New Zealand
Trip Start
Mar 05, 2006
1
10
12
Trip End
Jul 27, 2006
Rangiora,
New Zealand
Sunday, June 25, 2006
First off, let me say...I love speaking english. Fluently and elequently, poorly with slang. Understanding and being understood (well, for the most part anyway).
Unfortunately, email don't come cheap or free in New Zealand. And needless to say that since our last post about 3 weeks ago, a lot has happenened. ...
We made it quickly to the South Island with our relocation-deal rental car in only 4 days. Driving is quite slow in New Zealand because the roads are curvy and shyte. On the way we camped a bit and made it to the national musuem in Wellington called Te Papa
01 - James in Arthur's Pass
. Excellent place, great exhibits...including natural history, things made in New Zealand, and of course...Lord of the Rings.After that, we hoped on the ferry to cross Cook Straight (which nearly got to see my (Audrey's) dinner all over the floor). It was the largest ship I'd ever been on that moved like a giant kid had hold of it in the bath tub and was just slap happy splashing about.
Made it to Christchurch, were we managed to gain the company of our new home "Bob", which is wonderfully painted with both old and young Bob Marley. We have actually managed to not get pulled over and searched by the cops, but I am certain it would have happened like 17 times by now if we were in the States. Bob is a fully functional camper van, complete with bed, stove and sink.
After a quick night in Charlie B's Backpacker hostel we were off into the great yonder of the South Island. We made it across Arthur's Pass and down the West Coast. There we saw some magnificant (and quickly receding) glaciers (Franz Josef and Fox), picked up some cool jewelry (that we got to watch being made), and actually splurged for a night of non-free camping, but that was mainly so we could take a 4 day overdue shower
02 - Ole Bobby
.This is the part in the story where we have to give some major props to another compatriot (and fellow snow hungry new friend) Mike. We met Mike in a pub in Wanaka (Wan-eh-kah, not Wan-AK-ah). Mike works at the local Betty's (formerly Betty Ford's until she found out about it) Liquor store. This was a blessing on so many levels. Firstly, Mike new nearly everything going on in the small town. Including a wrap party for a new movie being shot in the area (10,000 BC). I unfortunately managed to fall asleep for this event, but Mike did sneak James into this party where he was able to look like a lowly peon and drink free beer and eat lots of BBQ. Mike also let us crash at his lovely (though quite cold) house for 2 nights, which was much appreciated. (THANKS MIKE!!!) Hopefully we will be able to return all the favors in the future.
From Wanaka it was on to Queenstown where for several days we did varying snow dances to try to coax the glorious white stuff from the many clouds and finally a bit did fall. In between dances, we had a very chance encounter. We knew our friend Milly (former international volunteer from the NCC from Sheffield, England) was travelling in NZ and we also new she was heading to Queenstown, but last we heard from here was that she was stuck in Christchurch due to heavy snowfall (our dancing misplaced, I would suspect)
03 - James and the Franz Glacier
. So, as James and I rounded the top of the mountain overlooking the town (that we decided to walk instead of take the gondola for financial reasons) James stopped to take a photo of the Luge, a gravity based go-cart ride down the mountain. We thought it would be good because we were going to do it too. Low and behold, the photo he nearly snapped was none other than...you guessed it... Milly, whissing down the track. Very weird.So, snow came, we made it to Coronet Peak to ride on opening day, even though the conditions weren't ideal. We'd been waiting around in Q-town for that long, so we felt we should go. Then, we managed to coax Milly into putting off job hunting and heading to Dunedin with us for a few days. As luck would have it, Milly had 2 English-turned-Kiwi transplant friends who had just moved there 3 months earlier. Lucy and Simon were phenominal. Especially considering we showed up on their doorsteps with about 4 hours notice. The kindly lent us some floor and spare bed space and Lucy instisted (probably for good reason) that we shower. (You guys rock. Please drop in on us anytime).
From there, we set Milly off with a ride back to Queenstown and we made a beeline for Rangiora (just outside Christchurch).
That nearly brings us up to speed. We have been living in the very awesome 60s caravan of Nigel and Lee, our first Help Exchange (www.helpx.net) hosts. In short, they have been the most generous and wonderful hosts. For 3.5 short hours of painting their lounge and living room, we have been showered with exellent food, the tastiest of beers, and all sorts of insights into Kiwi life, horse racing, motorbikes, acapella vocals, and various other interesting stories
04 -Audrey and the Franz Glacier
. We wish them the best of luck in their new life together, and I think they will be as happy and in love as they are now for years and years. (They're very cute, by the way). We can't wait for them to visit us someday. Hopefully we'll have a house just as cool (although it may be tough for just as old, being theirs is one of the oldest in Canterbury).We finally managed to drag ourselves out of bed early enought this morning to make it to Mt. Hutt. The afore mentioned Mike scored us a few free passes to the slopes (Coronet Peak and Mt. Hutt included...YOU ROCK MIKE!). We had possibly the best time and best conditions I've ever had in a day of snowboarding. Deep powder and blue skies. It was amazing. Not to mention we saw the ocean from the top of the mountain. It rocked.
Now we back in Rangiora, heading out tomorrow. Kind of sad, really. We've felt so welcome as nearly family here with Nigel and Lee. But we're northward bound for the final month of travelling. We're going on 10 months now since we quit our jobs and headed west.
Well, we miss you guys. Hope everyone is wonderful. I trust we'll see all those of you in the States soon!
Much love from Rangiora,
Audrey y James
