New Zealand

On an eight hour train ride from Adelaide to Melbourne I spotted a wild Kangaroo just hanging out and watching the train pass. I think the realization that I was actually in Oz sunk in. When we arrived in Melbourne, we exited the train into what I can only describe as a stadium space terminal. I truly expected there to be astronauts and alien business men zipping around to their respective destinations. Melbourne is a fantastic city with a very strong European influence.  One of our German friends said it was very much like being home.  Bikes, motorcycles, scooters are parked in every median, and lined up all over the sidewalks. The night we arrived we ate at a place called Taco Bill. Mara had pointed out earlier in the evening, when we were passing the restaurant how funny the name was. I looked at her strangely, not understanding how Taco B-e-ll is all that funny. I didn't see the sign until we returned to eat later. Ha. Yeah. Taco Bill. Anyhow, turns out that Taco Bill is gourmet tex-mex (go figure). To be honest, it was amazing. There are crazy people in this country, just the same as home. I saw a man do the four signs of the cross, right before he stepped over a crack in the sidewalk and continued his journey. Better safe than sorry i suppose.

We stayed in Melbourne that night and went on a natural reserve tour the following day. It was fantastic because you are more or less turned loose in a forest to run around with wallabies and kangaroos. There were so many. Many of them would hop right up and hang out. We also saw the biggest breed of Koala Bear. He was asleep mostly. All that eucalyptus just takes it out of you. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting such strange animals.

We flew from Melbourne to Auckland with a Dubai based airline, Emirates.  It's a wonderful airline except for the fact that they show two instructional movies and repeat all announcements in two different languages. The stewardesses wore sashes hanging down from their hats. There were flat screens in the back of the seats to watch a movies or play video games. I watched Man on a Wire. I would recommend seeing it. The meal on that flight was three times as big as on any other flight I've ever been on.

We arrived in Auckland New Zealand and went to eat Chinese food. We ordered too much.  They put about six pounds of food and soup in front of us. Bananas. (the expression, not the food).  I tried my best to show an American resolve and never say die, but the hot tea got to me.  I can't really chase down scorching hot soup, (2 of them), and blazing hot foods with omega hot green tea.  Auckland was very beautiful as absolutely everything in New Zealand is. We left on our bus the next morning and went to Hahei Beach. When we arrived we went on a hike through the mountains to Cathedral Cove, which is exactly that.  A giant cathedral shaped stone opening from one beach to another.  It was on this hike that we became familiar with a lot of the people travelling on our Stray bus.  We all barbecued together that night.  After the sun went completely down, we trekked to hot water springs on the beach.  You take a shovel, walk to specific locations where hot springs are forcing water up through the sand and you dig a hole.  Then you sit in it.  Well that's the idea at least.  We found it a lot more fun to find the hot water, stick out feet in the sand and watch the futile attempts of the others, as their bathing pits kept getting annihilated from rogue waves.  Rhys (Wales), Chris and Mads (Denmark) became our close friends almost immediately, as we all reveled in the fun we were having and the misfortune of the others.

We left Hahei early and headed for Raglan, another beach on the other side of the North Island.  Our camp was on the side of a mountain, not that this is unusual in NZ, just saying.  There was surfing, a crazy person zip line called Flying Fox, a ropes course, miles of trails up the mountain, and a huge platform to look out over the beach.  It was a super good time.

The next day we went to the caves in Waitomo.  If nothing else, this one of the two activities I wanted to do the most.  Repelling down 75 foot cave water falls, squeezing through mazes of rock and stalagmites/tites, rock climbing, and different yells and laughter in all sorts of foreign accents.  We turned off our headlamps and the glow worms became apparent by the thousands.  Since there is zero natural light, it looked much like the night sky with a blue tint.  I would go caving professionally given the opportunity.  Since I wasn't having a very hard time navigating the rocks and using the equipment, one of the guides (we'll just call him Batman, because he ran face first repelling down a 75 foot drop) asked me to make sure everyone was secured to the rope for last big ladder climb.  After everyone in the group had climbed up the ladder and went out of site, Batman told me I could rock climb my way out, up this insane waterfall/cliff/madness.  He said "Now, keep this on the down low, but you if you want, you can climb your way up, just don't tell anyone I let you".  Thanks Batman.

We left Waitomo the same day and headed to Maketu.  We ate dinner and watched the native Maori's do cultural dancing and story telling.  Of course we all got involved, stomping around with our shirts off, well the guys I mean.  The girls did some sort of dance.  None of us got anything very right.  I think that was the point.  Uncle Boy was the owners name, and it was more of a home style camp than a real tourist type place.  

We left in the morning and went to Taupo.  In Taupo we went to a Thermal village where there are twenty five Maori families still living and utilizing the hot water springs for pretty much everything.  Bathing, cooking, thermal mud soaps, and so forth....

The next day was the Tongariro crossing (Mt. Doom in lotr).  This is what I came to New Zealand to do.  It was a 19.4k hike and a lot of it was ridiculously hard.  The air was thin and some of the terrain was completely bonkers, so we were all huffing and sweating like lunatics.  Of 24 on the bus, about 9 of us went on the hike.  Absolutely hands down the most beautiful things I've ever seen.  We made the trek with an hour to spare from the normal pace allotted time.  Yes, there were a lot of hobbit jokes on the way.  The thinner the air, the funnier the jokes.  We stayed in a really amazing lodge that night, fitted with a big center room fire place.

We arrived in Wellington the following morning.  Wellington is a lot like Auckland with many boats and docks and restaurants and so forth.  It was really impressive that everyone on our Stray bus couldn't believe how rad of a team we had.  A lot of these people had been traveling for upwards of a year and they still made a point to tell time and again of how well our group meshed.  We all went out in Wellington and went to a number of different pubs.  One of the most amazing things I've experienced so far is being in a big circle of people including Irish, Welsh, Danish, Kiwi, German, U.K., U.S., Italian, all doing a huddle formation, and at the top of our collective lungs, singing Living On a Prayer.  Everyone knows Bon Jovi.

While Mara was in a midterm, I was exploring Rundle Mall (the outdoor mall mentioned earlier), which I must say has a lot to be explored. As I waded my way through the Chinese people, Aussies, Aboriginals, Indians, Arabs, and Africans, I heard what sounded to me like a drunk Viking singing punk rock over a terribly distorted guitar. Turns out, that is exactly what was happening. There are number of street performers on any given day in Rundle, and some of them are particularly good. This guy was not so much good as he was fun to watch. As I followed the gravelly screech of someone going “Prrreettty little song I wrote! For a pretty little thing like you!” with a little guitar lead squealing “reeaarrr, twaaarrrng, feeeeaaar, twiddly twiddly twaaang” in the between the unintelligible chord changes, I noticed that the heavily bearded guy singing was playing a mini guitar. It had to be a ¾ scale guitar, played through a amp the size of a shoebox. It looked like something those elves that make cookies in a tree would use for band practice. Anyhow he was blazing away, living on the edge, and I was super impressed at his gusto. He wasn’t holding back. I mean, the man was making some change. I thought, well, If Bruno the Leather Face can ripchord thrash through a gorilla amp and draw a crowd, maybe I should come down here dressed like a tourist and play a child’s piano. It’s worth a shot.
We have grilled kangaroo two nights this week and I’m thrilled about it. It’s about ten bucks for a kilo of kangaroo yiro meat and both the texture and tenderness are very similar to venison. We went to Henley Beach this afternoon with two of our friends, Pam and Tom. They are from Canada so we all know a lot of the same things. I put my feet in the pacific for the first time today. That was very interesting. It is a very intense blue. People in this country love to have big patches of green grass to sit and lay around in. It is a very comforting scene.
There is a fast food place called Hungry Jacks, or if you are from the anywhere else in the world, Burger King. Same logo, same font, same food. Seriously. They have whoppers. Go figure. Anyways, the place is always booming and since I have been here I have wondered why that place is so popular. I found out while exploring Rundle Mall. It’s just dang ol’ delicious. Game over. I ate Australian fast food, and it was awesome. I’m not sure what made it so good, maybe because I never ever eat fast food anymore? Possibly. Regardless, that place has my vote, and furthermore, I feel much more justified eating at a place that has a very fitting and silly name. Plus, Mara ate a fish wrap from the Australian Mcdonalds before I arrived, and she has talked about it several times since. I realize that none of this was exciting and informative about the culture here. I’m just saying, when in Rome…….

This city is rather big.  Mara had explained it as around the size of Indianapolis and I have to say I agree.  What becomes more and more interesting, the more we walk around, is how in every direction there are still more incredible things to be seen.  Its not just a place with a few fancy things thrown up downtown and one or two nice neighborhoods.  It is a uniformly beautiful city.  We walked 4k in one direction, which is the complete opposite direction of where we normally go, and came upon two huge parks, some amazing neighborhoods, and a huge section of where the formula 1 is held here.  

I have to say im very impressed with how pedestrian oreineted this city is as well.  No matter where you go, there are very serious bicyclist bolting around.  All ages.  And even the old ladies shoot about at around 87 miles an hour.  It is completely insane.  There are bike lanes, some seperate, some integrated on the road, on nearly every viewable street.  And not some breakdown lane/bicycle/walking lane.  These are legitimate, designated bike trails and lanes.  I guess im overly excited about it since I come from a place where I bike every day and there are zero places for bicyclist to ride effeciently and safely.  The condition of the roads here is much different as well.  The pavement everywhere is very keen, allowing gramps and granny to race each other at incomprehensible speeds to the nearist Chemist.  You know.  For joint medication.

Slowly, I'm beginning to learn Australian English.  Everything is "have-a".  Have a coffee, have a sleep, have a kangaroo burger.  That sort of thing.  Speaking of which, i had a "big fat burger, with big fat fries" the other day that was awesome.  On it, there was a burger, lettuce, an egg, ham, bacon, and a tomato (i gave that part to Mara).  Sounds very strange I know, but I enjoyed it.  And so the pharmacy is the chemist.  "How ya goin?" is the same as saying "How are you?".  There are quite a few more that I'll think of later.

I need to go and find the bike I want.  I decided not to bring mine, since as Pop and I discovered, there wasn't a really safe way to pack the thing for check-in baggage.  I didn't really want to get here with my bike frame intact, and my wheels looking like a pair of accordians.  I think we will find a pair of rad bikes soon.  I hope all of you are fantastic. 

4-1-09
In the air over the pacific.
0:44

There is a huge communal flat screen in my cabin that shows our position in relation to the globe. As the icon of our plane made its way out over the digital blue of the pacific, I realized that I am leaving my country for the first time. Mexico when I was seven does not really count. We’ve all been watching movies and sleeping from time to time in odd postures. And although this plane is a behemoth, the bathroom starts shrinking the moment you close the door. It’s a device that United Airways uses to make sure everyone has their fair amount of time in the lavatory. If you stay in there too long, the room gets too small and you end up just getting flushed down the pipe and jettisoned into ocean eternal. I cant help but wish that there was a room on this plane with a jungle gym. Moving is all there is to think about when there is a movie playing that is sad just to be sad, and outside my window there is only a seventy foot wing that is as black as the tens of thousands of feet between us and the water.
Chi (chee), my Chinese row-mate, hails from Las Vegas. He is a very decent fellow and I like his plaid shirt. Fortunately for me, I began pronouncing a few Chinese sentence fragments which helped us start laughing right away. I’m sure my missed vowel sounds were just as funny to him, as his are to me. Let me just say that my main man Chi, has a laugh that would stop a bullet. It roars out like a motorcycle race and then trails off to a slow grinded halt after every silly comment. His winter woman sidekick is ancient. I know she is ancient because asian people do not age much until they hit the late forties, and this woman looks as if her late forties came and went long before the cassette tape. They are headed to New Zealand. Chi has been to Oz four times. I like the odds of this place being good news.

4-2-09
Sydney
7:20

I was extremely excited to use my first Australian atm moments ago. Everything here is efficient with the obvious evidence of forethought. While the bathroom was stark white with only the bare necessities and no paper towels (something I was looking forward to), the currency is a mix of big colors, giving style to the appropriate devices. I bought a small coffee and while I was blown away by how small the final product, the taste was out of sight. Im not just being sensory overload green horn either. The coffee really is a thousand times better than what I know in the states. To my right, overlooking the tarmac, I see a light blue, green, and white plane whose obvious origin is Uzbekistan. Well, that is what is written on the side, so that’s my guess. It was raining when I arrived which is giving this early morning a very shimmering grey glow. In the distance, past the airport, there are trees I don’t believe I’ve ever seen before. They look to be about sixty feet (judging by the buildings) with little green canopies at the very top. Like an enormous umbrella. The airport here is minimalist and perfect. Comfortable furniture that is very simple, lighting that is more inviting than harsh, and a pace that represents everything I mentioned before.

Arrival in Adelaide

4-3-09
Adelaide
20:05

My first day in Adelaide was tremendous. Mara and I got up and walked downtown to the campus for her one class of the day. To get there we walked through an outdoor mall that reminded me of something out of Blade Runner, just not so rainy, dark, and overcrowded. There were café’s and shops of all kinds, fresh produce, and street acts. There was a man who was about eight thousand years old juggling four hacky sacks in the midst of his electronic bubble blower. It was an impressive sight. There is a glass building on campus that houses the library, or so I’m told. Many of the buildings on campus look like something out of a story book. Big green gates. Tan brick with tiled roofing. A river running along side of campus. It’s ridiculous. We took the tram and got off at the downtown “market”. I am not kidding when I say that this is one of the most fantastic places I have ever seen. Running between and through several downtown buildings there is this fresh market that has an extraordinary amount of shops. Butchery, Coffee, Produce, Asian foods, and the list just goes on. We got a few things and then went to eat in this huge hall that had an assortment of different asian food stands. Once again, very Blade Runner. After that, we wandered back home. After a brief period of laziness we went back outside and across the street to Ray’s Outdoor Supply. After looking at all the tents and fancy camping things, we walked across the street and wandered around in the huge soccer field, took some silly pictures, and now we are back home. I am thoroughly training myself to look the opposite directions when crossing the street. Driving on the left looks so weird. We didn’t take a camera downtown today, so I’ll post up pictures of that in a day or so when we go back.

Mara's apartment and the soccer field.  The hat pic was taken at Ray's Outdoor Supply.  Yeah.