RTW 2010

Campervan Diaries (Part 1)
Day 1- Picked up the Campervan in Sydney, took about five minutes to get her in first gear, but then finally made it out of the parking lot. It was a nightmare to get out of the city in morning rush hour but we managed with only on argument, and stalling her only a few times, but I did manage to stay in my lane the whole time. Once we finally made it out of the city, we drove up the coast a bit until we made it to the Hunter Valley, a wine region known for its Semillon and other whites. Wine tasting was very fun, the wine was decent, and we met up with Kate’s friend, who is a winemaker and showed us the best spots to taste in the area, and the best thing is all tastings are free. We stopped for the night in Singleton, a not so nice town, and spent our first night, in a not so nice trailer park! The campervan, who we named Campee, is a wonderful addition to the trip. She is small but packed with all sorts of useful items. She has a small kitchen, with a sink, stove, mini-fridge, and microwave, and then the seating area in the back folds out into a surprisingly roomy bed (video to be posted later this week). We have folding chairs and a table to set up shop for dinner outside. After a nice curry dinner made in the van we settled in for a good night of sleep, it was a long day. Oh yah, Flavia accidentally erased all of the pictures from Sydney, but more on that to come on day 2!

Day 2- We were up early, as I think we will be everyday in the Campee. We set out after breakfast for a few tastings, I spit so I could drive, then we got on the road back to the coast, stopping in East Maitland at a camera shop to get our photos restored. We spent two hours or so at the E. Maitland mall which was straight out of the suburbs of the US, overweight white people who stared at us like we have the plague, ps as of yet we are plague free, and found a money saving tip, that there is free WiFi at every McDonald’s in Australia. The photo restoration project was a success, and we set out back on the Pacific Hwy, heading north. We decided at the spur of the moment to take a turn and head to the coast, just to check it out. We made it to Seal Rocks and met two German girls with a campervan deciding whether to stop for the night or not. It was four in the afternoon so I made the executive decision to stay and get a bit of sun on a misty beach lined with thick brush and sand so fine that it squeaks when you walk on it. I went for a nice swim and a jog, and then we sat until the sun ducked behind the clouds and we cooked cheeseburgers and stir-fried veggies on the barbie, had some Cuban rum that we picked up at duty-free and tucked in for a good night of sleep.

Day 3- Up early again, on the road following the German girls, up the coast, not sure where to stop. We bypassed the cities of Forster and Tancurry and finally stopped at an empty trailer park in Red Heads. We set up camp and relaxed on an enormous and vacant beach with a nice breeze cooling the scorching sun. I played in the big waves with Marion, then swam down the beach for a half hour or so. Flavia yelled at me for walking around in my Speedo, although I think I look FABULOUS! We went for a swim in the pool, then I made Shrimp on the barbie for Flavia’s birthday and we ate with the Monica and Marion (the Germans) and then hung out till the rain drove us into Campee for the night. It absolutely poured all night, which is very loud inside of the camper, but we still got some sleep. I woke up every hour or so when the rain really poured, I probably should have put in some earplugs.

Day 4 (the current day)- So far I haven’t stalled Campee once, and she is very happy about that, and so am I. It’s grey today, and we have stopped in Taree at a McDonald’s to update the blog and check some emails while waiting for the weather to change. I think we are off to a wildlife refuge to hopefully see some Kangaroos and Koalas, haven’t seen any yet. We are still with the German girls, we’ll see how long we travel together, so far it looks like our routes are pretty much the same. I’ll write more in a few days.

Chegamos na Australia, voamos da Nova Zelândia em um Airbus A 380, um avião enorme, com dois andares e capacidade para quase 600 pessoas! Tinha até câmera para assistir a decolagem e o pouso do avião, o Jonathan parecia uma criança, apertou todos os botões possíveis do avião, os homens e seus brinquedos.
Nossa primeira parada foi Sydney, onde ficamos hospedados na casa dos pais de uma amiga do Jonathan, que apareceu de surpresa no aeroporto pra nos buscar. Ela havia dito que não poderia estar em Sydney por causa do trabalho, já que ela é uma enóloga e esta sempre ocupada viajando pelo mundo, o nome dela é Kate, 29 anos e com uma carreira muito bem sucedida, casada com um piloto de helicóptero. A casa onde os pais dela moram é maravilhosa, no topo de umas pedras de frente para uma lagoa, com vários 4 andares e uma adega gigante,que fez os olhos do Jonathan brilharem, os pais dela são muito generosos, nos acabamos nos hospedando na casa deles por 4 dias e não faltou vinho pra gente beber.

Sydney é uma cidade muito bonita, mesmo debaixo de chuva, passeamos pela cidade, andamos pela Darling Harbour, Harbour Bridge e a Opera House, parando no jardim botânico pra dar uma descansada. De lá fomos encontrar o pai da Kate no seu escritório, que estava localizado no topo do prédio mais alto do centro de Sydney, com uma vista maravilhosa, com uma vista daquelas, não da pra não gostar de trabalhar. No outro dia fez sol e passamos o dia na famosa Bondi Beach, cheio de gente bonita, me lembra de Ipanema no Rio, mas um pouco menor e mais charmosa.

Bom, foram 4 dias de luxo pra gente, e não é sempre que a gente pode aproveitar essas coisas, porque nas próximas 3 ou 4 semanas as coisas vão mudar um pouquinho, nos alugamos uma campervan ou mini motorhome pra dirigir pela costa oeste da Australia, de Sydney até Cairns, na barreira dos corais. Ontem foi o primeiro dia da aventura, alugamos a nossa casa sobre rodas, demos até um nome pra ela, a “Campi”, e quando eu digo que a aventura começou, eu não estou mentindo, só pra vocês imaginarem, o Jonathan nunca dirigiu um carro manual, sempre teve carro automático e não só isso, ele também quase não tem experiência dirigindo no lado direito, dirigindo uma motorhome no meio da hora do rush em Sydney! Toda vez que a gente parava no sinal eu fechava os olhos, segurava no acento e rezava pro carro não apagar no meio do transito, mas a minha reza não adiantava muito, perdi as contas de quantas vezes a gente interrompeu o transito, se fosse no Brasil, já teriam mandado a gente pra P#@$%. O bom é que o Jonathan é corajoso, muito mais do que eu e também não ta nem ai para o que os outros pensam. Mas as coisas melhoraram quando nos saímos da cidade, ufa!

A primeira parada foi em uma das regiões vinícolas de Sydney, na Hunter Valley, enfim chegamos, sem nenhum arranhão. O planos serão de partir logo e continuar a viagem pelo litoral, pra comemorar o meu aniversário que ta chegando.

As we boarded the Airbus A-380 for our short flight from Auckland to Sydney, Flavia joked that this was going to be the highlight of my trip. Now, it wasn’t the highlight, but it certainly was something that I had been looking forward to. First off, the plane is enormous, everything is new and modern, and sitting just over the wing, on the lower deck, I stared out over the arching wing so heavy and long that while on the ground you couldn’t see the end of it. We watched from the camera place on the top of the tail as well as one in the nose as we took off, and when we flew into Sydney over the famous Opera House I watched through the camera by the landing gear to get a better idea of what Sydney was going to look like. We passed through customs without a hitch and were surprised to see my friend Kate waiting for us on the other side. We had planned to stay at her parents’ house for two nights but had thought that she would not have been able to get the time off work. I worked with her at Rosenblum my first harvest, and it has been great to see her here in her hometown.

Her parents live just southwest of the city, an hour by train to Bondi junction train and bus terminal, in a spectacular house looking over a lagoon with tall rocky shores with houses and trees around the edges in the suburb of Lilli Pilli. The houses are all up a bit on the hill, giving the best views, but they also have a pool down by the water’s edge, and a pier for access to the warm ocean water. We are pretty much stuck here, as the offer to stay a few extra days was impossible for us to pass up. Kate’s parents, Lindsay and Susie, are two of the most welcoming people that we have ever met, and we have had tasty meals every night, access to a fully stocked wine cellar, and relaxing evenings on the deck overlooking the water, listening to the trees and discussing everything from wine to politics. So in the end our idea of staying in Bondi was replaced with a few trips into the city to take in the sites.

We have been busy though, seeing what we can and planning for our stay in Australia, where we have 35 days. We did the touristy Hop-on, Hop-off bus tour with what seemed to be a large majority of the senior citizen tourists here, but it was free so we couldn’t complain. However, it did begin to rain the minute we set foot onto the upper deck of the open top double-decker bus which literally dampened the enjoyment of the tour. We saw the normal sites, The Harbor Bridge, the Opera House, and so on, and made the best of the rainy afternoon. We finished the tour at Kate’s father’s office, on the 38th and top floor of a downtown office building looking over the Central Cathedral as well as the Olympic stadiums for a few years past.

Yesterday we spend the afternoon on Bondi Beach with, Pat, a friend of mine whom I haven’t seen since we went to college together in Denver. Bondi was nicer than we expected, the color of the water was beautiful, the weather was warm with a nice breeze, and although a few clouds sat inland, we enjoyed pure sunshine. I was surprised at the lack of locals on the beach there, as it seemed that the contingent of tanning foreigners had pushed out the Aussies to the other beaches in the area. Today we are headed to Cronulla, a beach nearby (surely to be full of Aussies), for brunch and the rest of the day on the beach. We have been truly spoiled during our time here in Sydney, and sitting here in the early morning sun, watching flocks of noisy and colorful birds fly from tree to tree, while the locals fish and wakeboard to enjoy their weekend, I know that this is the purest enjoyment of life. This family has overextended themselves to us and we are very grateful, and can’t wait to make it back here to this beautiful city again.

This country is sure to offer us an exciting and new adventure as we have booked a campervan to drive the 2700 KM route from here to Cairns, up on the Great Barrier Reef, through the tropical and beautiful east coast of Australia. Although the campervan was not cheap, it will be a great way for us to see everything we want to, ensure that we won’t have to stay in any dorms, and for me to cook seafood and all the wonderful treats that we can find along the way. We have three weeks to get the camper to Cairns, first step, figuring out how to drive a manual transmission on the left side of the road!

Our last stop in New Zealand, Rotorua, was a bit different from the other stops in NZ. Although this is a purely tourist town, it wasn’t at all like Queenstown, which has a ton of money, all new tourist infrastructure, and is in general a beautiful town. Rotorua is a bit 70’s and it seems that the tourist money doesn’t exactly stay in this town. The region here is the heart of the Maori culture, and also home to the most amazing geysers and mineral pools that I have ever seen. The colors of the pools, bright green, deep blue and multiple shades of grey in the boiling mud were sensational and we walked around in awe while breathing strictly through our mouth as the smell of Sulphur and rotten eggs was very strong throughout the park. In the afternoon, we went for a beautiful walk along the lake and ended at the Polynesian Spa, where we relaxed in hot water baths overlooking the lake.

The people here were very friendly, although they swear a ton, even by my standards. The nicest people we found were actually the bus and shuttle drivers who seemed to greatly enjoy their jobs as well as helping tourists. All in all, we didn’t meet too many locals, as we didn’t go out very much, but we did meet some Kiwis in Rotorua who were extremely friendly and I learned on my last night how to make muscles on the barby, and Green Lipped NZ muscles truly are better than the American ones. A few other observations about Kiwis, first, daisy dukes are alive and well here in NZ, rugby shorts for the men, and just very short shorts for the ladies. Also, I don’t understand everything that is said in the Kiwi accent, maybe they just talk fast, or maybe I just need to pay attention a bit better. Finally, what is up with the Kiwis dressing up like fools to go out here? Whether it was a group of girls dressed like angels, or one solitary guy dressing as a ferry, I just didn’t understand what was going on. I asked about it, and was told that people started doing it and then it just spread throughout the culture to just an everyday thing. So that’s it, NZ is done and although we are a bit alarmed at how much we spent, we feel that we really did get a good tour in of the country, and are really falling into the traveling grove, cooking more, packing our bags more quickly, and doing the most for the least amount of money.

Next stop, Sydney!

Depois de degustar os vinhos de Malborough, pegamos um ferry para cruzar da parte sul a parte norte da Nova Zelândia. O ferry saiu de Picton e 3 horas depois chegamos em Wellington, a capital da Nova Zelândia e mais conhecida como “windy Wellington” porque venta muito naquela cidade, eu aprendi a minha lição quando saímos para passear uma manhã e eu resolvi vestir uma saia, ventava tanto que a saia subia ate a minha cabeça, eu não sabia mais se segurava a saia ou se segurava o cabelo, que naquelas horas eu já nem conseguia ver mais nada. Apesar da ventania, Wellington é uma cidade muito cultural, com vários museus e galerias de arte e com um café a cada esquina, todo mundo adora sentar, tomar um cappuccino e comer bolos, tortas, doces...huummm...e como não poderia faltar, nos fomos ver uma partida de Rugby, o esporte mais famoso na Nova Zelândia. O time de Wellington jogou contra um time da Africa do Sul, o Jonathan feliz da vida que conseguiu ver o jogo ao vivo e eu não entendendo nada, como sempre, esse esportes não fazem muito sentido, futebol americano, baseball, cricket, rugby, eles inventam tantas regras que o jogo demora horas e não é emocionante, ai ai, nada como o bom e velho futebol.

Saímos de Wellington e fomos para Rotorua, depois de 8 horas no ônibus chegamos ao nosso destino, Rotorua é a cidade ou área com a maior atividade vulcânica da Nova Zelândia. Antes de chegar na cidade já da pra sentir o cheiro não muito agradável de enxofre. Em Rotorua nós visitamos um dos vários parques vulcânicos da área, eu vi um gêiser explodir pela primeira vez, um jato de água com um monte de pressão, esse gêiser explode todos os dias as 10:15 da manhã, um fenômeno natural fascinante. O parque também tinha várias piscinas naturais, de cores diferentes, todas formadas por vulcanos, piscinas verdes, amarelas, laranjadas, todas elas borbulhando, como se fossem um caldeirão de bruxa, incrível! Rotorua também é famosa pelos spas, todos com águas termais, você paga uma taxa de uso e pode desfrutar de todas as piscinas, cada uma com uma temperatura diferente, um pouquinho de luxo não faz mal a ninguém, não é.

Duas semanas se passaram e já esta na hora de partir, podemos dizer que conhecemos uma parte desse pais lindo, mas a Nova Zelândia certamente tem mais para oferecer. Mas nós aproveitamos o máximo possível, viajamos de avião, de carro, de ônibus e de ferry, conhecemos as duas ilhas, degustamos os vinhos e provamos a comida, conhecemos nativos e estrangeiros e com certeza teremos boas lembranças dessa terra. Hoje partimos para Sidney, na Austrália, teremos 5 semanas para aproveitar a Austrália, o plano vai ser de alugar um motorhome e dirigir de Sidney até o final da costa oeste, até Cairns. Ate a próxima!

Heading North

I write right now as we sit on the top deck of the Inter Island ferry that connects the South Island from the North Island of New Zealand. We spent the morning in Picton, where the ferry departed after passing two days in the heart of the Marlborough wine country. We found a wonderful little guesthouse in Blenheim, just south of here, and we relaxed beside a pool and were the only guests at the house. I guess times have changed for me. I’m really starting to see the difference between my last trip and this one, and the thought of being “alone” in a guesthouse on my last trip would have horrified me. Flavia and I are perfect company for each other, and a takeout Indian meal with a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc was the end to a great day of wine-tasting at the surrounding wineries. We tasted lots of Sauv Blanc, of course, but also a healthy amount of Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, and Pinot Noir, and after visiting 6 wineries, our budget only allowed us to purchase one lonely bottle of Pinot Noir, which is safely stowed away in my backpack. The wine was decent, although I thought that a lot of the Sauv Blanc lacked a bit of acid, which I guess comes from the hot summers days and very chilly nights that they had over the past two years. We did have a great time wine tasting though, setting out our first afternoon on bikes, which is by the way, the first time I have ever seen Flavia on a bike! We had a wonderful lunch although we struggled against the miserable headwind that blew down the highway. Our second day in Blenheim, we took a wine tour with 5 other people and were driven to the nicest local wineries, including one in the Diageo family, Cloudy Bay, although the highlight was the boutique wineries we visited at the end of our day. The area where the wineries are sit in a glacial basin, and are fairly new, with the first winery having opened just about 30 years ago.

It has taken a while to get used to backpacking in a first world country. Before, while in South America, I had no problem eating at high quality restaurants, going out until the wee hours of the morning, and not really worrying about what I was spending each day. Now, things are different. So far in New Zealand, we have only eaten at one restaurant, where two entrees and two beers cost $50, the rest of the time we have just gotten “take away” Chinese, Thai, or Indian, or cooked rice or pasta with a simple sauce and a protein. One thing that we have spent a bit more on recently is accommodation. Sleeping in a dorm is always an option, but we would prefer one smaller than 6 beds, and preferably not in a hostel that advertises itself as a “party” hostel. We have been good though, although in the last two cities we did spoil ourselves with a private bathroom. When I travelled alone all I really cared about was a bed and a bit of security for my gear, but now, especially with all of our toys, we would like a bit of comfort and wi-fi, which is available at most, if not all, hostels and hotels.

I guess finally I can feel a bit of age creeping up on me. We’ve had mostly early nights, and the ones that are late don’t make it much past midnight. I can use the excuse that it’s the $8 beers that keep us close to home, or the long days that we have been having, but so far, the need to go out just really hasn’t come to us. I’m sure things will change once we get to SE Asia, or until I manage to start sleeping past 8am, which is an improvement from 6am, which was my mental alarm every morning while in Fiji. I’ve also started this trip with a bit of back pain, and have naturally ruled out sleeping in a hammock for four months, as I did in South America.

So now we sit, with a quick four hour ferry trip ahead of us. The wind in our faces does a great job cooling the scorching midday sun on the observation deck, and the computer and Iphone pass the time and drown out the myriad of loud accents the echo through the galleys. Our next stop is Wellington, where we will hopefully arrive in time to catch the Super 14 rugby match between Wellington and Johannesburg (South Africa). Our days in New Zealand are numbered, just here for 5 more days before our quick adventure here is up.

Alugamos um carro em Queenstown e partimos em direção a costa leste da South Island, a viagem foi linda, a cada 15 minutos a paisagem mudava, eram montanhas altas cheias de vegetação, partes rurais bem planas e secas, picos com neve no topo, cachoeiras, mar e ovelhas...as ovelhas estavam em todos os lugares. Estávamos em direção as geleiras, Fox e Franz Joseph Glaciers, depois de 6 horas de viagem chegamos ao nosso destino. Elas são uma obra de arte da natureza, no meio das montanhas, imensas e com tons distintos de azul, difícil de explicar, só vendo mesmo, mas nós temos várias fotos.

Depois das geleiras, seguimos a viagem pela costa, o plano era de dirigir mais 3 horas e passar a noite em Hokitika, uma cidadezinha litorânea na parte norte. Como os nosso planos sempre mudam, resolvemos dirigir mais 3 horas em rumo a Christchurch, cruzando a ilha de leste a oeste. No meio do caminho o Jonathan decidiu dar carona para um menino que tava caminhando no lado da estrada, claro que não gostei da idéia, mas já era tarde demais pra dizer não. O Jonathan, sempre curioso, resolveu perguntar para o menino onde ele vivia, o que ele fazia, quantos anos ele tinha, numero de identidade, CPF... pergunta vai, pergunta vem, o menino nos contou que a mãe dele era uma taróloga, que ela havia sonhado com um local muito especial para a família deles viver e que depois de algum tempo viajando eles finalmente encontraram o lugar, ele nos convidou para ver aonde eles moravam e nós aceitamos. Na beira da estrada havia um sinal que dizia “Taróloga” – Vende-se sabonete! Quando estacionamos o carro, seus pais saíram de casa para nos cumprimentar, detalhe que a casa deles era dentro de um ônibus, havia três ônibus, cada um representava uma parte da casa. A mãe (taróloga), foi bem simpática, foi nos mostrar a sua horta, ela disse que tudo que eles comem era produzido lá e que a vida era simples, mas que eles eram felizes daquele jeito. Acabou que ela não nos ofereceu seus serviços de tarologia e nós partimos sem saber sobre o nosso futuro...naquela mesma noite quando chegamos em Christchurch, o Jonathan sonhou com a bendita mulher a noite toda, eu quase quis voltar pra falar com ela...mas pensando bem, a vida é mais excitante quando a gente não sabe o que vai acontecer no dia seguinte, então resolvemos deixar ela nos surpreender.

Depois de dois dias em Christchurch, onde ficamos em um hotel bem bacana, Hotel So, devolvemos o carro e partimos de ônibus para o próximo destino, Malborough, a região vinícola da Nova Zelândia, mais conhecida pelos vinhos brancos como Sauvignon Blanc e também Pinot Noir (vinho tinto, mas não muito encorporado). Encontramos um lugar muito aconchegante para nos hospedarmos, o Vila Rose, um “homestay”, ou seja, uma casa que oferece quartos para hóspedes. O lugar era novinho e cheiroso, deu ate uma dozinha de usar as coisas, sendo que as nossas mochilas já estão bem sujinhas. A dona, uma Irlandesa chamada Regina, muito querida, fez de tudo pra gente se sentir em casa. Ela nos ofereceu suas bicicletas pra gente ir ate as vinícolas, sendo que já faziam pelo menos 7 anos que eu não andava de bicicleta, mas como se diz por ai...você nunca se esquece de como andar de bicicleta, então saímos os dois de bicicleta e capacetes, o Jonathan sempre na frente e eu de língua de fora um kilometro atrás. Chegamos na primeira vinícola, um sol de matar, o planos era de seguir em frente e visitar pelo menos 3 lugares, mas o plano não funcionou muito bem, depois da primeira visita, tendo provado alguns vinhos, o meu desempenho baixou, a bicicleta já não tava mais indo em linha reta, o meu traseiro doendo, ai já viu, voltamos pra casa. No próximo dia, os dois reclamando de dor, resolvemos aposentar as bicicletas e pegar um tour pra degustar mais uns vinhos.

Hoje partimos em direção a Wellington, de volta para a Ilha Norte, e seguiremos para Rotorua, uma cidade vulcânica, com águas termais e erupções diárias de geysers. Até a próxima!

Depois de alguns imprevistos na nossa saída de Fiji, chegamos em Auckland na Nova Zelândia. Como em toda jornada existem obstáculos, nos já passamos pelo primeiro, eu e o Jonathan pegamos um vírus no nosso ultimo dia em Fiji, uns outros mochileiros ficaram doentes e alguns nativos também, depois de alguns dias e umas noites mal dormidas, nos finalmente melhoramos... Ufa!
Bom mas voltando pra Nova Zelândia, Auckland é uma cidade grande, com muitos imigrantes, brasileiros, asiáticos, Europeus, etc... me lembra a Curitiba, com vários parques e sistema de transporte organizado. Mas como nós temos somente 2 semanas na Nova Zelândia, não tivemos muito tempo de conhecer a cidade toda. Dois dias em Auckland e já botamos o pé na estrada de novo, em rumo a Queenstown, na parte sul do país. A Nova Zelândia é dividida em duas ilhas, a norte, parte mais vulcânica do país e a ilha sul, parte mais montanhosa e onde estão os vários lagos e rios que fazem essa região muito procurada por turistas do mundo inteiro.
Queenstown é uma cidade linda, quando o nosso avião começou a pousar na cidade, só dava pra ver umas montanhas gigantescas, de todos os lados, parecia que o avião ia bater em uma delas antes de pousar, deu até um frio na barriga. Nos chegamos na cidade sem reserva de hostel e pra varias a cidade estava cheia, depois de tanto procurar, encontramos um hostel, no topo do morro, e subir aquele morro com a mochila nas costas foi um sufoco, já que eu ainda tava me sentindo meio fraquinha, mas a caminhada valeu a pena, a vista do hostel foi maravilhosa e o pessoal que tava la foi muito bacana, a maioria estudantes de outros países trabalhando pra juntar uma graninha extra. O povo da Nova Zelândia, ou melhor os “Kiwis” (vem do nome do pássaro típico do país) são muito hospitaleiros, tem bastante senso de humor e uma grande rivalidade com os Australianos ou “Aussies”, ou seja, tudo que der errado é culpa dos Aussies. O mais lugar mais impressionante que visitamos em Queenstown foi uma cadeia montanhosa formada por geleiras, são montanhas enormes com diversas cachoeiras descendo do topo, por sorte havia chovido um pouco antes da gente chegar, então havia bastante água, vocês vão ver nas fotos.


Ontem nós partimos de Queenstown para o norte na costa leste, rumo as geleiras, alugamos um carro e o Jonathan estava todo nervoso porque ia ter que dirigir no lado direito, tudo ao contrario, mas ele se deu bem, eu é que continuo me confundindo em qual lado entrar no carro.
Logo escrevo mais sobre a viagem de carro...me aguardem!

Wow, what a crazy last couple of days. I don’t even know where to begin. I guess I’ll just start from where I am right now and then go back to the last time I wrote and go from there. Right now I am sitting in the hotel bar at the Hotel SO in Christchurch, on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. Last time I wrote we had just arrived in Queenstown, after a quick flight from Auckland. Finding a room was a bit tricky, as apparently it’s still high season, so we ended up a bit out of town in a small dorm room the first night, then a double with bunk beds the next two nights. The hostel crowd was a bit mellower than the party hostels in the center of town, mostly containing workers for the shops and restaurants in town and I had a great time with the Chilean, Argentinean, and Brazilian kids that stayed in after a hard day of work. The town party scene seemed like it was mostly for younger Brits and Kiwis who were out until 5am and since Flavia and I were waking up early and we were a bit out of the center of town, it was much easier (and cheaper) for us to stay at the hostel at night, cook our own dinner, drink a few beers or wine, and enjoy the evening at Deco’s. The hostel was decent, but what made it special was the beautiful view of the town alongside the bay, especially the second morning when we woke up just early enough to see a fire red sunrise reflecting off of the lake.

On our first day we woke up nice and early and walked up to the top of the gondola just out of town. It was a bit of a strenuous walk, all uphill, but we saved a few bucks and were further rewarded with the beautiful view of town. Up top, there was a luge set up. This basically consisted of an asphalt track with small carts, pull toward you with the handle bars to brake. NOTE: Sorry if I offend anyone, but sometimes stereotypes really do happen! So, I started going down and picking up speed, and then I flew by a couple of people, Prada handbags draped over their arms, and dragging on the track. I looked back and noticed that I was on the track with a busload of Japanese female tourists. As the course went on, it got worse, people were stopped in the middle, unable to get their buggy to move, others stopped taking photos (on the track mind you). Finally there was an old woman, stopped on the track, pumping her handlebars, yelling and what I could only figure was cursing, sitting near the finish line. Needless to say, the second run on the difficult track was more fun!

In the afternoon we began our more costly activities. Now, we have been so good with money so far in New Zealand, but we did kind of blow it in Queenstown. First we started with the Shotover Jetboat ride, which is the famous ride over the Shotover River in a speedboat, that spins and floats so damn close to the rocks, you are certain that you are going to crash at any moment. It truly was one of the most fun excursions that I have ever done. The water is a beautiful light blue color and clear and crisp, especially as the temperature climbed in the afternoon. It was amazing that the boat could zoom over water that was no more than 3-4 inches deep at some spots. Back in town we cooked dinner and enjoyed a bit of cheap New Zealand Pinot, then German, who works at an ice cream store, collected cash and brought back a wonderful selection for us.
JETBOAT VIDEO
We woke up early the next morning for a full day trip to Milford sound, and at 7:30 we jumped onto the bus and slept off and on until we reached the Fjordlands National Park. A fjord is caused by glacial ice carving through rock and leaving a U-shaped valley with steep walls on both sides, like Yosemite. The National park was a drippy, rainy mess, which allowed for spectacular waterfalls plummeting from all sides, a white contrast to the lush green bush on both walls. The drizzle was light, as we twisted and turned in the bus, gaining elevation, before cutting through a tunnel and ending at Milford Sound where we would take a short cruise. A Sound is an inlet like a bay, but with tall walls like a fjord, but wider, with the waterfalls cascading down both walls from the high cliffs above, and as the clouds opened a bit, we got a wonderful view of the true beauty of the lush green South Island of New Zealand. We rode slowly back on the bus and made it back to the hostel at 8:30, cooked dinner, packed up and said goodbye before getting to sleep early after a full day.

Finally, on the last day of fun, we rented a car and I drove all the way up the east coast to the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers up about 5 hours from Queenstown. The drive was spectacular, with all kinds of scenery from switchbacks up barren mountains, to cruising along the many lakes, up through mountain passes of thick brush (referred to as “the bush”), then to the coast, lined with farmland full of sheep, cows, and deer happily munching on grass (yes, real grassfed animals!). The glaciers were sensational, huge icy thumbprints, pressed into the mountains, and we hiked over their waste of rubble and rocks until an icy wind crept over us as we admired how far they had moved over that past years. Continuing on, we drove up the coast to Hakitika, where we were going to spend the night. Upon arrival at 6pm, mind you we left Queenstown at 8am, we made the decision to reserve a room in Christchurch and drive the 3 hour right through Albert’s Pass straight through so we would have the whole day to explore the city.

As we drove onto route 73, I picked up a hitchhiker, a teenage boy, and as Flavia shot me one of her famous glares, he told me to drop him off 10kms up at the big yellow sign on the side of the road. We began chatting and he told me he lived in the bush, which can also mean basically anywhere outside of a city or town. His family had moved to their new home nine years ago, because his mother was a psychic, and well, that was the place that she had dreamed of. He invited us to visit their home and we pulled up and a burly pale woman and a tan, long haired man in tall rubber boots greeted us. We walked among their gardens and learned that she couldn’t read, and didn’t own a TV, leaving her plenty of time for psychic activities and gardening. All and all, Rouse and his parents were incredibly nice, and we were amazed at how happily they lived in their green broken down buses among beautiful vegetable gardens and chickens outside of the city. This reminded me that sometimes the best parts of the trip are the ones that are the most spontaneous. However, now I am face with a dilemma because last night, Rouse’s mother seemed to come to me in three or four of my dreams, which makes me wonder if it’s worth taking the 6-hour round trip to get a psychic reading from her!

We finally pulled up into Christchurch at 10 last night, an even more full day than the last, and I can now say that driving on the right side of the road is not as hard as it seems, and that having a car and doing things our own way is the best for us. Tomorrow we take the train ride along the east coast and up to Picton, in the very north of the South Island and the heart of the wine country. I’ll write again before we leave New Zealand.

After two rushed days in Auckland, Flavia and I boarded another flight this morning for the short trip to Queenstown, a beautiful mountain town perched alongside a stunningly blue lake. Auckland was a nice break from the Fiji heat, and although we felt very rushed with only one full day, we did as much as we could, money and time permitting. My first conclusion about Auckland is that it seems to be a better place to live than to visit, but maybe that’s because we only really got to see a bit of it. The city feels like a hybrid of San Francisco and Seattle, hilly and windy, yet set along a bay with ferries darting from island to island. There is a huge Indian and Asian influence, and many of the local cheap eateries offer Asian fare. We checked into a cramped studio with a small kitchen, an even smaller window, where it was uncomfortably stuffy and hot, and lacking a fan. We made do though, and I slept with a wet handkerchief next to the bed until the heat subsided in the midnight hours, a little trick I learned while living in London during an extremely hot summer. We were just a quick 10 minute walk from the ferry terminal and the heart of the tourist area, and I was amazed at the vast quantity of tourists that seem to be here at this time of year, I guess it really is high season right now.

After a short romp through too many tourists and too many unfolded maps we jumped on a public bus for Mt. Eden, a beautiful hill looking over the whole of Auckland, with a clear 360 degree view of the city. After a quick 20 minute walk up we braced ourselves against the fierce wind that ripped through the city and admired the clean and sweet air of the capital. We retreated back to the streets, away from the wind and wandered to the Eden Shops, a beautiful little area with tons of cafes, restaurants, and upscale boutiques, and were happy to escape the tourists as we ate buttered chicken and salmon and feta cheese pies. Fulfilled from lunch we took two buses down to Mission bay, the “Venice Beach” of the city, where the prices and houses were both larger than in the Eden Shops area and the crowd was more vogue than we had seen. We strolled along the water, braving the wind and enjoying the heat in between gusts before heading back and eating Chinese takeout in the room.

I was very impressed with Auckland and both of us agreed that it would be a place that would be suitable for living, although getting accustomed to which way the traffic is moving is taking a bit of time to adjust to (NOTE: we are renting a car in three days so I figure it out!). The public transit system is great, clean and efficient, and the driver’s are ridiculously friendly and helpful, unlike the Muni or AC Transit!

We are still feeling a bit of the illness that we had in Fiji, so we missed out on the nightlife, I am pretty sure we will have enough time to make up for it along the way, and two good nights of sleep made both of us feel much better. Now that we have just gotten to Queenstown and sorted a room out we feel good, and as I sit and type a few hundred feet above the lake and the town we both seem at ease with where we are, even if we are in a small dorm room for the next few nights.