Inspiration

Tomorrow morning we are getting up bright and early for the first of hopefully several "tramps". Although I had both yesterday and all day today I, in true Tommy fashion, put off the update until the last minute. I even considered not writing one at all... probably out of laziness but I finally got the kick in the pants I needed. Well I suppose two kicks in the pants. The first was that Lauren, who knows everything about everything gave me a a crash course in blog features... and as a result I have added my reading list, other blogsites to distract those of you looking for a little more "umph" than you are finding on this page, and most excitingly... PICTURES!!! The second kick in the pants really came from shame. Devon and Ross, our two most recent co-travelers should get sponsored at blogging... like a big sponsorship from the awesome blog... uh, king... or whatever the equivalent may be. Anyway, they are not only good at updating consistently, but they add videos, pictures, AND catchy titles. Needless to say, by their standards, I don't actually have a blog at all - I have a webpage dedicated specifically to my own word vomit.

For these reasons, I have chosen/been shamed into updating.

Since leaving Christchurch we have been mosying our way through the south island. Our activities have consisted primarily of driving, hiking, setting up our campsites really fast, taking them down really slow, improving our pocket rocket culinary skills, and impromptu stops to go swimming, take pictures, or drink wine. I could get used to this. The current route we have taken has been:

Christchurch - Mt. Cook - Dunedin - Catlins Coast - Te Anau/Milford - Queenstown.

Tomorrow morning we are leaving for a 5 day tramp called the Rees-Dart Tramp. If you happen to have a New Zealand guidebook handy, take a gander in there. Otherwise, you'll have to wait until I get back.

a long expected party...

So while I have not exactly been the most faithful blogger at least I have followed through with my promise to be inconsistent. Or perhaps I have been consistent about my lack of posts… whatever.
So we left Wellington 9 days ago. Wellington is either the second or third largest city in New Zealand and its smaller than Grand Rapids. In fact, the city of Los Angeles is said to have more people than all of New Zealand combined. Wild. I’ve actually begun to notice the small ways that the small population affects this country, distinguishes it from all the other places I’ve been. The main thing, is the amount of undeveloped territory. We traveled from Wellington to Christchurch via ferry and train. The ferry ride between the two islands was incredible. Once we hit the south island we hopped on a train that took us to Christchurch. Apparently it wasn’t the fastest way to travel but in those 4 ½ hours but was, again, absolutely beautiful and I was amazed at how much of the country we rode through was undeveloped.
We’ve had our first little slip up, the first travel glitch, to prevent us from doing our “thang”. Since arriving we have basically been cashing in left and right on the hospitality and generosity of others. Needless to say, this has made us both thankful and spoiled. Things have continually swung the right way. Since arriving in Christchurch we have been enjoying spending time with Megan and Richard, learning about organic gardening, meeting their friends and families, a trip to Taka Matua to Richards Bach (cottage) and a night on the town. Two other travelers, Devon and Ross, have joined us here in Christchurch as well and the four of us will be continuing on to explore more of the south island. We will be again, banking in on some generosity with Laurens friend Juliette, who is letting us use her car the entire time that we are here. The process of getting the A-Ok to start driving the car has been a bit more frustrating than we thought. It has been over a week of trying to get insurance or get ownership transferred or find any other loophole that would get us on the road sooner. Well, jumping through loopholes is a pain in the whoopdy, and its hard to be patient when you’re on the brink of an adventures, waiting for CAR INSURANCE to go through. After a few days with no word, we decided to move forward and start pursuing other options which lead us into the sketchy dirty garage of the backpackers car market. This was a garage where backpackers trying to sell their cars could keep them in this garage for other backpackers looking to buy car. It was a sad and desperate place. People needing to get out of dodge and not wanted to lose money on their car investment. You got hounded by tons of people trying to sell you their car, lowering their prices on cars for already pretty cheap and throwing in tents and gear for free… leaving was depressing – the cars all looked dejected and sad, and the owners looked even more downtrodden – as Lauren put it “it was like leaving a dog rescue without a dog”. I am picturing us at the end of our journey, in that same situation, trying to get rid of a shit car and I feel ridiculously thankful for those more patient than I.
Literally, 20 minutes after we left, we got a call about the car… and now, 2 days later, we are car owners, with insurance… and in an hour we are hittin the road… we celebrated with cheap beer and a loaf of bread… oh the joys of being poor vagabonds.

Week One

Week One – Brief Overview
Day One: Arrive in Auckland. Buy a cell phone, walk straight uphill to find Kevin (who we are staying with while in Auckland), get to top of huge hill – still carrying luggage, get sent back down hill by two men who don’t know what they are talking about, realize we were right the first time – walk straight back up the hill. Try to convince Lauren this is funny. She buys it.
Day Two: Drive to Tongariro National Park. Get drinks at The national park lodge with friends of friends of friends.
Day three: Hike the tongariro pass – strongest winds of all time. Stupid decision –more later.
Day Four: Drive back to Auckland make several stops on the way including Lake Taupo – New Zealands largest inland lake. Watch someone bunji jump and decide that I want to do that [a little bit].
Day Five: Bus – All day. Arrive in Wellington. Go to bed.
Day Six: Wake up early, notice our hostel bunk mate is sleeping in what appears to be spiderman whity tighties. Go to the Musuem[awesome]. Wharf Jump with Kevin and friend [Wharf=pier]. Learn new game: Mah Jong. Go to new hostel to camp.
Day Seven: Morning in downtown wellington – eat flapjack with WAY too much cream. Get on bus to head for Lord of the Rings tourist location. Meet Judy on bus – go to her house instead. Go to WETA studio. Walk to beach/café.
The most distinctive quality I have noticed thus far with New Zealanders is hospitality. Our plans for where we would be staying in Auckland fell through at the last minute and our high school friend Luisa pulled through with a few contacts, Kevin and Laura. To our surprise these total strangers were not only willing to give us their extra room but they were also willing to share their food, beer, time and car with us. Kevin and Laura were incredible hosts right off the bat. Our first weekend in Auckland was actually the same weekend as Aucklands anniversary so most people got a long weekend with no work on Monday. Ironically, many people celebrate the founding of their homestead by leaving it for the weekend including Kevin and Laura. A day after we arrived they drove us four hours south to tongariro national park where we stayed with yet another stranger to us, Kevin and Laura’s friend Beth, who was also more than willing to share her space and food and drink with us. When our cell phone didn’t work at the base of the Tongariro crossing, we easily hitched a ride 20 minutes back to the village with total strangers. Megan and Richard, Laurens Kiwi friends, met us at the bus station in Wellington and immediately brought us to their favorite café, brought us wharf jumping and introduced us to their friends. Today on the bus when we asked an older woman for what stop to get off if we are looking for the Lord of the Rings studio. She not only told us but offered to drive us where we made a pit stop at her home, offered us a snack and then detoured to see the home of Peter Jackson. Needless to say, the Kiwi’s we have been more than accommodating.
The weather on the other hand has been a little less consistent than the people especially when we needed it the most. Our second day in Tongariro National Park, Kevin, Laura, Lauren and I decided to do the Tongariro Crossing, which is in the land of Mordor and goes right up to a peak near Mt. Doom. It is supposedly one of the most beautiful sights on the North Island. We woke up to rain falling outside Beths cabin which was a bit of a downer but as Lauren and I don’t find ourselves in New Zealand very often, opted to give it a go anyway. Once we arrived at the trailhead the weather was even more dicey than it had been in town and after a half hour Kevin said that when we reach the trail hut a little ways ahead we should reassess the situation. Once at the hut we found several other hikers trying to avoid the elements. Kevin and Laura decided, since they weren’t going to see anything anyway, that they were already wet and cold, and that they live close enough to do it another time, to turn back and do it on a nicer day. Lauren and I were not quite as wise and despite weather warnings from several hikers who had just come down from the mountain, opted to go anyway. While we would have preferred blue skies and a little sunshine, the mood felt appropriate as we were in fact approaching “Mt. Doom.”
Shortly after we got to an area with more rocks on either side that protected us a bit more from the wind and also the clouds were letting a little bit of sunshine through. We took some pictures and we were feeling confident – perhaps even arrogant with our decision. As we approached the next part of the hike we came across a warning sign and went down the checklist:
Is the Weather Okay? “No”
Do you have the right gear? “No”
Are you fit enough? “Probably not”
Lauren and I looked at eachother and nodded in agreement. “Forward March”
The next hour and a half was like swimming up stream. Not only was the wind getting stronger but we passed many hikers who cautioned us moving forward with things like “It gets pretty intense up there”, “The top is very exposed” and “I would turn around” but our stubbornness wouldn’t allow it and we marched onward. The wind continued to get stronger, the path steeper, and our legs sorer. By this point my raincoat was so saturated that it was actually trapping more water in that it was keeping water out. As we got closer and closer to the top we got more and more miserable, and the wind got stronger and stronger but we kept saying to ourselves “we’ve come this far already”. As we reached the highest point we could hardly stand and we could see none of the views that our guidebooks and friends had mentioned as so beautiful. We could barely see the next trailmarker. As we started making our descent, the wind got to a point that it was literally difficult to stand and Lauren and I had to shout to eachother to hear anything. Finally, Lauren sat down because the wind literally might have blown her over. Finally, we put our stubbornness aside and turned around. Not being able to see ahead and not knowing what the second half of the hike had in store we decided that it would be even dumber than what we had done already to keep moving forward. “At least we made it to the top” was are only consolation. The hike back down felt long, and as the adrenaline wore off, my exposed legs began to feel the windburn and our joints and muscles started to feel what what we had put them through. Finally we made it down to the bottom and hitched our way back to town. While we may have looked like the stupid Americans, I think we both feel that our Mt. Doom experience, was both appropriate and worth it.
Wellington has been a nice, relaxing pace after that adventure. After a few more days here we leave with Megan and Richard, for the south island by boat and train. We will spend a few days in Christchurch and then set out for a 6 day hike on the Routeburn Trek. So far, I am loving New Zealand.