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Published: February 3rd 2011
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Thanks to all the travelling I did over the years for work, I built up a nice little frequent flyer account which I used to fly business class to Sydney, Australia to start my trip. Very nice to lay flat in a bed after having a glass of wine and a good meal for the 14 flight from LAX to Sydney!
So after arriving in sunny Sydney all refreshed, I was ready to explore the city for a couple of days. It was hot and sunny. The first day I explored the city and got sunburned. Sydney is a friendly, happy city and yes the Opera house is just as cool in person as it is in the pictures! The second day I took a ferry to Manly beach where a lifeguard competition was being held. It was great fun to watch the boat races and surfing and other contests. The Aussies are a good looking group!
That night I caught a flight to Christchurch to begin the New Zealand part of the adventure. It wasn't until i got to the airport that I found out that you have to have a return flight booked before they let you go to
the country (fully refundable which has since been cancelled!)
The Buskers festival was going on which was great fun to watch all the street performers in action. There was evidence of the earthquake they had last year...lots of repair work. I even felt an after shock which I thougt was pretty neat. I guess it was a testament to my personality that my first thought was "cool" and as I looked around the hostel room, I saw another girl in sheer terror. Hmmmm...I guess she didn't come to NZ to go bungy jumping huh?
I picked up a rental car and was off to Akaroa which is on a peninsula just outside of Christchurch. Evidently a large volcano went off years ago and created a huge main harbor with many little finger harbors around the peninsula. The hostel I stayed in was an old farm with great hiking trails overlooking the harbor. I went on a kayak trip and got to see Hector's dolphins and penguins! I was probably the only one on the trip more excited to see the penguins....hey, I've seen dolphins before 😉
That night the event occurred which is the reason why this is my first
post: my trusty netbook's hard drive died. That combined with the fact that there is very little free/cheap internet access here like there was in Europe. So now I am searching for a cheap replacement....good luck with that Anne!
So after crying myself to sleep, I woke up the next morning ready to hit the road again, off to Lake Tekapo and Mt John. Mt John is the home of an observatory and what is supposed to be the best star watching in the southern hemispere (or at least in NZ). I took a sunset walk up to the top, did some yoga (getting some weird looks from the runners...my form is so bad that it is hard to tell what I'm doing) and then walked down in the starlight. This is where I discovered that the extra batteries I bought for my flashlight were the wrong size....oops....let's just say it was a slow walk down in the dark. But along the way, my very night adapted eyes were treated to a great view of the southern sky. The most notable thing being that Orion is upside down here.
Next stop, Mt Cook national park. Mt Cook is where Hillary
trained for Everest. I didn't climb to the top, but did climb up a neighboring mountain to get a fantastic view of the glaciers with Mt Cook in the distance. The gale force winds and rain the next day changed my plans to hike up to one of the alpine huts after kayaking in the glacial fed lake with the icebergs, but I did walk to the lake and see the icebergs. I ate lunch overlooking the glacier and could hear the ice cracking....it was pretty impressive!
Next stop, Wanaka which is a cute little touristy town on the edge of a lake surrounded by mountains. Stayed is a really cosy place (that is the highest praise you can give a hostel), had a great hike to the Rob Roy glacier, some mountain biking (going over the handle bars in NZ is just as painful as in the US in case anyone was wondering), and had some good conversation with the other backpackers in the hostel. One girl from CA was hitchhiking around AU and NZ. She doesn't have money or a work visa so she was working under the table in AU (a stint as a carney even), but
couldn't find a job in NZ. I guess there are advantages to being old and taking the trip after years of working/saving as opposed to being 19 and broke!
I gave a ride here to Queenstown to a couple of other folks from the hostel hoping that the good karma would help me find a deal on a laptop (hasn't worked yet, but I haven't given up hope!). It's been rainy here today, but it's supposed to be good tomorrow. There are so many adrenaline junkie activities here, the only problem is which one do I want to plunk down my money on? Bungy jumping? River boarding? Jet Boat? Canyoning? Sky Diving? Stay tuned for the decision (although it may be awhile.....I'm still waiting for that karma to kick in!)
Cheers from paradise!
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Orion Upside Down
Remember - what you put out in the world comes back to you! I would love to see the one man in my life to be there for me night after night - upside down!