Christmas in Summer

I'm sitting upside down on Earth writing this. Christmas is celebrated during summer! Water drains and the toilet flushes counter clockwise! People drive on the left side of the road. They eat baked beans and canned spaghetti on toast for breakfast. If that's not backwards, I don't know what is! It's definitely a strange, yet beautiful land. And I've got more tales from it!

I met up with Sarah, a friend from Davis, who came to New Zealand for a few months to travel. We took a two-day road trip up to Kaikoura, a little beach town on the east coast. Its most popular with travelers for hiking, whale watching and dolphin and seal swimming. We arrived in the afternoon and decided to go on a hike under the hills of Mt. Fyffe before dinner. It was one of the hottest days I had yet to experience in NZ and of course I had nothing but pants! I definitely worked up a sweat, but the views of the coastline and peninsula were well worth it! The next day, we went on a whale watching adventure where we saw sperm whales up the yin-yang! I always pictured sperm whales to be this elusive creature that few have ever seen. Maybe it was just the fact that they go where not many people have gone before, to depths that have never seen the light of day. In any case, I saw more sperm whales than one could ever hope to see in a lifetime! It must have a day for basking because they were all out as if they hadn't seen the sun in years (quite possible). The boat would pull up to one and we'd sit there for about 10 minutes watching it rest and expel stale air from its lungs and gather new air. Then it would take its last breath, point its head towards the great abyss and dive. Almost immediately, someone would spot another whale and we'd be off and racing towards it to check it out. It was an unforgettable experience!

On November 5th, four of us from my house went across Arthur's Pass to the west coast on a mission to hike Franz Josef Glacier. I had been there before on a helicopter hike, but the full-day hike proved to be more than worth the effort it took to walk to the glacier's terminal and climb up the glacier itself, all in the rain! I don't know what those guide people were thinking when they said I'd see a lot more interesting formations by taking the helicopter up. Anyway, the day's adventure started around 10am. It took about an hour to get to the glacier through gravel plains (where the glacier deposits sediment as it advances and retreats), then another hour or so until we actually began exploring. During the next 4 hours, we climbed up walls of ice, descended down, into, and through blue ice caves via glacially formed ice spiral staircases, squeezed and shoved ourselves through ice crevices not much wider than myself, and tiptoed and bouldered over pools of ice water where a wrong step or slippery foothold would surely land you into knee deep water with a chilling temperature of just above freezing. I felt like a real explorer (the crampons on my feet and ice pick in hand helped). By the end of the day, I was cold, drenched, and tired! I must have drank at least 3 cups of hot chocolate before I was fully functional again. That night, we stayed in a hostel with a spa, stuffed ourselves silly with a huge meal and downed a bottle of red wine, a perfect and relaxing ending to the day!

After heading back to Christchurch for a short two days, we were off on our next adventure, Abel Tasman National Park. Here we spent 3 glorious days in the great outdoors. We pumped some iron sea kayaking against winds where I often wondered if we were actually moving forward, lounged on white sand beaches where the water was either emerald green or turquoise, paddled into bays smooth as glass, watched sunsets that turned the land, water, and sky into a brilliant gold, hiked through fern forests and sandy, secluded beaches, and walked against gale forced winds across low tide where the sand pelting my face felt like a million bee stings. Despite the few times I had to sing at the top of my lungs or keep my head in the clouds to forget the weather's objective to challenge us in every possible way, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. And as if the week couldn't have gotten any better, Jack Johnson in concert lulled me into relaxation as my mind wandered happily back through the past few week's events.

On December 3, I met up with yet more girls from Davis, Laura and Amy. We went across Arthur's Pass (That makes 5 times for me!) and headed north to Punakaiki to see weird limestone rock formations called Pancake Rocks (self-explanatory). We also explored some really dark caverns (Thank goodness for the trusty maglite) and went on a few nice hikes, one along the Pororari River through sub-tropical jungle in a limestone gorge!
It's getting much warmer now. Yesterday, it was 30C (86F). Of course, I was stuck inside working all day. I'll be spending my next day off at the beach! Unfortunately, the warm weather is making Christmas feel more like the 4th of July. I've been to two bbqs so far to celebrate the holidays and the Christmas celebration here in town involved 80,000 people going to the park to hear live bands, drink, and watch fireworks. Could that be any more like our Independence Day?!

I'm becoming much worse about writing updates which leaves bigger gaps between writing them and causes them to be much longer. I hope you've made it through this one! Three cheers to you if you have! I hope everyone has a most exciting, memorable and relaxing Christmas! May you all get what you asked for from St. Nicholas.

The Twilight Zone

Last night, my dreams played tricks with my mind. I dreamed about all of you at home and convinced myself so much I was still in California, that I told myself I should get out of bed by 11am so I could watch “I Love Lucy!” I don’t really remember details, but it must have been inspired by my readings from the “California Lonely Planet.” I picked it up at the library and am amazed at how little I knew about all of our towns. I might even invest in one when I get home. The more I read it, the more excited I am about doing some exploring in my own backyard.

My dreams aren’t the only things that should be in a twilight zone episode. For some reason, I can’t for the life of me remember what month it is. I mean, sitting here writing this, I know it’s October. But if I’m walking down the street with random thoughts racing through my mind of future and past events, I’ll have to stop and think really hard about the month and time of year. Usually, the first thing that pops into my head is winter, somewhere in February. And I’ll know that is wrong, but it takes a lot of convincing and a reality check to remember it’s still winter/early spring. I am SOO ready for summer. It’s been a year since I’ve experienced those 100ºF days and as much as I usually hate those days when I’m actually in them, I can honestly say I’m sick of winter! So far, it’s been a wet and cold spring here in NZ. I can’t complain today. The sun has actually decided to grace us with its presence! I won’t get my hopes up though. The clouds and rain will be back as soon as I think spring is here to stay!

I heard you are all having an Indian summer. That probably explains the cold and rainy spring here. But don’t worry! I’ll make sure to rub it in when I’m spending my Christmas getting nice and toasted on the beach while you guys are layering up for the cold and rain! Muahahaha!

So, some updates! I’m still working at the café and restaurant. There’s nothing much new worth mentioning about that. I did manage to get out of town again for another 5-day roadtrip around the South Island. I was just ending the worst week I’d had here in New Zealand when two of my Aussie flatmates, Renee and Carmen, swept me down to Queenstown (yes, again!), Te Anau, Milford Sound, and Wanaka. First, you know those rumors about Australians being partiers? They’re all true! It took major effort on my behalf to keep up! “Harden up!” was a phrase I heard all too often when it seemed I was slowing down.

We left Friday night, October 3, from Christchurch to Queenstown. By the time we escaped Christchurch Friday evening traffic, it was already well past 6pm. We were hoping to roll into Queenstown sometime between 9-10, but a series of events that would set the standard for the rest of the trip made that impossible. Without turning this into a novel, everything that could have gone wrong practically did! After a now traditional run in with ‘da fuzz’ as I drove into Queenstown, we finally made it to our hostel sometime after 11pm only to find our dorm beds were lacking any sort of bedding. And just to give you an idea on how cold it was that night, it snowed on the last 2-3 hours of the drive down. Luckily for me, I brought my trusty sleeping bag which has kept me warm while camping in January at Yosemite! As for Renee and Carmen, well, they made due with a few dodgy blankets from the communal lounge and the backseat of the blue beast. Just when I thought I was going to crawl into my sleeping bag and have a nice sleep to prepare myself for the following day’s planned event of skiing (YAY!), the festivities began. Well after midnight, we made our very cold way into town. The next morning, after 3.5 hours sleep, I was surprisingly chipper and ready to hit the slopes. Forget about the 2-8 lane paved Tahoe roads/interstates we’re spoiled on to get up to our snow covered mountain paradise and picture a steep 1.5 car wide switchback dirt road with no guardrails. It’s the type of road I would only take a car I paid US$200 up! When we finally got ourselves together and on the lift, it was past noon. The weather started out great, but as I learned early on, can change to absolute ca-rap within minutes. And it did! The wind picked up...really picked up! Picked up so much, I couldn’t tell if it was actually snowing or if it was blowing snowdrifts. I half expected to see Toto in a basket on the back of a bicycle being peddled by the evil next door neighbor to fly by as I rode the lift to the top. Ok, not really, but if felt like I was on my way to Oz. So, after a whole 2.5 hours of skiing, we called it quits. I was surprised the mountain stayed open through such conditions.

Needless to say, we got an early start to Te Anau, home of August’s 7.1 earthquake. We chilled at the hostel, (not without a bottle of red wine) but only because Te Anau had nothing to offer us other than a few restaurants. I have a feeling if there were happening places to be, we would have been there. I swear I woke up in the middle of the night to feel a small earthquake. Renee and Carmen claim they didn’t feel anything, but did admit to hearing what might have sounded like a quake (or was it someone running down the hallway upstairs even though there wasn’t a third floor, Renee? (o: ) Apparently, Te Anau gets 2-3 quakes/aftershocks a day! If in fact I did feel one, that would make my tally 3 quakes I’ve felt in the past 2 months!

On Sunday, we drove to absolutely beautiful Milford Sound. In “Last Chance to See,” by Douglas Adams, Adams describes Milford and Fiordland as “The sort of landscape that makes you want to burst into spontaneous applause.” (READ THIS BOOK!!!) My pictures won’t do it justice and thinking back to it (having been there less than 2 weeks ago), neither does my memory. It just gave me a certain feeling that can’t be replicated with pictures or memories. Just the fact that I was in snow-covered temperate rainforest with peaks rising directly out of the ocean to over 5,500ft and waterfalls in every nick and crevice of tree covered rock faces was completely beyond me, too much for me to take in. Mitre peak in Milford Sound is believed to be the highest peak in the world to rise directly out of the ocean. I pretty much stayed in one corner of the boat gawking in silence because there was nothing I could think to say other than, “wow.” Every corner we turned showed something equally amazing as the last. I could hear the 4th of July crowds in my head saying “oooo!” and “ahhhh!”

We drove back to Queenstown passing lakes as turquoise as tropical seas and lands as green as desolate forests after spring rains. Another night out and another bottle of wine brought us to Monday. We left Queenstown for the last time on our trip and headed to our next destination, Wanaka. Had I known what Wanaka was like before, I would have spent my first two weeks in NZ there instead of in Queenstown! There was an ambiance about it that made it so calming and made me carefree. We laid in the grass in front of Lake Wanaka for what felt like hours just absorbing the sun, scenery, and whatever thoughts and ideas our surroundings sparked in us. It’s moments in time like that where I start to ponder life and where I’m headed in it. It’s also times like that where I want to be lazy and just stay in that moment forever. There’s no need to describe that evening. I’ve already done so with the last two nights. Use your imagination or read back a paragraph.

We were on the mountain skiing again on Tuesday, but this time to Treble Cone, one of NZ’s steepest. Unfortunately for me, there weren’t any terrain parks, but there were plenty of natural jumps off of snowdrifts. I took more spills there than I probably have in an entire season at home. It felt good! One of my hardest falls ever occurred when I completely missed a turn and launched myself off trail. Thank goodness for powder landings! It wasn’t even hard enough to lose a ski in all of the tumbling. That’s probably a bad thing now that I think of it. I’m sure another fall going off a jump later in the day caused me to temporarily lose my digital camera. Luckily, a staff member found it the next day and mailed it to Christchurch for me! I’ve grown so attached to it. I’m your typical tourist taking pictures of anything and everything!

The drive back to Christchurch was a depressing reality. It was back to work the next day. I did manage to bring back a skiers tan as a souvenir. I’ve brought back what was once a permanent sunglasses tan on the ridge of my nose and a white stripe on both sides of my face. But it only makes me miss summer even more!

Free Falling

“Wave at the camera.” he said as I pushed myself up from a chair I wasn’t sure I wanted to leave. I gave a somewhat forced nervous grin. Don’t get me wrong. I was excited, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit nervous. I had been planning this moment ever since I watched my friend Laura do it on video last Fall. I must have thought about what it would be like a hundred times and now I was actually going to experience it firsthand. I waddled to the jump platform making sure to look straight ahead. I knew if I looked down, it would take a lot more convincing than a countdown to get me to jump. As best as I could with my feet strapped together, I hung my toes over the platform.

The only thing keeping me from freefalling 500 feet to the river below was a metal and glass building, called a pod, strung with cables across a river gorge. The journey to the pod was scary in itself. Some 20 odd passengers, including myself, took a bus up a steep one way dirt road where I thought the Earth could give way at any moment, causing us to tumble a good couple hundred feet to the grazing sheep below. Getting to the middle of the gorge on the actual pod required taking an open gondola. We were strapped into it with nylon belts and locking carabiners as if that would somehow save us from some freak accident. Not likely.

And now as I stood gazing at the valleys and hills which I so often admired from ground level, I thought to myself, “Am I really doing this?” I unknowingly spoke these words out loud because the jumpmaster replied, “Oh, yes you are.” Reggae dance music blared in the background drowning out words of excitement and encouragement from my friends. The only phrase I distinctly remember hearing clearly was “Go you skank!” Yeah, I thought it was an odd moment for name calling too, but Renee seems to enjoy calling me that.

“Don’t forget to jump as far out as you can. Wave at the camera.” said the jumpmaster one last time. “Ready?!” And so began the countdown to by first bungy, the Nevis Highwire, one of the world’s tallest platform jumps at 440 feet!

It never really hit me what I was doing until gravity began pulling me back down to earth and the air rushing past my face blurred my vision. Silence for the first few milliseconds of my freefall. After the light bulb in my head clicked on, I screamed “Holy S#*%!” not exactly choice words, I know. But that’s what came out. Unfortunately, you can hear it loud and clear on my video. As I was reaching the end of my bungy line and beginning my first bounce, I let out an enthusiastic “WOOHOO!” Woohoo is one of very few words to describe my emotions and feelings of the whole experience. It was amazing! Spectacular! A must do for everyone who craves adventure and a good mental challenge. A definite must do for myself on more than one occasion! After unhitching my legs to be pulled up in a seated position, I sat back and relaxed enjoying the beauty of everything in that moment of time. It was difficult to take it all in. It happened far too fast! The only thing I could say as I climbed safely back into the pod was, “Can I do it again!?” All in good time! I will be back!

Francis and Aileen come to visit!

The job situation has been resolved. For the past two months, I have been working part time at a café in a bowling alley. It's nothing to hoot and holler about, but it pays rent and hasn’t given me anything to complain about. Recently, I took another part time job at a plant nursery. I got the job at just the right time because it allowed me to save some money for Aileen and Francis’ visit (more about their visit to come). However, just yesterday I was offered a job around the corner at the botanical gardens café where I’ll be cashiering and waitressing. I decided to take it because it offers more hours and I won’t need transportation to get there.

Speaking of transportation, I bought a car about a month ago. The “blue beast” is an ’84 hatchback Accord. Don’t let the name fool you. It runs great considering its age and the price I paid. Basically, the couple I bought it from was leaving for home in the UK the day they sold it to me. I was fair, but they could have gotten a lot more for it had they had the time. Anyway, I recently took it on a 4-day roadtrip and haven’t had any problems with it yet!

Last week, friends from home came out to visit. Francis and Aileen were lucky enough to spend a jam-packed week with me traveling a bit through the South Island. (Actually, I was the lucky one! Without friends and family coming to visit every few months, I would have a hard time making it a year out here!) We first traveled west across the Southern Alps through Arthur’s Pass. We stopped to do a small hike to Bridal Veil Falls and saw many curious Kea’s, which are mountain parrots! One hopped up right onto the car hood as we were eating our lunch. They are notorious for pealing off the rubber sealing around windows and the car body, so I was a little weary to leave the blue beast by himself! Turns out the Kea was only interested in our lunch.

Later in the day, we made it to Hokitika and the west coast just in time to see the sunset behind storm clouds over the Tasman Sea. After grabbing some dinner, we stopped in at a glowworm dell to see glowworms. We weren’t exactly sure what we were looking for as we held onto each other and followed the path as best we could in the pitch dark. We never saw the place in light, so as far as we knew, we were walking into a cave. I’m not sure how it happened, but we eventually realized we weren’t in a cave and what we thought were stars through the trees were actually the glowworms! They were amazing! There seemed to be millions of them! They literally looked like stars in the distance. Very cool! On our way down the path, we kept seeing flashes of blue light in the distance. We later remembered the storm clouds over the ocean and realized it was lightning.

We continued driving, determined to make it to Franz Josef to do a glacier hike in the morning. On the journey there, we stopped to admire the stars and gaze at Mars. I hope you were all able to see Mars! I was unsure whether or not it would be visible in the Southern Hemisphere, but when I finally looked (the night after it was supposed to be closest to Earth) there it was! Luckily, it was a new moon, so the stars were brighter than usual. I have never seen the Milky Way so bright before! It was so bright that for a moment, we thought it was a lingering cloud or patch of fog. I wish everyone could see how bright the sky can be!

Since we arrived in Franz Josef late at night, the scenery around us was a complete surprise the next morning. It was the first day in a week’s time that the sun decided to grace us with its presence without being surrounded by clouds. I remember getting up in the morning to get my camera and charger out of the car. I took a few steps outside before I actually looked up. My jaw literally dropped and I stood there gazing at the snow capped peaks among hills of temperate rainforest. Needless to say, I couldn’t keep it to myself, so I ran back to our room to make Francis and Aileen come outside. They were equally amazed. It looked to be a beautiful day for a glacier hike!

We were a little late in our morning start and just the missed the full day glacier hike. The only option we had left was to take a helicopter glacier hike. Darn! :o) We weren’t able to spend as much time on the ice as if we had done the actual hike from town to the glacier, but it was made up to us by flying over the birthplace of the glacier (called the névé) and landing in a spot where there were more ice formations. It was kind of weird walking on a sheet (for lack of a better word) of ice that was older than me and a kilometer across and many many kilometers long. While we were waiting for the helicopter to pick us up off of the glacier, we saw an avalanche on a nearby peak. It didn’t look very big from where we were, but the fact that we could see it and hear if from where we were standing undoubtedly proves it was probably much bigger than our eyes would allow us to believe. This is especially true since we were told spires of ice which we thought were no taller than ourselves were actually 4 stories tall! Those formations were much closer to us than the peak with the avalanche. I plan on going back and doing the full day hike even though I hear it can be very painful, especially at the end of the day!

We left Franz Josef destined for Queenstown. Not far from Franz Josef, we stopped at Lake Matheson, which provides one of the most famous panoramas in New Zealand. The glass-like surface of the lake reflects Mt. Cook (tallest mountain in Australasia at ~12,000ft, but still 2,000ft short of the tallest mountains in the Sierras!) and the Southern Alps. We hiked around the lake making sure to get every possible angle in our photos. It was pretty much impossible to take a bad picture with the views we had. Unfortunately, a few clouds hid the tips of the snowcapped peaks.

Our next stop was not far down the road to the Fox Glacier. The Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers are 2 of 3 glaciers in the world that descend into temperate rainforests. The third is in Chilé. We only stayed long enough to take a few distant pictures. After driving through mountains, we once again met the Tasman Sea at Bruce Bay to see the sunset. Many events ensued on our nights drive to Queenstown. We unwillingly participated in a game of dodge the birds, possums, and cows in the middle and to the side of the road. Why these animals choose to pop a squat on asphalt and fly in front of cars, I have no clue. We also drove through an odd situation where a seemingly uncontrolled fire was burning not far above the road. We stopped to tell someone, but we weren’t sure what happened after that. The further drive into Queenstown that night was laden with police (Friday night) and after a small encounter with them, we finally made it to town. We were knackered from the day's events, so after chowing down on some Fergburgers (the best substitute to In-N-Out here in NZ) and chips, we hit the hay. The next day, we accidentally bumped into a few of my flatmates from Christchurch who happened to be doing the same bungy at the same time! Read “Free Falling” for the details of that day.

After eating at the Hard Rock, we headed east to the city of Dunedin where we were hoping to see penguins. We explored the Dunedin Art’s Center as well as took a drive out to the Penninsula. It was quite a windy day on the shore, so we didn’t spend too long outside. We did explore Allan's Beach and climbed a few rocks. Instead of seeing penguins in Dunedin, we decided to stop in Omauru on our way back to Christchurch. Again, we made perfect timing, arriving in Omauru just after sunset to see the penguins waddle in after a day at sea fishing. We saw blue penguins and yellow-eyed penguins. Let me just say I was never very interested in penguins. I guess I just never really thought about them. After seeing them, I’d have to say they are one of the cutest animals! We were given a small lecture by penguin guides as we watched the penguins brave the crashing waves on rocks to settle on land for the night. The distances they can swim and the depths they can dive to are amazing! I have a new respect for the little critters!

It was sad seeing Francis and Aileen off at the airport, but the moments we shared were unforgettable! That was only 4 days ago and it already seems like it has been a month! The past week isn’t nearly as exciting as the week before, but yesterday was National Penis Day. I kid you not!!! Apparently, an HIV/AIDS organization started it a few years back to get men to talk about their…you know whats. Supposedly, men who are open and talk about their equipment are less likely to be infected with HIV. To celebrate, (since I know you are asking how one might celebrate National Penis Day) a few dozen people posed nude in the shape of a giant penis in Cathedral Square among a few hundred spectators (Yes, me being one of them, a spectator of course! Not one of the nude people!). I couldn’t help feeling slightly odd watching the whole thing and was somewhat relieved there were a few rows of people in front of me to obscure my view. My roommate Brett, decided he wanted to be part of the action and joined in on the formation. (He thankfully was at the end I could not see!) His bare butt made the Christchurch Press! Hehe! He'll never live it down!

Before the roadtrip, I was able to make it out of town with a few friends to some geothermal hot springs. I’ve also been on a few hikes to the Port Hills around Christchurch which have given me awesome views and a good perspective on how large Christchurch actually is.

(Me in WWII gun emplacement on Godley Head in Port Hills)

I also survived my first New Zealand earthquake. It apparently was as big as the infamous bay area earthquake (7.1 on the Richter Scale), but was centered 6 hours away. It was felt as far away as the Australian coast! I awoke at midnight to my bed shaking. It took a good 30 seconds to convince myself it was not a large truck driving by and shaking the house (which they often do). Luckily, the epicenter was not near any large cities and no one was hurt. However, experts keep saying several major cities in NZ are due to be hit by large earthquakes in the near future. I’ll just pretend I didn’t learn that and hope that it doesn’t happen while I’m still here!

Francis and Aileen brought out a few of my belongings, including one of my guitars. Seeing friends who to me are practically family and receiving lots of presents from home literally made it feel like Christmas when they arrived! They also brought out my climbing gear, so I’m hoping to do a bit of indoor and outdoor climbing while I’m here. There are some nice places for both!

So, that wraps up the past few weeks/months. I hope you are all doing well and gearing up for the fall! I know I’m ready for spring!

Christchurch

After a month of sleeping in bunk beds, I’m finally making it out of the hostels! I found a place to live here in Christchurch only 5 minutes walk from city center. It will be my first time living in the middle of a large city. Hopefully I won’t go stir crazy. ;o) I’ll be sharing a large room in the “Somerset House,” which was built in 1910. The place is massive with 10 rooms! I think there are 14-15 people living there right now, so I doubt I’ll get lonely.

No bites on jobs, but I won’t be giving up anytime soon. I figure I’ve only been in Christchurch a week and although the temp agencies seem to be giving everyone the runaround, I’m confident I will find something on my own. I just can’t be picky! Besides job and house hunting, my days have been relatively uneventful. I seem to be doing a lot of lounging and reading. I’ve started “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy and hope to finish it before the last movie comes out. I’m starting to get into rugby, which is a HUGE sport here and everywhere else but the US! Kiwis are far more passionate about rugby than Americans are about any other sport. Everyone watches it and no little boy’s childhood would be complete without playing it. The sport is actually quite comical at times, but that’s mostly because I have no idea what they are doing. I’ll eventually learn the rules of the game.

I spent a weekend in Kaikoura with two friends. The beach was amazing. The mountains descend right into the ocean! There were some cool rock formations and tide pools with surprisingly little invertebrate life. On Sunday, we hiked along the beach. We were supposed to do a loop trail, starting off along the shore during low tide and walking along the hill of the peninsula at high tide. Two hours into it, we encountered a sea lion colony that was pretty adamant about not letting us pass. Unfortunately, it was a little late to turn back because high tide was beginning. Our only other choice was up, so we scaled a steep hill. I’m pretty sure we weren’t the only people the sea lions didn’t like because there was a small trail leading up the hill joining the latter part of the trail that we would have eventually come to had the sea lions allowed us to continue along the shore. Along the way, we saw many sheep, cows, and goats. The goats are gutless! They were walking along cliffs and rocks as if they could fly! Driving in Kaikoura was also my first time driving on the left side of the road. The first time I got into the driver’s seat, I reached over my left shoulder to put on my seatbelt and grabbed a fistful of air. There was also the occasional turn signaling with the windshield wipers and wiper fluid. I eventually got the hang of it.

Hanging out in Queenstown

The past week hasn't been as exciting and adventurous as detailed in my last email, but that's ok. I'm still resting up!

I have met so many people from different countries at the hostel where I'm staying. Granted, most of them are from England, but there are a few from other countries; Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Canada, Norway and Australia. Most are just traveling through rather than staying for a year, so it is sad to see them go. I'm learning a lot from them all and we tease each other in our sayings and pronunciations. I'm still pretty slow at understanding the accents, but I'm getting better and am actually noticing a slight change in my own sayings and accent.

Today, seven of us went for a hike up to Queenstown Hill. It was only a few hours hike, but it was quite steep and icy in some spots. Nevertheless, it gave a 360 degree view of the surrounding areas including the snowcapped Remarkables (mountain range), Lake Wakatipu and Queenstown. It's starting to get really cold here, but no snow yet. The ski resorts have already postponed opening day 3 times! It's been a really dry year, although it doesn't seem like it to me. The lack of rain the past few months have caused NZ to be in a bit of a power crisis (a lot, if not most of their electricity comes from hydropower). The past week and a half has mostly been spent looking for a job and a place to live. I get the same answer for jobs....basically not hiring until the ski season kicks in. However, I stumbled upon a birdpark that focuses on rehabilitation and conservation, among other things. They said they didn't have any jobs at the moment, but may have a position opening if they are approved for a kiwi (endangered endemic bird species and national icon) breeding program. They said Icould volunteer for now and if they get approved, I would get the job. So I have spent the past few days shadowing the keepers and helping out with feeding rounds. Unfortunately, accommodation and the uncertainty of the job (or any job for that matter!) is forcing me to move on. I will be moving up to Christchurch (largest south island city) where I know I will be able to find a job and a flat. The good news is I now have New Zealand references and one of the keepers is hooking me up with names, numbers, and email addresses of people he knows at aquariums, zoos/wildlife parks, and within the department of conservation (DOC-equivalent to our Fish and Wildlife and Forest Services). I don't think I'll get a job right away with any of these places, but at least I'll be able to volunteer and get my foot in the door!

Nothing much else has happened the past week. I was able to get out of town two days ago to rock climb at an indoor gym with a few guys from my hostel. It was tiny compared to the Rocknasium, but the price was right! Our ride didn't stay with us, so we hitchhiked home. Fortunately for us, hitchhiking is a very common and SAFE thing to do here! :o) Don't worry, I would never consider it in the US.

Lessons learned

When a cute boy asks you if you want to go tramping for 4 days in the back country, DO NOT fall for his puppy dog eyes and kiwi accent!!! When he says the track will be nice and easy, this is by New Zealand standards only. For us Americans, this means nice and hard!!

By now, you should have an idea how this is going to go. The past 4 days and 3 nights on the Greenstone and Routeburn Track have been one of the most challenging experiences of my life. On Thursday night, I met a guy in the communal room of my hostel. We did the typical chat, "Where are you from, what do you do, what are you doing here..." and he invited me to go tramping in the bush. I know, I know. It sounds dirty. But the translation is backpacking in the forest. It took me all of 5 seconds to make my decision. Afterall, what am I here for?. Had I known what was to come, I would have thought about it A LOT harder.

There is no way for me to convey what this experience was like in writing, but here is a summary; In four days, I have climbed two mountains, trudged through swamps, rock hopped (I thankfully still have both of my ankles), slipped on a mudslide, waded through streams, walked through rainforest and subalpine terrain, crossed many wire suspended bridges, leaped and ducked over and under and over and under logs, boulders, and bushes, and tiptoed across ledges. I encountered almost all weather elements possible at this time of year including gail forced winds, hail, thunder, lightning, rain, rain, rain, rainbows galore, and one lucky day of sunshine. I saw more waterfalls than I could have counted, scenery I thought was only possible through digitally enhanced movies, snow capped peaks, alpine lakes, mountain parrots and of course cows and sheep. The only wild mammal I saw was a lone rabbit in which my kiwi friend said he'd shoot if he had a gun. Tomtits were the most abundant birds I saw. They are quite curious and will hop right up to your feet. I saw but two worms on the entire trail and other than the mosquitoes at night, were the only invertebrates I encountered. I lived off of ramen noodles, crackers, granola bars and drank directly from streams. One hundred and six kilometers later, I am still alive, but my entire body aches including what little muscle I have on the bottom of my feet. Let me just say, New Zealanders are CRAZY!!! When I was climbing a summit in wind and hail wearing two layers of clothing and all the waterproofness I had, there were guys and gals wearing shorts and a rain coat. SHORTS!!! Why??? I'm still asking myself this.

After trudging with wet feet, no showers and four days of life essentials on my back, getting back into a town of a couple thousand people and sleeping in a hostel seems like paradise on Earth! Despite being on the verge of an emotional breakdown by the third day, I look back on this adventure with satisfaction. If I could do it over again, I would...but it would take quite a bit more of convincing. Afterall, I came to New Zealand to experience new things. Without doing the work and taking chances, this is not possible. And even though I have experienced a lot in the past four days, I can't help feeling I've only just begun.