Christchurch Once Again

On Friday, November 28th I arrived in Christchurch for the third time on my travels. I alternated between sleeping in base hostel (the same one as the last time in cathedral square) and sleeping in the campervan parked in the car park by the huge botanic gardens which Christchurch is well known for. We just spent our time meeting up with friends and getting our plans together for the next coming weeks.

Zack and Mel have both gone home to Australia now, Kel has his own rental car and is going to continue traveling around for the next week or so until his flight to Australia where he will be traveling for a while, Kerrie is still in New Zealand somewhere but is heading to Fiji on December 12th I think, and I am here in Christchurch with Holly, Abby, Nikki, and Adam (a guy they met in the Cook Islands who will be traveling with us for a bit).

The girls had a trip planned for Fiji and Adam and I decided we would be stupid not to join in. The five of us are leaving for Fiji tomorrow (December 3rd) but only Abby, Nikki, and I will be there for Christmas I think. Adam and Holly are thinking they will be leaving earlier because of money/time restrictions. We don’t have a whole lot of plans for while we are there but I’m not worried. I’m sure it is going to be a great time and a great place to spend Christmas. I have already booked a flight from Nadi, Fiji to Sydney, Australia for December 30th so I will be in Sydney for New Years which should be a blast. I will try to keep people informed while I am away in Fiji but I really don’t know what it is going to be like. I don’t have many plans and the few that I have are always open to change so we’ll see what happens haha.

Hanmer Springs Day Trip

On November 28th we left Kaikoura on a day trip to Hanmer Springs, an area known for its many thermal springs or hot pools. We bought a day pass which allowed us to use the hot springs all day for as long as we wanted. They had something like a dozen different pools to choose from at many different temperatures ranging from 30 to 41 degrees Celsius. It was nice and relaxing but we had to leave after a few hours because it was already a nice sunny day and the thermal pools were making us dizzy haha. Good fun though. I would avoid the sulfur pools though, the smell of rotten egg seems to take away from the whole experience. After hanging out there for a while we made our way back to Christchurch again to stay for a few days.

Easy Going Kaikoura

On the morning of Wednesday, November 26th Mel, Jayne, and I came into Kaikoura. They dropped me off at my hostel called “The Lazy Shag” (which referred to a native bird and not the sleeping habits of its patrons) and they headed of to go for a guided swim with the dolphins. I decided to save my money and swim with the dolphins some other time. Instead I went for a 3 to 4 hour walk around the peninsula where I saw some New Zealand fur seals and some more amazing scenery. It was a beauty. Of course I forgot to bring my camera with me but I have many great mental pictures that I can hold on to.

The next day Abby, Nikki, and Holly arrived in their campervan and we spend the day together. We ate at a really great Thai restaurant for lunch and I had some kind of chicken and cashew stir fry which was amazing. We then made a random decision to go do some archery at a local farm. The girls wanted to do horseback riding but the weather wasn’t ideal for that so we chose archery instead. I wasn’t disappointed. It gave me a chance to show off my Rambo skills. Archery was great fun and it kept us busy for a good portion of the afternoon.

That night we headed out to one of the local bars in search of a happy hour but instead all we could find was one bar with a sign out front that said “Toss the Boss – Tonight from 6-8!”. Not knowing what we were in for we decided to check it out. It turns out the deal is that you can go to the bar and order and drink, pint, or pitcher you want, the bartender pours it, then flips a coin and you guess heads or tails. If you guess right then the drink, pint, or pitcher is on the house. If not, you just have to pay the regular price for that drink. We all had amazing luck at this place and Abby and I spend a combined total of $10 NZ that night (which was very good for the amount we consumed. Nikki was the only one having poor luck but eventually the bartender felt so bad that he just started giving her free drinks anyways haha. She was already beating herself up over her low scores in archery and when it seemed she couldn’t win a drink to save her life those free drinks from the bartender really perked her up. That night was a lot of fun and it gave us a chance to hang out with a lot of Kiwis (locals) who are surprisingly tough to find in New Zealand. It seems like 95% of the people in New Zealand are tourists. We stayed in the campervan in a car park right on the water that night and the Next day it was off to Hanmer Springs.

Back to Christchurch

On Tuesday, November 25th I arrived in Christchurch for the second time on my travels and said goodbye to my dependable little rental car. We then met up with Kerrie, Mel, and Jayne and had a few sociables at our hostel right in cathedral square before heading out on the town. It was a decent night and the next morning I made a random decision to hitch an early ride with Mel and Jayne to the relatively small fishing village of Kaikoura.

Our Attempt at Mt Cook

On Monday, November 24th Kel, Zack, and I made our way from Dunedin over to Mt Cook with Nikki, Holly, and Abby following us not far behind in the campervan. It was another great New Zealand drive until we got closer to Mt Cook and the weather turned to garbage. It started to pour rain with winds so strong I thought it was going to push the car off the road and it didn’t stop the entire time we were in Mt Cook village. The village itself consisted of no more then a lodge and a few cabins but nothing much else really so that night we just made use of the lodge’s sauna for an hour or so then watched a few Tom Hanks movies and passed out. The wind was so strong that night the girls said it rocked the campervan around so hard they were worried it was going to roll over.

With the weather still garbage in the morning and not much else to do, we decided to move on. About a half hour or so into the drive the weather cleared up and we got a chance to see some of the reason why people come to Mt Cook. The many mountain peaks and crystal blue waters were pretty cool. We took a few photos then continued on our way to Christchurch to say bye to Kerrie, Mel, and Jayne and return my rental car before we all parted ways.

Dunedin

On November 22nd, anxious to get out of Invercargill we set out in search of Dunedin. Dunedin is a cool city on the south east coast of the south island with a heavy student population and an overall population over 50,000 (which is big for New Zealand… only four cities on the south island have a population over 50,000.) We got to Dunedin at a decent hour and managed to find one of the nicest hostels to stay in that I have seen so far. It was very plush with a killer kitchen and a surround sound DVD player in the lounge area. It was also one of the least expensive hostels that we’ve stayed in so far which was an added bonus. We stayed in Dunedin for 3 days and 2 nights we liked it so much.

The first night we met up with Kerrie, Mel, and Jayne (who we met at the Franz Josef Glacier) who’s tour bus happened to be in Dunedin as well, and also Nikki, Holly, and Abby (the campervan girls) rolled into town. We all got together at our hostel and went out for a great night on the town. We went to a really cool nightclub called “10” that was located about 2 or 3 flights of stairs underground. It was much different than any club I had ever been to which was entertaining.

The next day after we all pieced ourselves together, we headed down to the beach and spent a good chunk of the day there. The girls buried me in the sand, we played Frisbee for a bit until the ocean swallowed it up forever, we went for a swim and messed around in the big waves… just had a classic day at the beach. We just took it easy that night and watched a movie, nothing too crazy. The next day it was off to Mt Cook.

Milford to Invercargill

Late Friday night on November 21st, Kel, Zack, and I rolled into the big city of Invercargill. Kerrie, Mel, and Jayne had gone back to Queenstown to return their rental car and jump back on their tour bus. This is when we realized we probably should have chosen a place to stay much earlier as it was already half past ten and most places had already locked their doors for the night. After driving around and checking almost every hostel in town we finally found a place to crash. The woman was still around luckily and had a few spare beds for us to lay out on. We just spent that night looking in amazement at our photos of Milford Sound and the drive from there to Invercargill. The drive was actually pretty cool and I’m glad that we did it a little later in the evening because we got to see New Zealand’s most southerly point right near sunset. We also visited an old light house which wasn’t quite the attraction Lonely Planet made it out to be and a fossilized forest down by the ocean that is apparently over 100 million years old. You could still see the fallen trees. We also saw a sea lion and a penguin there. Often in New Zealand I find the drives just as enjoyable as arriving at our destination.

Milford Sound

On the morning of November 20th, Kel, Zack, Kerrie, Mel, Jayne, and I left Queenstown headed for Milford Sound National Park. The three guys piled into my rental car and the three girls rented their own car for a couple of days. It was a beauty of a day for a drive so we stopped plenty of times to take pictures. The scenery was unbelievable. I was in awe for most of the trip and it just kept getting better the we got to Milford Sound. We stopped at one spot called Mirror Lake where the water was so clear you could spot a dime on the lake bottom I’m sure. Once we arrived in Milford we were pretty tired so we all just hung out in the lounge area and had a nice meal. It was one of the pricier places we stayed at around $30 NZ a night (big spenders I know).

Early the next morning we headed out on an hour and a half long cruise through the mountains (so early that we would have missed it if it wasn’t for the girls waking us up an hour before hand with breakfast ready to go). The landscape honestly looked like something out of Jurassic Park. I was almost expecting to see a T-Rex jump out from behind a mountain or something to chomp down on our boat. The ship wasn’t very big and there were maybe 30 people tops on board. We saw penguins, sea lions, and a few birds that I had never seen before. They also served unlimited amounts of free coffee and they gave us a big muffin too which helped start my day off right. The waters became quite rough once we got closer to the ocean and the waves were crashing right over the lower deck and the splash soaked the upper deck completely. We were loving it.

After the cruise we packed up our stuff and started heading out of the park. We stopped for a good 3 hour walk up a mountain right to the summit which was 919 m up. It was a great view or Lake Marian from up top and the walk itself was actually quite enjoyable. After that it was time to get moving though because it was already late afternoon and we had no idea where we were going to stay the night.

Back in Queenstown

Today is Monday November 17th and all six of us have safely made it back to Queenstown and are going to stay in the same holiday park where I stayed before.  It still kind of feels like home which is nice.  I think we will stay here for the next few days and squeeze in a couple day trips wherever we can.  Not really sure what my plans are for the nest little while but I am going to head down south so Stewart Island before I start making my way back up north again to head over to Australia.  I need to have a decent amount of money in my account in order to get into Australia without an onward ticket so I can't afford to send to much more but I am just having such a good time in New Zealand I am not ready to leave.  My rental car is due back in Christchurch tomorrow but I think I will just phone them up and extend it for another week or so and see if I can return it in Aukland instead of Christchurch.  Then I can easily see some of the north island on the way up and get a cheaper flight over to Australia when I am ready.  Who knows.  I don't seem to plan that far ahead.

My First Experience on a Glacier!

First thing in the morning on November 15th we left our hostel in Greymouth and began to make our way about 2 hours south down to the Franz Josef Glacier.  We arrived just in time to toss on hour gear and begin our 8 hour trek up the glacier.  This was a full out glacier trek and was actually quite physically demanding at times.  There was about 33 of us and they split us up into 3 groups of 11, each with a guide.  I of course chose the advanced group because I wanted to be a hero.  Even though the glacier looked so close it took us about an hour or so to make our way to the base of us.  

Once there we strapped on our crampons and because to make our way up the glaciers.  Our guide had to continuously chop steps out with his ice pick for us and the groups following which tended to slow us down a little but he said it was necessary because the glacier is constantly moving at a rate of about a meter a day so if they don't keep the path in decent condition it may not exist the next morning.  It was an amazing sight up there and the terrain was constantly changing.  At one point we would be walking across relatively smooth patches of ice with no problems at all, then we would be walking on a pointed ridge with deadly crevasses on either side of use (single file was key), then we would be heading up straight vertical steps with a rope, and other time we would be squeezing through caves barely big enough for me to fit through with my small day pack.  I got some great pictures and I will post them as soon as I can but who knows when that will be.  

Once we got off the glacier at about 5 at night were all exhausted and just found a hostel to stay in for the night.  Once we were all cleaned up we headed down to the local pub for three dollar pints and watched the All Blacks NZ rugby team play the English team.  It looked a lot more intense then the rugby I used to play in high school haha.  Then it was off to sleep in the campervan because we were getting up to head to Queenstown again in the morning.

The Campervan Convoy Begins!

One of the guys that I had met up with at the Paradiso had just recently come back from the Cook Islands where he met a group of three girls who were currently traveling New Zealand as well.  They decided to meet up with us for the night and we all hung out in the magic bus again and decided we should all travel down the west coast together.  They had giant campervan and I had my rental car so the next morning away we went.  

All six of us (three guys and three girls) decided to head down to Greymouth for the night.  Four of us traveled in the campervan while myself and another guy traveling in my rental car.  On the way to Greymouth we found one of New Zealand's largest swing bridges and decided to pull over.  Once there we noticed the had one of those famous jet boat rides that claimed to be 3 times better than any jet boat ride in Queenstown so we decided to jump one for a ride.  It was madness.  It lasted 45 minutes and he was ripping around the rough river waters like a man with a death wish.  We were honestly going at crazy speeds about a foot away from the rockface along the river and he would whip us around in a 180 or 270 spin about every couple minutes.  It was well worth the money and I was amazed to see that all seven of us were still in the boat when we returned to the dock.

Once in Greymouth we managed to find a decent hostel to stay in that night and just relaxed, watched a movie, enjoyed the free meat pies from the local bakery, and the free pool table as well.  The next day we were going to go on a rafting trip but missed our bus unfortunately but I was fine with it because I couldn't really of afforded it anyways.  

We decided to do a tour of the Monteith's Brewery instead.  It was well worth it in my mind.  For $25 they took us on a complete tour of the brewery then gave us a sample of all seven of the Monteith's selection.  This brewery supplies the Monteith's Black beer to all of New Zealand and a good portion of the Monteith's Golden beer as well.  The Monteith's Black may have been my favorite.  It contains all five of the malts used wheres the other only use a combination of two or three.  I know I'm not missing out on any malts with the Black.  After the beer tasting they opened up the taps for us for a half an hour or so and let us pour as many of our own beers as we wanted.  I attempted to complete a full circuit around the beer tap track but only made it about halfway unfortunately.  After that they bussed us off to the local bar where they served us dinner and let us party it up for a little while.  

We all went to bed at a relatively decent hour though because we had a big day planned that was going to start at five the next morning.

Abel Tasman

On November 12th, which was my second day at the Paradiso in Neslon, me and a couple others decided to go on a day trip over to Abel Tasman National Park and go for a walk.  A few others at the hostel had recommended it to us.  We got there a little late because of a few wrong turns and other delays but we were still able to get a decent four hour walk or so in before we had to head back to the hostel.  The beaches of Abel Tasman were amazing.  The treks through the bush were also a party for the eyes with waterfalls and a rainforest kind of feel all around.  It was definitely a worthwhile trip.  I actually wouldn't mind going back there for an over night trek.  Apparently you can do up to a 5 day trek through the park and I think it would be an amazing time.  Tones to see out there.  Maybe I'll get a chance to swing back there someday.

The Paradiso in Nelson

When leaving Christchurch on November 11th I met a local who said she needed a ride to Nelson to visit a friend.  I said I was going that way anyways and wouldn't mind some company so off we went.  It was another scenic drive and I took a few pictures which unfortunately I haven;t been able to upload yet.  It was a fairly long drive though so by the time I got to Nelson it was already about eight at night.  

Once in Nelson I whipped out my trusty accommodation book and found a place that was cheap and looked interesting.  As soon as I rolled into this hostel I knew it was the one for me.  Everybody seemed very friendly and almost like family to one another.  Luckily I was able to check in with no real problems and there was a pot of soup there ready for me to eat which was great because I was starving.  After about an hour I felt like I had known everybody there for days and we began to get into the 2 L bottles of beer and cider they sold at the bar down the street for $10.  This place had a pool, volleyball nets, tv rooms, hammocks, but the best part was the magic bus she had parked in the back behind the pool.  It was a giant green bus which all the normal bus seats cleared out and it had ben turned into kind of a big living room for everyone to hang out in.  This was good because it gave everyone a place to enjoy themselves without disturbing the other people who were trying to sleep.  I had such a great time that night and met so may people that I decided to stay an extra night.

Queenstown to Christchurch

On Monday November 10th the Salvation Army arrived at our cabin to clear out the rest of the remaining furniture and other good stuff.  Once the cabin was completely empty and my bag was packed I headed out to the highway and managed to find a ride to Cromwell which is about an hour and a bit north of Queenstown.  He was on his way to the hospital near Cromwell to get a DNA test.  Apparently he may have become a father for the fourth time.  After he dropped me off I soon found a ride with a South African guy who took me all the way to Christchurch.  There was tones of cool scenery along the way so we stopped to take many pictures.  We also stopped for some fish and chips at a little town somewhere along the way too which were pretty good.  

Once we arrived in Christchurch he took me to a hostel called Charlie B's where he had stayed recently and said it was pretty good.  We didn't get there until around eight at night so and I was exhausted so I just went for a little walk around town, nearly got lost, then went back to my room and passed out by around eleven at night.  Christchurch was full of gardens and interesting walkways but at the end of the day it was just a city and there are much better things to see in New Zealand at least in my opinion.  

The next day when I was checking out I saw that they had cars for rent at a reasonably cheap price.  I thought this would be a much easier way to travel so I decided to pick one up.  With my new found freedom I began to head North.

My First Bungy Experience!

On Saturday November 8th, 2008 I jumped off of a 134 meter platform barreling head first towards the canyon floor below and I survived.  I am glad the ropes and harnesses all seemed to work out just fine for me.  It was the thrill ride of my life.  

We left Queenstown at about noon in a large bus full of about two dozen jumpers.  They cranked the pump up music for the entire hour long ride to get to the bungy site in order to get us prepared (Daft Punk).  It helped.  Once we arrived it didn't take long for them to get us all harnessed in and before I knew it i was standing on the platform with a glass floor looking down at the river waaaay down below.  Once I was all strapped in they just told me to give a little wave to the camera then I took the leap of faith.  It felt like I was flying the entire time.  Once the initial scary factor was over I was able to really enjoy the free fall.  The initial free fall lasts for about eight and a half seconds but it felt like about one haha.  The bounce at the bottom was much more smooth then I had expected.  No jerking me around or anything it was all gravy.  After the first bounce you pull a cord on your leg and then you go from hanging from your ankles to hanging from your waist.  One girl was too scared to pull this cord after her jump and so she had to be pulled up the entire way hanging upside down.  I imagine this would have been a somewhat uncomfortable experience.  

I'm glad I got to experience this crazy thrill ride and I have a T-shirt, some photos, and a DVD to prove it.  I have already mailed the pictures and the DVD home to peterborough so they should be arriving in the next few weeks I would imagine.  Enjoy.

My First Post

So here I am in Queenstown, New Zealand. The flight over wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. We had a seven hour layover in LA so we though we would leave the airport for something to eat. After a bus ride, a few stops on the train, and a lot of walking, we couldn't find one place to eat except for a gas station. Clearly we were in the wrong part of LA. Somewhere near Inglewood I think. So long story short we ended up eating at the AppleBee's in the airport. It was my first time eating at an AppleBee's and it was actually pretty good so I guess it all worked out in the end. Once we arrived in Aukland, NZ we had to catch a connection over to Christchurch and then the same plane would take us to Queenstown. We didn't anticipate such a lengthy walk over from the international airport over to the domestic flights and we nearly missed our flight. We literally had to run the entire way with them whisking us to the front of each line and we were still the last ones on the plane. We made it on though which is all that matters. When we arrived in Queenstown Betty and her Swedish friend Annie were there to pick us up and take us back to the cabin where we are currently staying. Its a very cool spot to hang out. There were originally five of us crammed in here but now its down to three so we have plenty of room. So far we have climbed a mountain, wet our whistles at the many pubs, chilled on the beach, went to a vineyard and had some great wine, and I even went out for a round of frisbee golf the other day. I'm planning on climbing a few more mountains, playing some more frisbee golf, going kayaking, and hitting up the 130 meter bunji jump before I leave here and continue on my travels. Not sure how long it will take me to do all that but I am in no rush.