Last Full Day

27-4-2014

     Last day. We have everything packed up. We've weighed our bags and we have everything arranged within a few grams of the weight limits. It's close, but at least we fit it all into our two bags. We only get one per person, and it's $150 per extra bag. The US may allow two bags per person for international flights, but New Zealand doesn't. Thank goodness we can get by without it.

     We've said our goodbyes. We finished work on Thursday, since Friday was Anzac Day. It's almost the equivalent of Veterans Day in the US, only Anzac Day seems like a bigger deal. Every business closes down like it's Christmas. 

     Like Veterans Day, Anzac Day celebrates all veterans. But it also celebrates the day the Kiwis, Aussies, and Brits invaded Gallipoli, Turkey in WW1. It was very bloody, and it was the first of all the casualties for Australia and New Zealand in the war. Today it's one of the few things the Kiwis and Aussies share feelings of camaraderie about. Otherwise they seem pretty competitive. There's even a huge ceremony in Turkey for it every year, and thousands of people go to it, even more watch it on TV. It's pretty interesting. 

    Despite the holiday, I still managed to finish all my gift shopping this last weekend. I had to ship a few things home right from the store, since I can't carry any more in my luggage. 

    I'm all set now. Totally ready. Now I just have to manage my small amount of ridiculous stress about possibly missing the plane. Not having a van anymore does have it's downsides, and I don't completely trust intercity transport (aka our bus) in this small town. However, I know we have a few other options if that falls through, so I'm attributing my shaking nerves to excitement about going home. 

     I sure miss home. The food here is similar but it doesn't taste the same, and I find I'm homesick for things that taste how my mind thinks they're supposed to. Like hamburgers with beef and only beef, and juicy beef at that. Mmmm. 

      Not to mention I can't wait to see my family. Only two more days. (The flights are really long). 

What We're Doing Now

18-4-2014

    Right now the sky is sunny and beautiful. It's a little over 70' and there's a slight breeze. It's lovely, just lovely. But it won't be for long. According to the weather radar there are four storms converging on Hamilton, one from each direction, and they're all going to hit at the same time. This could get interesting. 

     We're back in Hamilton area again, working at the blueberry farm again for a few short weeks before we leave. We came back to say hello and goodbye to all our friends here, since we were sent to the South Island in a rush and hardly even got the chance to tell people we were leaving, yet alone say goodbye. Since we're here anyway we decided to work some more, because there isn't much else to do anymore. There are a few places we haven't seen but we have a couple long weekends in a row to see them. Basically we're just working and making money while we wait to go home. 

     Luke sold the van already, the day after he posted it on TradeMe for sale. That was the last thing we needed to do before we left and it's done, so we are totally ready to leave. Now we have just over a week to enjoy the last bits of New Zealand, hanging out with friends and maybe traveling just a little bit more. We have permission to borrow a car if we need it, we just make sure to reimburse the gas if we do. 

     Now, you may be wondering where we're staying since we sold the van. We have a very beautiful house we are staying in, looking after it until we leave. We appreciate the opportunity so very much, and are very grateful. Because of it, we have a place to stay near the blueberry farm, and we have nothing left to worry about. 

     One week left! 

Zorbing

18-4-2014

     Zorbing, what a weird name. Even weirder is OGO, the same thing as zorbing but it's in a course rather than just down an open hill. Both activities were created by the same person, and they're both within 10km of each other, so we set out to go zorbing but stopped at the OGO place instead. It was raining, as it had been for days, and I was a little worried it was going to be freezing cold, but the promise of a free dip in the hot-tub afterwards convinced me. At least if I was going to be wet and cold it would only be temporary. My worries were wrong, however. It turns out that they put warm water in when it's cold, and cooler water when it's hot. Genius.

     Perhaps I should explain what zorbing (aka OGOing) is before I go on. It a fun activity that involves climbing inside of a ball that's inside of another ball, attached to each other by hundreds of stiff, rubbery rods (or so it looks like) that maintain about a 2 foot gap between the balls at all times. The ball rolls down a hill with you inside, completely safe because you're literally in a bubble. There are different kinds of zorbing. The dry version includes getting in a full body harness and rolling every which direction with the ball. The wet version means you climb in with a few gallons of water and slip and slide around while the ball moves around you. You can sit and enjoy a tame ride, or you can flip and roll and slide as high up the walls as you can and make it really interesting. We, of course, made it interesting. We also chose to go together in one ball, to make it a little more interesting. Plus it was cheaper. I got splashed in the face, squashed, and smushed, and I was laughing so hard I almost couldn't breathe. 

     As I said, OGOing is in a course, a lot like snow tubing. The course was a big stack of zig-zags down the hill, with every corner banked up nice and high. We did our best to bank as high as we could on every corner and go as fast as we could, but we really couldn't see so it was hard to tell. Between the splashing water and two layers of plastic bubble, the outside world was just a foggy blur. We had no idea where we were once we were pushed off at the start, and we couldn't see what was coming up next. We could only feel when we were on a corner, and sometimes that was deceiving because the ball was constantly turning and spinning. 

     It might sound dizzying but it's not. It's incredibly fun. I think it was the most fun thing we did in New Zealand. Skydiving is close, maybe even tied, but zorbing didn't hurt my ears. We laughed the whole time, and kept on smiling for hours afterward. If it wasn't so expensive we might have spent the whole day there. I highly suggest it to anyone and everyone who has the opportunity to try it, no matter what age! 

The Best Experience Ever

7-4-2014

     Skydiving! The best thing we've done in New Zealand, I think. It was incredible! I can't decide if it's better than skiing or not, it may be a close call. I love to go fast. I can go fast when I ski, but this was something else. Surprisingly similar in the floating sensation and the cold wind in the face, but still a lot different. Maybe it was the uncomfortable knowledge that there was a chance the chute wouldn't open. But then again, when I go skiing there's a chance I'll hit a tree, or the chair will swing too much and fall off the lift, or I'll get run over by someone totally out of control. But then, those are survivable. Dropping from 15,000 feet...not so much. But I have to say, if my shoot hadn't deployed, that would be a heck of a good way to die. It was so peaceful, yet it was thrilling too. It was thrilling when we jumped out of the plane and it felt like I was being sucked down. We fell so fast that we were up to our terminal velocity, about 200km/hr (about 125mph), in a few short seconds. 

     It was thrilling when we flipped just after we jumped out of the plane. (I say "we" here because I jumped tandem, but I know Luke's experience was very much the same as mine.) I wasn't sure we wouldn't just keep flipping, but we didn't. Unbeknownst to me there was a small chute that was pulled just after we jumped out of the plane.  I think it helped keep us horizontal to the ground. It also slowed us down enough for the camera lady to be able to catch up to us for the video. I couldn't tell there were any extra chutes until we saw the pictures, though. 

     It was also thrilling once we reached terminal velocity and were just flying through the air. It wasn't really like flying, though, at least not how I imagine it. It wasn't like falling, either. Falling is scary because  you know the ground is very quickly coming at you. The ground does not seem to come at you quickly when you skydive. It feels more like driving fast, or skiing fast...only not.  You're going really, really fast but there's nothing to hit. It's not scary in the least. It's fun. The ground is so far below that it's not even worrysome. Well, at least not for a good long while. 

     The drop fall only lasts for one minute from 15,000 feet, but that one minute feels like ten. Think about all the things you've done really, really fast and think about how long you dared to keep your speed up. One minute actually is a long time.

     There were other factors, too, that made that one minute seem like ten. Slightly unpleasant things like a cold, dry mouth because my smile was being blasted by air traveling at 200kph, and my ears were hurting and aching all the way down my neck until I managed to equalize them. Little things, though, compared to how awesome the view is, and the sensation of fearless speed.

     Soon enough the chute was pulled. My legs swung up from the jolt, but nothing hurt. I watched the camera lady wave as she kept falling and I waved back, but I don't think she saw me. We soared over her and I lost her from view behind us. I looked around for her chute but I never saw it. I have no idea where she landed, or even that she did for sure. I only saw Luke's chute, far below me. (He jumped out before I did.)

     Gliding around with the chute pulled is the part that felt like flying. That was the peaceful part. It was beautiful. We soared and banked corners, spinning in circles both large and small. The smaller ones were fun. I imagined we were like a hawk, circling in the air. I bet hawks get that same soaring feeling, they just also have the feeling of being attached to their wings from shoulder to fingertip, as opposed to the hips, shoulders, and back. Eh, but what do I know. 

     I watched Luke land below me. The parachute laid down behind them like a living creature that knew what it was supposed to do. Meanwhile, me and my jump-buddy spun and circled the landing area, lazily making our own way down. A few minutes later I was told to hold my legs up as we came in for our landing. I held them up high as we glided to the ground. Just like a bird, we slowed down a lot just before hitting the ground and we landed smoothly. When we came to a stop I quickly put my legs on the ground and stood up. My jump-buddy and I wobbled a little bit as we balanced ourselves out, and then I was unclipped and free to walk around. Walking even felt a little strange after flying. 

     Of course we took one last picture, and then that was it. We thanked our jump-buddies, walked back inside, and returned our jump suits. Then we got our pictures, videos, and free t-shirts and left. We went and had a beer to celebrate, but it didn't feel like we were celebrating being alive, although that's what we joked. I think we were celebrating such an awesome experience. 

     I highly recommend skydiving to everyone, even if you're afraid of heights. You don't get the chance to be afraid, you just do it. There is no standing at the door looking down, waiting to jump. You just slide up to it and go. The most nerve-racking part is getting on the plane to go. And I'll tell ya', it's worth it. 

Hiking in an Active Volcanic Zone

5-4-2014

     Tongariro National Park is a very cool place on the north island of New Zealand. For one thing, it's home to a few tracks that lead right through an active volcanic zone. We walked the Tongariro Crossing, a day track about 20km long that winds around a few volcanoes and right through the middle of the active volcanic zone. There are active steam vents, volcanic lakes and springs, and volcanic craters to walk through and around. It's really neat. There are side trails up to the peak of Mt Tongariro and a side trail (although really it's more of a suggested route up a scree slope) up to the peak of Mt Ngauruhoe, aka Mt Doom, which is the other reason this park is so cool. You can climb up Mt Doom! The main trail goes around it and passes over towards Mt Tongariro about half way up Mt Doom, so even without doing the side trail, hikers get right up close to it. We decided against going to the top because our calves were already burning, and a half mile or more of very steep scree slope just didn't seem that appealing. Especially not in trail running shoes. 

     Even without summiting anything, the trail was still really neat, and lots of fun. Thomas and Carrie had walked this trail a few times already so they knew where all the best lookouts and picnic spots were. Plus we got to hear Carrie's first hand account of what it was like to be on the trail when an eruption occurred. She was at the closest point on the trail to where it erupted as she could get, too, when it happened. Luckily, the eruption was all smoke and ash, with no boulders flying through the air as per normal. And no lava, which is good because when lava does flow, it sweeps down fast and there's no escaping it if you're in a lava flow area. 

     Of course, I learned all this on the trail, as certain features piqued my interest and I asked questions and read signs. Carrie is a school teacher and she's taken the kids to learn about the volcanoes, so she was a wealth of information. She pointed out a bunch of black boulders and rocks that were more recent additions to the slopeside. She said it was cool to see just after it had happened because there was snow on the ground and all the black rock debris really stuck out. 

     There used to be a hut open to stay in overnight on the Tongariro Crossing but a few of those boulders smashed right through it and now it's closed. Deemed unsafe, because it's in an active volcanic zone. No kidding. Luckily it was winter when it happened, a far less busy time, and no-one was in the hut. One rock had smashed through the ceiling, the top bunk, through to the bottom bunk, and through the floor. Another one had smashed through the ceiling and floor in the common room, and another in the entryway. It was a small hut. There were only 3 bunks and the common room was small. It was a good thing nobody was in there. 

    I tried taking pictures of the wreckage but getting a good perspective with the camera was hard. I took a lot of pictures of the steam vents, the Emerald Lakes, and Mt Doom. I also tried to take as many pictures of us as a group as I could, since the boys were both wearing orange and both me and Carrie were wearing a bright maroon color. We accidentally matched, it was pretty funny. 

     Now we're staying with Thomas and Carrie again for a few days, visiting one more time. 

Napier and Hastings

4-4-2014

     Wine Country. If you ask anyone in New Zealand where to go for wine tasting, they will answer, "Napier and Hastings." There are at least 50 wineries in the area, probably more. The i-site in Napier hands out color coded maps of the clusters of wineries, each with its own micro-climate and all with different growing conditions. Some grapes are grown on hillsides, others in gravel riverbed, others in flat-land soil, and blah blah blah. Point is, each little area produces different flavors just with the grapes' growing conditions, not to mention differences in the way each winery decides to make the wine. There are a lot of options. 

     We studied our map and eventually picked the southwest region because it had a winery that also brewed beer, and that sounded good too. That winery was Abbey Cellars, and they had some seriously delicious wine. They also had a delicious craft beer, the first true craft brew we've managed to find, despite all the talk that New Zealand has a wonderful selection of craft beers and small breweries. Abbey Cellars has been the only place we've found who makes their own beer and isn't owned by a bigger company who's owned by a corporation in Asia. This was true craft beer. They named it Fat Monk, and it was gooooood. Hats off to them. Beer and wine, both delicious. They had the first Rose wine that I've ever liked, and a really nice Chardonnay that was both buttery and fruity. Delicious. 

      I could have happily bought at least three bottles of wine there, but I resisted. It was the first of many wineries, and I didn't want to end up buying three bottles at each place! We moved on down the road, literally, about a quarter mile. The next place was pretty good too. Not as good as Abbey Cellars, but still good. We used the free-wine-tasting slips that we'd picked up at the i-site and didn't end up buying any wine there, but we did buy a few small chocolates. They looked good and tasted better. 

     We left there and went down a different road toward a handful of other wineries. The first one we came to was closed, for some unknown reason. The second one was also closed, but they were only open on weekends. The third one was open, so we stopped there. It was a very small place with sub-par wine. Their niche was organic wine, but it all tasted flat and dull to me. We didn't buy any wine there either. We quickly moved on to the next place.

     The next place was Silvare Estate, just down the road. There was a restored classic car in the small parking area in front of the big, open barn, and an old yellow lab napping in the shade of the building. We walked up to the counter and saw a large platter of cheeses, salamis, crackers, breads, and a dozen different kinds of spreads. They also had a selection of olive oils on display for tasting, as well as a half dozen bottles of wine for tasting. We started with the wine, but we were really hungry and pairing wine and food is always tasty, so we got a platter too. It was all delicious. There was something called dukkah, a middle eastern dish consisting of nuts and spices all ground together, which you dipped olive-oil soaked bread into and ate with your fingers. Very good. So was the apricot chutney, and the yellow mustard that had a strong, but not overwhelming, taste of horseradish to it. So good. But the best thing on the plate was the garlic and herb, soft, white cheddar cheese. I could eat that by itself, all day long.

     Still, the best part was the wine. They had a pretty good Chardonnay too, but they had the best Merlot. It was fruity, with hints of plum, but it wasn't too sweet or heavy. It wasn't full of tannins like most Merlots, either, because it didn't leave my teeth all fuzzy. I know this for sure because we tried the Merlot before even eating, so I know the food didn't change anything. It was quite good.

     We finished off the evening tasting the olive oils. Some were good, some were just okay. The best were the vinaigrettes made with the olive oil. The balsamic vinaigrette was amazing, so was the red wine vinaigrette, and even the chardonnay mustard vinaigrette. So good! They all were. 

     We bought a few things there and called it a day. For one thing, everyone was closing or closed. For another, we didn't want to drive if we drank any more, so we quit. 

     We drove to the coast, to Hastings, which is like a sister town to Napier. They're so close they almost overlap. We thought about finding a hostel or holiday park to stay in so we could shower, but they were all way overpriced for their crappy accommodations with few amenities. It seemed like finding a shower was a hopeless goal, until Luke had a stroke of genius and pointed out that the hot pools along the ocean front would likely have showers. The only question was wether or not they were still open. Almost all of New Zealand closes at 5:00, and it was just past 7:00. Lucky for us, they were still open. We donned our bathing suits and headed for the pools. Hot pools (in this case the term meant heated pools), some as hot as a hot-tub, and with a view of the ocean. 

     It was pretty nice. I managed to ignore the idea of how gross public pools are because there wasn't an overwhelming smell of chlorine, and everything looked clean. Even when an entire pro rugby team showed up and invaded every pool (and no, they didn't shower ahead of time) I still managed to ignore the thoughts about sitting in human grossness. It was still fun. I was even entertained, watching girls giggle stupidly as they asked for pictures with the rugby team. I have no idea who they were, but they must have been somebody. Just not the all blacks, since they were in all orange. They were all really nice, and they made better company than the stupid gigglers and mohawked boneheads that were the only other people there. One guy even had "never back down" tattooed in large calligraphy across his chest. Yes, I'm judging. But to be fair, you sir are the one who marked yourself permanently with an attention grabber like that large black stamp of stupidity. I'm not against all tattoos, just the stupid ones. Some really are art. That one was not. 

     Anyhow, enough with my rant. The pools were nice. A wonderful idea. We got a nicer shower for a lot cheaper than we could have gotten anywhere else in town, and a better experience, I'm sure. It was brilliant. 

     We left town after that and headed toward Tongariro National Park, home to Mount Ngauruhoe, known to the rest of the world as Mount Doom. We would have had a great head start if I hadn't left my swimsuit at the pool, but as it was, we had to turn around and get it. Even so, we have arrived at our destination well ahead of time. We didn't have to be here until tomorrow morning, but we're here now. We lazed about in the sun and worked on our tans. They're sadly lacking since the bugs are so bad on the South Island we hardly ever dared to wear anything but long sleeves and long pants, especially if we were standing still. Here it's no so bad, so I put on my swimsuit and laid out in the sun with my book. I have a handful of bug bites now, but over a couple hours time, that's not bad. 

      Now the rain has moved in, so we've settled into the van for the night. The rain is pattering on the roof but it's not so loud that I can't still hear the wind in the scrubby trees and the water lapping against the shore of Lake Rotoaira, ten feet away. Behind the bushes the sun is setting and all the colors are trapped beneath the clouds and turning the whole sky orange, pink, and purple. It's strange and beautiful. Like the mountain itself. I'm looking forward to hiking around it tomorrow. 

Wellington

2-4-2014

     Once we docked we found a place to make dinner, then a place to sleep, just outside of Wellington. We went back to the center of the city the next day. We found parking right in the middle of downtown and walked around for a couple hours. We went to the i-site but didn't learn anything new. We walked around the huge public library and through the plaza behind it, and all around downtown. There wasn't much to see that we hadn't already seen before, so we drove to a different part of town. We drove to Wellywood, or at least that's the nickname. It's where the movie studio is that helped produce movies like The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Narnia, Avatar, Master and Commander, and a whole slew of other movies that have fantastic special effects. This studio, called the Weka Cave, was responsible for things like costume and design, sound effects, miniatures for filming... all sorts of cool things! So, we took a tour. I still maintain that I'm not a film nerd, far from it, but this was cool. We got to see all sorts of props from a lot of movies, especially The Hobbit, and meet people who designed them. It was fascinating. Totally worth the twenty bucks. It was an hour long, and over too soon. I took some pictures of the trolls out front and eventually left. 

      Mount Victoria Lookout was said to be a worthwhile detour from downtown, so we headed there next. The road up to it wound around a residential hillside, and each house had a heck of a view. The road itself was chaotic, though. Cars were parked on both sides, narrowing the whole road down to a single lane. It was so curvy that it was just a succession of blind corners, although that's pretty standard in New Zealand. But the combination of the two is what made it really scary, plus the heavy traffic. Tourists and locals both crowded the streets, and garbage trucks barreled their way along, regardless of the havoc they seemed to be aiming for. They didn't slow down for anyone, no matter how unsafe or rude it was. Luckily we got to the top without any incidents, and the view was great. The view we had of Christchurch was better, but the cool thing with this view was the ability to watch planes land and take off at a fairly close, birds-eye view. That was neat. We ended up spending at least a half hour up there, if not a full hour. We left because I had to pee, and there were no toilets available. Oh yeah, they call them toilets here, not bathrooms. I'm afraid that's a term I might accidentally bring back with me. 

      Anyhow, we went back to the main part of Wellington, but this time we parked over in the business section. Lawyers offices in tall buildings lined the streets, and there were parking garages at every block. However, we parked on the street again because there was plenty of parking. We walked toward the big dome building which I recognized as their central government building, which I was sure would have a public bathroom. There turned out to be one out front. 

      Next, we hooked back around on the parallel street just below the one we parked on. This street was lined with classic, old buildings with fancy trimmings and even a few roman columns. Some were brick, some were stone. Most stone buildings were yellow but some were white, swirled with grey. I was fascinated, but I'm a nerd for art and architecture. 

     The shiny lawyers towers could be seen behind the older, shorter buildings, which made for a really cool looking city-scape from the street. And unlike the street above it, this street was packed full of shops, restaurants, and a few street vendors. We bought a few amazing cookies, still warm, from one shop that smelled too good to pass by. I ducked into more than a few shoe stores, drooling over all the boots, and Luke didn't even seem to mind. He even encouraged me into a clothing store because there was a sweet, fuzzy, zebra face sweater on display in the window. It was so cool. Unfortunately, it looked ridiculous on me (my wide shoulders make it hard for me to pull off the petite look, and by hard I mean impossible), but I almost bought it anyway. My anti-spend-money mindset saved me. 

     We got sick of shopping about the same time the stores started to close, conveniently enough. We settled on a place to eat dinner and talked about wether or not we wanted to stay another day. I was  craving more of a city setting after all this time camping, and I love cities, but we both felt we had seen most everything worth seeing so we decided to move on. I can only take so much shopping, after all. 

The Last of the South Island

1-4-2014

     Hangdog is a climbers' campground just outside of Nelson, and it's where we spent the last couple days. It sits next to a long line of cliffs that overlook a small, twisting river next to the main road. It's a neat place, with some interesting features like a long-drop castle built on the side of a huge old tree stump with wooden shelves laid into the side to climb up it. There's also a slack-line set up among the tents, a stone baking oven, a large fire-pit and patio combo, two refrigerators, and one shower. 

     The shower was nice, but we weren't there for the amenities. We stayed for the climbing. We got a climber's guidebook and set out to use the equipment we brought with us: harnesses, climbing shoes, one rope, and six quick draws. Some of the climbs had more bolts than we had draws, but those tended to be above our climbing level anyway. We stuck to the 13's and 14's, which is the equivalent of a 5'6 or so. That's as easy as it gets, but personally, I think they were rated too high. Or maybe it's just been too long since I climbed last. Or, maybe it's because I hadn't done much lead climbing before, climbing the rope to the top instead of having it secured up there already. Lead climbing is a little more unsettling. If I fell, I would have fallen double the distance I was from my last clip-in, aka bolt. I didn't fall, though, and neither did Luke. We challenged ourselves, and we certainly improved, but we were cautious. Even so, we had so much fun the first day, and met so many cool people, we just had to stay another day. 

    The next day we climbed some more, even a little more challenging. I learned how to "clean a route", which means I learned how to climb up and come back down without leaving any gear behind. It was so fun, and it was a nice change of pace. I wanted to stay for a week, as most campers were doing, but we decided not to. We made plans for Saturday, and on the North Island, so we had to move on. We consoled ourselves with the thought that we could climb more around Lake Taupo. We'd be there in another week or so, no later. We only have three weeks left! They're going to fly by. 

      We left for Nelson the next day. I don't know what I was expecting but there wasn't much there except orchards and vineyards. We kept driving through, all the way to Picton. We left on the afternoon ferry and that was it. No more South Island. It felt a little strange, but it felt good too. One step closer to going home.