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Published: June 13th 2008
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my first glimpse of new zealand
boulders surrounded by snow capped mountains After a few close calls, I finally made it to New Zealand to meet up with Gary, where yes, it was approaching winter. It didn't seem like the smartest idea to be leaving tropical weather for close to 0 degree weather, but there are lots of benefits to traveling in low season...not so many obnoxious tourists around, lower prices and it was actually a welcome change to not be sweating out of parts of my body I didn't even know had sweat glands! And with a few layers on I stopped noticing it was fall. It actually made for much nicer views too since the leaves had started to change and some of the mountains already had snow on their tips. There wasn't too much to do since it was too cold for water sports but just before the ski season. So Gary and I drove around a lot and checked out the scenery.
We spent the first few days at the camp grounds Gary had spent the previous 2 weeks at, near a bouldering spot. (bouldering is climbing up small rocks without a harness, for those of you who don't know....check out one of the pics for a visual!) I
lounging on top of the boulder
one of the few rocks i actually climbed spent most of those days watching him and his new friends climb and enjoying the scenery. I can't say I had too much of a problem being one of the only girls in a group of guys all day! The only major adjustment for me was the camper van. At first I wasn't exactly stoked to be spending nights in an unheated van, especially when I had to get up and pee in the middle of the night. Putting on layers of clothes and running to the port-o-potty when pee was already dripping out and I was half asleep, wasn't my idea of fun! But by the end, I didn't even bother going to the closest toilet, I just peed in the closest bush! You do what you gotta do! Traveling the country in a camper van turned out to be really cool. It was like being at home wherever I was. All my stuff was always nearby and we never had to look for a hostel, or pay for one. We did it once during the month, just to have a place to shower, since it had been a few days...another drawback of the van I suppose! But we
trekking
don't be fooled by the smile, 3 days of trekking wasn't all fun and games! quickly realized it was easy to sneak into the showers, which was a better option than paying for the night when we didn't need a bed to sleep in. And I quickly adjusted to not being able to shower everyday....the life of a traveler.....cheap and dirty! One of the great aspects of the van was the kitchen it came with....and by kitchen I mean the sink we rarely used and the portable stove and table. It saved us tons of money, since it enabled us to buy groceries and cook our own food. It was actually more convenient than restaurants cuz we could just pull over on the side of the road whenever we got hungry and make a grilled cheese! Although I have to admit Gary did most of the cooking. I'll become domesticated one of these days!
So that was the van. Because we had it, we were able to drive around the whole south island of NZ. We ended up staying a month because the 2 weeks we had planned just wasn't enough. There was just too much to see. And it was all beautiful. There were mountains everywhere, one on top of the other. And
more open land than I've seen anywhere else. The country's population is only 4 million, so there's an abundance of land. Some days we'd spend just driving and we'd start off surrounded by mountains covered with lush green trees, which would turn into bare mountains and by the end wed be in open land and huge mountains were off in the distance. Ive never seen so much green in my life. We'd have to pull over every once in a while to take pictures....especially because trying to look at the scenery while driving on the left side of the road didn't seem like the safest idea! the first 2 days i drove i had to repeat "drive on the left" to myself every time I pulled into the road!! I loved that everywhere we went the air was so fresh and the view were so spectacular. Even the towns we drove through were surrounded by lakes and mountains. We went ice skating one day at an outdoor rink that looked like it was in the middle of the forest.
Some of the towns were so small, they were made up of only one or 2 buildings....a gas station, bar
and motel. And it became a daily sight to pass farms of cows or sheep sitting around, eating grass. We even encountered a herd hiking down the highway.....which wasn't so convenient for us since the highways were only 2 lanes!
One of the activities we did was trekking, and no, it wasn't my idea....i haven't changed THAT much! but I didnt hate it as much as i thought i would! the first day, walking uphill for 6 hours wasn't the most fun i've ever had, but it was worth it for the amazing views on the second day. The biggest incentive was the pizza we agreed to go out for if we made it through the 3 days! its amazing what becomes a luxury when you're camping on a strict budget....that was only 1 out of like 3 times we ate at restaurants the whole month. What made it even more worth it was the nice Kiwi couple we met at the end of the trek. They took us back to their hotel and let us soak in their tub while they were out...much needed since I couldn't even stand up anymore!
My favourite activity was sky diving. After
10 years of wanting to, I finally did it and in the perfect place. We got lucky enough to do it on the clearest day of the trip so we could see everything, mountains, lakes, you name it (what i could see of it, that is, after the shock of dropping out of a plane wore off!) I did it tandum, so I wasn't too worried about the shoot not opening and I had no choice but to jump since the guy strapped to my back pushed us out of the plane! We jumped from 12,000 feet so it as about 45 seconds of free falling through the sky with the wind hitting my face so hard
I thought it would tear my skin off! and then about 3 minutes after the shoot opened to actually see what was under me. That was the best part....it really felt like I was flying! What an adrenaline rush!!
That's the month summed up. We got to see most of the south island and see what its like to live in NZ, which if it wasn't so far from the entire world, I would actually consider!
And now I'm in Australia. Gary
left after a few days, which we spent in Melbourne and then I met up with Danielle in Perth...she's a girl I met through Kim (who I traveled with in Asia). So I'll be here for a few months, traveling a working, most likely, so that I don't come home too broke! I'm gonna spend some of it in the north of Oz....this country really is backwards...its hotter up north and colder down south.....weird!!
Have a good summer.
Peace
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gary aka gary y
non-member comment
can't wait for round 2!!