There and Back Again

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Sorry for the delay. This is all my fault that it has not been updated and I am sure most of you have been dying to hear about our jourey through Middle Earth.

First, I must saying that bidding farewell to Dr. Chris in Sydney was difficult. He is the nicest, kindest and best celebrity vet in Australia. He even did us the honor of sharing a piece of his work called Bondi Vet with us. It's a hit and if it doesn't make it to America, I will be heartbroken. Moria will too.

The departure from Sydney had no dramas and I got my third camera of the trip. Hopefully it will last. The in-flight movie was Scoop. This movie made me hate Scarlet Johannsson (sp?) a little more. Actually a lot more. After getting into Aukland Moria had to have her bags checked for a tent. I have no idea why as she was not in possession of a tent but I like that she had to be escorted to a secure area just in case she was bringing dirt or insects or germs into the country. I wonder if they have her marked since her attempt to bring illegal fruit into Australia. She is brazen.

In Aukland we didn't do much save renting a car and eating Mexican. Our only cultural event was A Night at the Museum where actors take children, their parents and us on an after-hours tour of the Aukland Museum. I quite liked it. Moria thought it was worth it only when a real dinosaur came out of nowhere and made all the children cry. The dinosaurs were great and we even saw two baby ones. Now I can cross that off my list of things to see.

We left Aukland and headed to the Coromandel Peninsula. This is where all the hippies moved after the hayday of the 60s movement was over. The place was gorgeous. Made me wonder why everyone says the South Island is the place to be. There was a slight altercation during our drive around the coast. I am not going to name names but the person responsible doesn't have a name that rhymes with pretzel. We slept in a campground in our car yet again. Can't wait to see how expensive my chiropractor bills upon my arrival.

After waking up with a sore back we headed to the Ha Hei Beach hot baths. This was insane. Everyone: men, women, children, Americans, Kiwis, Swedes, Frenchmen, etc. was at this beach digging holes with their shovels in hopes of discovering a hot spring. Being so fit and strong we were able to strike gold on our second try. The only problem was that we did't just strike gold we hit the big time. This bath was so hot that I could only stay in for a spat because I thought I would get second degree burns. It was funny watching people test all of the pools. When children touched ours they immediately ran into the ocean to cool off. Again, the children crying made Moria giggle. Eventually, the people in the pool next to us left so we were able to combine a few and make a pool that was just right. Altogether, it was a very pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

Then we moved onward to the best surf beach in New Zealand hoping to get a lesson. I guess the man that ran the place had already heard about my prowess on the board and woudln't give us one. Instead we relaxed on the beach and headed to Rotorua. On the desert road I got pulled over for going 125 in a 100 zone. As my Gran would say, it was a fast road, flat and straight. Because I am cute the cop let me off. Seriously, I think he just let me off because I was a foreigner and it would be too much paper work for him. Upon arrival in Rotorua we decided our backs needed a rest from campsites and we chose to sleep in the only themed hostel in the area, Cactus Jacks. This place was incredible. It had a massive picture of Frito Bandito or some caricaturist picture a Mexican bandit. I thought it would end their. Boy was I wrong. The place on the inside had the stage coach, the sh*t house, the bottlers, the bank, etc. and everything was done up with such camp. I really loved it. We got put in a room with four stinky (literally) Poms who had begged the receptionist to put some girls in their room. Then we partook in the hostel barbeque, hung with a nice Londoner and a creepy Dubliner who had no concept of personal space. Because I am a party animal, I retired to bed at 11. By 3 I was awoken by two of the Poms trying to score some Canadian girls outside of our room. By 5 I had enough and gave them a stern talking to. Either they were too drunk to heed my words or I don't have the stern authority I was looking for at that time. By 7 I wanted to rip by hair out. I went out again gave a speech about being rude and inconsiderate and they did go to bed. Unlucky for me, I had to get up anyway.

Our day in Rotorua was spent at Te Puia. This was a thermal park and Maori heritage site. The whole thing was pretty great. The smell was strong but not as awful as I had initially thought it would be. I've smelt worse sulfur smells come out of my brothers. Anyway, we began our walk around the park with a trip to the bubbling mud. This fascinated me. I just sat there and stood looking at it boil. Really wanted to climb in and see what the bubbling mud would do for the bags under my eyes, but I thought the fact that the temperature was just below the boiling point of water it wouldn't be the best idea. We walked around and saw some more mud pools and we saw the big geyser explode. Pretty great stuff for the first 15 minutes we were there. Then the best part of the day happened and we got to go to the Maori cultural show. This show was great. We learned kia ora, which means hello/i] in Maori, so we could answer the chief when he invited us into their meeting house. There was a great sense of occassion and the procession into the hall was great fun minus the elbowing of big Russian women to ensure a good seat. My elbows are strong and we got front row. Then the song and dance began. They performed traditional song and dance, gave a brief history, and the Maori men gave a lesson in warrior tactics. The gentleman that narrated that was like the Rock and quite dreamy. I loved the music and must get a cd before I go. You should check it out. After the show we went on a tour around the park. We saw Maori huts, kiwi birds, cooking holes and the big geyser up close and personal. It was not letting off steam when we arrived so we had to wait around. I can't decide if the anticipation of the eruption or the eruption itself was the best part, but it was very cool. I really enjoyed the geyser and watching it's power.

We left the park and headed down to Taupo to get some pumice and see the biggest lake in NZ. The drive was a breeze and we were there in no time. We spent the evening sitting by the lake soaking up the scenery, swans and trying to find the best pumice stone on the shore line. Once that was done we headed to the cinema. Tried to get a deal but the only one they would give us was to charge my camera battery. I guess it was worth it. We saw the new James Bond. I know it's a little late so it probably isn't considered new anymore. Really loved it. Daniel Craig was good. Moria thinks M (Judi Dench) is his mom. If anyone agrees or can prove this let me know because I didn't see it. Then we headed back to the car to sleep in the Police's parking lot. Being a poor traveller this seemed like the best idea as if something bad happened we were already at the police station. No dramas there and quite a nice sleep. I hope you are enjoying the mundane stories of our trip. In the morning we hiked through Huka Falls, the third largest producer of hydroelectricity in New Zealand. Gorgeous scenery and I felt like I was walking through Middle Earth. Again, I am a nerd.

After Taupo we headed down to Wellington where we were to stay with Boris and Natasha, their names had to be changed because they work with a government and if we leaked them it would be dangerous for their safety. Had a lovely night in their home. It is beautiful and has the best view of the city. We had delicious dinner and heard all about their great love story which includes a proposal printed on roses. Pretty fancy. We had to get up early the next morning to hop on the ferry to Picton on the south island. I threw up twice. I do not have sea legs. Once we arrived we headed straight for Franz Josef. The drive was gorgeous and would've been loads of fun if only we had a manual. The automatic just can't handle NZ roads. The drive was full of mountains, forests, lakes, rivers, ocean, cliffs and my personal favorite penguin crossing signs. We got to Franz Josef at 10 and had an early in preparations for our trip up the glacier. In the morning it was raining and foggy and there was no point to climb a glacier when you couldn't see what you were climbing so we headed to Queenstown.

Again, beautiful drive but since we had the cloud cover we couldn't see the snow-peaked mountains. The most bizarre thing I think I will ever see on a drive was the crew of unicyclists going through NZ. It really tripped me out. Stopped and watched the bungy jumpers, and I chickened out. I will do it, but when I have money to spare. We parked our car on the lake front and thought that would be another great spot to sleep since we were going to party hearty in Queenstown. The party was funny. It began with what was supposed to be the most happening happy hour in Q-town. It was us and 5 people from the Kiwi experience. I guess because we were there it was the best party but nothing too exciting came of it. Then we headed to Winnie's, Q-town's hotspot. This time heaps of people and those sitting next to us were a group of junior's from Elon College in North Carolina. They made me proud to be an American when two girls from the group made a deal with the Irish bartender (no one in Queenstown is from Queenstown) that if they kissed each other for one minute they would get two free shots. They eventually got it down to thirty seconds and did it. Needless to say, we did not participate in that special. Other than that, the evening was full of small talk and drunk talk with the girls from Elon. Then we spent the night on the lake catching some z's.

Got up early the next morning for my big day. I am a nerd and love Lord of the Rings so I had to see Middle Earth. Our tour guide was David from Florida who is actually a Kiwi, and we had Lindsey and Dave from just north of Birmingham, England. Good group to have going. We headed towards Glenorchy and were immediately wowed by the majesty of the mountains. Really made me feel quite small. David gave us a geological history of the area. I can't remember the facts and figures but it all started with glaciers melting between tectonic plates. If you want to know more wikipedia it. Then we headed to Paradise. It was beautiful. Sad story about it. A man built it for his sweetheart who had already said no to him once. Thinking that she would say yes if he had a sweet pad he invited her to see it and told her this would be hers if she would take his hand in marriage. She said no again. He sold the property and moved to Dunedin. Not the most romantic story. We were able to see the Remarkables and the Routeburn track and learned all about their history and how Peter Jackson and Ian Brodie found the sites. That area was used for Isengard and Amon Hen. This tour was very professional so no orcs or hobbits came out to see us. I was disappointed. At the end of the tour we were in Mt. Aspiring National Park and saw the forest which held the scenes of Lothlorien and Amon Hen. I was really hoping that Legolas would come out and see me. It didn't happen. We did have a lovely tea on Lake Wakatipu and headed back into town for our afternoon of canyoning.

Canyoning was something that was chosen so we could do some sort of adrenaline rush activity in NZ. Our guide Eric, from New Jersey, and Walker, from Brazil, took us to 12 mile delta where we were to partake in an afternoon of repelling, ziplining, cliff-jumping, and rock-sliding. The first task was a zipline over a huge gorge. I was first to go. Piece of cake. Then there was repelling. I sucked but made it. I think most of the group sucked at it. Next up was cliff-jumping. First a baby one, easy, then a 7 meter one. I freaked out a little at the top but did it and had perfect form. Quite the rush. After that we did a superman jump through the waterfall that was great fun. Then there were some rock slides and we got crazy and did the 7 meter rock slide head first. Next was the tricky section zipline, release your own safety, drop yourself with your rope. After two-thirds of the group went it was my turn. I was scared. But I did it. Once I got out there I tried to release my safety. I couldn't. Everyone below was staring at me like I was an idiot. Walker, who was too busy asking Moria out for ice cream, didn't tie my rope close enough to my safety so there was not enough slack for me to undo it. I hung there in my harness for 5 or 10 minutes. This was not fun. It hurt, a lot. It also freaked me out. Finally, the guides realized what the problem was and roped me in. Walker retied me and let me out again. I was not happy about going out again, but it had to be done. I released my safety no problem this time. Then I tried to undo the knot. Walker tied it too tight this time so I had to use both hands. That freaked me out because I thought I was just going to fall straight away. Eventually I undid the knot and dropped into the water. A harrowing experience indeed. Great fun altogether and I can't wait to try it again. As for Moria she didn't go with Walker for ice cream and completed that task without any problems. The rush from canyoning was great.

Headed up to Wanaka to experience Cafe Paradiso. This was a cinema with comfy chairs and food that is served at intermission. We arrived just after the movie had started and bought tickets. Once I walked in I realized it was The Wind that Shakes the Barley. I let out a huge sigh as I had already seen it, but I must say I did enjoy it better the second time around. After the movie, we headed back to the car to have our sleep again on the waterfront. At about 12:30 we were awoken by drunken Kiwi teenagers who were peering into our windows and shaking the car. I was annoyed and had to drive away from what would've been a perfect spot because it was right next to the bathroom. So we moved to the yacht club and slept there. At 6:30 the next morning I hear a tap tap tap. It is the security guard of the yacht club waking us up and telling us that we parked there illegally and that we have to leave now as the police are making the rounds after him. So we woke up and headed for Franz Josef this time hoping to get a good view of the glaciers. It was sunny in Wanaka. Once we started driving it became cloudy. Isn't that always the way?

We arried in Franz Josef and the clouds had pseudo-lifted so we decided to head up the glacier anyway. Our guide was mountain man Cliff and he was bearded with dreads and lots of fun. We tramped up the glacier with our crampons. It was lots of fun. Again, we heard the geological history of Franz Josef but I can't remember too much of it. I can say that despite global warming Franz Josef is advancing. The ice was crazy. It was streaked with lines of clay all over it, but in the crevaces it was a gorgeous crystal blue. The hike was interesting as there were guides all over the glacier using ice picks to create stairs on the glacier. We tramped around for an hour and a half and headed back down. It was well worth it. Really loved the glacier. When we left the glacier the sun came out and we were able to see the top. That made it all worthwhile. The we headed off to the pub to celebrate Australia Day. We celebrated by enjoying Kiwi beers. There are good specials in Franz Josef. After partying it up in the center of town, which is three storefronts, we headed back to the bar at our campground the Monsoon bar. Imagine the heyday of the Poconos in the mid-eighties and that was what the bar was. It was very funny. Moria got a disgusting lemon-lime beer that she couldn't finish. She purchased the beer because it was called Radler. I think this serves the point that you should never buy a beer for it's name. After watching three fellows try to score the one hot chick on their Kiwi Experience bus we left to see the comet that is hanging around the South Island. We got to see it! Once every 75,000 years and we got to see it. Moria is convinced that she will see it twice in her lifetime.

Left Franz Josef in the morning for the drive up to Blenheim and Marlborough wine country. The drive again was beautiful and this time sunny so we could see the tops of the glacier. Once we arrived in Blenheim we checked into our hostel where I was greeted by a very hostile girl who must've been some form of Scandanavian wearing really scary make-up and massive shoes. She gave me the death stare and I was afraid she had cursed me. After that I had a much more pleasant experiencing making a Frech friend, Phillipe. After the drive we were tuckered out and finally saw Ugly Betty. Pretty good. We had to go to bed immediately after it because scary Scando was sleeping in the room huffing and puffing and throwing shoes. If you could've seen how big they were you would know what kind of damage they could have done to me. The next morning we awoke for Moria's 26 birthday. We celebrated by riding bikes throught the wine country. Our first stop was the Villa Maria vineyard. I would say their only stand out product was their Riesling. Then we headed to Wither Hills. Their chardonnay and port surprised me and I got both. We headed back because we didn't realize how late we had started and how early the vineyards close on Sunday. Upon returning to our hostel we decided to go canoeing. Since our last experience with boats on water I didn't necessarily think this was the best idea, but it was Moria's birthday and that is what she wanted to do. The boat was very old and only had one seat, there was one in the back but it was broken. Once we got the canoe in the water we headed upstream. Within 3 minutes we were headed back downstream. A gang of kayakers approached us from the other direction and then we were forced to go back upstream. This time a gang of bunny boats that look like zambonis on water faced us and we went back downstream. I called it quits. We could steer it properly into the dock. I went into the marsh to get out. I fell into the water. It wasn't pretty and didn't help that we had everyone from the hostel watching us, laughing at us and not helping us. Eventually we did manage to pull the boat in and out of the water. I don't think I will be doing many more boating activities with Moria on this trip as they usually end in disaster. Then we cleaned ourselves up and made a beautiful antipasti dinner with our Wither Hills Chardonnay. There was Mississippi Mud for dessert and then a screening of the film Hostel. It was good and scary. And the good thing about that was scary Scando wasn't there anymore. After the movie we went to bed where we were introduced to the symphonic range of snoring by someone in our room. I hate snorers. This kept me up and made me mad. I was tempted to write her a note saying that she should be more considerate and not sleep in dorm rooms. I didn't. We got her back when we had to wake up at five so we could head to the ferry.

Everything about the ferry this time around was easy and we were in Wellington in no time. Upon arrival I went to the doctor because I haven't been feeling the best in NZ. I was sent all around the city before I was sent to the After Hours Medical Center. The creepy receptionist, Jared, would not stop talking to me. Then I met with the nurse Cheryl who made me feel really bad about myself and my weight right now by telling me that she thought I was pregnant. Then I had to see the doctor. He looked like a paedophile to me. His examination was really uncomfortable and he had hands that lingered when they were not examining. I did not enjoy myself at all. It was gross. He had no diagnosis for me but thinks that I could have some kind of parasite. Exciting. Then I'll be a real traveller. I should know in a few days. After that we headed back to Boris and Natasha's had a lovely evening once again with their new guarddog, Sascha.

Today we head towards Auckland and then tomorrow it's off to Tahiti. I hope your winter is treating you as well as mine is.

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Photos

Farewell to Dr. Chris
Sigh.

Captain Jack´s
Who wouldn´t want to stay here?

Moria´s Swans at Lake Taupo
She claimed to want to join their family, but the fear in her eyes says something else.

And again...
this time on our LOTR tour.

Comments

[Maura]

Because I'm a huge nerd too I'm quite jealous of your jouney through Middle Earth.

[Little Boon]

Catching Up
Just catching up on your journey, its been a while....I love LOTR...did you encounter any orcs or strange magic on your trip through middle earth? Cool stuff gals