Kansas City, USA – March 1, 2011 at 2:09pm
I love traveling.
I feel so alive and in my own skin.
I love how my senses are heightened and I’m more aware of what I am experiencing instead of droning through the day to day motions of life.
I love meeting new people and feeling like you’ve known them your whole life when in reality you will more than likely never cross paths again…but you can discuss pretty much anything because you have more in common with them than most of the people in your daily life (minus Robin from the last post!)....a deep and insightful conversation typically centered around life stories of previous and future travel destinations, childhood memories, romantic encounters or even the sometimes odd topic…like, if you had the choice to be invisible or fly, which would you choose, or if you could do any job in the world and never have to worry about money, what would you do?.... all while drinking a cup of coffee in a place you might possibly never visit again, with a person you could remember forever or he/she could just be a flash in your memory every once in a great while when you hear a song, smell a sweet scent or taste that rare flavor only found in that region of the world.
I love getting lost in the day’s activities… like strolling around a city full of history, feeling the adrenaline of a recent mountain climb, listening to a good song on the iPod while waiting for a flight or getting engrossed in a chapter of a good book while sitting on top of a volcano...oh Mt. Eden, I'll never forget you!
For me, the planning of a trip is just as exciting as experiencing it…so when I decided to return to the South Island to try once again to hike on the top of a glacier I couldn’t wait to get there…but all in due time…first things first…three days in Queenstown to wait out the bad weather and dream about what is to come.
In an effort to save as much money as possible but still make it to my desired destination, I take the cheapest and usually most inconvenient flights possible…needless to say, Sunday, I had to get up at 4am in order to catch the 5am Auckland city bus to be at the airport at 6am for the 7am flight to Queenstown. On the flight I sat next to this interesting, artsy and very cool girl named Anuka (named after the native honey – Manuka). We had a brief chat and then I feel asleep…I’m getting really good at being able to sleep in bizarre locations – I’m not sure if this is a plus or minus but at least I woke up and I'll my personal belongings were intact.
I woke up to the pilot’s voice over the PA telling the flight crew to prepare for landing. As we were descending I noticed the view out of Anuka’s window…AMAZING...Queenstown really is a spectacular place and worth the visit if you get a chance.
We started chatting again and Anuka said she lives in a small town just outside of Queenstown. I shared my plans for the next week with her....staying in Queenstown for about three days and then making my way north to the glaciers and then flying out of Christchurch on Friday. She said her roommate would be picking her up and offered me a ride to my hostel….a little cautious at first but realizing I would do the same thing for someone else, I accepted the ride…count it…saved another 20 bucks….
Her roommate was running a little late, no big deal for us, neither of us had anywhere to go (I wouldn't be able to check into the hostel for a few more hours anyway) so we sat and chatted in the airport until she arrived….as usual we talked about life...and where hers was headed...I think I convinced her to come to New York to see some of the art museums. Like I said she is an artist so we had a pretty interesting conversation. Her roommate arrived about 30 minutes later and we were off…it was a quick ride… I offered to pay them cash or buy them a coffee for the lift but they politely declined…they were in a little bit of a hurry….and like that, they were gone. That’s the cool thing about traveling…you meet some amazing people, share a moment, influence or enlighten one another (hopefully in a positive way) and boom, they are gone, just like that forever…
But then again....
They say you will cross paths with the same person at least twice in your life (even if you don't see them). So when I ran into two people on the streets of Queenstown that I met in Brisbane in December, I knew that there must be something true to this old wives tale.
I had spent most of Monday catching up on a few agenda items I needed to take care of…setting up the rental car for my journey north, going to a yoga class (first yoga class since I left the States...much too long to go without a yoga class!) and getting my photo taken for a new passport...yes, I need a new passport.
Plans (especially mine) tend to change (a lot)...you never know when someone will have a better offer so I think it is best to leave my agenda open ended, and as they say at the Mad Dog River Boarding company - Just Go With The Flow (ha). I have mentioned before that I have a couple of friends (Tommy & Anna) who are traveling the globe in a years time…we knew we wanted to travel together at some point but their itinerary doesn’t bring them to Australia until I’ve returned to the States so we are trying to meet somewhere else…at the moment it is Singapore…a place that I will need at least 6 months remaining on my passport along with two blank pages…I don’t have either… so I have to renew my passport somewhere in between now and then…which means I need to be in the same place for a minimum of two weeks (aka: semi-permanent residence)…I had it in my mind I should renew it when I get back to Brisbane….but….while I was in Auckland I went by the US Embassy to see if there was a need for any volunteers for the earthquake disaster relief…they told me unless I was certified in search and rescue, a doctor/nurse or an engineer/construction person that I would just be in the way and taking up accommodation…since I have zero skills in any of those areas I need to stay out of the way…but while I was there I also inquired about renewing my passport since the guy behind the window was from the US Embassy in Sydney (he had flown over to volunteer). I told him my plan and he gave me very detailed instructions on how to work it all out…the first thing I have to do is get my photo taken…so, in an effort to execute this operation as soon as I hit the ground in Brisbane, I got my photo taken in Queenstown...the photo is hideous, but what the heck can you expect when you are not allowed to smile?
After I ticked off the items I wanted/needed to get done I decided to walk around town and find some dinner. I was walking down one of the main streets in Queenstown and I noticed these two older people standing in front of Subway (not a subway...Subway, you know, the restaurant). It was obvious they had just finished hiking and I thought to myself…wow, I hope I’m in that good of shape when I’m their age….so I approached them and actually said those words…they smiled and said thank you. So we started talking about their hike and where we each were from…it turns out that they are members of the bush walking club that I did my first bush walk with in Brisbane (I know, how bizarre)…AND I’ve actually met them before…ha ha! They said “oh, you're the American who wrote that wonderful write up about the hike (glad to hear somebody read it)….you went with Elizabeth, Michael, Justin, Paul and little Mary.” Then we realized we had met each other previously at the club’s Christmas party in December…small world. So, we ended up having dinner together at Subway and talking for several hours…too fun!
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| Jonas & Pat |
We talked about traveling and different hikes they had been on….then the conversation turned to the movie 127 Hours, which as it turns out, just came out in New Zealand…I was so intrigued, that after dinner (9pm) I stopped by the movie theater to see if there was a late show…just my luck there was one starting at 9pm….. It’s a pretty good movie…minus the one gross scene… I won’t spoil it for you if you haven’t seen it.
The next morning I had a dilemma... I really wanted to go skydiving while I was in New Zealand but it is very expensive compared to when I did it in the states AND I really want to do the heli-hike at the glaciers...my budget really can't allow for me to do both unless I sacrifice some things at the end of my trip. I knew I could definitely go skydiving as the weather was perfect but there is no guarantee with the heli-hike (over 70% of the time it is canceled due to weather). Final decision: take my chances...I've been skydiving before and I really want to see this glacier...so instead, I went for the free option of the day. I was so inspired by Jonas and Pat's hiking story from last night that I decided to hike the same mountain but on a different track...they took the 6 hour return hike...I was going to take the 3-4 hour return so I could make an afternoon yoga class. The track basically went up to the gondolas that I had ridden with The Twinkies and Maria when I was here the first time...so it has a pretty descent incline. (The photo below with the building at the top was the mountain I hiked)
The hike was awesome. It is a frequently used track so its very safe and you are constantly passing people hiking and biking throughout the journey. It felt so good to really sweat and accomplish it. It was a tough hike and I thought I was doing really well until a guy in flip flops passed me! (For the record I was stopped to take a photo...but still, this guy was barely breathing heavy and he was wearing FLIP FLOPS! Are you kidding me?)
The views were magnificent along the way. I couldn't stop smiling.
When I got to the top I had a cool drink and enjoyed the view from the cafe. I was reading a book when I looked up and noticed a young guy wearing a MU t-shirt. You can't be in a foreign country and see someone wearing a shirt from a university that is in your neighboring state and not go say hello. He (Dan) was sitting with another young guy who happened to be from Tennessee. They were in New Zealand on a company paid for trip through Edward Jones - the guy from TN worked for them and had earned a trip (I don't know how he did this during a recession but he must be good at investing other people's money) and could bring a friend. We had a good chat about New Zealand, college basketball and our team rivalry and then we parted ways as travelers usually do.
Last night I was reminded again just how lucky (and thankful) I was to depart Christchurch when I did. I ended up with two young girls from Michigan as roommates (along with a girl from London and two really funny guys from Brazil - Vivi, you would have loved them - I even got to say a few words in Portuguese with them... AND I said Diego's name correctly, ha! - He was impressed...thank you for tutoring me!) who survived the earthquake. The girls are/were studying abroad and had been in the computer lab when it happened...they said it was the worst thing they have ever been through and describe the situation in detail...luckily they were okay and so were the host families that each of them were staying with...but they were definitely shaken up...one of them could not stop crying.
The school had asked all the students to leave Christchurch and go traveling for awhile until they could figure out what to do with them. The girls had been in Queenstown for several days and couldn't go back for about a week. They were awaiting their options via email and had just found out that they could transfer schools within New Zealand, go home and sit the semester out since classes had already started back in the States or wait a minimum of six weeks for their buildings to reopen...option three wouldn't work since their visa's would be expired and options one and two were not ideal since the other schools didn't have their classes and option two would make them graduate later than expected. This is when you realize...you make plans and God changes them to fit His schedule.
I did feel very bad for them...they both were very sweet and very focused...one of them was on track to graduate early and was getting married in August, plus she turns 20 in July...and I thought I was a busy person. WOW.
So, today I'm just waiting around Queenstown until my rental car is ready and then I'm headed to Franz Josef to try and take the heli-hike to the top of either Fox Glacier or Franz Josef Glacier...let's hope the weather cooperates this time! Here's to taking chances ~
Additional Photos: Queenstown
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