Kiwi Quest 2010: I have it baaaaa-d for this country

Have I told you yet just how beautiful this damn country is?! I know I haven't posted any photos yet, so you'll just have to take my word for it, but I think I'm in love. If this isn't the most gorgeous country I've been to so far, it's one of the top 3.

Photos: 1) Highland cattle (originally from Scotland) at Walter Peak Station, 2) My hand feeding hungry sheep, 3) The Earnslaw steam launch, 4) Kiwi statue by the waterfront in Queenstown, 5) Beach in Queenstown. I can't get over how clear and beautiful the water is here.

Well, this morning got off to a bit of a panic-stricken start. I had a flight from Auckland to Queenstown at 0720 so Uncle Ross was to drive me to the airport at 0620. I set my alarm for 0520 (I need time in the morning because I'm not a morning person) only to wake up at 0600 when I heard someone walking around upstairs. I seem to have turned off my alarm while sleeping. A few quiet, creative curses later and I was hurriedly hurling on some clothes and frantically double-checking all my vital documents. Thank goodness I'd made good use of my time last night to repack my bags! A quick goodbye to Liz who thrust a hasty breakfast at me, then Ross and I were whizzing to the airport. I got to check in by kiosk, and even put my own luggage tag on my big pack before unceremoniously dumping it in a bin on a conveyor belt and rushing off to my gate. Must have done it right because it followed me here.

When I boarded the plane, some old guy was sitting in my seat, but eventually his wife figured out he was supposed to be in the middle seat and I was able to claim my spot by the window. The weather out of Auckland was good, but there was a front passing through the South Island so lots of cloud and some turbulence on the way. After descending through the clouds in Queenstown, we came in for landing out of the mountains to meet a sunny albeit cooler day. It's about 13C down here, much less humid than the north too. I'm wearing my trusty ragged wool sweater again because it's a bit breezy too and we're right on Lake Wakatipu (wah-kah-tee-poo). It's jaw-droppingly scenic here!

After hauling my gear to the hostel, I headed back to the main part of town where I was signed up to do an excursion to a working sheep farm across the lake.
http://www.realjourneys.co.nz/Main/Farmexcursions/ I think I heard our guide say that Walter Peak is 2,000m high with the farm situated at the base by the lake. It's a vast farm, covering a LOT of acreage (numbers forgotten), and our guide/hosts were extraordinarily courteous and friendly. We got to feed various types of sheep by hand as well as some red deer (not Red Deer), watch a herd of sheep get rounded up by a dog, I held a 5-week old lamb in my arms, and we watched an unwilling ewe get sheared after a lovely break for afternoon tea. Our journey across the lake was in a 98-year old coal-fired steam launch which was fantastic. We could watch the men shovelling coal into the furnaces and it was certainly warm in the engine room! I also encountered an artisan's market outdoors down by the docks before the boat sailed so I poked around and bought an adorable little blue bowl (handmade ceramic, very nice artist man from Dunedin) with a bright, happy, sunshine yellow interior. Oh, and I've bought my first wool sweater too along with some NZ socks. Why am I shopping now when I've got to haul it with me???

Currently, I'm taking advantage of an internet cafe I found to update my blog and email while I have the chance. This may be my last post for a bit so be warned. Tomorrow morning, my newly-extended sunburn (I was in a rush this morning and completely overlooked sunscreen) and I are meeting up with the Active Earth New Zealand group to start our 11-day hiking trip to Christchurch. http://www.activeearthnewzealand.com/secret-south.html I've still yet to meet any other Canadians, but have chatted to Americans, Belgians, those of the UK persuasion, and an Aussie or two. I should have brought Dalrene with me - she managed to find all of the other Canadians when we went to Zermatt together a couple of years ago. I'll have an overnight in Christchurch (providing I survive the trek there), then back to see Ross and Liz for about another 5 days before I reluctantly head home. Can I stay here forever?

Kiwi Quest 2010: Adventures in Auckland day

Well, today got off to a rather slow start which isn't a bad thing at all. Even though I'm on the other side of the world, my habit of waking at 6-something a.m. has followed me here, so while Liz was at work and Ross was working on his email, I used the time to repack my bags for departure to Queenstown (South Island) tomorrow morning. Trouble is, my big pack seems to have a space problem now, even though I've taken things out of it to leave here while I'm hiking. What the heck?

Photos: 1) Lovely fern in the greenhouses in Auckland Domain, 2) Kiwi and egg (egg takes up something like 2/3 of the inside of the bird - largest egg relative to size of bird) at Auckland Museum, 3) Maori meeting (?) house at Auckland Museum. Very neat inside, full of carvings. Please leave your shoes outside. 4) I finally figured out what my uncle does down here, 5) Ferry Building in Auckland.

After a leisurely breakfast which included my cousin Martin (kind of), Liz dropped Ross and I at the nearby train station to get ourselves to central Auckland. Ross needed to work in his office at the U of Auckland, so we parted ways at the train station and I headed off to find an ATM, post office, and various other things. Thankfully, HSBC gave me some NZD so I now have 4 different currencies with me on this trip. The few NZ bills I've seen thus far are really cool because they have a transparent window in them. I'm planning to take a photo with all 4 currencies for fun so I'll post it when I get a chance.

After buying more postcards, I stopped at the Voyager New Zealand Maritime Museum (http://www.maritimemuseum.co.nz/) down at the water's edge. Ok, technically I never got past the gift shop, but I wasn't there because I was interested in boats. I was shopping. Anyway, it looks like a cool place to explore if you like floating stuff. The harbour is pretty busy and the Ferry Terminal is really old and cool from the outside (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auckland_Ferry_Terminal).

After finally locating the post office, I quickly hiked up a giant hill to meet Ross at his office where we would head across to the road to lunch in a neat old building on the university grounds. Horribly, I forget the exact history of the building, but it's old and neat and they've made a small cafeteria in it for faculty and their guests. We ate in one of the side rooms that had a small bar at one end and tons of old photos on the wall. Liz joined us shortly after and it was time to hand the niece off to her for the afternoon shift.

Off now to the Auckland War Memorial Museum (http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/) for some very cool Maori exhibits along with a simulation of what it would be like to live in Auckland if a volcano erupted in one of the harbours (scary - the floor moved!). They had exhibits about all kinds of stuff like more birds, a whole floor about different wars including some lovely stained glass tributes, dinosaurs and oceans. Sadly, I missed the gift shop because they kicked us out right at 5pm.

On our way to search out some caffeine in Auckland Domain, we found that the Hot House and Cool House (greenhouses) were still open so we quickly explored each one. I hope my photos of the flora and fauna turn out well. I saw a few items like Lobster Claw that I hadn't seen before. After a cup of tea and some banana-coconut cake, we had a quick but nice visit with my cousin Ben and his wife Bea - I've now met 2/3 of Liz's boys, but Julian lives in England so I won't meet him or his wife this trip - then back to pick up Ross and head home for dinner.

I've just discovered that my flight to Queenstown tomorrow morning is at 7:20 am. I'm an idiot! But on the bright side, I'll have the whole day to explore Queenstown, starting with a trip across Lake Wakatipu in a launch, followed by lunch at a sheep farm (including shearing demo) which should be a lot of fun. My hiking trip starts out of Queenstown day after tomorrow so be warned now that the blog will go for days at a time without updates while I'm tramping around the South Island wilds. I will have regular internet again when I return to the North Island on Feb 26th which will be Feb 25th for you.

Kiwi Quest 2010: Greg, the bad Takahe

Today's adventure was to Tiritiri Matangi Island (http://www.tiritirimatangi.org.nz/default.htm) which was a rushed drive about 30 km NE of Auckland this morning. Bit of a late start but we did make the ferry so that ended well. I don't profess to know much of anything about birds or plants (don't tell my mom or my grandma; the family green thumb seems to run through them), but Tiri was a great day trip today.

Photos: 1) Feeder near the gift shop at Tiritiri, 2) Takahe! Keep an eye on your lunch. 3) Little blue penguins in a molting box, 4) The dutiful aunt and uncle with their niece. Trust me, it rained earlier. I'm not carrying a raincoat in the sunshine for decoration. 5) Pretty beach at Tiritiri.

I'm trying to learn another language while I'm here: Maori. It's quite prevalent so I'm learning some of it by proxy just listening to other people speak, and sometimes I'm learning it by trying to pronounce names of birds, plants, or places on the map. I pronounce them quite badly so far, but there seems to be hope for improvement. I feel as though I should know some Maori by the time I get home because my uncle here has quite the experience with numerous South Pacific languages in his role with the U of Auckland. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C4%81ori_language]

So, back to Tiri. There is lots of info in the links I've included, but essentially the island is now an open nature preserve which means that anyone can visit it although there are numerous rules to keep it in homeostasis. When you visit, you mustn't bring with you any rodents, pests, soils or seeds because the conservationists have done extensive work to eradicate all predators on the island. You must also pack your lunch in rodent-proof containers, and take home any garbage you generate with you. "Pack it in, pack it out" If you're enjoying your lunch and a free cup of coffee/tea by the visitor's centre (near the base of the lighthouse), beware of Greg, the bad Takahe! He's quite a naughty fellow, often being gently shooed out of the gift shop by the volunteers who run it, or as was our case today, being intercepted by volunteers while trying to make off with a bag of garbage from a backpack left unattended for a few moments. There's actually a book in the gift shop called, "Greg, the bad Takahe" which is all about him getting into trouble on the island so don't think me mean for using that term :) http://www.flickr.com/photos/robinzblog/3183589731/in/set-72157612384811972/

Following our return from Tiri on the ferry, we detoured briefly to Shakespear Park, then through Whangaparaoa (say "Fan-gah-pah-ro-ah" if you're me), down Beach Road in the North Shore area through numerous small beach towns to the tip of a narrow peninsula at Devonport for a drink and yummy dinner. From here, you can look south across the water to Auckland and enjoy the various boat traffic while the sun sets just out of sight. It was a lovely meal to end the adventure. Back to Liz & Ross's house in the darkening city, quick stop for gas and ice cream for dessert, then it's time to update the blog before I fall asleep after walking in the sun and forest and beach and rain and birds and greenery all day...........

http://www.tiritirimatangi.org.nz/Fauna/Takahe.htm

Kiwi Quest 2010: I slept through Feb 9th somehow

Photos: 1) Looking bleary in Sydney after flying 14 hours across the Pacific Ocean. Plane to Auckland is behind me. 2) Auckland from the air. 3) Illicit cola! 4) Weird sign at internet kiosk in Sydney airport.

Hallo from New Zealand! I've reached my ultimate destination at last, roughly 9 years after the first germ of an idea for this visit took root. "Good things come to those who wait" or something equally flattering to fellow procrastinators.

Well, it's been a little crazy since I was last able to update this in North America on Feb 8. After buying some postcards for $6.66 (seriously, but in Korea it's good luck so I'm safe according to the shopkeeper) and gorging myself on a delicious spaghetti dinner, it was off to the airport for another go round through security before heading across the Pacific Ocean to Australia overnight.

Nearly as soon as my 13-hour flight from LAX to Sydney took off, the kind attendants with United were serving dinner even though it was nearly 11pm PST. Shortly after I ate, I thankfully fell into a coma for some unknown length of time. Since I refuse to change my watch until I'm in one location for more than a day, it's still set on EST so I usually have no idea what actual time it is where I am, or how much time has passed while traversing multiple time zones. I woke in the darkness to the offer of a turkey sandwich happily received, and eventually struck up a conversation with my seatmate over hot breakfast in the light of the rising sun. He is originally from Sydney - on his way home for vacation - but now living in Prince George of all places. We only struggled a few times with accents and phrases and got on quite well to help pass the remaining time. As we circled to land in Sydney on Feb 10, I could see some sandstone cliffs making up part of a national park and some of the city although none of the "famous" landmarks were obvious to me.

After a flight of nearly 3 hours, I was finally landing in Auckland! The kind folks at Air New Zealand even fed us triple chocolate ice cream with our lunch choices so it was a nice introduction to the country. Security here is nearly on par with the US in terms of layers and paranoia except here they're up in arms about biohazards (like bringing in honey and other foreign no-no products) instead of terrorists. I actually had to dig out my hiking boots from my bag so that they could be inspected. Seriously. The lady even cleaned some dirt out of the tread of one of them into a biohazard bin about the size of recycling bins for apartment buildings. After that, my bags all got x-rayed. They probably have some strange disease by now after enduring x-rays in 4 different airports so far.

Considering I haven't seen my uncle since our trip to the Grand Canyon in 1993, and I haven't seen my aunt since our one and only encounter while I was living in Toronto in 2004, we all managed to meet up correctly at the airport. A nice scenic ride to their house later and I've got my first idea of what Auckland looks like beyond runways and security guards. Oh! and I got my first stamp in my new passport :) I'm sharing the house with my cousin Martin as well, but his attendance is erratic so we haven't actually met yet. I have met both cats: Greta and Gremlin. All in all, we're getting on quite well so far as a group. I've already even bought my first fun teas at the supermarket where they also sell Illicit Cola (I took a photo) and lime-flavoured milk (gag)....

"Nau mai, Haere mai ki Aotearoa"! (Welcome to New Zealand)

Kiwi Quest 2010: Venice Beach, baby!

Free internet in hotel lobby so must keep this short. First impression of LA: clouds are pretty, lots of lights (from the air); people here have $$$$$$ (from the ground).

Photos: 1) Strange behaviour on top of a swing set 2) Fun graffiti 3) Surf's up, dude! If you get into trouble, there's a H-O-T and very friendly lifeguard on duty 4) Canals in Venice, CA 5) Flexing my muscles (buried under wool sweater) at Muscle Beach, CA

Finally got to hotel after waiting for shuttle that doesn't actually exist, necessitating $30 cab ride to hotel in the end. I'm angry with the idiots in reservations for this place, but the hotel is quite nice and the kind fellow at the front desk last night must have felt sorry for me because he upgraded me to a suite of his own volition. I just finished gorging myself on free breakfast and am headed upstairs to get ready to explore Venice Beach for the day. My pockets are full of free food from breakfast.

.... Ok, I'm officially checked out of the hotel now so I'd better update and post this before they kick me out of the lobby.

Venice Beach so far: awesome!! Walked all around this morning from my hotel in Marina Del Rey to the canal area, then north through the canals (which are kind of green and scummy, but still really neat with some cool houses) to Muscle Beach, north a ways along Ocean Front Walk to a random spot, then I walked along the beach a bit and got my jeans wet in the freezing Pacific Ocean :) There are surfers out today so it can't be that cold. Truthfully, if I'd had more time and my bathing suit handy, I would have gone for a swim even though I don't really like swimming in the ocean. Walking south from my beach spot, I stopped to talk to a very cute (and friendly) lifeguard who is local and was happy to answer all my questions. I got his photo too but you might have to wait for it until I can find a way to upload. Stopped to watch some nice waves smashing beautifully over some rocks, then over to Muscle Beach to say I'd taken my baby pipes there at last. Doh! I just realized I didn't take a photo of myself. Alas, another reason to come back then. A few guys were grunting and heaving heavy stuff around, but my eye was caught by some guy way up at the top of a swingset who seemed to be looking to take a nap way up there. No idea.... but I have photos.

Walk south along Ocean Front Walk from Muscle Beach, checking out the crazy shops and gorgeous houses ($$$$$$$$$$$), walk up the big dune at Venice Beach and stop to soak up a few rays. I keep forgetting it's February! Sorry, I know you probably hate me for that comment. This is a great introduction to California for me. Stop to use sketchy public bathroom (oi!), walk out on Venice Pier. To the north, one can see Santa Monica Pier with the amusement park on it, to the south lots more beach with awesome houses and distant smoke stacks. Somewhere off to the west, about 30 miles out to sea, is Catalina Island, but it wasn't visible today. Trek back to hotel for quick shower and packing before they kick me out.

Now I'm going to write a few postcards and grab some lunch before I head out on foot to explore more of the area and find some stamps. My flight to Auckland via Sydney leaves in about 8 hours, I think....

Kiwi Quest 2010: Today's the day!

Well, so far I've made it out of my place and to my parents' place. Since they're driving me to the airport, I'm that much closer to leaving. Thankfully, their place has WAY more food than mine did by the time I left. It's a bit difficult to make an appetizing meal out of cheese, pineapple, and pickles.

This morning, in a flash of inspiration between unexpected loads of laundry, I decided to unpack everything I'd already packed for my trip because I felt it wasn't packed in a user-friendly manner, and that little gap down near the bottom of my big pack was really bugging me. Don't ask. It took me a while, but eventually everything went back in the bags in a more suitable way, and I even managed to eliminate a couple of things I had been planning to take to make a bit more room. Strange though: when all the stuff was strewn from one end of the living room to the other in small piles (aka "packing"), I really didn't think I was taking very much for a vacation of more than 3 weeks in duration. Turns out that space in the bag gets filled pretty quickly when one is cramming in hiking boots, a sleeping bag, and rain gear. Now the little gap at the bottom of my big pack is no more :)

I just tried to check-in online with Air Canada, but to put another nail in their coffin (in my eyes), I got an error message saying that one of my flights is unavailable for check-in at this time so it kicked me out of the system. Sigh. Granted, I suspect the flight that is causing this problem is the one out of LAX to Sydney which doesn't leave until tomorrow night, so I'm probably being a little unfair to Air Canada in this case. Alas, I just hope check-in goes smoothly at the airport. At least the luggage handlers like me better now that I have a cover for my big pack: http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442332953&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302885490&bmUID=1265575123369

I treated myself to a couple of other things while at the Burlington MEC today: a new red Nalgene (BPA-free, if you care), some extra shoe laces for my borrowed gaiters, 2 Cliff bars and 2 Luna bars for the planes, and a rain cover for my day pack, although because I'm not sure how big my biggest day pack is since MEC doesn't make it anymore, I bought 2 different covers and will return the other one when I get back. I want one cover to fit all my day packs, not just the one I'm taking with me.

So for now, kitty and I are relaxing in my mom's study where I've hijacked the computer to post this update. kitty is snoozing on the couch nearby with the waning sun draped across him; I, on the other hand, am on my second cup of tea and nowhere near sleep. My mom is a little manic and my dad is selling bike parts on eBay. Just another day at the Cooper house...

Tomorrow, I'm in SoCal!!

Kiwi Quest 2010 - T-minus 5 days!

The groundhogs collectively predicted 6 more weeks of winter today. Bah, forget that! I'm heading to summer.

What is this thing they call "excited"? I haven't reached that point yet. January was a busy month for me and my mind is still too preoccupied with getting ready to leave to be excited. As is also my pattern, I usually don't let myself really get excited until I'm en route to wherever it is that I'm headed. Superstition maybe? More likely that I'm too worried about forgetting something key, and too busy repetitiously checking all my vital stuff, that stress is all I tend to know until I'm in the air/on the rails/out at sea when it's too late to do anything if something has indeed been forgotten.

Have I told you lately how exceedingly annoying Aeroplan (and Air Canada by association) is to deal with? Near the end of January, I was sure my flights were good to go and I had even blogged to that effect. Then, one Monday morning, I got an unasked-for revised itinerary from Aeroplan in my email.... perfect for a Monday. Upon reading it, I discovered that my 12-hour layover in San Francisco on the way home had been clipped to about 2.5 hours. At first, I was really mad because I had plans in place to make the best of that long layover - meeting up with a long-lost friend and getting in some exploration of a city on my "Go There" list. But, after I moaned about it a few times to a few sympathetic listeners, I realized that there were some positives to the new itinerary:


1) I will now be arriving back in Toronto on the same calendar day that I leave New Zealand. This means I'll be in 4 countries (and countless time zones) in one day which is pretty cool to say I've done. It also means I won't be so completely destroyed the next day because I won't be arriving in the wee hours of the morning after flying overnight.

2) I have a good reason to make a trip to San Francisco in the future in order to spend more than a few hours there. Road trip!!!

3) I didn't get charged $94.50 for this itinerary change because Aeroplan took it upon themselves to do it for me. Ha!

So, with 5 days to go, I've a heap of clothes and gear piled in the middle of my now-semi-tidy living room with the backpack into which it is all supposed to go being buried somewhere at the bottom. I think I've bought anything I was missing and my to-do list is shrinking although my packing list keeps growing. I'm even sewing buttons back on my shorts if you can believe it. I didn't feel like pinning them shut for 3 weeks. My apartment even nearly no longer looks like the site of some kind of explosion...