Cue the "Jaz" Hands!

Forgive my absence, gentle readers. I have had a touch of melancholy writer's block this past week, having said a tearful good-bye to my beloved mother in Airlie Beach, and haven't had a thing to say.

Also, nothing really has happened.

While in Airlie Beach, BG did a three day cruise of the Whitsunday Islands, and came back to me sunburned and crispy, though happy at seeing humpback whales interacting with their babies (even one giving birth!), and snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef. I, the land-based half of this traveling organism, stayed behind and relaxed in our spacious hotel room... nothing too exciting there!

We arrived in tropical Cairns yesterday after a few days of steady driving north and said a sad goodbye to our beloved Spaceship "Jaz". You may remember that we hired a Spaceship called "Dexter" in New Zealand as well, and we have to say that we were ridiculously pleased with the whole Spaceship experience, start to finish! The administrative staff are so laid back and friendly they even drove over to our hostel to get something WE forgot to give THEM because they owed us money. Amazing.

Seriously, Spaceships are awesome. In New Zealand, we drove Dexter through both the South and North Islands, through snow, ice, rain, and sun. We drove thousands of kilometres and stopped whenever we felt like it, pulling into car-sized parking lots in malls museums all over the country. At night, we popped up the lid to the storage bay and grabbed some grub (not grubs) for dinner. Then we'd twirl the back seat around, pull out the extendable legs, and set up our bed in under 10 minutes. Fabulous! See for yourself.



We had enough room for the two of us and all of our gear.

Here in Australia, Jaz took us from Sydney to Cairns in four weeks, carrying three people and all of their useless stuff gear. This time we had a bigger fridge (yay!), and the weather was warm enough that we could put the awning up in the back, giving us approximately 30% more space and ventilation. The bed was roomy enough for mom and me to play Scrabble and also sleep comfortably at night. We could even make hospital corners on the mattress. And where was BG, you ask? He was in the tent next door. I'm pretty sure he preferred that arrangement anyway, after hours and hours driving with us, the Clones.



We chose a Spaceship over any other camper van rental for many reasons. Initially, they were pretty damn cool to look at, with their bright orange paint job and the name -- we can now say that we drove a Spaceship! The price was sweeter than sweet, as the daily rate was less than half of that of a traditional camper van, and because Spaceships are basically minivans, they use much less fuel (cha CHING)!

Then we started interacting with the staff. They were friendly and helpful. They gave us discounts, answered all enquiries with thoughtfulness and humour, and declined to take a credit card deposit on booking, saying that they "trusted [us] to show up." Then they gave us DVDs to watch (did I mention the Spaceship had a DVD player?), a Frisbee, and a deck of cards. Any technical problems that we did have were dealt with to our satisfaction and beyond, and they reimbursed us for any inconveniences that we had (there were very few.)

So, in summary... Spaceships are awesome because:

• They're cost-effective rentals, having cheaper rates and using less fuel than campers.
• They're convenient to drive and park, because they're smaller and more maneuverable. They fit into normal parking spaces and parking garages without diva drama.
• Spaceships provide plenty of entertainment options, from DVD movies to iPod karaoke.
• Do-it-yourself cooking and food preparation is a breeze with the "en-suite" gas-powered stove* and fridge.
  
• Spaceship Cosmonauts (the staff) are super-helpful and super-friendly... and super-cute too.
  
• Spaceships allow you to go wherever you want, whenever you want, however you want.

* Gas stoves are no longer a fearsome entity for me. Consider gas stoves conquered, with two months of use and not a single explosion or fire!

The Best Things About New Zealand

In no particular order...

• No pennies. All prices are rounded up or down to the nearest tenth of a dollar, so the smallest coin you'll ever have in your pocket is a ten-cent piece. Fact: this is awesome.
• All-Blacks. New Zealand's national rugby team is made up of broad-chested, sinewy men in tight shirts and short-shorts, which makes watching rugby a thoroughly absorbing experience. I'm just sayin'.
• Feijoas. They may smell like bathroom deodorizer (or maybe bathroom deodorizer smells like feijoas), but they taste yummy and I like typing f-e-i-j-o-a-s.
• The Kiwi way of saying that something is "Cruisy". I'm not exactly sure what it means, but I think it's good.
• Very clean and very abundant public toilets.
• The fact that, as Canadians, we qualify for free health care in New Zealand in the event of an accident or trauma (the trauma = bad, but the free care = good.)
• Seeing people walking barefoot in the streets and grocery store. Maybe that's more weird than good.
• White-chocolate coated vanilla ice cream bars (BG's input for the day.)
• The fact that one can, if desired, buy possum-fur nipple warmers. Or belly button warmers. Or "willy warmers." Any takers?

Thank you thank you thank you thank you

When on a trip like this, it's difficult to make friends. Every couple of days you leave a place and you leave behind all of the people you met there, often never to cross paths again. I'm beginning to get tired of the conversation we've been having the past nine months... Where are you from? How long are you traveling for? How do you like this place? Yeah, the volunteering was great, we loved it. Thailand was nice. I would go back there again. We're going to Australia next, then South Africa. I know, penguins, weird, but it sounds pretty cool. We'll be home for Christmas. Yes, we do get homesick. Which part of America are we from? The Canadian part.

Anyway, a person you've known for a week becomes an old friend. We have, to be fair, met a number of really great people, some that we've met up with again through our travels, some that have let us crash in their homes on a patch of floor, and some that we plan to travel with in a 4x4 vehicle through the deserts of Africa.

Even better than old friends are family. In the absence of true blood family, then family-of-friends is just fantastic. Here in New Zealand we have been truly lucky to be introduced to certain family members of a certain friend from home, and we have been truly spoiled by these certain family members. We were not only introduced to these wonderful people, but invited into their homes and treated like -- family.

So, a million thanks to the family of this friend (you know who you are!) for making our time in New Zealand a heartwarming and memorable experience. I'm certain that our moms thank you too, for keeping us warm and comfortable in your homes. I hope that we'll see you again soon, perhaps when you decide to come to Canada!

Strange and Beautiful Are the Stars Tonight

Sometimes it takes a song written by a Canadian band to highlight New Zealand's special features.

Strange: Sauntering into the communal kitchen at the campground in Westport to find two men butchering a wild hog they had just shot. Even stranger, they mistook my shocked and horrified deer-in-headlights staring for acute interest, and gave me a big piece of said pig. Me, the recently-turned-for-a-reason vegetarian. Stranger still, watching these men wipe the blood off the kitchen floor with the communal tea towels. (Yet another reason to bring your own.)

Beautiful: Waking up to a frosty morning, snuggled in a warm bed, watching the icy frost turn into a champagne dew as the sun hits the grassy hills, orchards and vineyards of the Nelson area.

Strange: Hissing, steaming thermal vents and bubbling, boiling mud pits in Rotorura. The constant stench of sulphur makes me wonder why anybody would choose to live here, though the abundance of thermal soaking pools does help.

Beautiful: Cruising through the Sound on the ferry from Picton in the South Island to Wellington in the North Island (according to BG, since I didn't look through the window even once -- thanks a lot, motion sickness!)

Strange: Cows drool a lot, a fact which is even more apparent when within 3 feet of their faces. Also, they should carry handkerchiefs for their constantly runny noses.

Beautiful: Crystal-clear lakes surrounded by towering snow-capped mountains in Wanaka, Queenstown, and... all over.

Strange: Zorbing (rolling down a grassy hill strapped into a human-sized plastic hamster ball.) p.s. We didn't do this.

Beautiful: The rugged West Coast highway which follows closely along the crashing ocean path... too bad about the sandflies.

Strange: Being given Elf ears to wear in geeked-out Lord of the Rings photo-ops.

Beautiful: Standing in the same place where Frodo (Elijah Wood) shrieked, "Get off the road!"

Strange, strange, strange: Everything is backwards: driving on the left, maneuvering roundabouts, walking on the left, hot and cold taps reversed, stove controls, the constellations, and how the heck do you order a coffee when the options are long black, short black, and flat white?

Less than a week left in New Zealand and we are so in denial about moving on. We've got this car camping thing down to an almost-exact science, though I still can't read a map to save my life. Next stop: Australia!

New Zealand Whirlwind

We've finally got photos of our bungy jump:

The Pre-Jump Terror...



And The Jump...



We've continued to keep ourselves busy. First, BG threw himself out of an airplane at 15,000 feet while I stood sensibly on the ground below and snapped photos as he plummeted towards the earth at 200 km/h FOR ONE WHOLE MINUTE (BG insists that I include this for some bizarre reason, like duh, don't people throw themselves out of planes every day?).



Then we drove to the famous Franz Josef Glacier, the only glacier that exists at sea level and at a temperate climate. We did a hike up on the glacier and had the experience of wearing crampons for the first time. Thankfully neither of us drew blood or lost any limbs. After that we moved on to the wonderfully-named west coast town of Hokitika and saw a kiwi bird, which is a really exciting experience because they're a)nocturnal and b)almost extinct. We did have to go to a kiwi bird "house" to see it, but it was pretty cool.

One really great thing that we got to do was go to the school that our friend Meagan teaches at. We got to meet her students and show them some of the pictures that we've taken through the past eight months while we've been on the road. They were impressed by the international snack foods we've sampled (and have not sampled) like fried tarantulas and boiled chicken feet and impressed us with the depth and breadth of their knowledge of native New Zealand birds. Good job, Meagan, and thanks for everything!

From there I had some alone-time and got to carve and polish my own Koru pendant. Oh, and we also saw seals and glow worms and ate something called Hokey Pokey. We're on our way north and in a weird twist of events, the weather's getting warmer as we make our way to the North Island.

It's easy to see that we love New Zealand. I've never seen such diverse landscape and wildlife within such a small area. The countryside is breathtaking with mountains, glittering lakes, and rugged coastlines that eclipse anything I've ever seen before. The people are friendly and generous.

See?

Milford Sound:



Hooker Lake (Mt. Cook behind):

Just Another Day

Yesterday: Woke up, got out of the car. Made a delicious breakfast of toast and stuff. Walked around Queenstown, bought souvenirs of stuffed sheep and kiwi birds. Had a cappuccino -- soy with a shot of sugar-free vanilla syrup. Drove to Kawarau Bridge, 25km out of Queenstown. Tied myself to my husband and bound our ankles with a huge elastic band and jumped off a bridge, 43m above the river. Drove through the mountains to Wanaka, went to the grocery store, went to see "Indiana Jones and the Legend of the Crystal Skull" at a small local cinema complete with comfortable couches and gigantic homemade chocolate chip cookies and ice-cream. Went back to the campground, made dinner, went to bed.

Just another day in New Zealand. Today, BG's jumping out of an airplane...

We Must Be Aliens

So, basically, it's a long story, but we have had a hard time posting photos lately because our computer broke when we were in Singapore. One night I went to play Scrabulous do something on the internet, the screen went all crazy and then went black, and no matter what we did it wouldn't restart, so BG called Asus Tech Support and they said we needed a new motherboard, or something, so he went to the repair place and they fixed it in under 24 hours, only they screwed something up and now the laptop has a tendency to overheat if it's on for a long time except when we're here in New Zealand where temperatures are cold enough that it stays cool, and more importantly, the computer no longer recognizes the fact that it has a memory card reader, so we have to dig out the USB cable and connect the camera directly to the computer old-school like it was 2006 or something.

So no pictures yet.

It occurs to me that I mentioned sleeping in a minivan, but our vehicle is so! much! more! than just a minivan. It's a Spaceship! During the day it drives like a typical minivan, except that it still feels totally wrong to be sitting in the driver's seat and finding that there's no steering wheel in front of me. When I get in the car I find myself trying to put my foot on the brake pedal as I do up my seatbelt. Weird. Anyway, the back seat faces forward during the day, but at night it rotates 180 degrees and the bed is set up inside. We have a tiny fridge and a pretty big food-and-storage area underneath the bed area. There's a light in the back so we can see and there's a DVD player and tiny screen so we can watch old episodes of "The Office" before we go to sleep. There's a small gas-powered stove for making quick meals, and it's fully stocked with all of the cooking and eating gear we would need.

Right now, during the New Zealand winter, it's a bit chilly to be sleeping in the van, but we rented the "winter warmer kit" which includes an extra duvet, a hot water bottle, Thermos, and an electric heater, so all we have to do is plug into a powered campsite and we're good to go. The camping parks here are beautifully laid out, with big clean kitchens and bathrooms. Some of them have heated lounges, TVs, laundry, and fireplaces, so the only time we've spent in the car is driving from point A to point B and sleeping. We've only had to use the gas stove once, and I have never been so happy in my life to cook! After eight months of ordering from menus, I am taking extreme pleasure in going to the grocery store, planning dishes, and cooking simple and innovatively tasty meals from familiar ingredients. Last week we ate an incredible salmon dinner after splurging on fresh fillets from the salmon farm, and I recently also did some pretty cool things with chick peas.

Right now we're in Milford Sound, and as we were approaching the area, BG was heard to exclaim, "I love fiords!" We drove up the steep, deeply curing alpine road amongst towering granite walls that were dusted with snow on top and yet also carpeted with moss and ferns at the bottom, waterfalls cascading down the sheer sides of them like a million glacial rivers. Last night we experienced our first New Zealand winter storm [EEK! A MOUSE JUST RAN BETWEEN BG'S FEET] complete with icy rain and gusts of wind that blew the raindrops sideways into the car door. Sleeping in a van which nearly got blown on its side (slight exaggeration, maybe) through the night was an interesting experience.


Photo Credit goes to Jack Chi, of Arcadia University in Auckland -- Milford Sound, Dwarfed by the Mitre Peak

Today we did a cruise of the Sound and saw fur seals lounging on a rock -- seals are weird looking creatures, have you ever noticed? We also stopped at the Milford Sound Deep Water Observatory and learned some pretty cool things about fiords and about Milford in particular. Because this is one of the rainiest, wettest places on earth, the fiords above Milford Sound almost always have waterfalls that run into the sound. These are obviously freshwater, which is lighter than seawater, and so there's almost always a layer of fresh water lying on top of the seawater. This fresh water acts as a sort of "filter", making the seawater darker and warmer than it would be at such a shallow depth. As a result, all softs of critters live at shallow depths in Milford Sound when they would normally be found much deeper. We actually could see the division between the layers of fresh water and sea water, like an oil and vinegar salad dressing in a glass jar. We saw different kinds of starfish, coral, fish, anemones, sea cucumbers, and shellfish. It was cool -- and cold.

We had back down the coast tomorrow with warnings of an impending snowstorm on our heels, but as cocky Canadians feel that it won't be as bad as they're making it out to be. We'll be careful until we get back to Queenstown, where we may or may not throw ourselves off a cliff. Wait for it!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

How many people can say they woke up in the back of a minivan on the morning of their sixth wedding anniversary? A few, probably. However, how many can also say that they drove up to the world's highest salmon farm, where the fish thrive in the glacial waters of the hydroelectric dam, fed the fish, and then ate them as sashimi so fresh it was practically still quivering? How many can say that they did something called "tramping the Hooker Track"? How many spent the evening lounging in front of a fireplace, warm and toasty inside, but then went outside in the frigid cold and got back into that damn minivan to go to sleep?

I'm guessing not many... just us. The few. The proud. The crazy.

Inside Outside Upside Down

When we were teaching English at the Pattaya Orphanage, "Inside Outside Upside Down" was a book BG read to our 7-9 year olds one day. It's also a book I read as a child, so it brought back many happy bedtime story memories for me!

However, inside, outside, and upside-down is certainly how I feel now that we've arrived in New Zealand. We're in Christchurch, which is the largest city in the South Island, but it certainly doesn't have a big-city feeling to it at all. It's got tons of green space, an adorably quaint downtown, and practically zero road traffic. The air is fresh and crisp. This is obviously a huge change from the environment we've been in for the past eight months, with the sweltering, sweaty heat and diesel-scented city air. It's autumn here, which is weird because it's late May and that's always spring for me; like I said before, things here are upside-down, and that's just the beginning of it.

Being here is so easy. I mean -- everything just makes sense. We can read all of the street signs. We can identify all of the foods in the grocery store. We aren't speaking Pigeon English anymore, although BG is continuing to gesticulate and gesture wildly with his hands as he speaks. In fact, we have been involved in no less than a dozen pleasant conversations with random strangers in the past three days. People obey traffic laws, drive reasonably and in predictable manners, chew with their mouths closed, and most wonderfully, they don't eat durian on public transit.

Aside from that, New Zealand is also gorgeous. We walked through Cathedral Square here in Christchurch, with its wonderfully bohemian and adorable market. We strolled through the streets as the leaves dropped from the trees, the familiar scents of autumn in our nostrils. Today we hiked up to the top of the mountain here (the name escapes me) and rode mountain bikes down -- proper mountain bikes, as BG gleefully noted, complete with decent hand brakes, gears, and anatomically protective seats. We kept stopping to take in the impossibly gorgeous scenery of rolling hills, plunging cliffs, and beautiful houses climbing up the hill side, interspersed with meadows full of puffy white sheep snacking on the grass. We stopped for a coffee and snack at a seaside restaurant and marvelled at how simply perfect the day was, as the breeze cooled our hands and the tide rolled out, away from the black volcanic sand.

Everyone is so nice here. BG stopped at an ice cream truck for a soft-serve cone, and when I declined to order one for myself, the truck owner gave me a sample cone (which was essentially a full serving in itself) anyway. When we hired the mountain bikes, we paid the guy cash at the top of the hill for the rental, and arranged to drop them off at the base. He never took our names or a credit card number, just trusted that his expensive bikes would end up where we said we'd leave them. (They did.)

Tomorrow we'll hop into our rental camper van and head south to Queenstown, home of bungee jumps and canyon swings. En route we'll take in some more mountains, more sheep, some wine, and some apples.

The food's great. The scenery's great. The people are great. We love it here.