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  Christchurch, New Zealand
Tuesday, April 1, 2008

"The traveler sees what he sees.  The tourist sees what he has come to see."  ~G.K. Chesterton



I've been trying to cram everything into these last ten days, and it's been pretty tiring.  Here's another quick update on what I've been doing.  After Mt. Aspiring National Park, I was in Wanaka and wanted to go even further south to the city of Queenstown, but everyone in this super-religious country had already planned their Easter weekend vacations ahead of time and booked all the hostels and hotels in both places.  After looking at the bus routes and trying to find conveniently located places, I settled on a hostel in Omarama that's situated on a real farm.  They have tons of merino sheep and cows.  I spent the entire weekend there, mostly relaxing and watching movies.  The main building is a country farmhouse, but I stayed in a comfortable tent (which they provided), which was designed for two people and had cots with mattresses.  For $12/night, I couldn't turn it down. 



Afterwards, I made it to Queenstown, which is a huge tourist trap.  They have everything there: bungy jumps, canyon swings, river rafting, river surfing, gondola rides, etc.  Everything cost over $100 and the highest bungy jump in the world, the Nevis, cost $220.  I decided I wasn't afraid to do the jump, but it was just too much money for such a short thrill.  Instead, I opted for an overnight sea kayaking trip into Doubtful Sound.  Doubtful Sound is part of Fiordland National Park, the crown jewel of the New Zealand national park system.  The better-known sound is Milford Sound, and I decided to do a short day trip just to see what it was like.  The place was nice, but there was so much tourist infrastructure that it took away all the serenity and peace of a national park. 



Doubtful Sound is much more remote and less-visited.  The next day, after a 20 minute drive, an hour boat ride, and another 40 minute drive, I finally arrived with the group at the kayak launch site into Doubtful Sound.  Among the other people doing the trip were several Big 4 employees (PwC and KPMG, boo).  We did most of the trip in the rain, and it made the scenery all that much better because it produced a ton of waterfalls that aren't normally there.  After about six hours of kayaking, we camped in the wilderness and the rain came all night (typical of this area).  The next day, we kayaked for another six hours or so back to the launch site, did the shuttle-boat-shuttle back into town, and I decided to take a three hour drive to Queenstown with my kayaking partner, who had a car. 

At that point, I was pretty tired but I still wanted to fit everything in, so the next morning I took a four hour bus ride to Mt. Cook National Park.  I hoped to camp in the backcountry and do some other hikes, but after starting out my back erupted in the sensation of pins and needles.  I had to stop and turn back.  The town is really small and the hostel was booked, so I ended up staying at a hotel.  A hotel!  Before the trip, I told myself I wouldn't stay in one, but I didn't have many options and I thought I should take care of myself so I caved.  I noticed the really big pros and cons of staying in a hotel vs. hostel.  It is definitely nice to have my own double bed, a TV, and bathroom.  However, there are no cooking facilities and it's very difficult to meet anyone.  I did save some money by cooking instant noodles on my patio with a camping stove for dinner and breakfast. 



The next day I went to Lake Tekapo, which is renowned for its turquoise blue water.  It was very nice, and I decided to get over the pins and needles sensation by hiking around the lake slowly without a pack.  It seems to have worked, and the views were really great.  The town of Tekapo is also famous for having a really dark night sky  so at night, I lay in a dark field to look at the stars and caught a few shooting stars and comets.  I've noticed here and in other areas also that when the sky is dark, I can see the nebulas and gas clouds of the Milky Way. 



Finally, I made it to Christchurch.  There's not too much to say about it.  Many people have said that it's the most British city in NZ and although I've never been to Britain, I can see where they're coming from.  This is also the first place in a long time that has affordable internet and a lot of Asians.  As I think about everything I've seen and done here, I've decided to make a list of all things New Zealand to me.



New Zealand, the land of:

-Kiwis (the people, the bird, and the fruit)

-(Relatively) safe hitchhiking

-Clear, dark night skies

-Possibly some of the world's best national parks

-Tons of German, Israeli, and British travelers

-The world's first bungy site

-Glaciers and blue/gray glacial streams

-American media (American Idol, Dancing With the Stars, House, Lost, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, countless other shows, plus American music)



And a few NZ phrases (a lot of these may be the same as those used in Britain, and there are more but I can't think of them right now):

Sweet as - awesome

Good on you - nice job

Cheers - thanks

Good as gold - you're welcome

Eh? - huh?



Up until this point, I've always had this notion that life is supposed to follow a fairly strict path.  You graduate, get a job, get married, get a house, a family, maybe a dog, then you retire.  I'm not sure if it's American culture or a broader thing, but I've always wondered how I'd fit everything I want to do in life within that timeline.  But since being here, I've met enough people doing the things they want to do that those notions have been broken.  I've met a dentist in her thirties from Brazil who wanted to travel and is now working in New Zealand temporarily as a dental assistant, a 39 year-old woman who is twice as fit as me and is spending four months in New Zealand learning how to be an outdoor sports instructor, and a French couple who were in the middle of their 9-month round-the-world honeymoon.  These people are living life exactly as they want to, on their own terms and with their own timeline.  Therefore, I've spent a lot of down time thinking of what exactly I want to do with my life, on my own terms and with my own timeline.  I'll refrain from sharing some of the things on my list - I have a feeling I'd probably get laughed at. 



Tonight, I head for Sydney.  Judging from my ATM receipts, I think I've gone slightly over budget for NZ (but not too much), so I've decided to try Couchsurfing in Australia, which is a worldwide network of hosts who share their couches with travelers for free.  The theory is that if you spend a certain amount of time traveling and couchsurfing, you will later become a host and share your own couch.  It should be quite interesting.  Alert the authorities if I don't make another post within 20 days.  See you in Australia! 

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