The next day I woke up and all the dudes I was with the night before were all still out there, still drinking and talking about how awesome Creamfields was going to be! I hope they made it there in the end, because there were lots of different ideas floating around on how they were going to arrive and at what time and what they had to do first....I really hope they made it, lulz.
I wanted to trot over to Billabong to find out what time Simon wanted to leave and such...just get some final confirmation stuff you know how it is. I decided not to go my normal route (Sidenote: I had previously thought that my route was down a pretty sketch street, even during the day, just had that feel of a gangster street, and plus it's called Monger St and it connects directly to china town....pffft), luckily I made that decision that day because as I was rolling by there was a cop blocking off the street putting a bullet proof vest on. Apparantly there were shots fired and the whole street was now swarming with swat and blocked off. Looks like I......dodged a bullet there.......*insert CSI Miami tune*
Anyway, I eventually met up with Simon and his girl and we set off to Margaret River; then she got a phone call from work and had to go in that day so it just ended up being Simon and I. This probably worked out for the best, as she seemed like a bit of a worrier and we got up to some pretty dodgy things. We arrived in Margarget River at about 6pm, picked up some food (roast chicken and salad..to be combined later into a MASSIVE chicken salad) and headed to Red Gate Beach where we were going to meet up with a big group from the hostel. We got a bit lost on the way but ended up finding it eventually, we walked down to the beach to find a group of about 25 backpackers just chillin on lawn chairs in the dark drinking and smoking (Sidenote: Simon and I peeped some Cops/Rangers lurking at the entrance to the beach, probably making sure nobody drove out of there drunk etc.).
This was probably one of the coolest gatherings I've ever been to. Everyone was just sitting around talking getting slizzerd on the beach. Simon was going to stay in his tent on the beach that night and I was going to sleep in the car, so I help him set that up, it was pretty windy but we got it up eventually. We were out there for a while, then the rain started...and then it REALLY started. So we all retreated to our cars and began waiting it out, Simon assured me that it would pass within a few minutes because of the wind (Sidenote: I jumped out to pee during a lull and as I started the rain started up full force again...FML).
Eventually, the rain stopped for real and the skies were clear again. We kept the party going in the parking lot, one of the vans was blasting some music so that was good, I felt sorry for their battery though. This is when we assembled out enormous chicken salad...and man was it tastarific..full chicken + full bag of salad + balsamic vinegar. Chyeaaaaa~ The highlight of the night was probably the salad to be honest...but in a close second was meeting this guy who looked AND sounded exactly like Bear Grylls, it was actually crazy because he came from a town about 20mins from where Bear Grylls is from. His story was that he is Bears younger brother, but he just doesn't like the fame, he just does all the same stuff for the love of nature; hilarious guy.
I woke up the next morning to the sound of Rangers getting details from people and issueing $50 Illegal Camping tickets...hmm...good thing I have the uncanny ability to wake up in the nick of time (Sidenote: I once had a similar experience involving a girl and her parents coming back home at 2am instead of the next day). So I turned over and told Simon what the situation was, and he said "You want to flee the scene?"..and proceeded to pop on his tuque and slink out his side of the car down to the beach. The Rangers were all on my side doing the booking, I guess they hadn't seen us in there or were just doing each car one at a time instead of rouding the people up and getting all the info at once, silly Rangers. I decided to jump over the seat and get out the driver side. Good thing nobody there knew me before the previous night, too drunk to remember me, because when I walked passed all the people and the Rangers asked "Where'd that bloke come from, do you know him?" they all said no!...Beautiful...I just strolled down to the beach to meet up with Simon and assess the situation(Sidenote: A wise man once told me innocent people don't run from the scene, they just walk on and carry on with their business).
We decided to just wait out the heat at the beach, so we stayed down there for about 1-2 hrs and then made our way back up. We met up with some stragglers, the rest had gone for breakfast in town, one of the guys got lucky and didn't get fined but the others were fined $50...womp womp womp...After a quick chat, Simon and I decided to head to some caves that were down the road. This was a FANTASTIC idea, we stopped at one called Mammoth Cave (there was also Lake Cave and Jewel Cave) and it was really amazing. I've never been in a cave like that before, and this one was a good start, now I want to see more (I got some really nice pics but I can't upload them until next month...I need to get more selective with the ones I actually upload).
After that we headed further south to Pemberton to do a tree top walk or tree climb, they all seemed pretty cool at the time. The tree top walk was pretty far but the tree climbs (60m and 71m) were quite close. We stayed the night in a caravan park, to avoid any fines, I saw signs posted that it was a $1000 fine in that area. Surprisingly there were a TON of kids running around the caravan park, but I guess it is easter weekend so they were vacationing. It was just funny because I haven't been around lots of kids in a while. That night we had tuna pasta, which was pretty delicious, and I had an early night to try and get to sleep before Simon because he snored like a monster. This was my second night sleeping in the car, and getting rained on through the leak in the window, so I am thankful to be sleeping in a bed with a pillow and a blanket tonight! I didn't really have a bad sleep, just the damp feeling gets into your bones.
As it was raining again the next day we opted not to do the tree walk or tree climb. But if you look here you'll see how sketch the tree climb set up was LOL. It's basically just some iron rods sticking out all around the tree and a small fence to stop you from falling over sideways. So we decided to head back to Perth instead of put our lives at risk on some rods and a tiny fence. Driving around Australia is SO much different than New Zealand. Here there are really tall trees along the roads and lots of red sand/dirt along the road, it still has the nice scenic water views and such though. At one point we had a large river on the right and the sea on the left, pretty cool spot.
On our way back we stopped in a town called Bunbury to avoid some end easter weekend traffic. This turned out to be great, we stayed on the beach, Simon dried out his tent and surfed a bit and we ate some lunch. The sun was shining, not a cloud in site, a much needed refresher as to why I'm here, and great change from the rain. We also decided to stop in Fremantle on the way back and have a quick drink at a brewery/bar called Little Creatures. Remember how I said Fremantle was the place to be...well this is the place to be IN Fremantle. They brew their own beer and that's the only one they sell, the food smelled great, and the place is enormous (it's two warehouses attached). Really cool spot, the entire harbor area was really nice actually, and quite busy. I hadn't been down that far when I was there before so I'm glad I got to see that part before leaving here.
Headed back Perth after a pint and now I'm writing these posts~ This is pretty much real time blogging now! Off to Geraldton in the morning, maybe I'll find a job for a few weeks?....
Peace & Love
Monday, April 25, 2011
Welcome to Western Australia (Apr 19 - 22)
Now....I've been catching quite a bit of flack for choosing to go to WA, most of which coming from the people who are actually here. "You just got here? And you haven't been to the East Coast? Why are you here?" etc... But I'm not here to give "reasons" as to why I chose to come here, that is between me and my brain, I'm here to see some real Australian sh--stuff. And so far, I am quite please with my decision.
So I arrived in Perth at about 7pm on Tuesday night, no hostel booked or anything. Jumped on the phone at the airport and phoned a few hostels before I found one that had a spare bed for a few nights, Billabong. Decent set up, they have a pool, nice high showers, and an overall nice vibe; even if it is a bit dingy. My first night I just got set up in my room and had a few beers by the pool with some German dudes I met (ARG..can't get away from these people lol =P). Next day I did some job applying (Sidenote: I was applying for a bunch of different jobs, but once I started to read the IT stuff nerdzilla came out and I was geeked on working in IT. Don't think it will happen because I only want to work for about 2-3 weeks or so..oh well), then I ventured out into the city to have a wander, looks like a city pretty much nothing special. There is a pretty cool looking Bell Tower beside the harbor and some building that lights up all crazy at night. The city is a bit bleh to be honest, but thats how I feel about most big cities. Got back to the hostel and night and had a few with a bunch of people, one Canadian guy named Simon from VanCity.
I decided to do a day in Fremantle because I heard it was a cool place to be so the next day I took a trip to Scarborough Beach (haha, yup scarbs) which was really nice. Watching all the surfers and stuff was cool, I had a sweet time just laying out and chilling for a while (Sidenote: AUSTRALIA IS REALLY HOT~ GEEZ... it's still like 30+ here during the day, I can't even imagine what the summer is like). After the beach I hoped on the train to Fremantle to spend the night there and go to the market in the morning to just check it out.
I got to Fremantle with no plan...Oh by the way, I might need to get the Perth/WA lonely planet because the Australia one doesn't have any hostel info, its just general stuff and most of it is hotels and expensive things. Anyway, I got to Fremantle and asked the dude at the train station where the nearest hostel was, he pointed me in a few different directions so I opted for the closest and headed out...No rooms available, and the guy told me there probably wouldn't be anything in all of 'Freo' because it was easter weekend...UHOHZ~ No worries though, next place I went had ONE spare bed for ONE night only, perfect for me (bonus of traveling alone).
Fremantle was actually a really cool place. Nice small city with old style architecture and a very nice vibe to the city. I went out that night to some bar because I got a free meal ticket from the hostel and met some local dudes and had a chat. It was also open mic night so there was music going on, and I owned a bit at pool, overall I had a nice time there. Switched it up and went to a club, suggested by the locals I had met, so I could get my dance on. It ended up being a dubstep/electro club (two different rooms) so it was wicked awesome. I stayed there for quite a while then bounced. It's odd going to bars/clubs alone because you have to just talk to randoms all night, but it's good because you can come and go as you please.
The next day I wanted to wake up early and hit up the market then head back to Perth because Simon had offered to give me a ride to Margaret River (south of Perth) and then north up the coast to Geraldton. My plans to go to the market got foiled, as most of my plans do, something about some dude getting killed a couple thousand years ago... not to sure on the details...but it must be important seen as everything was closed everywhere. Anyway, I just grabbed some food and walked through some more of the city before heading out. Only to discover there were no trains that day from Fremantle because of some construction on the track, not to worry though there was a bus to take us. All in all, Fremantle was pretty dope, I enjoyed the atmosphere more than Perth...so if you're planning on going to Perth, go straight to Fremantle it will only cost you $3.70 for the train.
I hoped on the bus and headed back to Perth, Billabong was full so I booked in at a place called Easy Perth; this ended up being a great and hilarious idea. Check in wasn't until 2pm so I hung around Billabong at the pool until then, met back up with Simon and snagged his number so I knew what time we were going and what not the next day...phewf...I should have done that earlier. Once I got checked in at Easy Perth I met a couple of people, one guy was really drunk already which was funny, and everyone else was drinking...2pm remember and its face-melting hot. This dude ended up passing out for the rest of the day but woke back up in the evening and got right back on it..legend. He gave me the nickname James The Cat or Mr. The Cat which appearantly is an old cartoon, I had my own theme song too so I wasn't complaining.
I stayed up drinking with these guys for as long as I could, but they were all hyped because they were going to Creamfields the next day (big music festival for dance music). They kepted trying to convince me not to go to Margaret River and go to Creamfields the next day with them...it was pretty tempting because the tickets were only $95 and it was an all day event. But I had to decline and I crashed at about 1am.
Off to Margaret River in the morning..man it's hot here...whew..
Peace & Love
So I arrived in Perth at about 7pm on Tuesday night, no hostel booked or anything. Jumped on the phone at the airport and phoned a few hostels before I found one that had a spare bed for a few nights, Billabong. Decent set up, they have a pool, nice high showers, and an overall nice vibe; even if it is a bit dingy. My first night I just got set up in my room and had a few beers by the pool with some German dudes I met (ARG..can't get away from these people lol =P). Next day I did some job applying (Sidenote: I was applying for a bunch of different jobs, but once I started to read the IT stuff nerdzilla came out and I was geeked on working in IT. Don't think it will happen because I only want to work for about 2-3 weeks or so..oh well), then I ventured out into the city to have a wander, looks like a city pretty much nothing special. There is a pretty cool looking Bell Tower beside the harbor and some building that lights up all crazy at night. The city is a bit bleh to be honest, but thats how I feel about most big cities. Got back to the hostel and night and had a few with a bunch of people, one Canadian guy named Simon from VanCity.
I decided to do a day in Fremantle because I heard it was a cool place to be so the next day I took a trip to Scarborough Beach (haha, yup scarbs) which was really nice. Watching all the surfers and stuff was cool, I had a sweet time just laying out and chilling for a while (Sidenote: AUSTRALIA IS REALLY HOT~ GEEZ... it's still like 30+ here during the day, I can't even imagine what the summer is like). After the beach I hoped on the train to Fremantle to spend the night there and go to the market in the morning to just check it out.
I got to Fremantle with no plan...Oh by the way, I might need to get the Perth/WA lonely planet because the Australia one doesn't have any hostel info, its just general stuff and most of it is hotels and expensive things. Anyway, I got to Fremantle and asked the dude at the train station where the nearest hostel was, he pointed me in a few different directions so I opted for the closest and headed out...No rooms available, and the guy told me there probably wouldn't be anything in all of 'Freo' because it was easter weekend...UHOHZ~ No worries though, next place I went had ONE spare bed for ONE night only, perfect for me (bonus of traveling alone).
Fremantle was actually a really cool place. Nice small city with old style architecture and a very nice vibe to the city. I went out that night to some bar because I got a free meal ticket from the hostel and met some local dudes and had a chat. It was also open mic night so there was music going on, and I owned a bit at pool, overall I had a nice time there. Switched it up and went to a club, suggested by the locals I had met, so I could get my dance on. It ended up being a dubstep/electro club (two different rooms) so it was wicked awesome. I stayed there for quite a while then bounced. It's odd going to bars/clubs alone because you have to just talk to randoms all night, but it's good because you can come and go as you please.
The next day I wanted to wake up early and hit up the market then head back to Perth because Simon had offered to give me a ride to Margaret River (south of Perth) and then north up the coast to Geraldton. My plans to go to the market got foiled, as most of my plans do, something about some dude getting killed a couple thousand years ago... not to sure on the details...but it must be important seen as everything was closed everywhere. Anyway, I just grabbed some food and walked through some more of the city before heading out. Only to discover there were no trains that day from Fremantle because of some construction on the track, not to worry though there was a bus to take us. All in all, Fremantle was pretty dope, I enjoyed the atmosphere more than Perth...so if you're planning on going to Perth, go straight to Fremantle it will only cost you $3.70 for the train.
I hoped on the bus and headed back to Perth, Billabong was full so I booked in at a place called Easy Perth; this ended up being a great and hilarious idea. Check in wasn't until 2pm so I hung around Billabong at the pool until then, met back up with Simon and snagged his number so I knew what time we were going and what not the next day...phewf...I should have done that earlier. Once I got checked in at Easy Perth I met a couple of people, one guy was really drunk already which was funny, and everyone else was drinking...2pm remember and its face-melting hot. This dude ended up passing out for the rest of the day but woke back up in the evening and got right back on it..legend. He gave me the nickname James The Cat or Mr. The Cat which appearantly is an old cartoon, I had my own theme song too so I wasn't complaining.
I stayed up drinking with these guys for as long as I could, but they were all hyped because they were going to Creamfields the next day (big music festival for dance music). They kepted trying to convince me not to go to Margaret River and go to Creamfields the next day with them...it was pretty tempting because the tickets were only $95 and it was an all day event. But I had to decline and I crashed at about 1am.
Off to Margaret River in the morning..man it's hot here...whew..
Peace & Love
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Dear New Zealand,
Hey, how are you? It's me James. I'll keep this short so I don't get too emotional. Just wanted to let you know I'm leaving tomorrow and I really had a magnificent time with you for the past two months. We had so much fun, sand boarding, surfing, sky diving, bird/whale watching, partying, and so much more. You've really got it all, some of the most beautiful landscapes I've ever seen in person, and such a varying landscape as well; volcanoes, rain forests, mountains, enormous sand dunes, beautiful beaches, ocean/sea views, etc. I'm not sure how any other country will ever live up to what you've shown me. So much beauty in such a small space.
I don't know if it's just because you were my first that I feel this way or if you really are this special. Either way I know that I love you and that I always will. And I will be back one day. I hope you never change, and if you do I hope it's only for the better even though I don't think that's possible.
If I wasn't leaving, I'd be staying. Take care.
Love Always,
James "FORLIFE"
I don't know if it's just because you were my first that I feel this way or if you really are this special. Either way I know that I love you and that I always will. And I will be back one day. I hope you never change, and if you do I hope it's only for the better even though I don't think that's possible.
If I wasn't leaving, I'd be staying. Take care.
Love Always,
James "FORLIFE"
Dunedin to Kikoura is a F&%$#*! LONG WAY (Apr 16 - 18)
We woke up and got started pretty early, finished breakfast at about 9am and left. We wanted to get an early start because we knew there was a long road ahead of us. We wanted to go up the Otago Peninsula, see Baldwin St (steepest residential street in the world) and the Dunedin Railway Station, then on to Kikoura.
With only 1 stop for food, and 1 for toilet, we got into Kikoura at around 7:45-8pm. We didn't do anything else that day. The hostel we were staying in, Dolphin Lodge, was pretty nice, I always like hostels with fire places, even if it's not too cold. So we chilled and stayed in that night, I had to book my bus back to Christchurch so I could fly out on the 19th. I decided to go whale watching as well, just as a last hoorah, and it's the only thing to do in Kikoura (beautiful place, just nothing free to do). It wasn't too expensive and it turned out to be well worth the money. I had to reschedule my bus, as we could only get the latest whale watching tour, but that is free with the ticket I had so it was alright. The plan was to arrive in Christchurch the day before my flight and sleep in the airport that night so I wouldn't miss my flight.
The whale watching was AWESOME, we saw three Sperm Whales (at least the tails and some of the head/back), some Dusky Dolphines, Albatross, and some seals. I'm really glad I did it and it was a pretty nice send off. We met some (more) German girls who came along with us, Jessica and Felli (I think..or Falli..). They were pretty cool, I ended up getting a ride with them to Christchurch that night instead of having to take the bus the next day. So as most plans do, mine failed and I had to scavenge for some accomadation for that night and the next day. I eventually found something so it turned out fine.
After we left the whale watching it started to rain heavily, and we had to walk all the way back to the hostel, so that wasn't fun. Now I have a bunch of wet clothes to deal with before I leave in the morning. The drive to Christchurch was pretty rainy as well, but we survived. These girls were pretty cool, Jessica loved reggea which was funny, and they were both au pairs working in the North Island I believe, taking a short vacation.
Thanks for the ride girls~!
Now I'm in Christchurch, writting up my last blog posts before I head off to Perth tomorrow morning.
Christchurch edit: I just walked around Christchurch, doing various business, man it is very sad, but things are still going along which is good. One street will look fine, then the next is completely demolished with a "EXTREME DANGER ZONE" sign infront of it. Decided not to take too many pics (only 1), just because it's just rubble and I'm sure you all know what rubble looks like. Stay strong CHCH, I'm sure you'll be back in tip top shape in no time!
Peace & Love
With only 1 stop for food, and 1 for toilet, we got into Kikoura at around 7:45-8pm. We didn't do anything else that day. The hostel we were staying in, Dolphin Lodge, was pretty nice, I always like hostels with fire places, even if it's not too cold. So we chilled and stayed in that night, I had to book my bus back to Christchurch so I could fly out on the 19th. I decided to go whale watching as well, just as a last hoorah, and it's the only thing to do in Kikoura (beautiful place, just nothing free to do). It wasn't too expensive and it turned out to be well worth the money. I had to reschedule my bus, as we could only get the latest whale watching tour, but that is free with the ticket I had so it was alright. The plan was to arrive in Christchurch the day before my flight and sleep in the airport that night so I wouldn't miss my flight.
The whale watching was AWESOME, we saw three Sperm Whales (at least the tails and some of the head/back), some Dusky Dolphines, Albatross, and some seals. I'm really glad I did it and it was a pretty nice send off. We met some (more) German girls who came along with us, Jessica and Felli (I think..or Falli..). They were pretty cool, I ended up getting a ride with them to Christchurch that night instead of having to take the bus the next day. So as most plans do, mine failed and I had to scavenge for some accomadation for that night and the next day. I eventually found something so it turned out fine.
After we left the whale watching it started to rain heavily, and we had to walk all the way back to the hostel, so that wasn't fun. Now I have a bunch of wet clothes to deal with before I leave in the morning. The drive to Christchurch was pretty rainy as well, but we survived. These girls were pretty cool, Jessica loved reggea which was funny, and they were both au pairs working in the North Island I believe, taking a short vacation.
Thanks for the ride girls~!
Now I'm in Christchurch, writting up my last blog posts before I head off to Perth tomorrow morning.
Christchurch edit: I just walked around Christchurch, doing various business, man it is very sad, but things are still going along which is good. One street will look fine, then the next is completely demolished with a "EXTREME DANGER ZONE" sign infront of it. Decided not to take too many pics (only 1), just because it's just rubble and I'm sure you all know what rubble looks like. Stay strong CHCH, I'm sure you'll be back in tip top shape in no time!
Peace & Love
Rainy bay after rainy bay... (Apr 14 - 15)
We decided to drive the scenic route up the Catlins coast on our way to Dunedin. It seemed like a great idea in the morning, but once we got started the rain followed us all the way to Dunedin. We tried to make the most of it by stopping at all the sights anyway and taking pictures of the bays, but they all looked the same in the rain.
Andy had already gone up the coast while Konni and I were on Stewart Island, and when he went it was much more beautiful and sunny. So seeing his pictures just made it worse. We still tried our best to see everything we stopped at Frasers Beach (really cool stone beach), Waipapa Beach and Lighthouse (we saw a sealion chillin in the rain, it looked like the other sealions sent him out to get pictures taken because none of the others wanted to be out in the rain), Cairo Bay, and Tautuku Beach. The good thing about the rain was it made all the waves HUGE at these beaches, so that was at least nice to watch for a little while. Not really much else to say about the drive, it was just rainy bay after rainy bay, but I'm still glad we went up that way; took a bit longer but not too bad.
When we arrived in Dunedin we stayed in a place called HOGWARTS(!!!!), the lady running the place even looked a bit like a witch (one of the nice ones though lol). This was a really nice hostel, it was an old house, and everything was just warm and nice. I even got a double bed to my self which was dopetastic (even though I only ended up sleeping on a small part of it because I wasn't used to having so much room). We ended up going out that night to a few places, and eventually got to Monkey Bar. This place was BUMPIN'.. packed with students though, which is good and bad. Students kinda smell, and they just are that cool to be around, but they wear the sluttiest clothes so it evens out, kinda...
The next day we wanted to go to the beach but it was still raining so we stayed in, watched Pulp Fiction and did some laundry. They had a laundry service at this hostel, $8 and you get your laundry washed, dryed, AND FOLDED; it was beautiful. Since it was raining we decided to go on the tour of the Speights Brewery, the one in Dunedin is the last gravity run brewery left in the Southern Hemisphere I believe. The tour guide gave us a bunch of cool facts, but we got to drink as much as we wanted at the end (6 different kinds of Speights!) so I don't remember any of the facts. Just know that Speights is the beer to drink in the South Island and the best ones are Speights Gold Medal and Speights Old Dark (if you prefer dark beer). We kind of wanted to go out that night but, after drinking at the brewery we just decided to get to bed so we could get started early the next day. On to Kikoura!
Peace & Love
Andy had already gone up the coast while Konni and I were on Stewart Island, and when he went it was much more beautiful and sunny. So seeing his pictures just made it worse. We still tried our best to see everything we stopped at Frasers Beach (really cool stone beach), Waipapa Beach and Lighthouse (we saw a sealion chillin in the rain, it looked like the other sealions sent him out to get pictures taken because none of the others wanted to be out in the rain), Cairo Bay, and Tautuku Beach. The good thing about the rain was it made all the waves HUGE at these beaches, so that was at least nice to watch for a little while. Not really much else to say about the drive, it was just rainy bay after rainy bay, but I'm still glad we went up that way; took a bit longer but not too bad.
When we arrived in Dunedin we stayed in a place called HOGWARTS(!!!!), the lady running the place even looked a bit like a witch (one of the nice ones though lol). This was a really nice hostel, it was an old house, and everything was just warm and nice. I even got a double bed to my self which was dopetastic (even though I only ended up sleeping on a small part of it because I wasn't used to having so much room). We ended up going out that night to a few places, and eventually got to Monkey Bar. This place was BUMPIN'.. packed with students though, which is good and bad. Students kinda smell, and they just are that cool to be around, but they wear the sluttiest clothes so it evens out, kinda...
The next day we wanted to go to the beach but it was still raining so we stayed in, watched Pulp Fiction and did some laundry. They had a laundry service at this hostel, $8 and you get your laundry washed, dryed, AND FOLDED; it was beautiful. Since it was raining we decided to go on the tour of the Speights Brewery, the one in Dunedin is the last gravity run brewery left in the Southern Hemisphere I believe. The tour guide gave us a bunch of cool facts, but we got to drink as much as we wanted at the end (6 different kinds of Speights!) so I don't remember any of the facts. Just know that Speights is the beer to drink in the South Island and the best ones are Speights Gold Medal and Speights Old Dark (if you prefer dark beer). We kind of wanted to go out that night but, after drinking at the brewery we just decided to get to bed so we could get started early the next day. On to Kikoura!
Peace & Love
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Stewart Island: The Anchor Stone of Maui's Canoe (Apr 12 - 13)
When leaving Queenstown, we also left behind Rebecca who was heading straight for Dunedin and on to the North Island. Good times with Rebecca, hope you enjoy your skydive in Taupo!
To get to Stewart Island you have to take a ferry from a port town called Bluff, but since there is NOTHING THERE (not even a bank), we decided to stay the night in Invercargill (ya that is the real name...) and just drive to Bluff in the morning. Invercargill is actually a pretty nice city, not very scenic but big enough and has some things going on. Andy decided not to go to Stewart Island, and drive up the coast instead and pick us up when we got back (turned out to be a good idea, further explanation later). So Konni and I booked our ferry for the next day ($132 round trip...ughhhh, we could have gotten some standby seats on a small plane but we wanted to go the next day and they didn't have any left).
The next morning Andy drove us to Bluff and we got on the ferry to Stewart Island at around 9:30am I think (we actually almost missed it trying to get cash in Bluff, which you can't do unless you have a NZ bank account...and there is NO bank on Stewart Island..). We arrived on Stewart Island an hour later, the ferry goes really fast too, in the main town called Oban. Most of Stewart Island is made up of National Parks and wildlife reserves so the town of Oban, where most of the residents of Stewart Island live (around 400), is extremely small and quiet and situated in Halfmoon Bay. Everyone is very friendly though and says hi to you and gives you suggestions on what you should see and do and eat.
As soon as we got there we went to the information centre to find out what we should do, since we didnt want to do the Raikura 2-3 day hike or the Mason Bay 2-3 day hike. After getting some info and checking into our hostel (OH...there is also no phone reception on Stewart Island..but I guess if you just yell loud enough you can find eachother anyway) we decided to do the Ackers Point Lighthouse walk, which was pretty nice. It took us along the coast of Oban, Lonnekers Beach, Leask Bay, Ackers Stone House, Harrold Bay and we also stopped at Ringaringa Beach on the way back. We then took a walk up to Observation Rock, where we saw Golden Bay and the Paterson Inlet; all in all a pretty successful day of walking and we had even more in store for the next day.
(Sidenote: The hostel we were staying in SUCKED, DO NOT STAY AT Stewart Island Backpackers. Dirty kitchen/showers/bathroom, terrible beds, but they do let you store your things there for free for the day after checking out..)
Konni and I booked a water taxi to Ulva Island, which is a bird sanctuary island, and a shuttle to Lee Bay where we would walk back to town from via Horseshoe Track. We got on our water taxi at around 8:15am and set off to Ulva Island (approx. 10 mins away). Oh my this was a beautiful place and an amazing experience. We saw SO MANY different birds, and they all came right up to you because its a bird sanctuary so they aren't used to predators I guess; really cool stuff. We saw Stewart Island Wekas, South Island Saddlebacks (Tieke), Tomtits (Ngiru-Ngiru), Stewart Island Robins (Toutouwai), Brown Creeper (Pipipi), Tuis, Kakas, Fantails (Piwakawaka), New Zealand Pigeons (Kereru), and Bellbirds... no Riffleman, Parakeets, or KIWIs though =( (see all the pics and a video of Bellbirds singing on Flickr).
We walked around the whole island (at least the parts we were allowed to go). So we saw Sydney Cove, Boulder Beach, and West End Beach, there was a whole historical walk section with old buildings and history and such, but I didn't take too much time to learn about that, I was more interested in the birds. Although we didn't get to see a Kiwi (there are only 30-40 on Ulva Island) I'm pretty sure we heard them, which was cool because they make the weirdest noise; and unlike the Kiwi on the mainland these ones come out during the day as well.
After we were satisfied with our stash of bird pics and videos we headed back to Stewart Island to do some MORE walking (if you couldn't tell, the only thing to do on Stewart Island is walk around and peep the beauty and birds). We got our shuttle to Lee Bay where The Anchor is located, there is an anchor on Stewart Island and the chain is located in Bluff, and started our journey back. We decided not to do the Garden Mound Track because the mud looked too intense, so we just took Lee Bay Road back to Horseshoe Bay and then on to the Horseshoe Point Track. Walking up there was quite nice, we got a good view of Horseshoe Bay, Dead Man Beach, Bragg Bay and Butterfield Beach, and then just mosied back into town to eat then catch our ferry back to the mainland.
My time on Stewart Island was short, but well worth it. It is definitely one of the more beautiful places in New Zealand, and a much needed change after spending so much time in Queenstown.
After that it was back to Invercargill for the night and a drive up the Catlins Coast in the morning.
Peace & Love
To get to Stewart Island you have to take a ferry from a port town called Bluff, but since there is NOTHING THERE (not even a bank), we decided to stay the night in Invercargill (ya that is the real name...) and just drive to Bluff in the morning. Invercargill is actually a pretty nice city, not very scenic but big enough and has some things going on. Andy decided not to go to Stewart Island, and drive up the coast instead and pick us up when we got back (turned out to be a good idea, further explanation later). So Konni and I booked our ferry for the next day ($132 round trip...ughhhh, we could have gotten some standby seats on a small plane but we wanted to go the next day and they didn't have any left).
The next morning Andy drove us to Bluff and we got on the ferry to Stewart Island at around 9:30am I think (we actually almost missed it trying to get cash in Bluff, which you can't do unless you have a NZ bank account...and there is NO bank on Stewart Island..). We arrived on Stewart Island an hour later, the ferry goes really fast too, in the main town called Oban. Most of Stewart Island is made up of National Parks and wildlife reserves so the town of Oban, where most of the residents of Stewart Island live (around 400), is extremely small and quiet and situated in Halfmoon Bay. Everyone is very friendly though and says hi to you and gives you suggestions on what you should see and do and eat.
As soon as we got there we went to the information centre to find out what we should do, since we didnt want to do the Raikura 2-3 day hike or the Mason Bay 2-3 day hike. After getting some info and checking into our hostel (OH...there is also no phone reception on Stewart Island..but I guess if you just yell loud enough you can find eachother anyway) we decided to do the Ackers Point Lighthouse walk, which was pretty nice. It took us along the coast of Oban, Lonnekers Beach, Leask Bay, Ackers Stone House, Harrold Bay and we also stopped at Ringaringa Beach on the way back. We then took a walk up to Observation Rock, where we saw Golden Bay and the Paterson Inlet; all in all a pretty successful day of walking and we had even more in store for the next day.
(Sidenote: The hostel we were staying in SUCKED, DO NOT STAY AT Stewart Island Backpackers. Dirty kitchen/showers/bathroom, terrible beds, but they do let you store your things there for free for the day after checking out..)
Konni and I booked a water taxi to Ulva Island, which is a bird sanctuary island, and a shuttle to Lee Bay where we would walk back to town from via Horseshoe Track. We got on our water taxi at around 8:15am and set off to Ulva Island (approx. 10 mins away). Oh my this was a beautiful place and an amazing experience. We saw SO MANY different birds, and they all came right up to you because its a bird sanctuary so they aren't used to predators I guess; really cool stuff. We saw Stewart Island Wekas, South Island Saddlebacks (Tieke), Tomtits (Ngiru-Ngiru), Stewart Island Robins (Toutouwai), Brown Creeper (Pipipi), Tuis, Kakas, Fantails (Piwakawaka), New Zealand Pigeons (Kereru), and Bellbirds... no Riffleman, Parakeets, or KIWIs though =( (see all the pics and a video of Bellbirds singing on Flickr).
We walked around the whole island (at least the parts we were allowed to go). So we saw Sydney Cove, Boulder Beach, and West End Beach, there was a whole historical walk section with old buildings and history and such, but I didn't take too much time to learn about that, I was more interested in the birds. Although we didn't get to see a Kiwi (there are only 30-40 on Ulva Island) I'm pretty sure we heard them, which was cool because they make the weirdest noise; and unlike the Kiwi on the mainland these ones come out during the day as well.
After we were satisfied with our stash of bird pics and videos we headed back to Stewart Island to do some MORE walking (if you couldn't tell, the only thing to do on Stewart Island is walk around and peep the beauty and birds). We got our shuttle to Lee Bay where The Anchor is located, there is an anchor on Stewart Island and the chain is located in Bluff, and started our journey back. We decided not to do the Garden Mound Track because the mud looked too intense, so we just took Lee Bay Road back to Horseshoe Bay and then on to the Horseshoe Point Track. Walking up there was quite nice, we got a good view of Horseshoe Bay, Dead Man Beach, Bragg Bay and Butterfield Beach, and then just mosied back into town to eat then catch our ferry back to the mainland.
My time on Stewart Island was short, but well worth it. It is definitely one of the more beautiful places in New Zealand, and a much needed change after spending so much time in Queenstown.
After that it was back to Invercargill for the night and a drive up the Catlins Coast in the morning.
Peace & Love
Queenstown: The Capitol of Fun (Apr 3 - 11)
When we arrived in Queenstown I knew straight away that it was a happenin' spot, because while walking into town to get some cash I saw 5 paragliders floating down into the city; pretty effin cool.
Queenstown is kind of a hard place to write about, because I didn't really do much, except going out and drinking; basically what Queenstown is about, extreme fun and extreme drinking. The bar promoters would come to the hostel every night and hand out free drinks/shots tickets or 2-for-1 drink tickets, so it was kind of hard to wake up and do things in the morning while I was there. While there I did do the luge, which was fun because we had like 12 people and we could race 7 at a time; I ended up getting flipped one time but I still finished the race strong. I also went up Ben Lomond, this was pretty dope, it took me about 4.5hrs to get to the top because I took the scenic route from town, then I took a gondola back down; round trip was probably around 6hrs or so (see my pics from the top on flickr). This was probably the highlight of my stay in Queenstown. Oh man was it cold at the top, I had to find a little spot sheltered from the wind to eat my summit lunch (two sandwiches + two nashi pears).
I wanted to do the Nevis bungy while I was there, which is the highest bungy in New Zealand, but I decided it was too expensive and I could do with a little saving. The reason I needed to save was because I was spending so much money on FERGBURGERs, holy mother these were delicious (Recommendations: If you're drunk get the Big AL, if not settle for the Double Ferg w/ Cheese + fries and if you're a little baby girl just get a normal Ferg). It's basically just a very large burger, but it's so tasty, and the only thing open until 4am in Queenstown. This also seemed to be the place where I met EVERYONE that I had previously met in New Zealand. I kept running into people I knew which was kind of cool, but sometimes awkward...Oh heeeyyyy....you're umm..THAT girl.....yeah..Ok, see ya later....
After spending a few days just drinking and being lazy, we decided to take a day trip to Milford Sound and take a boat tour. I finally found out what a Fiord was, very deep inlet from the sea (300m down I think) with mountains coming out. This was really cool, it's about a 4hr drive from Queenstown, but it was well worth the journey (...maybe not the $230 speeding ticket for Andy...Oh SH----!). The drive up was really nice and scenic as well, and because its fall here the mountains are all snowy and look like post cards. Unfortunately I heard Doubtful Sound was better, bigger mountains, but we never got that far so I'll have to add that to the list of what to do next time I'm here =).
This was the place I spent the most time while in New Zealand, and it was definitely because of the parties, checking out at 10am is just a plow to keep backpackers buying another night... Who's going to wake up before 10am to check out?!
Next stop, Stewart Island for some much needed rest and nature walking.
Peace & Love
Queenstown is kind of a hard place to write about, because I didn't really do much, except going out and drinking; basically what Queenstown is about, extreme fun and extreme drinking. The bar promoters would come to the hostel every night and hand out free drinks/shots tickets or 2-for-1 drink tickets, so it was kind of hard to wake up and do things in the morning while I was there. While there I did do the luge, which was fun because we had like 12 people and we could race 7 at a time; I ended up getting flipped one time but I still finished the race strong. I also went up Ben Lomond, this was pretty dope, it took me about 4.5hrs to get to the top because I took the scenic route from town, then I took a gondola back down; round trip was probably around 6hrs or so (see my pics from the top on flickr). This was probably the highlight of my stay in Queenstown. Oh man was it cold at the top, I had to find a little spot sheltered from the wind to eat my summit lunch (two sandwiches + two nashi pears).
I wanted to do the Nevis bungy while I was there, which is the highest bungy in New Zealand, but I decided it was too expensive and I could do with a little saving. The reason I needed to save was because I was spending so much money on FERGBURGERs, holy mother these were delicious (Recommendations: If you're drunk get the Big AL, if not settle for the Double Ferg w/ Cheese + fries and if you're a little baby girl just get a normal Ferg). It's basically just a very large burger, but it's so tasty, and the only thing open until 4am in Queenstown. This also seemed to be the place where I met EVERYONE that I had previously met in New Zealand. I kept running into people I knew which was kind of cool, but sometimes awkward...Oh heeeyyyy....you're umm..THAT girl.....yeah..Ok, see ya later....
After spending a few days just drinking and being lazy, we decided to take a day trip to Milford Sound and take a boat tour. I finally found out what a Fiord was, very deep inlet from the sea (300m down I think) with mountains coming out. This was really cool, it's about a 4hr drive from Queenstown, but it was well worth the journey (...maybe not the $230 speeding ticket for Andy...Oh SH----!). The drive up was really nice and scenic as well, and because its fall here the mountains are all snowy and look like post cards. Unfortunately I heard Doubtful Sound was better, bigger mountains, but we never got that far so I'll have to add that to the list of what to do next time I'm here =).
This was the place I spent the most time while in New Zealand, and it was definitely because of the parties, checking out at 10am is just a plow to keep backpackers buying another night... Who's going to wake up before 10am to check out?!
Next stop, Stewart Island for some much needed rest and nature walking.
Peace & Love
Saturday, April 9, 2011
This Haast to be a joke (Mar 31 - Apr 2)
The next morning we checked out at 10 and set off to see Franz Joseph Glacier. This would be my first experience seeing a glacier so I was pretty excited. To get to Franz you had to do a short walk through a forest then there was a long path up to the glacier. It was a very nice walk, and the weather was gorgeous so it made for a pleasant time. You could get pretty close to the glacier so we took some nice pictures, but there were lots of people around, a bit touristy for my taste but still nice. Fox Glacier on the other hand was much quieter, the walk to the glacier was much shorter, and the scenery was a bit nicer (if you couldn't tell I liked Fox Glacier better). We actually snuck passed the little rope telling us to keep back (Oooo the velvet rooooope), and got right up close to the glacier and took some nice pictures (Sidenote: I tried to be a genius and put my memory card in Andy's camera and take pictures, but that didn't work because I had the wrong memory card... I had a cool picture of me lifting up an ice chunck from the glacier and licking it, but it's gone now =( ).
After our glacier filled morning we thought we would go to a town called Haast and stay for the night, instead of rushing through all the way to Wanaka. First of all, this "town" was split into three parts, Haast Beach, Haast Town, and Haast. And even the three combined were smaller than any other town I've seen. I estimated the population to be about 50 - 100, so we eventually found our hostel, which was hard to find because of the town being split into three. We met up with Rebecca and decided then that this was not the place for us, so we opted just to grab some food and head on to Wanaka. We stopped in a place called The Grumpy Cow, which was a fish and chips and small grocery store. I'm pretty sure we actually met the grumpy cow, because when we went up to order we were met by a disgruntled little lady who was NOT happy to have our business. I ordered the fish and chips and asked if she had vinegar and I was answered with a snarl, I'm pretty sure she said no though. Anyway, we just ate and got the eff out of Haast as fast as we could. On our way to Wanaka the car started to overheat, so we had to deal with that for a while, but it worked out in the end.
We called ahead for accomodation and found that everything was already booked up, typical as we arrived there at around 7:30pm. We eventually found a 4 bed ensuite at a YHA hostel, so not BBH, and ended up paying $32 for the night, ugh... but it was all that was left so we just decided to leave the next day and find another place (Sidenote: It was actually a really nice place though, if we were YHA members it would be cheaper, but the view from the dinning area/lounge was really cool and they had a projection screen for movies). That night was the first time I watched my skydive video, which included some interviews with me and the jump, really nice. I am waiting for them to post the video online so I can put it up here.
The next day we moved to Mountain View Hostel, which has an incorrect phone number in the lonely planet and they've been trying to change it for 2 years now and lonely planet still hasn't done anything. So we just had to roll up and hope for the best, it worked out in the end though. This place probably had the best garden of any hostel I've stayed in, mostly grass, but got a lot of sunlight and nice sitting areas and such. After checking in we spent the day fishing, drinking, and eating. Very relaxing, didn't catch any fish but still great time, I didn't actually fish, just drank and watched Andy and Konni fish. We went out at night as well, I can't really remember if it was good or not, so I assume it was amazing. It was good enough that the hostel manager had to come in and wake us up to tell us we had to get out of the room now (check out is at 10am).
Next morning after checking out we hit up Red Star Luxury Burger, which was recommended by an english guy we met the night before. It was pretty delicious, huge burger and good portion of fries, great way to start the day. We then stopped in at Puzzling World which was pretty dope. It's filled with illusions and has a maze inside, there are also puzzle at the front of the place that you can just go in and do for free, so that was nice. On our way out some girls were kinda giggling and pointing at me, as we were driving away they were waving too, then I realized it was Alice and her friends that I met in Auckland (the girl who woke up Janine for me and pretty much secured my ride to Bay of Islands and got my whole trip started!). So I was a bit upset I didn't get to speak with them, but it was so weird seeing them there after all this time..it was almost...puzzling...=)
After that we hit the road again on our way to Queenstown, the adventure capitol of the world.
Peace & Love
After our glacier filled morning we thought we would go to a town called Haast and stay for the night, instead of rushing through all the way to Wanaka. First of all, this "town" was split into three parts, Haast Beach, Haast Town, and Haast. And even the three combined were smaller than any other town I've seen. I estimated the population to be about 50 - 100, so we eventually found our hostel, which was hard to find because of the town being split into three. We met up with Rebecca and decided then that this was not the place for us, so we opted just to grab some food and head on to Wanaka. We stopped in a place called The Grumpy Cow, which was a fish and chips and small grocery store. I'm pretty sure we actually met the grumpy cow, because when we went up to order we were met by a disgruntled little lady who was NOT happy to have our business. I ordered the fish and chips and asked if she had vinegar and I was answered with a snarl, I'm pretty sure she said no though. Anyway, we just ate and got the eff out of Haast as fast as we could. On our way to Wanaka the car started to overheat, so we had to deal with that for a while, but it worked out in the end.
We called ahead for accomodation and found that everything was already booked up, typical as we arrived there at around 7:30pm. We eventually found a 4 bed ensuite at a YHA hostel, so not BBH, and ended up paying $32 for the night, ugh... but it was all that was left so we just decided to leave the next day and find another place (Sidenote: It was actually a really nice place though, if we were YHA members it would be cheaper, but the view from the dinning area/lounge was really cool and they had a projection screen for movies). That night was the first time I watched my skydive video, which included some interviews with me and the jump, really nice. I am waiting for them to post the video online so I can put it up here.
The next day we moved to Mountain View Hostel, which has an incorrect phone number in the lonely planet and they've been trying to change it for 2 years now and lonely planet still hasn't done anything. So we just had to roll up and hope for the best, it worked out in the end though. This place probably had the best garden of any hostel I've stayed in, mostly grass, but got a lot of sunlight and nice sitting areas and such. After checking in we spent the day fishing, drinking, and eating. Very relaxing, didn't catch any fish but still great time, I didn't actually fish, just drank and watched Andy and Konni fish. We went out at night as well, I can't really remember if it was good or not, so I assume it was amazing. It was good enough that the hostel manager had to come in and wake us up to tell us we had to get out of the room now (check out is at 10am).
Next morning after checking out we hit up Red Star Luxury Burger, which was recommended by an english guy we met the night before. It was pretty delicious, huge burger and good portion of fries, great way to start the day. We then stopped in at Puzzling World which was pretty dope. It's filled with illusions and has a maze inside, there are also puzzle at the front of the place that you can just go in and do for free, so that was nice. On our way out some girls were kinda giggling and pointing at me, as we were driving away they were waving too, then I realized it was Alice and her friends that I met in Auckland (the girl who woke up Janine for me and pretty much secured my ride to Bay of Islands and got my whole trip started!). So I was a bit upset I didn't get to speak with them, but it was so weird seeing them there after all this time..it was almost...puzzling...=)
After that we hit the road again on our way to Queenstown, the adventure capitol of the world.
Peace & Love
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Let's Fetts! To the Westcoast (Mar 28 - 30)
We decided to roll out in the afternoon and head to Nelson Lakes National Park on the way. We stopped at Lake Rotoiti for a few photos then continued on to Greymouth, where we would meet up with a Dutch girl we met in Nelson. I've been to some boring drab looking towns since I've been in New Zealand.. but Greymouth is the champion of champions when it comes to boring lifeless cities. I hear it isn't as bad as Westport (which we purposefully passed by), but the only thing to do in Greymouth is visit the brewery and even that didn't seem too exciting.
We stayed at a hostel called DUKES, which was ok, pretty nice atmosphere and beds (and FREE POOL!.... GER 4 - CAN 0 =( ). If you couldn't guess we only stayed in Greymouth for one night and departed as soon as we could in the morning. The highlight of the stay there was in the McDs late at night they gave us cheese burgers with quarter pounder patties and buns... delicious. We then set off to Hokitika, which looks like a town straight out of an old western. On our way to Hokitika we stopped in Punakaiki to see the pancake rocks and the blow holes. They looked pretty cool but it was a crappy day so we only stayed for about half an hour to take pics and walk around.
After that we went straight to Hokitika, it was pretty nice and the hostel we stayed in, Drifting Sands, was really quaint and nice; it also backed right onto the beach (literally right out the backyard). I took the time here to just chill out, bought a vball for future use, and took a walk on the beach where I saw a seal just chillin catching some sun. We had a really nice dinner here as well, BBQ lamb, chicken, corn, and veggies. That night we stayed in and had a few drinks, the stars were really visible that night because there was no moon; it was really amazing, nice night.
The next day, Ralf and Eva decided to stay behind for one more night and catch up later, so Konni, Andy, and I set off for Franz Joseph. Oh our way we decided to stop at the Hokitika Gorge, this place was really cool. The water was a weird milky blue because it w as run off from the glaciers (see pics for wowness). There was also a swing bridge which was pretty fun, haha. We left from there and continued on to Franz Joseph.... on our way we got a flat tire! OHNOZ~
So here we are, stranded in the middle of no where, no phone reception, flat tire and no tools to change it. We had the jack but the used car they bought didn't have that thing that takes the wheels off (shows how much I know about cars, don't even know what its called...). Anyway, we were basically effed and stranded in the middle of the road. Konni set off to try and find some service for his phone so it was just Andy and I left waiting by the car. By the graces of Allah/God/The Spirit of the Universe a service man drove by and helped us out. He changed the tire and gave us a name of a good place to get a new one on (didn't want to drive all the way to Franz Joseph on a spare). So we head back into Hokitika and tried the mechanic he suggested, we had some special tire that they didn't have and would have to order....so we tried the next place...same deal..Finally we got to the last place and this guy actually tested the tire to see what was wrong and found out it was just the valve that was broken. He did a quick $40 repair on the valve and we were off again. I wish I could remember the name of the place so I could give it a shout out.
The problem with driving between really small towns in New Zealand is the lack of phone service. I like to pre-book my hostel rooms to ensure I have one for the night (remember that time in Auckland?) but with no phone service we just had to hope for the best when we arrived. We got to Franz Joseph a few hours later, and it was surprisingly small. It was basically two streets, it had 2 bars and 1 atm machine (there was a sign on the machine saying that this was the only one). Right when we got to our hostel, Glow Worm, I decided to do a skydive. I already knew I wanted to do one in Franz Joseph because you get to see the highest mountain in NZ and the glaciers. So right when we checked in we signed up for a skydive that afternoon with Skydive Franz .... I was quite pumped. We quickly grabbed some food and they picked us up at 5:30pm for our dive.
Konni and I went together, and once we got to the air strip they gave us a BRIEF run through of what was going to happen, I had an interview with my camera man and we hopped in the plane. I got the full package with photos and a DVD of the jump, so I was out of money for 24hrs but it was WELL worth it. My jump master Leigh, girl who jumped with me on my back, was about 5"2 so it was really funny going with her. She said it's better that shes small because then we can go faster. I can't really describe what it was like, going up was a bit scary but the view was so beautiful, then once you jump it only feels like you're falling for half a second then it feels like you're flying. You can't hear ANYTHING while you're falling, I was yelling as loud as I could and I couldn't hear it. Then Leigh pulled the shute and we just glided down. She let me steer for a while which was fun, doing turns and stuff was really cool. Then once you hit the ground you just want to do it all over again. I can understand why some people travel the world to follow the skydive season, very addictive. I'm not sure how I will top this anywhere else in the world, the feeling of the skydive plus the scenery was just breath taking. EVERYONE SHOULD DO THIS!
I am waiting for them to send me the link to my DVD which they will host online. I'll post it as soon as I get it.
The next day we are off to see the glaciers (Franz Joseph and Fox)..already seen them from above, why not up close =P
Peace & Love
We stayed at a hostel called DUKES, which was ok, pretty nice atmosphere and beds (and FREE POOL!.... GER 4 - CAN 0 =( ). If you couldn't guess we only stayed in Greymouth for one night and departed as soon as we could in the morning. The highlight of the stay there was in the McDs late at night they gave us cheese burgers with quarter pounder patties and buns... delicious. We then set off to Hokitika, which looks like a town straight out of an old western. On our way to Hokitika we stopped in Punakaiki to see the pancake rocks and the blow holes. They looked pretty cool but it was a crappy day so we only stayed for about half an hour to take pics and walk around.
After that we went straight to Hokitika, it was pretty nice and the hostel we stayed in, Drifting Sands, was really quaint and nice; it also backed right onto the beach (literally right out the backyard). I took the time here to just chill out, bought a vball for future use, and took a walk on the beach where I saw a seal just chillin catching some sun. We had a really nice dinner here as well, BBQ lamb, chicken, corn, and veggies. That night we stayed in and had a few drinks, the stars were really visible that night because there was no moon; it was really amazing, nice night.
The next day, Ralf and Eva decided to stay behind for one more night and catch up later, so Konni, Andy, and I set off for Franz Joseph. Oh our way we decided to stop at the Hokitika Gorge, this place was really cool. The water was a weird milky blue because it w as run off from the glaciers (see pics for wowness). There was also a swing bridge which was pretty fun, haha. We left from there and continued on to Franz Joseph.... on our way we got a flat tire! OHNOZ~
So here we are, stranded in the middle of no where, no phone reception, flat tire and no tools to change it. We had the jack but the used car they bought didn't have that thing that takes the wheels off (shows how much I know about cars, don't even know what its called...). Anyway, we were basically effed and stranded in the middle of the road. Konni set off to try and find some service for his phone so it was just Andy and I left waiting by the car. By the graces of Allah/God/The Spirit of the Universe a service man drove by and helped us out. He changed the tire and gave us a name of a good place to get a new one on (didn't want to drive all the way to Franz Joseph on a spare). So we head back into Hokitika and tried the mechanic he suggested, we had some special tire that they didn't have and would have to order....so we tried the next place...same deal..Finally we got to the last place and this guy actually tested the tire to see what was wrong and found out it was just the valve that was broken. He did a quick $40 repair on the valve and we were off again. I wish I could remember the name of the place so I could give it a shout out.
The problem with driving between really small towns in New Zealand is the lack of phone service. I like to pre-book my hostel rooms to ensure I have one for the night (remember that time in Auckland?) but with no phone service we just had to hope for the best when we arrived. We got to Franz Joseph a few hours later, and it was surprisingly small. It was basically two streets, it had 2 bars and 1 atm machine (there was a sign on the machine saying that this was the only one). Right when we got to our hostel, Glow Worm, I decided to do a skydive. I already knew I wanted to do one in Franz Joseph because you get to see the highest mountain in NZ and the glaciers. So right when we checked in we signed up for a skydive that afternoon with Skydive Franz .... I was quite pumped. We quickly grabbed some food and they picked us up at 5:30pm for our dive.
Konni and I went together, and once we got to the air strip they gave us a BRIEF run through of what was going to happen, I had an interview with my camera man and we hopped in the plane. I got the full package with photos and a DVD of the jump, so I was out of money for 24hrs but it was WELL worth it. My jump master Leigh, girl who jumped with me on my back, was about 5"2 so it was really funny going with her. She said it's better that shes small because then we can go faster. I can't really describe what it was like, going up was a bit scary but the view was so beautiful, then once you jump it only feels like you're falling for half a second then it feels like you're flying. You can't hear ANYTHING while you're falling, I was yelling as loud as I could and I couldn't hear it. Then Leigh pulled the shute and we just glided down. She let me steer for a while which was fun, doing turns and stuff was really cool. Then once you hit the ground you just want to do it all over again. I can understand why some people travel the world to follow the skydive season, very addictive. I'm not sure how I will top this anywhere else in the world, the feeling of the skydive plus the scenery was just breath taking. EVERYONE SHOULD DO THIS!
I am waiting for them to send me the link to my DVD which they will host online. I'll post it as soon as I get it.
The next day we are off to see the glaciers (Franz Joseph and Fox)..already seen them from above, why not up close =P
Peace & Love
Friday, April 1, 2011
Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik (Mar 22-28)
Picton was a really small and quiet town, it's really just a passing through point for people coming off the ferry. The backpackers I stayed in, Tomstone Backpackers, was located outside of town across from the cemetery, hence the name. This place was the main reason I ended up staying for so long in Picton. First of all, YOU GOT TWO PILLOWS.. absolutely unheard of. Second there was a hot tub and it was just a really nice spot.
I was also trying to find a ride to Nelson, which didn't pan out but I enjoyed my three nights in Tomstone anyway, met some nice folk, successfully sewed a button to my pants etc. It rained quite a bit while I was there, obviously, so I stayed in and watched a lot of TV. I did end up going on two walks, one of them was 5 hours and the other was 1.5. The first one I took a nice stroll around the Victoria Domain, all the way to the "Snout", where you got a nice view of the Queen Charlotte Sound. Then the next day I went up Esson's Valley and got a nice view from above of Picton and the town right next to it. I took some nice pictures with my disposable camera but I still have a few left on there so they haven't been developed.
After all my failed attempts at getting rides, everyone else was going up north away from the winter, I decided to take a bus to Nelson (only $25). I also turned down a ride going the opposite direction I wanted to go, towards Kikoura, oh well. Once I got to Nelson I finally experienced what everyone was talking about before I arrived to the South Island....SAND FLIES...EVERYWHERE...ALL THE TIME. I quickly got accustomed to them and put on some long pants, a shirt, and my shoes...I wasn't in the North Island anymore =(. On my first night in Nelson I met Ralf, German from Hamburg, and a girl that I can't remember her name (it was like Simone but fancier), from Switzerland. I immediately turned on my charm (it's like a super power) and secured a ride down the west coast of the South Island. We weren't leaving for a few days as we had to wait for his friends to come back from Able Tasman (Sidenote: I kinda wanted to go to Able Tasman but never ended up going, I've already seen mad beaches here though so I'm not too upset), so we made some plans for the next few days. Obviously our plans to visit the Centre of New Zealand monument and some other hikes fell through because of the rain (are you sensing a pattern here?). But luckily we had a fall back plan, The Nelson Craft Beer Festival (Marchfest 2011). We also stopped off at a trolley race (box car race), which was pretty funny, few kids crashed lulz. Anyway, the Marchfest was awesome, good beer, REALLY good music (check all the bands out, except Chimuka, Barons of Tang were the best, I hugged them all after the show). We stayed there from 3pm - 10pm (pretty much open to close), great times. We then proceeded to the club until about 3am, I think I was drunk all day. Good thing we went to the club though so I could dance all the alcohol out of my system.
The next day it rained again, but I took a walk to the beach with a girl named Lilian (also German) so it wasn't all bad. Off to the west coast the next afternoon with the German Masters (Ralf, Eva, Konstantine, Andy [Sidenote: He's from the northern part of Italy where they speak German?! Who knew about this? They have to learn Italian in school though]). Let's Fetts!
Peace & Love
I was also trying to find a ride to Nelson, which didn't pan out but I enjoyed my three nights in Tomstone anyway, met some nice folk, successfully sewed a button to my pants etc. It rained quite a bit while I was there, obviously, so I stayed in and watched a lot of TV. I did end up going on two walks, one of them was 5 hours and the other was 1.5. The first one I took a nice stroll around the Victoria Domain, all the way to the "Snout", where you got a nice view of the Queen Charlotte Sound. Then the next day I went up Esson's Valley and got a nice view from above of Picton and the town right next to it. I took some nice pictures with my disposable camera but I still have a few left on there so they haven't been developed.
After all my failed attempts at getting rides, everyone else was going up north away from the winter, I decided to take a bus to Nelson (only $25). I also turned down a ride going the opposite direction I wanted to go, towards Kikoura, oh well. Once I got to Nelson I finally experienced what everyone was talking about before I arrived to the South Island....SAND FLIES...EVERYWHERE...ALL THE TIME. I quickly got accustomed to them and put on some long pants, a shirt, and my shoes...I wasn't in the North Island anymore =(. On my first night in Nelson I met Ralf, German from Hamburg, and a girl that I can't remember her name (it was like Simone but fancier), from Switzerland. I immediately turned on my charm (it's like a super power) and secured a ride down the west coast of the South Island. We weren't leaving for a few days as we had to wait for his friends to come back from Able Tasman (Sidenote: I kinda wanted to go to Able Tasman but never ended up going, I've already seen mad beaches here though so I'm not too upset), so we made some plans for the next few days. Obviously our plans to visit the Centre of New Zealand monument and some other hikes fell through because of the rain (are you sensing a pattern here?). But luckily we had a fall back plan, The Nelson Craft Beer Festival (Marchfest 2011). We also stopped off at a trolley race (box car race), which was pretty funny, few kids crashed lulz. Anyway, the Marchfest was awesome, good beer, REALLY good music (check all the bands out, except Chimuka, Barons of Tang were the best, I hugged them all after the show). We stayed there from 3pm - 10pm (pretty much open to close), great times. We then proceeded to the club until about 3am, I think I was drunk all day. Good thing we went to the club though so I could dance all the alcohol out of my system.
The next day it rained again, but I took a walk to the beach with a girl named Lilian (also German) so it wasn't all bad. Off to the west coast the next afternoon with the German Masters (Ralf, Eva, Konstantine, Andy [Sidenote: He's from the northern part of Italy where they speak German?! Who knew about this? They have to learn Italian in school though]). Let's Fetts!
Peace & Love
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