The Center of No Where

In my never ending quest to occupy my free time doing things, other than finding the best cup of coffee in the city, I have had time to explore some of the areas around Nelson. I climbed up a hill to the centre of New Zealand, which includes a nice statue of a compass point and a little plaque. It actually seemed a bit anti-climactic as I was definatly expecting those crazy signs that say x,xxx kilometers to New York or LA or where ever.

Today I went up to Rabbit Island (yes, I actually did see a rabbit) with a backpacker who refered to me as Cathrine. That actually came in handy because when she made the goof she was talking to the people who offered up a ride around the island when we couldn't find the car and the lady's name was *also* Cathrine. I decided not to bother correcting her, since she's heading off in her travels tommorow and why not be Cathrine for a day?

And the job search - Still looking

Sunny Nelson

I arrived in Nelson and wow is it sunny! The people who live here say it is the sunniest place in New Zealand, although I read that was actually Blenham. Anyway, who cares, because the sun has been shinning none stop since I got here.

I took the 1:30am ferry from Wellington on Wednsday. I, like most of the other people, carted my sleeping bag and pillow up to the bar area and lounged on the most comfortable seats (the ones that actually let you lie down versus those annoying ones with the handrests that you can't move). The ferry landed some three + hours later and it was definately too soon to make the drive. I found a little street and slept for a few more hours in the car. I was so drowsy, though, that I ended up sleeping on my glasses and they were really messed up when I found them. Luckily I was able to bend them back. Horray for my Modo glasses!

I found a hostel that will let me stay in exchange for two hours of cleaning work each day. Now the daunting task of finding some actual income. I walked around the beautiful downtown and stopped at numerous places. With only one bite and plenty of "all sets" or "we'll need someone toward Christmas". I went to sleep a bit discouraged. It has been awhile since I've worked and oddly enough I look forward to the schedule. Aww who am I kidding, I look forward to the MONEY!

Gluteus Maximus

No need to buy Claudia Shiffer's Buns of Steel, just go to Wellington. The city is generally located on flat land but the suburbs surround it, in the mountains. Actually I don't think you could get away from the hills. San Fransiscians would feel right at home with the hills and giant staircases you are required to take in city adventures. We walked over to Mt. Victoria to look at the city and hopefully get a glimspe of the south island (no go, too hazy). It was a heavy incline, but the view onto the city was well worth the agony.

Too add too it, we are watching our pennies and don't know the bus schedule anyway so we rely on our feet most of the time.

Phinally Photos

If only I had access to free internet and picture programs, such as Adobe, it would be so easy to post photos all the time. I could link to all the things we have been seeing, too. Wouldn't that be the life? Of course there is not enough time in the day to keep up with all of that and go out there enjoy each day. But our great luck has given us the opportunity to put together a few photos for your viewing pleasure, since the kind folks who opened up their place to us have cable internet access. You asked for photos, we've got a sample of some of the best.

This is a photo from our Ruapehu climb. You can see Ngauruhoe in the distance, above the apron of clouds. Kevin has uploaded a bunch of photos to his ophoto account and you can get a glimspe of some of our other adventures. I hope you enjoy!

Take off your shoes, Stay awhile

Kevin and I arrived in Windy Wellington Monday. This place regularly gets unbelievable winds and recently gusts were up to 140 kilometers. It was symbolic of our moods as we were pretty run down from two weeks of constant relocation and our bank accounts looking windswept.

Each of us thinks Wellington is decidedly the cooler New Zealand city (in comparison to Auckland). There are more cafes per capita than New York City, great architecture, and the people have some great fashion sense. Our timing, though, means that we only plan on staying for a few weeks now but entertaining the idea of returning at the end of our trip. This of course makes it difficult for earning an income and when there is no income it is difficult to justify the outflow. Where will we sleep? The weather was looking better and we could camp. But there are other people here in our program; they know what we are going through and boy do they come through for us.

We went out to diner with a friend of a friend's friend of Kevin's (that's a mouthful) who is also in the Bunac program. After a yummy meal of Malaysain food, she offered to let us crash at her place in the city for our short stint. Talk about timing, talk about perfect, talk about generous, talk about lucky! I don't think we could have asked for more.

In addition to saving some dough, it also gives us the chance to stay in a place for more than one night, unpack our bags and relax a bit. In one sound... "Ahh"

Stupid Birds

My favorite bird here is definately the Pukeko. They are larger birds, but they are the flying variety. I really like their coloring, which includes some blue feathers and a red beak. But the best part are their lllllooooonnnnnggg legs that are so thin, I always wonder how they hold the dam thing up.

These birds tend to find themselves hanging out by the roadside and are thinking "where do I go? where do I go?". Oddly enough if you try to sneak up on them on foot with a camera, they see you coming from a mile away and take off. This is when the legs really make a statement. The bird is flapping away and those tiny feet are dangling in the sky. It really is a wacky site!

Three Strikes

In our journey down the north island we encountered a couple of bumps in the road. Strike One- After re-routing our trip, we arrived at the Waitomo Caves to find out that it had rained too much and we couldn't get in. Strike Two- While in Rotorua, we were going to climb to the top of Mt. Tarawera to get a view of the city and see the crater that caused sooo much damage. We got to the bottom of the mountian (which is privately owned) and you can't climb up anymore, now you can only pay an exhorborant sum of money to go on a four wheel tour. Strike Three- While in the Tongariro National Park, we were going to hike the Tongariro Crossing (it's supposed to be one of the best day hikes in the country). We got to the Department of Conservation and they said the conditions were such that you need to have crampons and avalance experience. Yeah, we decided not to undertake that one.

Home RunIn our journeys at Tongariro we came across an outdoor company that runs expeditions over the crossing and up to Ruapehu. We joined on board going to the Ruapehu Craker Lake. Let me tell you it was awesome! We got a head start by taking the ski lift up a bit of the mountain and then tied the crampons to our boots and headed up the hill. Given the inability of one of the other climbers to continue, it was just Kevin, the guide and me.

We were above the cloud line most of the way and the sun was so hot that I was down to a tank top for a short bit of the hike. Of course it didn't help that I had way over dressed and had three layers of pants on. We were able to see all the mountains around us and it was just wonderfully quiet up there on the treck. We saw a couple of adventurous boarders hiking up to get a great ride, but mostly people were very far away. At one point, walking on the glacier, it was like I imagine walking on the moon must be.

Of course it added to the thrill that Ruapehu is an active volcano...

Something Stinks!

Close your eyes. Imagine the ripe smell of rotten eggs. Not just a little whiff, like you can't get away from it. It is IN your nose. Ok, just sulphur if you please.

Greetings from Sulphur City, the wonderful Rotorua. Wow, it's potent!

We arrived last night to the sight of smoke rising from the earth. The earth's plates are pushing against eachother and the earth seems to want to burst through. Today was a pretty nice day today for exploring, which was great after numerous days of rain. We ended up hitting the museam and learning about the eruption of Mt. Tarawera. Some people think it could erupt at anytime. Please, keep it in check while we're here.

Afterwards, we did a little relaxing in the Polynesian Spa. We've still got to see the earth explode and check out the Buried Village.