Revisiting the Past

Okay, so I never got to finish my blogging of my entire trip. I missed big chunks of my travel down to Wellington, our 6-day kayak trip, and especially the second half of my tour of New Zealand. This will have to be another summer project of mine. Hopefully I'll stick to it. Not now, though.

Even if no one still reads this and I'm writing to myself, this is for my own memories and records. Let's hope I finish this to the end, eh?

It's So Surreal..

Yes, I'm home. =]

So Much Traveling..

Almost too much, I'm thinking.

Going into Australia wasn't so bad, although we did spend the night at the airport, since our flight was at 6:30am. But after that, there were days just full of traveling. The worst was coming back to Auckland from Sydney. Eddie drove us to the airport, the flight was about 4 hours, and the shuttle into the city was more than an hour. But with the delays and everything in between, it really was a full day of traveling. We woke up at 6:00am, and we settled into the backpacker here at 6:00pm (technically it's two hours less because of the time change, but seriously, it was a long day, and it was already getting dark by the time we were done). Crazy.

I know I'm making it sound like our travels in OZ were horrible, but all that put aside, Sam and I had a great time in Sydney and Melbourne, so I shouldn't be complaining.

One more day of traveling left, but I'm so ready to go back home. Seriously. I think in the end, I'm just a homebody. Someone already told me this before I left, but now I can see that he was probably right. Sam can travel the world for a couple years, and not really miss home, but me, I don't think I could bear it.

Can't wait!!

The Land of OZ

Sam and I are in Australia!

We've been doing a lot of sightseeing, thanks to our great tour guide, Eddie Bang. He's been taking us to all the scenic spots around Sydney, and telling us most of what he knows about the different areas and people and culture. It's been great hanging out with him, meeting his wife (who is really sweet, by the way), and just chatting it up. I'm not going to bother writing it all down, because I'm tired. Maybe later (with pictures included). Ebanger himself is taking a nap right now.

But this weekend, Sam and I want to go watch the first Red Bull Flugtag in Australia, which fortunately happens to be in Sydney tomorrow! If you don't know what this Flugtag is, just go on YouTube to find out. I'm sure most of you have seen this before, just didn't know what it was called or what it was for.

We're having a great time, and we can't wait to go home to Chicago. Hope you're all doing well!!

|| edit ||

Crap. It turns out that the Flugtag is actually on Sunday.

Kaikoura Coast

Flying Kiwi: Tuesday 22.01.08

So on our first full day in the South Island, we drove along the east coast (no longer in our awesome ol' reliable blue bus called "Lola," but some sad excuse for a coach bus that leaked - yes, leaked inside because of the bad A/C system). But besides that, it was a nice day, drying and warming up under the sun after a night of heavy rain, as we traveled along the Kaikoura Coast. We stopped at some point to look at a seal colony. The smell ain't so nice, and they move very clumsily on the rocks - they looked like lumbering blobs - but they swim very gracefully, and there must have been at least 20 of them.

Along the drive we also passed through several towns with greenstone (jade) factories, and I got my necklace at one of those stores, but I can't remember the name of the town or the store, unfortunately. And according to Maori, it's considered horribly taboo or unlucky, almost sacrilegious even (Maori say "tapu"), to buy a greenstone or bone carving for yourself, so Sam bought mine for me. The Maori word for greenstone is "pounamu."

Later on that day, there was supposed to be a whale-watching activity available, but during this time, a massive storm had moved all throughout New Zealand, starting up north and was just in the process of passing through Kaikoura. Setting up tents that night was incredibly interesting. Because of the storm, the winds were intense, taking me at least 30 minutes, maybe a full hour, to do what should have only taken me 10 minutes max.

Oh, and by the way, Kaikoura literally means "to eat crayfish."
     kai = to eat
     koura = crayfish
So as you would guess, Kaikoura is known for having great seafood. And no, Sam and I didn't get to try any, sorry.

To recap:
     pounamu = greenstone/jade
     tapu = forbidden
     kai = to eat
     koura = crayfish

Hope you liked your Maori lesson.

(This is where I got my necklace. And yes, I just realized the name of the store is in the picture. Silly me. Also interesting: there's a USA flag flying in the corner; I wonder why.)

I just loved the Kaikoura Coast. Absolutely beautiful.

Crossing Between Two Islands

Flying Kiwi: Monday 21.01.08

[Sorry for not updating about my tour; I'm getting really lazy about it. I'll try to do better this week!]

So we arrived in Wellington where we had to remove all our luggage from the bus because once we crossed on the ferry into the South Island, we'd be traveling on a different bus. It was such a hassle to lug it over to the nearest backpacker to store it for a couple hours while we wandered the capital of New Zealand. Even worse, there wasn't much to do in the four hours we had because it happened to be a bank holiday, and most of the stores were closed. I did get to buy a couple of used books at Arty Bee's, and go through a couple shops. I even lost my sweater in one store, and I was more than a 15-min-walk away when I realized it was gone, so I just bought another one. Didn't do much else, besides using the internet. Sam didn't want to keep wandering, so he left to go take a nap at the backpacker.

Wellington is a nice city. It's not like Auckland where all the stores can be found on one street and half of them are souvenir shops. They also have nice museums and such, but I didn't bother going to any, although I should have. I think it's one of the things I really regret not doing here in New Zealand: visiting museums and exhibits about the country, the people, their history. Someone back home told me that I should really make an effort to immerse myself into kiwi culture, that it's an important aspect and reason for traveling, and I think I have in some areas, but I could have done more. But yeah, I like Wellington. It's shaped like a bowl, where the main central business district is right at the bottom, and the homes and residental areas are in the surrounding areas.

At 4pm, everyone had to go get our stuff out of storage and make our way over to the ferry. That also happened to be a hassle, because the schedules of the shuttles was off, due to the bank holiday, and we were waiting for quite a while. The ferry was huge - the one other time I was on a ferry was across Lake Michigan when I was like 8, and since our family was driving, we stayed down on the vehicle area, so I don't even remember how big that one was or what it was like. But this ferry had nice lounges, televisions, couches, cafes, etc etc. I felt a bit seasick, so I basically just took a nap. The ride was 3 hours, which felt really long, since we take a break every 1.5 hours for a rest stop when we're on the bus.

There wasn't much else to do that day - we got to our backpacker at 9:30pm - but Sam and I did indulge ourselves late that night with some ramyun. Yum.

Other Thoughts:

- It's Easter Weekend. How did you spend your Good Friday? How will you spend your Easter Sunday? I find it extremely ironic and sad that New Zealanders take this history-altering event seriously, but not in the way that they should. No one works on Good Friday, and on Easter Sunday, and some even get Easter Monday off (yes, I have a 4-day weekend). It's actually illegal here for most places to be operating on those days (Fri&Sun). But as I listened to my co-workers talk about their plans for the weekend, I realized that no one saw it as being more than a short vacation. No profound meaning for any of them. One of them even laughed when church was mentioned. For me, let's just say that I am taking this weekend more seriously than I have ever done, and that God is good.

- Can't wait for this week to be over. After that, Australia to see our friends, and then our homecoming back into Chicago. Work has been horribly slow, and I feel like this last week will be even harder, since we've been having a lot of early clock-outs, so much so that now I expect work to be over by 3pm. That's not bound to continue.

- Talking about work, this past year has made me realize that I don't want to continue my studies into a career that I couldn't care less about. I picked mechanical engineering simply because I didn't think there was anything else I could pick. It just seemed to fit because I'm good at math and physics, and engineers make a good living, but I'm certainly not gung-ho about it. The job I'm at now is so easy, but so monotonous and tedious. So many of the ladies I work with have done this for most of their lives. That's not a bad thing. A lot of parents, mine included, have worked at jobs that they didn't enjoy or bring in a lot of money, but they worked hard in order to support their families. Makes me realize that money really isn't everything, that life can be so simple. Life can still be good, fulfilling, satisfying, without the luxuries the world tells us we need. It's Christ, and caring for others, that brings purpose and meaning into my life. But I figure that if I'm going to be doing something for the rest of my life, I might as well do something I would enjoy. Isn't that one of the biggest things people wish for? To have a career that isn't work, but something that you enjoy? So the big conclusion I came to is that I'm not returning to Boston University. I'm not going through with my mechanical engineering degree. You're probably wondering what I've got in mind in lieu of this, and I have some things in mind, but it's all in the air. Sooner or later God will let me know exactly what He wants. I am trusting in that.

One Year Gone...

I miss you Cindy.

Tongariro NP & Current Update

Flying Kiwi: Sunday 21.01.08

On this day most people woke up early (like 5am) to go on one of the most famous walks in New Zealand called Tongariro Crossing, which goes through Tongariro National Park. It's a full day's walk, which takes about 6-8 hours (although you can do it in about 4.5 hours if you're going at a quick pace). Sam and I opted out, wanting to have a lie-in. Most days we have to be up by 6:30 or 7:00, so it was greatly appreciated. Well, it was, until Brad started blasting his kiwi music out of the bus at 9:00, haha.

Anyway, the hikers left early because they didn't want to be out in the harsh sun at midday, so it was a good idea to start that early. You would think that at the hottest time of the year they'd only need a tank and shorts, but on Tongariro the weather changes drastically as you go up and down different altitudes and across the park. Maybe if I didn't have to get up so early I would have gone, cause it sounded pretty cool. At least Sam and I got to walk through some parts of the national park when we were headed down with Alex and Stuart. We had gone on the Silica Rapids Walk, which was about a 2-hour walk. There we got to see Mount Doom in the Land of Mordor. Choice, eh? I would show some pictures of those, but I didn't have my camera (just my camcorder). Maybe I can steal photos off Alex or Stuart.

For the time being, here's just one picture from Alex's camera of us at Tongariro National Park.

Update:

I know that all I've been doing lately is blogging about our travels, and therefore not updating about our current status, so I'll do it now. Our tour ended in the middle of February, with mixed feelings of relief (from the constant traveling, activities, and company of others), disbelief (the entire 28 days just zoomed by), and sadness (saying farewell awesome mates).

We took a bus back down to Te Puke, and are now staying at the familiar Hairy Berry Bunkhouse. We also got a job at the same packhouse as before - I love those guys! But work has been really tedious. Kiwifruit is our usual product, but as we're out of season, they've got us working on this new fruit called kiwiberries. It's basically kiwifruit, but in the size and shape of grapes. Seriously. They only started growing and selling this new genetically-modified fruit last year. Tiny, bite-sized, hairless kiwifruit. Fun to eat, and deliciously sweet, but a devil when it comes to grading and packing them. There are like eight different kinds, but I've only seen three, and one of them is red. Delicious!


Crazy, ain't it?

Anywho, other news:

- Leap Year. Totally forgot it, but what the hey.

- There was a huge story going around on the news here in New Zealand last week concerning an NZ resident, and I'm assuming you guys have heard about it too, because it took place near Atlanta. The basic gist of it is that there was a Chinese man, Nai Yin Xue, living in Auckland with his wife and 3-year-old daughter. He murdered his wife and stuffed her into the trunk of his car in September in New Zealand, and then abandoned his daughter in a train station in Melbourne, Australia. The girl was nicknamed Pumpkin because that was the label on her clothing when they found her. He was on the run for 5 months, and was finally captured in Georgia. Apparently, he'd been on America's Most Wanted a couple of times, but what led to his arrest was the Chinese newspaper in the area. Someone from the community recognized him from a picture in the paper, checked it out on AMW's website, and then got 5 other guys to go with him to ambush, hogtie, and sit on him. Then they called the police. Everyone here in NZ was ecstatic over his capture. Go Americans!

- I'm homesick. Really. I keep thinking about the people I'm going to see, the things I'm going to do, the places I'll visit, the food I'll eat, etc. I know it's still about 1.5 months off, but seeing as I'm just working (grading kiwiberries all day long), there's nothing much else to occupy my mind. Plus it's getting cold fast for autumn/winter (they call it the cold snap, 'cause it happens in an instant), so there's no fun in going to the beach or anywhere outside. Got so many plans for when I come home!! I miss you guys. Hope you're all doing well.

- Plans for the rest of holiday: work until the end of March. Fly out to Sydney beginning of April. Hang out with Ebang. Hang out with Kate and Amy (FlyingKiwi) in Canberra. Hang out with Christine (BC) in Melbourne. Hang out with Matt, Sarah, and Ben (FlyingKiwi) in Woori Yallock. If we're lucky, we won't have to pay for accommodation the entire time we're in the land down under. The only problem is figuring out how to get to all these places (at least the two small towns are in between Sydney and Melbourne). My license expires in 15 days (which means I probably can't rent a car), and Sam can't rent one because he's under 21. Crap (what to do?). But after that it's off to Auckland only to catch our ride home. Yay!

- Lastly, please leave a comment if you read these posts. Even if it's just to say hi. Otherwise I feel like no one is reading them, and that there's no point in posting about my travels and pictures. Take care!

Waikato Region

Flying Kiwi: Saturday 19.01.08

We started off this morning by going to look at Wai-O-Tapu, where the mud pools are. Smelled really bad, and looked really disgusting, but in an odd satisfying way as you watched the mud bubble and spit due to the gases that constantly rise to the surface.

The next stop was Huka Falls, an incredible rapid with incredibly blue water. Sam and I saw those with Stuart and Alex before as well, so we skipped the 2-hr walk and decided to wander around Taupo instead. If you remember any of the info from my previous posts, you might recall that Lake Taupo is the largest lake in New Zealand. The city is located right at the bottom tip.

We also decided to skip the walk because once the others finished it, they'd have 2 hours to explore the town, but the skydiving we had booked occurred during that time. Which meant we would have had to go skydiving right after the walk and miss out on seeing the city. Unfortunately, it turns out that it didn't matter either way, because the skydiving was canceled. Really unfortunate, considering that it was a beautiful sunny day, but they said the wind was far too strong (30 knots = 35mph).

I wish now that I had gone on the walk, because halfway along the path there's a bridge where people can bungy-jump. Two people from our tour group decided to go. The first guy literally took 7 minutes to get up the courage to jump (I saw the entire video on someone's camera - he really did wait 7 minutes!). The second, a girl, jumped off almost immediately, but she was so nervous that her form was a bit off, all rigid, and she jumped feet first. I wonder if that caused any backlash or something. I haven't gone bungy-jumping yet, but when I do (not if), I want to go to one where I get to hit the water below (approx. 45m). Sam said that he would rather go on one that has a long drop (approx 135m).

Te Rotorua-nui-a-Kahumatamomoe (aka Rotorua)

Flying Kiwi: Friday 18.01.08

Next stop was Rotorua. You can smell it before you see it, because of the sulfur from the thermal springs that come up from beneath the ground. Yup - rotten egg smell. Sam and I have been to the Polynesian Spas before (when we traveled south with Alex and Stuart), as well as seen the geothermal volcanic hot pools where the steam rises right off the water. The water actually ripples, but I don't know if that was because it was actually boiling or if it had anything to do with any gases in the water or whatnot. Anywho, Sam and I ended up not really doing much here, so yeah.

There are plenty of fun things to do in Rotorua that Sam and I have already done. Like luging. Basically it's like go-karts, but on this little piece of plastic with no pedals. The position at which you hold your handlebar controls your speed. All the way forward is "park" (which you never want to use while going downward), middle is "go," and pulling back on the handlebars engages the brakes. If you go pretty fast, it's very possible to flip over at one of the turns. I have no pictures from luging in Rotorua, but you'll see pictures from the luge in Queenstown.

There's also this place called the Agrodome, where they have different activites to try. The biggest one would be zorbing. I would have liked to go, but I felt like it was a waste of money. Basically you're put in this huge bubble with some water, and you slosh around inside while it rolls downhill. The hill isn't very big, and the ride lasts about 20 seconds. Maybe not even that much. I heard it's fun though. You know, it's the kind of ride where you giggle all the way down. The picture below shows my friends Hayley and Sarah (UK) going down together. No other pictures though, sorry.

Pictures

Sandboarding
You weren't supposed to stand on these things, but you know Sam, he just had to try. I think he tumbled off about halfway down the hill.

The view of the sand dunes from the other side of the harbor.


Kauri Forest
The huge kauri tree named Tane Mahuta. If you can see the people near the bottom of the picture, you might get an idea of it's size.



Waiwera Campsite
The kid from the Waiwera campsite named Tyler, with his wicked Optimus Prime headgear.



Hot Water Beach
Brad and Sam digging in the sand. It proved to be impossible at the time, so they waited another 30 minutes for the tide to be at its lowest.


The small hot pool - more like warm pool - after it was finished. Too bad I didn't get a picture of the better one further along the beach.

Coromandel Peninsula

Flying Kiwi: Thursday 17.01.08

Going back south we passed through Auckland, dropping off some people and picking up others. Then we headed toward the beautiful Coromandel Peninsula. A sea kayaking trip or 2-hr walk to Cathedral Cove was available, and I heard that it was absolutely gorgeous, but it had gotten extremely hot while we set up our tents at the new campsite. So we decided to forego the siteseeing and just get down to the beach for some sun, sand, and waves. The waves were brutal, swirling up the sand from the bottom, tossing our bodies around with no effort whatsoever. Sam determinately kept trying to surf the waves with the boogie board, but I gave up quickly, having swallowed enough of the salt water that burned my throat.

That evening, we all went to Hot Water Beach, where there are extremely hot rocks underneath the sand along the shore in some areas. So at low tide, people (usually tourists, haha) bring along spades (kiwi for "shovels") to try and build hot pools in the sand where the hot rocks are located. To find a good hot area you just had to dig your feet into the sand and see if you felt any warmth - in some places, resting your feet in sand less than 6 inches deep for more than a couple seconds would cause burns. It took us awhile to get a sandbar going to keep out the water from the waves, and in the end our hot pool was somewhat disappointing. We were too close to the water's edge and the waves kept breaking our sandbar, refilling the holes we had just dug. I didn't feel like getting wet, so I just huddled with some girls with our feet resting in warm sand. Further along the beach, a massive group of people had succeeded in creating a large hot pool. Enough water from the waves had gotten inside the sand bar area to create a pool deep enough to soak in, they had a solid wall going around the area to enclose it, and they had found spots so hot that even if you weren't resting on top of that spot, the heat had warmed all the water to make a good hot pool. Very nice.

If you've read my previous blog, you know that I was freaking out about some pictures I had lost. I did manage to find the pictures from the first couple weeks of my trip. It turns out they were on another SD card I'd forgotten about. But I know that I did have pictures on my USB drive, but now I have no idea what was on it. Hopefully they were just copies from an SD card I'd already uploaded or didn't erase...

Northland - Opononi/Kauri Forests/Waiwera

Flying Kiwi: Wednesday 16.01.08

We left camp at 8:30, and headed to Opononi, home of Opo the Friendly Dolphin. Apparently in the 50s, there used to be a dolphin that swam in the bay with the children of the town before it was cruelly shot by an unknown assassin. He is buried there now, and there was a statue of him erected in loving memory.

There we took a boat shuttle across the bay to the large sand dunes to go sandboarding! It's pretty simple: you carry a boogie/body board to the top of the dune, and basically slide down toward the water. If you started on a dune high enough or didn't brake at all on the way down with your feet, the boogie board would also carry you into the bay, splashing as the board skidded over the surface of the water. It was good fun, but tiring to walk up the dune, and the thrill of it wore off pretty quickly for Sam and me. I also do think that the amount of fun you have depends on the people that you're with, and unfortunately, Sam and I hadn't developed any great friendships yet. If we had gone sandboarding with the people who joined our tour in Christchurch and Queenstown (about 3 weeks later), I think I would have had a better time. Oh well. Can't say that I didn't like the sun and the sand that day.

The bus continued it's drive through the Northland region, and we stopped to do a quick 15 minute walk through the Kauri Forests. There was a single kauri tree that was absolutely gigantic. The interesting thing is that the plants that surround these trees have unusually shallow roots, and just stepping on them could destroy the plantlife in those forests. The kauri trees are venerated by Maori as being sacred, called "Tane Matua" ("God of the Forest") or"Te Matua" ("Father of the Forest"). There's also some Maori story about these trees, but I don't remember it now, so I'll have to look it up later. Apparently these trees are the world's largest trees after the Californian Sequoias. Impressive, eh? During the English settlement of New Zealand, these trees were in danger of extinction, and now they are protected by the government. During our quick walk we were lucky enough to see a local guide sing a sacred Maori hymn to the tree.

That night we camped in a holiday park/campsite in Waiwera, which happened to be right next door to the hot pools. With our Flying Kiwi discount - only $10 NZD - we relaxed in the spas after dinner. Funnily enough they also had slides (also in warm water). Sam and I decided to go on just one: the Black Hole. I didn't see the light at the end of it until it was too late - it an was alarmingly fast slide - and I plunged into the pool before I had a chance to register what was happening. There was also a "movie pool" where there was a large screen tv - unfortunately, they weren't showing movies but just tv shows on the local channel. A bit of a disappointment there. But all in all, good fun getting to know the people in our tour group.

Last (and totally random) note: around our camp area there was a little boy who kept showing up around our site - very odd. He became more familiar with us as people started chatting with him. He wanted so badly to impress us - you could tell - that he brought out this awesome Optimus Prime helmet, with voice modulator and everything, haha. I guess he was kinda cute, but clearly craving for attention, and when we left the next morning, he got all upset and couldn't stop saying "bye" as we waited for the bus to go.

As for pictures, I have so many I'm in the process of uploading them all onto pbase for the next several days. Unfortunately, I seem to be doing them all in the wrong order, so it seems like none of the pictures that I need for this blog are up yet. Sorry!

Nix that: it turns out that almost all the photos from the first half of the trip are gone! This stupid computer thought my USB drive (where I'd stored my photos to free up my SD card) had a virus on it and proceeded to delete everything on it! Why oh why!! ARGH. If I was one to swear, I'd use one now. =[

P.S. This daily blogging is getting hard to do, because I'm editing my journal entries to make them more enjoyable and coherent, all after a full day's work at the packhouse. I probably won't update daily, although I'll try to do so as much as possible.

Bay of Islands - Waka Tour

Flying Kiwi: Tuesday 15.01.08

In the morning Sam and I went on a Waka Tour - a waka is a Maori war canoe. They taught us how to paddle, although I can't remember any of the verbal commands. I also learned a puhaka (or was it puhana?), which is a war chant/glare. After the verbal command and chant, everyone glares to the left (or right, depending on the command) while holding up their paddles with wide-open eyes, and the guys also stick out their tongues (you can see what the glares look like in the group picture below).

Our guide was the chief of the tribe we were headed to see. On the other side of the river was the land on which his family's marae was situated. A marae is a family temple, considered sacred, where Maori spiritual and traditional ceremonies are held. A little side note: our guide technically isn't Maori; his people had inhabited New Zealand before the Maori came, and his people had embraced and shared their culture with the newcomers. I thought that was pretty interesting, but I'll call them Maori anyway, just to make it easier.

Getting off the canoe on the other side of the river, we learned how a foreigner is welcomed (or not welcomed, depending on the outcome). The chief of our group (some Aussie not part of Flying Kiwi) declared that we came in peace by accepting a feather dropped by one of the people in the tribe - to do this he slowly picks it up, stands up again, and holds it out on his palm, all the while never breaking eye-contact with the Maori who dropped it in front of him. The one who dropped it is the grandson of our guide (therefore he is also the chief of the tribe like his grandfather), and he's only 8 years old. He made elaborate threatening moves with his weapon - a Maori dueling spear/staff called a "taiaha" - as he approached us, before dropping the feather in front of him. After accepting our presence, he took off running, and a woman began chanting aloud in Maori language, which was supposed to announce to all the warriors hiding around us (there weren't any) that the incoming group was not to be touched.

Then we entered their marae, a short, humbling one-room shack made out of rough planks of wood. Against the wall opposite the door was a "photo" of the guide's father, which the tribe views as their guardian. Our guide asked if we could see the photo, but as we looked for the missing picture frame, we realized that the carved wooden statue perched in the middle of the table was what he considered a "portrait" of his father. As we looked at the statue, the guide mentioned that this was also supposed to be a moment to remember our own lost loved ones, and in that moment, share in the grief and remembrance together. So I thought of Cindy. Her 21st birthday had just passed too, if you hadn't notice the dates.

Then sitting down, they proceeded with the spiritual ceremony, starting with a great monologue spoken in the Maori language by the 8-year-old chief. When he had finished, the rest of the family (the guide/chief, his two daughters, his three grandchildren - one of which is the 8-year-old boy, - his nephew, and his future son-in-law) stood and proceeded to sing a song in honor of their chief and tribe. During this entire time I'd been studying the marae, the family, their clothing. So traditional, but so real; not some sham or show that they put on just to please the tourists. This is how they live!

When the song finished, our own "tribe" was invited to sing in honor of our "chief," therefore we simply sang a single refrain of "You Are My Sunshine," haha. Then everyone got to say a word to the family if they wished, inviting us to share our culture with them. Others stood up and said a couple words. I myself even thanked them for inviting us into their home and culture, and since they also asked us to speak any other language that was available to us, I simply said in Korean, Many Blessings for Your New Year - sae hae bok mah ni bah de sae yo. You Koreans know what I'm talking about. It's the only thing I could think of at the moment, particularly since I'm so shy about my Korean-speaking abilities, and New Years had just passed a couple weeks beforehand. Not bad, eh?

Getting off the subject.

The ceremony concluded with all the guests going around and greeting each member of the Maori as done in their tradition: touching foreheads and noses, saying "kia ora" ("greetings"). Then it was time to leave, so we did the usual photo-op, and climbed back into the waka to return to the other side of the river.

We did stop by the Huaruru Falls again, this time arriving by waterway, and heard the falls thundering around us as the guides maneuvered the waka toward it. Very cool.

Auckland & Bay of Islands

Flying Kiwi: Monday 14.01.08

It was sort of to a bad start. Ashley drove us to the pickup point at Queen and Quay Streets in Auckland. But her car broke down just as we got there. I hope she's okay - last I heard she was headed down to the South Island. So-Jung left for Australia, and Martin is now working in Auckland, I assume.

We drove straight up to the Bay of Islands, on the old bus named "Lola." Our guide is named Nga (the "g" is silent), and our driver is named Brad (or "Bred" if saying it with a kiwi accent). He's got one of the hardest kiwi accents to understand, and I have to really pay attention when he's speaking, otherwise it just flies right over my head.

Later in the afternoon I went on a bike/cycle ride, 15km, into the first campsite, which was very hilly and tiring. We started in the town called Paihia, up the hills around a scenic loop, and stopped to look at Huaruru Falls. Huaruru means "rumble" or "rumbling" which is evidently heard from the sound of the water. It reminded us of Niagara falls because it was wide and there was a constant mist hovering over the water.

The campsite was called "Bay of Islands Holiday Park" where we set up our tents and kitchen area. That night one of the cook groups whipped up some pasta for dinner, and afterward, some people left to go watch a Maori concert, which Sam and I opted out of. Since Sam and I decided not to share tents, I've got my own, and it's nice having my own private space. Not much for the first day, but it was nice and relaxed.

The first picture shows the group that we drove up with to Auckland before starting Flying Kiwi. [left to right: Sam, Me, So-Jung/Sojay, Ashley, Martin]. I miss 'em already. The other pics are of the 15km bike ride, with Huaruru Falls shown in the last one.

Back to Work

Unfortunately.

Sam and I have finished our Flying Kiwi Tour, which was totally awesome, and now that we've run out of money (yes, we're broke), it's back to work for us. I've already contacted the packhouse we were at before, and they're more than happy to let us come back, which is great, because we don't have to look for work.

I know a lot of you are probably wondering how our month-long adventure throughout NZ went, so for the next 28 days (starting Monday?), I'll be posting up detailed day by day entries, along with photos, if I have the time to organize them. Got a ton of photos. =]

Our next plan is to work until the end of March, then swing on over to Australia for a couple weeks (spend one week in Sydney with ebang and the other in Melbourne with some aussies we met on Flying Kiwi). After than it's only a couple of weeks before flying back home.

The tour was a great thing for us, and we met a lot of awesome people, and I already miss hanging out with them. But hey, that's what email and facebook is for, yeah?

Hope you guys are all doing well in the cold and snow (I heard there was a blizzard a couple weeks ago or something?). Take care!

The I-Can't-Think-Of-A-Good-Title Blog

I don't have time to write a whole lot. But don't worry, I'm keeping a detailed journal of what Sam and I have been doing on this Flying Kiwi Wilderness Expedition Tour. It's been an awesome two weeks, and I can't believe we're only halfway done! When I get the time, I'll put in some excerpts from my journal, but I can't now. Just letting you all know that we're still alive and in good health, and having an amazing time. Take care!

950km (580mi) in 6 Days

Sam and I have finally started that FlyingKiwi trip we've had planned since before we left the US. We started on Monday, but it was kind of a bad start because Ashley's car broke down as she was driving to the pick-up point, and we only just made it onto the bus. I felt bad just leaving her like that to deal with poor Jellybean (the car), but I know she understands that we had to take off. At least she had a couple of other people to help her out with the car. I'm really gonna miss that group: Ashley, Sojung, and Martin. We had a good couple of days in Auckland. Hopefully I'll be able to meet up with them later on after our adventure tour.

Anyway, now that FlyingKiwi has started, Sam and I are almost constantly on the road. We travel a long way each day, and I don't mind just traveling by bus over the country. It's very comfortable; we read, sleep, listen to music, snack, etc while the bus goes all over the island. It's very peaceful. We've gone on a bike ride, gone swimming, went to thermal pools, saw some waterfalls, etc. But the best thing we've done so far is a Waka Tour (a waka is a maori war canoe). We learned how to row, do a war chant/expression, and got to witness and be a part of a spiritual ceremony right in the maori guide's marae (a sacred meeting place). It was so fascinating. Most maori haven't stuck to their roots, but there are some groups that keep to their old traditions, wearing traditional clothes, speaking maori as their first language, still performing their sacred rites, and we got to see that on this tour.

There are plenty of walks and bike rides available during the course of the trip, and when we first signed up for this tour, Sam and I planned on doing a lot of that, but to be honest, it's so nice just sitting back and relaxing, not having to worry about transport, accommodation, or food, and just taking it day by day. It's also pretty interesting having to put up and take down our tents every evening and morning. Aside from that, I've been getting a lot of time to think. Lots of things to think about. I'm running out of time, so I'll write a blog about that later.

Other things:

- In about an hour, Sam and I are off to our skydiving. 15,000m (almost 50,000ft)!! Woot!

- It's been over a week since I've been online (it's hard to get internet access because we're constantly on the move). I'm on AIM right now, and I'm kind of sad that no one's online, but I guess it's not a good time, since it's Friday evening back in Chicago, haha. Oh well.

- Christie, I loved that book you sent me. It's been giving me a lot to think about, reflect on, and even pray about. Thanks so much. You don't even know how much I needed it. (By the way, Sam really likes that book you sent him, too).

Sorry if this blog was really random and incoherent. Hope you guys are taking care of yourselves!

|| edit ||
[10:23am Sunday, Jan. 20]

Nevermind. The skydiving had to be canceled because the wind was so strong. 30 knots, the guy said. Dang it. Sam and I were so looking forward to it! I guess we'll have to wait until we reach another spot later on in this tour.

I'm organizing more pictures on my pbase, so go take a look. There aren't any pictures yet from the tour we've been on, but there'll be some from the trip Sam and I took down to Wellington with Alex and Stuart.

On the Wanganui River

Sam and I just finished our 6-day kayak/canoe trip down the Wanganui River. It started up in Taumarunui (see if you can say that correctly), and finished 145km south (90mi) in Pipiriki. It's a pretty cool thing to do, and although it's a canoe trip, the Wanganui Journey is one of the Great Walks of New Zealand. Most of it is in a National Park, so all you see are trees, water, and rocks.

I was really looking forward to it, but honestly, it wasn't that great for me. Not because of the kayaking (that part I really liked), but because of the people I was with. Along with me and Sam were Stuart from England, Alex from Germany, and Trevor and Sheldon from Canada. Yes, I was the only girl. Most of the time I'm okay with that, as most of you know, and these guys were fun for awhile, but they're a bit extreme and the fun was over pretty quickly for me. Swearing all the time, talking about girls they did, and getting drunk twice on the trip. Even if I didn't mind that stuff, let's just add in the fact that it was basically like I wasn't even there. They were more Sam's friends than mine, and I know that if I wasn't there, their trip wouldn't have been any different. Yeah, I know, it sucks.

I started getting the feeling that it wouldn't be that great while Sam, Stuart, Alex, and I were headed down toward Wellington 3 weeks ago, because during that time I started connecting less with them, and when the Canadians joined up with us a couple of weeks later, I knew that I was out of the picture. Every once in awhile, I'd sit there and think, "I need a girlfriend right about now" or "I miss Christie and Cindy." But I guess I'm being really negative.

The trip to Wellington wasn't so horrible. We stopped at a lot of places along the way, and it was a comfortable trip. It was easier when there was just the four of us, and down in Wellington for New Years, we met up with more Hairy Berry people, and the 9 of us celebrated New Years together. Either way, that's all done, and Sam and I are currently back in Hairy Berry for a couple of nights.

We were finally able to open the package last night that you KUPCers sent. You crazy people. My friends here probably all think you're a bit nuts, particularly Bora (what am I gonna do with $1.25USD and a rock?). But thanks a lot for the presents, it was great to open up the cards and presents as though it was Christmas, and I was really touched. A side note though: who sent the bottle of dishwasher soap, and why would you send it? The bottle was empty by the time we opened the box, and it was all over the other stuff. Anyway, we're looking forward to using all the stuff you sent: the ramyun (thanks Geej, we already cooked up a couple), the books (can't wait to read them), the waterproof stuff (wish I had them during the kayak trip), the flashlight/pocketknife (they're awesome), and lotions/cream, afterbite, and bandaids (all to be put to use very soon). I think I remembered everything.. Anyway, thanks you guys! I love and miss all of you.

Dang, there are so many little stories I wanted to post, but it'll take forever. Sam and I are in Hairy Berry a couple of nights (we stopped here on our way to Auckland to pick up the package), and we've decided to head up to Auckland with Ashley (CO/WY) and Sojung (Seoul) tomorrow. It was awesome to see familiar faces here at Hairy Berry. This backpacker really is our home away from home, and it's really nice to have a base to come back to after lots of traveling. Anyway, in Auckland Sam and I are starting our month-long adventure tour on Monday, traveling throughout New Zealand.

Here are some pictures from the past month.

Sam and 3 other guys played War (four times) on Christmas Eve after discovering these plastic guns at the local $2 Shop.

Before we left Hairy Berry, Sam and I left our mark on the wall. Pretty neat design, eh?
Look familiar?
From LOTR! It's the infamous party tree next to the lake in the Shire.

This is from Rotorua, around the thermal pools. Even though the air was pretty cool that day, it was really hot on the bridge because of the steam.

There were a lot of places we went to, and I've got more pictures, but you can see those on pbase once I've got them all organized. With this, I'm signing out and I hope you all had a very good New Years.