Sunday, November 20, 2011
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Admittedly, I'm a terrible blogger.
So it's safe to say that I, Mel, am the worst blogger out of the 5 of us. I don't believe I've updated the blog since January. Here-go's trying to recap the past couple of months (spoiler: I'm actually writing this from my uncle's house in Los Angeles).
Our grand, wild Australian adventure ended on a sad note because Christy and I had to bid farewell to our beloved other third, Megan. It's hard to part from someone who is within three feet of you at most times throughout the day. Shortly after our re-entry into NZ we were joined by Christy's 'special friend' Justin (had that one coming Dunbar). The three of us spent a wonderful couple days at Hang Dog (I won't elaborate, check older posts to do the place justice) where I fell even more in love with rock climbing and they got warmed up for their two and a half week rock climbing extravaganza around the South Island. ExtravagaNZa. What a fun word to type.
The three of us parted ways in Blenheim; located on the northeast tip of the South Island, it will probably be my first and only stab at unskilled manual labor. Australia seriously drained my already dwindling funds, so I decided to work in the Marlborough wine country while Christy and Justin went hitch hiking around for a couple weeks. I stayed at a backpackers hostel that linked us with local contractors in the area. Most of the work available was on the vineyards pruning and picking the grapes. The work was intense folks. We would wake up at 5:45am and be working by sunrise, and the days were long and hot. Although the work was physically draining, it was our treatment as workers that made the job so bad. The contractors and our managers would drive around in 4WDs and shout at us for not doing our jobs fast enough or well enough. We would get threatened to get fired most days when we got off work. It was very humbling to know that this is what some people do day in and day out year round.
I also became mildly socially retarted in Blenheim. The one friend I did have, Daniel, put it well "Yea, sometimes I wonder where you are and then remember, oh yea, she's just in her bunk watching movies...". I think this resulted from the personal space deficit I had been accumulating on the trip, and also from feeling lost without the other members of the WolfPack. I filled my non working hours riding my new best friend, little Anne on long rides out in the wine country, hiking around the hills, wandering around the city. I set up a video and a library account; I watched more movies and read more books in those 2 1/2 weeks than in the previous 6 months combined. It was fabulous. But BOY was I excited to see Christy and Justin when they came back.
Justin deserves his own paragraph. What a great guy. Here are my two favorite memories of him: Christy and I were in the ladies' loo for awhile one day, and when we came out she commeneted that Justin might be getting impatient. We look across the street and here comes Justin, blading enthusiastically across the street in the rollerblades I'd just bought at the Salvation Army. He then put on around a ten minute 'blade show that included him falling straight on his ass in oncoming traffic. The 16 year old gaggle of girls nearby loved it. A few days later we were in Tauranga with Danielle, and we noticed an orange construction cone on top of a fairly tall tree. The conversation transitioned to a new topic, and 5 minutes later Christy asked "Guys, where'd Justin go?" We look over to the tree, and he was swinging like a monkey from the branches, making his way to the top. I think some of you might enjoy hearing that all three of us slept in Connie for a couple nights, Mel Sandwich style.
Auckland. Out with the old, in with the new. I welcomed two members of the Estes clan on the morning I had to say goodbye to Christy and Justin. It was an unexpectedly soon goodbye, but we made it quick and easy (another spoiler, I will see her in 4 days). The Estes boys (Ben, my middle brother, and Brian, my dad) and I had a great time; my dad was here for a week and Ben for two. We started out in the Bay of Islands where we went kayaking and hiking, and stayed a few nights in Piha. We camped on the beach in Rarewa and checked out Cape Reinga and the sand dunes on 90 mile beach. The weather was fabulous and we were lucky enough to go swimming every single day. They were both overdue for a vacation and had a blast. I'll still try to get my dad to update the blog a la Scott Martin, but no promises. Another highlight of our trip was making a Happy Birthday video for Mike, the eldest Estes child; he turned 28 while we were here, so we put together some funny clips for him on Ben's Flip Camera he got for Christmas (they are great for documenting a trip). I will try to post the video on here at some point.
After we dropped Dad off at the Airport, we headed down to Tauranga so Ben and Danielle could be reunited (they hadn't seen eachother since high school) and then spent a few days in the Coromandel Peninsula, which was beautiful. The forecast was rainy in the Peninsula so we headed towards the Waitakere Scenic Reserve, which is west of Auckland. The three days we spent there turned out to be some of the best I had in New Zealand- there are over 250km of trails along cliffs, by rivers, in the bush, you name it. It was magnificent. Ben and I enjoyed filming another Birthday video for our dear friend Joel, a highlight being the scene where Ben attempts to blade a half pipe at a local skate park, to the great amusement of a couple 7 year old Kiwi kids.
Wheew that's all the blog I've got in me for the night. More to come.
Our grand, wild Australian adventure ended on a sad note because Christy and I had to bid farewell to our beloved other third, Megan. It's hard to part from someone who is within three feet of you at most times throughout the day. Shortly after our re-entry into NZ we were joined by Christy's 'special friend' Justin (had that one coming Dunbar). The three of us spent a wonderful couple days at Hang Dog (I won't elaborate, check older posts to do the place justice) where I fell even more in love with rock climbing and they got warmed up for their two and a half week rock climbing extravaganza around the South Island. ExtravagaNZa. What a fun word to type.
The three of us parted ways in Blenheim; located on the northeast tip of the South Island, it will probably be my first and only stab at unskilled manual labor. Australia seriously drained my already dwindling funds, so I decided to work in the Marlborough wine country while Christy and Justin went hitch hiking around for a couple weeks. I stayed at a backpackers hostel that linked us with local contractors in the area. Most of the work available was on the vineyards pruning and picking the grapes. The work was intense folks. We would wake up at 5:45am and be working by sunrise, and the days were long and hot. Although the work was physically draining, it was our treatment as workers that made the job so bad. The contractors and our managers would drive around in 4WDs and shout at us for not doing our jobs fast enough or well enough. We would get threatened to get fired most days when we got off work. It was very humbling to know that this is what some people do day in and day out year round.
I also became mildly socially retarted in Blenheim. The one friend I did have, Daniel, put it well "Yea, sometimes I wonder where you are and then remember, oh yea, she's just in her bunk watching movies...". I think this resulted from the personal space deficit I had been accumulating on the trip, and also from feeling lost without the other members of the WolfPack. I filled my non working hours riding my new best friend, little Anne on long rides out in the wine country, hiking around the hills, wandering around the city. I set up a video and a library account; I watched more movies and read more books in those 2 1/2 weeks than in the previous 6 months combined. It was fabulous. But BOY was I excited to see Christy and Justin when they came back.
Justin deserves his own paragraph. What a great guy. Here are my two favorite memories of him: Christy and I were in the ladies' loo for awhile one day, and when we came out she commeneted that Justin might be getting impatient. We look across the street and here comes Justin, blading enthusiastically across the street in the rollerblades I'd just bought at the Salvation Army. He then put on around a ten minute 'blade show that included him falling straight on his ass in oncoming traffic. The 16 year old gaggle of girls nearby loved it. A few days later we were in Tauranga with Danielle, and we noticed an orange construction cone on top of a fairly tall tree. The conversation transitioned to a new topic, and 5 minutes later Christy asked "Guys, where'd Justin go?" We look over to the tree, and he was swinging like a monkey from the branches, making his way to the top. I think some of you might enjoy hearing that all three of us slept in Connie for a couple nights, Mel Sandwich style.
Auckland. Out with the old, in with the new. I welcomed two members of the Estes clan on the morning I had to say goodbye to Christy and Justin. It was an unexpectedly soon goodbye, but we made it quick and easy (another spoiler, I will see her in 4 days). The Estes boys (Ben, my middle brother, and Brian, my dad) and I had a great time; my dad was here for a week and Ben for two. We started out in the Bay of Islands where we went kayaking and hiking, and stayed a few nights in Piha. We camped on the beach in Rarewa and checked out Cape Reinga and the sand dunes on 90 mile beach. The weather was fabulous and we were lucky enough to go swimming every single day. They were both overdue for a vacation and had a blast. I'll still try to get my dad to update the blog a la Scott Martin, but no promises. Another highlight of our trip was making a Happy Birthday video for Mike, the eldest Estes child; he turned 28 while we were here, so we put together some funny clips for him on Ben's Flip Camera he got for Christmas (they are great for documenting a trip). I will try to post the video on here at some point.
After we dropped Dad off at the Airport, we headed down to Tauranga so Ben and Danielle could be reunited (they hadn't seen eachother since high school) and then spent a few days in the Coromandel Peninsula, which was beautiful. The forecast was rainy in the Peninsula so we headed towards the Waitakere Scenic Reserve, which is west of Auckland. The three days we spent there turned out to be some of the best I had in New Zealand- there are over 250km of trails along cliffs, by rivers, in the bush, you name it. It was magnificent. Ben and I enjoyed filming another Birthday video for our dear friend Joel, a highlight being the scene where Ben attempts to blade a half pipe at a local skate park, to the great amusement of a couple 7 year old Kiwi kids.
Wheew that's all the blog I've got in me for the night. More to come.
Monday, March 15, 2010
So it just seems to be the way things go that none of the girls here ever know when they'll be
leaving until at least three weeks before hand. I may have set the record with 6 days. After an amazing trip hitchhiking around the South Island, Justin and I returned to Mel and Connie in Blenheim. To be able to put our backpacks in a car and then drive wherever we wanted was great fun after the past two and a half weeks.
I am so happy that Justin and I got a chance to hitch around the island. Hitchhiking is really common here so there isn't really the same stigma as at home. We never had too much trouble getting picked up- our record was when the person two cars behind the one that dropped us off picked us up. On a few occasions we had to wait an hour and a half maybe, but never more than that. I enjoyed the experience of talking with all the different drivers. There definitely isn't a specific type of person who usually picked us up. A few times we even had drivers who swore they never usually stopped for hitchhikers. It must be our roadside charm. Or the juggling.
After a short trip to Stewart Island and a wonderful reunion for me with Dunedin, (I love that city) Justin and I headed out to Purakanui for one last day of climbing. We were picked up by a lovely woman, Justine, and her daughter, Izzy. I sat in the back and talked with Iz, who has bright red ringlets and a maturity far beyond her 6 years, while Justin and Justine talked in the front seats. I'm not sure what the two of them discussed because I was absorbed in a serious story, complete with hand diagrams, about the neighborhood Izzy lived in. Justin managed to catch my attention and asked if we wanted to accept the offer to stay with Justine and Izzy in their spare bedroom. Hmmm... sleep in a bed in a warm house with amazing people, or haphazardly find a place to put up our tent... I'm in. The house was wonderful and we had a great time cooking dinner, playing on the trampoline with Izzy, meeting Blondie the pig, and talking with Justine after dinner. In fact, we loved it so much that we readily accepted the offer to stay another night.
In the middle of all this I was exchanging emails with potential employers for possible job offers for leading work crews in the backcountry. One starts in early April and the other in mid May. I decided that if I were going to come home then start a job where I would be even more isolated from contact with people than I am right now (and all of you thought I was hard enough to get ahold of already), I would want to spend some time at home first.
Our last day of hitchiking was a great accomplishment: Dunedin through Christchurch all the way to Blenheim. We even were picked up by a truck driver, something I thought was never going to happen. We then met up with Mel and caught the ferry to the North Island. We stayed with Danielle for a night (which was every bit as wonderful as she said. It was great to see where she's been living this whole time. We all really liked the family and are so happy for her) then drove off in the wee hours of the morning to pick up Mel's dad and brother from the Auckland airport.
So here I am. Justin flew to Australia this morning after a great month here. I now have a day and a half to enjoy myself in Auckland before I hop on a plane tomorrow night to fly home. TOMORROW NIGHT. What? Am I leaving this wonderful country tomorrow???
I guess that it feels right, though. I'm excited to be (hopefully) getting a job that I'm really passionate about. I could happily continue traveling for a lot longer... living out of a backpack, sleeping on my trusty Thermarest, brushing my teeth in public bathrooms every night- in fact I'm basically signing up for another 5-9 months of it if I get this job that I'm applying for. The main thing that I think I'm ready for is to have a purpose again. I think that I'm ready for some serious work after living such a carefree lifestyle. This trip has had a lot of different sections- traveling around with different combinations of the five original girls and all of our different visitors (Mt. Cook with the Egges, Hokitika to West Coast to Wanaka with my sister and the Martins, climbing tour with Justin), staying with all the WONDERFUL families who invited us into their homes, meeting up with other travelers from all over, and meeting Kiwis who showed us around.
It seems fitting to me that if I can't spend my last two days driving around with Lauren, Danielle, Megan, and Mel, then there's no way to do it other than by soaking up that last part of New Zealand by myself.
leaving until at least three weeks before hand. I may have set the record with 6 days. After an amazing trip hitchhiking around the South Island, Justin and I returned to Mel and Connie in Blenheim. To be able to put our backpacks in a car and then drive wherever we wanted was great fun after the past two and a half weeks.
I am so happy that Justin and I got a chance to hitch around the island. Hitchhiking is really common here so there isn't really the same stigma as at home. We never had too much trouble getting picked up- our record was when the person two cars behind the one that dropped us off picked us up. On a few occasions we had to wait an hour and a half maybe, but never more than that. I enjoyed the experience of talking with all the different drivers. There definitely isn't a specific type of person who usually picked us up. A few times we even had drivers who swore they never usually stopped for hitchhikers. It must be our roadside charm. Or the juggling.
After a short trip to Stewart Island and a wonderful reunion for me with Dunedin, (I love that city) Justin and I headed out to Purakanui for one last day of climbing. We were picked up by a lovely woman, Justine, and her daughter, Izzy. I sat in the back and talked with Iz, who has bright red ringlets and a maturity far beyond her 6 years, while Justin and Justine talked in the front seats. I'm not sure what the two of them discussed because I was absorbed in a serious story, complete with hand diagrams, about the neighborhood Izzy lived in. Justin managed to catch my attention and asked if we wanted to accept the offer to stay with Justine and Izzy in their spare bedroom. Hmmm... sleep in a bed in a warm house with amazing people, or haphazardly find a place to put up our tent... I'm in. The house was wonderful and we had a great time cooking dinner, playing on the trampoline with Izzy, meeting Blondie the pig, and talking with Justine after dinner. In fact, we loved it so much that we readily accepted the offer to stay another night.
In the middle of all this I was exchanging emails with potential employers for possible job offers for leading work crews in the backcountry. One starts in early April and the other in mid May. I decided that if I were going to come home then start a job where I would be even more isolated from contact with people than I am right now (and all of you thought I was hard enough to get ahold of already), I would want to spend some time at home first.
Our last day of hitchiking was a great accomplishment: Dunedin through Christchurch all the way to Blenheim. We even were picked up by a truck driver, something I thought was never going to happen. We then met up with Mel and caught the ferry to the North Island. We stayed with Danielle for a night (which was every bit as wonderful as she said. It was great to see where she's been living this whole time. We all really liked the family and are so happy for her) then drove off in the wee hours of the morning to pick up Mel's dad and brother from the Auckland airport.
So here I am. Justin flew to Australia this morning after a great month here. I now have a day and a half to enjoy myself in Auckland before I hop on a plane tomorrow night to fly home. TOMORROW NIGHT. What? Am I leaving this wonderful country tomorrow???
I guess that it feels right, though. I'm excited to be (hopefully) getting a job that I'm really passionate about. I could happily continue traveling for a lot longer... living out of a backpack, sleeping on my trusty Thermarest, brushing my teeth in public bathrooms every night- in fact I'm basically signing up for another 5-9 months of it if I get this job that I'm applying for. The main thing that I think I'm ready for is to have a purpose again. I think that I'm ready for some serious work after living such a carefree lifestyle. This trip has had a lot of different sections- traveling around with different combinations of the five original girls and all of our different visitors (Mt. Cook with the Egges, Hokitika to West Coast to Wanaka with my sister and the Martins, climbing tour with Justin), staying with all the WONDERFUL families who invited us into their homes, meeting up with other travelers from all over, and meeting Kiwis who showed us around.
It seems fitting to me that if I can't spend my last two days driving around with Lauren, Danielle, Megan, and Mel, then there's no way to do it other than by soaking up that last part of New Zealand by myself.
Yesterday, as i was dutifully folding sweatshirts at Rip Curl (I go corporate a couple times a week) I got fully attacked. Mel had run screaming through the store, throwing me into an incredible hug and spinning me around only to face the dear Christy Dunbar, followed closely by good ol Justin. Hug after hug ensued, all while i was trying to not cry.. ha.. And although Mel pulled back to do her usual check over... "I think your hair may be blonder... it does look like you've seen sun... are your knees more scraped than usual? what's these bruises?".. within five minutes i've forgotten that i've been separated from them for so long.
it really was pretty exciting. i got to see connie, which is like seeing home. she looks great. the girls have done well. and you know the feeling when you are just so happy that standing still is really NOT an option, but you must kind of keep fidgeting like you have this HUGE secret that you can't tell anyone... but really it's just that you're so freakin STOKED that even your heart is beating kind of funny? yeah. that's about how i felt. to have these three kids come into my world... my Mount Maunganui world, where i've spent the past three months working and surfing and kind of alone... was pretty epic.
christy and mel are both beautiful and doing wonderfully... Christy heads home tomorrow (she may post about that later... say her good byes...) and Mel is now about to go on an adventure with her dad and brother, after which she will return to me.
they dropped off a lil vintage blue road bike for me. i found a couple bright plastic flowers and they are now hangin out on the handle bars. i took the ocean road to the surf shop today, which means that almost my entire bike ride to work i can watch the waves. it's a hard life these kiwis live.. :)
it really was pretty exciting. i got to see connie, which is like seeing home. she looks great. the girls have done well. and you know the feeling when you are just so happy that standing still is really NOT an option, but you must kind of keep fidgeting like you have this HUGE secret that you can't tell anyone... but really it's just that you're so freakin STOKED that even your heart is beating kind of funny? yeah. that's about how i felt. to have these three kids come into my world... my Mount Maunganui world, where i've spent the past three months working and surfing and kind of alone... was pretty epic.
christy and mel are both beautiful and doing wonderfully... Christy heads home tomorrow (she may post about that later... say her good byes...) and Mel is now about to go on an adventure with her dad and brother, after which she will return to me.
they dropped off a lil vintage blue road bike for me. i found a couple bright plastic flowers and they are now hangin out on the handle bars. i took the ocean road to the surf shop today, which means that almost my entire bike ride to work i can watch the waves. it's a hard life these kiwis live.. :)
Friday, March 5, 2010
Oh no.
Looks like we're a little behind on blogging. I guess there's probably a lot to catch up on. Because I'm working on a time and money budget from one of the expensive internet cafes that can't be avoided in New Zealand, I'll just give a short update on my most recent events:
After a VERY sad goodbye to Megan at the Sydney airport, Mel and I returned Steve, the slightly beloved rental car and hopped on a plane to return to NZ. It's funny how I view flying after this type of traveling. Plane flights are always exciting, but usually a little bit of a pain. You're kinda cramped and would rather be cooking your own food than eating the stuff they serve. Not anymore. The idea of sitting on a plane and watching free movies and getting (what seem like) free meals is luxury to us. Mel and I were pretty excited.
I'm not sure what we did for the frist three days we were in Christchurch... I think it involved a lot of internet time searching for jobs and other chores like that. Either way, before we knew it, the morning of the 18th came and it was time to go pick Justin up from the airport. Justin did a pretty good job of immediately fitting into our lifestyles here. I think he genuinely considered Mel's offer to let him drive away from the airport on our way to Takaka.
We arrived in Takaka, home of one of our favorite climbing spots on the South Island, Paynes Ford, and one of our favorite camping spots, Hang Dog. Hang Dog is an amazing place, all the climbing you could ever want to do is a short walk from the campsite, there are two AMAZING swimming holes on the way back to camp from the climbing. The first swimming spot has multiple rope swings, rocks to jump from, and a couple of climbing routes that you can do over the water without a rope. Heaven. The second has more jumping spots, wonderful rocks to lounge out on, and a slackline set up over the water. Heaven, once again. The campsite has loads of friendly people, more slacklines, a bonfire at night, and a few potlucks thrown in here and there. From camp you can borrow one of the bikes and ride into town. Bike riding is one of the main things all of us miss from home, it feels really good to get on a bike and cruise into town with the paddocks behind you and the gorgeous mountains in the distance. In town there are GREAT cafes and restaurants to visit. Pastries to eat, coffee to drink. We were at Paynes for six days, I think. We managed to climb ourselves silly while still making time for all of the other goodies the place has to offer. Being there feels similar to being on a cruise ship or a Club Med vacation. You wake up in the morning with no responsibilities or obligations but somehow feel like you have a lot of things to do. It's hard to fit in all the climbing, biking, swimming, eating, and laughing in just six days.
So the wonder team (Mel, Justin, and myself) left Hang Dog and headed to Nelson, our point of separation. When we reached the highway, Mel and Connie headed east to go find a job working at a winery. Justin and I found ourselves on the side of the road hitching rides west to Greymouth for the night. Hitchhiking in New Zealand is wonderful. The people who pick us up have been, without exception, great. We've had some great conversations with Kiwis, travelers, and quite a few people who have moved here from other countries. We usually don't have to wait very long for a ride, although there have been a few times that have taken close to an hour. Justin and I manage to entertain ourselves fairly well, we do a lot of laughing, singing, dancing, and recently we've been working on our juggling skills. We try to keep all of that to a minimum when there are cars in sight, somehow I feel like people will be less inclined to pick us up if we look like we're trying out for the circus. Maybe I'm wrong though.
From Greymouth we headed out to Castle Hill, a famous bouldering spot in the mountains between Christchurch and the west coast. It was beautiful, absolutely magnificent. Bouldering (climbing shorter distances without ropes) isn't really my thing so I mainly spent my time there walking around or reading. You could probably lose yourself in the scenery for weeks on end if given the chance.
After a VERY sad goodbye to Megan at the Sydney airport, Mel and I returned Steve, the slightly beloved rental car and hopped on a plane to return to NZ. It's funny how I view flying after this type of traveling. Plane flights are always exciting, but usually a little bit of a pain. You're kinda cramped and would rather be cooking your own food than eating the stuff they serve. Not anymore. The idea of sitting on a plane and watching free movies and getting (what seem like) free meals is luxury to us. Mel and I were pretty excited.
I'm not sure what we did for the frist three days we were in Christchurch... I think it involved a lot of internet time searching for jobs and other chores like that. Either way, before we knew it, the morning of the 18th came and it was time to go pick Justin up from the airport. Justin did a pretty good job of immediately fitting into our lifestyles here. I think he genuinely considered Mel's offer to let him drive away from the airport on our way to Takaka.
We arrived in Takaka, home of one of our favorite climbing spots on the South Island, Paynes Ford, and one of our favorite camping spots, Hang Dog. Hang Dog is an amazing place, all the climbing you could ever want to do is a short walk from the campsite, there are two AMAZING swimming holes on the way back to camp from the climbing. The first swimming spot has multiple rope swings, rocks to jump from, and a couple of climbing routes that you can do over the water without a rope. Heaven. The second has more jumping spots, wonderful rocks to lounge out on, and a slackline set up over the water. Heaven, once again. The campsite has loads of friendly people, more slacklines, a bonfire at night, and a few potlucks thrown in here and there. From camp you can borrow one of the bikes and ride into town. Bike riding is one of the main things all of us miss from home, it feels really good to get on a bike and cruise into town with the paddocks behind you and the gorgeous mountains in the distance. In town there are GREAT cafes and restaurants to visit. Pastries to eat, coffee to drink. We were at Paynes for six days, I think. We managed to climb ourselves silly while still making time for all of the other goodies the place has to offer. Being there feels similar to being on a cruise ship or a Club Med vacation. You wake up in the morning with no responsibilities or obligations but somehow feel like you have a lot of things to do. It's hard to fit in all the climbing, biking, swimming, eating, and laughing in just six days.
So the wonder team (Mel, Justin, and myself) left Hang Dog and headed to Nelson, our point of separation. When we reached the highway, Mel and Connie headed east to go find a job working at a winery. Justin and I found ourselves on the side of the road hitching rides west to Greymouth for the night. Hitchhiking in New Zealand is wonderful. The people who pick us up have been, without exception, great. We've had some great conversations with Kiwis, travelers, and quite a few people who have moved here from other countries. We usually don't have to wait very long for a ride, although there have been a few times that have taken close to an hour. Justin and I manage to entertain ourselves fairly well, we do a lot of laughing, singing, dancing, and recently we've been working on our juggling skills. We try to keep all of that to a minimum when there are cars in sight, somehow I feel like people will be less inclined to pick us up if we look like we're trying out for the circus. Maybe I'm wrong though.
From Greymouth we headed out to Castle Hill, a famous bouldering spot in the mountains between Christchurch and the west coast. It was beautiful, absolutely magnificent. Bouldering (climbing shorter distances without ropes) isn't really my thing so I mainly spent my time there walking around or reading. You could probably lose yourself in the scenery for weeks on end if given the chance.
Camping near Castle Hill is pretty similar to Hang Dog. I think the same people visit the two, it's just a matter of who you catch in which spot. There is a slackline set up, communal areas to cook in, and a great community of people who gather around in communal areas after the long hard day of climbing is over. Instead of swimming holes there is the famous cave stream, a quarter mile or so of cave that's been dug out by a stream (go figure). We went through there with a group of 10 or so people from the Craigieburn campground. Our group looked like you would probably imagine a bunch of climbers to, barefeet, Chacos, old running shoes, old shorts, and a few shirtless guys. There were other groups there who came with guiding companies outfitted to the max: gaiters, waterproof clothing, hiking boots, helmets. Definitely a funny comparison.
Ok it's my turn to shower, so I'll let Justin finish the rest of this description:
Now that I've completely wrecked this poor hostel's bathroom shaving, cleaning underwear and washing grass from our toiletries, I hear it's my turn to guest post on the blog.
Let's see. Craigieburn was phenomenal, but completely in the boonies. About 50km from the nearest town in either direction, Christy and I had to be smart about the groceries and fuel we brought there. We weren't. By day two we were downing handfuls of dry muesli and currents, making lentils with carrots (very orange) for dinner and when we ran out of fuel, cheese sandwiches.
The climbing at Castle Hill is bizarre. Famous for mantels, stems and the other bodily contortions its boulder problems require, I came to question - as I gruntingly shimmied my way on top a rock I might have jumped onto with a running start - whether what I was doing could really be called a sport. How could I justify this ridiculous stone lovemaking to an outsider? With me existentially troubled and scraped all over my torso, Christy out of the action because she prefers sport climbing to bouldering and both of us tired of eating like livestock, we decided to hit the road.
Retracing our steps through Arthur's pass out to (oh my god I'm horrible with indiginous names) Hokitika we continued to enjoy the wonderful weather. A cream cheese and apricot sauce pizza at Hokitika's Fat Pipi's had us both acting like we'd just returned from a desert island. It was, by any standard, a delicious pizza and the place has received a ton of rave reviews. Christy and I recommended it for days, "Oh your headed to Christchurch? Well let me tell you about this little pizza place just 350km out of your way."
After a great night camping with a British couple who fed us ginger beer and spoke of their travels as scuba dive guides, currently married and with two cute girls, we made our way along the sand-fly infested west coast inchingly. Stuck in Franz Joseph for maybe the longest time yet Christy caught up on the cell phone and I juggled roadside rocks for potential rides finally charming a couple of German girls into picking us up and driving all the way to Wanaka.
Our first night in Wanaka we were luckily directed to a "free" campsite by a local (if Christy has told you it was free she has since eaten her words - more on this in a bit) where we left our tent and packs the next day a trip out the hospital flats crag. Alas, here our weather luck runs out. The first Wanaka rain in nearly two months sent Christy back into town and me on a suicidal hike up Mount Roy. Christy had warned me that the hike was miserable, but with cold almost sleeting rain, Chacos on my feet, no rain jacket and nothing to eat, I've since had to make room for Mount Roy in my top ten most miserable outdoor experiences - congratulations Mount Roy. After spending too much time sandaled and among the sandflies and completing this hike we thought my feet picture worthy:
I was reminded of my father's medical magazines which always saved the juiciest skin disease for the cover and found their way to the kitchen counter where they could be conveniently contemplated before a meal.
The next day and every day since we have made it to the hospital flats area and done some fantastic climbing each of us notching some personal records (Christy's first 20, holla! almost my first 26). The weather has been great and we've had time to enjoy the town - a movie at Cinema Paradiso, burger at Red Star, food and coffee at the cafes. Two angry visits from the park ranger later we're on the lam and continuing south.
Alright, back to Christy now. So it appears we've been surviving the sand flies, park rangers, various weather patterns, and, maybe most impressively, each other. Justin has had to dodge more than one fireball from me trying to light his temperamental stove, we're all hoping he survives the rest of the trip. We've been having a great time traveling though. Nightly dancing while brushing our teeth, taking turns using the broken spoon, attempting to fend off the crazy possums that eat all of our food, and the hilarious trips we take around the grocery store with a shopping cart filled with our backpacks (climbing gear, sleeping bags and pads, cooking stuff, tent, hiking shoes, running shoes, and climbing shoes, etc. take up A LOT of room) and other stuff have all become habit. I'll try to get in another update soon.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Where to start. Here I am, three and a half months into the New Zealand traveling experience, sitting in an internet cafe in glorious Sydney, Australia. The girls and I are really enjoying our Aussie vacation. Sydney is wonderful and has really shown us her good side. The weather here hasn't been quite as accommodating, but I have to admit that it feels really nice to walk around in shorts and a tank top at 10 pm. If there's a place in New Zealand where you can do that, I haven't been there yet, or at least not at the right time of year. We had a wonderful time with the Hartley brothers, and were very sad to see them leave. I think we all feel pretty confident that we'll somehow manage to meet up again- we've done a spectacular job so far... Those poor boys are going to wake up one morning to our eagerly smiling faces at their doorstep.
Megan's portrayal of how out nights are going is, unfortunately, accurate... if not an understatement. It's confusing how we are continuing to function throughout the day on the small amount of sleep that we're getting. Actually, based on the disoriented call home I made a few days ago, my mother might tell you that my circuits are a little screwed.
Maybe the three of us are still going off the amazing sleep we banked while staying at the house of a family friends of mine. The Nichols, Allan and Sweet Bronnie, were absolutely incredible. Somehow they thought it was a good idea to let me talk them into inviting five of us stay with them- myself, the two girls, and our darling friends George and Jack (who somehow we managed to talk into stopping in Australia on their way home to England). We made it in time for a going away party for their son Phillip and his partner Georgia's traveling extravaganza and were able to shmoose it up with family members and friends for the night. Bronwin's parents stole the show and charmed all five of us. The next day we were off, following Allan's lead, to the reptile park where we were able to see all the reptilian, avian, and mamallian sights Australia has to offer. Somehow the poor Nichols were tricked into having all five of us stay, once again, for the next night. George was horrified that we were overstaying our welcome, I'm sure. We all had a genuinely wonderful time talking around the table at dinner that night, followed by some good old fashioned televised tennis and cricket. Turns out Melanie and I are absolutely no good at watching, or understanding any of the rules of, cricket. Megan had the good sense to fall asleep early on the couch. I've had quite a few people make comments to me about being a typical American and not knowing the rules of REAL sports, like cricket or rugby. I assure them that my ignorance of those sports has nothing to do with my nationality because even after all the Super Bowl parties, high school sporting events, and football games I've watched with my family, I still have only a slight understanding of what's happening in football... and even that is pretty limited to the knowledge that there are four quarters in a game and 7 points in a touchdown. Actually I have a confession: after typing that I looked at Megan to confirm that there were in fact, four quarters and 7 points to a touchdown. She responded that there are for sure four quarters, but shrugged her shoulders in a "your best guess is as good as mine" regarding the touchdown system. I'm not even sure if America will let us back in the gates if word gets out, that's probably grounds for removal of citizenship.
Whether they were impressed with our sports knowledge or not, the Nichols really showed us a wonderful time. We delighted in bird watching from their kitchen, being part of the traditional weekend trivia quiz, the AMAZING food we were given (they even bought gluten free bread for Mel!), and in general being accepted into their family for a few days. I think the five of us were all just a breath away from calling them Mom and Dad by the time we left. So thank you, Dear Allan and Sweet Bronnie. If nothing else, thank you for providing us the only showers (other than at the beach) the girls and I were able to take until the public pool today... yes, it's been 7 days. Probably for the best that they got to see us at the beginning of the trip rather than the end.
On that note, Meg, Mel, and I are every second slipping further into the homeless life. We thought we had hit rock bottom at the beginning of our adventure through OZ: Megan and I were struggling through the city with a backpack each and jointly carrying another cumbersome bag. Megan, in a flash of genius, commented that what we could really use was a shopping cart to help us. I marveled at her ingenuity. That was just the beginning. Later, the three of us wistfully admired an exceptionally posh homeless camp that George showed us. Today at the rugby match we watched the game from outside the black bars lining the stadium. After months of washing dishes in drinking fountains, showering wherever running water can be found (this week we delighted in a spigot we found at a local park), and camping on the side of the road (we haven't paid for camping once in Australia), you really come to adjust to things. Today were asked by a security guard to move from our lunch spot: the floor of a parking garage.
The standard that has been set for a "good night's sleep" is ridiculous. Our rented Ford Falcon (dubbed FalConnie by George and Jack, but endearingly referred to as Steve by the three of us) has the same layout as Connie. Every night we fold the seats down and voila: bedroom in the backseat. I sleep every night on my orange backpacking Thermarest that was only long enough for me when I started using it at the age of 6. The nights that I have spent in previous years' backpacking trips lying awake cursing that thing are now long gone. Even crunched in the back of a station wagon sleeping like vampires, (all three of us with our arms crossed over our chests because there isn't enough shoulder room for three people) I awake feeling as satisfied as I would in my wonderful bed at home. It's amazing what you can adapt to.
So we're off to Melbourne now. The girls' birthdays, Feb 10th for Mel and 11th for Megan, will be celebrated at a Jens Lekman concert were attending. We'll see the opening ceremonies for the Olympics from somewhere in Australia, then Mel and I will head back to New Zealand for another leg of our trip. I have a very exciting visitor coming on the 18th of February, and near mid March Mel and I are thinking about heading up to the North Island where Danielle. We plan to get jobs (kiwi packaging plant?) to save money for a potential trip to SE Asia the month before we return home. It will be very sad to be doing all of these things without Megan and Lauren. I guess we'll just have to wait until our next grand adventure to all be reunited. Maybe a road trip around America this fall? I'm halfway convinced to pay whatever is necessary to ship Connie back to the States when I go. We all adore that little car.
Megan's portrayal of how out nights are going is, unfortunately, accurate... if not an understatement. It's confusing how we are continuing to function throughout the day on the small amount of sleep that we're getting. Actually, based on the disoriented call home I made a few days ago, my mother might tell you that my circuits are a little screwed.
Maybe the three of us are still going off the amazing sleep we banked while staying at the house of a family friends of mine. The Nichols, Allan and Sweet Bronnie, were absolutely incredible. Somehow they thought it was a good idea to let me talk them into inviting five of us stay with them- myself, the two girls, and our darling friends George and Jack (who somehow we managed to talk into stopping in Australia on their way home to England). We made it in time for a going away party for their son Phillip and his partner Georgia's traveling extravaganza and were able to shmoose it up with family members and friends for the night. Bronwin's parents stole the show and charmed all five of us. The next day we were off, following Allan's lead, to the reptile park where we were able to see all the reptilian, avian, and mamallian sights Australia has to offer. Somehow the poor Nichols were tricked into having all five of us stay, once again, for the next night. George was horrified that we were overstaying our welcome, I'm sure. We all had a genuinely wonderful time talking around the table at dinner that night, followed by some good old fashioned televised tennis and cricket. Turns out Melanie and I are absolutely no good at watching, or understanding any of the rules of, cricket. Megan had the good sense to fall asleep early on the couch. I've had quite a few people make comments to me about being a typical American and not knowing the rules of REAL sports, like cricket or rugby. I assure them that my ignorance of those sports has nothing to do with my nationality because even after all the Super Bowl parties, high school sporting events, and football games I've watched with my family, I still have only a slight understanding of what's happening in football... and even that is pretty limited to the knowledge that there are four quarters in a game and 7 points in a touchdown. Actually I have a confession: after typing that I looked at Megan to confirm that there were in fact, four quarters and 7 points to a touchdown. She responded that there are for sure four quarters, but shrugged her shoulders in a "your best guess is as good as mine" regarding the touchdown system. I'm not even sure if America will let us back in the gates if word gets out, that's probably grounds for removal of citizenship.
Whether they were impressed with our sports knowledge or not, the Nichols really showed us a wonderful time. We delighted in bird watching from their kitchen, being part of the traditional weekend trivia quiz, the AMAZING food we were given (they even bought gluten free bread for Mel!), and in general being accepted into their family for a few days. I think the five of us were all just a breath away from calling them Mom and Dad by the time we left. So thank you, Dear Allan and Sweet Bronnie. If nothing else, thank you for providing us the only showers (other than at the beach) the girls and I were able to take until the public pool today... yes, it's been 7 days. Probably for the best that they got to see us at the beginning of the trip rather than the end.
On that note, Meg, Mel, and I are every second slipping further into the homeless life. We thought we had hit rock bottom at the beginning of our adventure through OZ: Megan and I were struggling through the city with a backpack each and jointly carrying another cumbersome bag. Megan, in a flash of genius, commented that what we could really use was a shopping cart to help us. I marveled at her ingenuity. That was just the beginning. Later, the three of us wistfully admired an exceptionally posh homeless camp that George showed us. Today at the rugby match we watched the game from outside the black bars lining the stadium. After months of washing dishes in drinking fountains, showering wherever running water can be found (this week we delighted in a spigot we found at a local park), and camping on the side of the road (we haven't paid for camping once in Australia), you really come to adjust to things. Today were asked by a security guard to move from our lunch spot: the floor of a parking garage.
The standard that has been set for a "good night's sleep" is ridiculous. Our rented Ford Falcon (dubbed FalConnie by George and Jack, but endearingly referred to as Steve by the three of us) has the same layout as Connie. Every night we fold the seats down and voila: bedroom in the backseat. I sleep every night on my orange backpacking Thermarest that was only long enough for me when I started using it at the age of 6. The nights that I have spent in previous years' backpacking trips lying awake cursing that thing are now long gone. Even crunched in the back of a station wagon sleeping like vampires, (all three of us with our arms crossed over our chests because there isn't enough shoulder room for three people) I awake feeling as satisfied as I would in my wonderful bed at home. It's amazing what you can adapt to.
So we're off to Melbourne now. The girls' birthdays, Feb 10th for Mel and 11th for Megan, will be celebrated at a Jens Lekman concert were attending. We'll see the opening ceremonies for the Olympics from somewhere in Australia, then Mel and I will head back to New Zealand for another leg of our trip. I have a very exciting visitor coming on the 18th of February, and near mid March Mel and I are thinking about heading up to the North Island where Danielle. We plan to get jobs (kiwi packaging plant?) to save money for a potential trip to SE Asia the month before we return home. It will be very sad to be doing all of these things without Megan and Lauren. I guess we'll just have to wait until our next grand adventure to all be reunited. Maybe a road trip around America this fall? I'm halfway convinced to pay whatever is necessary to ship Connie back to the States when I go. We all adore that little car.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Oz
We arrived in Byron Bay last night after an 8 hour drive up the coast, which included multiple kangaroo sightings and some awesome hitch hikers we became friends with. They are from Sydney (which we've fallen in love with), so when we go back in a week they have us all set up to stay at their house and go to their favorite restuarants, cafes, and bookshops. They also have a friend living in Seattle right now, so I'm excited to meet up with her when I get home. For those who don't know, this is coming much sooner than I'd thought, and I'll be back in your parts on the 15th of this month.
We dropped the boys (George and Jack) off at a train station yesterday, and they are heading home to England today. We spent a glorious five days with them here and are so glad we got this many chances to travel with them. A highlight was going to the Reptile Park, where we hugged kangaroos and pet koalas and anacondas. We even payed the 15 bucks to get our picture taken with a koala. Totally worth it. We also spent an entire afternoon at the beach, swimming in the warm water and burning our little butts to a crisp. By some miracle the two gingers barely burned at all, and us bronzed Americans got scorched.
As we got into Byron Bay last night, we drove up to the parking lot on the beach to a mystical sight of gentle waves lit up by the dropping sun, loads of surfers lined up for perfectly peeling waves, and drum beats drifting up from the rocks. Not to mention the abundance of babes lounging and wandering about. The air was warm and muggy, not much like New Zealand at all, and we sat watching the scene, quickly allowing ourselves to be sucked into it. We decided after a few minutes that we could stay here at least a week...we might have to rearrange our plans.
It still feels good to be on the road, believe it or not, letting the wind or the weather or an odd looking coin determine our direction. Our path is unkown, and this gives us joy. To think that my life on the road is coming to an end - my five month camping jaunt is about to become nostalgia instead of reality - is a complex thing to process. At times like this, I really feel like I could travel forever. Not to say that I'm not excited about getting home.. it actually feels like exactly the right place for me to be, and I have no hesitations about heading back. It will be nice to have a bed and a bit of stability. This was especially clear after our horrible nights sleep last night...
The heat and the humidity really got to us sleeping in the car. If we rolled down the windows, the mosquitos would sneak in, or an unexpected downpour would rain down out of nowhere. So we were stuck with each others' smelly, sweaty bodies, not appreciating the body heat of spooning in the slightest. At some point in the night, our unwanted company did sneak in, and it turned out that we only got a couple hours of sleep at most. Instead, we talked sporadically, knowing our companions were wide awake at any given point, and thrashed our hands around in the air every couple minutes to get the mosquitos away from our faces. It was the sort of thing where I'd just be drifting off to sleep, when I'd hear Christy's sleeping bag rustling around and her hands frantically slapping at the open air, out for death, or blood, or revenge, or all of the above.
The mosquitos are huge here - easily the size of my thumbnail - and filled with a frightening amount of blood. It was a satisfying moment, after I'd been chasing one of em around the car with my headlamp, to slap it against the back window and get instant silence from that incessant high pitched buzzing. I held my hand out to the girls, so they could see the nasty bugger and the thieved blood across my hand. If anyone has seen the youtube video of the kid yelling blood, it went a little like that. SLAP ... BLOOOOOD.
We are feeling quite ambitious at the moment, and are trying to make it up to the Great Barrier Reef AND down to Melbourne. Nobody thinks we can do it, but we are determined.
We dropped the boys (George and Jack) off at a train station yesterday, and they are heading home to England today. We spent a glorious five days with them here and are so glad we got this many chances to travel with them. A highlight was going to the Reptile Park, where we hugged kangaroos and pet koalas and anacondas. We even payed the 15 bucks to get our picture taken with a koala. Totally worth it. We also spent an entire afternoon at the beach, swimming in the warm water and burning our little butts to a crisp. By some miracle the two gingers barely burned at all, and us bronzed Americans got scorched.
As we got into Byron Bay last night, we drove up to the parking lot on the beach to a mystical sight of gentle waves lit up by the dropping sun, loads of surfers lined up for perfectly peeling waves, and drum beats drifting up from the rocks. Not to mention the abundance of babes lounging and wandering about. The air was warm and muggy, not much like New Zealand at all, and we sat watching the scene, quickly allowing ourselves to be sucked into it. We decided after a few minutes that we could stay here at least a week...we might have to rearrange our plans.
It still feels good to be on the road, believe it or not, letting the wind or the weather or an odd looking coin determine our direction. Our path is unkown, and this gives us joy. To think that my life on the road is coming to an end - my five month camping jaunt is about to become nostalgia instead of reality - is a complex thing to process. At times like this, I really feel like I could travel forever. Not to say that I'm not excited about getting home.. it actually feels like exactly the right place for me to be, and I have no hesitations about heading back. It will be nice to have a bed and a bit of stability. This was especially clear after our horrible nights sleep last night...
The heat and the humidity really got to us sleeping in the car. If we rolled down the windows, the mosquitos would sneak in, or an unexpected downpour would rain down out of nowhere. So we were stuck with each others' smelly, sweaty bodies, not appreciating the body heat of spooning in the slightest. At some point in the night, our unwanted company did sneak in, and it turned out that we only got a couple hours of sleep at most. Instead, we talked sporadically, knowing our companions were wide awake at any given point, and thrashed our hands around in the air every couple minutes to get the mosquitos away from our faces. It was the sort of thing where I'd just be drifting off to sleep, when I'd hear Christy's sleeping bag rustling around and her hands frantically slapping at the open air, out for death, or blood, or revenge, or all of the above.
The mosquitos are huge here - easily the size of my thumbnail - and filled with a frightening amount of blood. It was a satisfying moment, after I'd been chasing one of em around the car with my headlamp, to slap it against the back window and get instant silence from that incessant high pitched buzzing. I held my hand out to the girls, so they could see the nasty bugger and the thieved blood across my hand. If anyone has seen the youtube video of the kid yelling blood, it went a little like that. SLAP ... BLOOOOOD.
We are feeling quite ambitious at the moment, and are trying to make it up to the Great Barrier Reef AND down to Melbourne. Nobody thinks we can do it, but we are determined.
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