New Friends

Sunday, Oct. 31
Lucky me, I've been able to meet a few new friends in this week's solo traveling! I met Denise, who rode on the same bus from Christchurch to Picton, at the visitor's center there. We were both getting directions to the same hostel, Wedgewood House. After we arrived, she asked if I were going on the wine tour the next day and thinking I was being labelled as 'old...going on a wine tour', I said, "No, I'm going to hike the 14 Km on the Queen Charlotte track." When I saw her again in our shared room, she said that she had gone on the wine tour, so I think she had asked about it to have someone go with her : / silly me. As we talked I realized that Denise is, as Anne of Green Gables would say, a 'kindred spirit'. She is from Switzerland and is waiting tables while also working in an appreticeship program in restaurant and hotel management. Her friends can't figure out how she could afford to travel, but she said that all her tips go into her travel fund, while her friends drink or spend that extra money. I told her that I, too, live on 'loves' and 'needs', not 'wants' and 'likes', and that is how I am able to travel!
On the bus back to CC, the woman in the next seat and I got to talking. She lives in Blenheim and was going to CC to visit her son and grandchildren. They call her 'Nannie'. She manages a medical center.
That evening, while I was standing in line at the Arts Center cafe across the street from the hostel trying to decide on a low cost healthy dinner, the lady behind me asked if I were alone and wondered if I'd like to eat with her and her friend. YES! Jean and Marie are retired ladies from Australia visiting NZ for a couple of weeks. Jean is a walker and she belongs to the international Volks walking club (?) that Gloria and Mark Merwarth back home in Fernandina are part of! Gloria and Mark, are neighbors in Amelia Park, who graciously loaned their home to my ISU freshman year pals for our reunion! I told Jean that Mark and Gloria have walked a 10K in every state in the US! 
This morning before church a group of six of us 'experienced' travelers were congregated in the kitchen at the hostel, sharing stories, supplies and sugar! One of the Ozzie gals said that she hadn't expected to see so many of 'us' staying at a hostel. Mike and his partner, Jennie are off to an Australian Antarctic research island, Bob is researching family geneology, Graham is on vacation and Karen, her sister, friend and niece are traveling in NZ from Oz.
At 10AM I went to a church service and it was beautiful - Anglican - and offered open communion! The cathedral  looks like the Episcopal Church in Fernandina on steroids - HUGE!! It wasn't damaged at all in the earthquake and was built in 1881! Many parts of the service were in English and Maori, too - beautiful!
Went to a small Thai restaurant off Cathedral Square for Pad Thai for lunch (lunch and dinner considering how much I ate!) and a gentleman asked if he could share the table with me. More interesting conversation! He is a builder from the North Island working here for 3 weeks on and 1 off. He and his group are inspecting all houses and buildings that have put in claims from the earthquake. His team will be here for six months and then another team will take over. He said NZ is very vigilant on building codes and repair work. That's why so many buildings are still standing after that massive earthquake. 

Hung, a CA rock climber, who works at a women's shelter, went to Evensong at the cathedral with me at 5:30PM. Again, the all boy/male choir echoed gloriously in the sanctuary.
So now you've met my new friends, too!
Photos: 1 and 2 - earthquake damaged buildings -unique scaffolding on one; 3 -just married couple having photos taken in front of the cathdral; 4 - countdown clock in cathedral square- getting ready for world cup rugby which will be played here in 2011; 5 - giant chess game on the square - it is constantly in use!

Tui, Tui, Tui (Too'-ee, Too'-ee, Too'-ee)

Sat., Oct. 29
Picton is a working port town. Standing in front of the "To the Glorius Dead" arch, which honors the dead Picton men of WWI, looking towards the sound, to the left is the ferry which carries travelers from the South Island to the North. To the right are the tourist boats, rocking in the water ready to transport visitors to hikes, to kayaking trips, to dolphin/seal/whale watching tours (depending on the season), to taxi-on-the-water tours ("your itinerary is our schedule" -read big $$$$) and to private summer lodges/homes around the sound.
The other afternoon when I arrived, after checking out the tourist stores downtown, I heard some very loud laughs coming from a bar on that  street. Thinking that I could find some quiet local folks in the crowd sitting in a quiet corner to perhaps talk and share a beer with, I walked in. Uh, the entire place filled only with men turned toward the door and looked at me. Oops!
Yesterday, I made my way over to the Beachcomber Tour office to book a ride over and pick up from my tramp on the Queen Charlotte Track. Jason, the skipper, told us that he was a Maori (NZ's original people) descendent. When dolphins were spotted  (photo), he stopped the boat for picture taking. Jason said that only 'dolphin excursion' boats were allowed to do this legally, but since he is from the local tribe that believes they are descendents of dolphins, he would just tell whoever inquired, "I'm just out here visiting my relatives". Love it!  The five hour track took me six as I stopped a lot for water, lunch, snacks. Anyway that's my story - the first hour was all incline. (The skipper on the way back said he didn't know the exact degree of incline,but said it was what they call "bloody steep" here!) I guess you can tell by the picture and how glamourous I look in the photo getting ready to board the boat why the conversation stopped when I walked into that bar! One of the men at the boat office had a little dog, Tui, a Jack Russell pup who was as curious about me as I was about its name. This was Tui #1.
At the beginning of the track was a monument (photo) to Captain Cook who was the first Englishman to explore -and name- Queen Charlotte Sound. I guess Maori names were dropped as quickly as as the Indian names for things and places were when the Euopeans came to the US. I'm sure King George III's wife, Charlotte, was pleased, though. On the track were beautiful, almost ethereal, mystical views of the lands around the sound. The 'sounds' were made when rivers there were flooded during a teutonic plate shift between the islands. I  walked alone 99% of the day. There were even a few minutes to meditate in between dodging rocks, roots and low hanging branches and I said prayers for all the people I love, which is you, if you are reading this! After crossing one stream, I could not stop singing, "Climb every mountain, ford every stream, follow every rainbow, 'til you find your dream." There wasn't much wildlife to scare off with my singing. Bears, wolves, foxes - none of them in all of NZ! There was a weka bird on the trail who paid a surprise visit. He was totally invisible the I popped open my plastic bag of chips! I saw another bird, Tui #2, on the trail flying overhead and I couldn't help, but wondere why that guy named his dog after a bird -?
Tui #3 put all the Tui's together. At the end of the hike, the boat pick-up was at a lodge. When I entered the bar area to get a bite, I saw four pull taps for beer and, you guessed it, one had a picture of a Tui bird on it, so I got to celebrate completing the hike with a Tui beer! Maybe that man will train his little Tui to retreive a Tui from the cooler!

Photos: 1-5 on the track; 6 - the ferry that has train tracks in it and trains just roll on board to go across the strait between north and south islands; 7 -Picton's harbor; 8 -dolphins in the sound; 9 -oops! 10 -  the John Deere label on the catarmaran dashboard on the ride back to town is for my dad who retired from, as he called it, "Deere John".

Kiwi Challenged

Thursday
I woke up at 4:30AM today, instead of the 2:30AM from yesterday so I guess that the jet lag battle is almost over. It's 5:15 now and I have a half hour before I start walking - hopefully not in the dark- to the Intercity bus station to catch the 7o'clock to Picton. I'm so proud of myself this morning because I dressed and packed (stuffed) my backpack in the dark. Yesterday morning, I had to turn on the light to get my bearings and I'm sure my two younger roommates weren't too thrilled with me. Actually, my roomies at each hostel should be happy all in all with this more experienced  (older) traveler. Many folks in my age category snore all night. Yeah, young people don't snore - at least not from ONE end - haha! Oh goodness - back to better thoughts. I am staying at an older hostel here in Christchurch, so I'm getting the full joy of old Kiwi digs. The one bathroom -read toilet only- on my floor is for about 10 rooms with 3-4 people in each. To shower, I walk down two flights of stairs, go through the kitchen and down a hall. Gotta go- I'm off to Picton.

Made it to Picton! Intercity bus-which is the NZ Greyhound- is so NOT Greyhound. The bus driver told us facts about each town we went through and slowed the bus down near the shoreline at Kaikoura so we could see/take pics of the seals on the rocks! A new subdivision he talked about - Pee-gah- sees (Pegasus) is going to have a pool with a wave making machine. The last part of the trip, we were looking at snow covered mountains to the left of the bus and the Pacific to the right. I guess that's why this part of NZ is called the Alpine Pacific Triangle. This region is the biggest winery region in NZ. The other travelers on the bus were a young gal from Switzerland, who is here for 4 months, a young couple from Ireland, traveling here for a year, a gal from England and I talked to an older Kiwi man sitting in front of me, but I really can't say what he told me because I couldn't understand him! I can't download pics at this internet place, so I'll try to put some in tomorrow at another one after the hike. My hike tomorrow is a 5 hour one. I'll take a boat to a drop off point, tramp (what a fun word to say and not get in trouble!), and jump on a boat at the end of the section. I'm hiking day 1 of a 4 day hike on the Queen Charlotte Track. I'm only doing day 1, but it's called "Nature's Best 1", so.... we'll see!

Becoming a Kiwi

Photos: The Botanical Gardens, a special picture of the irises there (for my mom!), the supermarket where I shopped for fruit and energy bars, train pics and a building damaged in the earthquake.


The Friendship Force group flew into Christchurch after touching down in Auckland after 13 hours of flying. We left San Francisco at 8:30PM Sunday and got into Auckland at noon on Tuesday. What happened to Monday? (this question is for my Fernandina Beach Middle School students, MUMC Bible class and my great nieces in NM!) My seatmate on the flight from Auk to CC was Sally Christie, who is an elected health official! She was a giggle and good fun to talk with about the US's politics and theirs. My first Kiwi friend!!!! In CC, GiGi, Marlene and I walked around after taking the tram to get our bearings. Beautiful parks and flowers, hence CC's nickname "The Garden City". The group took the Tranzscenic Train across the South Island today to Greymouth - gorgeous mountain and river views and sheep to see, too. This country has 4 million people and 40 million sheep! The rest of the group then boarded a bus for a quick tour of the South Island and I took the train back to CC. (I'll see the So. Island on my own from Nov. 18 - Dec. 16.) It's a great fun group. Marsha, is a sweetheart who I met last Saturday and that night let me stay at her home before the flight out of Chicago.
When I parted from the group at the train station in Greymouth, I told them that I wanted to hear the stories of what trouble they'd gotten into without me, and BTW, since I'd be traveling alone, there would be NO ONE to tell on me and on any trouble I'd gotten into! We meet up again on Nov. 1.
AND - I figured out how to download these pictures and upload them onto this post ALL BY MYSELF!

Fear of flying (my version)

"Is there anything as horrible as starting on a trip? Once you're off that's all right, but the last moments are earthquake and convulsion, and the feeling that you are a snail being pulled off your rock." Anne Morrow Lindbergh

I guess I'm a little sentimental. I've already said goodbyes to friends, but my tradition before any leave taking is to walk on the beach at dusk and say goodbye to the sand, the sea oats, the surf - my other friends here on the island. Tonight I also got to say goodbye to the moon and its light on the columns of waves marching toward shore and two dolphins playfully disobeying those orders to fall in line. As I left, my heart whispered, "I'll see you again soon!" Then, unexpectedly, the tears and fears started.

WHY am I going on this trip? WHAT am I doing? HOW will I survive two months away from my life's comforts (my friends, my church, my grocery store, my car, my island, my bed!)? WILL I make any travel friends?  Then... I have a flashback... I'm twelve and for some pseudo-courageous reason, I have again decided that I MUST dare myself to dive off the ten foot board at the local pool. Jumping won't do; no, I must CLIMB that ladder, WALK to the end of the board, LOOK DOWN at the now tiny puddle of wetness, POINT my fingers with arms raised toward the sky and death defyingly FLY myself into the deep end. I swim quickly up to the air line and breathe, quite literally, a sigh of relief that I have once again conquered some vague fear. It's a short -lived release from that fear, though, because a few weeks later, I find myself daring my legs to go up that ladder again.

So, I ask myself, is this trip just another fly through the air dare? I consider and finally decide no.  This dive is an adult one into a travel adventure with puddles of possiblilites of fun, food, friends, good fortune and bad, breath-taking sights and breath defying rides, lost luggage and just plain being lost. Past experience has taught me that day by day, decision by decision, I will dive into the life of a gypsy on the road and fly high. As if on cue, the opening notes of the "Rocky" movie theme start in my head, "Dah dum, dah dah dum, dah dah dum, dum, dum!"  And like that, I'm OFF! I'm 'off'' of tearful farewells, 'off'' of timid feelings, 'off' to another mind challenging, daily queen taking game of travel chess, and 'off'' to meet new versions of friends and see new visions of places in this beautiful world!

"In preparing for a battle..." (or travel)

"First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination."    - Napoleon Hill

BOREDOM ALERT! This post is mostly for my mom who wants to know the 'what', 'when' and 'how' of 'where' her (61 year old) baby will be on this trip. If you would also like to travel vicariously with me to New Zealand and Australia, here are some details for October 21 through December 16, 2010. You can use and follow the map on the September 2 post. Or - just wait to read what I did after I did it in future e-mails and posts!

10/21 - drive to Atlanta and stay overnight with my sister, June and her husband, Robin.
10/22 - 10/23 - drive to Chicago and stay with a Friendship Force member.
10/24 - fly out of Chicago, to San Francisco, to Auckland, NZ (North Island) and then on to
               Christchurch, NZ, (South Island)
10/26 - add a day for crossing the International Dateline; arrive Christchurch.
10/27 - 11/1 - Christchurch and tours on my own (the rest of the group will be taking a tour
                    of the So. Island)
10/28 - 10/29 - bus to Picton, trek the Queen Charlotte Track on Marlbourough Sounds
10/30 -10/31 - bus back to Christchurch and a day in the city
11/1 - fly to Rotorua (No. Island)
11/2 - 11/3 - Friendship Force exchange with Rotorua FF and tours nearby
11/4 - 11/11 - bus to Thames (No. Island) and exchange/tours with Thames/Coromandel
                         Peninsula FF
11/11 - bus to Auckland; flight to Sydney; bus to the Blue Mountains of Australia.
11/11-11/18 - Blue Mountains FF exchange/tours; day tour of Sydney
11/18 - bus to Sydney; flight to Auckland; say good-bye to Northern Illinois FF chapter
11/19 - board the Magicbus for independent tour on their route (see Auckland, the City of
               Sails from Mt. Eden; Redwood Forest) http://www.magicbus.co.nz/
11/20 -  bus to Taupo (on a lake bigger than Singapore!)
11/21 - bus to National Park, near Tongariro National Park (some "Lord of the Rings"
              filming done here)
11/22 -  bus to Wellington (the capital;  summit Mt. Victoria for city overlook)
11/23 - ferry to Picton (So. Island); bus to Nelson (So. Island) (kayak?)
11/24 - bus from Nelson to Greymouth (along the 'Wild West' coast)
11/25 -11/26 -  bus to and a day at Franz Josef (glaciers)
11/27 - Queenstown - the "Adventure Captital of the World"
12/28-12/2 - guided trek on the Milford Track (known for decades as 'the finest walk
                         in the world')
12/3- 12/4 - Queenstown (NO bungy jumping for me!)
12/5 - bus to Dunedin  ( Scottish settled, university town; yellow-eyed penguins on
             Otago Peninsula)
12/6 - bus to Lake Tekapo (will I do a run/walk/run up the world's steepest street?)
12/7-12/8 - bus to and stay a day in Christchurch (International Antarctic Center)
12/9 - bus to Kailoura - a Green Globe community
12/10-12/11 - bus to Picton; ferry to and stay a day in Wellington (No. Island)
                          (see the 'Bee Hive')
12/12 - bus to Rotorua
12/13 - bus to Auckland
12/14 - day trip to the Northland (90 mile beach; Cape Reinga)
12/15 - Auckland; pack!
12/16 - fly from Auckland to San Francisco to Chicago
12/16 - arrive Chicago (crossing back over the International Dateline)
From Chicago, I'll drive to Ames, IA to see my mom (and my friend, Marti) for a couple of days and then head on HOME!

And now to finish the quote by Dwight D. Eisenhower:
"In preparing for a battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is essential."

Of course, this is what Mike Tyson says:
"Everybody's got plans... until they get hit."