Loving New Zealand

I've got quite a lot to write about since my last post and little time to do it. I'm back in Christchurch for the time being but am about to leave again to get out of the city and do some van camping. Hopefully I'll get everything that has happened these last few weeks in one shot. If not I have a new strategy on getting my thoughts down quicker as they happen. I may continue to post at week or two long intervals but I plan on having a bit of a journal on the laptop or on paper during my traveling.

I'll try and start where my last post ended. I was in Christchurch waiting for some friends to arrive before heading out on a kayak trip. They got in after a three day delay for them and we hung out for a few more days in Christchurch. I think I ultimately spent six days in the city and that was enough since it is a place where money goes quickly. I got really lucky on the day we decided to leave and got this sweet little van. I hadn't had much luck at all in finding the van I would be using to travel with. Nothing I was finding at the car market or in some of the flyers around town were getting me really excited. I found the van I bought from a search on line. It was going to be tight timing for me though since the earliest I could look at it was the morning I was supposed to leave to go North. I was either going to buy this van or have to rent a car to take my friends up with me. I had a really good feeling about this van from the beginning and when it pulled up that morning with the previous owners it turned out to be perfect. The former owners were a young German couple who had traveled for about six weeks in the North and South Island. They were very helpful with the van and all the required paper work was there for me to look at. The van itself is a cool little red Nissan Vennette. The year is a little old ('84) but the mileage on it was low and the engine ran smooth on the test drive. I was sold on it from the start and bought it for a decent price of $2700 NZ. I probably could have talked the cost down a little more since he agreed to the price pretty quickly but I am certain if I need to resell it all get within $500 of the price and it will be well worth to spend over two months in the van. The van is all set up for a backpacker with a bed in back and curtains for the windows. With a little help from my friends the van is named little ivan or ivan terra van. Ivan the Terra bus is the big 56 passenger bus we drove on the ice.

Since I now had my transportation taken care I headed out of town for a long 7 hour drive up to a town called Motueka and then on to the kayak trip the next day. With me for the trip was Jami and Audrey, also shuttle drivers, and two firefighter friends, Megan and Sean. We made a quick stop at the Antarctic office by the Airport to ship some things home and we were off. But not without a bit of trouble just outside of town. I was driving along for no more than a half hour out from the airport and people in the van are giving me compliments on how well I'm driving on the left side of the road and dealing with the turn abouts. Literally a minute later I look in the rearview mirror and I see flashing lights of a police car. That's right, it took me less than an hour of driving in New Zealand to get my first speeding ticket. Turns out I was still within the city limits of a little town and was going 62 in a 50. That's km/hr which means I was really only going 7 mph over the speed limit. I was hoping for a warning since I kindly explained I only bought the car an hour ago but to no avail.

The rest of the drive was a lot of fun with everyone really excited to be out of the city and into the countryside. We drove about half the length of the South Island to get up close to Abel Tasman National Park and it's amazing how quickly the landscape here changes. One hour your at sea level and the next your up in the mountain passes. It is such a beautiful country. I would definitely live here for the rest of my life if my family and friends weren't all back in the states.

After spending a night in Motueka we got up early and got some supplies for the kayak trip and made our way to the kayak rental place. At first I thought we didn't have a chance of fitting all the food we bought into the kayaks for a four night camping trip. We had tons of crap. Little did I know though is that the sea kayaks are basically like taking your car to a campground. It was car camping along the sea for the next 5 days and four nights. In all there were 10 of us on the trip and because of the flight delays we had to meet up with the rest of our group that had already started kayaking the day before. We went through a morning of training got into the water at about midday. At first it seemed like it was going to be a long day for me and Jami in out two person kayak since we couldn't stop going in circles in the damn thing. Turns out the reason why was because of the black flags on bamboo sticks Jami grabbed from the ice that we were to use as pirate flags on the boat. They were making my rudder get stuck and cause us to keep turning right. Once that was figured out I was ready to get on our way and get to out campsite for the night. Being lunchtime the rest of the group was hungry and there was this little cafe right next to the boat launch. So we are not even in the water for 30 minutes before we get out and have some food and beer. I can only imagine what the instructor thought of our group. She had to be worried about us.

Once we were refreshed we started kayaking. Unfortunately the weather wasn't quite with us and we were kayaking into a really strong wind. A trip to the campsite that usually will take a couple hours of strong kayaking took us a total of four to do. It was extremely exhausting and exceptionally beautiful at the same time. There are cliffs and small islands all around and these great sand beaches intermixed with the cliffs. When we got to the campsite in the early evening we were definitely happy to be on land again. We met up with the rest of our group and got camp set up for a splendid night underneath the starts. This was really the first night a bunch of us realized how amazing the night sky in New Zealand is outside of the cities. Just a spectacular amount of stars to be seen at night.

Over the next few days we camped, kayaked, played a bit of football, hiked, and tossed the frisbee around on the beach. It really was like living in a postcard. Each day of kayaking was hard since the weather was never with us. We were always kayaking into the wind. We also lost a day to a torrential downpour that started early one morning and didn't break until 8 in the evening. It was an awesome trip and the people I was with made it that much better. I didn't know half the group all that well but got to know them fast and I miss each and every one of the people I kayaked with.

Once done with the kayak trip I headed back the same route and made it once again to Christchurch for a night and to meet up with my parents who had just arrived the day before. It was great to see them and my sis and bro in law. We headed out to Wanaka, which is a mountain town with great skiing areas in the winter and a pretty central location in New Zealand. Mom and Dad put up some money to get us all a nice little house to stay at for four days and it was just the perfect little house for all of us. We took a couple trips outside of Wanaka while we there and another day when the weather forecast wasn't great just spent a lazy day around town. One of those day trips was a hike up the Rob Roy Glacier. We had to drive about 70 km out of town to Mt Aspiring National Park and I'm doing the driving and thinking it would be a short little hour or so drive. Not so much. Turns out 30 KM out of town the road turns to a dirt road and little ivan did not like this road much at all. The best we could do was about 20 km/hr or the thing was going to vibrate apart. So after a bit of a drive we got to the hike. The hike climbs a little and it was straight off going to be a challenge for my mom who hasn't done much hiking in the past. We hiked through the forest and up a good deal before arriving at the base of the mountain with the glacier towering overhead. As it is still fall hear the melt from it created a bunch of beautiful waterfalls cascading down the mountain. Again, just another beautiful place to be in New Zealand.

After Wanaka we headed back in the direction of Christchurch to lead up to hiking the Banks Peninsula. The Peninsula is an area that was once an island before being claimed by the mainland some thousands of years ago. The Peninsula is the result of a large volcano that shaped the area with a bunch of beautiful bays, mountains, and cliffs all around graze land. The land is all privately owned and the owners set up the trails and the huts to stay at each night. Only 12 people can hike in one direction at any given time. We had a total of 11 for out trip.5 of which was our group was 5. Randomly there was a couple from the ice who were on the hike, 2 people from Nepal, and a couple in they're 70's from New Zealand. All of them were really nice people. We also really lucked out with the weather for the whole 5 days. Virtually no rain the whole time and a mix of cloudy and sunny days. The first day of the hike isn't much of a day at all. We were picked up in the evening and driven to the start of the hike for a nights stay at one of the huts. At this particular place you have the option in staying in the house or out in these small two person stargazer huts. I chose the stargazer huts. They are super small and you have to crawl in them but they have a clear glass or plastic panel to them that allows you to look up at the stars while your in bed. It was a great experience. I only wish I could have stayed awake longer to stare some more at the starts. The first day of hiking on the banks is the toughest of the actual 4 days of walking. It climbs right from the start and doesn't stop until you reach the 670 m summit. This was going to be even harder for Mom since the trail is pretty steep from the start and doesn't let up. There is nothing gradual about the climb. We took our time and made it up to the peak as a group. Up at the top there is a great view of the surrounding area, the ocean, and the different bays. After a decent back to sea level we made it to the second night hut. Nothing special here but a nice place to stay at. In the morning we did a bit of sea kayaking and got to see a bunch of seals hanging around the bay we were in. We were in double kayaks and I got to kayak mom around a bit. She did much better than I thought she would even though she didn't seem to want to paddle much at all. The day of hiking to the third night was an easy one and Matt and I broke off from the rest of the group in order to try and secure us a good place to stay. The third night is at what they describe as hobbitville and there are a bunch of little cabins that house different numbers of people and we wanted to make sure we got the good ones. We made it to the little campground in good time and it was definitely the best camp spot of all the nights. There is a tree shower, and awesome swing, an outside bathtub heated with a wood fire. We got lucky and got the main cabin because the size of our group. The third day of hiking was the easiest yet and the hut at the end of the day was nice, but nothing like the night before. On the last day Matt and I once again took off from Mom, Dad, and Debbie in order to allow me to get out at a decent time. We ate up the trail and made 11 km steep hike and decent in 2 1/2 hours. Turns out there wasn't much of a hurry for me to get out and once again said goodbye to the parents and made my way out of town.

In general we ate great each night thanks to Deb and Matt's planning of the food and Matt's cooking. At night we would play cards and chat with the other members of our group. It was nice for my dad to have a group of people he could talk with. He was such a social butterfly the entire time. Once you get him talking it is impossible to get him to stop. He made good friends with the older Kiwi couple and I'm glad that both Mom and Dad had a great experience on the trip. It was great to see them and hang out with them for a little while. I think they had a wonderful time in New Zealand and I think now they know why I love this country so much.

So now I'm on my own. It's both exciting and a little bit sad at the same time. It has been a long time without someone I know well around to talk and hang out with. I know I'll get out and meet a bunch of new people and that is the exciting part. I'm scheduled to stay in New Zealand until May 16 now and will do as much hiking around in these next few months as I can fit in. I still can't believe how lucky and fortunate I am to be doing this. Life right now just can't seem to be better than this.

I have to figure out a better way to post photos or have a link to them but here are just a few from the last few weeks.