Cuz I put about 170 of them up the other day. For those of you not obsessively checking out the site (i.e. everyone but my mum! :-> ) you can click on the photos tab to get to my flickr account. I'll have to get cracking on narrating all these, but it's a good collection in the meantime.
I took a crap-ton of photos today of far away monkeys. Hopefully some came out! I'm in Borneo now, outside of Kota Kinibalu at a family resort that seems to be having a few special groups here. The reception is awesome and set up a river speedboat trip today to spot Proboscis monkeys, and tomorrow they are helping me go scuba diving! That means I have to wake up early, which is very very sad. I'm off to bed now then. Wish me luck!
01 December 2007
29 November 2007
Quick Letter to Singapore
Dear Singapore,
Marry me?
Love,
6Q
(ps. Leaving Singapore now for Malaysia and Borneo. Not sure how much internet access I'll have for the next 4 or 5 days...)
Marry me?
Love,
6Q
(ps. Leaving Singapore now for Malaysia and Borneo. Not sure how much internet access I'll have for the next 4 or 5 days...)
28 November 2007
New Zealand's South Island (Finally!)
OK, I'm finally taking a breather to write a bit about the rest of New Zealand before it's all a blur!
DAY 6 - 3 Nov - Part 2
When I arrived in Christchurch, the bus to Cathedral Square was nice and easy, as was finding the Base Backpackers, which was directly to the left of the Cathedral itself. And then the starting point for my Connections tour the next day was right next door to my hostel. Yay! I arrived right after the Kiwi Experience bus, so after everyone else checked in, I finally got my spot in a dorm room and dropped my stuff. I immediately met a guy from Texas and two guys from the UK (I can only remember Jamie from Liverpool's name right now). Texas and one of the Brits had been living and working in Christchurch for a bit, so the Brits and I decided to walk across town and pick up some booze before dinner to have a stash and save on bar tabs.
This idea worked out all too well, and after picking up a bottle of Monkey Bay Chardonnay (thus collecting my New Zealand monkey as well!) we headed to the top floor where there is a big kitchen, dining room and giant balcony where everyone gathers. Once we were sitting and chatting and drinking, I knew dinner wasn't happening. But I met Dave and Jodie from Ireland, and Tslil from Israel and several others and learned that the balcony of Base is the place to be in Christchurch! We left thoroughly hammered and first ran into a guy playing a recorder in front of the Cathedral, which Jodie stole and played a song on. I later found out this recorder player was a known pain in the area, making her playing that much funnier. (I'll try and get that video posted somewhere!) We then headed to the Irish pub Mickey Finn's where there was a cover band playing, tons of pool tables and a huge downstairs smoking area in the back. Dave was too drunk and was turned away; Jamie bowed out after a fight out front, but Jodie, Tslil and I persevered and had a blast. I first witnessed the teapot here - in NZ you can get a teapot full of mixed drinks for $15 or $20 to pour shots from.
After stumbling back from the bar, we stopped at a 24 hour food place where Jodie introduced me to these cheap breaded lasagna squares that you can get at crappy AM/PM sort of places. I had that and a pie (I ate soooo many pies in Oz and New Zealand, they're addicting!) and the lasagna was soooo yummy! Back at Base, we headed to the balcony, where it was just us, one guy, and a French Canadian girl on some pills and up all night. Jodie insisted on giving me a (ramen) noodle packet as payment for her pie I bought, so I carried it for days before tossing it for lack of a bowl and hot water. At the end of the evening it was nearly 4a and I had to get up at 7a to meet my tour in the morning. I went to check email (sorry to those who got drunk-mailed!) and got lost in the halls. This turned out well though, as a beautiful girl stopped me because her watch broke and she had to get up for a tour in the morning. After chatting a bit, we discovered she was on the same tour in the morning and she promised not to let the bus go without me! I walked away with a dumbfounded look, drunk and stoked that this girl would be traveling with me for the next week!
DAY 7 - 4 Nov
Waking up wasn't as painful as I thought, but the excitement started right in. When I got to the counter to check out, a girl was complaining that the Connections bus had left without her. That panicked me a bit, but that's how I met Jemma from Southampton (known to me as a town where I got lost on the highway, learned about map kinase kinase, and ended up at a McDonalds in lipstick - thanks Mal)! I went outside and found Jamie waiting for his Kiwi Experience bus and got his details and then found broken watch girl, who turned out to be Bronwyn and who turned out to be an absolutely amazing person (smart, funny, beautiful, and get this - works in the travel industry AND does crosswords! Talk about the girl of my dreams!) and who had promised not to let the bus go! She told me the bus was circling, I grabbed Jemma, and everything was A-OK!
(Random aside, but on the bus I spotted that, while they don't say it here, they do write "Hella" on the side of their vans for some reason!)
Anyway, off we went across the Canterbury Plains to a cute town called Geraldine for breakkie (pie, woohoo!) and then to Lake Tekapo, a lake that was glacier-fed and therefore had beautiful turquoise water. The town was famous for shepherd dogs apparently (you can see more photos of the lake and a statue of a herding dog in the New Zealand photos on Flickr by clicking the "Photos" link above) and we peeked into the Church of the Good Shepherd, a tiny, old, stone church with an amazing view of the lake. 
If ever someone was to have a religious epiphany in a church, this would be an ideal one to have it in! Looking to the alter and then past it to the giant windows where the lake expands out to the Southern Alps way off in the distance, the beauty of the nature is overwhelming.
We then headed to Lake Pukaki and Mt. Cook Village for lunch. It was there that I saw the first sign and learned of "Movember."
Every november in Australia and New Zealand, people shave clean the first day of November and then grow out their mustaches all month for charity. I didn't know how to participate in the charity, and I didn't realize at the time that it was mustache only and not full beard, but it sounded to me like a good excuse not to shave for the month, so I unofficially joined in. I ran into many crazy mustaches in my travels and had to remember that it wasn't necessarily bad fashion (although for some I'm sure it was), but a charity event!
Lunch was great and we picnicked on tables overlooking the lake. Here I met Louise and Nicola from England and Joanna from the US and we all started socializing on our tour. After lunch we headed into the hills where we took a slightly rainy scenic hike up a mountain, which was beautiful, but I quickly discovered what horrible shape I was in while huffing and puffing to keep up as Bronwyn chatted effortlessly to me. Damn me, an American fatty!
After that hike, we were off to our final stop that day, a beautiful secluded lodge on the shores of Lake Ohau. The view from our hotel was gorgeous and we had a huge dinner and all chatted. I ran into Australia's famous Bundaburg rum here and wanted to try it but didn't want coke, so I had it straight with a splash of lemon and it was delicious! After some chill time, we walked down to the lake shore for an evening stroll and to watch the sunset. 
I chatted on the walk back with John from Korea, who eventually came out of his shell to be one of the biggest party animals on the trip! I roomed with Shane, a bloke from Manchester who looked and drank like an Irishman, and who informed me that my early night meant I missed some wild group shots and partying with the lodge staff. Oh well, there's always tomorrow!
DAY 8 - 5 Nov
We woke up early (a recurring theme on this trip) and hit the road, driving through valleys and mountain passes. We stopped in a huge grassy meadow of a valley where our bus driver Craig put on The Sound Of Music and ran out of the bus to frolic in the meadow! We all relaxed there - I laid in the grass admiring the panoramic view to the mountains in the background and captured this image of Bronwyn attempting a cartwheel. After a rest, we piled back on the bus and drove through a skinny tunnel (there were 2 bus turnouts, otherwise cars and busses couldn't pass going opposite directions!), stopping at Mirror Lakes where it was unfortunately a bit too windy to get the placid reflecting photos. No worries though, New Zealand is covered with unbelievable scenery, and we were about to discover a treasure trove of it!
We stopped for lunch in Te Anau, where Bronwyn, Jo and I decided to cheap out and stopped at a supermarket where Bronwyn and I split some peanut butter, rolls and bananas for sandwiches (yum). Then we snuck into the lobby of a nicer restaurant and Jo bought some coffee so we could sit by th efire and avoid the freezing cold rain outside! Bronwyn was bummed after we left and she discovered her sunglasses were gone. :(
In the afternoon we boarded the Milford Wanderer to sail and explore Milford Sound and the Tasman Sea for the evening and next morning! It was gorgeous, but a bit chilly, so I passed on kayaking and instead took a small speedboat cruise around the shoreline to learn about to flora and fauna of the area. While waiting, Shane, Nicola and I discovered our love of Little Britain and we quoted it a fair bit the rest of the trip. I also met Tim, a man from Hong Kong who was biking across New Zealand. He informed me that my hotel in Hong Kong is a decent location, but it's famous for being the location of the first reported case of SARS! Awesome! I asked what room, so I could request it, but they never revealed that info I guess. Bummer.
Anyway, we cruised around in the little boat, and then back to our big boat for a delicious huge meal of lamb shanks and several bottles of wine! Once we were decently drunk, I bounced around a bit, noticing the table with all the Koreans on our tour were keeping to themselves (as the language barrier tends to facilitate), so I crashed the table. I met Ryoko at that table, who apparently is the #9 snowboarder in Japan and was in New Zealand training before heading to Canada to continue training for the winter! Eventually they went to bed and the last few standing were me, Toby and Fiona - the cops from Australia - since Fiona was loudly and drunkenly celebrating her birthday, big G from the Netherlands, and Sophie from Brighton. I finally stumbled downstairs and climbed into my bunk looking forward (yeah, right) to another early morning.
DAY 9 - 6 Nov
In the morning we cruised along the Sound and saw about a billion waterfalls. I took it easy and mostly sat around chatting with Ryoko watching the windows for scenery, but avoiding the cold outside.
Once on land again, we set back the way we came, this time stopping at the Chasm, where the water flowing down this river and over a waterfall has slowly eroded through rocks to form eerie holes, dips and divots in the landscape. It was amazing to see, and I took a photo of a sign there with a quote from David Henry Thoreau: "The finest workers in stone are not copper or steel tools, but the gentle touches of air and water working at their leisure with a liberal allowance of time."
We drove more, taking a stop at a place called Monkey Creek, which of course made me wet my pants with excitement! We made a few more pit stops on the way, including a view of a green wooded valley with a river cutting through it where we also saw the super-curious birds (Kias I think) that would land on cars and squawk about and flash the bright orange undersides of their wings. We stopped back for lunch at Te Anau again and Bronwyn miraculously found her sunglasses at the restaurant we had ducked into the day before!
After that, we were on to Queenstown - the adventure capital of New Zealand and probably the world! You could do anything crazy here, as I believe I mentioned in previous posts of pics and videos... Before even getting to our hotel, Bronwyn, Jo, Toby, Fiona, and I were dropped off to sign in and head up the mountain to the Canyon Swing! It's a bit like bungy jumping only with more falling! Instead of jumping off a bridge or ledge with something tied straight down from your feet, there are cables going across a canyon, with rope and tethers on the middle of the gorge that come back to you. That way, we could jump, freefall 60 meters (about 180 feet) an then be swung across the canyon for about another 200 meters for some extra whooshing excitement!
I was too afraid to stand at the ledge and look down, so I went for some backflips instead! For some reason that seemed much less scary to me, and I managed to get 2 full flips down before the horizontal swinging kicked in. We all did different jumps - they do all these crazy ones like tying you to a chair and pushing you off, hanging you upside down, making you hold a rope until you are too tired and have to let go and fall, or one called the Bin Laden, where they put a trash bin on your head and push you over the cliff! They joke and screw around the whole time, just to freak you out more. Bronwyn did a complex one, despite their sign stating that Canadians weren't allowed, and when she requested it, they got out the brochure to try and figure out the right way to hang her and hook her up! She didn't think it too funny, but I did! :)
After surviving the jump, I even opted to do a second, the Pin Drop, where you are supposed to clasp your hands behind your back and jump sideways off, keeping straight vertical like a pin for maximum velocity. I swear I jumped outward and hadn't even started falling downward yet before my hands were out from behind my back and grasping onto the rope out of instinctual fear! After the second jump, I was definitely done, and we headed back in to town for the evening.
Queenstown itself is absolutely gorgeous, reminding me a bit of Lake Tahoe, and that afternoon and the next, I got a little bit of time to stroll around in and enjoy the quaint but posh restaurants, the boardwalk, and the little town itself. I didn't get the try the legendary giant burgers at Fergburger though. But that evening, we headed into town for a bit of freezing cold excitement!
The Minus 5 bar is an entire bar constructed of ice! It's actually about -8 Celsius in there (about 17 degrees Fahrenheit) and there are ice sculptures everywhere. They suit you up in warm hoodies and you can only stay for about a half hour, but they had some decent drinks, so we started in. They give you cloth gloves which is weird because even your glass is made of ice and my fingers got freeeeezing! But the benches, the bar, the walls... all made of ice! Jemma even stripped down to her bra and instantly became my hero!
After the ice bar, we warmed up at a bar next door and people started getting wild, dancing on the bar and on the tables and stuff. The music out there is funny - mostly the same crowdpleasing standards, probably the same that have been played for the last 15 years, mixed in with a few new hot commercial dance tracks. This is where I started to realize I was going to be hearing a lot of the same songs everywhere I go.
We partied it up there, and then headed to the World Bar, where I heard possibly the worst club DJ I had ever heard, but Jemma and I split a teapot and all was OK. We stumbled out of teh bar and raced up a giant staircase, as she was for some reason convinced that we needed to go up into the hills even though we were heading away from the waterfront and our hotel was on the water. But, we wandered and had fun and eventually made it home after a long long day and night!
DAY 10 - 7 Nov
I completely took advantage of a day without an early morning start and slept way way in to about 12.30p! After showering and lazily getting ready, I decided to go try and find out when my next big adventure was on my way to the net cafe in town. I walked by a sign saying my group was meeting in about 15 minutes! I raced back to my room, grabbed my stuff and off I went down to A.J. Hackett's for the ultimate challenge: The Nevis Bungy Jump! At 14 meters, it is currently the 3rd highest in the world (a 200 meter one in South Africa was apparently just surpassed by a brand new 230 meter one in Macau - maybe I can try that next month!) and is off a suspended pod in the middle of a gorge with a river running through the bottom! Maximum scary!
They did it by weight for some sort of safety reason, and my lazy American butt got my in trouble once again, as, aside from big G who had to be about 6 foot 3 or so, I was the heaviest of our group, making me the second jumper! No time to think, they sat me in a chair where they tied my feet together and hooked me into a bungy cord. They laughed as I penguin-walked as fast as I could to the ledge, knowing that the more I waited, the harder the jump would be! As soon as they said to look up and go, I went! Looking out into nothingness, 440 feet above the ground without even the wires you knew would catch you (like the canyon swing had) visible, it is a true leap of faith! I jumped with my camera taped to my hand, so I'll work on adding some video, but I managed to make it nearly all the way down before letting out some profanity! (The pic here is at the very bottom with the G-force pulling!
On the bounce back up you get another stomach drop and then on the second bounce there's a release you can pul to end in a sitting position so they can pull you back up comfortably. I tried and tried to pull the release, but failed, so I got the undignified fun of being pulled back up by my ankles and laid down to be unhooked. But it was still the scariest, most amazing thing I've ever done!
I hung out as everyone else arrived to do their jumps and acted as photographer for quite a few other people. Shot a great video of Shane's jump and felt bad for Bronwyn who, like me, wanted to get it over with quickly, but unlike me is skinny and light and had to go nearly last! Jun and a Korean girl both had freakouts on the ledge - Jun was shaking like crazy and gave us the least reassuring thumbs up ever as we cheered him on, and the girl nearly rolled off after crouching down on the ledge in fear. It seems funny, but having stood on that ledge, I empathized completely and we all just wanted them to succeed!
Every single one of us managed to jump (eventually at least)! When we got back, we were like an adventure team, bonded by all being stupid enough to jump off a cliff together! The trip back into town was much less tense than the drive there, that's for sure!
Once back, we had an afternoon free, and we took a walk and had a cocktail in the grass by the shore of the lake. We went back in the evening to get our photos of our jump and discovered that the place closed at 7p even though they told us to come back at 8p to get our pictures. Hopefully they're mailing them now...
After another great dinner (the meals were all fantastic!) it was time for another night out and we headed to a place whose name I forgot but it had a huge chest-level firepit to warm up on, which was nice. I got a 2 for 1 drink coupon and smiled just right at the bartender who poured me a round of shots for Team Korea and gave me a spare drink for $15 (like $30 off)! After hanging out and deciding not to get belligerent, my energy started waning, so I walked home relatively early with a French Canadian girl who was also a travel agent and called it a night.
DAY 11 - 8 Nov
We were on to Fox Glacier today, but I was completely worn out and the weather was foggy and cold, so there were no helicopter rides or anything. After hearding the stock market crashed in the US, I decided to save money and huffing by skipping the 4-hour hike and taking a down day. On the way to the glacier though, we stopped at Thunder Creek Falls and the Haast River for scenic breaks.
We ended up back traveling along the coast briefly and I snapped this picture of typical New Zealand coastlines - totally perfect with wooded hills sloping down to sandy beaches and rocky seas out to nothingness! This was the west coast, and the Tasman Sea. The town of Fox Glacier is pretty tiny so we basically checked email and rested. I remixed Scotty Doesn't Know by ripping the audio from the Eurotrip movie, as it had become a running joke on our boat. I blame Toby, as its STILL stuck in my head a month later! We went after a huge fantastic dinner on a short, very dark nature walk, where we saw some trees full of glowworms and Craig tried to scare us by sneaking off and making weird animal noises!
After our walk, a few of us circled up and discussed the legend of the New Zealand Slump bird, with it's pointy beak, thick legs and charging habits. I also teased group newcomers Briony and Louise from Newcastle, UK for being on the tour 2 nights and going to be early both nights! Then we went to the little hotel pub where randomly Ryoko from Milford Sound turned up! The bartender called last call and closed up, and then got friendly and served us another round and even gave us jukebox money! After he closed up for real, we headed across the street to the bar to mingle with locals who were varied in age and type, but were all equally drunk! After watching a drunk girl get shot with water from the bar hose and then try to climb over the bar for squirting revenge, we watched a dude with his head on a mantelpiece knock over a whole bucket of coal or something and make a huge mess. Weird place, and time to call it a night!
DAY 12 - 9 Nov
After a super early start, i wasn't up for the walk to Lake Matheson. I really missed out though, as I saw some beautiful pictures of it's placid waters reflecting the two tallest mountain peaks in New Zealand. But, I had a lovely rest with Jemma, who had gotten sick and wasn't up for the walk either. Toby joined us and we formed our plans to steal a tour bus and be bus pirates, selling people's luggage for food and gas money and then eventually raiding other tour busses when our supplies ran out!
We then headed to a jade factory full of cool stuff I couldn't afford, and then grabbed some lunch and wandered to the beach for a few minutes before heading back down the road.
While driving up some steep hills, our tour bus (Rhonda) finally gave out, and we ended up stranded on the side of the road. But in New Zealand's friendly fashion, while Craig our drive went off to find some help at the town down the road, an empty tour buss passed and stopped to give us all a lift to town! Amazing!
So we headed into the town of Arthur's Pass that was to be our rest stop anyway, and spent the next 3 hours or so chilling while a spare bus was sent from Christchurch and Rhonda was repaired. I used the time to organize photos, charge my iPod and burn some other people's photos on CD for them.
It was actually a nice little unplanned stop, and we ended up getting some ice cream (I tried banana - yummy!) and basked in the sun for a while as well.
Getting back into Christchurch was surreal - starting to say goodbyes, getting checked back into the Base for the night (my key card took four tried to work!) and running immediately into old friendly faces! I tried to coordinate to be with my Connections group, but to also see my new/old friends from my first time through Christchurch! We started out at the Base bar where I saw Dave and Jodie from before, and then the Connections group headed to the Oxford Strip along the river where the snazzy clubs were. They really weren't my style, but I hung out to be with everyone. Then we headed off to some more clubs in town. I don't know who was leading the charge, but they had awful taste in clubs! We ended up at another fancy place with platform dancing and god-awful music and bro's walking around with mullets, fauxhawks and popped collars left and right!
I could only handle so much of it, so eventually I had to take off. I would've called it a night, but with a 4.30a airport shuttle to my 6.30a flight, sleeping was out of the question! Fortunately, Louise, Madeline and Jemma were bored there too, so we left to go find a proper club and ended up back at Mickey Finn's as it was just what I liked - live music, activities an atmosphere, but quiet corners where you could tuck away and actually hear each other talk! I realized that especially for last night's out, I don't like drunken dance parties, I like something more social, so I can talk to the people I've grown friends with and enjoy our final moments together.
We headed back after a few vodka redbulls and stopped for that breaded lasagna I loved, and I crashed in the girls' room for a bit, transfering Sophie's photos (she's like a pro-photographer!) onto CD for her and hearing that her and Bronwyn left me a note at Base, which I later collected with my luggage just in time for my airport shuttle! It was a strange final night in New Zealand, but the end of a wild ride! I've been trying to keep in touch with everyone I met, and really miss quite a few people from my New Zealand travels. But by 6.30a, I was on another plane, on to another adventure in another country!
But Brisbane and Australia will have to wait for Another time! I've spent an entire morning in Singapore writing this all up and it's time for me to upload and get moving!
Maybe I'll write up Australia whilst lazing on the shore of the South China Sea in Borneo! :)
DAY 6 - 3 Nov - Part 2
When I arrived in Christchurch, the bus to Cathedral Square was nice and easy, as was finding the Base Backpackers, which was directly to the left of the Cathedral itself. And then the starting point for my Connections tour the next day was right next door to my hostel. Yay! I arrived right after the Kiwi Experience bus, so after everyone else checked in, I finally got my spot in a dorm room and dropped my stuff. I immediately met a guy from Texas and two guys from the UK (I can only remember Jamie from Liverpool's name right now). Texas and one of the Brits had been living and working in Christchurch for a bit, so the Brits and I decided to walk across town and pick up some booze before dinner to have a stash and save on bar tabs.
This idea worked out all too well, and after picking up a bottle of Monkey Bay Chardonnay (thus collecting my New Zealand monkey as well!) we headed to the top floor where there is a big kitchen, dining room and giant balcony where everyone gathers. Once we were sitting and chatting and drinking, I knew dinner wasn't happening. But I met Dave and Jodie from Ireland, and Tslil from Israel and several others and learned that the balcony of Base is the place to be in Christchurch! We left thoroughly hammered and first ran into a guy playing a recorder in front of the Cathedral, which Jodie stole and played a song on. I later found out this recorder player was a known pain in the area, making her playing that much funnier. (I'll try and get that video posted somewhere!) We then headed to the Irish pub Mickey Finn's where there was a cover band playing, tons of pool tables and a huge downstairs smoking area in the back. Dave was too drunk and was turned away; Jamie bowed out after a fight out front, but Jodie, Tslil and I persevered and had a blast. I first witnessed the teapot here - in NZ you can get a teapot full of mixed drinks for $15 or $20 to pour shots from.After stumbling back from the bar, we stopped at a 24 hour food place where Jodie introduced me to these cheap breaded lasagna squares that you can get at crappy AM/PM sort of places. I had that and a pie (I ate soooo many pies in Oz and New Zealand, they're addicting!) and the lasagna was soooo yummy! Back at Base, we headed to the balcony, where it was just us, one guy, and a French Canadian girl on some pills and up all night. Jodie insisted on giving me a (ramen) noodle packet as payment for her pie I bought, so I carried it for days before tossing it for lack of a bowl and hot water. At the end of the evening it was nearly 4a and I had to get up at 7a to meet my tour in the morning. I went to check email (sorry to those who got drunk-mailed!) and got lost in the halls. This turned out well though, as a beautiful girl stopped me because her watch broke and she had to get up for a tour in the morning. After chatting a bit, we discovered she was on the same tour in the morning and she promised not to let the bus go without me! I walked away with a dumbfounded look, drunk and stoked that this girl would be traveling with me for the next week! DAY 7 - 4 Nov
Waking up wasn't as painful as I thought, but the excitement started right in. When I got to the counter to check out, a girl was complaining that the Connections bus had left without her. That panicked me a bit, but that's how I met Jemma from Southampton (known to me as a town where I got lost on the highway, learned about map kinase kinase, and ended up at a McDonalds in lipstick - thanks Mal)! I went outside and found Jamie waiting for his Kiwi Experience bus and got his details and then found broken watch girl, who turned out to be Bronwyn and who turned out to be an absolutely amazing person (smart, funny, beautiful, and get this - works in the travel industry AND does crosswords! Talk about the girl of my dreams!) and who had promised not to let the bus go! She told me the bus was circling, I grabbed Jemma, and everything was A-OK!
(Random aside, but on the bus I spotted that, while they don't say it here, they do write "Hella" on the side of their vans for some reason!)Anyway, off we went across the Canterbury Plains to a cute town called Geraldine for breakkie (pie, woohoo!) and then to Lake Tekapo, a lake that was glacier-fed and therefore had beautiful turquoise water. The town was famous for shepherd dogs apparently (you can see more photos of the lake and a statue of a herding dog in the New Zealand photos on Flickr by clicking the "Photos" link above) and we peeked into the Church of the Good Shepherd, a tiny, old, stone church with an amazing view of the lake. If ever someone was to have a religious epiphany in a church, this would be an ideal one to have it in! Looking to the alter and then past it to the giant windows where the lake expands out to the Southern Alps way off in the distance, the beauty of the nature is overwhelming.We then headed to Lake Pukaki and Mt. Cook Village for lunch. It was there that I saw the first sign and learned of "Movember."
Every november in Australia and New Zealand, people shave clean the first day of November and then grow out their mustaches all month for charity. I didn't know how to participate in the charity, and I didn't realize at the time that it was mustache only and not full beard, but it sounded to me like a good excuse not to shave for the month, so I unofficially joined in. I ran into many crazy mustaches in my travels and had to remember that it wasn't necessarily bad fashion (although for some I'm sure it was), but a charity event!Lunch was great and we picnicked on tables overlooking the lake. Here I met Louise and Nicola from England and Joanna from the US and we all started socializing on our tour. After lunch we headed into the hills where we took a slightly rainy scenic hike up a mountain, which was beautiful, but I quickly discovered what horrible shape I was in while huffing and puffing to keep up as Bronwyn chatted effortlessly to me. Damn me, an American fatty!
After that hike, we were off to our final stop that day, a beautiful secluded lodge on the shores of Lake Ohau. The view from our hotel was gorgeous and we had a huge dinner and all chatted. I ran into Australia's famous Bundaburg rum here and wanted to try it but didn't want coke, so I had it straight with a splash of lemon and it was delicious! After some chill time, we walked down to the lake shore for an evening stroll and to watch the sunset. I chatted on the walk back with John from Korea, who eventually came out of his shell to be one of the biggest party animals on the trip! I roomed with Shane, a bloke from Manchester who looked and drank like an Irishman, and who informed me that my early night meant I missed some wild group shots and partying with the lodge staff. Oh well, there's always tomorrow!DAY 8 - 5 Nov
We woke up early (a recurring theme on this trip) and hit the road, driving through valleys and mountain passes. We stopped in a huge grassy meadow of a valley where our bus driver Craig put on The Sound Of Music and ran out of the bus to frolic in the meadow! We all relaxed there - I laid in the grass admiring the panoramic view to the mountains in the background and captured this image of Bronwyn attempting a cartwheel. After a rest, we piled back on the bus and drove through a skinny tunnel (there were 2 bus turnouts, otherwise cars and busses couldn't pass going opposite directions!), stopping at Mirror Lakes where it was unfortunately a bit too windy to get the placid reflecting photos. No worries though, New Zealand is covered with unbelievable scenery, and we were about to discover a treasure trove of it!We stopped for lunch in Te Anau, where Bronwyn, Jo and I decided to cheap out and stopped at a supermarket where Bronwyn and I split some peanut butter, rolls and bananas for sandwiches (yum). Then we snuck into the lobby of a nicer restaurant and Jo bought some coffee so we could sit by th efire and avoid the freezing cold rain outside! Bronwyn was bummed after we left and she discovered her sunglasses were gone. :(
In the afternoon we boarded the Milford Wanderer to sail and explore Milford Sound and the Tasman Sea for the evening and next morning! It was gorgeous, but a bit chilly, so I passed on kayaking and instead took a small speedboat cruise around the shoreline to learn about to flora and fauna of the area. While waiting, Shane, Nicola and I discovered our love of Little Britain and we quoted it a fair bit the rest of the trip. I also met Tim, a man from Hong Kong who was biking across New Zealand. He informed me that my hotel in Hong Kong is a decent location, but it's famous for being the location of the first reported case of SARS! Awesome! I asked what room, so I could request it, but they never revealed that info I guess. Bummer.Anyway, we cruised around in the little boat, and then back to our big boat for a delicious huge meal of lamb shanks and several bottles of wine! Once we were decently drunk, I bounced around a bit, noticing the table with all the Koreans on our tour were keeping to themselves (as the language barrier tends to facilitate), so I crashed the table. I met Ryoko at that table, who apparently is the #9 snowboarder in Japan and was in New Zealand training before heading to Canada to continue training for the winter! Eventually they went to bed and the last few standing were me, Toby and Fiona - the cops from Australia - since Fiona was loudly and drunkenly celebrating her birthday, big G from the Netherlands, and Sophie from Brighton. I finally stumbled downstairs and climbed into my bunk looking forward (yeah, right) to another early morning.DAY 9 - 6 Nov
In the morning we cruised along the Sound and saw about a billion waterfalls. I took it easy and mostly sat around chatting with Ryoko watching the windows for scenery, but avoiding the cold outside. Once on land again, we set back the way we came, this time stopping at the Chasm, where the water flowing down this river and over a waterfall has slowly eroded through rocks to form eerie holes, dips and divots in the landscape. It was amazing to see, and I took a photo of a sign there with a quote from David Henry Thoreau: "The finest workers in stone are not copper or steel tools, but the gentle touches of air and water working at their leisure with a liberal allowance of time."We drove more, taking a stop at a place called Monkey Creek, which of course made me wet my pants with excitement! We made a few more pit stops on the way, including a view of a green wooded valley with a river cutting through it where we also saw the super-curious birds (Kias I think) that would land on cars and squawk about and flash the bright orange undersides of their wings. We stopped back for lunch at Te Anau again and Bronwyn miraculously found her sunglasses at the restaurant we had ducked into the day before!After that, we were on to Queenstown - the adventure capital of New Zealand and probably the world! You could do anything crazy here, as I believe I mentioned in previous posts of pics and videos... Before even getting to our hotel, Bronwyn, Jo, Toby, Fiona, and I were dropped off to sign in and head up the mountain to the Canyon Swing! It's a bit like bungy jumping only with more falling! Instead of jumping off a bridge or ledge with something tied straight down from your feet, there are cables going across a canyon, with rope and tethers on the middle of the gorge that come back to you. That way, we could jump, freefall 60 meters (about 180 feet) an then be swung across the canyon for about another 200 meters for some extra whooshing excitement!I was too afraid to stand at the ledge and look down, so I went for some backflips instead! For some reason that seemed much less scary to me, and I managed to get 2 full flips down before the horizontal swinging kicked in. We all did different jumps - they do all these crazy ones like tying you to a chair and pushing you off, hanging you upside down, making you hold a rope until you are too tired and have to let go and fall, or one called the Bin Laden, where they put a trash bin on your head and push you over the cliff! They joke and screw around the whole time, just to freak you out more. Bronwyn did a complex one, despite their sign stating that Canadians weren't allowed, and when she requested it, they got out the brochure to try and figure out the right way to hang her and hook her up! She didn't think it too funny, but I did! :)After surviving the jump, I even opted to do a second, the Pin Drop, where you are supposed to clasp your hands behind your back and jump sideways off, keeping straight vertical like a pin for maximum velocity. I swear I jumped outward and hadn't even started falling downward yet before my hands were out from behind my back and grasping onto the rope out of instinctual fear! After the second jump, I was definitely done, and we headed back in to town for the evening.
Queenstown itself is absolutely gorgeous, reminding me a bit of Lake Tahoe, and that afternoon and the next, I got a little bit of time to stroll around in and enjoy the quaint but posh restaurants, the boardwalk, and the little town itself. I didn't get the try the legendary giant burgers at Fergburger though. But that evening, we headed into town for a bit of freezing cold excitement!The Minus 5 bar is an entire bar constructed of ice! It's actually about -8 Celsius in there (about 17 degrees Fahrenheit) and there are ice sculptures everywhere. They suit you up in warm hoodies and you can only stay for about a half hour, but they had some decent drinks, so we started in. They give you cloth gloves which is weird because even your glass is made of ice and my fingers got freeeeezing! But the benches, the bar, the walls... all made of ice! Jemma even stripped down to her bra and instantly became my hero! After the ice bar, we warmed up at a bar next door and people started getting wild, dancing on the bar and on the tables and stuff. The music out there is funny - mostly the same crowdpleasing standards, probably the same that have been played for the last 15 years, mixed in with a few new hot commercial dance tracks. This is where I started to realize I was going to be hearing a lot of the same songs everywhere I go.We partied it up there, and then headed to the World Bar, where I heard possibly the worst club DJ I had ever heard, but Jemma and I split a teapot and all was OK. We stumbled out of teh bar and raced up a giant staircase, as she was for some reason convinced that we needed to go up into the hills even though we were heading away from the waterfront and our hotel was on the water. But, we wandered and had fun and eventually made it home after a long long day and night!
DAY 10 - 7 Nov
I completely took advantage of a day without an early morning start and slept way way in to about 12.30p! After showering and lazily getting ready, I decided to go try and find out when my next big adventure was on my way to the net cafe in town. I walked by a sign saying my group was meeting in about 15 minutes! I raced back to my room, grabbed my stuff and off I went down to A.J. Hackett's for the ultimate challenge: The Nevis Bungy Jump! At 14 meters, it is currently the 3rd highest in the world (a 200 meter one in South Africa was apparently just surpassed by a brand new 230 meter one in Macau - maybe I can try that next month!) and is off a suspended pod in the middle of a gorge with a river running through the bottom! Maximum scary!They did it by weight for some sort of safety reason, and my lazy American butt got my in trouble once again, as, aside from big G who had to be about 6 foot 3 or so, I was the heaviest of our group, making me the second jumper! No time to think, they sat me in a chair where they tied my feet together and hooked me into a bungy cord. They laughed as I penguin-walked as fast as I could to the ledge, knowing that the more I waited, the harder the jump would be! As soon as they said to look up and go, I went! Looking out into nothingness, 440 feet above the ground without even the wires you knew would catch you (like the canyon swing had) visible, it is a true leap of faith! I jumped with my camera taped to my hand, so I'll work on adding some video, but I managed to make it nearly all the way down before letting out some profanity! (The pic here is at the very bottom with the G-force pulling!On the bounce back up you get another stomach drop and then on the second bounce there's a release you can pul to end in a sitting position so they can pull you back up comfortably. I tried and tried to pull the release, but failed, so I got the undignified fun of being pulled back up by my ankles and laid down to be unhooked. But it was still the scariest, most amazing thing I've ever done!I hung out as everyone else arrived to do their jumps and acted as photographer for quite a few other people. Shot a great video of Shane's jump and felt bad for Bronwyn who, like me, wanted to get it over with quickly, but unlike me is skinny and light and had to go nearly last! Jun and a Korean girl both had freakouts on the ledge - Jun was shaking like crazy and gave us the least reassuring thumbs up ever as we cheered him on, and the girl nearly rolled off after crouching down on the ledge in fear. It seems funny, but having stood on that ledge, I empathized completely and we all just wanted them to succeed!Every single one of us managed to jump (eventually at least)! When we got back, we were like an adventure team, bonded by all being stupid enough to jump off a cliff together! The trip back into town was much less tense than the drive there, that's for sure!Once back, we had an afternoon free, and we took a walk and had a cocktail in the grass by the shore of the lake. We went back in the evening to get our photos of our jump and discovered that the place closed at 7p even though they told us to come back at 8p to get our pictures. Hopefully they're mailing them now...
After another great dinner (the meals were all fantastic!) it was time for another night out and we headed to a place whose name I forgot but it had a huge chest-level firepit to warm up on, which was nice. I got a 2 for 1 drink coupon and smiled just right at the bartender who poured me a round of shots for Team Korea and gave me a spare drink for $15 (like $30 off)! After hanging out and deciding not to get belligerent, my energy started waning, so I walked home relatively early with a French Canadian girl who was also a travel agent and called it a night.
DAY 11 - 8 Nov
We were on to Fox Glacier today, but I was completely worn out and the weather was foggy and cold, so there were no helicopter rides or anything. After hearding the stock market crashed in the US, I decided to save money and huffing by skipping the 4-hour hike and taking a down day. On the way to the glacier though, we stopped at Thunder Creek Falls and the Haast River for scenic breaks.We ended up back traveling along the coast briefly and I snapped this picture of typical New Zealand coastlines - totally perfect with wooded hills sloping down to sandy beaches and rocky seas out to nothingness! This was the west coast, and the Tasman Sea. The town of Fox Glacier is pretty tiny so we basically checked email and rested. I remixed Scotty Doesn't Know by ripping the audio from the Eurotrip movie, as it had become a running joke on our boat. I blame Toby, as its STILL stuck in my head a month later! We went after a huge fantastic dinner on a short, very dark nature walk, where we saw some trees full of glowworms and Craig tried to scare us by sneaking off and making weird animal noises! After our walk, a few of us circled up and discussed the legend of the New Zealand Slump bird, with it's pointy beak, thick legs and charging habits. I also teased group newcomers Briony and Louise from Newcastle, UK for being on the tour 2 nights and going to be early both nights! Then we went to the little hotel pub where randomly Ryoko from Milford Sound turned up! The bartender called last call and closed up, and then got friendly and served us another round and even gave us jukebox money! After he closed up for real, we headed across the street to the bar to mingle with locals who were varied in age and type, but were all equally drunk! After watching a drunk girl get shot with water from the bar hose and then try to climb over the bar for squirting revenge, we watched a dude with his head on a mantelpiece knock over a whole bucket of coal or something and make a huge mess. Weird place, and time to call it a night!
DAY 12 - 9 Nov
After a super early start, i wasn't up for the walk to Lake Matheson. I really missed out though, as I saw some beautiful pictures of it's placid waters reflecting the two tallest mountain peaks in New Zealand. But, I had a lovely rest with Jemma, who had gotten sick and wasn't up for the walk either. Toby joined us and we formed our plans to steal a tour bus and be bus pirates, selling people's luggage for food and gas money and then eventually raiding other tour busses when our supplies ran out!We then headed to a jade factory full of cool stuff I couldn't afford, and then grabbed some lunch and wandered to the beach for a few minutes before heading back down the road.
While driving up some steep hills, our tour bus (Rhonda) finally gave out, and we ended up stranded on the side of the road. But in New Zealand's friendly fashion, while Craig our drive went off to find some help at the town down the road, an empty tour buss passed and stopped to give us all a lift to town! Amazing! So we headed into the town of Arthur's Pass that was to be our rest stop anyway, and spent the next 3 hours or so chilling while a spare bus was sent from Christchurch and Rhonda was repaired. I used the time to organize photos, charge my iPod and burn some other people's photos on CD for them.
It was actually a nice little unplanned stop, and we ended up getting some ice cream (I tried banana - yummy!) and basked in the sun for a while as well.Getting back into Christchurch was surreal - starting to say goodbyes, getting checked back into the Base for the night (my key card took four tried to work!) and running immediately into old friendly faces! I tried to coordinate to be with my Connections group, but to also see my new/old friends from my first time through Christchurch! We started out at the Base bar where I saw Dave and Jodie from before, and then the Connections group headed to the Oxford Strip along the river where the snazzy clubs were. They really weren't my style, but I hung out to be with everyone. Then we headed off to some more clubs in town. I don't know who was leading the charge, but they had awful taste in clubs! We ended up at another fancy place with platform dancing and god-awful music and bro's walking around with mullets, fauxhawks and popped collars left and right!
I could only handle so much of it, so eventually I had to take off. I would've called it a night, but with a 4.30a airport shuttle to my 6.30a flight, sleeping was out of the question! Fortunately, Louise, Madeline and Jemma were bored there too, so we left to go find a proper club and ended up back at Mickey Finn's as it was just what I liked - live music, activities an atmosphere, but quiet corners where you could tuck away and actually hear each other talk! I realized that especially for last night's out, I don't like drunken dance parties, I like something more social, so I can talk to the people I've grown friends with and enjoy our final moments together.
We headed back after a few vodka redbulls and stopped for that breaded lasagna I loved, and I crashed in the girls' room for a bit, transfering Sophie's photos (she's like a pro-photographer!) onto CD for her and hearing that her and Bronwyn left me a note at Base, which I later collected with my luggage just in time for my airport shuttle! It was a strange final night in New Zealand, but the end of a wild ride! I've been trying to keep in touch with everyone I met, and really miss quite a few people from my New Zealand travels. But by 6.30a, I was on another plane, on to another adventure in another country!
But Brisbane and Australia will have to wait for Another time! I've spent an entire morning in Singapore writing this all up and it's time for me to upload and get moving!
Maybe I'll write up Australia whilst lazing on the shore of the South China Sea in Borneo! :)
27 November 2007
Singapore Wants You! (And why you should want it back!)
I've just arrived in Singapore a few hours ago. I'm exhausted from teh past 5 days, and the past 3 weeks, and the past month! That's right, today officially marks the start of my second month traveling! I can't believe all this time has past, but then again, I can't believe I've done soooooo much!
Anyway, upon arriving to Singapore there's a tourism campaing everywhere called "Uniquely Singapore." And it's true - I've already encountered amazing hospitality and unique options for my few days here! Immediately out of customs I started my normal foreign airport routine - check currency exchange counter for exchange rate, find ATM for cash, find info desk for transportation options, find way to hostel and set off! After scoring cash, I was almost immediately approached by a woman asking if I needed any help. She must have seen me glancing around reading signs. I told her I was trying to find the address of my hostel and then find a way to get there. She told me how to get the the city train, offered a few pieces of advice and then walked me over to the tourist info booth! The booth was beautifully decorated and full of info and right away a man was helping me with a map, a visitors guide and a few route options for getting to my hostel! It was amazing and inspiring that people were that quick to help.
Ah, but those were tourism employees, you say, not average people on the street! Well, after navigating the easy and clean train system into town I walked a block in the wrong direction before doubling back and getting my bearing correct. While stopped at an intersection, I broke my general rule and peeked publicly at a map to make sure I knew which way I was turning next. As soon as I did, a woman standing next to me asked if I was lost or needed help. I assured her, I knew where I was going, just wanted to be sure I went the right way, but she persisted and asked where I was headed and made sure I was taking the best route. We chatted for a minute or two and then she went on her way and I thanked her profusely for the random helpfulness on the street. I mean, tell me that's not amazing! This place is advertising strongly to bring people to see it, and it seems like the people at large want travelers to enjoy Singapore!
Anyway, there's a little happy rant. I'm staying in a groovy hostel/hotel up a hill, in a residential neighborhood 2 blocks from the busy area (and surprisingly quiet for being so close), and I've got my own room for the first time in a month! I'm going to enjoy it - take a long shower and sleep in my boxers! Maybe I'll try to snore on purpose! I'll figure something out! But for now, I'll sleep, and leave you with this:
Letter to the family tonight:
Hi everyone! I've just gotten to Singapore and even in my sweltering, luggage-hauling, uphill walk, I still instantly loved it here! I can't wait to explore tomorrow. I think I'm hopping to the island to do a gondola ride, some luging, maybe see a monkey, and a few other things, then back for some of the famous food courts, and an evening free tourist tour of the holiday lights and stuff! The people here are very friendly and McDonalds and KFC delivers! I think I could live here! :)
Anyway, I am now full scuba certified and even got an adventure certification to boot by doing a special boat dive, a night dive, and a deep (30 meters) dive! Now I can do all sorts of extra diving! The Great Barrier Reef is absolutely amazing and the company I went with was super-friendly, fun, obviously loving their jobs and the diving, plus they have exclusive dive rights to some key locations on the reef and a fantastic boat and chef with it! So glad I did that - definitely the highlight of Australia!
Never got to try kangaroo meat, but had some crocodile satay. The croc was good, but the Satay was not seasoned that well. Did some other interesting things and met and re-united with some super-great people as well. I can't believe I'm now in the whole new world of Asia for the rest of the year!
Time to call it a night I think! Talk to you all soon! :)
Anyway, upon arriving to Singapore there's a tourism campaing everywhere called "Uniquely Singapore." And it's true - I've already encountered amazing hospitality and unique options for my few days here! Immediately out of customs I started my normal foreign airport routine - check currency exchange counter for exchange rate, find ATM for cash, find info desk for transportation options, find way to hostel and set off! After scoring cash, I was almost immediately approached by a woman asking if I needed any help. She must have seen me glancing around reading signs. I told her I was trying to find the address of my hostel and then find a way to get there. She told me how to get the the city train, offered a few pieces of advice and then walked me over to the tourist info booth! The booth was beautifully decorated and full of info and right away a man was helping me with a map, a visitors guide and a few route options for getting to my hostel! It was amazing and inspiring that people were that quick to help.
Ah, but those were tourism employees, you say, not average people on the street! Well, after navigating the easy and clean train system into town I walked a block in the wrong direction before doubling back and getting my bearing correct. While stopped at an intersection, I broke my general rule and peeked publicly at a map to make sure I knew which way I was turning next. As soon as I did, a woman standing next to me asked if I was lost or needed help. I assured her, I knew where I was going, just wanted to be sure I went the right way, but she persisted and asked where I was headed and made sure I was taking the best route. We chatted for a minute or two and then she went on her way and I thanked her profusely for the random helpfulness on the street. I mean, tell me that's not amazing! This place is advertising strongly to bring people to see it, and it seems like the people at large want travelers to enjoy Singapore!
Anyway, there's a little happy rant. I'm staying in a groovy hostel/hotel up a hill, in a residential neighborhood 2 blocks from the busy area (and surprisingly quiet for being so close), and I've got my own room for the first time in a month! I'm going to enjoy it - take a long shower and sleep in my boxers! Maybe I'll try to snore on purpose! I'll figure something out! But for now, I'll sleep, and leave you with this:
Letter to the family tonight:
Hi everyone! I've just gotten to Singapore and even in my sweltering, luggage-hauling, uphill walk, I still instantly loved it here! I can't wait to explore tomorrow. I think I'm hopping to the island to do a gondola ride, some luging, maybe see a monkey, and a few other things, then back for some of the famous food courts, and an evening free tourist tour of the holiday lights and stuff! The people here are very friendly and McDonalds and KFC delivers! I think I could live here! :)
Anyway, I am now full scuba certified and even got an adventure certification to boot by doing a special boat dive, a night dive, and a deep (30 meters) dive! Now I can do all sorts of extra diving! The Great Barrier Reef is absolutely amazing and the company I went with was super-friendly, fun, obviously loving their jobs and the diving, plus they have exclusive dive rights to some key locations on the reef and a fantastic boat and chef with it! So glad I did that - definitely the highlight of Australia!
Never got to try kangaroo meat, but had some crocodile satay. The croc was good, but the Satay was not seasoned that well. Did some other interesting things and met and re-united with some super-great people as well. I can't believe I'm now in the whole new world of Asia for the rest of the year!
Time to call it a night I think! Talk to you all soon! :)
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