Back in Christchurch

Here we are again...in Christchurch. We left Dunedin on Wednesday after picking The Beast up from the glass shop....

The Beast looks GORGEOUS with her new windscreen! It gave her a complete makeover...made her look so shiny and new. Of course since then, having travelled Dunedin - Mt Cook - Christchurch...we've driven into many bugs and have acquired lots of bug-kill stains in the last three days but I'm sure after cleaning off them remains, the glass would look spanking new again.

*****

We managed a three-hour hike at Mt. Cook. We hiked up to a beautiful view of the Hooker Glacier. Yet another glacier, I know, but we had a much better view of this one than the Franz Josef glacier. We have pictures, Kyle will probably put them up sometime soon.

*****

We drove into Christchurch this morning thinking we'd get some errands done. We didn't realise that Good Friday is a public holiday in New Zealand though, so we're going to have to stay a night. We're now on Sumner Beach, a Christchurch suburb, enjoying the sunset while Kyle's cooking some mystery dinner. 

Have a good Easter, everyone.

If The Beast could talk

Dear Beast,

You poor dear. I can't say enough how sad it makes me feel to think of you all cold and lonely in the shop tonight. Especially without your front windscreen. 

You've been so good to us, Beast. It isn't your fault at all that you're in the condition you are today. You might be old, rusty, and some might say falling apart, but every time we turn the ignition and you roar to life, I can't help but know that you've many more happy miles left in you just yet. 

When we first saw you on that online auction, we knew we had to have you. Or at least, a van just like you. I want you to know this, that when we first arrived in this country and seemingly took you home on nothing more than a whim, we were happy. And one half months later, despite finding out how ill you really are, we are still happy we took you home that day.

Admittedly, we might have appeared reckless in paying so much for you in the beginning. But I'd honestly like to believe that there are many reasons for this, and that none of them are cause for regret. Your previous owners either did not know how much repair you needed, or kept silent about it. Either way, it doesn't matter. I just hope that they needed the money they got from you, and used it well. While we aren't exactly rolling in cash ourselves right now, and being young and our lives just beginning, and we might need all the money we can get to start out, but I take comfort in the hope that they might have needed it more than we did.

Besides, you can't exactly put a price on the experiences that you've given us. We have argued, but also laughed. Hard. We have been upset and frustrated when things were going downhill, but we have also trusted, and believed. We have been so blessed with the opportunity to witness again and again, God's amazingly beautiful creations that never fail to leave me in complete awe and amazement. And lastly, I, for one, have learnt many things about myself in the last month or so, things I would never have discovered had it not been for you...just exactly how you are, Beast. Any differently and the time we spent with you would have turned out otherwise. And where would we be then? 

I just wanted you to know, Beast, that despite everything we've had to give up to keep you running and us, continuing on on this trip, we have also gained much. And although at the moment we don't have much in the banks to pay for your repairs, we have decided that it would be best that we do it still. Just because it would be the right thing to do, and I pray that someone else will benefit from you still happily chugging along on NZ streets. 

After all, there's still much to learn from the road.

Love and Salaam,

the waternymph

RUST - Keeps auto repair shops in business

So in the last two days we've made a short trip of the South Island's Southern most tip. Two days ago we left Invercargill and made our way to Milton. From Milton we continued yesterday onto Dunedin and here we stayed. The account below is of what befell our heroes today.


When this trip began, it should be known that I didn't fully know what I was getting myself into. And it excited me. In fact, it was what kept me from getting another job and once again having a very decent supply of money. But these jobs and this money, I felt, kept me from seeing all aspects of life. It may sound like nonsense, but I wanted to live problematic for a while. I wanted to be poor. At least I thought so.

So far, it hasn't been that bad. We've had a lot of up's and only a few down's. Unbelievably few arguments and frustrations, all mixed in with some good old nights of starving (followed shortly after by overeating), but we're still going strong and we're both very happy. We're now on our way back up the South Island towards Auckland and ultimately leaving New Zealand.

However, after the Beast failed the Warrant of Fitness (WOF) and I decided to continue on for the time being, it has been like a black storm cloud has been hanging over my head ready to dump its contents on to me as soon as I finally got around to bringing the Beast into a shop. And the day it emptied itself was today.

Early this morning we took the car into a few shops. The first one didn't specialize in what we wanted to fix. The second one was quite a crappy place and had a large sign out front that said something to the effect of: We Fix Rust. They said they would fix our hole for $80 (plus tax), but that they couldn't do it today and could we please bring it in the same time tomorrow? Well I was feeling a bit better thinking that our problems would soon be solved, so we bought ourselves some pizza from Domino's for lunch and continued on to get the windshield replaced.

This is where the problems began. The rock damage in the windshield couldn't be fixed and it was decided the windshield must be replaced. This costs $320 (all installation, taxes, and other random charges included - Remember this number for there is going to be a grand total at the end) and would take 3 hours. So Ayu and I took our laptops to the library and there proceeded to watch a movie (Saving Face) until we got a phone call from the shop saying that they took the windshield off only to find severe rust damage and that it would have to be fixed before they could install the windshield. They had a panel beater they trusted, and would bring the Beast to him to give a quote and he would call us and tell us how much it would cost. Well call us he did - to the tune of $210 to fix it and repaint (So the total is up to $530 right now). He also said it would take a while to finish and for the paint to dry and that the earliest he could get it to the glass shop was tomorrow afternoon. This means we had to get a hostel (the going rate being $25 pp / night). We went online, found a hostel, booked one night (which will soon become 3 it looks like), and went over to the panel beater's shop to get our stuff and look at the Beast. The owner was an honest guy (like the glass place had said), and gave us good advice on rust in general - basically its like an iceberg - you only see 10% of it on the surface. By the way the total right now (including 3 nights hostel) is up to $680. The panel beater also said he would fix the rust hole in the back for $120 which I decided was a good idea (the other place was quite crappy and would probably not do a good enough job to pass inspection - this guy said he would take digital before and after pictures, print them out and have a detailed list of what he had done). So I went with him. The total now is $800.

But its not over. We still need to get the emergency brake adjusted and the back door latch fixed. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if that was another $200 - rounding out the total to $1,000. All because we didn't get the van checked out thoroughly before we bought it (and because the people selling it weren't what I would call honest people).

The goal is to sell the van for $8,000 and try to recoup some of our losses but I wouldn't be to surprised if our naivety costs us the price of all of these repairs. Only time will tell.

Its a difficult decision when you sell a car as old as this one. Do you tell the next owner all the problems you ran into? Or like the old people who sold us the Beast, do you remain silent when you know there are many problems? I may be young and foolish, but I'd like to think I still have my principles - so I've decided not only are the next owners going to know everything about the van - I'm going to give potential buyers a link to this website so they can see for themselves exactly what we went through with it. But I suppose I should say some nice things about it as well. Here's the good things about the Beast.

- It has never taken more than 2 minutes to start (and that's only once in a while)
- Once warm and running it doesn't leak any oil, and has no faults whatsoever
- The steering is really quite good
- The transmission works wonderfully as well
- The interior is quite clean (due to our obsession with cleanliness and sanitized surfaces)
- The battery is pretty strong (and relatively new if the last owner is to be believed)

Anyways, after it rains, the sun always comes back - so we're looking forward to that. Bye.

For your viewing pleasure

I really enjoyed the paragliding. Although I have to admit, I would've been quite, quite nervous if it hadn't been a tandem trip. 

This is me walking up to my guide. You can see someone else just getting ready to catch some wind and run off the cliff.

My guide was a real pro. He walked me through the whole running off the cliff process and gave me specific instructions on what to do with all limbs that were hanging loosely. He told me to put my knees together, tuck my feet in,  and hang onto the cords at the sides. His instructions were spot on. As soon as we ran off the side of the cliff, I followed his instructions exactly and didn't feel nervous at all. 

Until we caught sight of a helicopter taking off nearby and the following conversation ensued way above the ground...

Guide: Oh look over there...a helicopter taking off. Cool ay?

Ayu: Hrm...I don't quite like helicopters.

Guide: Yeah?

Ayu: Yeah. They're really unpredictable...

And this is what was going on in Ayu's head...

"Unpredictable's right...*random aerodynamic equations on helicopter flight mechanics and dynamics start flashing wildly through Ayu's head*...helicopter aerodynamics is a pain of a subject...wildly unpredictable. I mean, aerodynamics in itself is an unpredictable subject of study, we still can't accurately predict where a ball's going to land once you throw it...hrmph...with all our latest technology...helicopters are defo unpredictable. Hang on...what in the world am I talking about? Helicopters? I'm barely hanging from a chute for goodness sake! Just some measly material and rope and my legs and arms dangling about in the air and I'm thinking helicopters are unsafe?!? What am I, nuts? What in the world am I doing?!?"

Ayu: Er...you're controlling this thing, right?

Guide: Don't worry. That I am...100%.

Ayu: OK..

Guide: Well...99% anyway. 1%'s God taking us wherever He wants us to go.

And at that point, I was seriously fighting to not let the sudden realisation that I was hanging from a parachute overtake me and leave me whimpering senselessly in the air. 

Which is the challenge of doing all these activities in the first place *grinning mischievously*. No worries folks, I came, and I conquered. The nervousness went away after I convinced myself that the worst thing that could happen was not really the worst thing that could happen and to just trust...and then I was sailing happily in the air and really enjoying myself.

My guide even let me steer after a while...look, look who's in control!

Was easier than I thought :o). 

Was quite the happy bunny by the time we were back on the ground, and I was cheerily recounting all the crazy thoughts that were going through my head in mid-air. Chattered the ears off poor Kyle. Aw, thanks a bunch, Kyle-ness! :o)

*****

There were some gorgeous roses near the spot we parked at today. I couldn't resist a sniff...and as usual the trigger-happy Kyle caught me in the act. 

Toodles for now!

Paragliding in Queenstown

As Ayu stated below, Queenstown has proven quite costly for us. When we left Franz Josef two days ago we decided that instead of seeing another glacier (Fox Glacier which is just a bit South), we'd be better off continuing on. Unfortunately, every time we stopped we found prices of everyday things to be extraordinarily high - matched only by the amount of tourist traps. It doesn't make sense because when you research New Zealand (and even talk to the locals) they make it sound like the South Island is such a wild and off-the-beaten-track kind of place, but in reality it is not at all. Only things cost more. Much more. We found a liter of gasoline in one town (or petrol as it is referred to around here) that cost 50 cents more than the last time we had filled up. Seeing as there are 3 liters in a gallon, that's $1.50NZD more per gallon - for a reference to those in the US - that's $1.23 USD!!!! Needless to say I didn't give in to their highway robbery and we kept going until we found more reasonably priced fuel.Here's a map of where we were (Franz Josef - Point A) and where we are now (Invercargill - Point B). 2/3 of the way down is Queenstown and that is the place where the below pictures were taken.This is Ayu and I at the top of the hill and all strapped up. Neither of us had ever paraglided before this, but we were both anxious to try. Ayu is going to post a few pictures I took of her while in the air and when she took off (I kept the camera with me so my pictures are either of scenery, my feet, or Ayu paragliding next to me).
1.) Scenery. This picture is of the West coast of Queenstown.2.) My feet. This one is of downtown Queenstown
3.) Not Ayu - it's me!!! Haha, I thought I'd trick you. The pictures were included in the price. This is my guy - he's Canadian. He also used to work at one of my favorite places in Europe - Interlaken, Switzerland (doing the same thing - he's been at it for 9 years). Later!

Of glaciers and Queenstown

Well, the West Coast was every bit as gorgeous as everyone says it is. The mountains were stunningly green and I couldn't get over how tropical the forests are. Made me feel right at home. Well, almost. If I ignored the fact that the temperature drops steadily throughout the day and is freeeeeeeeeeeeee-zing by nightfall.

Anyway...the drive along the West Coast south to Franz Josef (the town with the 12 km-long ice glacier) was anything but boring. New Zealand has some rather...interesting...state highways. Except for surrounding major cities, their highways have two lanes, one for each direction of traffic. To overtake, slower traffic (that's us in The Beast) have to pull over when you can find an appropriate spot, or chug along until there is a passing lane (which are too few). Apparently, the slowest vehicles on the road are campervans (trucks and other large vehicles whizz by at speeds comparable to sports-cars), and it's quite common to see a trail of vehicles flashing their lights impatiently at a campervan up ahead. It is also not uncommon to give slow campervans the middle finger. I was quite shocked when this first happened. I've never been flicked off in my life...but I soon got used to it after the fourth or fifth time. I was even considering putting up a complaint section on this site for those who feel like it (we have a sign on the back of our van saying www.nzwow.com ). But well, if people are going to get angry (and show it, too) at something like being set back on the road for fifteen minutes, especially when nobody's intentionally trying to make their lives harder (do you think we like having a million cars behind us? We push The Beast as much as we can. It isn't her fault she can't go very fast. Nor ours), I figured it wouldn't be a good idea to give them an avenue to rant and just get angrier :o).

All right, enough about road rage. 

I wanted to show you a picture of this bridge we came across the other day. Most of the bridges here are single-lane ones, which makes for some seat-gripping sudden stops when you see a car on the other side since the roads are hilly and windy and you never know what's around the bend. But this bridge...this bridge was the mother of all bridges...not only was it single laned, the railway tracks used the same bridge too!

Not only did we have to watch out for oncoming traffic, we had to watch out for trains too :o), how exciting is that?

Here was another really interesting sight on the road. We turned around a corner and lo and behold! An aqueduct amidst the mountains...

*****

We did our first long hike two days ago. After over a month without regular exercise, we did an eight-hour hike from the Franz Josef town to the 12 km-long Franz Josef glacier. Our feet were aching by the end of the day, but boy, it did feel good to be physically active. 

The hiking trail was quite challenging. Some parts of the path were overgrown, others were muddied from the previous day's rain, and the rest were gravel. Some parts of the trail had been taken out by the river, which meant we climb along the rocks of the riverbank. We had to crawl across a few 4 to 5 metre wide streams without getting too wet. All in all, it was quite an adventure with the glacier views at the end.

Here's a little plant I took a picture of when I managed to steal the camera away from Kyle. 

And here's Kyle looking nervous on a bridge...

And here's a gorgeous picture of one of the streams we forged...

Nah, kidding. The stream's actually a teeny tiny one :o). So wee that I stepped over it. I look like Gulliver stepping over Liliput in this one.

The glacier views at the end of the hike were gorgeous. We didn't get to see as much of it as I had hoped, but saw enough to take a few photos, which I'm sure Kyle's put up. You can opt to take a helicopter ride over the glacier, or go walking around on the glacier as well, but both these activities cost a lot. 

We decided to leave Glacier Country after realising that spending any more time than we did there would've cost us a small fortune. Everything from food to fuel costs were hiked up quite a lot in both Franz Josef and Fox Glacier (another town with a glacier) towns. 

*****

So here we are in Queenstown, adventure capital of the world. I have never seen another country which takes tourism quite as seriously as New Zealand. Which is probably why tourists come here in droves. Tourism plays a pretty significant part in the country's economy. And Queenstown is a prime example. Everywhere you turn there's a sign for some money-making venture aimed at all the adrenaline seeking junkies who flock to Queenstown. 

I know I sound a little disgusted. That's because I am. Everything costs an arm and a leg here and for no real purpose other than to make money. We were hoping to bungee jump in Queenstown but after discovering all options were over our budget, have decided to give it a miss and go somewhere else more reasonably priced. It would have been nice to bungee jump here since AJ Hackett is supposed to be The Original Bungy Operator but I suppose to pay that much for just the novelty is ridiculous. 

So we decided to take advantage of the beautiful valley and lake setting that Queenstown has and only paraglide here. We caught the early bird morning special (only NZ$150 pp) and off we went for a flight from the Skyline Gondola on Bob's Peak. 

The Skyline Gondola was actually what sparked my disgruntlement with Queenstown. Up 'til now I haven't said much about how expensive NZ is, until we got to the gondola place today and were told that they don't sell one-way trips, only return trips for NZ$21 pp. 

That's pretty pricey for a 15-minute ride. And the fact that they don't sell one-way trips doesn't make much sense for those who paraglide/hang glide down. 

So here's a tip for anyone out there...hike up. It's a 50-minute walk according to this guy we asked at one of the information counters and it'll save you some bucks. The discounts weren't very generous either. A gondola ride + luge combo only gave you NZ$1-2 off. Now that's just mean. 

The only thing that made me feel better after having to pay for two trips when we only took one was we gave our tickets to this father and son duo when we got back to town. Take that, Skyline management!

*****

Franz Josef Glacier

One of our must-see stops was Glacier County. Here on the West coast of the South Island there are many glaciers, and one of the easiest to access is the glacier at Franz Josef. So two days ago Ayu and I packed some water, a lunch (bread, cheese, an apple and some carrots), and set out on the longest hike up to the glacier (an 8 hour one). At the information site (called i-site here) we found out part of the trail was closed off because a rockslide wiped out a staircase - making it impassable. But we decided to try it anyways and get as far as we could. If it turned out to be true, we would turn back and consider ourselves better off (because of the exercise). If not, then maybe we'd get to see something most people don't. Either way we win. Right?
Well not exactly. I found out about 1/3 of the way through that our trail (unlike many other ones) hadn't been maintained in a long time (I estimate 30 years). There were sections that weren't even trail! In the above picture you'll notice my right foot is clean while my left is very dirty. This is because the trail was washed away by a river and we had to navigate our way along the rock-strewn shore to find where the trail picked up. I misjudged where dry land was and found my left leg shin-deep in muddy sand (It should be noted that we still weren't sure where to go and we had to turn around - at which point my other foot did the same thing - but at least they matched).
Here I am crossing one of the many streams. Very cold water (from a glacier remember), but very clear and shallow. Neither of us fell in, but even if we did it wouldn't be far or hard. The other just would've laughed I'm sure. In addition to streams we had to climb over many fallen trees that crossed the so-called path.
But there was nobody else on this trail. Because of that we did get to see things most tourists don't. Like wild animals that were sleeping on the trail. The mother and her baby stood there just long enough for us to snap a few pictures (and the mother peed - maybe we scared it out of her) and then they were off in a flash! I read that when settlers arrived in New Zealand, they brought animals with them (which they released into the wild and hunted). It took me some searching, but I finally figured out that these animals are called Chamois and are a mountain goat commonly found in Austria! But now they are one of many animals hunted in New Zealand.
Some wild orange mushrooms (Don't worry mom, I didn't eat them).
And finally... the glacier. This view is still relatively far away, but remember 8 hours of hiking.Me drinking the glacier water from a waterfall (actually its an optical illusion - I just have my mouth open and the waterfall is in the background).
Then we came to the glacier. These signs made sure that we knew it was very dangerous to go near it. For those who are too lazy to enlarge the picture it says the following:

Extreme Danger
Ice may collapse at any time.
Do not proceed.

Access beyond this point is unsafe for experienced or unguided parties due to hazards such as steep drops and slippery or unstable surfaces.

But I wanted some good pictures of the glacier, so I stepped just around the sign and snapped a few. If Ayu and I had crampons (metal spikes you strap to your feet), more food and water, and some emergency communication devices (and not been so tired from all the walking), it might have been different. We still would like to walk on a glacier, but maybe somewhere else :)