Summer Loving

New Zealand's parks have some eye-popping sculptures...

Inauguration

In my short life, I’ve managed to rack up a few of those “you’ll always remember where you were when…” moments. JFK’s assassination was obviously before my time, but I bet I’m not the only one who could tell you exactly what I was doing when…

• OJ Simpson Verdict – I sat Indian-style on the floor of the Immaculate Heart library with someone clutching my shoe during the build-up to the verdict. As upperclassmen, we 8th graders were granted the privilege to watch the event on live TV.
• Princess Diana’s Death – My cousins and I were huddled at our grandmother’s house post-Ashland’s ABA parade. We were up late awaiting an update from the hospital about my brother, who had been hit by a car earlier that night.
• September 11, 2001 – I was in a shower stall in my college dorm when I overheard some girls talking about a plane crash.

I may have racked up 2 more of these moments in NZ, but only time will tell if these events become part of our collective memory. As I told you previously, I will always remember watching Obama’s election night victory speech in an Irish Pub in Wellington. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to watch the inauguration because I’m pretty disconnected these days. Luckily, our campsite had a TV room so I set my cell phone alarm clock for 5:30am on Wednesday morning. I unzipped my front door and walked through the darkness and dew-covered grass to the TV room. I was surprised that 5 other American travelers had the same idea! The sun was just starting to come up as Obama was sworn in as President. We simultaneously watched NZ usher in a new day and the US usher in a new era. Unforgettable!

Pit Stop

I am in Oamaru NZ one day longer than originally planned. The bad news is that our car failed its WOF (warrant of fitness) inspection. The good news is that it means I have time to update the blog! Click on this link for an album with new pictures. I wish you could follow along with an interactive map, but you can’t. The highlights include:

• Christchurch – The largest city in the south island also likes to be knows as The Garden City of the World. To its credit, I’ll admit the botanic gardens are the same size as the city center. It’s also the gateway to Antarctica. The Avon River flows through the city, and the architecture gives it an old English feel.
• Akaroa – We took the “scenic route” from Christchurch to Akaroa, a vacation spot on the Banks Peninsula. This route involved steep, winding gravel roads. At one point, a sheep darted into a road. Then I had to hit the breaks when I came around a curve to find the road blocked by 3 large cows. Unreal. Akaroa was the first French settlement in NZ. The French influences can still be felt today. For example, on of the sleepy town’s main attractions is “le mini golf.”
• Ashburton – We spent approximately one hour walking around this town. A shoe saleswoman asked if we planned to spend a couple days in town. Like I said, we exhausted our options in an hour.
• Geraldine – Home of the world’s largest jersey (sweater)! We had an unplanned 2-night stopover in this tiny town to wait out some bad weather, including a hail storm. Needless to say, we traded the tents for beds. Geraldine is also home to “The Tin Shed.” This big tin shed seemed to be part souvenir shop/part petting farm.
• Aoraki/Mt Cook – This national park is home to the Southern Alps, including NZ’s highest peak, Mt Cook. It may have been the first time I’ve used the word awesome to truly mean “awe inspiring.” I assure you the pictures have not been photoshopped! I took a glacier boat tour in the morning and hiked in the afternoon. The park also has a museum that chronicles the pursuits of famous Kiwi Sir Edmund Hilary, the first man to climb Mt Everest. I have not mentioned this before, but “Sir Ed” is the godfather of NZ. They absolutely revere him. He is pictured on the $5 bill and his body laid (lay, was lain?) in state in Wellington when he died in January 08.
• Oamaru – On the way from Mt Cook, we stopped to see some Clay Cliffs and Elephant Rocks (giant limestone boulders that are meant to look like sleeping elephants). Then we hit Oamaru, a popular penguin-watching destination. We “hid” in the rain to watch a yellow-eyed penguin colony come ashore around dusk. They are best seen with binoculars. Then we watched 148 mini blue penguins come ashore under the cover of darkness (around 9:30pm). These little guys are only about 8 inches tall, weigh 1 kilo, and waddle very slowly to their nests. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed. The penguin also appears on the $5 bill, opposite sir Ed. The historic section of Oamaru has lots of neat, old limestone buildings. With the advent of refrigeration, the town became very prosperous in the “frozen meat industry” when its sheep became valuable for more than just wool!

Christchurch

I have arrived safely in Christchurch, NZ (which I believe is the biggest city on the south island). It was a 2 hour drive from Kaikoura this morning. We're treating ourselves to a real luxury... 2 nights in an indoor hostel with beds! (What kind of backwards world am I living in when I consider a hostel to be a luxury?!) They only had 2 beds left, in separate rooms. I will be spending the night with the company of 3 smelly men. Whatever, beats the tent!

All guidebooks recommend booking tours, accommodation, etc. well in advance in the summer season (Dec-Feb). This is the height of tourist season and the Kiwis are traveling too because the kids are on school vacation. I shouldn't be surprised, but I've learned that "booking ahead" in NZ means - let us know when you get here. To date, we have not booked a single hostel or campsite in advance. You just pull up in your car and say, "can we stay here tonight?" I've recently observed/overheard the following things:

• "Can I book a golf reservation for 3 people in 15 minutes?"
• "Can I book 7 people for a wine tasting in about 5 minutes?"
• A sign in a visitors' center - "It is essential to book ahead in the summer. Tours are already booked until mid-January." Since it already IS mid-January, I assume this means tours are available tomorrow.

My main mission tomorrow is to buy a flashlight for the next camping days. The first one burned out in 2 nights, and the 2nd one never worked to begin with. Kiwi crap. The lack of light has been putting me to bed very early.

Blenheim & Kaikoura

I am slowly becoming accustomed to the outdoors lifestyle, adopting the Kiwi ingenuity to make life in a tent more enjoyable. You quickly find new and inventive uses for clothing and household objects. These nights, I am literally counting to sheep to fall asleep! I pop in my ipod when I need to drown out the noise.

Click on this link to view an online album with pictures from the Marlborough region, the towns of Blenheim and Kaikoura. Play the slideshow to see the captions. The south island is beautiful, and I am struck by how quickly the landscape changes. These pictures cover the following activities:

• Vineyard tour in Blenheim - This little town of 4000 people has over 100 wineries. Cheers!
• Drive from Blenheim down the coast to Kaikoura (an old whaling town). The coast is covered in dry mountains that look to be constructed from straw
• Sheep shearing show! So much fun! This is what NZ is all about.
• Whale Watching Cruise - We saw 4 sperm whales. The whales are up to 18 meters and weigh 30 tons. One tooth weighs a kilo. Only about 10% of their body mass can be seen at the water's surface. Kaikoura has so many whales relatively close to the land because there is a huge underwater canyon (over 1600 meters deep) just a few miles offshore. The whales flip up their tails before going for a dive. When the tail slaps the water, it creates a "footprint," a large pool of perfectly still water in the otherwise very choppy ocean. It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen! We also encountered a group of ~200 dusky dolphins (present only in the southern hemisphere). They were jumping and flipping in the air right in front of the boat!
• Hike along the Kaikoura peninsula coast - the place is teeming with fur seals. They blend in with the rocks so well that I almost stepped on one. This is very dangerous because they bite.
• Notice the crayfish stand where we ate lunch. These little stands are all over the coast and have a reputation for very good seafood. I was brave and gave the mussels another shot, thinking my weekend illness was a fluke. Well, I must have some kind of allergy because the mussels won again. Imagine how lovely it feels to be sick in a campsite under the hot sun. Never again!

Tomorrow, we are Christchurch-bound!

Change of Pace

I only have 10 minutes of internet time, so let me quickly update you on the last 3 nights.

1) Last night in Wellington in a proper house with a proper bed -- dog pees all over bed during the night.

2) First night in south island in the adorable little cottage I mentioned earlier (the last night I'll have a bed for quite a while) -- At approximately 9pm, I had a delicious dinner of famous Marlborough green lipped mussels. At approximately 12am, I began vomiting every hour on the hour.

Young Kiwi male leaves to return to real life and I re-unite with Dawn.

3) First night in the tent - It is difficult for me to put this thing up by myself. The campsite is less than 50 feet away from a bunch of wild sheep that are baa-ing their freaking faces off. Ducks wander up to the tent. My feet are COVERED in sandfly bites. Think about a swarm of mosquitoes... then multiply by about 100 and you have the NZ sandfly. I wake up in the middle of the night with my feet on fire, but the sleeping bag is so tight that I can't even reach my own feet. And forget that beautiful 88 degrees I mentioned previously. It is again freezing and very windy.

This is a little bit of a shock to the system, but I'm enduring. I keep telling myself... if you can do this, you can do anything. Someday I will look back and this will be a funny story... but that day is not today.

South Island Summer!

I am now even further south in the southern hemisphere after my 3-hour ferry ride across the Cook Strait from Wellington to Picton. The bar on the 8:00am cruise was hopping! It is 88 degrees on this beautiful January day. I will be camping and eating ramen noodles soon enough, so I'm treating myself to a few more precious days of luxury. No reason to rush into this "roughing it" lifestyle. I spent today on the beaches of Picton, and I'm spending tonight in an adorable little cottage. On Saturday, I will tour the Marlborough vineyards, world famous for their sauvignon blanc (and I mean truly world famous, not "world famous in New Zealand").

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to practice pitching my tent...

Pictures from the ferry and Picton, NZ

Fly Away, As Long as You Come Back Someday

My blogging has been so prolific over the last few days to soften the blow of my impending absence. I set sail this morning to spend the summer travelling through the south island of NZ. I'm officially homeless again. I am the reluctant new owner of a flashlight, backpack and tent (safe to say that is the first time I have ever written/spoken those words). If you to contact me, mail a letter to Honda Integra, New Zealand. I have a funny feeling that it would find me.

Needless to say, internet access may be slow and sporadic over the next few weeks/months. Expect the blog to slow down quite a bit, but I'll do my best to keep it updated.

It's only fitting to end this chapter of N to the ZED with an ode to Wellywood. What a wonderful place to have lived for the last almost 6 months! I've had heaps of fun! I leave with mixed emotions because, in many ways, it was just starting to feel like home. This song "Fly My Pretties" is by a Kiwi band of the same name. It is a love song to Wellington with lyrics about loving home but needing to leave to branch out and experience new things. Spreading your wings... preserving your roots... all that good stuff.

Bird's The Word

Based on a previous comment about the American Bald Eagle, I feel compelled to pit our national birds against each other in a beak-to-beak competition. Who emerges victorious? You be the judge!

Representing the USA - The Bald Eagle

This regal bird of prey effortlessly soars through American skies from sea to shining sea. It majestically perches atop purple mountains, keeping a watchful eye over our amber waves of grain. This handsome bird commands respect. It even defeated a Viking in last weekend's NFL playoffs!

Representing NZ - The Kiwi

The kiwi is flightless "bird," basically a lump of mousy brown fur with an oversized schnoz. Everyone knows the only flightless bird worth its weight in feathers is a penguin. I could understand if the people of NZ named themselves Kiwis after the delicious fruit, but no, they named themselves Kiwis after this defenseless little creature. In one fell swoop, the bald eagle would easily ensnare the kiwi in its talons. What would the Kiwis call themselves then? Breakfast!

Learn the Lingo! Lesson 6 -Quiz Time!

In honor of NZ’s trivia obsession, I will give bonus points to any reader who can ace this Kiwi linguistics quiz. There are only 2 slang words that have genuinely baffled me thus far. I had to consult Google. I’ll save you the trouble and post the answers in the comments.

1) Define “ta.”
2) Define “arvo.”
3) This picture was taken at the local train station. Now that you know how to speak Kiwi, please tell me HOW MANY PEOPLE DIDN’T CROSS WHERE IT'S SAFE?

Learn the Lingo! Lesson 5 - Field Trip

I recognize that people learn in different ways, so perhaps some readers would benefit from a more "hands on" approach to Kiwi English. Lesson 5 takes you out of the classroom and into the “real world.”

A bench appears on the front porch out of the clear blue sky. I place a phone call.

Me: There is a bench on the porch. Do you know where it came from?
Him: A what?
Me: A bench.
Him: A bench?
Me: That’s what I said. Do you know where it came from?
Him: No. What kind of bench?
Me: (getting frustrated) A wooden bench! It looks brand new.
Him: I have no idea what that’s all about.

In-person conversation a few hours later.

Him: Oh, there’s a seat on the porch!
Me: (frustrated again) Yeah…
Him: I thought you meant a bench, like a countertop. (One of us forgot that America calls elongated outdoor seating “benches,” and one of us forgot that NZ calls kitchen countertops “benches.”)
Me: So you spent all day thinking there was a wooden countertop on the porch?
Him: Well, that’s why I was so confused.