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.