Thud, thud went the...

One Possum, two possum,
1 dead-for-sure little possum, 1 maybe gone possum.
The darkness had fallen and the road was a windin',
I think I can huffed the Mazda as we were sure climbin',
Andy banked left and then quickly to the right,
2nd gear, 3rd gear, Wow that turn was tight!
Stacy finished off the ice cream cone,
Another great day and now a nice drive home.
Oh no! Oh gosh! What's that up ahead?
I turned the wheel and think I made it past,
Only to hear Stacy say aloud, I think its probably dead.
We looked at each other and had to snicker,
It looked like a Fraggle but god I hope quicker!
We laughed and giggled at the event that took place,
Just in time to round the bend and see Mr. & Mrs. Possum staring us in the face!
These two were real, there was no doubt;
The grey of their coats and the snarl from their snout,
Only seconds to react, not much I could do,
Thud, thud went the Mazda as we screamed Yoohoo!
I know we got the one that was gazing in our view,
I hope his lady friend, the lucky one got away, fhew!
Unknowingly doing my part I guess, I suppose,
We sure smacked that grin from below that little guy's nose.

One Possum, two possum...
1 dead-for-sure little possum, 1 maybe gone possum.

We jumped 43 meters off a bridge today!

That's right...our first ever bungy jump off the original Kawarau Bridge! We both dove 43 meters (~132 feet) over the river. It was an incredible rush, if there are words to describe the feeling! We had been talking about doing it over the last couple of days as Queenstown is host to the first commercial bungy jumping site in the world (and is an outdoor adventurer's paradise with a myriad of other extreme sports at one's fingertips). Andy was seemingly a bit more nervous than I was as we talked about it on our hike above town this morning. We took a gondola up into the mountains and enjoyed beautiful panoramic views of the area. Though when I approached the dock (ladies first of course) my heart was beating out of my chest! As the guy wrapped towels around my ankles he was making jokes left and right and I replied, "Fine, as long as you know how to tie those damn cords properly." As I inched out towards the ledge I was having second thoughts, but I knew there was no turning back so after a fake jump (got scared), I just went for it, swan-dive style. What a RUSH! Time suddenly slowed down and the excitement finally set in mid-flight, climaxing as my arms and head dipped into the water. You're in luck as we videoed it - click here to see Stacy's Jump (coming soon, it takes forever to download these things). And of course, who can forget the window-roller-upper Andy and his jump? Good times!

Queenstown is a beautiful place. It's actually nice to be back in civilization for a few days. We went out to dinner last night at this great restaurant down on the waterfront with unparalleled views of the river, alpine trees and the distant mountains aptly named "The Remarkables." Since we are just a few days into fall there is no snow on the mountaintops just yet, but I can only imagine the profound beauty the city affords in the wintertime. There is no shortage of cold here though! The sunny days are warm, but as soon as the sun disappears...brrrr. We are sleeping in a cabin instead of our trusty tent tonight so I won't have to sleep with a beanie. So yes, back to dinner...we enjoyed Sapphire & tonics with pumpkin potato soup and crusty bread to start. Then this unique pear and Parmesan tart that literally melted in our mouths. For the entree, lamb of course with garlic mashed, baby zucchini and escargot. Ice cream cones for dessert. Oh my gosh I am starving right now, it is clearly time for dinner! It was very nice to treat ourselves to a delicious night out since we cook the majority of the time.

What else have we done since Andy last wrote? Let's see...we visited the neighboring Fox Glacier after Franz Joseph which was equally as breathtaking. The sun decided to pop out as we hiked towards it, glistening bright blue. We took a side trip to Lake Matheson in hopes to catch a glimpse of Mt. Cook and Mt. Tasman in the distance. As we approached the lake we looked behind us and lo and behold the bright mountain peaks darted into the sky with the sun pouring down overhead! It quickly shrouded back over with clouds and we were pleased to have captured some hi-res photos for a future wall hanging. The rain came, so we decided to head south. Did you know it rains 80% of the time on the west coast of the south island?! It was truly a gift to be able to see those awe-inspiring mountain peaks if only for a moment.

I am Hans & this is...

...Frans Josef Glacier. No, not the Saturday Night Live Sketch Comedy from the '80s, duh. I am talking about the Big Ass Glacier in New Zealand!! It is quite a sight for sure. To be so close to a piece of history that has been around for so many thousands of years, was quite a humbling experience. Although the glacier ice has receded vastly over the last few centuries, recent conditions since the '70s has seen it advance back down the mountain. WOW! Keep up the good work and do your part everyone!

We got up this wet morning in Rapahoe, a small burb (when I say small I mean smaller than your local 7-Eleven mini mall, SMALL) just north of Greymouth on the Central West Coast. We are staying at the camp that Stacy memorialized in her last posting (get out!). It was a bit WT but the scenery was great and the facilities were all in all quite nice. We paid $24 NZ (~$19.50 US), which is about average for these motor parks. We are on an endless camping trip and its great! We've got the 1.25" think yellow(ing) foam pad and our new sleeping bags and we are roughin' it in our 2 person tent! Orange County eat your heart out! I've got Stacy Conl---err Bergdahl, the camping queen (as long as we are not too far from a hot shower ;). We both bagged a shower this fine day - is that a first...hmmm, I'll have to think about that one - and looked at each other with no real idea of what we were to stumble upon today. We were anxious to move on however, as the weird-o factor at this camp was rising on the dial as each minute past. A guy who reminded me of Doc Brown from Back to the Future had seemed to be stalking us without ever making any sort of eye contact, talking to himself and having TOO good a time in the shower stall next to mine...Check please! We were gonzo!

Stacy just bought some bright RED cross training shoes yesterday and wanted to head back to the Greymouth shop to see if maybe they had a larger size. I tried to email some of you while she was workin' it, but due to the rainy day, the internet was temporarily down, oh well, too bad for y'all! I walked toward the shop and peeked through the window and watched as I could tell by Stacy's body language that the shop guy was not having any talk about exchanges. I could see my honey getting a bit peeved, but maybe I was wrong. Uhhh...no, sure enough, no exchanges or returns, even though we could have paid our mortgage with the cost of these shoes. She was not happy, but kept her composure like a true Bergdahl ;) and we moved on down the road (highway 6 to be exact), to where we had no idea. She thinks the shoes will be fine by the way.

We drove and drove and started to see some incredible rivers washing by us that were an incredible blue green, and must have been coming from the glaciers. They were a color I'd never seen before! We found our DOC (Dept of Conservation) camping spot for the night about 15 minutes north of the Frans Josef Glacier township. Yet another hidden gem, right along a lake in a great natural setting away from any hustle and bustle (not that there is any here anyways!).

The glacier was great though. I know they've got em back home as well but it was amazing to see. It was free and they let you hike right up to the base of the thing, although they say to stop 250M before then. Yeah right! We passed the yellow ropes and forged our way across the freezing glacier river flow where all the managed groups ($100 each person) were walking. No biggie. There were small waterfalls running off the cliffs on the right side as we traversed the rocky terrain and amazingly, rain forest lining the mountainsides. Rain forest!!?! It was cold and is raining even as I speak but never uncomfortable. It definitely left a mark on my mind. There is another one down the road a bit called the FOX glacier, where they play Simpsons re-runs all day...funny. It sounds equally impressive and we may get hooked into the ice hiking, we'll see.

Anyways, more great fun every day. I really cannot wait to get that email from one of you that says, "Hey! I am coming out to join you! Where should I fly into?"

Andy signing off...

"Get Out of My Kitchen!"

Yes, it's been 3 weeks since our last run-in so it must be time to get yelled at yet again by a holiday park owner. This morning we slept in at our picturesque campsite right on the beach in Rapahoe. I (Stacy) lazily made my way to the kitchen around 10:30am to make brunch. The food was on the table, coffee steaming in our cups and I was just washing up a pan when this man barges in and rages, "It's 11 o'clock, get out of my kitchen!" Startled, I turned to him and said, "The lady [I believe his wife] said we could stay another 10 minutes until the cleaning guy comes." There was a large sign on the wall that said "Kitchen Closed from 11am - 12pm for Cleaning." The lady had told me seconds before that the kitchen was closing at 11am, I asked if she wanted us to leave right then, she said no that I could finish up before the cleaning guy came. The guy literally yells a reply to me: "SHE'S NOT IN CHARGE! I AM IN CHARGE! HOW I AM I SUPPOSED TO CLEAN THE KITCHEN WHEN YOU ARE IN HERE!" Holy crap, I thought. Am I really getting yelled at for this? Does he just want me to leave my half dirty dishes in the sink? At that point, he stormed out and I decided I better finish up or I may never see my dishes again. Plus I may need this pan to bang on the back of his head. Andy was standing there the whole time and didn't open his mouth...I was so impressed! I wanted to just lay into the guy. I mean really, I was told it was ok to stay and finish up these dishes, it's like 11:03am, and he is screaming at me when it's not like there were 20 other things that could be done around me? Not to mention the cleaning guy wasn't even there yet. Alas...what is the deal with these holiday park owners? Talk about no social skills. This is the hospitality business for cryin' out loud! I just have to laugh though, and we did throughout breakfast (which was cold by then).

We are in Greymouth today handling logistics (I almost forgot what that was?) such as grocery shopping, getting the car re-registered, getting our flat tire fixed, etc. After all that gravel road driving, it's not a big surprise that we would have popped a tire! Luckily, our spare is actually full size so we were able to fix it up right away. Tomorrow we will continue south along the west coast. The weatherman keeps saying we're in for showers, but these 75 degree sunny days have been consistent (knock on wood).

Happy Easter!

Easter was yesterday for us in New Zealand, but you all are probably laying on the couch or sleeping right now porked out from too much food from your Easter meal today. I love that about holidays! The yummy food that is.

We woke up yesterday on our Easter morning at the very crowded (by NZ standards anyway) holiday park in Westport. Andy cooked a delicious brunch of egg, sausage, cheese and tomato sandwiches, muesli, fruit, juice and coffee. We then headed up the west coast about an hour and a half drive to Karamea where we stayed the night. We took a hike along the coast toward Scott's Beach among native bush until we saw a flood in front of us on the path! We looked left and right and tried to blase our own trail to no avail (who knew this was a poem?). So, what better to do than take off our socks and shoes and wade through it. We were glad we did, as Scott's Beach was completely secluded and just beautiful despite the heavy mist and fog.

On our single burner I cooked up ham, potatoes, kumera and veggies at our DOC campsite right on the beach for dinner. The sun was setting, waves were crashing and all was lovely except - SANDFLIES! They bite. Bad. Dozens of them all over us. Andy brought mosquito net hats thankfully and here we were covered from head to toe with only our hands exposed. It was quite a sight, the two of us drinking our wine through the nets, me cooking and Andy trying to start a fire. I have a bit of a phobia with these bugs especially I discovered. Wine was a nice antidote, and as soon as the sun went down they disappeared. Apparently though you must cover yourself 100%, as the top of one of my fingers, my palm and my hip all got bitten anyway. I shudder to think of those buggers flying up my pants!!!

Today another hike to these beautiful arches, one of which is the tallest in the southern hemisphere 37 meters. The folige in this forest was my favorite so far - dripping moss, tall trees, dozens of types of ferns - I think I saw a hobbit!

Tonight we are heading south along the west coast...who knows where the evening will find us. Hope your Easter was a great one and we are thinking of you!

New Photos are Finally Up!

We are in Murchison with high-speed wireless, so please enjoy the photos from the last couple of weeks. The plan was to white water raft this morning, but Andy unfortunately pulled a muscle in his lower back yesterday so we will wait until tomorrow instead to give it a bit of a chance to heal.

After leaving the WWOOF farm yesterday, we headed to Karahungi National Park to hike the Mount Arthur track. This "goblin forest" as another hiker dubbed it, was quite amazing! Half a dozen different types of mosses dripped from the logs and birch-like trees in the forest. When we got up high enough, these Dr. Seuss-like trees were interspersed. The tui birds were singing and all in all it was a beautiful day. We came upon Mt. Arthur Hut and had a nice lunch. These huts are along hiking tracks, built and maintained by the Department of Conservation (DOC). They usually have a basic kitchen, bunk beds and running water that needs to be treated. These are perfect places to stay while on a multi-day hike and are only about $6 NZ per night.

After the 4-hour hike, we stopped off at the swimming hole by the WWOOFing place one last time for a quick dip before we headed south. We were there no more than 5 minues when guess who rolled up - none other than Heather and Dave! Strange coincedence. Heather pleaded with us to come over and stay for tea, dinner, another night and leave in the morning. We laughed and thanked her again for her generous hospitality and made our way to our campground here in Murchison. After a nice dinner of steak and bleu cheese salad on the river just outside our campiste, we journaled, read and went to bed early.

Betty Homemaker & The Naked Possum

Fresh cinnamon raisin and rosemary Italian bread in the bread maker are so tasty! I didn't realize how bomb a bread maker is. That is the first appliance I am going to buy when I get home next year.

Our hosts have been gone the last couple of days to take care of a minor emergency that came up with their renters at their place in Christchurch. Apparently the tenants left the place a royal mess so we chose to clean the house from floor to ceiling as our WWOOFing work today, along with baking bread, making dinner and a fresh apple crisp for dessert. Yesterday, Andy and I harvested seven large bins of apples and pears from the property. There is nothing like fresh apples and fruit off the tree! We are leaving tomorrow and will miss the great food. Luckily there is a fresh produce stand about every 3 km so we can keep up.

Tomorrow we plan to leave early and go for a hike in the adjacent forest then make our way south. I made reservations for a half day white water rafting trip on Friday, so our last couple of days tubin' down the river has been a great warm up!

Did we tell you about the "Naked Possum" Market & Tannery? They sell possum skin products like pillows and lampshades and fur products such as hats, gloves, socks, scarves and yes, even nipple warmers "for the woman who has everything." The motto is "undressing the possum to redress our forest." Now, normally speaking, I am NOT an advocate of killing animals for commercial use in any way. In fact, I thought I was against it in every circumstance until now. You see, possums are not native to New Zealand; they were brought here hundreds of years ago from Australia in cages to be used for their hides. Trouble was, over time they proliferated in the wild and have been multiplying by the millions ever since. They treat the native forest as an all-you-can-eat buffet of bark, flowers and leaves from the oldest and tallest trees in native forests. Systematically, these trees die each taking only a couple of years. And that's not the only major problem from these creatures. Possums carry Bovine TB which infects cows, diseases cow products such as milk, cheese, beef, etc. that humans consume and ultimately can kill the livestock. There may be up to 70 million possums in New Zealand, a country which is host to only 4 million people. They kill and consume native birds, eggs and snails to boot.

Therefore, setting possum traps and reducing them by the millions is a necessity. Might as well reuse them for their fur and skin commercially in the spirit of reusing waste. What do you think?

Ever played the video game, "Tubin'"?

Well, Stace and I both have and just today we lived it! We are in day 4 of WWOOFing now in the beautiful Motueka River Valley in the Northwest of the Southern Isle. The place is gorgeous, the host family is amazing, the food is epic and the work has been hard. I have assisted in shaping their pond shoreline, shlopping mud and dirt, digging a drainage ditch with Heather the host's guidance and had the gratification of finishing the ditch job by breaking the pseudo damn, and seeing the pond water flow of of the pond like toilet water down a flush. It has been great to help this family out and truly bust my ass again after 3 weeks of R&R. I have had a smile on my face for what seems like months and am enjoying every minute of this. We work about 4 hours each morning after a great 'brekky' and then sit for an even more impressive lunch. The afternoons are our's, but we have been quite satisfied to chill around the property, ride a bike or take a swim.

That brings me to the theme of my tale and the Motueka River. We decided this afternoon to take 2 of their tractor tire inner tubes up river in the good ole' Mazd'r (just like Bob Everhart's back in the 80s, by the way!) and see the valley and Mt Arthur's peak from a different perspective. We jumped into the chilly river, (kind of like taking a swim in your ice water actually) tubes in hand and headed down with the current. We are not talking about 4 & 5s here people, but there were definitely white caps and probably a 2 mixed in with a bunch of 1s. We were all smiles as we peered down into the crystal clear water, seeing the river rocks below, sometimes at 8-10 feet down, other times about 3 inches. The journey lasted about 50 minutes and was maybe 2k (that's K-I-L-O-M-E-T-E-R-S for you Americans!). The views were stunning, the water refreshing and the company perfect. We were dodging boulders at times, a stick or two and occasionally had to stand up and walk few strides to free ourselves from a rock shelf. There were no beer cans thrown and no pushing and shoving like in the video game, but there was a lot of back paddling, one arm paddling and co-chillin'! As we neared our out position, we passed a fly fisherman who had just latched onto a 16" brown trout. If I could paint, and I can't mind you, I could not have painted the experience any better. New Zealand my friends, Just do it!

WWOOFing in Kahurangi

The sand flies have found our limbs, but we are alive and well as official WWOOFers at the Kahurangi Brown Trout property in the Motueka Valley. We arrived at dusk a couple of days ago and met our gracious hosts Heather and Dave. The property is 14 hectares and has a sizable vegetable garden, a variety of fruit, nut and native trees (all organic) as well as a small farm with a few cows and ducks and a Bed & Breakfast operation. We have our own tiny but private accommodation in a campervan and it's been nice to sleep cozily indoors for a few nights.

The first morning we awoke at 8:15am to do our daily 4 hours work in exchange for daily meals and a place to sleep. Harvesting hazelnuts off the ground was our first task. There we were on our hands and knees, underneath the trees carefully avoiding the occasional cow patty for the first hour asking ourselves "what in the heck have we gotten ourselves into?" An hour later, our main WWOOFer boss, Heather, came to get us and I was put to work weeding and pruning. Thankfully I had rubber gloves up to my elbows as blackberry and gorse are very sharp, pain in the ass weeds! Meanwhile, Andy was digging a trench for the pond to drain out (I'll let him share his stories personally). It was hot and we were sweating our butts off, but it felt good and satisfying somehow to do manual labor. A river runs right on the other side of the road so we jumped in for a nice, cold swim when we were done. Needless to say, I worked up quite an appetite and mowed a gigantic lunch afterward and spent the afternoon finishing my book.

That evening, their daughter Brooke and fiance Ant came into town from the notorious Upper Hutt (they enjoyed our "getting kicked out of the campsite" story). They are about our age, so it's been fun getting to know them and hearing about life growing up in New Zealand. Ant is a forest ecologist and is studying the area around Hawke's Bay and I have enjoyed hearing about the Department of Conservation, forest ecology, Maori history and the effects on the environment in New Zealand. It is such a different world here, in a fantastically liberal, hippie-like way. Self-sufficient, Earth and energy conscious and ecologically friendly. The people are generally down to earth, natural looking and unpretentious - how refreshing! (Yes, I still shave but look forward to photos of Andy's beard:)

The next morning we had our hands right in the dried cow crap and hazelnuts without a care, laughing how the day before we were so meticulous trying not to touch it. The kids from next door created a makeshift water slide next to us on the sheets of garbage bag material laid out to kill some weeds in this one area, it was really cute. I shoveled dirt to help mend the pond the rest of the morning and my arms still hurt. It's been humbling so far to say the least. That afternoon, we went for another swim in the river with their neighbors who also have a WWOOFer (from Germany) and enjoyed chatting and skipping rocks. We borrowed mountain bikes and took a nice hour-long ride along the river on the highway here in the river valley with beautiful mountains on either side so the views are just spectacular. Visually it reminds me very much of Southern Oregon around the Ashland/Medford region (Jeremy, I am particularly thinking of Applegate!). I suppose it's approximately the same latitude. Afterward, we had about 15 people here for a homemade pizza party. Dave and Heather have a real stone pizza oven that Dave began heating up around lunchtime and make-your-own pizzas were done within about 2-3 minutes. We had a blast with their friends and neighbors, drinking home brewed beer and sharing stories. OH and the best dessert...bananas and chocolate calzones with fresh cream.

Everything is so fresh and delicious here. Today I was not looking forward to another morning of digging in the dirt so over breakfast I aptly phrased the question, "Heather, might I have the opportunity to work in the kitchen today and learn a few things from you?" She makes jams, jellies, sauces, homemade pasta, homemade bread, soups - you name it. And everything is fresh right from the garden. She obliged and I went to work and made a vegetable lasagne with homemade pasta and everything from the garden. We spent the afternoon at a couple of wineries nearby and brought home a reserve chardonnay from Sunset Cliffs, an organic winery. The lady serving us at the winery is from the Czech Republic who came to visit NZ and never left. I can see why.

The best part of the experience for me in the WWOOFing world so far is the cultural aspect. Heather, Dave, Brooke and Ant have invited us in and treated us just like members of the family. These folks have had WWOOFers for 15 years! It really is a symbiotic lifestyle here, with physical labor here on the property from us while they take care of our room and board.

Currently, our hosts have taken off for a few days and their kids are leaving tomorrow for an overnight "tramp" (hike) so we are housesitting. It's amazing how trusting people are. Right now I am in their office using the computer, no worries. I wish I could download pics for you to see but dial up doesn't really allow for that. Hopefully soon!

Nevermind the Jeans and Gloves...

Kia Ora from Collingswood, Golden Bay. We woke up this morning from our tent to mile long views of the stunning and dramatic mountains of Kahurangi National Forest across the calm waters of the bay. Yes, for $25 NZ ($20 US) per night we get to sleep on the untouched waterfront. It's probably 85 degrees today - looks like that cold snap has long past and it's time to enjoy the last days of summer.

Since the last blog entry we have been doing well and the South Island Kiwis have been nice to us (so far, ha ha). Yesterday we drove over the mountains to Golden Bay on the northwest coast. We took a beautiful hike to Pupu Springs, the home of the clearest water on Earth! Apparently the visibility is 131 meters, pretty crazy. The hike was short, but it was interesting to read about the creation of the springs, the gold mining days here in the 1850s and the different stages of forest growth. It's incredible how the landscape changes here so quickly, from dense forest to field to orchard to savanna.

After the springs, we took a long coastal walk on Farewell Spit, the long sandy arm on the northwestern most part of the South Island. I bought a book on New Zealand Birds (it's true, I am a full on nature dork now) and along with our binoculars we continued checking off the different species we saw. Black swans, oysterpickers, sparrows, white-faced heron, red and black beaked gulls to name a few. As we walked on the layer of shells with a constant "crack" under our feet and the tide went down, we realized the birds were all hanging out waiting for the pools of water to appear and eat the crustaceans, bugs and fish for dinner. We walked across the spit to the western side for views of incredible sand dunes and waves with not a single human in sight.

Our our way to Collingswood to camp for the night, we hit up the 6km gravel road to Whainginui Beach and began the 20 minute hike. After 15 minutes of running hearing the occasional "baaah," there was no beach to be found, just miles upon miles of hilly sheep pastures. And I mean SHEEP, wow, there were tons of them all around. I felt like what's-her-name in the Sound of Music and wanting to sing "The hills are alive..." but I digress. Clearly we took the wrong trail! So we hiked over sheep hill and sheep hill and even steeper sheep hill towards the ocean and finally saw it from a distance. That was good enough for us:) The sun was setting and our stomachs were growling for taco salad on the menu.

Today we are headed south to do some WWOOFing at a B&B/orchard in Nelson Lakes region, back towards Abel Tasman. On the way, we plan to hike to some caves in Kahurangi National Forest and who knows what else. We will stay overnight at the WWOOFing place tonight and they have Internet access so the plan is to download some photos for you to see by tomorrow sometime. More details to come later, for Andy has been the planner on this one and I just nod my head like a good wife. Ha ha. Love to all!

Sunny Day on the Beach

It is a beautiful day today in Abel Tasman and since our feet are tired, we are going to spend the day on the beach with a good book which is just a short walk from our campsite called "The Barn." Yes, we did wake up to the sound of roosters and horses neighing. The horses alongside the camground are beautiful and very well maintained. Andy is on Skype right now talking to a potential WWOOF Farm that we will begin on Saturday. More on that later if that is in fact what we do. Skype is great by the way! Please let us know if you have an account and we can talk for free. Our name is "andystacy."

This camground is also a backpacker's hostel so there is a common area with couches, a kitchen and computers. It has been nice to be somewhat social the last few days while we have been here, as many of our experiences here in NZ have been solo.

Time for the beach and maybe some kayaking. Bye for now!

My Feet Hurt!

I am beat! Andy and I went for a long hike up into Abel Tasman National Park today, a 4 hour journey to the beautiful Anchorage Bay. My feet were killing me the whole way there because, I discovered, my shoes really suck. That is the first thing I am going to buy when we get to a bigger town, along with a pair of jeans and gloves. It gets pretty nippy at night. I took a boat back to our campsite here at the entry point to the park while Andy is enduring the 4 hour return trek home. I feel pretty wimpy right about now, but my left foot is screaming at me so I thought I would listen to it. I jumped on a boat with some return kayakers who seemed like they had a wonderful time on the glistening turquoise blue waters for the day. Maybe we'll do that tomorrow - my arms can burn instead of my feet!

The south island is unbelieveable. There is a stunning, dramatic vista around every turn. Cicadas sing all day long in the forest and lush ferns and trees are all around. After spending a few days in Picton hiking, we decided to head west to the National Park. What a place! We stopped in Havelock North on our way here to try some of their famous green-lipped mussels. I am not a shellfish sort of a girl, but fresh mussels grilled in garlic butter, hell, I would eat just about anything grilled in garlic butter!

Recently, however, I have been feeling a little bit unsettled. It really is very strange to not be going back to work now after being on a few weeks of what feels like vacation. I am having these urges to plan, to accomplish, to do something that in the western world that I call home would make me feel valued and worthwhile. I have to constantly remind myself that returning client phone calls, running meetings, doing errands and going to the gym are not the only ways in which I can accomplish. Being at peace inside the silence of myself is proving to be a more difficult challenge for me than landing a huge client. Who knew?

Ya Bloody Wanka'!

This was the resounding theme of our 2 days spent in the southern part of the North Island, Thurs-Friday nights. I am still trying to figure out what happened but am finally over it, lessons learned I suppose.

On Wednesday, after departing the land of the Gannet birds, we drove to Palmerson North a bustling city that maintains Massey University, the largest college in the country. We arrived in time to find our camp ground and to set camp; it was a nice place on a river, just fine indeed. We were anxious to email and keep in touch with the world back home so we ventured into the center of town and found an internet cafe. It was a strange sort of place to begin with, upon initial inspection the front room was entirely empty. To get to a station, one had to continue about 30 paces to the rear of the place, where computer stations were packed in like 8-5ers in an office building. I grabbed a spot and got to work (this is my new job now, keeping our travel updates you know) emailing and touching base with the world. I finally decided to check into our Skype account to see if I could call home or chat with the parents or a friend or something, they had the headsets and microphones afterall! The process was easy and it was going to cost me $0.06/minute to dial any number in the US. I tried Pasadena first, as I knew my Dad was eager to get the Skype thing going, and it was ringing! Nice. Unfortunately, it was nearly 12midnight back in Cali and the answering machine picked up. I started to leave a msg and thought I was until Skype popped up a window wondering if I was talking, because they were not registering any sound. The call disconnected. Damn! I called the desk kid over to assist and we thought it was fixed, to no avail, however as I next called Encinitas and to my excitement Pop Harvey answered! "Hello I said, its Andy!" He couldn't hear me. Crap! Disconnected. So again I motioned for assitance and was then taken to another computer and then another while they were realizing a number of their mics were not working. Finally the owner of the place I think, a stinky bugger at that, got fed up with me the bloody American and started jabbering in his native tongue, of which I was unable to recognize (Korean perhaps?). "I just want to talk on Skype, that is all", I tried to convey. Not sure what was lost in translation but he raised his arm to the door and told me "out!". Wha wha?! I was getting kicked out? Just like Andy Bergdahl to get booted eh? A thousand miles from nowhere, but my reputation had caught up with me - I wasn't even wearing my hoodie (inside joke). In disbelief, I looked at Stace shockingly and walked out as she was finishing up. I asked, "so I don't need to pay? really?" as the guy was hurrying me out. To say the least I was not with my tail between my legs and quite blown away, but, hey, I didn't have to pay my $6.80 NZ so fine, I left. Much to my amazement the guy was following me out the vacant front room, berating me in an indeciferable language. Out front on the side walk he gained momentum with his song and repeated something over and over and over, all the while. I had to smile because I couldn't understand a thing, but he sure was enjoying himself. He even spit on the ground in front of me. WOW! I was now half in shock and half amused. I walked away with the tirade flowing over my shoulders. Stacy finally emerged after what seemed like 15 minutes and we left in disbelief. As I was exiting the car at the camp, I forgot I had plugged in our camera battery charger next to my computer station. Oh great, I've been blackballed and we need to go back and get the thing. Lucky for me I have a gem of a wife and she popped back in and took off allthewhile smiling as I started to prep my famous chicken fried couscous with veggies, almonds, and left over couscous (well, it turned out good, geez). As Stact was gone my mind wandered and I thought, "Shit, what happens if Stacy doesn't come back?" It is a worry I will get over with time, but I do worry about these sorts of things when it comes to her out on her own in foreign lands. She pulled in much quicker than I thought and was laughing, much the way I was standing with the stinky bugger as he spit and ranted at me; half amuzed and half scared. "Do I have a story for you!" she exclaimed. Uh oh, I thought... Apparently, she went in to retrieve the device near my first station and upon passing my the bloke of an owner, was asked, "hey, that not yours. What is that?" Stacy explained it was her wonderfully handsome husband's and she needed to get it (well, maybe not exactly like that). The guy said, "Hey, that guy, he no pay, he no pay! Let me see that!" Stacy wass feeling a bit concerned now as he was coming around the desk to possibly take it from her, she had no idea She did hte right thing, turnrd and did her best roadrunner impression out of the joint, again the freaky dude followed. What is this guy's deal with following people?! She ran to the car and after trying the wrong side she got into the correct driver's seat and hit reverse. She was not in fear for her life, mind you but half wondering if she should be. The guyswas right there in her vacated parking spot wagging wis finger disapprovingly as she drove to safety. WHAT the hell? I said to her as the couscous was frying up, unbelieveable.

We laughed for the rest of that night, not knowing what we had instore about 23 hours into our future...

We made our way on Friday into Upper Hutt after we got an oil change on the Mazder (just to be safe ya know?!) and found a nice place to call home for the evening Harcourt's Holiday Park. It was a rural spot against some hills and only a 40 minute drive to Wellington in the morning, where we were to board our ferry to the south island the next day at 1pm. All was dandy. We found a great trek up the flanking hills and a secret off-shoot that took us straight up the hill, under a canopy of trees and tropical brush that ran along a small creek. We even saw a small owl (the only species in New Zealand) on our descent, quite a gem of a walk for sure! We got back to camp before dark and got into our dinner routine of laying towels on the ground and setting up our burner and cooler (no tables at this place either!). We got our portable burner going and the pasta was looking promising. As night engulfed the day and our veggies were sizzlin' we heard what sounded like a lawn mower start up. No way. Its 8pm and dark, can't be, c'mon. Sure enough, it was. The guy was mowing the rocks in the same pasture we were in, just about 40M away. We were in disbelief. In between rocks screetching the blade to a hault and sending sparks each and every where, the thing sounded like a sick crusty machine - very nice for a calm relaxing meal, eh? I got up to see and sure enough he was doing concentric circles not so far away. All of a sudden, he must have hit a considerable rock as the blade sounded like it broke and he turned off the blasted vehicle. In the new silence, I was inspired to start clapping and Stacy joined in (remember, I started it not Stace). We thought, finally, some peace. As quickly as the thought escaped us I noticed headlights lighting up our camp; "You guys the ones clapping?" I heard from the other side of the tent. I shot up and met the guy. I did not answer directly but said it was nice that the clatter and painful event was over. We just wanted a peaceful night and dinner, just like the rest of his guests and it was nearly 8:45pm afterall. Apparently, this just lit his fuse because the things that flew from his foaming mouth was nothing to tell mom about thats for sure. We are disrepectful assh---s and he was sorry that he had to do the work and this and that. He was quite peeved. I apologozed that we felt the way we did, but it was real. He stormed away, saying something under his breath only to return 10 minutes later in a cloud of dust and disdain. "Wanker this and wanker that, you better leave now, here's your money back, if you do not, the police will be here. you are now TRESPASSING on my land. I have asked you to leave you wankers, leave!!" He continued to give me the cynical clapping and berating, and was not a happy man. I tried to reason with the guy, but to no avail. I felt bad of course. I should not have clapped, that I know all to well now. But, man, it was 9pm and we just wanted some peace. I told him I wasn't going to take the money and we were not going anywhere. He threated with the police again and stormed off, clapping all the way. I now was in a similar state to that of 23 hours previous, but a bit more perplexed and feeling bad. I gathered the $24 he threw on the ground near our tent and headed for the office to plead my case. The kid at the office listened and seemed concerned, but retorted with, "He's the ower and what he says goes, sorry." OK, I was now cooling down but still concerned and unsure of our next move. I turned to exit and there was another camper in the office. "Hey", I asked him, "did you hear any of that? I can't believe it." This guy gave me his best school yard lecture about New Zealand law, ownership, trespassing and "hope you enjoy the cell for the night" as he weaseled his way back out. "Wait" I said, "you came all the way up here just to lecture me? Thanks man." "We came her for peace and quite and YOU, sir are stressing us out!" he exclaimed. I was stressing him out? OK, time to go. I met Stacy back at the tent where the food was still cooking away (gotta love Stace for thinking it through!) and we began the walk of shame out of the camp. Where to? Maybe Wellington where we needed to be anyway, I don't know, crap. I was now tail between my legs and rather dumbfounded by the night's events and even more so that 2 nights in a row I had been kicked out of someplace. Stacy was her amazing self and talked to me about it, understanding our side but also giving some perspective of his as well. She talked me out of my funky state and we decided on Wellington as the pasta was still in the saucepans at Stacy's feet, cooling by the second. Turned out we found a hotel, the Duxton downtown, which appropriately enough had fire engines all around and a huge A/C leak pouring into the lobby as we inquired within - fitting I thought. We walked around town for a few hours (it was Friday night afterall) and finally checked into our first hotel. It was very nice. Hmmm...come to think of it, I need to corner Stacy to see if she had this planned all along...no way...hmmm?

Ya Bloody Wanka!

Hawkes Bay and Beyond

Well! Another adventure is here. I feel like I continually wonder what is around the corner. Recently it has been RAIN. The words from other New Zealand travelers who we met in Fiji keep echoing in my ears: "We just spent 3 weeks in NZ and it didn't rain once during the day!" Downpour has been following us around everywhere so far. But I really can't complain as we discovered that our two man tent with rain fly rocks! (Photos)

Spending the day in Napier in the drizzle, however, wasn't so bad. We just drank wine all day! No, we are not drunks I promise - the Hawkes Bay region is wine country. After hiking up to a beautiful overlook in the 1931 art deco town we decided to stop off at CJ Pask and Trinity Hill Wineries. We enjoyed fresh bread, cheese, hummus, fruit and veggies from a local organic market while we tasted a variety of local vino. Luckily, their pours weren't quite like the ones at Ponte in Temecula so we were able to see straight driving afterwards. (Photos)

We headed south along the coast to a tent camp just south of Clifton and pitched our tent about 20 feet from the sound of crashing waves. The ocean roared all night while I slept like a baby. After a quick breakfast we began an intense 20km coastal hike out to Cape Kidnappers - what views! You see, the tight walk is on the rocks and sand between the surf and the towering cliffs. Therefore, it is vital we left at the beginning of low tide so five hours later we can finish as the tide is flowing back in. The geology is stunning and dramatic. As we meandered along the coastline, a few gannet bird colonies came into view. Cape Kidnappers is a gannet reserve, as these avian nest here this time of year before they migrate to Australia. The final part of the hike was up a steep hill (after passing cow and sheep of course) to the largest colony of hundreds of gannets. I could do without the smell of bird poo but the ocean views were amazing. Ok, so maybe it didn't rain today...it was beautiful. I was being just a tad dramatic earlier.

This afternoon we made our way south to Palmerston North, pitched our tent at a holiday park (NZ word for campground) by a river and made our way here to an Internet cafe before dinner - stir fry tonight. The weather report calls for sunshine and temps in the mid 70s tomorrow thankfully. I don't know what we plan to do just yet, but if it's in the sun I am game! We definitely brought the right combo of clothing for all climates thus far. Enjoy the pics, especially the one with the curiously shaped carrot:)

Andy is in New Zealand and ready to write a blog

Ta da, I know some of you are wondering, what is all this 'I' stuff in the blogs. Did Andy and Stacy split up? Did she dispose of Andy in an underground New Zealand cave, or some damn thing they have in the southern hemisphere? Well, the answer is no and no. We are great and really eyes wide open as the journey gains momentum. Its just that Stacy is writing while I am looking at porn on the internet. There is just not enough time in the day, ya know!?!

Well, the truth of the matter is that I am really soaking up this relaxation thing. Bullsh--! says Aunt Nancy, but truly I am in my element. I have powered through a few books (has anyone read the Kite Runner!?! WOW!) and shuffling about my days at a snail's pace. We have been bustling some with Paul and Diane, buying a friggin' car and stuff!!! But really its been relaxing walks/hikes, wine in the evenings and some journaling as well. Believe it or not, I am only 2 days behind right now in my paper journal and plan on catching up tonight. The driving has been a trip, and neither of us are too quick to scream "shoulder!" as we veer some to the left. But no worries parents, we have it down pat now and I even drove 1+ hours last night in the dark on our windy return from the Maori experience Stacy wrote about previously. That was remarkable. So well done and such an amazing setting. Stacy & I put our events hats on at one point and gave them 4+ stars out of 5, the dinner setting could have been just a touch more authentic and less cafeteria. The main guide reminded me of the actor, Jeff Goldblum (the Fly) pre-experimentation.

I am ready to grab a brewski shortly so until we meet again, I miss you all and wish you the very best. Keep checking in for more of Stacy's updates...I'm sure i'll be back soon...ANB

We Bought a Car!

Yes, we are true residents now. Yesterday we went up to the Hamilton car auction with Paul and after test driving a few cars, we settled on a smashingly lovely (yes I have a NZ accent now) 1988 Mazda Capella 626! What a sexy beast of a motorcar, eh? It's been an interesting challenge so far to drive in this country - on the left hand side, stick shift, signal bar on the right...every time I want to turn left I make the wipers go. It's really quite funny and entertaining to drive. I called up to get some insurance and they insured us within about 10 minutes. It's illegal to have a cracked window of any kind here, so they cover things like that as well as roadside assistance. That is, if we need it and can flag someone down to let us use their cell phone. We are thinking of getting one ourselves, but first things first. (Click here for photos)

Today we left Paul and Diane's and I write to you from the same Internet cafe in Lake Taupo. We are here on our way to Hawke Bay on the east side of the island to drop our cash on camping equipment. After to chatting with other NZ travelers, it sounds like this is one of the most interesting, cost effective and enjoyable ways to go (for us anyway) as so many amenities cater to campers and backpackers in this beautiful country.

Last night, Paul and Diane took us to Rotorua to the Maori Experience and it was an incredible, entertaining look at the Maori history, culture and traditions (photos to come soon, they tell 1,000 words so I can keep this brief). We were bussed into the mountains above Lake Rotorua and entered into a forest where the ancient Maoris (pronounced Mao-rees) lived. Huts were recreated and the people were dressed in authentic wear. We enjoyed traditional song and dance with expressions of "poonaki" - a crazy face contortion with giant eyes and the tongue sticking out - which was used as a scare tactic in ancient days. We finished the evening enjoying a traditional "Hangi" meal, which is meat, veggies and pudding slow cooked on hot rocks underground for 3 - 4 hours. It steams in its own juices and was simply delicious.

Before we took off this afternoon, we took a hike to the Arapuni Dam traversing a giant suspension bridge across a river that was absolutely stunning. It had been raining pretty much for the last 5 days off and on and let me tell you, the ground is loving it. Bright green grass on the hillsides are popping up everywhere along with bright wildflowers dotting in between. Seems like summer is coming to a close and the drought is certainly ceasing as well. I must say, camping is going to be interesting! We bought a tarp along with a tent with a rain fly and sleeping bags +5 degrees. I hope we don't freeze our asses off or B&B's here we come! I am all fine and good to be a camper, but if it's cold and uncomfortable, no thanks.

What else have we done...ahh yes. We saw the glow worms in the Waitamo Caves a few days ago which was quite a sight. Stalagmites and stalactites abound. Did you know that it takes 100 years for one to grow 1cm? Kia Ora!