and we are still being hit with bad weather. i know i sound like a broken record, but seriously. from picton, headed towards kaikoura, and though the day started off nice enough, it got cloudier, windier and cooler. please, gods of new zealand, one nice day! stopped at dusky lodge to pick up the stuff we had left there so we wouldn't have to cart it all over the north island.unfortunately, it was not meant to be my day.
my canvas kiwi bag was there, and the paintings we had purchased. however, my wine was gone. WTF. i was so irritated, mainly because i had such a pit in my stomach that something would happen to it. i hate when you don't listen to your gut and go with your instincts. i knew i should have taken the wine with me, even said so when we first went to the north island. leah and meg (two other lodge workers that steph knew) felt really badly, and leah especially had remembered seeing them very recently. it seems that mikey - the little irish fellow - was the likely culprit, however he was too cowardly to admit it, and snuck out the back door on a supposed "errand". yeah, right. the worst part was that they were special wines, and you couldn't buy them in the liquor stores, only from the vineyards. well, thanks mikey. wherever you are - you owe me 2 bottles of wine!!
anyway, steaming, got back in the car and continued our drive south towards christchurch. and what a surprise, it began to rain. we made it to the rental car place in time, and they were very friendly (as the locals have been the entire trip) and even gave us a ride to our final hostel, coachman backpacker. it was really a beautiful building, the wood paneling was exquisite. walked around the town center again, managed to pick up a few more souvenirs i had been looking for (including that kiwi shirt for jeff i had wanted). got our final meal, mine of course was lamb. was not about to leave the country of a gazillion sheep without that.
parted ways with steph, as she was meeting up with friends for her last hurrah. theresa & i walked around the botanical gardens and art center. and wouldn't you know my camera stopped working properly. friggin' day. thankfully, theresa took the close up shot of the charles dickens rose that i really wanted. so pretty. one last night of ice cream despite the now cold temps (we got our hokey pokey bars), and back to the hostel to pack. which is always a pain, but since i didn't have to worry about where to put the wine..
next AM began leisurely enough. we were able to store our luggage and walk around christchurch a while before needing to leave for the airport. the open air markets were setting up and there was plenty to browse and window shop. found our way to a cafe steph had recommended, and got the black currant hot juice. very different, but very good. the funniest moment of the morning, however, was when we read the paper - every single city in NZ had a sun over it in the weather forecast. EVERY ONE. except christchurch. which had a big ol' raincloud. hmpf.
finally it was time to say goodbye. theresa & i were on different flights, so i left her in christchurch. she had a night layover in aukland, so at least she was able to see some of that city. in the airport terminal i managed to spend my final 5 NZD, i was very proud of my purchases. eventually time to board, and oddly enough steph and i were on the same flight to LAX. the plane was booked solid, so there really wasn't much of a chance of us switching seats around to sit by each other.and here's where i wish i wasn't a nice person. because we are usually the ones that get screwed over.
i had noticed that there was an empty seat next to me (i ALWAYS fly in the aisle seat, especially on long distance flights). and i noticed that there was an empty seat in the middle of the center aisle, one row behind me. and i had another sinking feeling in my gut that this was too good to be true. sure enough, an announcement was made that the flight was indeed fully booked and they were just trying to figure out some last minute seating arrangements. immediately afterwards, a couple boarded the plane and started walking our way. closer and closer they came, until they were standing next to me. and with a pleading look in their eyes, they asked me if i would be willing to sit in the middle of the 4 person row so that they could sit together.what could i do?
i actually tried to stick up for myself, however meekly. i explained that i booked this seat months ago, so that i would have an aisle. that i don't sleep on planes, no matter how long or time of the flight, and that i need access to the aisle to walk around because of this. but they kept asking, and kept saying please. at one point they actually started begging me. and everyone was watching. i could not be a jackass, no matter how much i wanted to be. so, i got stuck in the middle of the 4 person row. the worst part was that the lady on the aisle in my new row blatantly said to me that she takes pills so she can sleep the whole time. so when i asked if she would mind switching with me, i was shocked when she flat out said 'no', because she 'might' need to use the toilet at some point, so she wanted to make sure she had that option. might?! WTF again - i told you i don't sleep so you can just ask me to move! so here i was, stuck in the middle, in seats so narrow you can barely stand up and do ankle pumps. i couldn't get out because the large woman next to me did indeed sleep the whole time, plus the kid in front of her had reclined his seat all the way that it was nearly on her lap, and there was no way to get out unless i wanted to literally climb on the armrests. AND the couple that took my seat also slept the entire time. i was so exhausted that i was close to tears by the end of the flight.
i then completely forgot that steph was on the flight, because after we got off the plane i had to literally run to catch my flight to newark. so i felt badly that i didn't get to say goodbye to her. plus, stupid continental charged me another $15 to check my luggage. even though i was coming from an international flight, because the flights were booked separately, they didn't really care. fortunately, i got my aisle back to NJ, and and empty middle seat next to me.ah, NJ. my home sweet home. traveling can be exhausting, and it is indeed good to be back. for now..
next up, ruatoria, which LP says has "a couple of cafes". we found one. and it was closed. on to waipiro bay, where after 7ks of loose road (though not as much motion sickness this time) we came to what i think was my favorite viewpoint of the day. the ocean is so calming. i can literally stand watching and listening to the waves breaking all day. we stopped at tokomaru bay next, which LP says is the most beautiful. while lovely, i enjoyed waipiro more. though tokomaru did have surfers.. haha.
along the drive a little more was anaura bay, surrounded by maori campsites. we saw 2 people fishing and a couple walking along the beach. it's always amazing how isolated everything is out here. found one more bay view point, the name of which escapes me, primarily because we got attacked by at least a dozen bees. thank goodness for the bravery of steph - jumping into the car and pulling it forward enough for us to get in. a stung allison does not equal a happy allison, more like one that needs benadryl and a hospital asap. phew. at least the views were spectacular, and we have sun!
reached grisborne about 1pm, and of course made our way into a cafe. i don't know what i'll do when i get home and can't have hot chocolate or tea every day. walked to the ocean, saw a statue of captain james cook - and a group of kids that stole my idea of climbing on it. skipped the rest of the town due to lack of time, we had places to be. napier, to be precise.
ah, napier. i think it might be my 2nd or 3rd favorite town we visited in nz. it was art deco to the extreme, and we arrived for the final evening of the annual art deco festival. all around us were people - from all walks of life and all over the globe - dressed up in roaring 20s garb and swagger. i felt like i was in the great gatsby. and i really really wished i had a flapper costume in my backpack. i also really really wanted to sneak a photo of the cutest old women i've ever seen. they were sitting at a cafe table, dressed in headbands, feathers and beads, drinking who knows what and having a grand time. i hope to be like that one day.
walked around the town to get a sense of the art deco as well as spanish missionary style architecture. and got our almost nightly ice cream. there were so many cute shops, all themed of course, and a bit out of my price range. had wanted to buy a hat, but my left brain just couldn't justify it. silly left brain.
the next AM, the hostel owner of archie's bunker was fabulous, and despite a growing line behind me at checkout, he took his time to ensure he explained and mapped out everything we should see on our way back down to wellington. and i didn't mind, considering the guy behind me was ridiculously attractive and had a killer accent. haha. checked out, packed up the car, and wandered around napier for a bit to see it in the day light hours. then in the car to see the sights that came highly recommended.
first up was the mission (said in a semi-pretentious accent). it is nz's oldest winery, founded in 1851. read a bit about its history, which was interesting. the wine was okay, but didn't like it enough to purchase. the grounds were beautiful, and i can see why it's worth a stop. next up was silky oak chocolate company - glorious! and we realized that yes, this would indeed be a self-indulgent food day. bought a few chocolate items from the gift shop before heading to the cafe - mistake. should have gone to the cafe first, because i probably would have eaten less. the 'must' at the cafe is a hot chili chocolate. a bit afraid of the spicy factor, i went all out and tried it anyway. so decadent. the whipped cream on top was sprinkled with chili powder (i picked off the biggest chunks), and the under layer was pure, thick liquid chocolate. felt a bit sick afterwards, but it was totally worth it.
made our way to hastings next, where we went straight to the lookout of te mata peak. the drive up was really scary, as the road really only fit 1.5 car widths though it was a 2 way road. and there were no railings or fence posts guarding the steep cliff edge. the view was a very impressive panorama. i will miss this country. stopped off at the arataki honey visitors center, where we learned about the honey making process and got to sample all kinds of honey. i learned i'm definitely a mild-honey person. who knew how many flavors honey could have? finally made our way to te mata cheese co, where we got a platter of hard sheep, strong blue and strong brie. i don't think i could fit any more in my stomach after that.
first up, a town called turanga where we were able to climb mt. maunganui to get a nice view of the bay and watch a few surfers catching waves (always a pleasure..). the hike started out okay, though again, wearing flip flops - not the greatest traction on rocky and loose gravel pathways that lead to jagged cliffs to the ocean.. we did fine, until it started to sprinkle a bit - and again we had to make a call; press on and risk a downpour, or turn around now to be safe. we turned around. i think the previous week took all risk taking out of our systems.
so back to the car we headed, and hit up a town called te puke, which is the self-proclaimed "kiwi capital of the world". we walked around the town, but didn't find anything particularly kiwi related. hmm. so off to the primary tourist attraction, the kiwi 360, which was basically a gigantic souvenir shop. i did get my kiwi cutter though, a bargain at $0.50. the most disappointing thing however was that they advertised kiwi ice cream on a giant sign with arrows guiding your way to the cafe. so, with great anticipation we followed the arrows, only to come to the cafe that said "closed for private function". way cool, te puke. way cool. though i must admit the 'clever kiwi..' road signs were indeed, clever. foreign countries always have much more interesting PSAs than we do in the states.
peaced out of the non-kiwi capital, and drove to whakatane, where we officially entered the bay of plenty. named because of the abundant sunshine and miles of glorious sandy beaches, our fingers were crossed that finally we would see some nice weather. while it wasn't miserably raining, it wasn't sunny either. oh well - it can always be worse! walked around the town, which was pretty cute, and found our way to NZ's finest fish and chips, which unfortunately was closed and has since been bought out. Now wally's on the wharf, we still got a good meal. mmm. was surprised by the fact the woman working the counter couldn't tell me the difference between the tarakihi and hoki fish. the only description she had was, "they are both white fish". amateur.
drove drove drove along some pretty coast line for about 3 hrs to our next and final destination for the day, hick's bay. the distance itself wasn't too bad, but the roads are windy and you can't pick up any real speed. we stayed at mel's place, and after getting lost a couple times, finally found our way there. turns out mel and joe are maori and they basically rent out their home to travelers. it was definitely a unique and interesting experience. again, touched by the friendliness of the new zealand people. as well as the fact we needed a flashlight to see in the outhouse (yes, i said outhouse) and shower/sink stall. the plan was to wake up at 5am to make it to the east cape lighthouse to catch the first sunrise in nz, but none of us had the energy to complete the task. the sunrise over the bay was just as nice =)
the first town we drove through was shannon, home to "owlcatraz" (i am not joking), an aviary for owls, who are given names such as 'owlvis presley' and 'owl capone'. i think it would have been funny and quite possibly the cheesiest tourist attraction i've seen, but limited time calls for limited sights. made our way further up, and stopped in palmerston north, a college town. there was a little main street with shops and cafes. we stopped at cafe on george to relax a bit and write our thank you cards to the people of reefton. further along the drive, came to a town called bulls. now, this is a very interesting place, if only b/c of their amazing marketing skills. the town would be like any other, EXCEPT every store, every office, you name it - had "a-bull" after the name. as in the medical center was "cur-a-bull". the market "veget-a-bull". the police "const-a-bull". even the public toilet (my favorite) "reliev-a-bull". HAHA. what a photo-op there!
westward from there, came to wanganui, the main town in that area. again, it was filled with shops and cafes on the main street. we cut over to see the less than impressive park. then back in the car, which would soon become my enemy. instead of going a more direct route to the taupo area, we took the scenic drive along the whanganui river. it started out very nice, with beautiful views of the river and hilly landscape. unfortunately the road quickly turned into a gravel (or loose) road and things just went south for me. the constant bumping in the back seat and the quick twists and turns of the road gave me instant car sickness. i got a bad headache, a unrelenting pulsing in my right ear and was very nauseated. plus, there was so much dust in the car from the road it was almost hard to breathe. finally made it out of there and into the town of ohakune, the carrot capital. our plan to get carrot cake here failed miserably; despite LP stating you can get carrot everything (from drinks, to pizza, to deserts) - there was not one carrot cake to be found in the entire town, nor was there anything carrot-y on any menu. i was too sick to eat anyway, but LP you really let us down on this leg of the journey.
got a glimpse of mt. ruapehu, the highest and most active volcano in tongaririo national park, and hit the road again. drove along desert road (thru which i pretty much slept) to turangi, home to the self-proclaimed trout fishing capital of the world (NZ is really big on titles), but i was too sick to even think about fish and chips here. managed to get down half a PB&J and apple, and the shower to get off all the grime really helped too, so felt a lot better by the time i went to bed.
next day again cursed with bad weather. turns out that a cyclone had just passed over the northern tip of NZ and we were getting the remnants. great. not sure how, but we are literally following every storm that comes across the island. it rained all day long. so took our time getting ready in the AM since our plans to go hiking through the thermal areas and volcanoes would have to be forgone. drove along lake taupo, but couldn't see much thanks to the weather and cloud coverage. spent the whole day putzing around trying to find indoor activities, and there aren't much in taupo! went to several cafes, theresa & steph got haircuts while i walked around, then went to a movie. finally on the way to rotarua, passing several hot springs and huka falls - all of which we had to pass on b/c of the rain.
checked into our hostel in rotarua (spa lodge), and wouldn't you know the sun actually poked its head out while we were eating and doing laundry. it's like a cruel joke. oh well. wanted to watch the rugby game - dunedin highlanders vs wellington hurricanes - so headed into town to see if we could find a sports bar. the first we came to had the game on, but no sound and the music was so loud you couldn't hear yourself think. but found our way into a totally townie bar and had a great time! stuck to ourselves at first, but kept being approached by locals (mostly men with a few women, all at least in their 40s), and eventually struck up conversations with them and learned a bit about the game. they even had us participate in their betting pools (tho we had no clue what we were actually betting on), and later one of them bought us all a beer. new zealanders are all so nice and friendly, it continues to amaze me. wellington won (yay!) and then we headed back to our hostel for the night.
disembarked with our rental car, and after a few mishaps of trying to find our way, eventually made it up to victoria peak to get an overview of the city. must note the looming storm clouds in the distance, but at least they were held at bay for most of the day. oh - also need to mention the ride up.. so the roads were extremely narrow, and keep in mind you are also going around hairpin turns up the mountain. plus they had completely unnecessary street parking, leaving barely enough room for 1 car to squeeze through. and it was a 2 way road. ah, new zealand traffic patterns. we were nervous only b/c we so did not want to imagine ourselves getting into another accident (luckily that didn't happen). also need to mention the construction site where we witnessed the workers lifting a very large mystery metal box with a crane, and proceeded to almost drop it at one point, and almost hit a runner with it at another. it was fascinating to watch, like when you can't take your eyes off a train wreck. and after that incident i'm not too sure of my confidence in nz construction crews, haha.
back into the city to find our hostel (worldwide backpackers), find parking (always a chore in cities), and check in. turns out you can buy a parking ticket for $5/day, and usually the hostel sells them, but the owner was out - so he sent theresa & i to go buy them for him. he handed us $100 and asked for 3 booklets of tickets. unfortunately the booklets cost $50 a piece - so we could only buy 2. i was really nervous that he would think we stole $50 from him, and felt guilty for no reason when he questioned "are you sure i didn't give you another $50". but when he was taking our money for the accommodation and couldn't make change without our assistance, he commented "no wonder i thought i gave you another $50, i can't even count correctly
walked down to the city center to see what we could of wellington, including te papa - the national museum of new zealand. the displays were quite impressive and the museum was very well done. unfortunately it was so massive that we got museum-ed out by the 3rd floor. funniest part? they had a "junk shop" that came alive. it was called a "must see" in the brochure, so we checked it out. it showed the most random videos that really cannot be described (people pushing baby carriages, the atomic bomb, old photographs - i mean random!). during video segments (many of which related to NZ history) animated contraptions in the room would move to supplement the video. the one i can't forget - a video of a cow being slaughtered. seriously - so did not need to ever see that. what did it have to do with anything? nothing. however, this is the funny part, i was so delirious from fatigue that when that video was shown and an animated cow head mounted on a wall came "alive" and moooo'd at us - i could not stop laughing. tears were streaming down my face.
needing food, found a bakery, then made our way to parliament, which is a very pretty building. saw the famous beehive as well. then made our way to the waterfront and walked along there for a while. saw some b-boys breakdancing. some were actually pretty talented. got a picnic lunch and ate while watching the dancers. theresa accidentally dropped a pea on the ground and within 2 seconds we were engulfed by pigeons. it was hilarious. where did they come from?! what was even funnier was that each pigeon would try the pea and spit it out, then the next would try. come on guys - don't you know if the 1st 50 birds hate it you probably will too? one bird did eventually get the pea down. we can only guess what his fate will be..
back to the hostel to bring in the rest of the stuff from our car, and book the remaining nights we had on the north island. no sky diving for us :( then back into the city later at night, where we were once again lured into mcdonalds (the worst place on earth) by very tempting $1 ice cream sundaes. mmmmm.
back into town (yet another bus ticket..just put it on the tab of unanticipated expenses), met up with steph's friend giselle for dinner, then theresa and i headed back to our hostel while steph went to meet up with friends. defrosted with a cup of tea and desperate housewives (funny, i've never even watched that show at home). and we talked about our options, the only logical one being that if we wanted to salvage any of our time in the north island, we should rent a car.
found a car for $40/day from scottie's, not too shabby. it's actually a great deal since we'd be spending triple that if we had to pay for buses everywhere. and the amount of time we'll save if we manage our own transport..that is more precious than anything at this point. picked up the rental, then back to the hostel to pack up and ship out. made a stop in kaikoura (bought another wooly shirt) so steph could use the fax/internet for free at dusky lodge. left some souvenirs there so we wouldn't have to carry them all around the north island, including my 2 bottles of wine and our paintings. then made our way to picton - finally. checked into our hostel (the atlantis), made dinner and walked around so we could see at least a bit of the cute nautically themed town. and had the best ice cream bars ever! they so hit the spot after our day of stress. finally to bed, we have quite a day a head.
have to keep reminding ourselves that cars and money and things are replaceable. our health is not. but seriously, of all places to be stuck.. reefton would not top my list. the town has a population of about 1000, though the one thing we did have in our favor was that it at least made the lonely planet guidebook (can't say that about a few other places we visited..). and, we learned a lot that we never would have had we arrived in picton as planned.
but wow, keeping ourselves occupied for a few hours was difficult, let alone a couple days. and to make matters worse, it was the weekend, so most things were closed anyway. including the pharmacy - so no medical supplies for my now increasingly swollen and painful feet. i swear, if sandflies make my feet go gangrene and need to be amputated, i will not be a happy camper..
hung out at the I-Site for a while longer, checking internet which was mega expensive ($2 for 10mins). though this is were we found out I-Site is apparently THE place to chill for the local hoodlum and ruffian children. witnessed some kids try smoking cigarettes for the first time. fun times. then some kids riding bikes and knocking down all the signs outside the info center and not picking them up. and some kids not wearing helmets and getting the "death finger" from our pal taye the cop. and it was barely noon! went back to the hostel to make some lunch, then back to town.
as we sat at a cafe across the street from the I-Site, watched a group of kids - let's call them a gang - get into a fight with another group of kids. it was all trash talk at first, but then there was some threats of physical violence. namely throwing their bikes onto the ground and pumping out their chests like they were tough 10 year olds. when things started to escalate, the owner of our cafe came out with a phone in her hand and shouted "break it up or i'll make a call". one of the ruffians belonged to her, and came over to tell what was really happening. we got an earful about so-and-so doing something to another so-and-so. it was very entertaining.
but it wasn't over yet! about an hour later, our friendly copper taye showed up. i really would hate to have his job. apparently he had been called to investigate a sugar robbery or something of that nature. so he was questioning the worker at the I-Site and the owner of the grocery next door, as well as all the hoodlum children. about an hour or so after that, he was gone, and we again got an earful from the cafe lady shouting across the street to the grocer man, both shaking their heads in a "what has this world come to" and "i can't wait for monday so they're back in school" sort of way. the kids may be crazy, but at least all the adults are incredibly kind and helpful.
so our car got totalled. or more specifically stephanie's car that she's had since october. as i said, we are all alright. but seriously? after the entire fiasco of having to put nearly $1000 of work into it for it to pass inspection, and getting a down payment on the car from the buyer, all LESS THAN 24hrs PRIOR?! no joke. timing really couldn't have been worse.
after staying with phyllis and her husband, who were really funny and cute and nice and every bit the stereotypical western kiwi folk, mosied my way the 4 blocks to the main strip to watch the runners come into town. it is the most exciting thing that westport sees every year, and the town was (supposedly) packed! in all honesty, though, by our standards it was still a bit of a ghost town, so i really wonder what it must be like the other 364 days of the year.. the morning started off chilly with misty rain. no surprise there. but the sun did come out and it turned out to be a great day for the marathon. cheered theresa & steph as they each ran by, then walked to meet them at the finish. they both did as well as they were expecting, so that was good. they hobbled and i walked with them back to phyllis's, showered and packed, and said our goodbyes to the lovely host. then drove back towards town to get some drinks (the world's best smoothie, i'm convinced, is in westport) before making the drive back northeast to picton, where we would spend the night before catching the ferry to the north island in the morning.
about 45 mins after we left westport, the unthinkable happened. we were sitting behind a white car at a yield sign to a one-way bridge. now, let me assure you, these are incredibly common in 
theresa was in full bracing position, arms crossed across her chest and face. steph unfortunately was driving, so had really tensed up pushing both brake and clutch, and stiffened her arms on the wheels. she was definitely sore for a few days afterwards. i was in the back, on the driver's side. and just watched the whole thing take place in slow motion. i really couldn't take my eyes off it, however i do know i closed them when i thought the impact would happen; when it didn't, i opened them right at the second we were hit. i don't think i realized it was scary until after. i mean, really - we were on a one-lane bridge, over a pretty sizable river. not a good situation.
unfortunately, the iron bridge was in the middle of nowhere. meaning no cell phone reception, and very little traffic. by the grace of something, the only tourist bus of the day came by about 10 mins later. theresa & steph flagged it down and hitched a ride about 20ks to the nearest "town" we had passed, if you can even call it that. well, at least it had one cafe, which meant there had to be a phone around somewhere. and i had the fun job of staying with the car and waiting with the couple until help arrived. i made myself memorize their license plate, b/c what would i do if they just drove off? i was pretty convinced they wouldn't, as the woman kept asking if i was okay, but still. i went into ncis mode, and tried to gather as much info as i could.
