Roadtrip

It's incredible how time flies when you're having fun! I'm amazed that the last week has gone by so quickly and I've hit so many spots in such a short span of time. This week was roadtrip week for me as I was able to stick with my English friend through the whole northern tip of the country. I stayed next to the coast and enjoyed the warm water, had my first free camp on the beach and slept amongst the giant kauri trees that dot the landscape on the west side of New Zealand. It's been a memorable week having a ride and making new friends while learning how to really travel across these tiny islands.

I got to do my deep dive while we were still in Pahia. On a cold, gray day, we set out on the water in my first open dive boat, meaning we rolled into the water rather than the usual giant leap off the back (way better this way!). The black-looking water and the lack of sun only added to my usual apprehension of jumping in, but we had a break in the clouds as soon as we were under that turned the water green and made the colors at the bottom brilliant. The shipwreck was small, but riddled with marine life. Thousands of big-eyed fish peeked out at us from the hole in the hull. Little blue fish danced with our fingers and then tried to attack us when we got too close to their young. Swimming under the bow of the boat and looking up at the light coming down just made me think of Titanic. It was truly magical being down there and I'm looking forward to taking the wreck diving section of my advanced very soon.



After my dives, Billy was waiting for me so that we could continue further north. We stopped at a holiday park the first night and caught an amazing sunset along 90 Mile Beach. Yes, there is a beach that long at the tip of the country...and you can drive on it! We did a couple of circles around the area, but never did any serious driving. From what I've heard, there is a car graveyard out there from people not paying attention to the tides. If you're going to drive it, you need to be able to locate the hidden exits and if they're missed and the tide comes in, it's adios to your vehicle. Being the smart people that we are, we decided not to take the risk.



The next day brought us to Cape Reinga and to the warmth of the subtropical sun. It was gorgeous outside and the waters were blue. We walked out to the lighthouse at the tip of the country and could actually see the waves Pacific and the Tasman crashing into each other from opposite directions. The waves do a little dance and swirl about and the two different colors of the water blend together before colliding with the rocks of the penninsula. We were able to find camp not far from there that night and we laid on the beach and played in the surf most of the afternoon.





We went back to the Cape for the sunset that evening and met an Argentinian couple that has been traveling for nine years...and had four kids during their travels!! They are driving around in this weird old car that goes no faster than 55kph, but uses the engine to heat up hot dogs as they drive. Their kids were adorable and spoke both English and Spanish. I got along pretty well with the youngest, Wallaby (born in Australia, of course), who wasn't yet walking. Their story is pretty fantastic and they've written a book, Spark Your Dream, which they tried to have me pay $35 for (this was the second $35 book that I was offered in the exact spot, the first was earlier in the day and the author was an ex-con who used to be the leader of the Mongrols, a gang here in New Zealand...yikes!). They've made it through the Americas and Canada, Australia, now New Zealand and next is Asia. How they've not killed each other or one of their bouncing kids is beyond me!



We met an English girl as we were leaving the campsite the next morning and formed our little Toyota van caravan back down to a surfing beach, Ahipara. We picked up a young American guy, Ben, along the way. Since our 100 kilometer ride with Ben, we've seen him twice and have heard from three others where he is and what he's doing. Apparently everyone in New Zealand knows Ben. It's random.

Ahipara was a beach day. Alexa and Billy surfed and I laid around enjoying the scenery. It was a small town with no accommodation and only one general store, so we stocked up on a few things and then parked the cars by the beach until the next morning. We met another American girl parked next to us who has been living out of her van for a year and heading back to the states soon. I almost bought her van...I need one of these things! That's how people do it out here and I just wish I would've as soon as I arrived. Now I'm down to five weeks left and the time lost on trying to sell it in the end would just be too much. I guess I know for next time.



I got my first little paddle with a surfboard just before leaving the beach the next morning. Billy let me borrow his and I played around in the very small waves for a while. It's a lot harder than it looks! Just balancing on those things is difficult. I didn't attempt getting up, or really even catching a wave. There was nothing to catch on that very calm morning. It was a good lesson in core strength though. I'll be glad I had that when I actually go out and attempt it one of these days.



From the coast, we broke up from the rest of the group and headed down through the giant Kauri forest for a night. It was beautiful, but just a small stopping point on our journey south of Auckland. Yesterday we arrived in Mt. Manganui and this town is awesome. Just a small beach town with lots of things to do and see. We camped last night and this morning Billy and his van left me at a hostel. I've been laying on the beach all day and applying loads of sunblock. The water was warm and I was able to make it out there before all of the kids arrived. Tonight will be chill for me as I am an independent traveler again. Tomorrow I'm pointing my compass south. It's time to leave my beloved beaches and check out some mountain trekking. I'm hoping to stay in one spot for a while down there as I make some decisions on the rest of my New Zealand adventure.

Diving Deeper

Diving and kayaking and hiking, oh my!!! I am out on my own again and quickly discovering the plethora of outdoor adventures that New Zealand has in store for me. I made my way to Auckland earlier this week and have travelled much further north than I expected to be at this point. It's a small couple of islands that I'm on. The distance between stopping points and the abundance of activities is only making my addiction to change that much worse. I came north with the idea of settling somewhere for a while. After five days and three different towns, I'm thinking that might be impossible.

I flew to Auckland on Tuesday evening and had yet another kind offer to stay at my friend Kitty's house on my first night. It was really really great to see her again, and so funny at the same time considering our friendship is only a few months old but has grown over three continents. She picked me up from the airport and on Wednesday, showed me around her town. Auckland is a big one, by New Zealand standards anyway. It's a sprawling city that houses one third of the people in this country. It's nestled close to the waters of Freemans Bay and contains fantastic view of the surrounding islands. It's a little more hectic than what I'm looking for at this time, so I made my visit brief with promises to return on my way back south.



On Thursday morning, I hopped on a northbound bus and officially became a backpacker again. After three hours of gorgeous countryside scenery, I got off the bus in the town of Whangarei. Whangarei is a well known area for the Poor Knights Islands that reside just off the coast. Jacques Cousteau named the waters around these protruding rocks one of the top ten best dive sites in the world. With my spanking new open water certification, you all know I was on the phone with dive companies the second I got into town. Before having my gear unpacked at the camp, I was booked on the boat leaving for the islands early the next morning.



Now, I talked to a lot of people as I was getting my certification in Colombia and told them my intention of diving in New Zealand. Most just gave me this look; this cold water, scary marine life look...and then wished me a sarcastic good luck. Everyone knows what I'm scared of in the water, and I won't mention them in the blog as I think it's bad luck. But yes, there are a lot of them in the cold waters off the coast down here. Of course, I won't let that fear stop me from taking the plunge. I'll just cross my fingers, hold onto my mask and hope for the best. The only way to conquer a fear is to take it head on. I'm so glad I did, as yesterday I had a Discovery Channel experience underwater that I will not soon forget.

No, i did not run into any large objects in the ocean, if that's what you're wondering. We went to a dive site called Blue Maomao, which took us around a huge rock, through an underwater hole and then spit us out into a sea of thousands of fish gleaming in the sunlight that was penetrating the water. The visibility was 18 meters in this sea of deep blue. The sun came through and played tricks with us on the rock cliffs as kelp floated up at us from the bottom. We saw thousands of curious fish, one very large stingray and an array of rocky, underwater landscapes that blew what I saw in Colombia away. Our second dive took us into the depths of a crack in the rock and down a cliff with only the open water of the Pacific on our other side. This dive was not as memorable, but was beautiful just the same. The water was quite a bit colder than the Caribbean, but an extra thick wetsuit and a whole lot of adrenaline kept me nice and warm.



Back at the campsite, before my underwater adventures, I had met a nice Englishman that was heading in the same direction. We made plans for him to wait for my dives to end and we'd both go north together in his van, sharing the expense of petrol. It's tough to get around New Zealand purely by bus, and I knew that hitching a ride was somewhere in my future, I was just lucky to have all of that taken care of so early in the game. Billy and I took off yesterday afternoon for Pahia, a small town full of hotels and summer homes sitting on Kororareka Bay. We found a hostel quickly and decided to settle here for a couple of nights before starting the journey up to the very north of the island, Cape Reinga.

Last night we dug a bucket of clams out of the sea and made a nice pasta dish in the hostel kitchen. I'm pretty impressed with the amount of cooking I've been doing here as there's a kitchen in every hostel or campground that I stay in. I will admit that I'm already getting sick of pasta and canned tuna though, so the next trip to the grocery store is going to get a little more creative I think. This morning was spent sea kayaking (free kayaks at the hostel, what?!) in the turquoise waters of the bay and it's been a lazy afternoon watching the Australian Open.



I've lined up another dive trip for tomorrow and I've had to study the PADI book yet again. There is a shipwreck dive not far from here that requires my deep diver certificate to get to. The Greenpeace boat, the Rainbow Warrior, went down in 1985 and has become a spectacle for divers in the past few years and I intend to see it. The problem I realized while booking is that the hull sits at 27 meters, whereas my certification only allows me to 18. So tomorrow is a day of tests and dives and it should be incredible. The positive side to all of this is that these dives will count towards my advanced certification, if that is something I choose to do (in a less expensive place, like Thailand). What possessed me to choose such an expensive hobby at a time when I am without a job is beyond me! So tomorrow brings another day on the water and some more excitement! After my dives, we will set our course for further north, hopefully seeing the Tasman Sea and the Pacific collide off the Cape within the next few days.

It's a small world after all...

I don't even know where to begin with what the past week has brought me. Each new area of the world I have been to has taken a bit of an adjustment phase to figure out where I am and what I'm doing. New Zealand hasn't been that way at all. I jumped over to these little islands just a week ago and I immediately felt comfortable. Maybe a little too comfortable at times. It feels like home, and writing a blog at home has never been my strong suit, hence, I haven't posted in a while.

Last Monday, Amanda and I set out on a road trip to the north of the south island. Our destination: Abel Tasman National Park. I've come to this island packed to the brim with my camping gear and was determined to use it as soon as possible. We set our sites on a little town called Nelson on the first day, the gateway to the park. We drove (on the wrong side of the road) through the plains of Canterbury into the rolling hills that make up the tail end of the Southern Alps. Everything is impeccably green and neat. The farmlands are patchworked through the hills and the sheep...oh yes, there are quite a lot of sheep here. It is true what they all say.



I got my first shot at driving while heading up north. Amanda's car is a manual, and although I'm used to that, driving on the right side of the car and shifting with my left hand proved to be a little hard to get used to. No worries, I got loads of practice and didn't hurt her baby. My first lefthand turn was a little on the sketchy side, as I zoomed the car into the wrong lane afterwards. But luckily I was in a little town, and going very slow. No one was injured, except for some of the million sandflies that buzz around your head everywhere....which I was happy to take out anyway.



We got to Nelson on Monday night and ended up having to go to quite a few hostels before finding one. We had our hearts set on camping, but with the ever present downpour, it just didn't sound like fun. So we holed ourselves up in a hostel near the beach for the night and made our way up the penninsula the next day. We arrived in Marahau on the beautiful, sunny day that Tuesday was and set up camp in a holiday park just a block from the beach. Being the first time I'd seen sun since I got here, I was all about a beach day, which is exactly what it turned out to be.



First off, let me say that the sun here is intense! You cannot, I repeat, CANNOT go outside without a good sunblock on. I noticed it the first day I was here when my chest got red in ten minutes while standing in the backyard. We're slowly destroying our world at this point and the ozone does not exist down here. I was talking to a guy who said he got such a bad sunburn on his nose that it bled. This does not sound very attractive. Therefore, I was a little wary of laying on the beach all day, but I did anyway...consistantly applying SPF 30 to every exposed part of my body.

The water here is the most incredible, tropical looking blue. And laying on the beach with the sun beaming down on you just makes you want to scramble in every five minutes. The problem here, is that the water is like ice. I'm pretty sure that big ice cube of Antarctica just south of here has something to do with it. I can't say that I'll be doing as much swimming on the south island as I would've liked. Not without a wetsuit anyway.



Back to camping... Amanda and I stayed in the Abel Tasman area for two nights. We had our beach time, took a hike in the park, dug up clams for dinner each night and just generally had a great time. On our first night in the campground, I had the most incredible run in of my travels so far. All of you know, that I met my friend, Kitty, while on a train in Italy. We had an apartment there for a couple of days and learned that we would both be in Peru at the same time. We traveled for a week together in Peru and made plans for me to visit at her home in Auckland at some point on my trip to New Zealand. Of all of the crazy things that can happen in this world, I was standing near the bathroom at this campground in the tiny town of Marahau, and who came walking out, but Kitty! I think we were both in shock. I had just emailed her before we left to tell her I was heading to Auckland. She hadn't gotten that email yet, nor did she know where I'd be camping and there she was standing in front of me on the south island of New Zealand. She was catching a bus quickly, but we had a chance to catch up for a minute. It was a most excellent surprise! It really is such a small world.

After our days of beach and sand in Abel Tasman, Amanda and I headed back down State Highway One towards the coast. California, I love you, but really, you've got nothing on this. We were driving through the vineyards in Marlborough, comparing the yellow rolling hills to that of the states, when all of the sudden we came over a hill and saw the most gorgeous blue water imaginable. I had to stop the car. It took my breath away. Continuing further along, it turned into green, lush cliffs spilling into a turquiose ocean with fur seals frolicking on rocks. It was a truly magical drive.



On our last road trip night, we stayed in the coastal town of Kaikoura. A very cute town, and definitely a place I will consider going back to. We ate crayfish as big as lobsters and met people in the hostel. I need these hostel moments every now and again to talk to people about where to go and what to do. In the morning, before we left for Christchurch we took a hike along the water and got up close and personal with the local wildife. There was this seal just sitting there posing for us tourists. We were able to get about two meters from him before I got scared when I saw some teeth. We walked a little further along to a seagull colony, and quickly got run out of that area by some birds defending their young. Literally, this thing came at us just screeching! It was not pleasant. Thinking of The Birds, I put my sunglasses on and ran! Being attacked by seagulls was not something I wanted to blog about. :)

We came back into Christchurch on Friday night and had a lazy night in with Flight of the Concords. I have become obsessed with the hilarity of this show since I got here. It is awesome! Something about two Kiwis in New York City just makes me laugh. If you haven't seen it, you should definitely be checking it out. Saturday was my first bout with the water here in New Zealand as we decided to do some body boarding on a beach nearby. One of my main goals here is to try out surfing, and that was the originaly plan for the day, but with swells over five feet, I just didn't feel ready for it.

On the way to the beach I was bundled in a couple of shirts, warm fuzzy pants, and some woolen socks. It was in no way warm that day. I think I saw something like 12 degrees celcius. Not my idea of a beach day. I was sure I was going to chicken out by the time we got there but I surprised myself once again when I put on Amanda's wetsuit, grabbed the body board and went running into the frigid water with Neil and one of his friends. The current was so strong and there were little jellyfish all through the water (apparently not the stinging kind) but I managed to play around like a kid for over an hour while the rain drizzled down from the sky. I had so much fun and caught a few really good waves. There are some pictures of my smiling face somewhere out there, I'll need to get them and post sometime very soon. It was a great day.



The rest of the weekend was just that, the weekend. We had people to Amanda's on Saturday night and things got a little crazy. Sunday was spent wandering through the gardens and eating Thai food in town. Christchurch is known as the Garden City, and it is well deserved. There are parks everywhere and beautiful botanical gardens with the Avon river flowing through it all. It's very picturesque, and would be even better if the sun would come out at some point while I'm here.

Yesterday I took a bus down the Banks Penninsula to go swimming with some Hector dolphins. They are the world's smallest dolphin and on the endangered species list. There are currently only about 7000 of them now and the majority of them live in the waters in the bays near Akaroa. I was hoping to get in the water with these cute little creatures and it would cure some of my phobias about swimming with large objects. Unfortunately, we saw lots of dolphins, but none felt like playing with us, so swimming did not occur. It was still a great day though, and I got some good photos of them. Akaroa is a perfect little beach town near here...yet another place I'd like to see again when I return to the south island.



As for today, I have a ticket up to Auckland tonight. Again, I have a ride from the airport and a place to stay, so I'm not on my own quite yet, but will be in a couple of days when I start heading north to the Bay of Islands. I have also changed my travel plans out of New Zealand at this point as well. I had my heart set on going back to South America, but it's just going to have to wait. I cannot be on this side of the world and skip Asia. So I'll fly home from New Zealand in late April, but not before spending seven weeks in SE Asia. It's the trip I had originally planned, and I'm sticking to it. We'll see what the next four months will bring me.

Home Base

I have flown halfway across the world and now find myself in Christchurch, New Zealand. The past couple of weeks have been fantastic. It was wonderful seeing my friends and family throughout the holiday season and I'll admit that it felt pretty good to be back in the states again. There were lots of fun nights out, numerous relaxing days on the couch, far too much food and a little too much bundling to go outside in the deep freeze of winter. Thank you everyone for a great welcome home, I'll see you when it gets warmer over there again. I have made it to my new home base in New Zealand and I'll stick it out here for the summer.

Before my trip even began, I was awarded a pleasant surprise. I got to the airport in San Francisco dreading my flight to LA and four hour layover at LAX before the thirteen hour flight to Auckland. As I was standing in the check-in line, I got a phone call from the airline with news that my flight from LA to NZ would be delayed, which would cause me to miss my connection in Auckland and push up the number of travel hours I was heading into. I love that the weather in London somehow managed to muck up my travel plans from California to the South Pacific. The world truly is a small place. Air New Zealand, being the incredible company that they are, decided to put me on the next direct flight to Auckland from San Francisco, cutting my travel time by ten or so hours. The only drawback was having to sit in SFO for little extra time, something I was willing to deal with to take this new, abbreviated route.

The flight over was brilliant. Thirteen hours in the air really wasn't as bad as I thought. I'm pretty sure the many twelve plus hour bus rides I've taken in South America was the best prep imaginable. Little TVs behind the seats, good food, fantastic service...and the plane wasn't refrigerated like those silly Colombian buses. It was no time before I arrived in Auckland. I felt bright-eyed and bushy-tailed while watching the gloriousness of New Zealand below me as I flew to the south island. From the plane, I could see the green, rolling hills, the deep blue of the Pacific and the snow capped peaks of the Southern Alps in the distance. Lots of farmland, very few roads, this is what I have to look forward to in the next two months...how exciting!!!



I arrived in Christchurch and cleared customs without a hitch. They had to disinfect my shoes and tent, but I was prepared for it, so it was really no big deal. I stepped out into the waiting area to find a face that I haven't seen in ages welcoming me to her world. Amanda and I were like we never left each other and her boyfriend, Neil, is awesome. It was crazy to have a ride from the airport, especially one that drives on the wrong side of the road. It's a treat to have a home base that feels so comfortable, this trip down here will definitely be different.

Christchurch is a cute little city. Everything is very quaint and feels clean. We are in the plains of Canterbury and just a few minutes drive from the Pacific. Amanda's house is warm and cozy and a short walk from the city center. I have my own room, I'm living the high life now! As we've been out and about, I keep seeing backpackers roaming the street and I have to pinch myself to remember I'm one of them. As a matter of fact, I have to remind myself often that I am in New Zealand. With a place to stay, a car to drive me around and the ease of being able to speak English, I forget that I am on a tiny island in the middle of an ocean. Everything seems very familiar here, I could get used to this.



Amanda and I fell back into the swing of things immediately. We took a walking tour of the city in the morning and were on our game for lunch in a pub at noon. After a few pints, we met up with Neil and decided that shopping was a good idea. I blew my daily budget within the first six hours, but I have a cute new dress to show for it. We went out for their friend's going away party and showed Christchurch what it was in for. The nightlife here is pretty great, but much more expensive then I'm used to...I need to be careful over here!



I've somehow managed to avoid jetlag, so yesterday was spent taking care of business. I've gotten my cell phone set up, bought a ticket to Auckland for next week, and successfully destroyed my room with my ever-exploding backpack. It's light out here until 9pm, so we took a late afternoon drive into the countryside on a cold and rainy day. Yes, it's cold, like jacket and jeans cold, I really can't believe that this is considered summer, but apparently this is the worst it's been in months, go figure. Either way, we drove up to a viewpoint over Christchurch in time to see the most vibrant, full rainbow I've ever seen, making the rain and wind worth it all in the end. We winded down through the hills to Governors Bay and drove along the water to where it reaches the Pacific. The water is this incredible blue color due to glacial deposits, or something of that nature. It's really spectacular and I'm looking forward to seeing it on a bit nicer afternoon. We ate some of New Zealand's best fish and chips for dinner and then came home for movie night. Without the noise and chaos of a hostel, I passed out cold on the couch and got a great night's sleep.



I was up bright and early this morning at 6:30am, so maybe my body is a little off still from my travels. It is Monday after all, where to me it should be Sunday. It's strange seeing the NFL reports on msn.com; that's not a normal beginning-of-the-week occurrence. So I'm having my morning tea and soon I will go upstairs to attempt to pack my bag. Amanda and I are headed out on a New Zealand road trip today! It's only been two days and already I'm getting to use my camping gear. Our destination is Nelson, the northern tip of the south island. Apparently there are beaches there, although unless it warms up, there will be no swimming. Abel Tasman National Park is right next door, so we'll see what we can find. We plan on being gone for the majority of the week if the weather holds up. I'm looking forward to getting reacquainted with my camping buddy and seeing what this remote, little island has to offer.