8 December 2010

Last night was great fun.

We were seven in the lounge: a Swedish flatmate Martina, an Irish soon-to-be flatmate Hugh, an American former flatmate Ben, a Canadian former flatmate Alex, two Canadian temporary flatmates Tristan and Ana (they surfed our couch while on a bike tour through New Zealand), and myself. After dinner, while waiting for Tess, Tegan and Jake to arrive (three more couchsurfers from the states due to stay at our place) we played a few verbal games (i.e. Never Have I Ever). This is an interesting way to quickly get to know other people, or at least find out a few things they have and have not done.

Around 10pm we finally got to the playing of Mafia; something that multiple of us have been excited about for days now. If you have played this game before you know things can get pretty exciting and people can get really creative. If you haven't played this game yet, you may want to look into it. After an hour we had played three rounds and it was time to go skipping.

A skip is also known as a rubbish bin, or a dumpster. Before I came to Wellington I was open to the idea of dumpster diving, I had even done it a few times, or at least, I had done something of the sort. In Santa Cruz, California there is a bakery that throws out SO much bread (heaps of bread, as they say here). When I found out about this place I never purchased bread again while I lived in Santa Cruz. At that place it was only bread, and it was neatly placed, easy for picking out what you wanted to take home. Many people knew about this spot, which was okay because there was copious amounts of bread virtually every night. For the remainder of the bread that wasn't adopted by starving students a fate of pig stomachs was in store. I also participated in a freegan trash tour in New York City. That evening a woman took a group of about a dozen along the streets of Manhattan to the "good spots." The businesses put their rubbish in bags on the sidewalk to be picked up by the garbage trucks. We would carefully untie the bag, sort through to find things that are still good enough, then retie the bag, being very careful to not make a mess. That night someone found a pair of shoes are a shoe store that were still perfectly fine. I walked away with something like: eleven free range organic eggs, a couple pieces of fruit and veggies and some yogurt. The extent to which I go skipping here in Wellington is very different.

The first night I accompanied a skip adventure I was amazed. A case of beer!? Heaps of yogurt cups! Vegetables! Fruit! Canned goods! Rice! And other things. So many times I have wondered by the store threw away something. A lot is obvious. The pears are overripe, the cans are dented, the bag of rice has a hole in it. But why is this unopened jug of orange juice that doesn't expire for another two weeks in the bin? I have no idea. Part of me thinks the wastefulness is a huge shame, the other part of me is excited I get to eat such great food for free. We are liberating these less than perfect food items from a fate of a landfill and placing them back in line for the fate of human consumption.

Back to last night. Six of us got ready for the adventure. Backpacks, check. Bags, check. Gloves, check. Headlamp, check. We were ready to go. It was about 11:10 when we left the house. The walk there was filled with talking and laughter, but as we got closer we quieted down. As I said, I haven't been skipping much, but our spot seems ideal for it. There is a little alleyway where all but two people wait, and pack when it is time. The other two go to the dumpster. It was my third time going in. I would have been revolted, completely against getting into a dumpster a few years ago. Not anymore. Now I can honestly say I enjoy it. I think it is fun, and exciting.

First we remove the bags of rubbish from the top. The treasure is always at the bottom, beneath the real trash. Once we take out enough to be able to sort through what's left, I hop in. I start from one corner and work my way around in a counterclockwise fashion, making sure to dig to the bottom all the way. At first I don't see much, and then--PEARS! A whole flat of them! Now we're talking. A couple bags of veggies, from which we take eggplant, bell pepper, leek, cabbage, cauliflower, pumpkin, potato, tomato, carrot, kale... Then more digging. Yogurt! The good stuff, and a lot of it! Plain unsweetened yogurt. "Mmm... I'm going to make a delicious fruit salad," I think to myself. I'm always doing this; thinking of what I will make with the these I am finding. I'm in the dumpster physically but in my head I'm already in the kitchen. What's that? A whole unopened case of bacon? Why? Not even expired, yet thrown out. I don't eat bacon. I don't like the taste of it and I don't even like the smell of bacon. I do know that other people love it though. I ask Andris how much we should take. At first he just says "Take!" Then he sees how big the box is and we decide that half is plenty. Tonight Andris is the one who is taking the goods from me over to the other people so they can pack them in the bags.

I continue to search. Milk. Of course I find milk. I have been living here for a month and we have yet to find milk. I even said to someone just a few hours prior that we don't find milk so we buy it. So it just figures that I would now find multiple jugs of milk. And now--Beer! Hurray! We are always happy to find beer. A case of beer gets dropped, or something, a couple bottles get broken and they throw out the lot. Lucky us. When Andris sees the beer his eyes light up.

"Be quiet!" says Andris and runs away. I freeze and listen to the sound of someone coming out the back of the store. I switch off my headlamp, and wait. A few moments late Andris comes back, letting me know we're clear and I continue searching. Canned tomatoes. Some sort of meaty-jerky product. Chocolate! Sweet! I love chocolate! Andris rapidly taps me again and runs away. I switch off my headlamp and hold still again, listening. More sounds of people coming out of the store, moving things around, talking. I am thinking of possible occurrences. " Are they going to throw something into the bin on top of me? I wouldn't mind a bag of light trash, oh but please don't throw in a bag of meat! A big bag of chicken, like the one I saw last week in here. They probably wouldn't even look before chucking it on and I'm on the closer side to them so it would land on me. Would I fall over? Would I make a sound? Would it matter? Would Andris stop them before they threw something in here or just hope that I'd be fine?" So many questions were going through my head. I wasn't scared of them catching us. Maras has been caught in the act before and he was just told to take what he needed and get out of there. So I figured they would just do the same with me. But I still didn't want things to be thrown in on top of me. The sounds stop. Andris comes back and I'm almost to the last corner. More beer! And more sounds. Andris taps me again and runs off to. This time I hear a forklift start up. Quickly I start to wonder how that could affect me. "Would they put anything in here that needed to be lifted by a forklift? No, nothing is ever that big or heavy in here. Would they move the dumpster?! No. No that's silly because it has been in the same place every time we have come, they wouldn't move it tonight, at 12:15am." A minutes of waiting and aching in my legs from holding still in not the most comfortable of positions and silence returns. Andris returns too and says we should hurry up and get out of here. I get the beer, another milk and hop out. We replace all the trash we took out, making sure that we didn't leave any kind of mess and leave. All six of us are carrying full loads on our backs and/or in our hands and smiles on our faces. An excellent catch. I am happy we have so many people to help carry.

The walk back always takes longer than the walk there because we have to stop a few times for rest breaks and trading of loads. When we got home it was party. Three people hung out in the lounge while we went skipping. One of them had never even heard of this lifestyle before, and he was amazed at the things we brought home. We drank the beer as we washed, dried and put away all this treasure: milk, beer, bacon, yogurt, pears, pumpkin, cauliflower, eggplant, kale, tomato, bell pepper, radish, apple, banana, potato, canned tomatoes, teeth whitening product, hummus, tortellini, ravioli, sausage, cream, creamy pasta sauce, chocolate, jerky, cheese.

Yeah, I like skipping :-)

Paradise, then the Shining

After two weeks in Auckland I continued on to visit a friend in Opotiki. It was like I had never left. Even though it had been nearly a year and a half since I had been there, walking through the door felt so familiar, just like something I had done the day before. Everything seemed to be as it was before, including, to my great delight, the outdoor bathtub. I have written about this bathtub in the past, as it was one of my favorite things during my last trip in New Zealand. A bathtub in the yard, with an excellent view of the sky creates quite a delightful evening.

I decided to take full advantage of the outdoor bathtub. The first thing I needed to do was go to the beach to collect wood for the fire. I danced with joyous abandon while I collected drift wood. I needed a lot for a fire big enough to warm my bath water. Two buckets full looked good enough to get me started. I packed the hole in ground underneath the half full bathtub and got the fire started. Now we play the waiting game. I found that an excellent way for me to pass the time was a glass of wine. When it is ready, I lay in bath for well over an hour. The coals that still burn in the fire pit underneath keep the water warm as I star gaze to my heart’s content. I go to bed with a smile on my face.

I enjoyed my week in Opotiki very much. With walks on a beautiful beach, outdoor baths, cooking up a storm and good company, how could I complain? I even got a day of paid work, though I could hardly call it “work” per say. My last day there was the Motu Challenge: a race including mountain biking, kayaking and road biking. I set safety on a rapid for the kayak section.

The day started with a coffee while watching the competitors bike past the house. As the rain drops started to lightly fall, my enthusiasm waned; I wasn’t looking forward to sitting by the river in the rain. We had a few hours before the kayak section of the race so we went to a café to drink a coffee and meet with the rest of the river safety crew. While drinking our coffee a man tells us about a river safety course coming up soon. His name is Nick; he is part of NZRA (New Zealand Rafting Association). Even though the weather didn’t look much better, it was time to get moving.

I was assigned to cover the lower most rapid. It was conveniently located beside an access road; however my spot for best coverage was on the opposite side of the river. I am not a river kayaker, so thankfully the river was flat below the rapid and I was able to paddle across without trouble. I knew I had some time still before the competitors were due so I gathered wood for a fire and read a book. The weather wasn’t sunny, but at least it wasn’t raining the entire time. As it turned out, even though my rapid had the most action, I was hardly needed for assistance. The rapid was barely a class II and the river afterwards was flat and not very deep. Even though they didn’t need saving while in the water after flipping over, they still appreciated help with emptying the water from their long boats (5 meters/15 feet plus). When late afternoon came we joined the party on a field in Opotiki, drinking the free beer that was offered to us for being part of the race. It was quite an enjoyable day.

The next morning I began my New Zealand hitch hiking experience. I had only hitch-hiked maybe three times before: once in Hawaii when I was 16, and twice in California, one time being because we ran out of gas. I was excited and nervous. After ten cars blasting right past a truck stopped. He was only going to the other side of town, but that was better than nothing. Getting the next ride took an hour of waiting. A woman finally picked me up who was luckily going all the way to Gisborne, also my destination for the day. Now is where I must admit that driving makes me sleepy. Let me correct that, being a passenger in a car makes me sleepy, when I am the one driving I stay awake just fine. It is an odd thing, I will be fully rested, not tired in the least, then I get in a car and I can’t keep my eyes open. This doesn’t happen all the time, more so on long trips. This was one of those trips. I literally could not stop my eye lids from dropping. I was trying to stay awake, trying to be good company, but I just couldn’t. At one point, as I was drifting off, my mind noticed that she had just asked me a question and replayed the last few words to my conscience thought. It was something like, “Have you ever seen that?” or, “Have you ever done that?” and I answered “No” without thinking. After the word came out of my mouth I realized that I had no idea what I just said no to. I tried to make my brain replay more of what she had said while I was drifting, but nothing came arose. I was better at staying awake after that.

In Gisborne I visited two friends. The first being a woman I met last year, Biddy. The second was someone I had met recently in Auckland, Stephen. Biddy lives in a house with a garden; Stephen currently lives in a room at his parents’ hotel. While I was at Biddy’s the sun was out and it was beautiful. I enjoyed watching ducklings waddle after their mother. When I went to visit Stephen the weather turned unpleasant: rainy and cold. With weather like that I stayed indoors a lot. Even then however I was still so cold. There was one day that I was so cold it took half an hour in a sauna to warm up. After twenty minutes my feet were still cold then at thirty I was finally warmed up enough to start sweating. I’m not a big fan of the cold. Yeah, I’m from California and I like the sunshine.

So, the Shining. Have you seen this movie? I have only seen it once and that was about four years ago. From what I remember of it this hotel I was staying at reminded me of the Shining. It was only one story, not as big as the one in the movie, but something about it, maybe the décor. Or maybe it was the fact that there were no guests. All the doors to the rooms were kept open and each room was decorated differently, creating an interesting, sort of ominous feeling as I walked down the hall to the room I had chosen. I was allowed to pick any room I wanted. My choice was narrowed based on the décor, then determined based on the comfort of the mattress. It was fun checking out all the rooms.

When the weather finally cleared up I hit the road to hitch-hike to Taihape. I was heading to River Valley to visit Arnie, a friend from California. I drank a coffee in preparation for the long hours in the car. It took five rides, including Stephen driving me to the edge of town. The second guy had a dog and was on his way to a hot spring. There is something… odd about the people that frequent hot springs, both in California and in New Zealand. At least, that is what I have encountered. This guy spent almost the whole 30 minute drive talking about “lump heads.” The third ride was from two guys who travel around for their job doing something for the military. They drove me from just south of Gisborne to Bulls, five hours or so including lunch. Once again I felt the pull of drowsiness. Why wasn’t that caffeine working?! I ended up allowing myself to nap, but it only lasted half an hour. I wonder what the social etiquette is for sleeping hitch hikers… The fourth ride was the fastest ride I had gotten so far. As I was getting my bag out of the car, before I even set it on the ground, my next ride was pulling over. Yeah, he was hailed by the guy who was dropping me off, but it was a pretty sweet switch. He drove me the hour north to Taihape, where I only had to wait ten minutes before a friend of Arnie’s picked me up and took me to River Valley.

after dinner

A handful of people have inquired about the rest of the evening after the Thai food dinner. So here's the end of that story...

We walked along looking for a bar that they fancied. When we choose one the doorlady told me I had to take off my horns because policy is "no costumes." I didn't mind, so I took them off. Once through the door the guys demanded that I put them back on, besides, there were girls with flowers in their hair! Before drinks were ordered I mentioned that if I didn't leave at that moment I would miss the last bus. They promptly offered one of the three spare beds they had (each of them had a room with two beds) or even one of the rooms if I wanted. My condition for staying was that I get a toothbrush, and preferably floss too. They agreed, so I stayed. While drinking my third and last glass of wine for the evening I stood in a very crowded bar chatting with one of the guys I came in with and another fellow with golden front teeth.

Two of the guys had to work in the morning. (How do you like thinking about the possibility that your pilot may have a hangover while flying your plane?) We hopped in a taxi and went back to their hotel around midnight. Unfortunately the night crew couldn't (or wouldn't) supply me with a toothbrush :-( But they did bring one up in the morning. Each of the guys went to their respective rooms and I slept in the spare bed in the room with guy who I knew was for sure married, based on photos I had seen hours prior.

In the morning I went to a farmer's market. Oh how I love farmers markets! There was a booth there with tasty hummus (WAY better that the garlic spread they called hummus at a restaurant I went to a few days prior) and a delicious dip he called Tahini, in which he put lemon juice and spices.

Aotearoa

I have fallen out of the habit of writing, but I'm going to start again, right... now!

A few things I have done over the past ten months, since I wrote last, include: delicious potlucks, a persimmon war, driving from New York City to Madison Wisconsin, living in San Francisco for five months, visiting Portland Oregon (something I have wanted to do for years!), baking cupcakes for cupcake challenges, playing lots of board games, driving from Anchorage Alaska to San Francisco California, living in a tent while working as a raft guide for three months, going to Burning Man with three of my siblings. There is much to say on all of these topics, and others, but I feel like I would rather write about the present.

I have returned to New Zealand. When I was here in 2009 I loved it and before I even left I knew that I wanted to return. As the summer progressed this year I played with a lot of options for the winter. Then I asked myself for reasons why I wouldn't go to New Zealand again, and I couldn't come up with anything. So I bought a one way place ticket and applied for a one year work holiday visa. I arrived in Auckland on Monday the 20th of September.

The first day here I opened a bank account and applied an IRD number (the number needed to work legally, for taxes purposes). Shortly after, I got a mobile phone number. Phone plans are WAY different in NZ vs USA. For two week I hung out in Auckland while waiting for the IRD number to come via snail mail, before setting off to other parts of the country.

There is one day I feel compelled to write about that was particularly humorous. It was a Friday. The first part of day consisted of coffee with a new friend then taking advantage of a free musical performance at the university. While walking down the street towards a coffee shop I had read was particularly good, I decided I would wear my horns. These horns are made from twisted clay: purple, green, black, and white. Holes were poked in them and they were baked at Burning Man, then affixed with an elastic cord. These horns had been in my backpack, waiting for an opportunity to see the New Zealand sun. I figured now was a perfect enough time.

I had lunch in one of the coolest cemeteries I have seen yet. If you find yourself in Auckland, check out the Symonds St Cemetery. I choose to sit at the site of John and Jane Smith. No joke. I thought it was hilarious that someone named John Smith, the typical fake male name in the US, chose to marry a Jane, therefore making her Jane Smith, the typical fake female name in the US. Sure, it was over a century ago that they died, but still. Too funny.

All day I was planning on attending a CouchSurfing party in the evening. After a few hours of drinking coffee, reading and walking I found myself with still 30 minutes to go before I could show up the CS party. So I continued to walk. On the street a guy stopped me, saying that he recognized me from earlier because of the horns. This is the beginning of a very amusing evening. Over the next four hours I think about fifteen percent of what was told to me may have been true.

There were three of them, all in their late thirties perhaps. After the first statement of recognition I am asked why I am walking around alone and if I have eaten dinner yet. I am invited to join them. I promptly say yes. They're surprised, unbelieving that I really just said yes. We start to walk together, in the direction they were headed, back the way I had just come. They're looking for a restaurant to eat dinner, in a very haphazard sort of way. First they tell me they're bowling instructors, then fish trainers, then some other profession. Initially they tell me they're all married, though none of them are wearing rings. I find out later that at least one of them IS married for real; I saw pictures of his wife and child on his handy dandy iPhone. I'm told that wedding rings aren't allowed when you're pilot because they're a hazard. I'm also told by the one wearing a ring on his middle finger that he never takes it off.

We ended up going into a Thai restaurant that is full. First the server tells us there is no room. Then he says we can sit at a table good for three, if we want to squeeze. Of course we do. Many, many laughs were had. The table next to us even asked us to keep it down. At one point we involved another table in our conversations. I'm not sure what started the involvement but the graffiti written on the window in the condensation became a topic. One of the girls added words to the lewd picture. I commented that she forgot to add an apostrophe before the s. That's me, editing graffiti! :-)

At the end of dinner I am confused why this place was so crowded/popular. The food was no where near the quality of the Thai food I had a few days prior in a food court, for half the price. The flavors in the main dishes are mild at best and the desert is... not great. The fried banana has more soggy batter than banana, topped with whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles! They only have vanilla flavored cream. One dining recommendation for Auckland is to skip Thai Me Up; instead, head to Food Alley and go to the Thai place a the back. WAY better flavor! The Tom Yum Noodle Dish: de-lish! Another dining recommendation: drink coffee.

I am not a coffee drinker. I enjoy the smell of the coffee but I have never been a coffee drinker. In Auckland however, I found myself drinking more coffee than I have in the past year. What can I say? They have some tasty coffee. Plus people kept inviting me out to coffee. Sure, I could have had tea or hot chocolate, but with coffee like that... When in Rome.

found

I found this transcribed bit of conversation from a year ago. It made me smile so I thought I'd share. The conversation starts with me reading part of a sign.

Hillary: "Serious death or injury"

Steven: there are some deaths that aren't very serious.

Sarah: yeah, like when a clown dies.

Past Times Part Six: 2009

Californian Summer

Thursday, October 22, 2009 2:48 PM

Hello! I am once again writing about the things I do. Many times this summer I meant to sit down and write of the fun filled days but I never got around to it. At last, as I begin my next adventure, I am taking the time to give you a brief update.

This summer felt both long and short, as time tends to feel. As soon as I returned from my southern hemisphere adventure I began my eighth summer as a white water rafting on the South Fork of the American River (class III white water). I also trained on and started guiding the Middle Fork of the American River (class IV white water). When I wasn't working I found time to run a few different rivers for fun with other guides. The Stanislaus was pretty and the Merced trip was fun, as was the overnight fun trip on the Middle Fork but the two that deserve short stories are the Mokelumne and the Cherry Creek trips.

Daniel, Vinny and I had a day off, so we decided to go rafting. The Tiger Creek section of the Mokelumne River was somewhere none of us had gone but Daniel was keen try, so Vinny and I tagged along. The usual put-in for this stretch of river is directly below a low, so of course we put-in directly above it. We climbed aboard Daniel's boat, a boat that has been nick named "the death riken" and Daniel gave a prep-talk. He told us that we were going to have to paddle really hard. Okay. Let's go. Vinny and I were sitting across from each other while Daniel was sitting in the back guiding us. Paddling hard, we went into the wave. Just as I am thinking that we made and "that wasn't too bad" I feel the boat stop, then start to move in the wrong direction. Up pops the front of the boat, caused Vinny and I to tumble out the back of the boat. All three of us are in the water. All I am thinking about are the words of a few kayakers who looked at the dam about fifteen minutes before we ran it: "that's a drowning machine." Then my head came back up and I was breathing air! My helmet doesn't exactly fit properly so I was having trouble with seeing, but hey! At least I still had my paddle in hand. I had my feet downstream of me until I hit a hole, which flipped me over so I was going head first down the river. This was the point at which I really knew that I didn't want to be where I was: still in the water! I swam over the shore and felt like a wet cat, clinging to a bit of dry land. Daniel of course, being the rock star rafter that he is, got to shore immediately, watched the boat surf in the hole that I was flipped over in, then proceeded to get the boat back for us to continue. It was an exciting experience, but nothing compared to my day on Cherry Creek.

Cherry Creek was an intense ride. Before going people would ask me if I was scared or excited or what. I wasn't really feeling anything about it because I wasn't thinking about it. That is, until Daniel did his safety talk immediately before putting on. From what he was saying I started to get scared, but I thought, "hey, I can't back out now!" From the moment we put on the water I was really scared, and that feeling didn't go away until more than two hours later when finished the Cherry Creek stretch of river. Taking two really big swims definitely wasn't on the side of helping the feeling subside. Daniel was guiding the raft I was in; along with us were Trevor and Erin. The first big swim I took was in a rapid called Smokey's Hole. We hit a rock sideways and wrapped (the boat wrapped around the rock and was stuck). I was on the downriver side of the boat with Erin sitting across from me. She was immediately swept out of the boat, just as Daniel was calling a "High side!" Which means that everyone should jump to the high side of the boat. As I turned, trying to grab something, I saw Trevor leaping across the boat but I wasn't quick enough so I followed Erin’s lead and got swept out of the boat too. As I was being tumbled over rocks and through waves I realized I still had my paddle in hand. I can't swim as well holding a paddle than not holding a paddle. Just as I thought "Screw the paddle! We have two spares in the boat" I saw an eddy right next to me. I threw the paddle into the eddy and swam in right behind it. Erin was just downstream of me, on the side as well. Daniel and Trevor were standing on the rock that the boat was wrapped around. Skipping the middle part, once we got that situation all taken care of we were ready to continue rafting down the river.

Then came the rapid name Coffin. When we hit a rock sideways I was happy that I was on the ball this time, holding on and on the high side. Then I realized that the boat wasn't stopping, it was flipping! And I was 'closing the coffin' by holding on! I let go of the boat and fell in the water. When I came up I was underneath the boat, which is a bad place to be. I quickly got out from underneath the upside down boat and saw that (of course) Daniel was already on top of the boat. I held onto the boat for a moment but knew that I wasn't going to be able to pull myself up and Daniel was concentrating on Erin just then so he couldn't help me. I found out later that Erin was recirculating in a hole at that moment. I let go of the boat and caught a rock, which I held onto for a moment. Meanwhile Daniel threw his throw bag to Erin just as she was released from the hole. She held onto the bag but at that point it wasn't helping. She let go of the bag and about the same time that I decided the rock wasn't the best place to be for me. I saw that the shore wasn't too far away and figured that I would go for it. I over estimated the amount of energy I had left. When I was in the current of the river, looking down river and not knowing what was up next, and knowing that I wouldn't be able to make it to the shore, it was terrifying. Thankfully Trevor was already on the shore and he threw his through bag out of me. Erin was there as well so we both grabbed the rope, nearly pulling Trevor off shore. The bit of pendulum swing I got was enough to help me over so I let go of the rope and swam the last couple feet. After climbing onto a dry rock I assumed the fetal position; which is where I was when John's boat passed me. He likes to laugh at that picture and in fact, I do too, now that the situation is over :-)

Oddly enough John, who wasn’t in our boat, was the only one injured. He jumped in to pick up a lost throw bag and hurt his ankle. Once the flipped raft situation was cleaned up we continued down the river. Even though Erin and I were done, the only logical way out was via the raft and river. We walked the next big rapid, Lewis’ Leap, and after that were was only one big rapid left, called Lumsden Falls, which Daniel R-Oned (raft one person). We met up with three more friends at the bottom of Cherry Creek/the top of the Tuolumne River. Then we began an adventurous overnight trip on the Tuolumne.

A couple other highlights of this summer include going to a VNV Nation concert, a day trip to University Falls (a bit of a hike leads you to a beautiful section of the river that includes four natural water slides), picking heaps of fresh blackberries (and making culinary deliciousness with them) and going to Burning Man (an incredible experience that I am not even going to attempt to describe).

Last week I started a California road trip; the details of which will come later…

it begins

Sunday, October 25, 2009 8:11 AM

I am one of the many people that are born and raised in an area that they have never fully explored. You know, it's the case of always have it available, letting it wait until another day to be included on an adventure; until that day however I have been going exploring somewhere abroad. Now is the time at last! After spending the majority of my life in California, I am finally setting out to see many of those places that I have heard of but never bothered to make time for because they were too close at hand. I will be driving my newly purchased (from my brother) Toyota 4Runner around California for five weeks, one of which has already flown by.

The morning of Friday the 16th of October I waited at the San Francisco Airport for the much anticipated arrival of Sarah. We traveled so well together in Australia that we decided to give it another go on another continent. Our first few days were spent in San Francisco doing such things as driving down Lombard St, walking around Pier 39, spending three hours in the Exploratorium (not nearly enough time to see everything, but sensory overload was settling in), walking across the Golden Gate Bridge, walking on Haight St, having a picnic in a park, seeing mock defenestrated furniture and going to a farmer's market. Next we headed south.

On Sunday we took a longish route between San Francisco and Santa Cruz, which included a hike in some redwoods near Felton. Monday morning we drove down Highway One with hot springs in our thoughts. Our destination was Sykes hot springs, located in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park at the end of a ten mile hike along the Pine Ridge Trail. The weather didn't look the brightest but we had high hopes for the day clearing up - it didn't. Just before embarking on the hike, on a day the forecast said "possible showers," it began to sprinkle. Naturally I was fully prepared for a backpacking trip in the rain, not! I took out the black trash bag that I use as a rain guard for my backpack, put it on and I was ready to hike in my cotton t-shirt, long shorts and tennis shoes. Sarah actually has a rain guard for her backpack so she was a bit more prepared there (though I must say that neither of our backpacks got wet on this trip) however, she was wearing a tank top and short shorts. The sprinkle of a rain never became a full on rain but it did get a bit heavier and it didn't let up until we were at the end of the ten mile hike.

At the five mile mark we passed three men eating lunch. We didn't see them again until a good hour and a half after we got into the hot spring, when they finally caught up to us. The next morning one of them told us that when we passed them on the trail they thought we were hopeless. When they didn't catch up to us until the hot spring however, their opinion changed. They thought we were rock stars on a mission, traveling light and fast. Funny how first impressions can be so different from later opinions.

The two day back packing trip was great. The trail was challenging, especially in the rain. The next day it was sunny however, so it was almost like hiking a completely different trail instead of the same one twice. The hot springs were a much appreciated reward at the end of the first day and then again after a long night on a very uncomfortable ground (we didn't pick the best place to sleep, next time I'll be more selective). And oh was the whole thing beautiful! Big Sur burnt last year leaving many of the trees with black scars, creating a wonderful contrast in the scenery. Also this was Sarah's first encounter with a squirrel. I'm not sure which is cuter, the squirrel or the way she squeals with excitement when she sees squirrels, probably the later.

Tuesday evening we drove back up to Santa Cruz, where we stayed for the next two nights. Climbing Tree Nine was a fun experience. Though I have climbed it twice before and have greatly improved on my fear of heights, I still get a little tingle in my spine when I do things like that. Tree Nine is a very tall tree at the top of the UCSC campus; it is a popular climbing spot and on a clear day you can see across the bay all the way to Monterey. When we reached the top we found that people had littered it with personal items such as a bra, socks, boxers, a necklace, a few bracelets, shoe laces, a weed tin and bits of string. It was quite ugly, especially compared to how I remembered the way it looked the first time I was up there, with none of that miscellaneous human debris.

Thursday evening we left Santa Cruz, but not before we stocked up on almond butter. I had a bit left over from the summer; Sarah tasted it and likes it as much as peanut butter, if not more (we ate a LOT of peanut butter in Australia). On the drive up to El Dorado Hills we picked up Eden. Now we are three.

Friday and Saturday included two beautiful hikes in El Dorado County. I had been to University Falls and Horsetail Falls but Sarah and Eden hadn't. My visits have only been during the summer, which has the up side of hot days so you want to swim, but visiting these places in autumn has the up side of some amazing colors. University Falls is about an hour hike each way that leads you to a section of the river that holds four natural water slides, each falling into a little swimming hole. For the top three you slide down the angled rock all the way but the last one gives you a little free fall. The last one has both the scariest aspect as well as the safest. It is the safest because of the free fall, there is no way you could hit your head on the rock. It is the scariest because it has the illusion that you could miss the pool at the bottom and over the edge to your pain (if not your death). It also scary because in order to get out you need to use a rope, otherwise you may slip on the rock and fall where you don't want to go. Unfortunately we didn't go swimming this time; the shadows were long, the air was chill and the water was cold. I will be back another day.

This morning I ate a bit of my homemade blackberry ginger pie for breakfast and now we are going rafting on the South Fork American River.

One last note: it was mentioned that I failed to share an important event of the Cherry Creek experience. With all the mayhem we lost a few paddles in the river. One of them was recovered in an awesome way. We were rafting down the river when I spotted the t-grip handle of the paddle sticking straight out of the water. The blade had jammed itself into a rock at the bottom of the river. We pulled over and Daniel lassoed the paddle back to our “safekeeping.”

hiking and hot springs

Saturday, November 21, 2009 7:44 AM

November 5, 2009
On Monday October 26th we headed to South Lake Tahoe. By the time we got to the trailhead for Mt. Tallac it was mid afternoon. We didn’t know how long the hike would take, yet we decided to pack light and not bring anything. When my brother John hikes, he likes to always bring a headlamp and a lighter – just in case. I will often follow that example with the addition of a snack. I did think about bringing a headlamp, but I couldn’t be bothered, I just wanted to start walking. The hike was beautiful; we skirted along Fallen Leaf Lake then climbed Mt. Tallac. Sarah and I were hiking at a more accelerated rate than Eden so we got to the top shortly before sunset. I knew that Lake Tahoe was large but sitting up there looking out over the lake put the grandness into better perspective for me. It is very beautiful up there; it is also quite cold! As soon as the sun starting to set, the winds picked up. Sarah and I hurried down from the top, met up with Eden along the way and headed back. We hiked in the dark for while as it had gotten dark long before we reached the car. When we finally got back to the car we were ravenously hungry. I wanted to just eat what I could grab quickest but I knew that if I took a couple minutes to make something it would be all the better (as it always is). Whole wheat bread, tahini, hard boiled egg, mushroom and tomato were combined to create an egg sandwich that never tasted so good!

We set up camp not too far from the trailhead. We erected the tent, ready to be slept in with all three of our sleeping pads, sleeping bags and pillows. Then we sat in the warmth of the car until it was time to go to sleep. One thing about camping in the winter is that when the sun goes down there isn’t a whole lot to do, and it is cold. But you can’t sleep for a whole twelve hours! So we sat in the car listening to the howl of the wind! One particularly strong gust made me think to turn on the headlights to check on the tent. At that moment the tent was flying by the car. I was shocked; all I could think was “Oh. There goes t the tent.” Sarah was having a delirious moment and actually thought the tent flying by the car was another car driving by us, about to hit our tent. Eden however was out of his seat immediately to capture the run-away tent. I don’t even know how he got out of his seat so fast; one moment there, next moment gone.

It rained that night. In my half asleep delirium I was laying there worrying about getting stuck when we would try to drive away the next morning; however I was also very reluctant to get out of my warm sleeping bag. When the sun finally breached the horizon we were ready to join it. Ice clung to our tent and it was so cold we could hardly use our fingers. I was happy to have my fingerless-gloves/mittens but I also realized that I need better cold weather clothing. After breaking camp and briefly visiting the lakeside we enjoyed the warmth and bottomless coffee in Sprouts.

Next up on our agenda was Yosemite. It is a bit of a drive from Tahoe so driving took up the rest of the day. Camping in Yosemite was chilly but not as cold as Tahoe. We hiked on the Mist Trail that day, Half Dome was already closed for the season. In the evening Eden was picked up by a friend then Sarah and I left the park. And then we were two.

The next week in brief: I spent Halloween in San Francisco dressed as a cupcake. I made this costume from scratch and it was a lot of fun! I even handed out mini cupcakes to random people I encountered. I went to an REI used gear sale and found a rockin' pair of waterproof boots for $15. I am super stoked on these boots and every so often during the past two weeks I look down and think something along the lines of "man these shoes rock!" One day I spent cooking a bunch of food. I baked a pumpkin in the oven, made pumpkin soup and pumpkin butter with the flesh and roasted pumpkin seeds; hummus, eggplant pizzas, fried green tomatoes, dehydrated pears and pear rhubarb crumble. That night we had a dinner party with so many laughs that I don’t know how I ate as much as I did between the laughing fits.

I finally used the last of my toothpaste. This may seem a menial detail to be writing about however I thought it was funny enough to share. I have disliked the taste of this toothpaste since the first time I used it. I wasn't just going to throw it out though, it was good enough for the purpose it served. I used that toothpaste all summer and the taste never got better. At last, the final use! I was so excited to be rid of it! Then, in the last moment before I threw the empty tube away, a tiny piece of it flicked into my eye. What a way to go out!

My car broke. Thankfully the timing was just right, well almost. My brothers John and Daniel, Sarah and I had just driven three hours to Bridgeport when we found out about the problem with the car. We were already there so we took a dip in the Travertine Hot Springs before heading back to El Dorado Hills that night. The next day (Thursday the 5th of November) John fixed the wheel bearing and we drove back to Bridgeport. Another evening spent in a hot spring and we were happy :-)

at last

Friday, November 27, 2009 12:25 AM

During our time spent on the east side of the Sierras we visited the obsidian at Mono Lake, explored the ghost town known as Bodie, broke into the Devil’s Postpile, attempted to hike White Mountain and soaked in hot springs. The White Mountain adventure had a few interesting twists. The road was closed due to a recent snow storm. My car has four wheel drive and tires fit for snow driving, so naturally John felt we could go all the way to the trailhead anyway. We got stuck. Well, momentarily. A bit of digging and strategic placement of rocks got us out in no time; but we decided not to risk it by continuing to the trailhead. Instead, we drove back to the first bit of snow that was tricky to cross, parked the car and walked. The landscape there is barren; it looks like an alien planet, especially with the occasional patches of snow. We know we wouldn’t have time to hike all the way to the top when we started. What I didn’t count on however was getting elevation sickness. This was my first high elevation expedition so I didn’t know what to expect, even with John’s prior mention of it. At first I had a slight headache and a very mild nauseous feeling. Sarah recommended I eat something. So I did. Instantly I regretted it. Thankfully I was already sitting down. I didn’t throw up, but I came close, complete with dry heaving. Funny thing about elevation sickness is that when you descend you immediately begin to feel better. Once I found it in me to get up and start walking again, this time in the direction I had come from, I felt better. Daniel didn’t have it so easy. He felt fine until we got to the car, then the ill feeling hit him. Weird.

After a couple days back in the Placerville area Sarah and I hit the road again. Two peas in a pod. After driving fifteen minutes away from my mom’s house I realized I forgot my sleeping bag. How absentminded could I be? That is one thing that I NEED to have! I tell Sarah what I did and she says right back that she forgot hers as well. Ha! Two peas indeed :-)

That day (November 10) we drove to Kings Canyon National Park. After getting a map and information at the visitor’s center we went back to the car. Here is the critical moment where Sarah smiled at a stranger parked next to us, or so we say – about the smile being critical that is. We got in the car, discussed where we should camp, realized we needed more information and got back out of the car to into the building again. The guy parked next to us offered his knowledge of the park. We soon learned that his name is Steven, he likes to explore caves and he would like to take us flying in his four-seater airplane. Oh, he also told us the answer to our question about camp sites.

The next day we hiked, saw two bears, raided the Bear Boxes (a fantastic experience that has come to be the opposite of my car being stolen a few years back) and went on a cave tour while wearing faerie wings. Steven invited us to stay at his house for the night so we offered to cook dinner. Seemed like a good deal for each of us. In the morning we drove to the nearby airport.

As soon as we got in the plane Steven started my flying lesson by explaining that you steer with your feet. Quite a strange change for me. I assisted with the take off then flew the plane by myself for a bit before Steven took over so we could get a better look at Kings Canyon from not so far above. On the way back he took me through a couple drills with sharp diving turns by first showing me how to do it, then letting me do it myself. The pressure built up in my head and it felt like my face was trying to fall off! The small boxes on the seat next to Sarah were floating momentarily in the air. It was awesome! Landing seems to be a bit tricky; I didn’t quite get it so he had to do that part without me. It was my first time in a small airplane and it rocked my socks :-)

The second half of the eleventh of November was spent driving. Sarah was taking a turn driving through Sequoia National Park when it started snowing. What a way to experience your first snow! We took a break so she could hug a sequoia tree while watching the snowflakes float down to the ground. The forecast was ugly for the following day so we decided to leave Sequoia on our to-do list and continue driving south. Hot springs were our destination that night; unfortunately the ones we chose were no longer in existence.

Death Valley National Park was next. Death Valley is an awesome place. It was an amazing feel to it that I can’t quite explain. I just liked being there. There is a place they call The Racetrack that is a playa similar in a way to the location of Burning Man. On this flat turf you find rocks with paths leading up them that could only have gotten there by the rock scraping across the ground. Apparently no one knows exactly how the rocks move, though one speculation is it happens when it is cold and icy with a wind. We hiked around the rim of the Ubehebe Crate, played on sand dunes while wearing wings and slept near the Devil’s Golf course. I learned that not only does California hold the highest point in the United States, but also the lowest: Badwater Basin. The name Badwater comes from when a prospector was exploring with his mule, finding water in a desert should cause one to rejoice, but not this time. The water is so salty that his mule refused to drink it. He noted on his map “bad water” and the name stuck.

On the way to Joshua Tree National Park we stopped at the Kelso Sand Dunes, also known as the singing sand dunes. Complete with our faerie wings we hiked to the top, where we relaxed and enjoyed the view while playing with the sand. When you create a big enough disturbance in the sand it hums as it cascades down the dune. The best sounds I got were when I was near-running down the dune. Upon leaving the dunes we went on an unfruitful wild goose chase for some hot springs, eventually finding just outside the park for the night.

Monday the 16th of November we visited Joshua Tree. I think I would have appreciated it more if I had not just been in Death Valley. I have heard so many wonderful things about Joshua Tree that I feel like I need to visit it again someday. That being said, I did enjoy the view from atop Ryan Mountain.

That evening we finally found a usable hot spring! This one even had a sort of shower built into it. Granted, the spring was located immediately adjacent to a busy highway and had a lot of human traffic of its own. We opted to use the shower and skip the tub. Once we felt refreshed and rejuvenated we made the couple hour drive to San Diego (are you familiar with the movie Anchorman?). The next couple days were spent in the company of my brother Daniel, his girlfriend Melissa and our friend Mikie. We celebrated Melissa’s 21st birthday with a trip not just to the bars after midnight the night before, but also a trip to the nude beach during the day. Then we topped it off with a delicious lasagna dinner and lemon cake created by Daniel.

San Diego is where Sarah and I parted ways. “Adieu adieu, parting is such sweet sorrow.” It has been a grand California adventure with Sarah for a travel partner. I will miss her heaps.

Past Times Part Five: New Zealand

New Zealand is Beautiful!

Saturday April 18, 2009 9:21 PM

April 17 2009

What to say when there is so much I can say. Which stories do I choose to share through these emails and which do I leave out. I just watched a pretty sunset and am now sitting in our van parked on a beach lookout in the Catlins of the south island of New Zealand. I have been in New Zealand for two and a half weeks now, doing and seeing many things. I suppose the best thing to do is start from the beginning.

I flew into Christchurch on the afternoon of April Fool's Day. My host for the few days I was in Christchurch is a Kiwi named Craig. He picked me up from the airport and because he didn't know exactly what I looked like, he asked another woman if she was me before I came out of the airport. She had the perfect response, “No, but I can be Hillary if you give me a lift into town.” All three of us ended up driving into central Christchurch to have a coffee together before Craig dropped her off at her hostel. An excellent first impression of New Zealanders for both of us.

During my stay in Christchurch I did a number of things. The first night I went bowling and hooker spotting, that is, we drove through the “red light” district of Christchurch and pointed out all the hookers we could spot. I took advantage of the luxury of a full kitchen instead of just van facilities by cooking a few tasty things for my hosts. I attended a couchsurfing meeting at a Mexican restaurant that actually had decent looking food for being so far from Mexico; I didn't eat anything more than chips and salsa but the plates I saw going around the room looked tasty. I purchased a few warm weather clothing items at discount, which included a $2 “hobo jacket” (the zipper broke after a week of use, but it did keep me warm while it lasted), a $2 fleece vest (yep, I am a vest wearer now), shoes, three long sleeve shirts and a pair of thermals and wool socks (which I haven't and won't use while in NZ but better to be prepared and not need them than the opposite). One of the last things I did in Christchurch was participate in International Pillow Fight Day. I was super excited to be in the right place at the right time! I heard about it a few days prior and was amped up for the event. When it happened there were less than twenty of us but it was a blast!

My travel partner for this south island adventure is a fellow couchsurfer named Paul. We found each other on the site, our schedules matched well enough so we decided to split the cost by renting a campervan and exploring the country together. Once we had our campervan, which ended up a bit more difficult than expected due to the Easter holiday that neither of us remembered nor anticipated would cause us any trouble, we headed north up the east coast. The next day consisted of a short exploration around Kaikoura then a 6 hour hike up the 1607 meter high Mt. Fyffe.

That first week on the road consisted of wine tasting in the Marlborough region where they specialize in Sauvignon Blanc. Driving between Picton and Havelock on Queen Charolette Rd where the views of the Marlborough Sounds are astounding. Hiking in Able Tasman National Park along Goat Bay. Seeing the Te Waikoropupu Springs, said to be the clearest springs. Seeing Harwoods Hole, the biggest cave in the southern hemisphere. Seeing many waterfalls. Seeing the gorgeous Hokitika Gorge in the morning and wishing it was a hot afternoon so I could swim in the aqua blue water. Hiking, cooking delicious food in the van and saying “wow” “that is so pretty” “how beautiful” and other similar things more times than I can count. It was a fantastic week!

The second week included seeing Franze Joseph Glacier, a glacier that is strangely located in a rain forest. Decided to camp for a night in the wrong place as when the rain stopped the mosquitoes entered our van en mass. I was bitten maybe twice, Paul on the other hand was bitten a few more times; including two bites on his lips that became so swollen that it looked like he had been punched. Camped another night on the summit of the highest paved road in New Zealand with a great view out over the valley that holds Queenstown. While in the Otago region, where they boast about their Pinot Noir, we decided to go wine tasting again. On our way to the first winery we picked up two young female Kiwi hitchhikers. We told them we'll take them to Cromwell if they don't mind stopping a few times before we get there to go wine tasting. It turned out to be quite a fun time. They had never been wine tasting before and one of them, Ana, took a great liking to it immediately. She had thought that people only made up the flavors in wine, so they could sound sophisticated or something. Then she tried multiple good wines in a row and found that in truth each wine does taste different, sometimes by a lot, sometimes by a little. Taking them along made it even more fun.

Still in the second week we headed to Milford Sound. I found the hype about it led to a bit of disappointed, same as the Eiffel Tower. However the two hour drive from Te Anau was so beautiful that it didn't matter. Let me clarify, Milford Sound is pretty, but I was expecting more by all the talk. In the Clifden Caves I got the glowworm cave experience that I wanted, and for free! I wish I had had someone to explore the caves with because the part that I saw was really cool; well worth the short diversion off the main road. I walked among 1000+ year old Totara trees. Saw Lake Huaroko, the deepest lake in New Zealand that actually goes below sea level. And again lots of hiking, cooking delicious food in the van and saying “wow” “that is so pretty” “how beautiful” and other similar things more times than I can count. Then we went to Invercargill.

The Lonely Planet guidebook says that Invercargill is mostly avoided by travelers, or else they just stop by to restock provisions before continuing to other places. I however had a very positive experience in Invercargill. While we were in Queenstown I met a potter at the weekend market (a pottery maker that is, not a relation to Harry Potter). John invited us to his place when we pass through Invercargill. Originally we had planned on skipping the city, but with the invitation and being a little ahead of schedule we decided to give the city a try. This turned out to be a very good decision. John is another very accommodating and generous Kiwi; the type of person that you are glad to have encountered. He showed us around his studio where he not only makes his pottery but also produces the clay he works with from clay he digs out of the ground. His house is filled with pottery that he has made over the years as is his kitchen where all his plates, bowls, cups, dishes, etc. are pottery creations. Eating at his house was a dream come true for me! I could hardly contain my enthusiasm about using these pottery creations for everyday use (not that I tried to contain it). When I was growing up my mom had a set of pottery dishes that she kept in a cabinet, never to be used. I wanted to use them many times but it was always put off to another day. That day never came with that set, but now here in New Zealand that dream finally became reality. He even gave me a pair of cups to take home! Aside from the pottery I also learned a few things, like an intro to wool spinning (fun once you get it going but very tricky when you're a novice) and a few tasty recipes to take back home with me.

We started exploring the Catlins today, including a visit to Slope point, the southernmost point of the south island of New Zealand. There are small islands that are most southerly but other than those, that is the most southerly you can get on a mainland before Antarctica. Pretty cool I think. Tomorrow is the first day of week three. I can't wait to see what is in store!

Adventures in New Zealand

Sunday, May 3, 2009 1:55 PM

May 2

I have arrived in the North Island and oh what a journey.

Where I left you last time was sitting on a beautiful lookout in the Catlins after dark, it was the fourteenth day of my south island road trip. I am not laying in a most comfortable bed in Opotiki. Before I get into the more recent events though I should recount the in between moments, well at least a few of them.

After waking up to a beautiful sunrise in the Catlins that Saturday morning that started week three of south island road trip, we headed to the trail head for the Catlins River Walk. This hike is said to be a five hour way one trek. I could have done it in five hours return but it took me five and a half hours for the whole thing which included a 15 min break at end of the path before I headed back to the beginning. It was a great hike; the path is not man made in the sense that it is packed down with rocks as many paths are, but instead it is maintained as a dirt track filled with tree roots and stairs. This keeps you alert as to where you are stepping plus makes for much better scenery, in my opinion at least. During this hike I didn't see one other person, it provided me with some excellent think time. That night we camped at Cannibal Bay, the name of which makes you think it might be a place better avoided. Thankfully however we didn't run into any cannibals :-) The next day we headed to Dunedin.

When you travel you are bound to meet people from different parts of the world. Most of the time they flow by like the water in a river but there will also be those that stay long enough to exchange contact information in the hopes of staying in touch, and perhaps even seeing each other again one day. Last year while I was in Panama I met a Kiwi girl named Ayla, before we parted ways we exchanged our contact information. Naturally then, finding myself in her home country and planning a route through her city (Dunedin), we arranged to see each other again.

During my visit to Dunedin I stayed with Ayla and her four flatmates. Being students themselves they lived on a street right next to the university along with many other students. The living dynamic they had is one of the best I have seen yet. They all got along really well; they even shopped for food together splitting the bill and often ate dinner together.

My first full day in Dunedin I woke up very early, before anyone else in the house. It was a full day of attending a psychology class with Joe, where I learned about Walter "ice pick" Freeman. (An interesting story if you have some free time to research him.) Walking around the city then having a few drinks and an amalgamation of food for dinner followed by a few games. After everyone else went to bed I found myself still awake: first and last one awake. I think this was because I was stocked up on sleep from going to bed so early in the van and getting nine or ten hours of sleep each night.

The next day we took a day trip to see the albatross. They are massive! I had seen photos of them before but until I saw them in person I really didn't comprehend just how big a bird they are.

The next couple days consisted of driving to Mt. Cook, hiking and driving back to Christchurch. When we got to Christchurch I headed back to Craig and Anthony's flat (the same people I had stayed with three weeks prior) and Paul went his own way. My South Island New Zealand road trip had ended (aside from the drive up to the ferry).

I found myself lucky with timing as I was able to be in Christchurch on a very important day for New Zealand: ANZAC day. I woke up at 4:45am to attend the dawn service in Cathedral Square. It was quite something to see a few thousand people gather together before the sun has even shown her face. Many of these people had red poppies pinned to their shirts. Upon asking what the significance of the poppy is I was told that the numerous dead bodies from the battle were left on the field creating excellent fertilizer for the poppies of the next season. Google before and after photos. At the end of the day I cooked buckwheat sweet potato pancakes and pear ginger pie for a Breakfast For Dinner mini party. If, during your adult life, you haven't eaten breakfast foods for dinner you are missing out. It is especially fun when you're with friends; though that is how it goes in general with eating.

Sunday the 26th of April is the day I rented a car by myself for the first time ever! I thought it was exciting, and still is in fact as I drive around in my snappy Mazda Familia rental car. My drive around the south island included 4229 kilometers, yet to see how my north island adventure will compare.

After I signed the papers, was given the keys and said good bye to Christchurch I headed north to catch an evening ferry to the north island. Just outside the city I came upon two hitch hikers and of course I picked them up! Clara is from Germany and Mac is from New Zealand. It made the drive much more fun having them along. We stopped at a few wineries for tasting; again I introduced this novel activity to a pair of hitch hikers. Then hurried up to Picton for my 6pm ferry crossing on which there were a couple of stowaways. I arrived on the north island of New Zealand in the city of Wellington around 9:30pm. It had been quite an eventful day to begin my north island adventure.

The next day wasn't nearly as eventful as it was quite rainy day in Wellington. I explored the Te Papa museum, which is a perfect thing to do on a rainy day in Wellington. Took care of some photo uploading for your viewing pleasure (www.snapfish.com sign in with email: shiroi_2000@yahoo.com and password: roadtrip) then cooked a tasty pumpkin curry for my hosts Natalie and Drew.

From Wellington I headed to Martinborough and the surrounding area for some wine tasting but also found my way to an especially good chocolate shop. They have some crazy flavors! Chilli, chilli lime, rose, earl grey, geranium, rose and pepper, sea salt, cracked pepper, ginger, coconut, and the list goes on. Mostly they were dark chocolate but they also had some with milk or even white chocolate. All of which were available for tasting! It was amazing. I think dark chocolate with lemongrass and dark chocolate with cardamom were my favorites.

I slept in my car that night. Found a parking spot by the beach in Napier and gave sleeping in the car a try. I have to say, it wasn't that great. This car is just not meant to be slept in. I managed by changing position many times but it isn't something I wish to continue doing for the next couple weeks. Which has brought me to the conclusion that I should attempt to couchsurf more often that I had planned on, even though I don't have a cell phone and figure out what I am doing on a day by day basis. I figure it will work when it does and when it doesn't, I can manage in my car.

After a day of wine, cheese, olive oil and various other treat tasting in the Hawk's Bay region I drove up to Gisborne. The next morning Helen and I drove out to the Rere Rock Slide which was awesome! There is a big rock slope that has a grade of about 45 degrees over which the river flows. It isn't exactly smooth so it is best to have something to slide down on top of. Despite the fact that we were there at 10 in the morning and it wasn't exactly hot I jumped to it. After sliding down three times on top of an inner tube with lots of laughs and excited yelps I had random clumps of thick green algae clinging to my body in various places. Well worth the drive out and cold skin that made itself apparent once the adrenaline settled down.

Upon leaving Gisborne I drove up the east coast, stopping off at East Cape, the most easterly point in New Zealand. When I got to the cape it was raining, but hey I didn't drive all the way there for nothing! So I put my jacket on and hiked up the trail to the light house. When I was done there I headed to Opotiki, which is where I am now.

Whew! This email took way too long to write! Hopefully I won't wait so long next time and therefore won't have as much to write :-)

More stories from The Land of the Long White Cloud

Tuesday, May 12, 2009 8:11 PM

I have been writing notes about what I want to write about in this email on a notepad I have. There is a LOT to say! I think I will have to cut some things shorter than I would like and omit a few others - just to save you from sitting in front of this screen for even longer than you are already about to. Also, because I have written some of these things down once I forget whether or not I have typed them up for you to read. Therefore you may have read a few of these things once before. Feel free to skip it over, or reread it.

ROAD SIGNS
Both Australia and New Zealand have copious amounts of road safety signs. They differ quite a bit though. In Australia the signs mainly consist only of words, such as “Survive This Drive Arrive Alive” and “Take A Rest And Refresh” and “Tired Drivers Die. Take A Break” and “Drowsy Drivers Die.” I saw a few signs in Australia with photos that were very graphic like a pedestrian being hit by a car; those signs however were typically in bus stops and not posted on the side of the highways. New Zealand also has signs with these words but they are more often than not complimented with pictures and the style varies by region. Some areas have pictures are cartoon characters, like a kiwifruit wearing sun glasses accompanied by the words “Sun Strong? Shades On.” Other areas are more dramatic, like a picture of an ambulance with a paramedic with the words “Who's going to drive you home?” or a picture of a driver hitting the steering wheel with their face with the words “Buckle up.”

FOOD
It is Feijoa season right now. (In the states these fruits are called Pineapple Guava but I have never seen or eaten one.) Since my introduction to Feijoas two weeks ago I have eaten SOO many! More than I could even try to look back and count. My first one was in Wellington in a fruit salad. The flavor for me was take it or leave, nothing too special. My host in Gisborne had a tree in her yard so there were plenty to be eaten. I ate one, then another and the flavor really started to grow on me. During my two days stayed with Helen and Biddy in Gisborne I ate about two bowls of these tasty feijoas and they gave me a bag of them for the road. In Opotiki I made a feijoa crumble with these feijoas as well as ate them by themselves. On my drive to Taupo I bought a 2 kilo bag for $2 then on my drive back to Opotiki I stopped twice to pick up feijoas from road side trees. When I arrived back in Opotiki two other people had brought bags of feijoas as well so there were plenty to go around! We made two feijoa crumbles and I still had some to take with me to Kerikeri. I finally ate my last feijoa yesterday. I am crossing my fingers that customs will allow me to bring in the bottled feijoas I made.

I have also eaten a LOT of avocados in the last two weeks. When I left Gisborne I stopped at a fruit and veg shop that had cheap avocados, so I purchased six small ones for $2. Then in Opotiki I was staying with Grant, who is an avocado farmer. I was eating them a lot on bread and rice cakes or with salad. Then I got to reading Grant's avocado cook book. Did you know that avocado and banana go extremely well together? Try this smoothie, it is delicious:

place in a blender:

one avocado

one banana

2 teaspoons honey

about 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I was using vanilla bean so the flavor will be a bit different with extract but still tasty)

at least one glass of milk.

Blend and enjoy!

The less milk you put in the thicker it will be, so just add more milk to get the consistency you desire. Remember though, the more milk you add the more the milk flavor will be apparent and the flavor of the banana, avocado and vanilla will drown, so just taste it along the way.

THE WORLD IS SO SMALL
If you pay close enough attention, the world really is quite small. Sometimes when you aren't even looking you realize this. Here are two recent examples of what I mean. One: When I was walking along the beach at Cathedral Cove I met some people from Mt Aukum, California. Mt. Aukum is a small town right near the small town where I grew up. Two: One of my hosts, Grant, has been on the river that I work in California. He enjoyed it so much in fact that he named his orchard after one of the rapids.

PLACES TO SLEEP
People keep telling me that I am brave or courageous to be traveling by myself. I think that comment has a bit to do with my gender and not just the fact that I am solo. I don't really think of myself as courageous. Though I guess it depends on your definition of courageous. My good friends as dictionary.com define courage as "The quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear" With that definition I suppose I do have courage because I see myself as having more of a lack of fear than a sense of courageousness.

I have been using couchsurfing.com pretty successfully here on the north island. Though of course schedules don't always match and with day by day planning it can be difficult. When I headed towards the Coromandel Peninsula I didn't know where I was going to sleep that night. A hostel is always an option I know, but I figured I would just sleep in my car again. The closer I got to my destination the more I knew that I really didn't want to try to sleep in my car another night; I would much rather sleep the whole night through in a comfortable bed, or at least somewhere flat so that I can stretch out. It was suggested to me a few weeks back to just stop at a farm and offer a trade: a bit of work for a spot to sleep. I figured this would be the best time to try out this idea.

I started looking for a suitable place to ask. But how do you pick a suitable place? What makes this one look more likely to accept me than that one? I had no idea. I drove by a few then came to an area that had no farms. At first I thought that is just my luck, I decide to try this then I run out of places. But of course I came to another area of farmland. I passed one that had a little swing set and slide. I thought that might have been a good place to stop because they have kids so maybe they'd be more likely to accept, then again, maybe that would make them less likely to accept a stranger into their home. I don't know how to pick a place that would be more likely to accept me! I started getting a little anxious. Then I passed a farm with a house about 200m up a gravel road on a bit higher ground with a good sized pile of bailed and wrapped hay. I passed it and thought, “That looks like a good enough place... I should go back.” So I turned around and drove slowly up the gravel road. As I got closer I got more nervous. What should say? How would be the best way of presenting my request? What if they say no? What if they say yes? I figured even if I have to ask ten different places, one of bound to say yes so if they say no here I'll just head down the road and ask someone else.

When I got close to the house a man and a woman (whose names I soon knew to be Andrew and Wendy) were outside obviously busy but curious who was driving up to their house. As I got out of the car they came over to find out what I was up to. They had a skeptical sort of look on their faces; they later told me that they expected me to be trying to sell them something. Our conversation went something like this:

“Hi. I'm Hillary.”

“I'm Andrew.” With a hand shake.

“I'm Wendy.” Another hand shake.

“I was wondering if I could trade a bit of work for a spot to sleep tonight?”

They look at each other, not really knowing what to say

“Well I don't know. What do you think?”

“I don't know. I guess that sounds alright. Yeah, okay!”

“Okay”

“Awesome! Thanks!”

They then gave me a pair of coveralls, good warm socks, gumboots (aka rain boots) and a wool jacket to wear while we herded in the cows. I jumped on the back of a quad with Wendy and we brought in the cows. About half way through it started to rain so we were pretty wet by the end. All the while Wendy told me about cows and how things go on the dairy farm. The next morning I got to help milk the cows. Overall it was a very educational experience. I think I slowed them down a bit more than helped them, but they seemed to enjoy telling me about how things work. There is heaps more I could say about my experience on the dairy farm but instead of going on about it I'll just state that I am fortunate to have chosen their farm to stop at. I am glad to have met these sincere and trusting people.

HIKING
I have done a fair bit of hiking during this trip, especially on the south island. All have offered beautiful scenery. The majority of these hikes have been among trees. The Tongariro Crossing hike is completely different though. A lot of the hike is barren and when you reach the top there is ice on the ground and a freezing wind and tears at your clothing. For this hike I finally got to use those thermals I purchased in Christchurch! The hike was amazing though, especially walking through the crater; it was like walking on another planet. Thankfully I choose a time to go when the path isn't packed with tourists; there were still a good many other people there but I am told that the foot traffic is getting quite low as the weather is getting colder.

A POINT OF CONCERN
This has been mentioned to me and I have observed it in both Australia and New Zealand. The birds of prey like to get a free meal by eating road kill. This is becoming a point of concern because the new generation is not learning how to hunt. Also I have seen a number of these birds dead on the road, which is no wonder because they wait till last possible second to move away from the dead carcass, if they move at all. Then when they do finally fly away from it they are not very swift and often fly the wrong way (in front of, instead of away from, the car).

GREEN KIWIS
Nearly every house I have been to here in New Zealand has some sort of green waste program i.e. feeding kitchen waste to animals or composting it. Kelly, my host in Taupo, had an interesting program worked out. His kitchen was located in the corner of the house, therefore had windows on two walls. Out the window above the sink is where vegetable scrapes was thrown, where it landed in a planter box to decompose. Out the window above the counter is where leftovers were thrown, where it landed on the ground to be eaten my his dogs.

A FEW COMPARISONS
In New Zealand toll free numbers start with 0800 vs. in the USA starting with 1800
In New Zealand (and Australia) when you put a pot of water on the stove to cook noodles or something you bring it to “the boil” vs. in the USA you bring it to “a boil.”
In New Zealand they have relief teachers vs. in the USA they have substitute teachers.

BATHS
I want to get this finished and sent but I promised I would mention my wonderful baths I have had recently. So I will be brief in description.

When I have a house of my own I am definitely creating an outside bath heated by fire. I had the opportunity to use one of these baths a few times and it is amazing! Especially with a nice glass of wine while it is raining, wow.

You just fill the bath about half way, light up a fire in a hole you have underneath the bathtub and wait for the water to get hot. Then you add as much cold water as you like to get the temperature just right. It stays warm for hours because of the coals underneath it. Just make sure to have something to sit on (i.e. a rub mat or flat piece of wood) or else you'll burn your bum!

Home

Sunday, May 24, 2009 6:53 PM

I have arrived home safely after my six months of adventure in Australia and New Zealand. Before I returned to northern California I took a weekend layover in Los Angeles, California. I saw a few friends I haven't seen in much too long and had an enjoyable time. I even got to see a gang of paparazzi accosting a famous person! After Los Angeles I headed to Santa Cruz for a few days then up to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, where I grew up.

I have heard a number of times about getting a culture shock upon returning home from living in another country. I don't remember experiencing that when I returned from Europe and I don't have it now either. Mostly it feels like I didn't even leave, more like I was just here last week instead of half a year ago. There is one big adjustment I am getting used though: driving. After driving on the other side of the road for six months I am finding myself doing the same things I did at the beginning of my time in Australia. When friends were driving me in Los Angeles I kept thinking that cars were on the wrong side of the road and they weren't cutting a corner tight or wide enough, then I would realize that it was alright because I am back to driving on the right side of the road, not the left. In Santa Cruz it wasn't so bad because I am so familiar with the roads and had been back a few days. I finally drove a friend's car after being back for a week (I don't have a car). Don't worry, I didn't have any trouble remembering where I belonged on the road. I did however have trouble with the turn signal because it is on the opposite side.

Anyway, for the next four months I am working as a white water rafting guide on the South Fork of the American River and perhaps the Middle Fork as well. I have set up my camp for the summer and I'm happy to be back.

Take care!