Finally Arrived in Oz

Well...It took me a week, but I'm finally here in Sydney. I did my normal walking tour through the major part of the city hitting a few of the tourist spots.My niece's place is in north Sydney, so one must cross the harbor bridge to get to down town. The views from the bridge are good and you can see the opera house and the main harbor from there. Along the way, I could spot people walking on the bridge as part of an organized tour. Everyone was wearing the same outfits and tethered to a safety cable. The folks on the tour are up really high on the bridge and totally exposed to the outside. This is one tour that I would not attempt if I was scared of heights (it's a long way down!). The walk only took about 30 minutes, then I was in the downtown area.

The big cities are all beginning to look the same to me now. The major shopping areas are crammed with the same stores and restaurants. I browsed for some new sunglasses and souvenirs on George and Pitt street working my way over to Darling Harbor by early afternoon. Sydney has a decent aquarium, so I stopped in for the remainder of the afternoon fighting crowds of Japanese tourists to check out the shark tank and dugongs (sea cows). I think I'll be seeing some more of the beaches and ocean tomorrow. Big cities are just not my thing anymore so I'm not planning on doing too much here before moving on to Brisbane.

Ping Pong Wizards

I've had some time to fart around in Auckland while sorting out my travel plans. The extra time has been spent hanging with family. I ended up playing table tennis with the old timers one afternoon. These guys were serious ping pong players! My cousin and uncle are THE BEST table tennis players have have ever seen! My uncle watched me play Raymond (my cousin) for about three minutes and immediately knew what my weaknesses were. He basically toyed with me for a couple volleys before slamming a cross table shot to my backhand which was unreturnable. To counter this, I cheated over to the right hand side of the table (I'm a lefty). My uncle then targeted the left side of the table where I was not able to reach with my forehand. I have never been so sore playing ping pong before in my life not to mention being embarrased by a bunch of 60 year old dudes.

Sorted

The burglary at the hostel this weekend has cost me about a week in travel time (not to mention a few hundred dollars). The US embassy is closed on Wednesday, so the soonest I will be able to do anything will be Thursday. That means the earliest I'll be able to arrive in Oz will be this Friday or Saturday. Quantas has been great helping me change my flight schedule. So everything seems to be in order for me to start travelling again shortly. The latest word from the police is that about 13 different backpacker hostels in Queenstown were hit on the same night. According the the owners at Black Sheep, this was the first time anything like this has happened in years. I guess I let my guard down too early.

Looking over my schedule now, I will have to skip Cairns and fly directly to Brisbane after Sydney. We'll see if I can cover all the activities I had originally planned to do. Brisbane seems to be a good base of operations, but travel time to the Whitsundays and Byron Bay is a bit long. I find myself already thinking of Switzerland. I booked my tickets last night and I'm ready to go.

I "doctored down" again yesterday. Since I have saved about 1/3 of my pictures from my trip, I felt the need to capture as many photos of Queenstown as possible before moving on. I ended up buying another day pack and digital camera (the third one in two years) before summiting Dan Lomond peak for the second time in three days. Fortunately the weather was still awesome and I had great views from the peak. This time I cheated and took the gondola back down to the city instead of bombing the switchbacks. The other people who I have met during my travels will send me their pictures from Milford Sound and the Routeburn Track. Only the pictures from the glacier walk will be missing.

The Oh Shit Bag...Gone

Of all the places my "Oh Shit" bag could have been stolen, I can't believe it would be New Zealand. Apparently, there was a rash of thefts last night in Queenstown. About eleven people reported items stolen from their rooms in various backpacker hostels. In my hostel myself and another girl had their belongings stolen. The only consolation is that the police have a good description of the person who committed the crime. So now I'm sorting out what needs to be done as far as my passport is concerned. I hope I don't need to travel back to Wellington.

By the way. The "oh shit" bag is where I keep my passport, emergency cash, itineraries, and credit/ATM cards. So when you loose it, you say "Oh Shit!"

Queenstown is...

The nicest mountain resort town I've been to outside of the United States!

Every country has a town like this, but this place is so clean and comfortable that you feel so at ease when you arrive. I would equate it to Bariloche in Argentina or possibly Pucon in Chile. The town is a year round destination with great hiking, water sports, bungee jumping, paragliding, etc. in the summer and skiing in the winter. The only problem is that the activities are quite expensive. Paragliding will set you back about $100 US. Bungee jumping costs about $85 US for a single jump (hmmm. 85 bucks for 4 seconds of free fall). After hiking the Routeburn, it was a nice place to rest and relax before heading off to Australia.

I had tacked on a sea kayaking excursion in Milford Sound right after the hike. There were nine of us including team France, a Canadian couple, and a couple of English girls. The weather was a mix of rain and sun, but mostly rain. Milford Sound (or the MILF as the guides called it) was carved from glaciers thousands of years ago. The surrounding rock faces were steep and covered with trees and bushes. It has been raining for the past two days, so there were multiple cascades along the sides of the rock as far as the eyes could see. I liked the rain and clouds because it gave the sound a nice backdrop for pictures. We paddled in tandem boats out into the water. Although we were given neoprene and fleece outfits, I was still cold. The water was a bit choppy as we headed out, so I was soaked immediately. To keep myself warm, I paddled constantly to keep my temperature up. Along the way, we spotted a few seals playing around in the water. The group was strong, so we covered a lot of water that afternoon. My arms nearly fell off when I finished. I was tired due to all the paddling I was doing. Since I was the only one who needed a ride back to Queenstown, I got a little tour from the guides on the way back. In hindsight, I should have done the overnight sea kayaking trip in Doubtful Sound, but I will save it for another time (maybe in BC this summer).

I'm off to Oz tomorrow. It's going to be warm, so I'm sending all my cold weather clothes back to the US this afternoon. Nothing but t-shirts and swimmers for the rest of this trip!

Routeburn Track

As with everything else here in New Zealand, the hiking trails for the great walks are so well maintained that it doesn't even feel that you are out in the wild. The trails are groomed with fresh gravel where possible. Bridges are rock solid. The toilets are built in such a way that if the waste tank is full, it can be replaced with an empty one and the the full tank air lifted out by helicopter. The huts along the great walks have multiple stoves with gas, so no need to pack in extra stuff. You can definitely see where the money for the hut fees go.

I took the late bus out to the start of the trail and was accompanied by an American couple from Brooklyn and an Aussie. The weather forecast was for sun the first two days, then turning into rain for the next two. Steve (the Aussie) and I took of for the first hut at a relatively good pace. We decided to try climbing Conical Hill if time permitted. Since Patagonia, I've noticed that my pack carrying endurance has improved dramatically (thanks to HP). We arrived at Routeburn Falls hut at 5PM which was much faster than the estimated time. The clouds started to move in so we loaded a day pack and headed out for the pass. We had about 3 hours of daylight remaining, so I started a mix of running and walking to the approach. For this trip I decided to wear running shoes and packed my boots just in case. The shoes really allowed me to spring up the ascent to the climb. Unfortunately, the pace was too much for Steve and I ended up waiting at the emergency hut for him. From the hut we could see that the clouds had covered the peak. No views this evening.

When we returned, there were a group of people who were already in bed by 8:00! Why? It turns out that these same people woke up at 6 AM. Not to start hiking, but to eat their three course breakfast. And they had no regard for the people still trying to sleep at that time in the morning (fuckers!). Anyways, Steve and I made another attempt at Conical Hill the next morning. This time, the views into the adjacent valley were spectacular. There were low lying clouds swimming past snow covered peaks giving the views a mystical feel. From there, the trail hugged the side of the mountains up and over a pass, then down into Mackenzie Lake hut. The descent down to the hut was through the beech tree woods. Everything was so green and lush that you could tell this place received lots of rain every year. All of the trees were covered with moss as if they all wore wooly green jumpers. The sun was beaming down into the valley when we all arrived. Steve and I met up with the American couple and two German sisters on the way down to the hut. We all hung out by the lake stretching out our tired legs. The Germans actually jumped in the lake which was friggin freezing! Everyone started to get to know each other as the trek progressed. It was great fun meeting new people along the way.

As predicted, I woke up to rain the third day. By NZ standards, when they predict clouds, you have drizzle. When they predict drizzle, it is what we call rain. When they predict rain, it is like walking through a friggin' shower. Unlike Patagonia, when the weather changes, it normally sticks around for a while. I was well equipped for the rain this time (more than at Fitz Roy at least). It was only two hours to the last hut. With the clouds and the rain killing the views, I just put my head down and walked. It is amazing how many water falls appear when it rains. At times, it looks like there is one every 20 meters. The last stop was Howden Lake hut where we dried our things and gorged on the remaining food. Some people packed so much food that there was literally a buffet line in the evening.

Overall, the walk was good. I wish that I had time to do another one in another part of the South Island (maybe next time). I would wake up the next morning at 6 AM and walk to the divide in the dark to catch the bus for my sea kayaking trip in Milford Sound.

Final conclusion for the shoes on the trail. Running shoes are kind of soft, but trail running shoes may be a good option. Need to look for some approach shoes when I get home.

The South Island

I breezed through Christchurch and took the Tranzalpine to the west coast of New Zealand. The route passed through the Canterbury plains following the Waimakariri river up to Arthur's Pass. From there, you can see the mountains which make the south island look a lot like Patagonia. I'm currently in Franz Josef which is a small town and home to one of two well known glaciers in NZ. I refrained from doing any glacier walks in Patagonia thinking that I could do one here. I booked a half day on the ice which was just enough for me. The FJ glacier is nice, but it pales in comparison to the Moreno glacier in Argentina. The unique thing about the FJ is that it ends in a sub-tropical rain forest. It is strange seeing the ice and thick trees and ferns all in one place. I was blessed with great weather today. No clouds and you could see for miles. In Switzerland, if you heard helicopters during the day, it meant that some one was hurt or missing. In Franz Josef, helicopters in the air means good weather and visibility for aerial tours. There were heli tours leaving every 15 minutes from the town. It was a good day to be out.

One thing I've noticed is how good the hostels are down here. I have never been to a place where the facilities are consistently good. My YHA hostel in FJ has an awesome kitchen. You should see some of the meals people are cooking here. Friggin' Gourmet!!! From my perspective, travelling is too easy here. No one is paranoid about losing their belongings. Shit such as ipods, passports, cameras, etc. are just scattered everywhere in these dorm rooms. The hostels are top notch, transportation is well orchestrated so connections are always on time, and there is no language issue (for me at least). This has not been adventure I was looking for, but more of a vacation.

Technical Issues!!!!!!
I'm going to euthanize my ipod after this trip. I've had that thing for at least 5 years and the battery only lasts 3-4 hours. I have also decided that my pictures are quite limited compared to the live view. Maybe I'll buy an SLR camera once I return to the states. I just can't fully capture the scenery the way I want with my current camera.

FJ is only a two night stop. I'm off to Queenstown tomorrow.

I Want My MTV....Back!

My buddy Kirk had sent out his top 25 most influential albums list on Facebook this week. Due to my jet lag, I've had a lot of time to think about mine between the hours of 3 and 6 AM. It occurred to me that much of what I listened to or liked in the early 80's was based on what I saw on MTV. Then I realized that there is a whole generation out there who have never known cable TV without MTV. Then I also realized that there will be a new generation of viewers who will watch MTV and NEVER see any music videos.

I really miss those days. Do the words "Hello, I'm Dave Kendall, and you are watching 120 minutes on MTV" make you smile. For those hardcore MTV fans, you should remember the first 120 minutes host Kevin Seal. Whoever thought of the concept of the music video was a genius. I'm not talking about live concert footage pieced together. I'm talking about Michael Jackson's Thriller video. A music video so powerful, there was a "Making of Thriller" video for the video. How about Mick Jones and Joe Strummer playing in an oil field with a pet armadillo running around in the video for Rock the Casbah. Oooooh, and David Lee Roth swinging a samurai sword around and doing the splits in the video for Panama. Men at Work, Talking Heads, Flock of Seagulls, Phychedelic Furs, Beastie Boys, Elvis Costello with those red boxing gloves, I can go on and on remembering videos from the 80's to early 90's.

I was able to pare my list of top 25 albums down to about 30. These would not be my favorite albums, just those that I remember during specific moments of my life. Maybe I should compile a list of top 25 music videos too.

Wellington and The Start of My Backpacking Trip

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.

I decided to take the Overlander which is the train that links Auckland to Wellington. The route cuts right down the middle of the north island. The ride would be a long one, but at least I would get a chance to see the scenery. The landscape is green and lush. All of the mountains seem to be covered with grass. There are so many cows and sheep lining the country side that they seem to be part of the landscape itself. I would arrive in Wellington just late enough to grab dinner and check my emails before going to bed.

Maybe it is the part of town I'm in, but I'm getting a good vibe from this place. I found an excellent coffee shop called Fidel's (Castro) which is right across from a giant adult book store. No matter. The place is punky so I immediately liked it (or Ponkhay and Agyness Deyn would say with her Manchester accent). Yup. She's my flavor of the week. It quickly struck me like a Mike Tyson bitch slap that Wellington is actually a mini San Francisco. My friend Peter did tell me this before I left, but I only noticed it in the houses when walking up to Mt. Victoria lookout. The town is brimming with personality and it has a very arty and poetic feel to it.

I spent the rest of the morning and much of the afternoon at the Te Papa museum. There were about half a dozen school groups waiting outside the museum when I arrived. It reminded me of the scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off when Ferris, Cameron, and Sloan were at the Chicago Museum of Art (Cameron starring at the Seurat painting with the Smiths "Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" playing in the background). I was in luck because the Monet Exhibit just arrived less than a month ago in NZ. The exhibit was slammed with people. There were art students taking notes, collectors, critics, and tourists making their way through the maze of impressionist paintings. I have noticed what I have coined the 'art critic' pose. You should know this one. It's the one where one hand cups the elbow of the opposite arm. The other hand is scratching the chin as the person stares intently at the painting expecting to discover its soul. Chill dude! The painting ain't moving. Besides the Monet exhibit, the other long standing installations were also good. Who can resist the real life giant squid? I wish I had another day in the city, but I must push on to keep to my schedule.

I finished the Alchemist much more quickly than I expected. It took me a while to find a few more good books to read. More weight for the backpack. I'll definitely send stuff home when I reach Sydney.

Auckland and the Family

Well... I don't think I'm going to see too much of Auckland while visiting with the family. It is just a fact that I'll have to deal with during my travels. I had some hint of this while travelling in Taiwan, so I should have expected the same thing while here. I've been doing a lot of family oriented things the past few days which is fine. Some of these cousins or nephews I'm seeing for the first time or the first time in over 23 years.

My brain is finally catching up with the language. Most of my communication with my family has been a mix of Taiwanese and English with a bit of Mandarin mixed in. For the first day, I kept on saying Spanish words such as "Si" and "Pero." Eventually, I was able to shake the habit. It is also kind of weird seeing a whole set of relatives with Aussie/NZ accents.

My cousins and I decided to drive up to the bay of islands for the weekend. My cousin in law Raymond is the perfect stereotype for bad Asian drivers. He drives super fast on the winding NZ roads and doesn't believe in blind spots. When we got in the car, he put these big sunglasses on top of his normal glasses making him look like a male Yoko Ono. Also, he speaks Taiwanese like Archie Bunker where everything seems to be totally obvious to him and everyone around him is stupid. The rain on the drive up made me a bit uncomfortable with his driving, but we arrived in Paihia unhurt. The day was a total loss. Even the cultural show at the museum was closed due to flooding and rain. The next day was clear and we booked a cruise in the surrounding bay (along with all the other retirees). The boat ride was nice and we were accompanied by two pods of dolphins. Overall the trip was not a total disaster. The next two days were spent with family at Cornwall Park (none tree hill) and the suburb of Devonport. Auckland reminds me of a combination of both Santa Cruz CA and Portsmouth NH. Don't get me wrong. I like the place, but it is similar to other places I've been before. I'm looking forward to head to the South Island soon.

One thing I can always count on when visiting family abroad is that they will feed you until you burst. Every night, I've had excellent Chinese food and a lot of it. Even during the day, the aunts and cousins will offer up fruit (which is excellent in NZ), snacks, and coffee. All of the weight I lost tramping in Patagonia will be gained back in a week.

They Lost My Bag Again!

My backpack was delivered 30 minutes before my shuttle to the airport. I dumped out all of the camping gear and switched out some of the clothes, but not all. The weather in New Zealand is similar to Patagonia, so I would require the same things. Since I booked the huts for the Routeburn Track, no tent or thermarest was needed. The only addition to my gear was the pocket rocket and mess kit. And so I would arrive to see my relatives bringing a lot of dirty laundry with me. I mean nothing in my backpack was clean when I left the house. I did have enough time to buy some chocolates for the family so I didn't arrive empty handed.

I was waiting at baggage claim for about an hour when they paged me over the intercom. Apparently, my bag was en route to Brisbane. Not Again! The airline had lost my bag twice within 48 hours. At least I was getting picked up by family and I could hang out without worrying about my bag. I was thinking about all the stuff I could buy if the bag was lost. Jane introduced me to a NZ clothing company called Icebreaker last year which uses wool for all their products. The great thing about wool is that it doesn't stink. I've had better results using natural fibers over synthetics in the past (only for base layers) so I'm going to load up before heading back to the US. Also, the dollar is very strong against the NZ dollar, so my travels should be fairly cheap this go around.

Upon my arrival, I realized that I hadn't done too much planning for my trip. I had a basic outline, but I knew that I would cross out a bunch of things due to time. Four and a half weeks in Patagonia was no where near enough time. How could I expect to adequately see New Zealand AND parts of Australia in five! My thoughts ran back to Florence who was the French gal I met on the Navimag. She had the same delima trying to squeeze in as much as she could in Patagonia before going home. The only thing which was set was the Routeburn Track from the 16th to the 18th. The rest was still up in the air. I surrendered the fact that I wouldn't see the great ocean road or Ayer's rock this time. My two weeks in Australia would be my vacation from my vacation, just like Phuket for my SE Asia trip. The plan now is to head up the east coast for surfing and scuba diving.

So I'm sitting around with my aunts, uncles, and cousins. Everyone is talking at the same time about what I should do in NZ. It's a real mess. I'm sure it will all work out. I just need to make sure to book everything ahead of time so I don't lose any days.

and on top of all that...
I still miss Patagonia.

The Math is Not Working In My Favor

I'm currently waiting for my backpack which is supposed to arrive by 5 PM. However, my shuttle to the airport is picking me up at 2:35 PM for my flight to Auckland. This is going to be close.

Whoops. What about Pucon?

I must not be spending any time in the internet cafes. I'm trying to update everything from home since the internet is fast and there is no line.

It was a long bus ride, but we pulled into Pucon at around 11PM in the evening. I quickly found my hostel which was close to the bus station. The Tree House was a nice place run by and English woman and Chilean guy. It was a slightly more expensive, but it had a good relaxed feel and the beds were nice. John, Lou (the English couple), and I decided to book the climb of Volcan Villarica. Nearly everyone who comes to Pucon climbs the volcano. It isn't that technical, but it sometimes is too much for those who do not normally exercise. The day started at 6:30 AM. Dang! We took the bus to the ski resort where we took the top lift up to the start of the hike. The lava rocks grabbed at my boots quite well so I had good traction to pull myself up the switchbacks. The group started to thin out due to the pace of the guide. I was still with the fast group but John and Lou fell back a ways. That was alright. No need to rush anything when you are climbing something that tall. Eventually, we reached the snow. There was a temperature inversion that morning, so it got hotter as we ascended. The snow was soft, so we didn't need cramp-ons that day. Once we were at the top, you could smell the gasses coming from the crater. Sometimes the sulfur smell was so great, it felt like someone had sliced a whole bag of onions right underneath your nose. The way down was much faster than the climb. We all sat on these butt covers and slid down troughs in the snow. It was like being in a luge run. Quite fun, but we were soaked by the time we reached the bottom. Overall it was a good tour, but I would have liked to have done it in the spring where you can snowboard all the way down. Maybe next year.

The next day, I teamed up with a few folks from another hostel to hike to the mirador at Cani. There were four of us, each from a different country. Jess was the Canadian and the strongest of us four. She was doing the opposite loop as I had done the month before through Patagonia. Her triathlon training propelled her up the steep 9K track like a gazelle and the rest of us hung on as best as we could. The trail wound it's way through araucaria (monkey puzzle) trees past a couple small ponds to a mirador at the top of a cliff. From there we could see four different volcanoes. It was worth the effort. After a few minutes, I led the group off the mountain HP (Heather Poyhonen) style. Jess was the only one who stayed with me as I bombed the switchbacks back to the park office. This time the descent was a bit easier since I wasn't carrying 15 kilos on my back. We returned to Pucon all dusty and smelly. A good shower would do wonders.

Lou met me at the Tree House and invited me to join them for an evening at the hot spring. This would be a nice conclusion to my trip on Patagonia. I spent five hours on my feet today, so a nice long soak to relax was what my body needed. I had been hanging out with John and Lou for the last three days. John is a guy who could be anyone's friend and Louise is such a sweetheart with stunning piercing blue eyes. They are well traveled and great to talk to about going abroad and life in general. There were eight thermal pools in all. Each varied in temperature from the luke warm to the torturous 45 deg C boiling pot. We started off in the wrong direction starting with the super hot melt your skin pool first. Being far away from the city, the stars were very bright. I'm still not used to seeing stars from the southern hemisphere. I was so relaxed when I got back to the bus, the trip back seemed like it only took 3 minutes. My trip was nearly complete. I said my goodbyes to John and Lou. My bags were packed for the most part so I mentally prepared myself for the long bus ride back to Santiago and the overnight flight back to the US.

Just like the last time I left South America, I felt as though I was not completely finished with my time here. I could definitely see myself coming back, but who knows when and how.

Pit Stop

I get home and start checking the internet and I notice that Morrissey is holding a baby on the cover of his new album. Por Que?

It was a crazy travel day leaving Pucon. The bus had a flat tire on the way to Santiago so I was worried that I wouldn't get to the airport on time for my flight. Everything turned out alright and I even had enough time to order some food at the Ruby Tuesday's at the airport. The flight was long and I'm in the mode where I'm getting used to speaking to people with American accents again. I always seem to want to stay longer when I travel to South America. I don't know why. For Switzerland, it was the end of the ski season and for Asia, I was ready to come home to see friends and family. However, the last two times in South America, I wanted to extend my travels to hang out with people who I met along the way.

I arrived in Dallas at 6 AM. Everything was going smoothly until I was the last one standing at baggage claim with no bag. This puts me in a somewhat difficult situation since I leave for New Zealand in 36 hours. My thoughts turned to what could have happened. Could someone have walked off with my bag on accident? That seems very unlikely since I had my tent and Keen sandals strapped to the outside of the bag. The other possibility is that the bag never left Santiago. If they found it and put it on the next flight to DFW, it would arrive tomorrow which would do me little good. I mentally went through the inventory of items in my backpack that I needed for New Zealand and Australia. I had backups for most items, but I would have to buy new toiletries, sleeping bag, guide books, and rain gear. Crap! More rain gear! The list of things to buy gets bigger as I think about it. Maybe I'll pack light and buy everything in NZ.

The house was immaculate when I walked in the front door. Jaime had cleaned the place up quite nicely since I left. Now I had to go through piles of mail separating out the bills and tax forms from the junk mail. The day will also be spent uploading pictures and catching up on emails and such.

I'm glad I am not spending too much time at home. You just get way too comfortable when you are at home for a while.