Quirks and Quibbles
Queenstown, New Zealand

Others have noted that our blogs for the last few months have been following a rather conspicuous pattern: Jen will narrate our daily activities as we would in a typical diary (which was actually the original intention of this blog), and I will attempt to delve into some sort of fantastic analysis of the socio-political status of the country we’re visiting. But what we haven’t done is shared some of our trivial anecdotes, the stuff with which great travel stories are made.

However, I somewhat object to the poetic descriptions that we’ve read in some travel writing describing exotic destinations; no matter how flowery the prose, no matter how many adjectives are used, some things just aren’t as romantic as some writers depict. Life in a rural village may be simple and desirable and oh-so-profound, but set me working in the fields for a day and I’d probably say, “Ok, that’s enough for me!” Having said this, I must acknowledge that there are always amusing anecdotes and bits of travel trivia that are interesting no matter how cliché they might be, as we now have dozens of examples of such little tales in our travel story repertoire as well.

Here are a few odd quirks and quibbles for your perusal:

Back In the Groove
As I mentioned a few days ago, we’ve been pretty relaxed the last two months in terms of our travel routine. But now we’re definitely back in the groove, checking out all the potential sites, talking to people about recommendations, and going out of our way to make sure we use every waking moment to see everything we can. Of course, we’re still discovering that we can’t see it all, but with our increased tempo, we’re certainly seeing much more. Our Lonely Planet continues to be a decent guidebook to start with (remember it’s just a guide), and the information centers around New Zealand have proven to be chock full of useful information and friendly advice. It feels good to be traveling independently again, and with the campervan, we don’t need to worry about where to stay each night, just have to pull over and park the vehicle! Mind you, I think I’m a bit keener about the campervan than Jen is; there was one night where the temperatures dipped below freezing, and she was talking about hotels for a while in the morning!

Cables and Wires
I can’t stand them. I can’t tell you how many times I have wanted to take a picture of a majestic landscape, but there is just an ugly power line or telephone wire right in the middle of it. Usually I can walk around to get it out of the frame of the shot, but then that’s almost always not the best shot. It’s Murphy’s Law, but these wires have been a pain, in practically every continent we’ve visited so far. And the accompanying telephone poles and towers, man, don’t get me started on those! These things should be buried deep, deep underground, at least for photography’s sake. Ptth.

Ants in My Pants
Well, wearing and washing the same two pairs of pants for the last nine and a half months has started to take its toll. One pair of pants has developed holes, the zipper is broken, and the Velcro tab has long since frayed away. The other pair has a hole in a rather sensitive region (I told you a few months ago we were getting fat), the colour has faded, and the cloth around the removable pant legs is wearing out. All in all though, I suppose we have no reason to complain. My two t-shirts are still going strong, as are my two buttoned travel shirts, which the possible exception of the patched up tears that the Cambodian laundry guy put in my blue shirt after he burned it with his iron. Our footwear is doing ok; my velcro straps on my Tevas are starting to wear out though, and Jen has a hole developing in the heel of one of her hikers. Only two and a half months to go though, I think our clothes will hold out until then!

Loving Driving
I’ve always enjoyed driving, perhaps due to the fact that I once used to often get carsick unless I was behind the wheel. Now my motion sickness seems to have disappeared, but I still really like taking a vehicle on the road in a foreign environment. Jen and I have a great partnership in the car; she’s a fantastic navigator and doesn’t really like driving; I like reading maps, but enjoy driving vehicles much more, so it all works out. The recent drives we’ve had in Australia (to the Grampians and along Great Ocean Road in Victoria) and here in New Zealand (so far down through Canterbury, Otago, and up through Fiordland) have been fantastic. It would have been nice to have a performance sports car on the curvy bits of the Great Ocean Road, and the campervan we’re using here is pretty sluggish and has lousy maneuverability, but hey, who’s complaining. Driving and stick-shifting on the “other” side of the vehicle continues to be a non-issue, as it was in Malta and Tunisia. While driving does isolate you from other people and potential encounters that occur using public transit, the flexibility it gives you to stop and go as you please (which we do a lot) is phenomenal. Plus, it’s simply just plain fun.

Missing Hockey
It’s hard to believe, but I didn’t even know that the Canucks were playing Calgary in the first round of the playoffs until Delwin e-mailed me to tell me the series was at 2-2. I know, I know, it’s sacrilege; how could I ever be neglecting hockey that much? Well, considering the fact that I came dead last in this year’s hockey pool (which I think I looked at less than ten times while traveling), I think it’s fair to say that hockey just hasn’t been a priority this year. Alright, to be honest, I am checking right now, and am a bit worried to see that the Canucks are currently struggling to stay in the playoffs; right at this moment they are down three games to two, but they're up 2-0 in the second period in Game 5. But sorry guys, I guess there are other things in this world that might be a bit more interesting. Hmm, it’ll be interesting how quickly I forget this comment once we get home and start playing and following hockey again!

Neat Encounters
In Oamaru, we met a fellow who was a traditional bookbinder. Michael O'Brian, not only bound books and did all kinds of work using time-honoured traditional tools, but he also looked the part, wearing clothing that looks like it belonged in the 1800's, and also rides one of those old big-front-wheel bikes (I don't know how he gets on that thing). Fascinating fellow, and a beautiful workshop. It's a great part of town too, with Oamaru's restored buildings.

At a cozy bar in Moeraki (the restaurant tables were full), we met Jay and Lyn, who both work in the film industry, and produce the "Behind the Scenes" segments (electronic press kids) that are found on DVD's. I'm a total fan of those productions, and we really enjoyed chatting the night away with them. Of course they worked on Lord of the Rings, but have done all kinds of other interesting films, notably the Japanese version of The Ring, the Vertical Limit, some stuff with Angelina Jolie, and even Scooby Doo - The Movie. They live in Queenstown and offered to show us around; hopefully we'll get time to say hi to them again. (Not really sure with Jen's birthday coinciding with our Queenstown visit, but we'll see!) Check out their stuff at www.epkcrew.com.

Our First Week in New Zealand
Well, so far everything we’ve heard about the fantastic New Zealand scenery has been absolutely true. In one day of driving, we can easily pass through half a dozen different vegetation zones, take over a hundred pictures without even trying, and say “wow” at least ten times. The landscapes are spectacular; we're constantly stopping to pull over and look around. We know we’re here at a cooler time of year, but the benefit of coming here in the autumn is that all the yellows, oranges and reds are coming out in the leaves. I’m looking forward to seeing more of those fall colours when we explore more of Queenstown and Arrowtown over the next day or so.

We haven’t gone out of our way to see Lord of the Rings film sites, but have visited two film locations along the way. It’s easy to see how the rugged countryside looks like something out of a movie; there are beautiful backdrops wherever you look. I think we’ll be passing by a few more LOTR film locations during the next two weeks of traveling around.

With our first week as an indication, it’s fair to say that we could easily spend three months here before feeling like we’ve seen and done “everything” in New Zealand. Nonetheless, we’ll continue madly dashing around (like we usually do); we’re still going to experience a lot and have definitely seen enough already to give us a very positive impression of this beautiful country!

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Touring New Zealand in a Camper Van
Invercargill New Zealand

We stayed at a very nice apartment in Christchurch (we even had our own washer and dryer!) for a few nights before heading south in our rented camper van. We arrived on Good Friday, and got a ride into town with Kath's dad. It was a beautiful fall day; yellow and orange leaves on the trees, blue skies, and nice colonial buildings everywhere. Wow! All the churches are made of beautiful dark stone, with stained glass windows. It really reminds me of old Europe.

The following day was Kath's birthday, and she picked us up to go out on her birthday outing. Along with two of her friends, we went to Akaroa, and boarded a 2 hour cruise out to the ocean where we saw blue penguins, seals and Hector's dolphins (the smallest dolphins in the world). It was an awesome trip. When we left the city, the sky was still blue with some clouds, but by the time we were on the return portion of the cruise, it was already windy, cold and stormy! The Southerly (from Antartica), they said.

We picked up our campervan on Easter Monday (most of them were rented out over the Easter weekend) and headed out of town down south. We decided to spend the night at Lake Tekapo, the first of the Hydro Lakes in the middle of the island. Since it's our first night in our van, we decided to stay at a powered site so we can get acquinted with our home for the next two weeks. As it turns out, we didn't plug in the heater, prefering to 'tough' it up instead, and get used to the cold. Yes, it was freezing cold outside. It was also very beautiful. Apparently the nights at Lake Tekapo are considered the 'blackest', and it sure was very dark, with a ton of stars and planets visible right over our heads. We did enjoy our stay there.

The next morning, Winston woke up early to take photos around the lake. How useful to have a house on wheels. Instead of waking early and accompanying him on these jaunts, I could stay in my warm sleeping bag and continue to sleep. Just 45km further south, we hit Lake Pukaki, which sits just below Mt. Cook (the highest mountain in NZ). The colour of the water was amazing; a cross between milky and aqua. There were also plenty of bright red cranberry-like plants out, and with the view of beautiful snow capped mountain ranges in the background, it was just a very stunning drive.

We drove up towards Mt. Cook, and went for a short hike. There are still glaciers visible in this area, though the ones West of the mountain range is supposed to be more impressive (we're heading there in a week or so). Driving back south and towards the east coast, we stopped by a small town called Twiddle, and went to see their 'scene from the Lord of the Rings'. It was the flat open battle ground in the final film. Of course, when we were there, all we saw was a flat open ground. Hehe. We stopped by Omaru to visit their historic buildings, and attempted to view yellow-eyed penguins, but none came up to shore while we were there.

We ended up spending the night at a beach near the Moeraki Boulders. These boulders have been washed round over the years, and they reside on the sand partially covered in salt water during high tide. We drove down towards the town of Dunedin, and visited the Otago Museum. It was a fantastic site; we saw many artifacts from all over the Pacific, as well as a great collection of stuffed wildlife, including skulls and eggs. Of course, the highlight was their aboriginal collection which was a first for us. It is always interesting to see the similarities of the artwork of all the different native tribes around the world.

I am still missing one more day of narrative, but will continue next time I get online. We're in Invercargill now, and will be heading up north from here to more rugged terrain. Oops, time's running out. Ciao for now.

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About to Explore Middle Earth
Christchurch, New Zealand

I think my favourite season is autumn. Now that we’ve arrived in New Zealand right in the thick of autumn, I can’t help but feel even more relaxed and comfortable. The crisp cool air (8 degrees C), the yellow, red, and orange colours in the trees, a bright sun in a cloudless sky, and a brisk wind chasing everyone into scarves, jumpers and wooolies… can’t get enough of it.

We’re in the midst of one of those transitional periods when we’ve just entered a new country and are getting readjusted. There obviously hasn’t been much of a cultural shift between Australia and New Zealand for us, but the cooler temperature is definitely a big thing. We’re very glad we shipped our fleece jackets ahead; we’ve been using them for the last two days.

Probably the biggest adjustment though, is getting back in the swing of things in terms of our independent travel routine. Let’s be honest, we’ve been pretty darn spoiled since entering Malaysia on Februrary 10th, which was two months ago. Aside from three days in Sipadan and a week in Bali, we were put up by relatives in Malaysia and Singapore, and by friends during our three weeks in Australia. Now we’re on our own again, for the next three weeks while tramping through New Zealand.

We’ve arranged to rent a campervan which we’re picking up tomorrow close to the Christchurch airport. We’ll be returning it in Auckland in about three weeks. At $65 Kiwi dollars a day, hopefully it will save us costs by combining transportation and accommodation. The plan is to tour the South Island for the majority of the three week period, but leave enough time to visit some of the North Island highlights, visit our friends, and participate in a Companion Flag presentation in Auckland. We will certainly be facing some very cold nights and possibly a good deal of rain, but with luck we’ll get a good feel for the natural beauty and scenery for which New Zealand is famous.

Thanks to Gary and Kath for all the New Zealand recommendations, we’re planning our itinerary now and are hoping to incorporate all your suggestions! And yes everyone else, we’ll try to get a look at some of the areas where The Lord of the Rings was filmed. See you later!

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Melbourne to New Zealand
Christchurch, New Zealand

On Friday, April 2nd, Winston and I walked around downtown Melbourne and picked up some bbq pork and roast duck in Chinatown for our dinner. Before heading home on the train, we walked around the Flinder station area, Federation Square, and the After dinner, the four of us played a few PS II games and had great laughs till 2:30 in the morning.

The next morning, we went out to dim sum for brunch. It was quite delicious, with a great assortment of dishes to choose from. We knew that this would probably be the last time we get to enjoy dim sum until we get home in July so we ate quite a bit. It was fun ordering in Cantonese and Hakka. Next we visited Victoria Market, a wonderful place to get fresh seafood, meats, produce, clothing and souvenirs. We arrived towards the end of the trading hours, and many produce were being sold for a fraction of their regular price. It was great to leave with several bags full of bargain priced fruits and veggies.

After dropping off our groceries, Annie and Chiang took us to see Williamstown, a nice port town with very expensive real estate. Situated SW of Melbourne, there is a city view as well as a beautiful waterfront with several piers. We watched a wedding ceremony which was being held in the park’s gazebo, then enjoyed some homemade ice cream before heading over to downtown.

We had tickets to a comedy called Black and Tranh II, but had enough time for a quick snack before the show. It was an enjoyable hour, full of Aussie political jokes. Luckily we understood most of them as they dealt with many of the issues that we had just recently discussed with our Aussie friends. After the show, we went for huge bowls of Japanese ramen noodles; yum, these were the tastiest Japanese noodle’s we’ve had. Annie tells us that this is as exactly what we would get if we were in Japan (she lived there for 4 years).

Sunday morning, we drove to a suburb called Boxhill, Melbourne’s little Hong Kong. It was a treat to have shrimp dumpling noodles and steamed chicken rice. After lunch, Annie and Chiang dropped us off to visit my grandaunt Irene and Uncle Joseph who live in a nearby suburb. We spent the afternoon catching up. It has been 20 years since I last saw them (we spent a month in Melbourne in 1984). Dinner was a birthday celebration for both Conrad and Selina, so the entire family gathered at a teo chew restaurant. We also go to meet Alvin (Selina’s husband) and her two children. Adeline (my aunt who is just 4 months older) was also there. It was great to see them all again.

Monday, April 5th, we took the tram to the city, and met up with Chiang for lunch at a wonderful Japanese café. Downtown Melbourne has several alleys set up with restaurants and cafes, very European. The buildings are generally narrow with beautiful colonial facades. The area is not that big, making it very easy to walk around. We’ve been lucky that the few times we’ve been downtown, the weather has been wonderful. Melbourne is known to go through 4 seasons a day, sometimes. That particular day was warm and sunny.

In the evening, we had a sushi making meal at home. It was yummy, and fun. The next day, Winston and I said goodbye to Annie and Chiang for 2 nights, as we headed to the airport. There we met up with Caroline, another childhood friend of mine from Malaysia, who flew in from Perth to visit us. We haven’t seen each other since 1987, so it was very nice to catch up again. After picking up our rental car, we headed out west to the Grampians National Park.

Three hours later, we arrived at Halls Gap, where we checked into our room for the evening. While leaving after dinner, we saw several kangaroos hanging out in the parking lot and gardens of the motel. It was quite incredible to see their silhouette against the dark, and watch them hop around across the grounds. Apparently they come out to graze when it gets dark, and the Grampians area is full of them. The evening was crisp, with a very bright full moon lighting up the dark skies.

Wednesday morning, we woke up early and headed out to visit the national park. Our first stop was to Baroka Lookout, with a beautiful view of the valley below. Covered with gum trees, we could see a more than 180 degree of scenery, including several water reservoirs. Then we did a short walk to see the Balconies, a set of rocks jutting out over the cliff. In the past, visitors could walk down onto the balconies (looks like an open mouth of a fish) but the area is now railed off.

Further along the park, we hiked down to see Mackenzie Falls, passing along Broken Falls on the way down. It was a relatively easy hike (except for the steep uphill getting back), and the mist from the waterfall sprinkled coolness into the sunny day. The falls were quite incredible; we can imagine it being even more fantastic in the spring (as shown by the old photographs). Our last stop before lunch was an area called Zumstein, where we were supposed to see kangaroos lounging; alas, they were not around that day.

Back in Halls Gap, we stopped by the Brambuk Aboriginal Cultural Centre, where old photographs, tools and stuffed wildlife were on display. We also sampled the bush tramper food, which included crocodile, kangaroo, and emu. After lunch, we drove out to the Sundial Parking lot, where we hiked the 2 hour trail to the Pinnacles. We enjoyed this medium rated trail, crossing forest path as well as volcanic rocks. The view from the top was incredible; we could look down the several hundred meters to the bottom of the valley directly below us. Definitely very scary for those afraid of heights!

In the late afternoon, we drove south towards the ocean, and stopped in at Port Fairy, a historic port town. There we stayed at a very comfortable bed and breakfast, and enjoyed dinner at the oldest inn in the state of Victoria. The food was very good indeed. Thursday morning, we were treated to a scrumptious breakfast by the owners of the Douglas B&B. Delicious muesli, fruits and yoghurt, follow by toast, and eggs benedict, including a glass of orange juice and tea/coffee.

Bidding the friendly family goodbye, we traveled east along the Great Ocean Road. This is the most southern point of Victoria, facing the ocean. The waves constantly crashed along the coast, creating limestone structures by washing away the softer materials. It was beautiful to observe the different formations along the way. One of these formations was named London Bridge; however, a few years ago, one of the arches crash into the ocean, unable to support the weight on top, and the bridge is now only an island. It used to be connected to the mainland and visitors were able to walk cross. On the day that it fell, two tourists were stranded and had to be rescued by helicopter.

The most famous sight along this drive is called the Twelve Apostles. There are only ten of these structures visible now, but this set of rock formations was closely situated. Since these limestone structures exist in different layers of colours (orange, brown, pink, grey), they are pretty to look at. We stopped to have lunch in Apollo Bay, and picked up a snack in Lorne.

There are quite a few people driving along this road, especially we were there during the Easter school holidays. A windy road that goes along the ocean as well as through forests, it’s definitely one of the highlights of visiting Melbourne. At one point, we stopped to view koalas up in the gum trees by the side of the road. Three of them were simply ‘hanging’ onto their branch; it was funny to see them sway from side to side as the wind blew the branch. It’s incredible how they can just hang on to a skinny branch several tens of feet up in the air.

One of the koalas was actually active, and we watched it jump through the branches for food. It would grab hold of a smaller branch of Eucalyptus tree with leaves, break it off, and start munching. Of course stopped cars with people looking up into the trees indicated something interesting, and we were joined by more passer bys, all curious to see these creatures in their natural environment.

Before heading up into Melbourne, we stopped by Bells Beach, to see if the Easter surfing contest was on. Indeed we had arrived just at the end of their first day. Since the event was already over for the day, we were able to walk in for free and watch those who are still out practicing. We were quite impressed by the surfers who rode along the high waves. The contestants for this Rip Curl event also included those from the USA (and Hawaii, of course).

We dropped Caroline off at her friends’ house and met up with Adeline for dinner in Boxhill. Enjoying ‘real’ Chinese for one last time, we got very traditional Cantonese food (salty fish and chicken fried rice, and crispy noodles with beef and veggies). Yummy! It was great to catch up with Adeline since we didn’t get much of a chance at the family dinner on Sunday. We got back to Annie’s place, and met up with Chiang’s cousins Shane and Hector from Sydney. We all stayed up late playing a fun car game into the wee hours of the night. We did not get much sleep as we had to leave at 6:30 the next morning, to return our rental car to the airport and catch our flight to Christchurch.

Surprisingly, the Melbourne airport was very busy on the morning of Good Friday. While waiting to board our flight on Air New Zealand, we met up with Kath, our tour leader from China, who was also flying to Christchurch on another airline at the exact same time. It was great to see her again after 2 years, and to talk about Intrepid (where she works) and Christchurch.

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