Going Home

August 4, 2011

Tonight’s my last night in New Zealand.  In a lot of ways I feel like I’ve left already.  I try not to focus on the fact that I’m leaving this country that I love, but on the fact that I’m going home to my family and friends that I love.

When I opened up my Bible tonight I went to Mark.  I’ve been reading in Mark every other night or so for the last couple of weeks.  I read in the Message about Jesus.  It said, “He left there and returned to his hometown.”

Crazy.

I’m leaving here and returning to my hometown.  

Jesus impressed everyone.  But then they were upset that he was so good because they thought he should just be a carpenter.  Jesus didn’t do much there because they were stubborn.  They put him into the box that they thought he belonged in.

I hope this doesn’t happen to me when I return to my hometown.  I want to impress people, but I don’t want them to stick me in a box.  I don’t want them to say, “She’s always been this so now she can’t possibly be this.”  

I can’t believe this dream is over.  I dreamed for months and months of coming to New Zealand.  I wanted it so badly.  And for the first two or three months here I still pinched myself to see if it was true.  And now I’m leaving.  

Honestly, I’m so grateful for the experience.  I’m so grateful that I came here and for the amazing experiences and people!  My life wouldn’t be the same without this.  Most of all I think I’m grateful that such a huge, impossible-seeming dream came true.  And now it’s over.  

It’s a little sad.  I haven’t let myself think about it too much.  I don’t want to be sad. I guess what I need is another dream.  A bigger dream.  I got such a high out of realizing this dream that it’s like I am an addict and I need another dream and I need this new dream to come true too.

Every now and then my life seems surreal.  I remember when I went to college.  The first few years of college felt surreal.  I think it was because I had thought about college for so long.  I’d worked toward it and dreamed about it.  So when it actually happened it didn’t seem like it was really happening.  

That’s how my time in New Zealand has felt from time to time.  Now it feels surreal that it’s all coming to an end.  In some ways I’m more than ready.  And in others I’m so sad.  I don’t want it to be over.  

Now I have to face the harsh reality of returning to my hometown.  Going home is always a good thing, but it’s not always good.  I’ve left and come home so many times now that I think I’m beginning to learn this.  

I guess I’m not going home with rose-colored glasses on.  My life won’t be perfect.  It will just be normal.  I reckon, that for a while, that will be okay.  But before I know it I’ll probably be ready to leave again.  Maybe it’s a similar experience to Jesus’ return home.  Definitely not on the same scale, but maybe a similar experience.  Eventually he left again too and he went to other villages and taught.  As much as I love home, I can’t stay there forever.  It’s sad, but it seems to be a part of my life.  As much as I want to stay and be in one spot among my family, friends, mountains, familiar scenery.  I can’t do it.  I just can’t.  I want to go home, but I can’t stay there forever.  I seem doomed to come home and leave again.  This is my life and I’m going to accept it for what it is.  Even though it hurts.  It’s like this desire to leave has been built into me.  And a desire to come home has also been built into me.  It’s pretty strange, but I’m not alone in this.  There are other people like me. . . they just aren’t at home.

Bed

Yesterday morning I woke up at 6 am and started going into a panic.  A panic about sleeping in my own bed in my parents' house.  Soon I will be back home, which is a good thing.  A very good thing.  But at 6 am the idea of being back in my old room and in my old bathroom and in my old house, I got panicky!  I think it was more than just a panic of being in my old bed.  It was a panic of returning to the exact same life I left behind. 

My main consolation about being back in my own bed is that I won't be there for long before moving to a different bed.  First, I will be going to the cabin almost immediately after coming home.  Then less than a week after being home I'll be going to Las Vegas and Zion National Park.  Again, different beds!  And when I come home I might be spending some time at a good friend's house.  Different bed.  I guess after being slightly nomadic for the last 8 1/2 months it's going to be hard to give up!  The longest I've slept in any bed is three and half months and that was four and a half months ago!  Many weeks I've slept in a different bed every night or every other night! 

The idea of going home to the same old same old freaks me out.  And I know it's not just about beds and their locations.  It's about doing the same things I did before I came to New Zealand.  I don't want that.  I don't want that hemmed in feeling. 

Waiting

Ever since I came back to New Zealand from Fiji I've been waiting to come home.  I've tried not to see it that way.  I've tried to live my days and enjoy them, but I find that most days I truly am just waiting.  The countdown of my return home commenced on my return from Fiji.  The customs and immigration form the New Zealand government required me to fill out asked how many days I planned to spend in the country.  Seventeen.  Seventeen days until I come home.

It is now only five. Five days.  A lot of this time has felt like I am waiting at the airport.  You know that feeling of waiting for your flight?  You get up on the morning you are to leave and you are calculating the number of hours until you must leave for the airpot.  You think to yourself, "I have five hours until I need to leave."  Then you depart for the airport.  "I have an hour to get to the airport before I need to check in."  You arrive at the airport and wait in the check-in queue.  You constantly look at the airport clocks hanging from the ceiling or you pull your cell phone out of your pocket every few moments.  "An hour and a half until the plane takes off.  Probably an hour until the plane boards."  You check in and then make your way through the security line watching other passengers struggle to take their laptops out of their bags and shrug off their coats.  Finally, you slip through security and follow the signs to your gate.  You find a seat and check the time.  "Thirty minutes until the plane boards," you think to yourself as you eye the other travelers around you.  You wait and wait and wait listening to the other announcements for other flights going to other places.  "This is the last boarding call for Mr Jerry Lutes on Flight QF 181, service to Baltimore."  Only it's not the last call for Mr. Lutes because they'll make that call three more times.  Then finally someone from your gate comes over the loudspeaker.  "Yes!" you think to yourself, "Almost time to board.  Almost time to go!"  But then it's another twenty minutes before they allow the families with babies and those requiring assistance to board.  Then finally it's the first class and business class passengers.  If you are lucky and seated at the back of the plane you board next.  If you're not lucky you a wait a while longer.  Then you get on the plane, stow your carry ons, find your seat, and finally struggle to get your seatbelt on.  Ah, finally on the plane.  But then you have to wait for the plane to take off.  Again, if you're lucky it will be only a few minutes before the cabin door is closed and the plane heads for the runway.  If you're not lucky, it's another half an hour before the process begins.  Then finally.  Finally, you are rushing down the runway and in flight.  Ah.  Let the adventure begin!

This is what the last seventeen days have been like.  It's been like waiting to go to the airport, waiting in a queu, waiting to board, and waiting to take off.  Right now I'd say I am at the stage where I've just come through security and I'm finding a seat in the gate waiting area.  I'm almost there.  Just a few more minutes before they call my flight number and I am allowed to board.  Just a few more minutes before I'm coming home.  And ah, what a feeling once I'm on the plane headed home.  What a feeling!

Gisborne

July 28, 2011

Gisborne has been much more exciting than I was expecting.  I came in late in the dark on the bus and I wasn’t too sure of the place.  The hostel was nice, but in a funny area.  I made dinner and soon met some of the other folks staying here.

The most outrageous, outgoing, and somewhat obnoxious person was a drunk Japanese man.  He kept saying, “This is my last night!”  Later I learned that he’d been working here in Gisborne and the next day he was leaving for Auckland.  He spent a good amount of the evening hitting on me just because of my curly hair.  Fortunately there were loads of other people around laughing their heads off at him and eventually he just fell asleep with his head back snoring away in the chair next to me.

This morning he was gone, but the other lovely people from last night were still around.  One of them, Grant, had a car and wanted to take the rest of us around to see the sights.  Grant grew up in Gisborne until he was a teen.  He took Carl, from England, Sabrina, from Germany, and me around.  

It was a beautiful day so we went up Kaiti for the views of where Captain Cook first spotted New Zealand.  Then we drove around to several beautiful beaches.  We watched the surfers try to catch some waves and soaked up the beautiful sun rays.  Grant was keen for some coffee so we found a little cafe by the town beaches.

We followed the coffee with a visit to a park and the town botanical gardens.  At the park we played along with the kids on all the fun playground equipment.  Grant pointed out the house his grandparents lived in and also drove us past the house he grew up in before taking us out to the local museum.

Grant’s grandparents used to be the curators for the museum.  He got into conversation with the woman behind the desk and discovered that his grandfather was her great-great uncle.  They were second cousins!  She gave us the local admission fee of $2 for the museum, which Grant paid for all of us.

We had lunch at a Noodle Canteen and then went to the Gisborne Wine Center to taste some wines.  It was so warm and beautiful that we sat outside and enjoyed six different wines.  

Everything about this day has been unexpected.  I came to Gisborne without any plans and with only a vague idea of what I wanted to do and today has yet again proved that this is the best way to travel in New Zealand.  Don’t over-plan!  Go with the flow and you’ll never know what might happen!  

Mount Maunganui

July 24, 2011

I left Auckland yesterday and came to Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty.  Penny said I would like it and I do!  It’s much larger than I thought it would be.  It has a huge, and beautiful downtown area and my hostel is right in the thick of it.  It’s a nice, clean hostel.  

After checking in I walked forever to the supermarket and The Warehouse.  I bought a DVD with three movies on it to keep me entertained and picked up some groceries as well.  Tim Tams two for $5!  

This morning I went to the I-site and booked a trip to White Island for Monday.  White Island is the most active volcano in New Zealand.  It’s an island about six hours off the coast.  I also found a church to go to.  It was a lovely little Presbyterian church that’s in the midst of a remodel.  I sat next to a sweet woman, Marguerite.  

After church I went to the Baby Factory, a kind of outlet store for all things baby. With all the babies coming into my life I need to be prepared!  I bought a few things for my new babies.  I’m definitely in a spend money on gifts mode.  I’m starting to realize that I only have a short amount of time left here, so I need to get my souvenir shopping done.  There are so many things I want to buy for others and even more I want to buy for myself.  I think I want to take as much of Kiwi life back with me!

In the afternoon I caught the bus to Mount Maunganui.  This is a town right on a peninnsula with a big, steep hill at the end called Mount Maunganui.  I started by walking to the very top and boy, was it difficult!  The woman at the I-site had told me it would be steep, but I didn’t really think it would be that hard.  Well, it was!  But once I got to the top it was so worth it because the views were incredible.  There were vistas of the sea, other smaller islands, the beach, the surfers, boats, and peninsulas.  The weather was beautiful too.

Once I scaled the top and made my descent, I trekked around the mount.  Then I walked back to the bus stop.  On my way I came across an ice cream truck called Mr. Whippy’s.  Now Penny and Mark told me they had the best ice cream.  So I decided I’d better try.  The man in the truck has been selling ice cream cones in this spot for twenty five years!  I ordered a double dipped.  it’s a cone with two soft-serve peaks of ice cream dunked in chocolate.  The chocolate gets hard, but underneath is the softest, smoothest ice cream I have ever had in my life.  It was more like eating whipped cream than like eating ice cream.  That’s how light it was!  All in all, Mount Maunganui definitely exceeded my expectations.  I’m really glad I came out here and didn’t miss the opportunity to see more of New Zealand!

Fiji

This morning I returned from a week-long trip to Fiji.  Well, I got into Auckland just after midnight and didn't get to sleep until 2 am.  It's funny that you can go on a long, relaxing vacation and still return home tired.  How does that happen?

I did an island hopping trip to the Yasawa Islands in Fiji.  I took a boat out to the northern islands to a resort called Nabua Lodge.  A littlier boat zoomed up to the side of our big boat and we loaded onto it.  Our luggage went into another boat.  This was the protocol at all the resorts I stayed.  The staff introduced themselves and then we motored over to the beach and stepped into the warm, clear water and onto the beach. 

At each place I stayed all my accommodation and meals were paid for.  These places were all remote.  Many ran on generators and didn't have clean drinking water.  Despite that they had beauty and beautiful beaches.  Some were more impressive and had pools and internet.  Every night after dinner the resorts put on Fiji dance shows.  I spent so much time just laying in the sun on the beach or in a hammock in the shade.  Despite this I felt like my mind could never stop running.  I was always thinking. 

But in a way it was a great vacation.  It felt like a Lake Chelan vacation: the kind where you wake up in the morning and just put your bathing suit on! 

I met some really nice people and I just enjoyed being really warm!  The last night in Nadi, the main city with the airport, I got terribly sick though.  I threw up several times and just felt horrible.  I had one last sailing trip planned for the last day before my flight, but I didn't end up getting to do it because I felt so sick.  Needless to say, while I had a wonderful time in Fiji, I'm glad it's over.  Glad to be back in my second home, New Zealand.

Hi All.

This is just an update to say that I'm still alive and still traveling.  I'm very tired at the moment.  I am also tired of keeping track of everything I do.  So I've kind of slowed down on keeping a travel diary for now.

Napier was great.  Beautiful, art deco town.  My hostel was great and comfy and cheap.  It had free veggie soup at night that reminded me of my mom's cooking.

The first day I went on an art deco tour of the town.  In the afternoon I went wine tasting.  We visited a winery that was started by Marist monks and still owned by the Catholic Church.  We visited a couple other wineries and I discovered that I really like sweet, dessert wines.  And I also tried viognier for the first time and I really liked that too.

I decided to extend my stay in Napier because I liked it so much.  So the next day I slept in and took it easy.  I went on a long walk to get another look at the town and I walked up Bluff Hill to see the gorgeous views from there.

This morning I went to the National Aquarium.  I saw a real live kiwi bird for the first time.  Wow they are strange birds!  But I'm really glad I finally saw them.  They were incredibly entertaining to watch.  I also saw tuatara, a native lizard.  There were sharks and sting rays too.

I've just returned to Wellington on the bus, but I leave again early in the morning to take the train to Auckland and spend some time with my friends up there.  I'm very much looking forward to that!

See ya all soon!

Martinborough

June 18, 2011

I can’t believe it’s that late in June already!  Crazy!

It rained this morning on my walk to the train station.  The rain was a lot stronger than I thought it would be.  I wanted to take the street that my friends and I often used when we stayed at Downtown Backpackers.  The only problem with this street is that there are virtually no overhangs on the street.  So I was nearly always walking in the rain.  Whereas if I had gone on another street I probably would have been quite dry under all the overhangs that the shops have over the sidewalks.

So I was a wet dog when I got to the train station.  But I found my train just fine and I bought some dark chocolate kit kat bars to cheer me up.  I had a fifty minute ride out to Featherston.  I picked up the wine tour bus there much to the surprise of the tour leader.  She hadn’t been expecting me at all, but fortunately she always pulls up at the train station anyway just in case.

Her name was Naomi, the driver was Jacqui, and the two other wine tasters were a couple named Richard and Amberly.  They were from Wellington so I was the only foreigner on the trip.  The first winery was called Te Kairanga.  They have been having some financial problems and were recently bought out by an American wine company.

We had a nice lunch platter, a glass of wine, and some coffee at a cafe in town.  The platter wasn’t quite as nice as the platter I had on my Central Otago wine tour, but it was very good and pretty similar.  Richard and Amberly loved it.

Then we went to Muirlea Rise.  This winery was very small.  It’s basically run by this one man who’s father started the winery.  The Martinborough wine region is very new--only started about thirty years ago.  Sean, the winemaker, was very personal and took us through the whole wine making process and the business side of winemaking.  His tasting room was a homemade bench next to the wine bottling machine!

Next we visited Schubert wines.  This is a vineyard owned by a German couple and the girl who took us through the wine tasting is a German here on a working holiday!  They had a delicious rose from 2010.  It was probably my favorite wine of the day.  Schubert exports to the US so look out for it!

Lastly we visited Murdoch James winery.  By this time I’d had so much wine that I didn’t feel like I could really “taste” the wine anymore.  So I just drank it by the fireplace and tried to concentrate on what everyone was talking about.

After visiting all the wineries our guides took us back to town for tea and a cheese platter.  Very yummy!  Before I knew it I was back at the train station in Featherston and getting back on the train to Wellington.  I almost immediately fell asleep.  I had a bit of a rude awakening when we got to Upper Hutt because a bunch of rugby fans got on the bus.  Apparently there is a huge game in town tonight.  After I exited the train I walked against the crowds heading to the match.  Because of this Wellington feels very quiet tonight.  Everyone is at the game!

Back to Welly

June 17, 2011

Leaving National Park is always hard.  It is kind of like a train station for Stray.  Loads of people get on and off there.  So whenever I leave there I’m leaving behind good friends.  This happened a couple of weeks ago when Matthias got off there and it happened again today when about half my bus hopped off there.

Several of the people I was traveling with on Stray I’d only met a few days before and it was still hard to say goodbye to them.  The hardest to say goodbye to were people that I’ve been traveling with longer like Fiona and Paul.  Fiona and I have been bumping into each other all over New Zealand on the Stray bus.  She would just sort of pop back on my bus at random times and it was always great to see a familiar face.  Paul and I had been on the same bus together since Monday, June 6.  That’s a week and a half. And even though he and I weren’t super, amazing friends, he was still this constant familiar face and friendly person.  

Needless to say I was quite sad to leave our hostel yesterday morning.  I also knew that it would be my last day on the bus too as I was getting on in our next stop, Wellington.  So there were even more goodbyes ahead of me.  Scratch, our driver, tried to cheer us all up and we played two truths and a lie as we rumbled down the road to Wellington.  I laughed so hard playing that game!  We had a good time.

We stopped for lunch in Kapiti.  Kapiti has an ice cream brand and so I tried Kapiti ice cream.  It’s very good, but expensive.  Before we knew it we were back in Wellington.  I got more melancholy thinking about all the great times I had when I was last here and all the people I spent those great times with.  I realized this morning that none of them are even in New Zealand anymore and that’s a little depressing too.

Sarah, a girl on the bus, and I walked up to Mt. Victoria for the view over Wellington.  It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon.  At the top there was a group of people who were singing in Maori. It kind of felt like a very special moment.

In the evening all of us on the bus went for drinks in the bar of our hostel.  It was my last night with them and my last night with Stray entirely so I wanted to have a good time.  I had five drinks.  I’m not sure I’ve ever had that much before -- except for the five course dinner I had in Colorado at Beaver Creek.  

We had a good time hanging out, talking, laughing, playing pool, and dancing.  Yes, I even danced!  Going out with people from Europe is interesting.  I think they really know how to let loose much more than Americans.  I went to bed about half past twelve and said goodnight to everyone.  

This morning I slept late for the first time in a long time.  It felt great.  I showered, breakfasted, and called my mom.  Unfortunately I ran out of minutes on my phone and our conversation was cut off.  But still it was good to catch up with her.  I’ve been a little lax in keeping in touch with home!

I’ve booked a wine tour of the Martinborough wine region for tomorrow.  It includes an hour train trip out of Wellington to Martinborough, lunch, and four wine stops, plus a hot drink in the morning.  Then I will take a train back to the city.  For Sunday I’m going to go to church in the morning and then have a half day Lord of the Rings tour in the afternoon.  I’ve spent a lot of money on all this, but it’s what I want to do and I don’t want to miss out on it.  

The Last Few Days

June 15, 2011

After our night in the marae we went to Rotorua.  Rotorua is known for it’s geo-thermal pools.  I just walked around the Government Gardens and along the lake.  When we got back on the bus we stopped at a really cool geo-thermal pool.  It was all muddy and boiling and bubbly.  All I can say is that it was incredibly fascinating to watch.  I could have stayed there for an hour just watching it bubble!

We also stopped at Huka Falls.  These waterfalls are so intense that they can fill up five olympic sized swimming pools in one minute.  That is the intensity and the amount of water that comes over the falls.

Soon we were in Lake Taupo, where many of the passengers were going to do their skydive.  I decided not to do it and instead go and relax in some free hot pools.  The pools are right on the cold river and are filled up with streams that are hot.  So you have this incredible feeling of hot water mixing with cool water.  We had a wonderful time there.  But I ended up cutting up the bottom of my right foot on the rocks.

Our night in Taupo was a big night for most of the people on the bus, but I was worn out from the previous night so I just did laundry and went to bed early.  In the morning we had a nice drive out to Blue Duck Lodge on Blue Duck Station.

Blue Duck Station is a very remote farm and conservation project.  We took a lengthy dirt road to get there along the river.  Once we arrived the owner Dan introduced us to the work he’s doing there.  Blue Ducks are one of the rarest ducks in the world and so he is working to protect them.

A few of us decided to do the farm tour/goat hunt.  One guy on the bus, Paul, wanted to hunt a goat and the rest of us just wanted to see the farm.  Goats are huge pest that destroy the natural flora and fauna so it’s good to hunt them.  

Dan loaded us up on a Polaris 4x4 along with his dogs and we headed into the hills.  Along the way we stopped to go kayaking in a calm stream.  We saw some blue ducks there and then we also saw them on the river a little later.  They are very shy so we had to be quiet.

We went even deeper in the hills where we got a 360 degree view of the mountains.  Paul went and did his goat hunt here and the rest of us just watched the sun go down. We came back on the 4x4 in the dark, but it was a fun ride.  Kind of like an amusement park ride!

For dinner we all had goat curry.  Goat just tastes like beef.  We had a big outdoor fire and nearly everyone had their go at throwing the axe.  They had a big target and people just threw an axe at it.  We also sang songs around the fire.  It was very nice.

We left Blue Duck Lodge early this morning so that those who wanted to do the Tongariro Crossing could get started in time.  The Tongariro Crossing is a seven hour hike in the mountains of National Park.  These mountains include Mt. Ruapehu, the tallest mountain on the North Island, and the mountain they used in Lord of the Rings as  Mt. Doom.

I had planned on doing the hike, but then I had second thoughts because of the cut I have on the bottom of my right foot.  So I backed out of it.  Those of us not doing the crossing drove around to the local ski field.  Unfortunately there is no snow here.  It’s very desolate looking with rocks everywhere.  I’ve never seen a ski field like this before!  We also visited some waterfalls used in Lord of the Rings.  

Caving and Maori Haka

June 12, 2011

We woke up in our beautiful accommodation in Raglan.  The hostel was so fun--such a surfing-like paradise!  It was set up on a beautiful hill with native bush all around and just a peek view of the Tasman Sea.  Last night we sat around eating fish and chips and playing spoons.  We finished the evening watching a movie.  Such fun!

After departing Raglan we headed straight for the Waitomo Caves.  Here we had the chance to abseil and climb through caves.  I just signed up without thinking about it much.  We abseiled right away down a very long drop.  We did three abseils.  The crew taking us through gave me a job.  I had to wait at the bottom of a waterfall abseil and tell people to crawl through a cave that looked like it didn’t exist.  People had just flown down a waterfall cliff into a small pool cave, and they had almost drowned in a waterfall!  Then I had to show them a spot that didn’t look like anything and tell them to crawl through it on their hands and feet face first!  It was crazy!  People looked at me like I was nuts.  I was the last to go through.

I loved abseiling and climbing through the waterfalls and streams.  We got so muddy and there were some tight spots.  I only struggled near the end when my boots were full of water and I had to climb up rock faces and out of the caves.  All in all we were in there for about three hours or so.

Afterwards we cleaned up and headed for our Maori exprience.  When we arrived we got a good explanationg and talking to about what was going to happen from Uncle Boy who runs the place.  We had a quick dinner and then enjoyed a Maori Haka performance.  It’s hard to go into all the details and explain exactly what we did, but it was special and the people were so sweet.  There were a couple of young boys who were really good too!

Then the boys in our group went and learned the Haka and us girls learned a special dance.  We performed for each other, took pictures, and then we were done.  Tonight we are sleeping in a marae, a Maori meeting house.

Surfing in Raglan

June 11, 2011

i just went surfing!!!!!!!!!!  Can you believe it?  I did it!  I was so nervous and I think if I tried it again I would be nervous again, but I’m so glad I tried it!  I definitely want to do it again too!

I was the only person on the bus who wanted to go surfing.  I was not about to pass it up even though I was nervous about it.  I came all this way and I was going to try to surf!  

I have a couple surfers on my dream board at home.  I didn’t really know why they were on there, but there they were.  I never really had a desire to go before, but once they were on the board I wanted to try it.  

Have you ever tried something you were scared to do?  Or you were afraid, but did it anyway!  Have you ever dreamed of doing something for a long time and then actually got the chance to do it?  It is so fulfilling.  Dreams coming true have to be one of the best experiences in life.  

I wasn’t even deterred when no one else wanted to try.  It was probably better anyway because I got a private lesson.  My instructor’s name was Chris.  He showed me a few things about surfing before we even went to the beach.  He showed me how to lay on the board, and how to stand up on the board.

I’d never worn a wet suit before either.  He picked one out for me and we drove to the beach.  (With a little detour to take some guys walking on the road into town.)  At the beach I changed into the wet suit and we carried our boards down to the beach.  I got to practice again getting on the board and standing up while we were on the sand.  Then it was straight into the water we went.

I was so nervous when we got out there far and the waves seemed so big.  Plus every time a wave came at me I got salty water in my eyes to go along with the sun that was staring me straight on.  Before I knew it Chris turned me around and I was facing the beach.  “Paddle, paddle, paddle!” he said and the wave began to pound on my feet.  The wave carried me in and then Chris instructed me when to stand up.  

My first two tries were miserable and I fell right into the water.  On the third try I went a bit slower and got up on it.  I was so tired already though so we took a break so I could get the salt water out of my eyes and take a rest.

As we sat on the board on the beach, Chris explained that it is all a head game.  I have to be in control of the wave and not let it control me.  We tried again and I got up way better on the board and floated for a while before falling off.  The next few times weren’t so great.

Then I got a cramp so we took another rest.  I was so shaken from being tired and nervous.  But I didn’t want to give up yet.  So we went out again.  I still feared the big waves coming for me, but I just kept on trying.  It did start to get a bit easier.  I wiped out a few more times.  Then I finally got up on the board and really stood there for a while and floated in.  I almost made it right for the beach!!!!

We decided to end there on a high note and the lesson was over.  But I can’t tell you the way it makes me feel to have accomplished something like that.  It was so foreign and strange and so good!  To have tried something so out of my comfort zone and learned something new just lights a fire under me.  It lifts up my self-esteem.  I feel so good about myself and I feel better than the others because I tried it!  I feel so confident!  It’s an amazing feeling!  Yay!  Praise God!  

Cape Reinga

June 9, 2011

Early morning today.  We were off at 7 am to head to Cape Reigna.  Eight of us stray mates joined civilians for the Dune Rider.  I didn’t know that we would be driving on the beach, but that’s what we did.  

The Dune Rider was like an adapted semi with a bus for the back.  Because I get carsick the driver, Paul, let me sit up front with him.  So it was like I was riding around in a semi all day!  We stopped for a coffee break and then headed for the beach.  

Ninety mile beach is a long sandy beach on the Tasman Sea where buses and cars can drive down the middle.  In fact it is considered an official road by the New Zealand Government.  It is pretty flat and easy to maneuver--at least Paul made it look easy.

We got out a few times to take pictures and then we went to a huge sand dune to go dune surfing.  Paul said his co-pilot had to go first.  So I was the first person to slide down the sand dune on my stomach on a sand board.  It really wasn’t that scary considering how steep and long the dune looked.  I did it three times.  We all ended up very sandy, but it was totally worth it.

After a quick lunch stop we went to Cape Reinga.  It is the most northern point in New Zealand that’s easily reachable.  It has a beautiful, white lighthouse.  There is also a special tree here where the Maori believe that the spirits of the dead step down into the sea to go to Hawak’i, their heaven.  The whole place was special!  I’d longed to go there for so long and it was so amazing to finally be there.  I wish we had had more time to spend there, but I think I was able to take it in.  

I now know why New Zealanders call Wellingtons Gum Boots.  We visited a site where gum was harvested.  This is the gum that was used as varnish in the 1800s.  This site has a buried forest of kauri trees, which are hundreds of thousand years old.  Then another kauri forest was buried on top of that.  Because of how the kauri tree works there was all this gum buried along with the forests and people just had to dig it up.

Finally we went for fish and chips in Wanganui, a cute little coastal town.  Finally we got back to our hostel where we took turns taking a shower.

More Wellington and the trip back to Auckland

June 6, 2011

On Sunday morning I went to the Baptist Church after having breakfast with Matthias.  Then I came back to the hostel and had to go through the process of doing laundry!  Ugh!  I hate doing laundry on a wet rainy day!  I just wanted to be in the museum.  But it was probably good for me to just relax while the drier ran for an hour.  Sometimes you need to slow down even if you don’t want to!

I had just finished my laundry when Mike came back to the hostel and he and I walked to the museum together and met up with Matthias again.  I started in the Pacific Islanders section with the guys, but they quickly outpaced me.  Then I finally did the immigration section.  But honestly, I was almost as tired as I had been the day before when we finished the museum.  So I started just watching the video displays and reading a little less.

I had just made it to the third floor when Matthias texted me that they were finished and were going to go grocery shopping for dinner.  They told me to stay until closing and they would get everything sorted for dinner.  I barely scratched the surface of the third floor, which is on the land of New Zealand, when the museum closed.  I walked back to the hostel in the rain.

We had pork curry for dinner.  We sat around and talked and another guy from my old room joined us.  We decided to go out for drinks because it was Nathalie’s last night in New Zealand.  We went to the only Welsh bar in the Southern Hemisphere.  It was great to hang out with these people.  After drinks we went to McDonald’s for ice cream.

When we finally made it back to the hostel it was about 1 am, but we still stood around talking and saying goodbye to Nathalie.  Unfortunately, Mike, Matthias, and I had to get up at about 6 am to catch our bus by 6:50 am.  Our bus was completely full, but I got the front seat by the driver.  Well, until another girl got car sick and needed the front seat.  Which was OK because her seat was by Mike and Matthias and Fiona, who I traveled with earlier to Stewart Island.  We had some good conversation and some good naps too!

Matthias got off the bus in National Park because he wants to do the Tongariro Crossing before leaving New Zealand.  Mike and I carried on and I got my front seat back again.  The North Island is stunning, but in a different way.  At one point I was admiring the big, puffy clouds and I realized they were so amazing because it was the first time I had seen so much sky in a long time!  I’ve been living so close to the mountains that the sky was smaller!

We finally made it into Auckland.  I felt shattered.  I was going on little sleep, plus a long journey in a car, plus saying goodbye to Matthias, and I was just buggered!  I took a long, hot shower, which kind of helped.  

I have a whole day in Auckland tomorrow.  I think I will probably spend it just getting ready for the rest of my time in New Zealand.  I have some fiddly-bits and big plans to take care of!  Please continue to pray for me because I’m getting exhausted!

A Really Long Post about Wellington that Doesn't do Justice to all the Fun I Had!

June 5, 2011

The last few days have been completely amazing!  Mostly because of the wonderful people I’ve met.  On our day traveling to Wellington Matthias really took me under his wing.  We were able to get a shuttle to the ferry terminal from the hostel.  After we checked in Matthias saw one of his friends who had been on the Stray bus earlier with him.  As it turns out his friend, Mike, was also on the bus with me my first couple days back on the bus.  

Matthias and I had been hemming and hawing about where to stay in Wellington and Mike reminded us that it is a holiday weekend for the Queen’s birthday so we’d better get it taken care of or we’d find no beds.  Matthias called Downtown Backpackers, where Mike was also booked to stay.  He asked for two beds in a hostel room and they said they were full on Saturday and Sunday, but could get us two beds for this night.  We took them and decided we’d figure the other two nights out when we got into Wellington.  I was pretty nervous about the whole thing, but I tried to trust God and I prayed about it.

The ferry ride over was pretty neat and it was cool to get to know Mike better.  The three of us walked the decks together and enjoyed the scenery.  We rode through Cook Strait which is one of the worst crossings in the world. It can be very rough.  The ferry isn’t like the small ferries we use in the Puget Sound region.  It’s more like a large ship that takes passengers and vehicles.  The crossing takes three hours.

Mike suggested that we do a communal meal for dinner when we got to our hostel in Wellington.  We all agreed that would be good and we spent the rest of the crossing watching Disney movies that the ferry plays on several TV screens.

In Wellington our hostel is located right across the street from the ferry terminal.  We walked over and checked in and when I checked in I asked if they had any beds for Saturday and Sunday night.  Lo and behold they did!  I don’t know who talked to Matthias over the phone, but they had plenty of space in a bigger dorm room.  So our first night we were to stay in a six bed dorm room and then move our things the next morning to the larger dorm room.  I was so relieved!

Matthias and I took our things to our room and met a very nice Belgian girl named Nathalie.  We invited her to join us for our shared meal and then Mike, Matthias, and I went to the supermarket to get the ingredients.  Our dinner came to $4 per person!  Talk about cheap!  Mike insisted on cooking the meal on his own as long as the rest of us cleaned up afterwards.  He made us a lovely spaghetti Bolognese.  By the time we ate it was almost 10 PM so I just went to bed.

The next day Matthias and I had the annoying job of moving dorms.  All in all it worked out, but there was a bit of confusion. Eventually, Matthias, Mike, and I headed to the New Zealand National Museum called Te Papa.  

Te Papa is a beautiful, modern, and very large museum on the waterfront of Wellington.  Wellington feels a lot like San Francisco because it has beautiful waterfront areas, large buildings, and a ton of cafes, bars, and restaurants.  The three of us started out in a new exhibit all about the Maori people reclaiming their heritage.  That took us an hour so we stopped for a lunch break at the museum cafe.

We ate our sandwiches outside and enjoyed our coffee and one another’s company.  Mike is from England and Matthias is from Germany.  Mike talks a lot.  He hardly every shuts up!  Although Matthias is a good talker too.  We laughed a bunch and again discussed what we’d do for dinner!  Food is always on our minds!  

Back in the museum we visited the permanent exhibits on the Maori people and history.    In the Treaty of Waitangi section I started to lose interest, but Mike, who is a political science student couldn’t get enough!  Fortunately there was a sitting area with a good view of the harbor and Matthias and I just sat there and relaxed for a bit.  I also checked out the section on New Zealand in the 20th century.  I learned a lot about New Zealand’s stance against nuclear weapons.  I’d heard people talk about it before, but it was great to really learn about it.

I tried to do the exhibit on immigrants to New Zealand because it looked really good, but by that time my brain couldn’t take in any more!  I was reading, but not comprehending.  Looking but not seeing.  I went and found Mike and told him I couldn’t stay any longer.  We eventually found Matthias, but couldn’t leave just yet because the two of them wanted to go see the colossal squid.

Te Papa is famous for having a colossal squid, as it’s the only museum in the world to have one.  It’s just a giant squid in a display case.  In 2007 some fishermen from New Zealand were fishing near Antarctica when they caught a fish that the squid was in the midst of eating.  For some reason the squid didn’t let go.  And since it was about to die anyway the fishermen took it onboard and gave it to the museum.  

By this point I was so tired I could barely stand up straight.  But Matthias and Mike were having fun on a computer where you could design your own squid so I had to wait a bit longer.  Finally we left and went to the supermarket to get food for dinner.  We chose to make stir fry.  

Nathalie joined us for dinner again.  Mike and Matthias cooked it up and it was really good.  It’s so much fun to share a meal with friends.  It’s fascinating to sit at a table with people from all around the world.  We represented the UK, the USA, Belgium, and Germany.  Topics and discussions are very different when it’s an international group like that!  Nathalie and I cleaned up and then the four of us had some wine and biscuits.  We decided to go to the movies and I’d found a coupon for $10 movie tickets.  

We went to see the new X-men movie and Mike was in heaven because he’s a nerd.  We all had such a great time together!  I loved it too!  These three are just about the best fellow backpackers I’ve met in New Zealand.  I’m going to be sad to say goodbye to them!

Queen Charlotte Sounds

June 3, 2011

I arrived in Picton in the early afternoon and checked into my hostel.  The driver and one other person on the bus also got off to stay at the hostel.  Everyone else either went to Nelson or to Wellington.   Next door to the hostel was a lovely bakery!  Yum!  Really good bread and I also purchased a cherry torte!  After lunch I went and used the free internet at the library and caught up with family and friends.

It gets so dark here now because it’s winter so I spend my evenings pretty quietly.  Most hostels have a really nice, cozy fireplace to cuddle up to.  I read magazines, made dinner, and then watched a movie later with a couple of Germans.

The driver, Chase, convinced me to do a day walk on the Queen Charlotte Track.  The Queen Charlotte Track is normally a 2-3 day walking track, but a boat will take you to wherever you want to walk on the track and then pick you up down the way.  Mattias Huber, from Germany, who was also on the Stray bus, came with us.

The boat ride out through the sounds was pretty long.  We stopped at several spots to deliver food and people to their various locations.  There are several accommodations out along the track and some people live out there.  We also saw bottle-nosed dolphins!  They are huge compared to the dusky dolphins I saw in Kaikoura!  They look more like the traditional dolphin we are used to seeing.

The day was fairly cold especially with a strong wind, but the track immediately starts off  climbing up a steep hill.  So we warmed up pretty quickly.  Throughout the track are gorgeous views of the sound.  We were also surrounded by native bush including the silver fern.  

We stopped for lunch with a beautiful view.  Then some wekas, flightless birds, came and begged for our food.  But we didn’t give them any.  We only had about an hour left to walk until the spot where we got picked up by the boat again.  

On our way back to Picton on the boat we visited a salmon farm and saw quite a few more fur seals.  Man those guys are everywhere!  Here they feast on the salmon and eat about $5,000 worth of salmon a day!

I was really happy to get back to my hostel and the warm fireplace at the end of the day!  The boat ride back had been quite cold.  I spent the evening with a book and the fireplace!

This afternoon Mattias and I head to Wellington where I’ll spend three nights.  Then it’s on to Auckland!

Blenheim

May 31, 2011

Blenheim has been a bit of a disappointment.  Oh nothing to get worked up about. Although I came close to tears of frustration a few times here.  

We left Kaikura for Blenheim on Monday.  On our way we stopped at a waterfall where baby seals come to play in the pools and river.  Our Stray driver called it baby seal kindergarten.  Their mothers are out hunting so they come and play and fight with each other here.  It was incredible to see them so close and personal and in their natural environment.  There were so many of them!  I’ve never seen so many seals, let alone babies!

Our drive into Blenheim was gorgeous.  Mountains and the sea and the sun in the blue sky.  When I got here I went to the I-site for help in finding accommodation.  In about half an hour I was at my hostel.  

It’s a nice place in an odd setting.  It’s a large house in an industrial area.  It has a great kitchen and for the first time I’ve felt like cooking so I made some paninis.  Several of the people staying here are working in the vineyards so it kind of has a homey feel to it.

After checking in I went to search out the town.  Blenheim feels a lot like the agricultural towns of California.  It’s very flat and big semis are driving through all the time taking goods from one place to another.  Around Blenheim are some golden hills which give even more of a California feel to the town.  Plus, even though it’s pretty cold and winter time, it’s still sunny.  

I wanted to walk up into the golden hills on some special walks, but I got confused by the map and went the wrong way.  This was the first part of my frustrations!  I still enjoyed my walk, but I really wanted a good view of the area and I would have gotten one if I had made it to the top of the hill!

Today I rented a bike from the hostel and set out to conquer the wine trail of Marlborough, the name of this larger region.  I didn’t realize how far I would have to bike to get to wine country.  I was pooped by the time I got there.  Partly due to a head wind, partly due to not having my bike seat at the proper height, and as much as I hate to admit it, partly due to being out of shape!

Eventually I made it to a nice winery where I had a delicious lunch by their large, open fire.  I had a Waldorf salad with the most lovely pears and rocket cheese.  I also had a marvelous cheese souffle.  I biked through the vineyards some more.  I felt better after lunch and I also grabbed an ice cream cone and took a little snooze at one of the wineries.  Eventually I got tired of taking vineyard photos and decided to check out the chocolate factory.  I had free chocolate tastings, but the prices were too high to buy any chocolate.  

By this time, my butt hurt.  My wrists ached, and my legs were just plain tired.  It was still early, but I turned my bike toward home.  I even got off the bike for a bit because it was just plain easier and more comfortable to walk than bike. 

Let me tell you one of the scariest things I did today was ride my bike through several roundabouts.  In Blenheim its against the law to ride your bike on the footpath or sidewalk.  So I had to take those roundabouts head on just like I was in a car.  The town doesn’t have any traffic lights so there are a lot of complicated roundabouts. And don't forget they drive on the other side of the street here! But I succeeded and made it back to the hostel in one piece!

Tomorrow I head to Picton.  It’s only a quick 30 minutes from Blenheim but I’m hoping I enjoy it more!

Kaikoura

May 29, 2011

My stay here in Kaikoura has been interesting and different than I expected.  On the whole it’s been really nice.  I had that first nice walk with Siskia and Rhianna.  The next day I was supposed to go on my whale watch and I was so excited.  In the morning I walked around town.  I went to the I-site and the beach and I trolled the shops.  They have really unique and creative boutiques here!  

Then when I went to the whale watch it was cancelled.  I was pretty bummed.  But Siskia and I ended up doing the peninsula walk.  The walk took about three hours.  First we walked out to the seal colony where we saw loads of seals.  Everywhere seals.  Then we climbed up the hill to the pasture land.  The walk took us along the cliffs overlooking the beach and the Pacific Ocean.  We mostly walked through cow and sheep pastures.  It kind of reminded me of the guided walk I went on in South Africa, but on a smaller, less magnificent scale.  

That same evening I ran into some other folks who were on my Stray bus.  We had chips together and watched a movie.

Today I went to church at the Presbyterian church.  It was a lovely little service and what the pastor said really spoke to me.  I went to a cafe and sat outside in the sunshine afterwards.  It was a lovely, warm day.  The weather does not feel like winter weather!  

I kept praying that my whale watch would go today and that we’d see a lot of whales!  Well, my prayer was answered.  We only saw one whale, but we saw a lot of him!  It was a male sperm whale.  They kind of float at the top and then dive under and splash their big beautiful tales.  We also saw between 200 and 300 dusky dolphins swimming in the sea.  It was incredible!  I’ve never seen anything like it!  They move so fast.  I would have been happy to watch them all day long.  We also saw a seal and many albatrosses, the largest sea bird I’ve ever seen.

I went back to church this evening because they were having a region-wide service for people from all the different churches and denominations in the area.  The Presbyterian pastor preached.  This guy really has a heart for winning people to the Lord.  He spoke on revival.  He really wants to see revival for Kaikoura.  It was pretty neat.  Afterwards I had tea and biscuits and talked to a few people.  One older man really wanted to talk to me and I ended up staying and chatting to him.  He is really interested in the US, but he said he’s too old to travel there now so his best chance of learning about it is to talk to an American.

I met up with Siskia after church.  We shared our experiences from the day.  She went swimming with those 200-300 dolphins!  Overall Kaikoura has been a great stopover.  I’m glad I got off the bus here and I’m glad I got to connect with some Christians while I was here.  That’s just as important as seeing sperm whales and dusky dolphins!

Mt. Cook

May 25, 2011

Starting out in Dunedin, we went to Baldwin Street.  Formerly, Baldwin Street was the steepest street in the world.  Then apparently GPS came around and as Spike, the driver, would say “the bloody Americans fucked up the measuring” and Lombard Street in San Francisco is actually steeper.  Still, we had a good walk up it and it is still labeled as the steepest street in the world.

Not long after departing Dunedin we went to the Moeraki Boulders.  These are large, massive round rocks on the beach.  What a beautiful day!  Again blue skies and since we arrived in the morning there was still a tinge of colorful light in the sky.  A lovely setting.

We pretty much booked it all the way to Mt. Cook so that we could make it in time for our iceberg tour.  The largest glacier in New Zealand is here and it’s called the Tasman Glacier.  At the base of it is a lake, formed only in the 1970s.  Pieces of the glacier will break off and fall into the lake and become icebergs.  They reckon it takes 300 years for a piece of ice to make it from the top of the glacier down into an iceberg on the lake.

We took boats out on the lake and got up close and personal with all the icebergs.  We picked ice and ate it and took photos with big chunks of ice.  It was a lot of fun.  

After the icebergs we watched a 3D movie filmed here in Mt. Cook.  If you didn't know, Mt. Cook is New Zealand's highest peak.  It's also where Sir Edmund Hilary honed his climbing skills before taking on Mt. Everest.

Tomorrow we leave from here late and head to Rangitata.  I was looking forward to this bit because they have water rafting there.  But apparently the water rafting is over for the winter.  So I guess we’ll just do some walks and chill.