MICHELE'S MUSINGS

I will start off by saying New Zealand is the "Nicest"country in the world... a place where when you order a single cone you get 2 scoops. You always get a little more than you expect in New Zealand. Drew & I decided that after our fascinating experiences in Nepal & Indonesia, taking tourist buses around New Zealand would be anti-climatic to say the least... so we decided to hitch-hike. It gave us that flavor of the locals that we were searing for. Rick Steves, the travel guru says ä tight budget forces you to travel close to the ground, meeting & communicating with the people, not relying on a purchased smile". I kept track of all the lifts we had, 28 in all - we had rides from nurses, housewives, structural engineers, students, sheepshearers, farmers, a nun, people with little to nothing who pick you up because they remember what it's like to stand with your thumb out at the side of the road & be passed by...people with small packed cars who reshuffle everything to find a way to squeeze you in. People who aren't going far, but want to take you to a better spot & maybe show you a bit of their little town...& by the way if you need any groceries, they'd be glad to stop for you. As for the people who pass you by - many people sort of do sign language apology "pointing to the next town, or a full load"... people in RV's almost never stop, even thought they have the most room...Well, that gives you an essence of what it was like for us getting around we usually waited about 15 minutes at times up to 1 1/2 hrs, & often less than 5 minutes. Our longest wait was 3 hrs - that was the time I changed our sign to read "Wellington - we're really nice"(we used a dry-erase board)...that was the time the nun picked us up. Sister Mary Martin...we call her the patron saint of hitch-hickers - she wore a white Legionairs hat, psychedelic baggy pants, & running shoes. She told us she was a JAFA (just another fucking Auklander) Of course I had to ask her what she thought of womens role in the Catholic church...did you know that a cardinal gets much higher interest than a nun in the Vatican bank - that really ticked me offf. As for other travellers, we did get a few lifts - we bonded with 2 lasses from Scotland who we ended up camping with twice & in the end hated to say goodbye. Well, enoguh about hitching...but it really did set the tone of the trip...it made up always feel the ultimate goodness of people, renewed our faith in humanity so to speak. At the end of the day, we always got where we were going. So, this is what we did... loaded up on comping stuff upon arrival in Aukland. small stove, tent & sleeping pads..then "got outta dodge" We headed straight for the south island where we planned to do a lot of "tramping" ( one tramps in NZ, Treks in Nepal, & hikes in the US) We did the Queen Charolotte walk in the Marlborough Sounds - top of the South island in 4 days. We carried our packs, but you don't have to. A boat drops you at the end & will pick up & drop off your pack each day. There are lodges, backpacker hostels, & camping places to choos from. We decided to change our plans & do the west coast of the south island first. We were told the weather was favorable so - get while the goings good. We had one day of rain in an area that can get up to 7 meters of rain a year! We day hiked around the Franz Joseph glacier & Fox glaciers - the glaciers are advancing 1 meter a day...you can take a photo of a palm tree & glackier in the same photo. We heard from a local that the Copland track was excellent & not ""discovered" So we did a 3 day backpack there. We decided we loved the privacy of our tent for sleepinng, but used the kitchen area to meet & mingle. The scenery was spectacular, we were basically on the backside of Mt Cook. We basked in warm muddy hot poos - came out a little green, then jumped in the cool stream. The trek in was 17K the first day & involved a lot of precarious stream crossing, made more challenging with a heavy pack. It was about my limit. It was in Wauneka that we picked up a little bad Karma - we were camping with the Scottish girls & arrived after the campground closed. So, the next day we snuck out without paying...we figured later when we lost film & a phonecard we were paying "the universe"for our no-no. You always pay "double" the price with these Karmic debts...& we "highly evolved" people pay right away...no waiting for the next lifetime. We arrived in Queenstown, adrenalin capital of the world, whose thrill seakers can jump off high things with rubber bands on their legs & go way too fast through, on, in or over water. We just used it as a base to organize our next trek - the Routeburn. It was very spectacular, challenging, but not too hard (about 12K on the haredest days). The scenery was diverse, with spectacular vistas, beautiful water falls & lovely valleys that appear suddenly like hidden treasures. From here we did a few days of organized kayaking on Milford Sound. This was the only place that sandflies were unbearable (on land). Apparently in the old days prisoners were tied naked to a post where they were soon coverd by the hungry sandflies, as a punishment. The Sound was beautiful really, but extremely touristy - not a real town. That was the last of our full fledged "tramping". the next half of the trip invoved a lot of small town exploration. We found a few hidden treasures. We enjoyed short walks through botanical gardens, beach walks to observe penguins & seals...did some horseback riding...A highlight was visiting Denise my old Kiwi pal who I met in 1989 in Greece, now with wonderful husband Dave & sweet boy Christopher who renamed us Dooo & Lelly - we just had a blast. Christopher especially like "Dooooo"- Drew said it was because he has a one syllable name. Another highlight for us was staying with Janna & Chris, who live on a sheep, cattle & deer station in the Awatare Valley near Blenhein. It was the Quintescential farm experience - the first day we mustered 800 sheep, the working dogs were amazing, we watched sheering, dosing with medicine, she trains/longes her horse & even gave me a shot (a humbling experience). Chris is a glider pilot so we saw his set up & flying swooping & twirling over the house. We laughed a lot & made them promise to visit us, though we could never equal their hospitality. By the way, Janna is my Aussie Friend Garth's neice. She didn't know me from Adam when I called & asked if Drew & I could visit on Garth's recommendation ( we wanted to experience real Kiwi farm life). We were running nout of time so we b-lined to the north island - ferry, train, bus, bus, ferry...to get to the bay of island (sleep is for wimps). We found a quiet town called Russell to be a nice place to stay. We kayaked 7 hrs the next day, exploring little islands & bays. I can see the bay of islands as being a real sailors paradise...but as a tourist destination...I think it's a little overated. A spectacular site in the north island is the Wiapoa forest, where Kauri trees reach 2000 yrs old & are 5 meters across. The awesomeness of these giants are byond description. We had a really funny 2 days with a psychologist come "farmer"running a so-called horse trekking business - the horses ran free in a heard, holes were kicke din the house - the place was a sshambles & we were stuck there! Our 2 day overnight trek we booked turned into a 2 hour ride...the highlight was meeting the Moari Ferrier. Tom who was a gentle giant & interesting to talk to as he truely lived off the land & gave us insights into the Maori way of living - this was an instance where the rian was a true BLESSING... we didn't regret the experience & happily said our goodbyes. Our final ride was from a structural engineer who knew 2 of the Kiwi ingineers who Drew knew from UCSD - I dozed in the back seat while they talked retrofits, & composite materials. It sure is a small world, isn't it. New Zealand is an amazingly beatiful country full of warm & friendly people...I can't iimapgine anyone leaving disapppointed. We will surely go back as 6 weeks wasn't enough...Six more perhaps?

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