NZ - South Island - Part 1

On April 7, Henry, LT, Sarah, Larry, and I met up in Los Angeles for our flight to Auckland. Having only had a few hours of sleep the night before, I spent the majority of the twelve hour flight unconscious, waking up only for meals. I attempted to watch "Marley & Me" but fell asleep part way through. If cute puppies and attractive actors couldn't keep me awake, it clearly was not a very good movie. Every time I woke up and looked at the brightly lit screen in front of me, Owen Wilson was busy chasing after a frisky pooch around the house (and I don't mean Jennifer Aniston).

Travel tip #1: During a long flight, if you plan to sleep for several consecutive hours on the plane, do not take your shoes off if you don't want to look like you have softballs for ankles for a good day or two afterward.

When we landed in Auckland, we went through customs where Sarah fretted over whether she should declare the 5-lb bag of almonds and 3-lb container of raisins she brought with her for the trip. We wondered why her bags were so ridiculously heavy, and we naturally drew the conclusion that Sarah didn't think there would be anything to eat in New Zealand so she had to bring her own food.

She did not declare them and went through customs without a problem, but we did lose Larry for a brief while when his bags were whisked away to be inspected (Asians must look sketchier than redheads). When the group reconvened, we ventured over to the domestic terminal to board our flight to Christchurch on the South Island.

Henry, Sarah, Larry, LT, Me

Travel tip #2: If you are checking bags for multiple flights all at once, make sure that after you retrieve your bag from your international flight you do not remove the airline destination tags from that bag before checking it on your connecting flight.

LT inadvertently removed her tags on her hiking pack before placing them on the conveyor belt at the check-in counter, which the airline employee failed to notice. Her bag never made it on our flight to Christchurch, but fortunately, LT sorted it out and her bag was eventually dropped her off at our hotel by the end of the day.

Before heading into the city center, we decided to visit the International Antarctic Centre located right by the airport -- our first sightseeing, touristy experience! LT had always wanted to visit Antarctica and this center touted a "powerful, exciting, and interactive" experience of Antarctica. It sounded promising enough; the center brochure even boasted about the center being voted NZ's best attraction, twice!

Upon seeing the exorbitant admission prices, however, any initial excitement I felt quickly waned. I did not want to pay $48 NZ ($30 USD) to stand in a room and "interact" with snow, wind, and ice. I grew up in the northeast, I know what it's like to feel cold, and I felt no desire to fly half way around the world to pay to be blown around in a wind tunnel.

LT and Larry decided to do it anyway, so Henry, Sarah, and I ate almonds and tossed the frisbee outside while we waited for them. When they came out, we asked them how it was. Let's just say the $48 NZ was better spent on something other than NZ's "best" attraction.

Travel tip #3: Do not bother with the International Antarctic Centre in Christchurch. Eat almonds and toss the frisbee instead if given the option.

NZ fact #1: Christchurch is the largest city on the South Island with a population of approximately 600,000.

Our plan was to spend the day touring the city before picking up our RV the next day. After lunch, we visited a cathedral, checked out an arts center, walked through a botanic garden, and then took a bus out of the city to ride a gondola up to a very scenic overlook.

View at the top of the gondola

By late afternoon, jet lag started to hit me big time. The urge to sleep was trumped only by the desire to eat, so we dined at an excellent Indian restaurant in town before retreating to our accommodations. I fell asleep as soon as I climbed into bed at 9pm.

Day 2: At around 6am, Henry decided he wanted to go for a run and he made sure we were all up to join him. So all of us except for Larry jogged to the botanic garden where Sarah led us with a killer quad/hamstring workout. I'm not sure why we were so zealous about working out on vacation, but we ended up doing a gazillion sets of lunges, star jumps, squats, push ups, and tricep dips. Little did I know then that I would be crippled for two days after that workout, right for the start of the hardest multi-day hike of our trip!

After showering and grabbing breakfast at Joe's Garage, we called a cab to the RV company where we picked up our sweet RV. While the guys worked out the contract details in the office, the ladies took a tour of our home for the next two weeks.

We present to you, our RV!

And then we were off! As we zipped along in our RV, we saw many sheep and cows dotting the rural landscape.

NZ fact #2: NZ has a human population of approximately 4 million.

NZ fact #3: NZ has a sheep population of approximately 40 million.

There were sheep and more sheep, cows and more cows, and then... deer? What the heck? I thought I was seeing imaginary deer by the side of the road. Turns out, they were not so imaginary.

NZ fact #4: Deer are not native to NZ. They were introduced - along with many other non-native animal and plant species - back in the 1950s. Currently, NZ is a large exporter of venison to European countries like Germany.

We made it to our first natural wonders attraction just before dusk - the Moeraki Boulders - which are unusually large and spherical rocks on a beach.

Some Moeraki Boulders

After scrambling up the boulders and snapping some photos, we continued on our merry way to Queenstown, a place known for where adrenaline junkies get their fix of heart-stopping thrills.



To be continued...

Prelude to Kiwi Adventures

I have somehow failed to post any entries in April. I suppose that I'm no longer the dedicated blogger that I used to be.

Okay, who am I kidding, I was never a prolific blogger, but at least for the month of April, I had a good excuse for not posting. One reason being Fools Fest (organizing and attending) and the other being that I was in New Zealand for two and a half weeks.

Fools Fest - a reunion tournament for Whiptail alums - was a blast. The weather was shockingly pleasant (for that time of year) and our team had the good fortune of first round byes for the first two days. Never mind that we did not win a single game or that the alum jerseys that we ordered never showed up. We were the hottest losers there even without matching shirts! And unlike the Trouble in Vegas debacle where the alum team was the only women's team at the tournament, we actually had the opportunity to play other women's teams at Fools, which was a huge step up for us. In true Whiptail fashion, it was a weekend filled with lap dances, booze, and hot girls like your mom. Oh, and ultimate.

And a mere 36 hours after the tournament, I boarded the first of four flights to embark on an epic 17-day adventure in the faraway magical land of kiwi people, kiwi birds, and kiwi fruit (of two varieties!). Where there are ultimate players and an RV, how can there not be adventure? Or at least a good story or two?

Kayaking, hiking, gondola-riding, weka-bird chasing, luging (or "lubing" as Sarah mistakenly likes to call it), elbow-licking, sleep-yelling, and double dessert eating and push up challenges were some of the more memorable events of the trip. This post is a just a taste of what's to come, so stay tuned!