Well, I'm home, with all the good and bad things that brings. Getting home, however, was a bit of an adventure. I had decided I wanted to stay one more night in Taupo and would then just take a bus to Auckland the next day and head straight to the airport. However, I didn't realize that there weren't any buses leaving early enough to get me to the airport in time. I wound up catching the 1:50 am bus from Taupo, arriving in Auckland around 7 am. Oh, the joys.
After stashing my luggage in the lockers at the bus station (such a wonderful thing) I decided to get breakfast and walk around Auckland for the day. It's a big city, home to almost 1.2 million of NZ's 4 million people. That said, however, I didn't see a single person on the street composing on a blackberry or talking into one of those ridiculous Bluetooth headsets.
I wandered around the main streets and people watched. And bought some more jewelry. I did not expect to like the aesthetic and design in NZ nearly as much as I did, and my fascination with the arts community came as a big surprise. My favorite store was one called Fingers, devoted entirely to contemporary NZ Jewelry. Here I found this amazing necklace composed of a the shell of a black pebble. The inside had been completely hollowed out through several round holes in the surface... think of a hollow 3-D piece of Swiss cheese. So cool.
Getting to the airport and on the plane were pretty uneventful. I had fun buying another 2 bottles of NZ wine at the duty-free shop, and then managing to shove them undetected into my luggage when I passed through customs in LA. I was lucky to have an empty middle seat in my row, and the entertainment on demand system on the Qantas 747 planes is awesome. You can play any selection you want, at any time, and can even pause and rewind it if you need to get up. I even watched a short documentary about the discovery of Penicillin. Really, it was a shame I needed to sleep on this flight.
I got blankets and a pillow, and really the customer service on the flight was excellent. The only thing definitely not up to par was my vegetarian meal; I just can't win. Last time I didn't request one and of course the entree choices were chicken and beef. I figured I should be safe when flying an Australian carrier (with their meat-based cuisine and all), so of course this time they had a fish option. I requested a regular vegetarian meal, but received a vegan one, complete with potatoes, asparagus (not so bad), tomatoes, tofu, margarine, and this vile gelatin concoction they tried to pass off as dessert. For the thousandth time I wonder why they assume vegetarians are health freaks. Breakfast was 1000 times worse: another asparagus and potato concoction with a stale bread roll, when I would have been perfectly happy with the cereal and milk they were serving. Maybe I should just take my chances from now on.
I arrived at LAX and was, for a fee, able to get on another flight leaving almost 9 hours earlier than the red-eye I was scheduled on. We had a layover at O'Hare, but I was so grateful to be getting home in time to sleep in my own bed (and see the kitties, of course). My parents met me at the security entrance with flowers (very sweet of them), and I'm pretty sure the kitties remember who I am, so all is well. Now if I could only get my body on EST!!
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Sunday, May 6, 2007
All good things must come to an end
Well, it's finally arrived: my last full day in NZ, and the end of my 3 month travelling adventure. Sometimes it seemed as though this day would never arrive, but it's managed to sneak up on me rapidly nonetheless. Part of me realizes that it's time for me to be an adult and begin the next phase of my life: as a vet intern at the university of Illinois. But another part would be happy being a vagabond for quite a while longer yet. After all, when I begin my veterinary career, I may never again have the chance to travel like this. And I know how lucky I am; many Americans have neither the opportunity (nor the desire, for some) to wander in the eastern and southern hemispheres. There is no comparison between taking a 1-2 week vacation and having the time just to wander and see where chance and fate may lead you.
Most people I met thought I looked 4-5 years younger than my actual age, which I hope was the truth and not an empty compliment or negative comment on my maturity level. It does make me wonder, however, how much the next year of my life will age me, both mentally and physically. Guess I should take before and after photos to tell for sure.
Kitties, here I come. And Paka, stop using the upstairs bathtub as a litter box, no matter how much you like being up there.
Most people I met thought I looked 4-5 years younger than my actual age, which I hope was the truth and not an empty compliment or negative comment on my maturity level. It does make me wonder, however, how much the next year of my life will age me, both mentally and physically. Guess I should take before and after photos to tell for sure.
Kitties, here I come. And Paka, stop using the upstairs bathtub as a litter box, no matter how much you like being up there.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Tongariro Crossing
Today I did "NZ's best one day hike", entitled the Tongoriro Crossing. It is 18.5 km one way and is described as "challenging", taking 7-8 hours to complete, passing through some of the most scenic and active volcanic areas of Tongoriro National Park. It was challenging, although thankfully only for about the first three hours. Unfortunately the mist and wind precluded great views from the summit, but as a slow walker, even I was able to complete the track in about 6.5 hours.
The track begins by winding up the Mangatepopo Valley from the carpark to an area called Soda Springs. When the mist clears, we could get brief but tantalizing views of Mt. Ngauruhoe (that's "Mt. Doom" for any LOTR fans out there). Then came the start of the Devil's Staircase, a very steep rocky path through the saddle between Mt. Tongariro and Mt. Ngaururhoe. It's funny, when I was climbing this and kept getting passed by the hikers behind me, a passage from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance came to mind. It goes something like "Mountains should be climbed slowly and without desire." I found that the more I wanted to hike fast and get this part over with, the more frustrated I would become. But when I acknowledged that I was a slow walker, especially with asthma, and just concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other, the ascent became more manageable.
Once over the Devil's staircase, we entered the south Crater, which reminded me of what the surface of the moon might look like. It was completely flat and huge, the remnant of a long-ago volcano. Then came the red crater ridge, which was not too difficult until we reached the top of the Red Crater and were met with howling winds. The swirling mists and fog made it impossible to see anything, and the wind almost forced you to keep walking up the track, lest you be blown off into the crater. Apparently the top of the red crater can be a great place to have lunch in nice weather since there are hotspots, but my goal was just to get down as fast as possible.
You are rewarded, coming off the crater, with views of three magnificent emerald lakes (smelling of sulfur, of course). The walk through the central crater is lovely and would bring you views of the blue lake, if we could see anything :)
The remainder of the walk was frankly anticlimactic after the climb and the winds at the beginning. The track descends around the northern slope of Mt. Tongoriro and descends in a zig-zag to the Ketetahi hut, where I had the remainder of my lunch (cold pizza, yum!!). From Ketetahi hut, it's 1.5-2 hours to the end of the track, and the end is a bit of a green tunnel through the forest. Most interesting about this part was the evidence of recent trail reconstruction. There were several workers on the track, and huge bags of gravel and rock that had probably been dropped in by helicopter.
Not perfect weather, but a great walk nonetheless.
The track begins by winding up the Mangatepopo Valley from the carpark to an area called Soda Springs. When the mist clears, we could get brief but tantalizing views of Mt. Ngauruhoe (that's "Mt. Doom" for any LOTR fans out there). Then came the start of the Devil's Staircase, a very steep rocky path through the saddle between Mt. Tongariro and Mt. Ngaururhoe. It's funny, when I was climbing this and kept getting passed by the hikers behind me, a passage from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance came to mind. It goes something like "Mountains should be climbed slowly and without desire." I found that the more I wanted to hike fast and get this part over with, the more frustrated I would become. But when I acknowledged that I was a slow walker, especially with asthma, and just concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other, the ascent became more manageable.
Once over the Devil's staircase, we entered the south Crater, which reminded me of what the surface of the moon might look like. It was completely flat and huge, the remnant of a long-ago volcano. Then came the red crater ridge, which was not too difficult until we reached the top of the Red Crater and were met with howling winds. The swirling mists and fog made it impossible to see anything, and the wind almost forced you to keep walking up the track, lest you be blown off into the crater. Apparently the top of the red crater can be a great place to have lunch in nice weather since there are hotspots, but my goal was just to get down as fast as possible.
You are rewarded, coming off the crater, with views of three magnificent emerald lakes (smelling of sulfur, of course). The walk through the central crater is lovely and would bring you views of the blue lake, if we could see anything :)
The remainder of the walk was frankly anticlimactic after the climb and the winds at the beginning. The track descends around the northern slope of Mt. Tongoriro and descends in a zig-zag to the Ketetahi hut, where I had the remainder of my lunch (cold pizza, yum!!). From Ketetahi hut, it's 1.5-2 hours to the end of the track, and the end is a bit of a green tunnel through the forest. Most interesting about this part was the evidence of recent trail reconstruction. There were several workers on the track, and huge bags of gravel and rock that had probably been dropped in by helicopter.
Not perfect weather, but a great walk nonetheless.
Friday, May 4, 2007
Welcome to the North Island
After a crazy night out in Queenstown, it was time to head to the North Island for the last few days of my trip. I caught the local bus to the Queenstown airport, and was left with far too much time to kill in a place with only a few terminals. However, the non-existent security line certainly made me happy.
My flight had a stop-over in Christchurch on the way to Auckland. The travel agent neglected to mention this when she booked my ticket, and I guess I failed to notice. It did mean that the journey stretched out to most of the afternoon and evening, but at least Quantas provides pillows and tea on their flights, unlike any of the Aussie discount carriers.
Driving into downtown Auckland felt like I had flown to another country, not merely to another island in the same country. Here there are freeways and traffic, as can be expected of a city of 1.2 million people, even if it is in New Zealand :) Booking into a girls' only floor at my hostel didn't prove to be such a great decision. Although the bathrooms were very nice, I was in a room with 4 Dutch girls who were screaming and carrying on as if they were at a high school slumber party. Who knows, perhaps they were. Once again I got to play the bad cop by asking them to be quiet or taking their carrying on elsewhere.
This morning I caught the bus for Taupo, a town located on the edge of Lake Taupo, the largest lake in NZ. It was formed by a massive volcanic explosion approximately 26,000 years ago (good thing NZ was uninhabited at the time) which spewed out 800 cubic km of ash and debris. By comparison, the eruptions of Krakatoa (1883) produced 8 cu km and Mt. St. Helens (1980)just 3 cu km.
It's quite an impressive lake, both for its size and the mountains/volcanic peaks visible on the far shore. The lake also makes quite an impressive setting for a skydive!! I had not come to NZ planning to jump again, but seeing videos of others' trips inspired me. After all, it had been 8 years since my first skydive.
I wound up diving with 2 German guys and an Aussie who had just started working at the jump center. My instructor, Mike, was from England. Unlike my jump in the US, where we underwent several hours of instruction prior to jumping, these centers suit you up, tell you the proper position for take-off and free-fall, and leave the rest to your instructor. I wonder if it's because they figure we really don't want to know, or aren't as concerned about the liability issues.
We went up in a bright pink plane which held 4 jumpers and their tandem instructors. I was worried about sitting backwards for the flight up, but it turned out to be fine. Since I wasn't nearly as nervous this time, I was happy to look around at the lake and surrounding fields. All the same, I was happy not to be diving first (I went third).
We did a back somersault out of the plane and went into free fall. I kept my hands on the harness until the tap on my head told me I could spread them out to the side. Unlike my first dive, I remember all 45 seconds of free fall (from 12,000 to 5,000 feet), and it was awesome. I was able to look all around at the landscape unfolding underneath us, and to feel all the air rushing by my face. Since you are falling so fast, it helps to clear your ears as often as possible.
Mike opened the parachute just as we entered a layer of clouds. The biggest change in the transition from free fall to floating is the silence: it's very quiet up there when the wind isn't rushing by your head at 200 kph. I love the sensation of floating in the air; it truly does feel as though you are flying. What I didn't love, however, was when Mike started doing really tight turns while chasing one of the other parachutes. I had no problem with the free-fall, but this made my stomach want to rise right up into my mouth.
I felt a little shaky for about 30 minutes afterwards, and needed to completely unblock my ears, but it was a fantastic experience. So much more rewarding than my first dive, since I had gotten over the initial fear and was able to relax and enjoy it.
My flight had a stop-over in Christchurch on the way to Auckland. The travel agent neglected to mention this when she booked my ticket, and I guess I failed to notice. It did mean that the journey stretched out to most of the afternoon and evening, but at least Quantas provides pillows and tea on their flights, unlike any of the Aussie discount carriers.
Driving into downtown Auckland felt like I had flown to another country, not merely to another island in the same country. Here there are freeways and traffic, as can be expected of a city of 1.2 million people, even if it is in New Zealand :) Booking into a girls' only floor at my hostel didn't prove to be such a great decision. Although the bathrooms were very nice, I was in a room with 4 Dutch girls who were screaming and carrying on as if they were at a high school slumber party. Who knows, perhaps they were. Once again I got to play the bad cop by asking them to be quiet or taking their carrying on elsewhere.
This morning I caught the bus for Taupo, a town located on the edge of Lake Taupo, the largest lake in NZ. It was formed by a massive volcanic explosion approximately 26,000 years ago (good thing NZ was uninhabited at the time) which spewed out 800 cubic km of ash and debris. By comparison, the eruptions of Krakatoa (1883) produced 8 cu km and Mt. St. Helens (1980)just 3 cu km.
It's quite an impressive lake, both for its size and the mountains/volcanic peaks visible on the far shore. The lake also makes quite an impressive setting for a skydive!! I had not come to NZ planning to jump again, but seeing videos of others' trips inspired me. After all, it had been 8 years since my first skydive.
I wound up diving with 2 German guys and an Aussie who had just started working at the jump center. My instructor, Mike, was from England. Unlike my jump in the US, where we underwent several hours of instruction prior to jumping, these centers suit you up, tell you the proper position for take-off and free-fall, and leave the rest to your instructor. I wonder if it's because they figure we really don't want to know, or aren't as concerned about the liability issues.
We went up in a bright pink plane which held 4 jumpers and their tandem instructors. I was worried about sitting backwards for the flight up, but it turned out to be fine. Since I wasn't nearly as nervous this time, I was happy to look around at the lake and surrounding fields. All the same, I was happy not to be diving first (I went third).
We did a back somersault out of the plane and went into free fall. I kept my hands on the harness until the tap on my head told me I could spread them out to the side. Unlike my first dive, I remember all 45 seconds of free fall (from 12,000 to 5,000 feet), and it was awesome. I was able to look all around at the landscape unfolding underneath us, and to feel all the air rushing by my face. Since you are falling so fast, it helps to clear your ears as often as possible.
Mike opened the parachute just as we entered a layer of clouds. The biggest change in the transition from free fall to floating is the silence: it's very quiet up there when the wind isn't rushing by your head at 200 kph. I love the sensation of floating in the air; it truly does feel as though you are flying. What I didn't love, however, was when Mike started doing really tight turns while chasing one of the other parachutes. I had no problem with the free-fall, but this made my stomach want to rise right up into my mouth.
I felt a little shaky for about 30 minutes afterwards, and needed to completely unblock my ears, but it was a fantastic experience. So much more rewarding than my first dive, since I had gotten over the initial fear and was able to relax and enjoy it.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Wanaka
Things here have been pretty quiet over the last couple days. It started to rain just as we got off the glacier and it has been raining or very overcast ever since. I am now in Wanaka, which would be a lovely and beautiful place if the sky were not so overcast. How strange that it looks like a perfect fall day here, with the trees decked out in their autumn colors, when at home spring is coming into its full flower. What fun being in the southern hemisphere!!
Sadly, there is not much to do here, which is why I am heading to Queeny (Queenstown) later this afternoon. I was incredibly excited to be staying at a hostel called "Purple Cow Backpackers". Turns out it's named after a brand of German chocolate and not my Alma mater, but it's still a wonderful thing. The signs in the hostel are even purple and gold :) Ah, it takes so little, really, to make me happy.
A bunch of people got rained out of skydiving, twice, which was a big bummer for them. We watched the videos from the 2 people who did go, and it almost made me want to go skydiving again. Over the last 8 years, I've forgotten how much fun I had.
A few nights ago we stayed in this cute A-frame chalet in Makarora, which in is the absolute middle of nowhere. It was again raining, which ruled out all the outdoor activity options... so we just hung out, drunk beer, and amused ourselves by listening to this guy Nathan from CA tell us every bad pick-up line he could remember. After dinner we played musical chairs to bad '80's music... I didn't try very hard. The guy who won did so because instead of attempting to sit on the chair and push the other person off, he would just run off with it. Not very sporting, if you ask me.
I fly tomorrow to Auckland, and the North Island. I will only have about 4 days there before I need to catch my flight back to the US. How fast this three months has gone by!! It's been wonderful and amazing, but like all good things, it eventually must come to an end.
Sadly, there is not much to do here, which is why I am heading to Queeny (Queenstown) later this afternoon. I was incredibly excited to be staying at a hostel called "Purple Cow Backpackers". Turns out it's named after a brand of German chocolate and not my Alma mater, but it's still a wonderful thing. The signs in the hostel are even purple and gold :) Ah, it takes so little, really, to make me happy.
A bunch of people got rained out of skydiving, twice, which was a big bummer for them. We watched the videos from the 2 people who did go, and it almost made me want to go skydiving again. Over the last 8 years, I've forgotten how much fun I had.
A few nights ago we stayed in this cute A-frame chalet in Makarora, which in is the absolute middle of nowhere. It was again raining, which ruled out all the outdoor activity options... so we just hung out, drunk beer, and amused ourselves by listening to this guy Nathan from CA tell us every bad pick-up line he could remember. After dinner we played musical chairs to bad '80's music... I didn't try very hard. The guy who won did so because instead of attempting to sit on the chair and push the other person off, he would just run off with it. Not very sporting, if you ask me.
I fly tomorrow to Auckland, and the North Island. I will only have about 4 days there before I need to catch my flight back to the US. How fast this three months has gone by!! It's been wonderful and amazing, but like all good things, it eventually must come to an end.
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