Land of Sheep

For all snapshots of the South Island Finale - click here!

To view all of my New Zealand Photographs - click here!

My last days in New Zealand and I feel as if I was looking through a kaliedascope for 3 days. The colors were so powerful on the South Island - plus - the sun was out so we had bright blue skies…yeah!! I left a very cold Queenstown (it actually snowed there all day and was 1 degree C when I left) and hopped back on the Magic Bus to finish off my tour of the South Island. It was weird to re-integrate myself back on the Magic Bus as all of my friends had moved on the past week - so I was back in the business of making new friends again! With a new bus, came a new driver, Mark. Mark really left something behind…like a personality…but he had his weird quirks and generally got us to where we were going safely! He loved to use the term ‘wee little town’ and the word ‘keen’. It was cute for the first day - but after the 3rd day I was about ready to jump out of the moving bus if I heard the expressions again!

Photo - the clouds…it looks like a canvas!

We headed to Dunedin - a cute little college town and home of Speights Beer. I decided to skip all of the touristy stuff that afternoon and instead treat myself to a movie in a theater as opposed to a plane movie! I decided to go to Flags of our Fathers as I knew it was rather recent and everything else showing was a few months old - I felt like I needed to be on the cutting edge. The movie theater was great, HUGE, Lazy-Boy like recliner seats…and I was the only one in the theater!! I sat smack dab in the middle and enjoyed the fact that it wasn’t packed with people like in NY. However - as I started to think about NY - I realized that being in this theater was just like being at the Lowes on Broadway…all of a sudden I thought…what if my past 2 months were just a dream and when I walked outside I would exit on a bustling Broadway street. My mind was playing tricks on me - it was a very eery thought. Anyway - after the excessive violence in the movie - I was jolted back to reality and exited out into Dunedin…thank goodness! I stopped in at a local photography exhibit and it inspired me…so make sure you check out this blogs picture link…it will be worth it! The town had an overall artsy feel…must have been the college influence there.

The next day we were off again to Lake Tekapo - but first we stopped in Dunedin at the world’s steepest street…yep…that’s right - it’s not in San Francisco - it’s in Dunedin New Zealand! I have to admit - I was skeptical - but honestly - it was really steep! Pictures really don’t do it justice - but I tried! Then we stopped at the beach to see the Moeraki Boulders - they were these amazing limestone boulders that were shaped by the sea…much like the Pancake rocks of the West Coast. However - these were perfectly round!

Next we headed into sheep country again - the vistas were beautiful as ever. There were these fluffy clouds that looked as if an artist just painted them on a canvas. We then rode into a flat area where we had an amazing view of snow covered Mt. Cook - the tallest mountain in New Zealand. We stopped at a lake to take some pictures and I experienced the most beautiful blue lake I’ve ever seen.

The color was so unique! The color of the water was such a perfect blue because it was glacier water. Once again - I felt as if someone had painted this view on a canvas…it doesn’t even look real in the pictures! We were so lucky to see it on such a clear day! We arrived in Lake Taekapo late afternoon and I hopped on a horse and rode around the lake for a a short time. Having never really spent much time on a horse - it was more like I gingerly got on an old horse named Jimmy and we slowly followed the other horses in front of us around a trail for an hour. It doesn’t sound quite as glamorous that way though!

During this leg I met some new friends on the bus from Canada. A mother and daughter traveling together for a couple of months - Terri Ann and Lois - they were so cute and full of energy it was wonderful to see! The mother, Lois, even went sky diving…my idol! We spent time talking about all of the funny Magic drivers and playing cards - they really were fun to see and it made me miss my mom! We were off for Christchurch the next morning. Christchurch was a great town full of art and architecture! I was only going to be there for 3 hrs before I had to catch a plane - but I had a great time taking pictures on the sunny day. I wish I would have had more time there - but I had to hop a plane that evening back to Auckland.

So - I’m back in Auckland now reflecting on my Magic Tour of New Zealand. My time was too short here - I needed about 2 more weeks. Even though it’s a small country - it has some much to offer. I toured both islands in a matter of 3 weeks and there were so many places I wanted to stay longer! Overall - I can’t seem to find the right words for the hills, mountains, and the color that surrounded me. Some of the words that come to mind are Mighty, Presence, Pure, Vast, and Vibrant. The hills were so green - like a golfcourse fairway - but for acres and acres. The green against the blue sky, and the white clouds and sheep seems too perfect at times. Everywhere I went on the bus I thought that it couldn’t get more beautiful than where I am presently - but I was constantly overwhelmed by a new breathtaking landscape. It actually at times didn’t even feel real. In this world of digital artistry and retouching I felt as if someone created these views for me. I half expected to see the Dreamworks logo on the bottom corner of the mountain view!

Let’s talk about sheep.

The sheep outnumber the people in this country…which I find rather unique. there are 60 million sheep and 4 million people. The sheep could actually unite and form a coo and take over the whole country if they wanted to. I actually would entertain myself on the bus thinking about that scenario! When I was in grade school - each year a sheep farmer would come and the whole school would gather in the gymnasium to watch a real sheep shearing. I was reminded of those days…I thought it was so cool. I never thought that I would end up in New Zealand - the sheep mecca of the world! I was reminded of one of my favorite movies…Babe…yes, Babe. I would see the sheep dogs running around in the fields and marvel at the beauty of it all! Sorry - no pigs to be seen though.

This New Zealand adventure was also about testing myself. I wanted to see if I could do the backpacking thing. I felt like I missed out on the ‘backpacking life’ in my 20’s - so I wanted to try to experience it in my 30’s. I will admit - at first it was a bit challenging. I was really not comfortable with sleeping with strangers (no laughing), sharing showers, and trying to live on the cheap - it was so different than my regular life that I have come to love! There were no 400 thread count sheets here! However - I adapted - I grew to embrace my budget lifestyle again. I got used to sleeping on the top bunk and not falling out. I even enjoyed eating PB&J every day until I got through a whole loaf of bread! I proved to myself that when I needed to - I could be thrifty again. However - I never did get used to coming home from the bar to a dorm room full of people sleeping, trying to be quiet - and use my flashlight to find my way around in a drunken stumble! I missed my past life of simply getting a cab home, having my cat greet me at my apartment door, turning on the TV, grabbing a bowl of cereal, and sitting on the couch in my pj’s trying to sober up before I went to bed! Having to be considerate of others in a drunken state was not my forte!

This trip wasn’t about immersing myself in the local culture - in fact - I met very few local except for the guides. However I did learn some of the local sayings - my favorite was ‘Sweet As’ - used to express something that was ‘cool’ or ‘awesome’. For the first few days here I thought they were saying ‘Sweet Ass’…but alas…they weren’t complimenting my bum…they were just saying ‘cool’.

The trip through New Zealand was more about learning about myself - some inner exploration. I had lots of time on the bus to think…think about life, think about the past, think about the future, family, and friends.

Photo:Art Gallery in Christchurch…the shadows were great!

I feel like my creative side has been allowed to come out. The good news is that I feel like I have a creative side again! I feel like I’m looking at the world through new eyes…the color is so intense - and the thoughts are so intense. I constantly carry a little note pad around with me and write down thoughts just so I don’t forget them. I don’t really know what I’m going to do with all of this new vision…but I hope to God I do something with it. I know I will do something with it!

So - I came to New Zealand without ever seeing Lord of the Rings…however, I felt like I really SAW New Zealand - my way. Sweet-As!!

Milford Sound

For all snapshots of Milford Sound - Click here!
There are some great pics of New Zealand mountains, ferns, and rain forests!

To view my New Zealand Photography - click here!

I’m starting over again - I’ve moved on from my current backpacker friends and headed for Fiordland Park and the Milford Sound on my own. The drive to Te Anau (pronounced tee-anow) was beautiful - a crisp, sunny day brought all of the powerful colors out on the countryside. Blue sky, green grass, yellow spring flowers, and white sheep was on the canvas - I just loved it! I went on a full day kayak trip on the Milford Sound the next day. The first thing we learned on the van ride to the Sound was that even though it’s called Milford Sound - it’s really a Fiord. A Sound is carved out by a river, a Fiord is carved out by a glacier. Milford was carved out by a glacier which is characterized by it’s U-shaped valleys. I must have missed all of this in 7th grade geography…but now is as good of time as ever to learn it. So - long story short - Milford Sound is named incorrectly…don’t worry though…it’s still beautiful!

I was paired up in a 2 person sea kayak with Matt from Santa Monica. We took off paddling and I immediately struck up a conversation with my new partner as I was going to be sharing a kayak with him for the next 5 hours. Within a few minutes I realized he was a big bore - or simply wasn’t the talking type - so I backed off on my social-ness and just paddled. This could be a long day. Throughout the day we saw waterfalls, had dolphins swim past our kayak, and paddled through big waves and pelting rain - but Matt was quiet through it all. Oh well - to each his own.

The next day I started my Milford Track/Hike.

Let me back up about 6 months ago when my friend Jean Spinner (world traveler extraordinaire) told me that if I was going to go to New Zealand that I HAD to do the Milford Track as it was beautiful. However she warned me that I needed to book early as they only allow a limited number of people on the Track each day and it fills up very quickly. So I googled it and found a place that offered the hikes as a package and I booked it. I even changed my dates in order to take advantage of the special half price offer. It seemed rather reasonable, it covered meals, huts, and transportation…standard stuff. I got my reservation confirmation in the mail over the next week, I filed it away in my travel pile, and forgot about it for the next 5 months. The day or so before I was supposed to report in for the hike - I dug the info out of my suitcase again and determined that I needed to do some shopping as I didn’t have the long underwear, fleece hat, and gloves that they required us to take. Damn…why did I send all of that home with Cyndi after Kili??? Anyway - I went out shopping and outfitted myself in Queenstown. So - the basic point of this paragraph is to let you all know that I knew very little about what I was getting into except that it lasted 5 days and I would be fed and have lodging - and apparently it was cold on the hike.

I met up with my fellow hikers in Te Anau - there were about 24 people total and 4 guides - hopefully they weren’t like Matt the kayaking bore. The Milford Track (Kiwi’s call hikes, tracks - I have no idea why) is called the most beautiful hike in the world. We found out that it got this accreditation when an English journalist walked it and wrote about her journey titling it “Milford Track, Possibly the Most Beautiful Walk in the World”. Her editor looked at it and crossed out the word “Possibly”. After that Frommers, Lonely Planet, Rough Guides as well as many marketing brochures has used the quote to describe it. So I had to see this for myself. When I met the other hikers I had a short debrief about the hike…we were covering 33.5 miles over 3 days of hiking - upon learning this, I regretted not staying in better shape the last 2 months!

Te Anau to Glade House - .8 miles

From Te Anau we took a bus to a ferry on Lake Te Anau. We rode the Ferry for about an hour to a little wooden dock where we got off and walked for about 10 minutes to the Glade House (our lodging for the night). I can’t really call this day a hiking day - it was more of a journey to the beginning. On the journey - I met some of my fellow hikers - they were all very friendly, mostly married, all ages and very outgoing. When we got off the ferry there was a little basin of water that we were required to step our boots into. These Kiwi’s really protect their parks - I’ve never seen anything like it. As I arrived at Glade House I quickly realized this was no normal hiking trip - this was luxury hiking. This place was dorm living - but much nicer than the hostels I had been in previously. We had thick bedding, towels, real toilets, hot showers with shampoo AND conditioner, tea & biscuits - and a hair dryer. I really was floored by all of this - I guess I should have read the brochure. I went into the lounge where there was a bar (yeah!) and had a drink and marveled that they called this trekking. It hit me at that time - Kilimanjaro changed me more than I knew. I honestly felt that I was cheating here - this was too comfortable in a way.

We sat down for dinner and was served Kilimanjaro memories of peeing on rocks, freezing in our tent, sleeping on rocky ground, long drop toilets, carrying toilet paper around in our pockets, and wiping off with ’shower wipes’ for 7 days came rushing back to me - and I missed it. I’m not going to even admit in type where my mind went to next - I’ll wait and see if I get the feeling again before I put it in black and white. I had to marvel that on my trekking trip - this was the best accommodations and food I’ve had so far in New Zealand! No more carrying a loaf of bread and PB&J, no more Kraft Mac&Cheese! For the next 3 days I was going to eat well!

After our sophisticated dinner we all had to get up and introduce ourselves and then we had a slide show of what we were to expect on the trail the next day. I thought about Douglas from Kili trying to explain what new torturous trail we would encounter the next day at our ‘evening talks’. Maybe he would have gotten his point across better with a slide projector - I’ll have to let him know. My new guides were young Kiwi’s (Ash, Tim, and Ant) and 1 Aussie (Rosco). Up to this point I fogot to mention the film crew too. You are probably all aware of my secret desire to be on TV - preferably Globe Trekker - well strangely enough my wish came true - sort of. For this trek (trekking group #3 of the trekking season) included in our group was a Korean film crew. They were filming this trek as a documentary of New Zealand hiking for Korean Public Television (KBS). I will be seen across the whole nation of Korea…how freakin’ exciting! The camera guy/producer, Jay, and the narrator, Hoon, sat at my table that night and I was fascinated talking to them about their project, jobs and travels…really cool guys.

After dinner when we did our formal introductions we also had to sing a song from our country. The Americans chose to sing American Pie - there were many of us - so I could schlep along out of tune without being noticed - phew. However - Jay was the only person from Korea - so he had to sing by himself. I kind of felt sorry for him - until he grabbed a guitar in the corner, sat down and literally belted out “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” with an American accent - I was floored. We all had tea before retiring to our rooms. The lights went out (generator was turned off) at 10 PM in order to rest up for our big day tomorrow.

Glade House to Pompolona Lodge - 10 miles

We woke up when the generator started at 6:45AM. We made our lunch sandwiches from a huge spread of choices - I was a bit overwhelmed. We then sat down for a breakfast feast! I ate oatmeal for the 1st time in 2 months - I didn’t realize how much I missed oatmeal! We took off on the trek and I quickly realized that this was less of a hike and more of a walk. We had to cover 10 miles today - but we were walking in the Clinton Valley and the trail was impeccably groomed - much like the impeccable lodges, and the impeccable food. I kept thinking about what Cyndi and Heather’s reaction to this impeccable trek would be. That hard reboot that Kilimanjaro provided me was more ingrained in me than I thought - I was really surprised to my reaction to the whole thing. The views were beautiful though and it was nice that you didn’t have to watch your footing on the trail and could look around you - and there was plenty of oxygen! It was a good day for photography - the rain forest was very green and there was no rain! This was the land of waterfalls - I have never seen anything like it - the snow melt was heavy and the typical rain fall created these long water falls all the way down the steep, rocky cliffs to the valley floor. Since day 1 was a cruisy day, I talked to my fellow walkers to find out where they were from, what they did for a living, find out how many kids they had, etc. There are only 45 guided walkers allowed on the track each day and about 45 ‘Freedom Walkers’. Freedom walkers are the people that don’t use guides - you can consider their origin to be kind of hippieish. Back when only guided walkers were allowed on the trail - a group of crazy hippies barged onto the trail and walked it. There were so many of them that they couldn’t stop them. Since then, they changed the rules and they built ‘primitive huts’ for the Freedom Walkers (which are nicer than most camping accommodations I’ve ever seen - but no showers or wetbar).

We arrived at our guided walker lodge - Pompolona Lodge - and were greeted by a hostess with orange juice and orange slices. She led me to my bunk room and I hopped in the shower and was ready for tea time…I loved this new life! They had fresh scones with cream and jam. I think this will be the only 33 mile hiking trip that I will gain weight on! After tea many people washed their hiking clothes and put them in the drying room. I kept thinking about the 7 days Cyndi, Heather and I went without a shower wearing the same clothes…what a different experience! Dinner was another feast followed by ice cream and chocolate sauce and a slide show of the next day. The next day was supposed to be more grueling as we had to go over the Mackinnon Pass….lights out at 10PM!

Pompolona Lodge to Quintin Lodge - 9 miles

This was the ‘hard’ day where we reached the highest point in the trek - 3,300 ft. We woke up to rain - so I suited up in all of my rain gear (which consisted of a rain jacket) and took off. The first 3.5 hours today were made up of climbing up to the pass among a series of rugged switch backs - now this was trekking! When I stopped for a bathroom break in one of the nicely furnished outhouses, I was leaving and I heard a noise that sounded like thunder and realized that it wasn’t thunder. It was an avalanche! I looked up in the distance and there were big chunks of snow falling off the mountain. I stood there in awe and watched it - definitely a first for me. I started up the switchbacks and was getting pelted with rain. The rock beds that formed our path turned into flowing river beds with all of the rain so I had to walk through quite a bit of water on my way up. I was wearing quick dry hiking pants - unfortunately quick dry material can’t dry if it doesn’t stop raining ever. Therefore my pants were soaked and sticking to my legs. This wasn’t a big deal - but I remembered the guides saying that when we get above the tree line it would be very windy and cold - I was going to freeze when my tree shelter was gone! I calmed myself by thinking of positive things such as - as least my feet are dry. For the next hour as I climbed up the pass slowly I was marveling in my satisfaction of my dry gortex Vasque boots. I thought back 6 years ago when David Henshaw told me to buy Vasque boots and they’ve been wonderful, blister-free boots - what good advice David! As I went above the tree line the wind picked up, the fog settled into the surrounding mountains, the rain was now blowing sideways - I was wet, cold, and ready to be at the top.

One of our guides, Ant, was near the top and gave me a cup of warm soup. That was enough to help me make it through the next twenty minutes to the top! It wasn’t the hardest climb I’ve done - but definitely challenging especially among the elements. We warmed up and dried off in the Pass Hut at the top. I put my boots under a heat lamp and tried to find all of the dry layers that I put in my pack that I could change into. I’m not sure why I went to all of this effort to try to get dry when there was no chance that the rain was going to let up - but I changed clothes in vain, ate my sandwich, put all of my wet clothes in a plastic sack in my pack, had a cuppa Milo and took off again down the pass.

I’m not real sure why I didn’t wait to go with someone in the group - I guess I was feeling independent - or just stupid. Before I descended I went to the ‘lieu with the most beautiful view’ hanging off the side of the pass looking over the valley and surrounding mountains. Unfortunately the view was fog today…you couldn’t see a thing…but at least there was toilet paper! I pointed myself downhill and took off. I figured that I would make the descent pretty quickly. The rain was still pelting down sideways and all of a sudden my nice little immaculate, groomed trail turned into a very disorienting riverbed full of water.
I wasn’t real sure if that’s where I was supposed to follow - but it was really the only option that I could see. The little river bed was flowing with water from the heavy rain which made it hard to navigate through the wet, slippery rocks and deep mud and water. Pretty soon I noticed this squish, squish sensation in my boots. My socks were soaked inside my boots! David Henshaw was no longer my idol…in fact I think I was cursing him mentally every squishy step. I stopped and looked around me to see if anyone was near but no one was in site. My mind started wandering off David and onto “I wonder if I’m on the right rail - it’s weird that I haven’t seen anyone.” I decided to take my mind off of it by whistling. The whistling turned to humming, then to singing - I must have really been nervous as I NEVER sing. However - no one was around so it seemed safe enough to sing a few tunes to keep myself company.

I got to a part of the riverbed that branched off in three different directions. I stood there dumb founded wondering where I should go. This normally would not be a big issue except all of the flowing rain exacerbated the situation and they all looked the same. I looked behind me in hopes that I would see someone…no luck. so I picked a route and started following it - the water was getting deeper and I still didn’t have any sign of a trail. I looked behind me once more hoping to see someone. I thought about turning around and trying to go back up to the start of my confusion and wait for other people to come - yet I wasn’t even really sure how to retrace my steps back up. All of a sudden I panicked, thinking - so this is how people get lost in the woods - and people can’t find them for days and they survived off of tree bark for food. I always thougt those people were idiots for getting lost in the woods - yet who’s the idiot now?! I kept following the water in a panicky state - kicking myself for walking alone, cursing the rain, cursing David and my wet boots, and hoping that I had picked the right trail. I was starting to worry that this water was going to lead me to a giant uncontrollable water fall and I would walk right over the edge to my imminent death.

Then I saw a clearing on the right that resembled a trail. I went over there and looked down the trail and debated on what to do, I figured muddy trail was better than waterfall to death so I opted for the muddy trail. As I walked the trail, my anxiety built. What if this wasn’t the trail, no one knows where I”m at. I looked around again - still no one. As a little girl - I quit being a girl scout after 1 year when I found out that I had to camp to get a badge - I was scared of bugs…therefore that was the end of my scouting. In hind site - that might not have been the smartest idea. As I panicked I did a mental list of what I had in my pack in case I had to camp out on my own because I was lost on the mountain pass. All of my clothes were wet, however I did have some snacks to live off of and a pair of flip flops - it seemed as if I might be able to survive a night if I had to. I could use my hiking pole and rain coat to build a shelter put on my bug spray to stay safe and eat granola bars until someone found me. Plus - I had an emergency whistle that I could use! Yet it wouldn’t have been heard above the roaring waterfall so I guess it would’ve just been entertaining for me. I could whistle some songs to keep me occupied through the night.

Then I saw a muddy footprint on the trail pointing downhill…hallelujah!!! I was on the right trail! The rest of the rainy descent I cursed myself for being so stupid to hike alone! I also entertained myself by taking rainy pictures of the beautiful surroundings with a piece of me in the photo - it was kind of a weird way to embrace my solo hiking. After 2 and 1/2 hours of descending down waterfall like trails and bridges - I finally came across someone else - a freedom walker - it was so comforting to see people again! I blew past him like I owned the mountain (since I had confirmation I was on the right mountain now!) - plus I really had to pee! About 5 minutes later I reached the entrance to Quinton Lodge! I had never been so happy to be greeted by our lodge host with hot tea and orange slices! Maybe this luxury hiking thing wasn’t so bad!

I dried off a bit and then dropped my heavy, wet pack and took off for a short 45 minute trek to Sutherland Falls. This was supposed to be the whole reason why the Milford Track was in existence. When Donald Sutherland discovered the waterfall - he first named it, and then had to figure out a way for the everyday non-explorer people could come see his namesake waterfall. The waterfall is the 5th highest in the world at 1,900 feet! I took off with Charles and Chris (a couple from our group) as I didn’t want a repeat of the descent alone again - so I decided to stick with others this time! We got to the base of the waterfall and it was so powerful you could hardly stand up!

Photo” Charles at the base of the falls - braving the elements!

The wind and spray from the fall was mighty. We went back to the lodge, I got a hot shower, tea, and put all of my wet items in the drying room and sat down for dinner. Much better than granola under a raincoat, lost on the mountain. The day had turned out ok after all!

Quintin Lodge to Mitre Peak Lodge - 13 miles

We took off the next morning to a nice sunny day and many waterfalls gushing down the mountains. The scenery was lush in the valley again and it was simply nice to be dry again! 13 miles today seemed like a long day - especially with a 25 pound pack on - but it went pretty fast. I felt really good and strong and I just kept thinking of every mile in NYC blocks. We went through some massive tree avalanches. Apparently the root system of the trees here are very fragile due to the fact that they grow on steep, rocky cliffs and are exposed to excessive rain. The roots don’t go deep, instead they just intertwine with each other only a few feet deep. So when one tree goes tumbling down the cliff they take all the rest with them. It creates this massive tree/mud/rock slide. Luckily…we didn’t experience any of those! We stopped at a waterfall for lunch and then finished the walk in time to grab a fresh scone and catch the 3:15 ferry to Milford Sound and the Mitre Peak Lodge.

Photo: Sunset on Mitre Peak

That night at the Mitre Peak Lodge we all had our own rooms with bathrooms (I was living large!!). We had our final celebration dinner finished with warm chocolate cake…I love luxury hiking!

Milford Sound to Queenstown

The next morning we were up early for our last nice, warm breakfast and then we had to catch a boat on the Sound the go tour the Milford Sound. We toured around the cliffs (the same area I paddled through a few days before!) and had a clear day to see Mitre Peak - rising vertically over one mile from the water line…very impressive. It was a wonderful day for pictures - despite the chilly wind. We caught our tour bus back to Te Anau and went through the famous Homer Tunnel. It was a tunnel that was blasted through one of these huge mountains - very primitive- and climbed about 1,500 feet inside the tunnel. Apparently they have a running race through the tunnel in April that only allows you to wear 2 pieces of clothing…running shoes and a head lamp as it’s pitch dark in there. I think the tunnel is about 3 km - so a good little run uphill, in the dark, naked…you gotta love these Kiwi’s - maybe I’ll come back in April! For all of you runners out there - you should consider this…it sounds like Bay to Breakers Kiwi style!
We arrived back in Queenstown in the afternoon and bid everyone farewell.

On the bus ride back to Queenstown I struck up a conversation with Jay the Korean producer/camera man and we talked a ton about travels. I ended up going out that night with Hoon and Jay for Chinese food…I had been craving Asian food for quite some time now…so I wasn’t going to pass that up!

We chatted the whole night about travel, food, adventure, jobs, tv - it was very fun. I couldn’t help but thinking that I was out with the (Korean) Globetrekker hosts! At the end of the night we had a bottle of wine, they tried to teach me Korean (they promised me that if I worked at it that I would be able to read Korean within 24 hours…yeah right) - so I took a little pamphlet to practice with. We finished with dessert - a Korean delicacy that they had brought along - myeong-ran-jot - basically fish eggs. I have to admit - it was really tasty! So - I may have to now add Korea to my list of travels…after all - I will be a star in Korea after their show airs!! The show is supposed to air in January…so for all of you in Korea…check it out - it’s on KBS! Apparently it will also be on their website too - so I will keep an eye on that and let you all know if/when that happens!

Overall - the trek was great - in a very unexpected way! It went to show me that I don’t have to know everything about an adventure before I go - it’s more fun to just experience it and live in the moment. Oh yeah - I also learned to not hike alone in the woods…I knew I never should have quit the Girl Scouts!!

Photo: Bill, Ghost (Trent), and Jello…Happy Halloween!

Magic Bus from Franz Josef to Queenstown:
To view all snapshots of the drive from Franz Josef to Queenstown - click here!

It was a long bus day today and a very full bus (I guess everyone wanted to get to Queenstown for Halloween). By now I had a group of ‘new friends’ that I enjoyed hanging out with from the Magic Bus so we all worked together to get our way through the long pushing group of passengers to get our packs loaded and get seats together on the bus. My New Yorker memories of crowded, pushy subways came rushing back to me - but this time I wasn’t wearing 3 inch heels so I was able to maneuver quickly in my tennis shoes - yet I looked like Jerry Seinfeld in my jeans and running shoes. However - I did used to be darn nimble in heels - and I haven’t worn them for a month now - my toes have never been so happy! We managed to all sit together and we were off once again! We drove through National Parks that surrounded Mt. Cook (the tallest mountain in New Zealand) - everything was so green and lush. I swear when they came up with the color green - they were thinking of New Zealand. The day was a mix of sun and clouds and generally the vistas out our windows were stunning. We had a number of quick stops for photo ops - so I was pretty happy about getting some good photos that weren’t taken out of a speeding bus window!

Oh - I forgot to mention - we had a new Magic driver, Trent. Trent seemed pretty laid back and chatty. I swear he was only looking at the road 50% of the time as he was mainly talking to the people in the front seat. He mixed things up by having bus quizzes in which Jen (from Ireland) and I teamed up and won! I needed a good healthy competition to satisfy my competitive muscles once again! Do any of you know the difference between a Peninsula and a Cape??

One of our last stops of the day was at a bungy bridge. This was the first commercial bungy jump ever…in essence - the birthplace of bungy. I knew that I was in no mood to bungy after my abseiling adventure in South Africa - so I happily played the part of photographer. Gavin, from Long Island, decided to try it. I have to admit - it looked like fun - but the thought of being dipped in freezing cold river water below sounded terrible. Isn’t it bad enough that you are jumping off a bridge hoping that they bungy cord works and then you have to land in the freezing river…oh yeah…and pay for the enjoyment of it all…no thanks…I’ll stick to jumping out of planes with hot men strapped on my back!
Gavin survived…

For all snapshots of Jelloween Madness - click Here!

We arrived in Queenstown and it completely reminded me of an adorable little ski town in Colorado. It had a little bit of everything - snow covered mountains (The Remarkables - not to be confused with moved the Incredibles), a massive lake, green hills, and a great little main street full of bars and restaurants. This was the home of adventure and it was Halloween - we were bound to have a great time! None of us had costumes, but we were hungry and thirsty. A large group of us - Jen, Graeme, Bill, Nick, Alistair, and Jordy went to the famous Fergberger. I have no idea who Ferg is/was - but word on the street was that they had the best burgers on the South Island. After days of meals of PB&J, I was ready for some meat! The burgers were superb!
They were huge - the size of a dessert plate. Mission accomplished - the base of food was now established - now it was time to party.

I think I was so excited to get cleaned up and put my best ‘going out’ shirt on (basically something that wasn’t dri-fit material) and shoes that weren’t tennis shoes - I was in a party mood. I remembered one of the last days that I was in NYC I was walking down Columbus St. with my dad and he said “Do you think you’ll miss this?”
“I don’t think so” I said.
He went on to say “I think you’ll miss getting dressed up and going out - the glamorous, social side of NYC.”
I hate to admit it - but my Dad was right. So this was my night on the town and I was ready to hit it - never mind that ‘the town’ was 3 blocks long!

We went and met our driver, Trent, out at the Red Rock Bar. Trent promised us free drinks and shots - so being budget minded we headed there first. Trent was true to his word - he came in a sheet as a ghost and he came bearing jello shots…jello shots have a gravitational pull on me - so this could be dangerous. Graeme and I got into a big debate about the term Jello vs. Jelly. He called them Jelly shots which sounded horrible to me. Potato - potato (I guess that point doesn’t really come through to well in type - oh well - you get what I mean). After more brightly colored free shots from Trent we moved on to another bar - one that served their drinks in tea pots - what a great gimmick.

The Brits were in heaven with their ‘tea’. The fun continued to the local dance club and then home for a good drunken sleep on a bunk bed! The whole night to me felt like old times - it felt good to be out on the (small) town hanging out with new, interesting, fun people. I felt normal again. Despite our different nationalities and many heated conversations about jelly vs. jello, jelly vs. jam, what makes up the contents of a sandwich (the Brits couldn’t stomach the idea of PB&J - so I told them to take their Marmite and go home) we had discovered that we all had a few things in common. Travel, adventure, drinking, and an outgoing attitude. For all of you San Franciscans reading this - if you see a vivacious Irish, redhead in San Francisco wandering around - it’s Jen - buy her a beer. For you New Yorkers - look out for Alistair. He is coming to town around Thanksgiving - lets hope he doesn’t get escorted back to his Madison Square Garden hostel by the NYPD! I really enjoyed all of my ‘new friends’ from backpacking New Zealand. The hardest part is watching them leave your world as easily as they entered it.

The Mighty Franz Josef Glacier

For all snapshots of my Glacier Hike - click here!
Definitely check out the pictures…they are worth it!

To view New Zealand Photography - click here!

Ahhh - let me take you all back to grade school when you learned about glaciers - but probably weren’t paying attention…

A glacier is the remaining winter snow that the summer melt has been unable to remove from the cooler heights. Each year another layer of surplus snow is added to the glacier. Time and it’s own weight soon transforms this residual snow into glacial ice, which then oozes its way down valley to melt away in the warmer temps of lower altitudes. The glacier finally terminates where the rate of melt equals the rate of flow. Basically - the other way to think of it is - it’s a HUGE chunk of ice that creates a kick ass playground for a few hours to walk around on!

I went to the playground today…I did the full day guided Glacier Hike in Franz Josef. This is one of the very few glaciers that exist in a warm/tropical climate. So it’s pretty unique - I believe the other 2 are in New Zealand and in Argentina…but you’ll have to Google that yourself. This Glacier is alive…it actually moves every week due to the massive snow falls at the head of Franz Josef and the rate of ice turnover is among the highest in the world, upwards of 2.5 meters per day..therefore the guided hike did include the ‘danger factor’ that I seem to love. Plus - it provided me some much needed exercise and a break from the bus, the hostel, and my sour mood!

I checked in at the guide center and ran into one of my fellow Magic Bus backpackers - Jordy. We hung together and went through the very impressive and efficient process of getting our boots, ice talons, socks (yes - I had to wear rented socks…eewwww), rain pants, rain jacket, mittens and hat - it was like an assembly line. A quick trip to the restroom and I was set! As a side note - I think this past week I’ve officially gotten over my germophobia that I was holding onto for a while. Rented hat, socks and mittens…no problem…as long as I was going to stay warm - I didn’t really care. I’m a step closer to being a ‘real’ backpacker!

Photo: Starting the climb up - this picture can’t really depict the sheer size of it!

We were introduced to our guide - Cliff who looked like a very fun-loving Kiwi - and cute too! He carried his big ice pick and led us to the glacier head where we saw the terminal cave - where the wet slurry of gravel and ice melt are flowing out of the glacier at a tremendous rate and form the glacial lakes around the region. First off - the glacier is HUGE - but since it’s surrounded by large mountains - you really don’t have any perspective to judge it by (kind of like looking at the hotels on the Las Vegas Strip). Finally - I could make out a few little dots on the ice…people…then you got a feel for the enormity of it! Each day there are about 20 guides on the glacier maintaining the original trails and steps and cutting new steps. Since the glacier moves so much - they have to constantly go on it and check the safety of it and create new trails as old one may have split in half and been replaced with a large crevasse.

Cliff showed us how to put on our ice talons, told us to hang on to the ropes when they existed - and off we went! It really wasn’t that cold when you were moving - and the day was sunny - so it was a perfect temperature to be climbing. The first part of the glacier had a trail of steps cut out as many people go up on half day hikes. However we were doing a full day hike which meant that we would go beyond the pre-cut stairs and get onto the real playground of ice - Cliff would cut the trail/steps as we proceeded up! Also - at the lower elevations - the ice was a bit dirtier - whereas the higher ice had this beautiful soft baby blue color to it…the only word I could think of when I saw this blue ice was ‘pure’.

We got up the heavily traveled steps and decided to break for lunch. We sat on the ice and I ate my PB&J (for the 4th day in a row now) and took in the view around me. I was overtaken with the amazing beauty surrounding me. I looked left and there was a large valley of blue ice with a green, lush mountain. In front of me was Cliff (which was a nice view) and the vast plane of gray slurry rivers flowing out into the green valley. On my right was a waterfall on the green mountain side. I was warm with joy inside - as I thought about all of my past lunches at my desk eating crap and working on email or eating at a meeting. I was sitting on a glacier, surrounded by beauty and the sounds of flowing water so far away from corporate life that it was mind boggling.

After eating lunch Cliff took us to a box of ice picks/axes for each of us and we followed him around as he created his own ice playground for us. He was like a little kid in a candy store - you could tell that he loved to be on this big block of ice more than anything. The stairs he cut were not like normal stairs…they were more like footholds in the steep places. He showed us how to walk up and down them sideways and balance with our ice pick…he called it the Franz Josef shuffle. I called it scarey.

He took us to an area with a large hole. He told me to put down my backpack and follow him - being a good follower - I did what he said. He took me in this hole/cave a bit larger than a man hole.

He told me to get in, grab the rope that was there and lower myself down the hole. I looked at him and said ‘no way’. I honestly thought he was kidding. I looked at this hole that went straight down and I couldn’t see the bottom. I pulled the rope in hopes that the end would pull up quickly - but I could see no end. I really thought he was joking with me - but he wasn’t. I argued with him for about 5 minutes trying to figure out if he was serious and just decided to go for it. These are the times when you figure out if you are claustrophobic…I was hoping I wasn’t. It was really wet as the ice was melting and I didn’t have my rain pants on - so needless to say I was sitting in a pool of icy, cold water and started to lower myself over the edge into this hole which was now a bit narrower than a man hole (I guess that’s why he told me to leave my pack behind). I was still thinking that by starting to go down the hole that I was going to call his bluff and he would tell me to stop - but that word was never uttered. Instead - I lowered myself down the hole wondering what in the hell I was doing this for. It was about a 15ft. drop and then I hit a bottom - sort of. There was another hole/cave that I went through (I just followed blindly as I couldn’t hear or see Cliff anymore) and it was downward sloping - so I sat on my bum and slid down it. I wondered for a second if I was going to slide all of the way down the glacier and get deposited out of the terminal cave - but soon I saw light - and I ended up safely outside again! Cliff was there to greet me with a big smile on his face - I was laughing hysterically at the fun of it all - and the fact that I was drenched in freezing cold water also was a bit humorous! He immediately wanted to know how I liked it…I loved it! We went walking back to the rest of the group to show them that I was still alive so that the rest of them could now experience this cave labyrinth. There’s nothing like the thrill of going first!

Cliff continued to test our claustrophobia and cut narrow little openings that we had to try to slide through.
At one point I really thought I was stuck…the crevasse was only about a foot wide (you went through sideways) - therefore you had to kind of treat it like a balance beam and literally put one foot in front of the other. However - I couldn’t move my feet and the slushy ice under my feet didn’t allow me to get any grip. Jory saw me struggling like a fly trapped in a spider web and reached out his ax handle to me so that I could use it to try to pull me out. That worked…I was free - I came popping out to the other side with a view of beautiful, blue, tall ice walls!

Soon the recess bell rang and we had to come back down from the ice playground. We had a long walk down and Cliff kept on telling us how when we go down we get lazy and that one slip and we would surly die. These types of ‘pep talks’ from Cliff really didn’t do much for me - instead they kind of freaked me out! It was really easy to get a spike from your ice talons caught in your shoelace and then you would tumble down to your imminent death. Cliff said that if you did fall in a crevasse - they weren’t in any hurry to get you out as you would most likely be dead…what a downer. All the way down the glacier I walked as if I had just gotten off of a horse ensuring that I wouldn’t get a talon caught in a lace! Sure - I looked goofy - but I was alive at the bottom.

By the time we got back down to solid ground the fog had rolled into the rain forest and our beautiful blue skies were blanketed in gray again. But this frozen adventure today thawed me from my sour mood from the last few days. Maybe it was a combination of the sun, the adventure, the adrenaline of exercise, the amazing setting, or simply that I was freakin’ climbing on a glacier…but whatever it was - it did the trick - my gray attitude had been lifted. I went back to the hostel, took a HOT shower, hung out with my new friends and ate another PB&J sandwich - and my ‘world’ was good again. Queenstown…here I come!

To view all snapshots from Picton to Franz Josef - click here!

To view Photography of New Zealand - click here!

We crossed the famous Cook Straight from Wellington (North Island) to Picton (South Island). The ferry was huge! I was expecting something similar to the Tanzania ferry that Cyndi and I took - so I downed my Dramamine that morning and went to catch the ferry (see Cyndi - I so actually learn from my past mistakes!). However - this ferry was more of a cruise boat - it carried hundreds of cars, people and even trains…crazy. The crossing was gray and chilly, but not too rough - it only took 3 hours to get to the South Island. A couple of days prior Wellington had terrible weather and it took the ferry 10 hours to cross and the swells were huge…thank God I wasn’t on that puke-fest!

When I arrived in Picton all of my fellow nomadic backpacker friends were in tow and we met our new Magic Bus drive, Karl. Karl felt that we needed a drink, so he headed for one of the famous Marlborough region wineries and we all got out and had a wine tasting. This area is famous for it’s Chardonnays (very different than California Chardonnay) and Savignon Blanc. It really hit the spot…along with my PB&J (I’m still working my way through that damn loaf of bread from the North Island!). We traveled on to a town called Nelson - supposedly the “Sunshine Capital of New Zealand”…apparently Mother Nature did not get that memo though as it was gray and cloudy…go figure. Nelson though was a cute little town filled with artists and slow Internet. The best part of Nelson was the pubs and live music though. By now I had made many new friends on the Magic Bus and met more new ones today - so we all decided to go out for dinner and drinks. We had a great time getting to know each other. By this time I had started hanging out with Alistair from England quite a lot. He totally reminded me of my friend David Henshaw in San Francisco - a fellow Brit - therefore I had an immediate affinity towards Alistair and his proper, quiet Brittish demeaner. We went out with this new group of people which included some Americans and more Irish and of course more Brits (they are literally everywhere!).

We woke up the next day and for the first time in 4 days the sun was shining!! I guess Nelson is the Sunshine Capital! Yeah!!! Too bad we had to be on a bus though the whole day…oh well - you can’t have everything. We headed towards Greymouth via the Hope Saddle and Buller Gorge. We also got introduced to the rugged coastline that the South Island is famous for. By mid day - the sun disappeared though and the rain came pouring down. We stopped at the Paparoa National Park and did a quick little walk just to move our legs and see the sea lions. I’m over sea lions though as I feel like they are as common as squirrels anymore…but the chance to get out of the bus and move our legs was welcomed! We drove on to Punakaiki (no this isn’t a name for the new J. Crew Chinos) - home of the famous Pancake rocks and blowholes. It looked ominous outside - but we got out of the bus with our rain gear and went on a short trek to see the pancake rocks.
These rocks were really amazing (even in the rain) - they looked they they were stacked on top of each other (bring on the syrup!) - yet really after years and years of the surf pounding them they were formed like this. I’m sure there is something much more scientific that I should have been paying attention to - but it started to pour again so we had to race through the trail and quickly take pictures…no time for a science class! We headed on to Greymouth…where I had my first real bad attitude. Not really sure why I was so negative and down - but I’m sure the crappy weather had something to do with it. Even though I was getting used to this nomadic living in hostels, I was longing for a nice bed, warm duvet cover, feather pillow, good food, a TV and some familiar friends. Granted - I liked the new people I was meeting - but everything seemed to pile up on me when we got to Greymouth and I was really depressed. To make matters worse - the rain was now blowing sideways and everyone else was going on a brewery tour that I didn’t feel like doing. I was more in the mood for a cosmo than another pint of heavy beer. So I opted out of the brewery, amd did my laundry instead - without fabric softener again. I have become reacquainted with the term static cling - they don’t even sell dryer sheets in the stores! I think everyone enjoys walking around with a random sock stuck to their sweater! I then ran to the grocery store in the pouring rain, made myself macaroni and cheese (yes, Kraft), and wallowed in my depression/homesickness. I sat in the lounge and watched the All Blacks (New Zealand Rugby team) and tried to warm up in front of the fire missing American football. That night I ranted in my personal journal just in hopes of getting all of the bad vibes out of me through my pen. However - my new ‘quiet’ friend Alistair had quite a wild night at the Brewery tour. As he told me the story of putting his hand through the hostel door window (on accident) and ending up at the police station…I started to think that maybe he wasn’t like my friend David Henshaw…Alistair surprised me…which not many people do! The story was harmless and it had me laughing the whole next morning! That boy can put down some pints though!

The tourist brochure on New Zealand failed to mention that New Zealand has rain 80% of the time - all of the postcards are sunny, blue days. I guess those photographers found the 20%. Obviously the tourism board has a good marketing department. However - all of this rain does create an amazing lush, green environment (if you can see it behind the clouds).

A new day…a new attitude - yet still pouring rain…ugh. I listened to my favorite Beatles song “Here Comes the Sun” in hopes that the gods would take pity on me and show us the bright, yellow, ball again….but no luck. We had a short drive today to Franz Josef -home of the Franz Josef Glacier! I had been waiting for this…I was really looking forward to hiking the Glacier the next day - rain or shine - I didn’t care! I had never been on a glacier before - granted - living in Minnesota felt like it - but I really can’t call that a glacier! I canceled my kayaking trip for the afternoon as it was still pouring rain..go figure. However - finally - my prayers were answered - I awoke the next morning and I heard birds chirping! In my tired haze I determined that the birds would not be chirping if it was raining…so this was a good sign! I peeked outside and saw a blue sky and a large snow covered mountain that was not visible yesterday! A great day to climb on a big block of ice!!!

To View New Zealand Photography - click here!
When I arrived in New Zealand - I had no plan…very unlike me - but I was hoping for some magic I guess. The good news is that I found it - The Magic Bus! No - I wasn’t eating shrooms nor is this some cousin to Scooby Doo and the Mystery Van.

The Magic Bus is a hop on/hop off bus company in New Zealand that I had heard about. I did some research online and then went to their offices in Auckland. There I was able to arrange my whole trip through New Zealand hitting the highlights that I wanted to hit, traveling around with other backpackers, and having some flexibility at the same time. I bought the north/south pass and was off!
Photo: Magic Bus looking out over Auckland - my home on wheels!

Our driver’s name was Rangy - a big Maori-Kiwi guy that certainly knew how to maneuver a bus with ease. We all introduced ourselves and said where we were from when we left Auckland. This is a process that I’ve now grown quite used to - this name, rank, and serial number process. I determined that I need to come up with something more interesting instead of “I’m Sherry from America - New York City”. Maybe something like “I’m Sherry and I’m from a blue state in the US, I like ice cream, the color pink, sunsets, rainy days, and fizzy drinks” - or maybe I could just use my old match.com profile or something. Anyway - after about 10 minutes the bus driver called out for me “where’s that girl from NY, come up front”. I thought I may be in trouble for being to old to be on this bus or something - but instead he simply wanted to talk to me about what it was like living NYC and ask general questions about 9/11. This also tends to be a common question I get a lot - everyone wants to know about 9/11 and being a New Yorker. We chatted for a while - he had one eye on the road and one on me…made me a little nervous - but he was completely in control…I guess.

Day 1 - Auckland to Rotorua - it’s only a fuzzy little bunny…

We left Auckland and headed for Waitomo to do one of the first things on my list - see the glow worms. This area is know for it’s caves and glow worms - so I wanted to go check these little club like creatures out…I thought there may be some great techno playing in the caves - but found out that the glowing worms had nothing to do with raves…damn. I along with others on the bus (my new friends from Ireland, England, and Sweden) went on a Black Water Rafting tour. It was already chilly out - so the thought of getting into a cave, tubing in cold water sounded a bit icey…but you only live once - and they do give you sexy looking wet suits to wear. As I slithered into the wetsuit, I tried to not think about the thousands of other peope who had worn the wetsuits, booties, and wellies - but it was hard not to when they kind of smelled. Oh well - they were warm - so I slid into the suit (more like struggled my way into the skin tight rubber), put on the wellies, and dawned my helmet - I was ready to see the worms! We drove out to a field of cows, walked through the field with the cows in our goofy suits, picked up our intertube that would safely fit our ass and then entered the cave - it was rather creepy. Once your eyes adjusted the guides told you about the glow worms - I honestly zoned out during this scientific stuff and zoned back in just in time to learn that the glowing is actually the worm’s feces that glows…now that was interesting. We followed the guides deeper into the cave, turned off our helmet lights and all of a sudden there were millions of glowing worms on the cave walls and ceiling.
No music or sweaty men dancing - just glowing worms….you can’t have it all I guess. We proceeded through the narrow cave tunnels in our tubes through the cold water! We even went backwards down a water fall (albiet a small one that did enough damage to get water up my nose). As we chained together and let the guides lead us in the dark - it was rather creepy not being able to see where you were going - but after about 40 minutes…we saw the light…yeah! Back up we went to the cows…they had no reaction when we popped back up from the ground. We finished it off with a warm shower and some hot soup…yummy! We also stopped at a rabbit shearing farm. Yup - that’s right - you read it right - rabbit shearing. They raise Angora Rabbits (apparently very rare) and they look like a giant cotten ball.
They shear the rabbits every 3 months else they will die from overheating! They tie up the rabbit and shear it - they gave us a demonstration…it was rather disturbing seeing the rabbit spread out and tied up - but apparently PETA was fine with this and the animal was not harmed in any way! We hopped back on the bus and proceeded to Rotorua for our first night’s stop! That night my new friends and I went to a Maori village and dinner. It was a chance to learn about the large Kiwi population (14%) who are from the Maori tribe. If any of you are rugby fans out there - the New Zealand Rugby Team, the All Blacks, do an old Maori tribal dance before their opponents every game. It includes bulging your eyes and sticking out your tongue. Something my brother and I used to do ages ago - maybe we had a little Maori in us!

Day 2 - Rotorua to Taupo - Some Like it Hot…
For all photos of Thermal Park click here!
The North Island is a melting pot…not of people - but literally a melting pot! It was formed from many volcanic eruptions and those volcanos are still alive and kicking…geysers, hot pools, and boiling mud…a spa delight! We stopped at the geothermal park and walked around it’s colorful hot pools for a while. It was quite beautiful …you can judge yourself on the pictures!

Photo: Hot Mud Pool

We then went on to a few adventure activity stops where I decided to watch instead of participate as I had other similiar things planned for the South Island. It was fun to watch other people scream like little girls though! We stayed in Taupo that night. A bunch of people had went skydiving in the afternoon - but since I had already conquered that on my list of ‘things to do before I die’ - I passed and went to look around the town. The town was beautiful - it is situated by a lake that is as big as Singapore (basically very big). I did some grocery shopping so that I could have really cheap and eat PB&J sandwiches on the bus and spend more money on activities instead! That night a bunch of us from the bus went out for Irish food and had a great time telling traveling stories.

Day 3 - Taupo to Wellington - Land of Sheep
Today we took off early for Wellington as we had a longer drive today. We went through some stunning snow capped mountains - apparently they were in Lord of the Rings (or LOTR as the locals call it). Kiwi’s are LOTR’s crazy…it apparently put New Zealand on the map. I of course wouldn’t know as I only saw the first movie and really didn’t follow it very well (I try not to tell many people here this as they give me this amazed/disgusted look). Regardless - the countryside here is beautiful. There were green hills and valleys - dotted with little white sheep and cows! It was so quaint - I made Rangy stop so I could take pictures!
Photo: Sheep on the landscape…this shot was taken out of the speeding bus!

The colors were amazing! We arrived in Wellington (the little known capital of New Zealand) early in the afternoon - it was a really cute, hip little town. I checked into my hostel and went for a run along the waterfront - I felt sane again! It was cold though…in fact -the weather in New Zealand has been quite grey since I’ve arrived here - but I’m trying to forget that and enjoy it anyway!

The Magic Bus keeps you on the move every day which is good and bad. I like seeing the various areas of the country but I don’t get to stay anywhere long enough to get a feel for it. However - I have some active plans for the South Island - so I will be able to stay longer there and get to really know the area (and unpack my bag for more than one night!) This is a journey through New Zealand - but it equally seems to be an inner journey for me. Getting used to backpacker type travel and a different kind of quality of life for me has had it’s ups and downs. I don’t really know where I fit in anymore. I know where I came from - a life in NYC where I very rarely cared about what I was spending! If I already had 4 pairs of black shoes - there’s still no reason to not get a 5th - you can never have too many! Broadway shows, dinner out every night - anything goes. Now my peers are quite a bit younger than me, I’m staying in dorms bunk beds for $15 a night, eating PB&J sandwiches, being very budget conscience mainly because my traveling peers are (oh yeah - and I don’t have a job). I carry around a loaf of bread on the bus and generally wear the same things most days (whatever is on top of my pack). This is a far cry from my past life! As I walked around Wellington I felt like I should be out at all of the tourist attractions as I’m only there one night - but intstead I put on my most classy clothes (jeans and black shirt) and went walking around the heart of the city. I watched the locals leave work and commute home, I window shopped, and I found a wine bar to sit at and feel civilized again after sitting in a bus all day. The wine bar was devine - cozy, quaint, filled with locals grabbing a glass after work. I have just spent more on a glass of wine and bruschetta than my lodging - suffice it to say - there are no backpackers here! In fact, when I first walked in I only saw small tables of men - everyone turned and looked at me. My initial instinct was that I just walked into a gay wine bar - but maybe they were staring at my jeans and wind jacket choice of attire. I looked a little closer and did see some women in the bar - so I felt I could stay and have a glass! The bar was hip, clean, well-designed…crisp. I felt like this is…errr…I mean was…my kind of place! I’m happy that I skipped the touristy cable car up the hill and viewing the museum in exchange for seeing the locals and enjoying a nice glass of wine in a proper wine glass. Yet I doubt my fellow backpackers would agree - especially if they saw my bill! I guess a part of me would rather be a ’social tourist’ - after living in two huge tourist cities (San Francisco and New York City) I know that it’s not Times Square that makes NY or Fisherman’s Wharf that makes San Francisco - it’s the people, it’s the everyday life, it’s how the locals interact, seeing what they wear and hearing what they talk about. Wellington really is a lovely town - I enjoyed running/walking around the area. I’m still reconciling where I fit in as I walk back to my hostel and my new group of nomad-like friends. Regardless - I will get on the bus tomorrow again toting my bag of bread and peanut butter, wearing my same fleece and tennis shoes - but I will fit in!

The South Island awaits!!!

On my first ‘long haul’ leg from Jo’burg to Hong Kong I was elated to find out that I had 12 hours to spend with a little TV at my seat and free booze! How in the world could I even think about sleeping when I had “The Devil Wears Prada” to watch! I got virtually no sleep on the flight - but ate and drank well and was rather entertained. I arrived in Hong Kong a bit late and I was strung out tired and I didn’t feel too great (there was a rumble in my tummy…the joys of travel). I had initially intended to take the train into Hong Kong from the airport - but once I arrived in the airport all I really wanted to do was sleep and I didn’t feel like risking my stomach in a new city. Therefore I stayed put for my 13 hour hangover - I mean layover. If there was ever a good place to have this long of layover - it was HKIA (Hong Kong International Airport - I felt like I spent enough time to there to call it by it’s nickname). There was shopping, eating, lounges and even a Coach store. I easily entertained myself and rested a bit, plus caught up on email. At 6PM my friend Marcus - my cute pilot friend from Colorado (I thought he would like that plug) - flew in from London to his home base of Hong Kong. Perfect - now I had a mate to talk to and have a drink with! I get so excited to meet up with people I know while on the road. Don’t get me wrong - it’s great meeting new people - but the joy of seeing a familiar face or voice is like being a kid on Christmas morning…pure joy!

Marcus had another pilot friend, Vache, that happened to be going through Hong Kong and was staying at the hotel in the airport (one of the few places I hadn’t been in the airport ) - so we headed over there to get our fill of free food and drink in the ‘pilot lounge’ (I honestly don’t know what it was called - but I really liked the sound of that). It was so fun to catch up with them, learn a little about what it was like to be an ex-pat in Hong Kong, and have a few drinks that would hopefully knock me out on my next ‘long hau’l leg to Auckland.

I was off again for a 10 hour flight to Auckland. I was hoping to catch a movie and then go to bed - but unfortunately my seat-mate had other ideas. He seemed innocent at first - so being the nice mid-western - I let him engage me in conversation for a bit…but then it went on, and on, and on, and on. This guy was really annoying. I tried to put on my headphones and watch a movie. I then had to show him how to work his little TV (why me?). He proceeded to turn and talk to me every so often during the movie. I would remove my headphones and annoyingly say with a NY attitude “What?” - thinking my bitchiness would scare him off. No chance…he then wanted to show me pictures of his fiance, yadda, yadda, yadda….pure torture. He also had no sense of personal space - spilling out into my personal space. I was tired and really annoyed. I don’t think he ever got the picture though…amazing considering I wear my emotions on my sleeve and everyone can tell when I’m bitchy and annoyed (right???!).

I made it to Auckland - home of the most thorough customs agents ever. I was stopped as I had biltong (beef jerky) as well as I was bringing in hiking boots from another country. They threw out my biltong and washed my hiking boots for me - so all in all - it didn’t turn out too bad…my boots at least got cleaned! I made it to my Bed and Breakfast in Auckland - and now the jet lag set in…really set in. I tried to stay awake by taking a ferry to an island in Auckland and having dinner. I found a loud, neighborhood pub and decided to go in and grab fish and chips (yes - I was in New Zealand - I didn’t take a wrong turn and end up in Scotland). I sat down, ordered a pint and in about 10 minutes some guy came over to talk to me…no - not some hot New Zealand boy - but the middle aged, bar drunk instead. It was so bad the bartender (who was a hot New Zealand boy) came over and asked if I was ok and if he should remove the guy. Joy…what a day.

I am now in this weird jet lagged state - waking up in the middle of the night for 2 hours and then finally falling back to sleep. When I lay awake trying to go back to sleep - it hit me…no longer am I thinking about a meeting I forgot to schedule, something that I need to make sure and remind Mitchell to do, a question I had for Varun, an issue that I needed to ’spin’ for the business - I was work-stress free! Instead - I was thinking about friends, family, past boyfriends, lovers,writing, and new people I met…but no Coach.

What a lonnnnnggggg day. The important thing - I made it to New Zealand - another country. Seventeen hours ahead of NYC - and many Kiwi adventures ahead of me.