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Published: October 28th 2007
along the lake
on my bike rideSo the past couple weeks have been trying to get used to being a Wanaka resident. I absolutely love it here, but of course there are days when I want to hit the road and see the rest of the amazing country that I'm in. But then I say to myself, "Remember, you can always come back on a tourist visa. You only get one chance to work." So, that being said...I haven't worked a day yet 😉
I've been keeping busy mountain biking, running (there's a gorgeous path that runs on the side of the lake called Millenium Track), climbing, and hiking. My flatmates, some of their friends, and I took trip to
Rob Roy Glacier. It is about an hour ride from Wanaka into
Mt. Aspiring National Park where we had to FORD a river...several times! Well, it really just consisted in driving my friend's car at a decent speed through a mildly shallow rush of water six or more times. He was at first a little hesitant to go over the fords, but by the end he was an expert and wanting more. The hike was about an 1hr 1/2 up, consisting of a swing bridge that
can't hold more than five people at a time, landslide areas, and a jungle-esque type of surrounding. A pretty easy hike but with some stunning views of the park. The glacier was gorgeous- nothing like Fox or Franz Josef, but still amazing. On the way back down, we encountered a
kea- a very clever kiwi bird who, as stories tell, have locked people in a shack for hours, unscrewed the cap on tires and let the pressure out, stolen food, etc. This kea was very bold and approachable. My friend Sera wanted a picture of it, and then for some reason she put her finger out (to this day I still don't understand why) and it bit her! She let out a little scream and said, "It bit me!" and we all laughed and asked what she had expected to happen when she put her finger out in front of a bird (yes, Mom, I remember that time in Florida).
The other day Sera and I went on another hike to
Diamond Lake/Rocky Mountain, a shorter hike but with amazing views of
Treble Cone (ski field), Lake Wanaka, and the surrounding area (I'm sure by now you're sick of
all the gorgeous pictures of Lake Wanaka, but too bad!).
Summer seems to be creeping up on us; there is now a market every Sunday morning/afternoon by the lake which has nice crafts, knit clothes, jewelry, etc. Yesterday was about 70 degrees and sunny! We've gotten less and less rain, but more wind. It's a little cold today, but at least no rain!
Exciting news! We had some
earthquakes here- a 6.7 and a 4.9 off the West Coast. We felt them here at about 1:30am and 10am, respectively. The house shook and started to creak a little! It lasted for about 30 seconds or so. NZ rests on a faultline so earthquakes happen everyday, you just can't feel most of them. They say the "big one" is coming, but they've been saying that for years and years. Also- I learned how to
juggle!! Very exciting, I think. 😊
...the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centrelight pop and everybody goes 'Awww!' - Jack Kerouac, On the Road
.
I started volunteering with the
Kahu Youth Girls Adventure Club. If you knew anything about my summer job, it's similar to that, only minimized by 80%! (MISSING)Basically, I meet with about 10-15 girls, ages 11-14, and engage in adventure activities, games, etc. with them. Last
week we played capture the flag, this week we're going mountain biking, and later this summer we'll be doing some camping, horseback riding, kayaking, etc.
Most importantly, I think, is
Cinema Paradiso. This is the only movie theatre in town and it is incredible. The seats are all big comfy couches and chairs, and they stop the movie halfway so you can get tea, coffee, beer, wine, dinner (pizza, sandwich, salad, hummus, curry, pasta, garlic bread, calzones wraps, etc), and
freshly baked cookies. Now, I know what you're thinking:
I would hate them to stop the movie halfway for an intermission , but you haven't tried these cookies. And I mean that. They are hands down the greatest cookies in the world. And especially as they are timed to be right out of the oven and ready for intermission, they are warm and gooey and delicious and I could keep going on forever about them. So the point is, if you come to Wanaka, I will definitely introduce you to Paradiso cookies and you will never, ever be the same.
We saw a movie called
Eagle vs. Shark, a Kiwi film that definitely was influenced by
Napoleon Dynamite.
The other night we went to a free film festival there as well hosted by the
Wanaka Wastebusters, the recycling center/organization in the town. We got free drinks, free homemade ice cream, and (::gasp:😊 free cookies!!! They showed about 10 five minute films about the environment and how to reduce your carbon footprint, etc. Some were serious, some were cute, and some were sarcastically hilarious such as this one:
Cheat Neutral. You have to check it out. Basically, these guys talk about offsetting your cheating. So if you cheat on a spouse or significant other, you can just pay Cheat Neutral $5 to fund money for someone who promises not to cheat and remain faithful, reducing your guilt and leaving you with a clear conscience. Obviously this is a spoof on carbon offsetting, saying that it is ok to emit tons and tons of carbon into the atmosphere and then go and buy a tree to absolve your guilt. It is a very interesting site, if you have the chance to check it out.
The
Wanaka Wastebusters (another site you should check out) is the town's recycling program, started about 5 years ago. Basically, they recycle your bottles, cardboard,
etc. and sort everything else out. They then take all the things that are salvagable and put it in a store to sell at insanely cheap prices. You would not believe the stuff people throw away! You can find amazing things at the Recyc Center, such as blenders, blankets, sweaters, Halloween costumes, pots/pans, books, pants, hats, picture frames, and so much more. They also accept donations of any kind, so most people give their stuff to them when they leave town and need to get rid of a few kilos of weight from their suitcase. Their program is so great, so helpful to the environment- reducing the amount of waste that is brought to the landfill. Go to their website for more information (in previous paragraph). But I think if every town in the US had something like this (I know we have a recycling center, but I doubt they do anything like this), then it would significantly reduce our waste. Ok, thanks for listening 😊
We had a
Halloween party on Saturday night- In a last minute effort to think of a costume, I went as a cat (very creative), but my flatmate corrected me and said I
was an "evil cat". I made ears and a tail out of cardboard, wore all black, and used some black facepaint for whiskers. Classic. The party was in
Post Office Lane, a section in Wanaka that consists of a restaurant and two bars owned by a couple brothers and friends. One of my flatmates works at one of the bars so needless to say, we didn't pay for a drink! He dressed as "Where's Waldo?", but here they call him "Wally". Strange. His costume was priceless, but what was better was that in every picture he hid in the background. My other flatmates were a witch and a skeleton. The party had numerous prizes and games- one was a
pumpkin carving contest. Sera and I decided to enter (mainly because she thought we would have the upper hand since I'm American and obviously carving pumpkins is in my blood). Well, not surprisingly-so, we won! And we won a $50 bar tab at Woody's Bar! Our pumpkin was an evil, spewing pumpkin with a hat on. Very creative. Then later, we
bobbed for apples! On the bottom of each apple was a hidden sticker, and if you got an apple with
a sticker, you won a prize! But in order to bob for apples you had to first order a Jager shot. After a round of Jager we all attempted to win, and for some reason it was my lucky night because I got the apple with the sticker and proceeded to win a bottle of champagne, split between me, my friends, and the bartenders! It was a very fun night, but it definitely made me a little nostalgic for Halloween at home- the foliage, apple cider, pumpkins everywhere. Let's just say that America really knows how to go over-the-top on holidays, decorations, etc. Halloween is on Wednesday, and I've been told that very few kids go trick-or-treating and even less people even know it's Halloween, so when the kids ring the doorbells, people just ran to their pantry and give them whatever they have: apple, banana, etc.
Time for some
Kiwi lessons! Here are some popular words/phrases that the Kiwis use:
Good on ya! which is also an Aussie phrase, and it means
Right on, or Good for you . They say
eh and
hey a lot.
Jandals = sandals,
tongs = bathing suit, e's are pronounced like ey, as in BED is pronounced BEEYD, and HAIR is HEEYRE. Parking lots are called
carparks (I think that's a British thing too), most houses don't have insulation or central heating, they are extremely health conscious and environmentally aware people, and no one drives a car that is newer than 1998. That's all the lessons for today- more to come!
Books read:
Reviving Ophelia,
Digital Fortress Pictures:
Web Albums
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Jan
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All I Can Say Is...
...that the apple bobbing pot looks strangely familiar... I seem to be haunted by visions of those in a distinctly different location... Sounds like a great time! Live it up while you can before you start work:) I'm jealous that you got to hang out with such celebrities as Waldo/Wally and Wolverine at your Halloween party! :-P