NZ, and an Irish chap named, of course, Patrick, a dairy farmer from nearby Leitrim. After we emerged from the depths, the four of us descended on the tavern, ordering handle after handle of the local stout. We ended up staying about 8 hours, drinking the entire time, except for while we were eating fish 'n chips or pizza of course!

30 October	Rotorua
We continued on to Rotorua today. Sulfur city. There's lots of geothermal activity here. Most houses are powered by the geothermal plant and almost every place in town has its own spa pool, heated courtesy of nature. It stinks to high heaven, but interesting. A few of us checked into a very nice Backpackers. The manager was a nice old lady who really mothers us. Some others and myself rent bikes and ride about the lake. Petra - a friendly, lovely German, Bitre, also German, and a Swiss chap. Nice area. We rode around the park in town and stared at the boiling mud and steaming waters, then along the lake. After making a long detour, we returned to the lake and soaked our feet in the water. White pumice lined the shore, giving it a strange look. The stuff actually floats!   Maori performance Close to 6:00, we returned to the hostel and got changed to go to a Maori concert and hangi (Maori earth cooked meal). It was interesting, but with two bus loads of American gray haired tourists there with us, it turned my stomach a bit as too touristy. After the meal - good smoky tasting meats, potatoes, bread, etc., the tourists left and the Chief came back to talk with us. He spent over an hour discussing his culture - its traditions, history, their present situation. He let me use some of their weapons and I made a nice fool of myself trying one of their hakas, similar to forms I learned in Tae Kwon Do. He really impressed me with his sincerity. He truly is trying to preserve his culture against an almost unstoppable merging with the Euro New Zealand culture. The shows were just their way of sharing their culture with those who were interested, not necessarily for tourists. I find the Maoris are really an interesting people, with a similar situation to the Native Americans, but handling it much better. (If you don't count the One Tree incident.) Happy B-day, Dad!

31 October	Taupo	Halloween!
This morning, we drove to the Lady Knox geyser. It was supposedly discovered in the 1920s by men planting the nearby forest (yes, planting the entire forest!). They used the hot springs to clean their clothes. Well, one day, if the ranger was to be believed, they dumped their clothes in, threw in some soap, and about 5 minutes later, the clothes were agitated and spun about 20m into the air! Soap reduced the surface tension, causing the eruption. Today, they dumped in about 4 small soap bars and a few minutes later, off she blew! Afterwards, we drove out to Waiotapu Thermal Park. All the colors of the volcano were present, it was very colorful. Yellow, red, orange, pink. Thick clouds of sulfuric smoke concealed the path as we crossed the walkway across some mud flats. Wild. Then, into Taupo. After going to the store, we went out to the local bungee jumping platform. 42m high. Not for me. I tossed a pebble over the edge, and it took about 3 sec to land in the water. Everyone was talking in loud high voices to each other, hoping someone would talk them out of doing it. We were staying the night at the Berkenhoff lodge. It was only decent, but it had some free pool and ping pong tables and a spa pool out back. Barry (English) and I played a minor tournament. 5 games of table tennis, very closely matched. (I won.) Then a pool game. (I lost.) Then a crazy ping pong game starting with 6 players. You hit the ball, then run around to the other side. Everyone's constantly running. If you mess up, leave your paddle on the table and leave. Eventually, it's 3 people madly sprinting round, then two on constant sides, then the winner. Had the whole place in an uproar, laughing at us. Petra, Bitre, Angie, Barry, myself and 1 other. Whew! Afterwards, Petra, Bitre, and I got pints of Export (lager) and went to sit in the jacuzzi out back to recover. We played mind games while getting intoxicated in the hot water. That night, the whole group of us went out to Margaritas restaurant for dinner and N$2 pints. Good cheap Mexican food. After 2 of those wimpy pints, Barry and I moved up to the 1 litre glasses. Eventually, the place got lively and the floor was cleared for dancing. Good dance music. Fun time, with the whole place raging. Around 2:30 we all piled into cabs, courtesy of the bar. Barry and I played a couple of drunken games of pool and Ping-Pong in the dark, then turned in.

1 November	Ohakune
We had a late start today due to a hangover - Deano's (the bus driver). When we got to Tongariro National Park, it was raining and overcast, so we didn't see much at all. I had been planning to do the Tongariro Crossing track, but the passes are still snowed in. Decided to stay on the bus for now. After checking out the Park Center, we dashed down to the Grand Chateau for a cup of jo. Bitre and I talked for a bit, then went for a short walk with an Irish girl from Dublin. It was bloody freezing! My rain jacket didn't do anything to keep me warm. Rebecca was staying behind to do a farmstay, so I bid her a sad good-bye. We then drove down the road to pick up the farm stay people from the last bus. One girl was very energetic, positively radiating confidence. Rebecca had mentioned someone like her a few days ago, so I walked up out of the blue and said to her, "You must be Tina" She freaked until I told her about Rebecca. There was still room to turn around in, but not to swing a cat in, at least with entire security to the cat. -Mark Twain We got to Ohakune and checked into the hostel. They had very small rooms, but they have a spa pool! The weather outside was bitterly cold, wet and rainy. Inside the pool room, very hot, but relaxing. Barry and I fixed up some spaghetti for dinner, but then Barry brits out with a bunch of other Brits watching Brit TV and Brit sports. When they went out to the pub later, I decided to stay in. Unsociable, I know, but I was feeling a bit tired... Besides, I needed a sober night!

2 November	Wellington
Me and Petra It was a glorious day this morning. The sun was shining, the weather nice, and the wind for once was calm. We drove up a nearby mountain to a ski resort there. Beautiful views of the surrounding mountains. The spring skiing looked good. The sun was extremely strong up there, so to avoid another burn, I wore my new hat for the first time in public. One year of travelling later, a friend would take that ragged shapeless hat, stained with the dirt of many continents, and throw it into the bottom of my backpack so I wouldn't wear it again around her fashionable city of Berlin... We piled back onto the bus and drove on to Wellington. Barry and I had heard of a very popular Irish pub, Molly Malones, and we planned to visit later on. Barry also loves Irish music and pubs, so we were a deadly combination. That evening, a group of us met in the downstairs pub for dinner and drinks. When they closed ~11:00 we all walked on over to Molly Malones. There was a live Irish band playing all sorts of music, from traditional to rebel, to modern. They even poured a decent Guinness here. Good time.

3 November	Nelson
Up early for the ferry crossing. This is supposedly one of the roughest crossings in the world, with almost constant gale force winds. Once a ferry was even blown clear up onto land by the force of the wind alone. But not today. It was almost calm, certainly not living up to its reputation, not that I'm complaining, mind you. Barry lent me Clancy's "Without Remorse", so I read most of the way. An English guy hooked up early on with a Canadian he just met on the ferry, and they entwined for most of the 3 ¾ hour voyage. On the other side, we unloaded in Picton and drove down the coast for some sun and swimming. I walked along the river with the others for a while until I got bored. I went back to the bus and grabbed my penny whistle, then climbed the rocks until I was far from the group and could no longer hear them. I played through my entire repertoire, plus some new variations I had heard in Wellington. After rejoining the group, I discovered they had heard everything. The sound had bounced off the surrounding cliffs for miles on either side. They said that it sounded very magical, eerie, coming from the rock itself - like the faeries! We continued on to Nelson and checked in. Nice enough hostel, but they, like most hostels in NZ, had a cat! My allergies were bugging me. A group of us went on a team shopping trip, buying dinner supplies and staples for tramping. We fixed some excellent enchiladas. Very good. From here, the group from the last week will be splitting up. Some people are staying here for skydiving, tramping, others are moving on. Barry and I will be doing the Abel Tasman track. It can take anywhere from 2-5 days to walk it, but we plan to take 3 days and take our time. N$52 for bus, ferry, and hut fees.

4 November	Bark Bay Hut
Barry and I caught our bus at 7:00 and made it to Kaiteriteri in time for the boat that would take us to the start of our hike. When we got there, the Kiwi bus was already there! We could have had extra hour's sleep! The boat took us all up the coast, stopping in a number of bays to drop/pick people up. The Kiwi people got off at Torrent Bay for a half day hike. We continued up to the start of the track. Barry and I had met another English guy named Mike the previous night at our enchiladas dinner. He was planning to do the track in two days and had just brought a tiny pack.   Barry and Mike crossing Aworea bay Abel Tasman track. The track was very beautiful. We walked along empty beaches, through rain forest, past streams, waterfalls, the ocean, I liked it. Around 2:00, we got to Aworea bay. This bay has an extremely high tide. If it was low tide, you could walk straight across. If it was high tide, then you had to take a couple hour walk all the way around it. We had gotten there too soon for low tide. It wouldn't be low enough for us to cross until about 3:30, so we decided to wait. Over the next hour, the tide went out and the entire bay emptied. Tides of about 5m here! When it had gotten low enough, we removed our shoes, hiked our pants up and started across. It was mostly dry, with a few deeper sections. It was fun except for the many sharp shells. Ouch! Moses had it easy. He had sandals on. We got to Bark Bay hut just as it was getting dark. The place was already full except for 1 bunk. With three of us, we drew straws, and Mike won the bed, so Barry and I had the floor. Barry didn't know about the giardia problem and drank a few swigs of water before I could stop him. He never suffered from this, but I gave him some iodine just in case to purify his water. I was prepared to sleep on the hard wood floor and rise with a sore back, but as we were settling in for the night, a couple kayackers lent us their thermarest pads. Great! I slept like the dead.

5 November	Nelson
Barry didn't bring enough food with him, so he wanted to finish today. The morning was a fine, misty one, but the weather seemed to be getting worse. I thought it would pour tomorrow (Turns out I was correct!), so I reluctantly agreed. It was hard hiking, with lots of up and down. The area was still extremely beautiful. We ran into Petra, Brad, and Christian on the trail. We thought we were almost there, but it turned out we still had hours to go, and we'd never make the 2:00 bus, so we decided to take our time. We took a break at Cleopatra's Pool. There was a beautiful little waterfall going into a trough, shifted over to the side, and then another fall into a nice pool. Other than slipping into the stream on my way over and getting my foot drenched, it was a nice break. None of us were in shape for this, so we were dying from the fast hike with packs. Later on, we took another break at Appletree Bay. I had a blister (taped it up), Barry's feet were covered with blisters. We soaked our feet in the ocean, ate, and read for a while. A few kayackers paddled by. Nice. Barry and I regaled the woods with every Monty Python song we knew. I'm a lumberjack... When we finally got to Marahou, I collapsed. The other two got beers, but I think I'm coming down with a cold, so I stuck to water. The bus brought us back to Nelson, and after showers and cleaning up, we went out for dinner and drinks with Bitre and some others from the hostel.

6 November	Nelson
I did nothing all day. It felt so great. I slept until 10:30, did some laundry, read. It was a miserable day outside, so I didn't feel at all guilty about staying in. A few of us tried to go see Forest Gump, but it was sold out. Barry, Mike, and I made lasagna for dinner with some others at the hostel. As we were sitting down to eat, Rebecca shows up on a Kiwi Bus! I invited her to join us. My compliments to the chef, it was a good meal, and cheap as well, which just made it taste better... Rebecca was sunburned from skiing a couple days ago. She had a great time at the farmstay, except that she found herself to be useless on a horse. Barry will be staying until Wednesday to wait for Petra. It seems that something started during one of their many smoke breaks. He's not sure what, but he wants to make an attempt. Oh well. Rebecca stopped in while I was reading in my room later and we talked a while. She's doing the Abel Tasman track tomorrow. We have similar routes through NZ and Australia, but I'll always be about 2 weeks ahead of her. That's too bad. I would have liked to travel more with her, but I won't make any big changes this early in my trip.

7 November	Westport
The late bus which originally was supposed to be at noon had been canceled today. The ferry to the Abel Tasman track was also canceled due to gale force winds and rain, so the Kiwi bus continued on early. I barely made it in time, and then only because the noise of people checking out woke me early. I guess Rebecca won't be doing the track until tomorrow now. The new bus driver wasn't as cool as Deano. His music tastes ran more towards blues. Good music, but not for a bus ride. We had horrible weather today. The river was over 60ft higher than normal. Many roads were flooded and closed. We were constantly taking detours around small lakes that formed anywhere the road dipped below the water level of the flooded surroundings. There was record flooding all over the country. What a day.

8 November

Mahinapua

The floods had become worse since yesterday. Today, it would have been impossible to go from Nelson to Westport. All the roads in the area are flooded out, even bridges 20m over the normal river level. There was no turning back now, we had to continue down the west coast. We stopped along the way to see the Punakaiki Pancake rocks. Even though we were there during low tide, they were still interesting. We were told there were penguins along this beach, so we took a long walk to find some, but had no luck. The sea was very rough today. There were waves crashing several metres into the air. We took a walk down the Truman track. The track began in rainforest to a peninsula, then down to the ocean. There were beautiful limestone rocks all over the beach. I played the "professional photographer" and took some (I think) excellent shots of the fury of nature. [None ever resulted in much] While waiting for one shot between a couple of tall rocks, I waited for a shot of a wave coming towards me. Then I realize it was coming toward me! I hotfooted it out of there, but too late. Splash! Squish, squish, squish. We drove on to Greymouth, the largest "city" on the west coast. It was a tiny little village. The ocean was very rough here, too, but the intense winds were back. I could almost lie against the wind and have it support me! Walked around town with Sue (from Ohio, 31, spending a year travelling around the world with a huge suitcase she couldn't even lift!) and Beverly (Scottish Brit, 23, just on holiday here, but may work down here soon). After stocking up at the store, we drove out to the hostel. The driver takes us across a swollen river, through some beautiful landscape... and up to trailer park. This is it? I would have preferred Greymouth! They had a good pub, but that's about it. Bev and I took a walk through the woods down to the lake. It was seriously over its banks, cutting off the road and drowning a playground but leant a very somber tone to the area reflecting the grey clouds rushing by overhead. We sat on some swings over the water and discussed... stuff. Once again, my raincoat wasn't enough and my teeth were soon chattering. Mike and Sue showed up soon after. We were all trying to avoid the rugby game the others were drumming up. After the threat passed us by, we drifted back to the pub. For dinner, we had the choice of steak or... steak. I guess this was supposed to be some sort of treat, a steak barbecue for everyone. But I was undecided. I hadn't had a steak in 6 years now. I wasn't sure I wanted to start eating that much red meat again after being a casual vegetarian for so long. I finally decided to go along with it and it was very good, though I felt uncomfortable with the whole idea... Steak, salad, garlic bread, potatoes, and ice cream for dessert - all for N$7. Not a bad deal. After, Bev, Mike, and I went back to the pub. Sue was recovering from a bad cold, so being the smart one, she went to bed early. I'm also recovering from one, but I thought the company was worth it. The WeiB bier back in Germany did seem to break up my congestion last time... We had a cozy table and a warm fire in the fireplace. The pub closed at 12:00, though, so it wasn't a late night. Back in my "room", Carl, a huge, fat, but friendly American, was shaking the entire trailer with his snoring. Oh god. Earplugs to the rescue!

9 November	Franz Josef
It was raining hard again today. No one could see out of the misted windows. This is supposedly one of the rainier and colder springs they've had in a long while. Plus the west coast always has more rain. Lucky us.   Franz Josef Glacier When we reached Franz Josef, there was bad news. I had been planning a full day hike/ice climb on the glacier, but because of the heavy rains, they were only running half day hikes that barely penetrated the edge of the glacier. The people running the tour said it was still worth it, but I've seen many glaciers before, so for me, it would have only been worth the money if I actually got to climb and scramble and freeze my a** off while using their gear to hold on. Ah well. I was in a very bad mood today, sick of it all. I've encountered this before, though, so I knew I just needed to ride out the next few days and get past the burnout... The bus took us up to the glacier head. It was pretty impressive. Feeling the madness rise up, I put my gore-tex on and raced down the valley. I ran almost full sprint to the foot of the glacier over very rocky terrain. There were waterfalls, streams everywhere. Up close, the glacier looked far more intimidating than from a distance, thinking of the power that could carve out a valley. I raced there and back, but by the time I got back to the bus, my trousers were totally drenched. The storm was scary in its intensity. My rain jacket worked, though. I was perfectly dry from the waist up! From waist down, it was another story... I found out another Kiwi bus will leave here tomorrow and they plan to drive straight to Queenstown, bypassing another bogus stop. I decided to hell with the glacier, I'm out of here. I want to see the sun again. Of course, the evening arrives and finds us - where else? - in the pub. Still drinking Old Dark. The main group was doing tequila shots and some of the girls were getting extremely affectionate, but Mike and I stayed to the side and just enjoyed the entertainment. Then Bev showed up and the three of us went to our own table off to the side. Good time together. The pub closed at 1:00, but we went back to our room, drank wine and continued the evening. It wasn't until 4:30 when we finally called it to a close and turned in.

10 November	Queenstown
Groan! No hangover, but 3 hours of sleep were just not cutting it... Mike was staying behind, but Bev, Sue and I left town early. This time, we had a much nicer, newer bus than the last two, and Matt, the Maori driver, was a much cooler guy, with good taste in music even! Bev and I plan on raving tonight, so we tried to get some sleep on the bus. We must have looked funny, both of us nodding and weaving, leaning up against each other and snoring with our heads back. Through groggy eyes, I saw beautiful scenery pass outside, when I could actually see through the misted windows. The rains had turned the land to water and we drove through literally thousands of waterfalls. The engine started making funny noises at one point, and we had to stop out in the middle of nowhere. The manifold had come loose, no big deal. It was, though, to the girls that desperately needed the loo. We started seeing white capped mountains everywhere. It was strange considering we were still in rainforest, with palm trees even! The roads were almost impassable, with mudslides every 20 miles. Many times, we had to drive over loose shifting mud with a bad fall to one side or another, holding our breath and knuckles turning white until we got to the other side. It was hard going.   Lake Wanaka We stopped at Lake Wanaka. It was truly impressive. A clear glacier blue lake with mountains surrounding it on all sides. Now this is the reason I came to New Zealand!   Bev and Sue - Adrenaline junkies In Queenstown that night, Bev, Sue, and I got a room together at the Pinewood Lodge. They are doing everything here. Bungee jumping, tandem hang-gliding, jet boating, white water rafting, what a couple of pure adrenaline addicts! For myself, I plan on a little white water rafting and some biking in the mountains... Bungee jumping just does not appeal. Bev had grabbed KFC earlier and wasn't hungry, so Sue and I went out to the Cow for some incredible pizza. The place is tiny, but cozy. BYO. I like it. We bought a six pack at an off-license around the corner and found a table. We were sharing our table with a couple from Nelson, Brian and ___. They are starting a new business and going around the country drumming up clients. What a hilarious couple. While we were waiting for a table before, Sue and I were looking at the menu. They had both 12 inch and 15 inch pizzas. Sue asked me how big 12 inches was. I replied "this big" holding my hands apart. She smirked "can I trust you?" I missed it and proceeded to lift my leg, pointing to my foot, "this is 11 inches." Her grin grew wider, but I still missed it. Now with the Nelson couple, a similar conversation took place. This time Brian replies in a deep voice, "well, you want to see 15 inches," unbuckling his belt. OK, I finally get it. *Blush* It was a hilarious time. All of us at the table were roaring with laughter. I had a hard time eating the delicious pizza, we were having such a good time. Very earthy, easy going couple. Brian gave me a lead for a computer company in Christchurch to talk to. His wife was totally pissed from too much wine, and we all have an excellent time. We met Bev back at the hostel and of course went to a pub to put one on. We were doing some heavy drinking. I swear the two of them were conspiring to shock this poor lil' country boy. Enlightening conversations giving many more insights on how women think. Some very blunt language was being used, and I was blushing a mile a minute. Trading embarrassing sexual encounters, past experiences. I still find it hard to believe I was talking about these things with women I just recently met, and in a public place. When we finally staggered home, we were all in quite a state. Somehow, Bev had my fleece.

11 November	Queenstown
The others almost slept through their hang gliding, it was close to 11:00 by the time any of us cracked an eye. A hurricane of activity, and they were gone. I spent the afternoon wandering around town. The area feels much like a ski resort, though the prices aren't too bad. I found cheap rentals for mountain bikes, but no trails go up into the mountains. I was hoping for some real off road riding. Riding along a paved road between some mountains just doesn't appeal, so decided to give it a pass. I did sign up for white water rafting tomorrow. N$89 for a 4.5 hour ride. They had an intense 2 day, but they didn't have enough people signed up and so it wasn't going to happen this week at least. *sigh* This is a beautiful area. I just love New Zealand. When I return home, I will definitely look into what it would take to move here. The others eventually got back from their adrenaline pumping and we went out for dinner. It was the first Indian food I had ever eaten, but I found it delicious. Delicious, but very spicy. I ordered it medium spicy, and practically burnt my mouth out, breaking into a sweat. Afterwards, we walked around town and into the Gardens. Bev loved the swings and stayed there while Sue and I walked a loop through the park. Anywhere else, and I would have hesitated to leave a woman alone at night in a park, but perhaps foolishly, this entire country seems safe. A rape that occurred a week ago has been front page news almost every day since. Back home, it might have made page five for a single day. Sue again went home early to do her journal and prepare for tomorrow, but the two alcoholics, Bev and I, stayed out. We went to the Pig and Whistle English Pub. Expensive drinks, but good atmosphere. We bought one drink each and sat back in the smoky oak cozy. Good mellow time. Neither of us felt like sleep, so we cuddled up warm and cozy in the TV room at the Lodge and watched trashy late night TV.

12 November	Queenstown
The girls got up early for their Bungee Jump. 73m. At the appointed time, I went down to the rafting office. I was told, uh oh, didn't you know? The Shotover river is running too high. At one point there is a very narrow gorge. When the water is running too fast, it becomes a grade 6, practically a death warrant to all but experienced rafters. Instead, a shorter trip on the Kauari river is being offered for N$20 less. I decided to go for it. I wanted to get wet! Big mistake. The girls were planning to join me, but they were too emotionally exhausted after the Bungee jump. We ended up taking 4 hours with only 30 minutes on the water, and only about 30 seconds of roller coaster type rapids. I found it very boring and disappointing. Oh well, c'est la vie! Back to the lodge. Bev and Sue were buzzing from pure adrenaline. Bev told me last night that she always gets very aroused after parachuting. I wonder if that's the case today. We tried to go back to the Cow for pizza, but there was a long wait. We ended up going to a grill type place. OK food. Bev bought a N$10 bottle of Chablis. Not bad. Sue and I only had 1 glass, so Beverly had over 2 glasses. She bought another bottle on our way back. First I stopped by the bar to talk to Deano about getting on the bus tomorrow to Christchurch, then back to lodge. Sue was tired, so she just packed and went to bed. Bev and I split the new bottle between us. We stay up, have tea and Peanut Butter sandwiches, and discuss all sorts of things. Her time as a camp counselor in the US, her friend Dean, my job, the stuff we had done over the last week, etc. Amazing how fast people become friends on the road. I'm sad I'll be leaving these two soon. Bev flies out of Christchurch Wednesday and Sue's going to Dunedin for 2 days, meeting me in Christchurch on Wednesday, then flies out Friday. Bev and Sue had made a N$20 bet Bev would stay up past 2:00. At 2:30, Bev turned to me and asked, by the way, what time is it? Oh shit! She loses the bet.

13 November	Christchurch
We had to get up early after only 3.5 hours of sleep to catch our buses. Groan. Even though we will see each other again in Christchurch, I traded addresses with the girls while waiting. Bev and Sue are on the ICE bus, I'm on the Kiwi bus. Their bus arrives, we trade hugs, and they're gone. Bye, Queenstown. Gorgeous setting. Nice town. Poor town, the developers will tear thee apart... At the last minute I decided to try something different than another Kiwi bus. I ate a leisurely breakfast, then walked to the edge of town, made a quick sign, and tried hitchhiking. Why? Because I felt like it. Maybe ten minutes later, a brand new sports car pulled over. The guy had just bought it yesterday and wanted to see what it could do. We made it to Christchurch (about 500km) in under 6 hours. We were driving narrow winding roads through the Alps and some absolutely incredible landscape. The lakes were an odd blue color caused by the glaciers, and connected by channels and hydro plants. They provide 50% of the power to the North Island. Once we got to Christchurch, the guy (I never heard his name) even included a tour of town and tea at his house. From the looks of the place, he must have been a millionaire if the servants meant anything. What a way to live. I finally got to Christchurch about 6:30. I had told the girls I would be staying at the YHA, but changed my mind at the last minute and checked into Backpackers Inn the Square. It was right across the street from the Cathedral and appealed to me more. I figured I'd intercept Bev and Sue as the ICE bus arrived and direct them here. I figured wrong. Bev's bus beat me. She was already checked in at the YHA. I tried knocking on her door, but no one was home. I left her a note to meet her later for dinner but she never showed. She didn't get the note until later. So I just wandered and had a Guinness in Baileys pub downstairs, then went to bed rather early for once. All in all, not too good a day. Tomorrow, hopefully, I will get my tickets, my visa card, etc. in the mail. Something to look forward to. I hope.

14 November	Christchurch
Wizard of Christchurch "Bullshit!" "I come to save the world. Others come to make money - or get females!" - quotes from the Wizard. When I went down to pay for another night, there was a note from Bev to meet at 3:00. Yes! I found nothing at either the Amex or GPO. Nothing. Not good. If I don't get my mail by Wed, I'd better start scrambling. Wandering back past the Cathedral, I caught the last part of the Wizard's talk. He was a damn impressive speaker. Very eloquent. At 3:00, I went to see Bev. Big hug. I actually missed her. She thought I hadn't made it to town yesterday, and a local cop gave her a guided tour of the town, including dropping her off and picking her up at the cinema. Bev and I went to the Botanical Gardens for a couple hours. It could have been a very romantic setting. If only... Forget it. Bev dragged me to a kiosk for Devonshire tea. Her need for tea at all hours is amazing! We eventually wandered back to the YHA (yehaw as Deano says) and booked a tour together for tomorrow to see Orana Park. We'll finally get to see some kiwis! There was no other way to see the place, no public transport there.

15 November	Christchurch
I met Bev again at 11 for lunch, then sat in the park and watched the clouds. Tea again in the gardens at 1:00 of course. Then to Orana Park. It was sad. There were just a few animals lying there looking bored. We did get to see some kiwis, in a dark building (kiwis are nocturnal). Back in Queenstown, we had actually heard some, but this was our first sighting of the flightless bird. We stayed to watch the lions feed, then back. Bev was not feeling so good, and she had an early flight out tomorrow, so went home when we got back to pack and sleep it off. A sad good-bye, a hug, and I watched her walk across Cathedral Square back to her hostel. Sniff. That night, I met Natalie, from Sydney, in my room at the backpackers. It was her first time in a hostel, and she didn't know what to make of it. Without thinking, I stripped for bed, then noticed her stare once I was under the covers. Whoops! I forgot she's not used to these places. Oh well.

16 November	Christchurch
Another beautiful day outside. I'm hoping my mail arrives. I getting a little concerned... Nothing yet. If nothing by Friday, I'll phone home to confirm, then have Amex forward the tickets, etc. to Sydney. I went to watch the Wizard at the square again. It was a variation of Monday's talk. Still funny though. I noticed Sue on the other side of the crowd and walked over to say hi. We took a walk through the Botanical Gardens with a Japanese girl she met yesterday. She translated the Japanese signs we saw throughout the park for us and I surprised her with a little Japanese I picked up in school. That's it for Sue as well, she flies to Australia tomorrow. Back in my room at the hostel, Natalie was there and we sat and talk. Soon, Eddie checked in. He's a Maori Kiwi Experience driver in training. Funny guy. Then ElId, a huge Israeli traveler, 6 ft, 6 inch, bristly black beard and gnarled hands. He was a fascinating guy, but his limited English made him a little hard to talk to. Something fell off my bed and he jumped away, both hands going to his right side. When asked, he said he was reaching for his gun. Scary stuff. The four of us went out for some beers in Mallory's downstairs. Unfortunately, there was a horrible "musician" mangling one song after another and we had to leave to spare our eardrums. We went out to find Eddie some food. McDonalds and KFC are closed, the local takeaways are rather horrible, so that just leaves pub grub. We picked one at random. There was good dance music inside and beautiful women dancing on the floor. I tried the local dark beer. Not bad. It was a relaxed night. A couple fights broke out on the dance floor. Free food for Eddie "courtesy of the pub" - they were closing the kitchen. Eddie buys us all a Quick Fuck and the conversation goes downhill from there.

17 November	Christchurch
Eddie left us early at 7:00, waking me politely by dropping his backpack accidentally right on my face. "Sorry!" Groan. Natalie has developed a cough, as she demonstrates to us. Poor lass. I never heard her speak above a whisper all morning. The rest of the room went back to sleep, and slept until 10:00. Natalie had to move fast. She needed to check out by 10. She took a fast shower, checked out, and came back to finish packing. ElId was still asleep, but she and I end up sitting and talking quietly for the next couple hours. She's applying to Christchurch U and Sydney U, but doesn't know where she'll go. A little confused, but funny to talk to. Right now, she works for a Korean hotel chain, arranging tours, etc. She complained about high tuition costs - A$4K a year. Aww, poor girl! (*dripping sarcasm*) I fixed us an omelet and toast for "breakfast" at noon. Delicious! After cleaning up, and leaving, Natalie ran back to give me her home number for when I get to Sydney. She wants me to stop in and see her. Maybe even stay with her, except her house is outside the city. She works in the Kings Cross area, though, so no problem seeing her. Looks good! I ended up back at the Wizard again. He was funny, but I found it more interesting to watch the crowds and see how he dealt with the poor unsuspecting heckler. Peaceful day. I think I'm finally decompressed. The trip now begins. Quote from the Wizard: "If you believe women can do everything, why should men do anything?"

18 November	Christchurch
I'm going to do something today! I first went to the Air NZ office to reconfirm my flight to Melbourne. While I was there, who else but the Wizard walked in to confirm his flight to Sydney. He was going there to do a raindance. If he succeeds, he'll be known as the Wizard of Oz as well! I'm told that he did a rain dance up in Auckland and it's still raining on the hill where he did this. I don't know... [I later learned that he did indeed do his raindance outside Sydney. After a catastrophic seven-year drought in the outback of NSW and Queensland, the day the Wizard finished his dance, huge storm clouds were gathering and a deluge began shortly afterwards] I went to Amex to check one last time for mail. There was still nothing. I was worried by now. I phoned home to check if there was a problem. No one was home, but my resourceful parents had come up with another way of communicating with me: the message on the answering machine was "Seán, your package is at DHL in the domestic freight terminal..." Talk about your message getting through! I called DHL and they said they would deliver to the Backpackers where I was staying. Looking good. I rented a mountain bike next and took off into the hills. I wanted to go up to the Summit road, a road passing along the tops of the Port Hills, the hills surrounding Christchurch. There was supposed to be a magnificent view from there. I missed my turnoff, though, and ended up at a gondola station. The only way to the Summit road from here was to take the highway into a long tunnel, or go up the Bridle Path. It looked tough, but I started up. It was bad, the path was nothing but loose gravel, and I'm not used to off-road biking anymore. Hard going. A bunch of men working on the path all told me "Go back, it only gets worse." "I can't understand why you Canadians want to kill yourselves to get up a hill!" They were just joking with me, but I think they meant what they said about the path. I told them I'm going to be stupidly stubborn, and with one more round of "Tourist!", they wished me luck and I was off. I'll show them. Hut, hut, hut...pant, pant, groan! Whew! I managed to ride up around the corner so they couldn't see me, and collapsed in the shade. I'm no longer in shape for this! The day was blazing hot too (well, actually only ~25° C, but with no shade or breeze, it sure felt hot!). Much sweat, groans, and Indian tribal songs later, I reached the top. A family sitting on a bench at the top looked at me a little strange for the Indian singing, but I didn't care. I made it. The wind was intense, and the road continued to go up, but it was much easier riding on pavement. Then an exhilarating 45 minute downhill rampage at the end into Sumner. Awesome. The winter storms had taken away much of the beach from Sumner. People told me there used to be long stretches of sand extending out into the ocean. Now, violent waves pounded against the boardwalk and an endless wind blew in taking your breath away. The only people out this day were the windsurfers, moving faster that racing motorboats in the ripping winds. Getting back to Christchurch was an easy ride. Christchurch is at sea level, so there were no hills going back, just a gentle meander with the wind at my back.. When I got back, there was a message on the board for "Karen Connolly" about a DHL package. I didn't think Mom was staying here, so I asked about it. Reception had rejected delivery! I called DHL and they wouldn't be able to deliver again until Monday. I started asking about which bus would get me to the DHL office near the airport, then I remembered I had a bike! 45 minutes to get there. No problem. I must say, though, for all its cleanliness, I think the States outdoes NZ in its emissions laws. Cough, hack! Every second car that passed me seem to be belching out black smoke. I've been having the same dream almost every night for the last week. I'm in a forest somewhere, running down a trail. The path gets steep, I start running faster and faster. I see my shadow on the ground change, become birdlike. I trip always and rather than diving into the dirt I take off into the air, soaring above the trees. That's all there is, but it's very real. I had the same feeling riding downhill today on the bike. Waiting for something to change. If I were Jeni, or maybe even Dad, I might think it means something...

19 November	Christchurch
I finally checked out the Cathedral. It was nice, but nothing too special. I passed on the tower. I was told that it wasn't worth it. Not much else today, did the usual travelling chores, said good-bye to everyone (A lot of people I'd met had come to town today). I was invited down to Baileys for a farewell bash, but I knew I'd never leave once I got there and passed. Besides, no one needs an excuse to party around here... Minor disaster narrowly averted: I had scheduled for a 5:15 pickup in the morning to get to the airport, thinking my flight was at 7:15. But while talking to someone in my room, they asked how long the flight was. I checked and uh oh, it leaves at 6:15! I raced downstairs and rescheduled my pickup. No problem. What a lovely country, so reasonable and civilized. I dread what's to come in Asia... I went to bed early, but I don't think I slept 3 hours. [  Back to Introduction  |  Table of Contents  |  On to Australia  ]
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