Friday, September 12th~
This morning got off to a foggy start, but it burned off pretty quickly. Vicki, Laura T., Laura H. and I got a ride from the Lodge manager over to Grasmere in order to do some horseback riding. I guess I just can’t get enough! I am so sooo glad I went riding again! It was such a great experience! Heather, the woman who owns the horses and runs the little horse-trekking business, greeted us in the yard with the horses already tacked up. The saddles weren’t western, but they weren’t English either, and were terribly comfortable. However, the coolest thing was that Heather is really conscious of the horses’ comfort, so she doesn’t use bits. The horses are trained to respond to the different tensions on the ropes tied loosely around their muzzles. So fantastic! I rode a great Clydesdale named Agnes. She was stubborn by nature, but I asserted myself fairly well at the beginning of the ride and soon she was doing (almost) everything I asked her to. We were riding single file for a while, meandering among the rolling hills of the rambling sheep station. I guess Heather thought I could handle myself pretty well, because after a while she said that Agnes and I could go off exploring away from the group. I was pretty tickled that she had such faith in me, truth be told. So Agnes and I wandered around, taking in the stunning views of the surrounding mountains and winding along the faint sheep trails. Unbelievable, friends. Positively stunning. I love horseback riding! Of course, our ride was over too quickly, but we had to get back to Flock Hill to meet the rest of the group for a farm show. (Somehow, Scotty and I managed to squeeze in a couple episodes of Family Guy, though.)
Now, the phrase “farm show”, for me, conjures images of performing farm animals or a staged “day on the farm.” Not the case at Flock Hill, though. Richie, the farmer, took us with him while he went about his business on the station. Today, he had to shift a mob of sheep (about 2000) from one paddock to another. We just stood back and watched him work the herd with the help of two of his dogs, Minnie and Claude. It was so neat to watch! The dogs were crazy-efficient and seemed to like showing off for us, too. At Richie’s suggestion, we shifted our departure time to a little bit later, went and got some lunch, then came back in time to watch them shear a few sheep. It was quite the spectacle. The shearers were magicians! Ooh! We also got to meet an adorable puppy named Mack. Like, crazy crazy adorable puppy. I wanted to keep him. We also met Cindy, Richie’s kids’ pet sheep. She reminded me of Ma from Babe.
Once we finally got on the road (now on the Ching Chong China Bus), we got to Christchurch in no time. We get there around 3pm and had plenty of time to kill before dinner; I spent most of it in an internet café and perusing souvenir shops. Since this was the end of the line for me (most of the group continued on to tour the North Island), I checked in at my hostel and caught up with the gang in time for dinner. We ate at the Dux deLux (yummy seafood Jumbalaya) before heading to the Court Theatre for an improv show called Scared Scriptless. It was hilarious! But it made me miss my days in –{Rough Edges>. A show highlight was definitely when they asked for suggestions from the audience for a body part, and an old woman further down our row whipped off her artificial leg and handed it to the MC. He was so excited he didn’t know what to do! There were some really great sketches (some that I still play in my head more than a week later), and the ensemble was solid. As we were leaving the theatre, Scotty asked what people wanted to do. Not terribly surprisingly, everyone opted to go to bed. I didn’t feel like calling it a night; if I went to bed, then the tour would be over. So I sat on a bench in Cathedral Square, journaling, listening to strains of Danny Boy and Auld Land Sine float into the square from a
distant flute, and trying to figure out how to get back to New Zealand.
Thus ends my New Zealand Connections tour.
Showing posts with label aminals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label aminals. Show all posts
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Day 9: Glaciers and Glow Worms
Wednesday, September 10th~
Today we left Queenstown in time to hit the Kawarau Bungy Jump (AJ Hackett’s original commercial bungy) before the rush. 3 of our group took the plunge (pun absolutely intended): Laura and Vanesha went tandem and Megan flew solo. I wanted to do it so badly! I was close, but I really think my health insurance would have had a problem with it. Oh well, just another reason to come back! After the jumps, we boarded the bus for a long and boring day of coach travel. Of course, even boring days in New Zealand are pretty exciting; we saw some really fantastic waterfalls pouring down through the temperate rainforest, and we stopped to look at the Tasman Sea. There were a couple of episodes of Friends to break up the monotony, but it was a lot of sitting. Luckily I was endlessly entertained by the changing terrain outside the bus windows. New Zealand is perpetually beautiful.
Fox Glacier is the definition of a quaint little town; population 260 when it’s full, and the sole industry is taking groups to see the glacier. Laura T. and I went to our room (very nice- yet another upgrade for our tour!), had some crappy instant cocoa, and met Vicki, Emma, Vanesha, Laura B. and Debra to go for a walk around Like Matheson. Murray, the town gossip, drove us out and told us a little bit about the area. The walk itself was so nice! The clouds blocked some of the more impressive reflections, but it was still beautiful. We were walking shortly before dusk, so the light was just lovely. We came back and killed time til dinner, then walked across the street to the Cook Saddle, one of the two restaurants in town. Oh man, did I pack it in. Laura T. and I made a conscious effort to eat as much as we could. A huge chicken quesadilla, fires, garlic bread, a banana split and beer. Mmmm mmmm! During dinner, Scotty and I swapped bad jokes. Hilarious!
When we finished eating, we went on a nighttime walk to see the glow worms. It was so neat! They twinkled like pale blue stars on the trees and in overhangs. As we walked, Scotty would sneak off to try to terrify us. It worked on a couple of people, but not this girl. Walking back, we swapped some scary stories, but the rest of the girls weren’t interested in hearing them. A few of us made our way to the hotel bar, where I entertained myself with darts. In bed by 10:30. I know that I am no night owl, but even I wouldn’t mind staying up later than this!
PS. Today, Roxanne the bus died. Sad times.
Today we left Queenstown in time to hit the Kawarau Bungy Jump (AJ Hackett’s original commercial bungy) before the rush. 3 of our group took the plunge (pun absolutely intended): Laura and Vanesha went tandem and Megan flew solo. I wanted to do it so badly! I was close, but I really think my health insurance would have had a problem with it. Oh well, just another reason to come back! After the jumps, we boarded the bus for a long and boring day of coach travel. Of course, even boring days in New Zealand are pretty exciting; we saw some really fantastic waterfalls pouring down through the temperate rainforest, and we stopped to look at the Tasman Sea. There were a couple of episodes of Friends to break up the monotony, but it was a lot of sitting. Luckily I was endlessly entertained by the changing terrain outside the bus windows. New Zealand is perpetually beautiful.
Fox Glacier is the definition of a quaint little town; population 260 when it’s full, and the sole industry is taking groups to see the glacier. Laura T. and I went to our room (very nice- yet another upgrade for our tour!), had some crappy instant cocoa, and met Vicki, Emma, Vanesha, Laura B. and Debra to go for a walk around Like Matheson. Murray, the town gossip, drove us out and told us a little bit about the area. The walk itself was so nice! The clouds blocked some of the more impressive reflections, but it was still beautiful. We were walking shortly before dusk, so the light was just lovely. We came back and killed time til dinner, then walked across the street to the Cook Saddle, one of the two restaurants in town. Oh man, did I pack it in. Laura T. and I made a conscious effort to eat as much as we could. A huge chicken quesadilla, fires, garlic bread, a banana split and beer. Mmmm mmmm! During dinner, Scotty and I swapped bad jokes. Hilarious!
When we finished eating, we went on a nighttime walk to see the glow worms. It was so neat! They twinkled like pale blue stars on the trees and in overhangs. As we walked, Scotty would sneak off to try to terrify us. It worked on a couple of people, but not this girl. Walking back, we swapped some scary stories, but the rest of the girls weren’t interested in hearing them. A few of us made our way to the hotel bar, where I entertained myself with darts. In bed by 10:30. I know that I am no night owl, but even I wouldn’t mind staying up later than this!
PS. Today, Roxanne the bus died. Sad times.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Day 3: Elephants, Platypi and Germans, oh my!
Thursday, September 4th~
Today I got up early and headed to the Taronga Zoo. It was cold and gray and windy, so a lot of the animals were hiding. Who could blame them? But the Asian elephants were awesome! There was this one bull standing by the water drinking when all of a sudden he dove in! Seriously, one minute he was dry, the next he was fully submerged. I had no idea elephants were so aquatic! He would dive down, then bring his trunk up for air, lift his head above water, and dive again. Hilarious! After a couple of hours at the zoo, I felt I had seen enough and was getting tired of the field-trippers, so I ferried to Darling Harbor by way of Luna Park. I took lots of pictures (for the Cass-monster), and wandered around for a bit. It was quiet and abandoned and mildly creepy in a Scooby Doo kind of way.
I got some lunch and hit up the Aquarium. I was thrilled to finally see a platypus (cue Flobots), thrilled! They are so darn cute! I want one! The rest of the Aquarium was nice; I found Nemo, so that was cool. No dolphins, but some pretty hardcore sharks. On my way out, I got surveyed by a woman who just returned from holiday in Lancaster, PA. Small world, eh?
Walking back to the hostel from Darling Harbor, I stumbled upon Paddy’s Market. It’s a massive quagmire of stalls and vendors, all of them aggressively peddling their goods and services to the passers-by. It reminded me a lot of the market in San Salvador, but with slightly better English. I wandered around for ages, talking my way out of countless massage offers (I know, sad), admiring the massive quantity of Aussie emporia, and marveling at the number of stands selling weaves. I bought some lively colored socks and continued on my way.
Back at the hostel, I repacked my bags and headed out to reception to see if anything was going on. Turns out it was burger night! For five bucks, I grabbed a kangaroo burger and an Australian beer (that is to say watery crap), so that was cool. I flew solo all day, and I gotta say, I like making friends better.
Tonight, I found myself in the company of Germans. I was just about to go to bed, when two of my roommates asked me to hang out with them to help them with their English. In exchange for a bowl of pasta, I taught them words like “condiments”. Turns out, the whole place was crawling with Germans! They were joking about how there are so many travelling in Australia, and I quizzed them on the best places to visit in Germany. It was quite a pleasant way to spend an evening, but I had to get to bed early. New Zealand tomorrow!
Today I got up early and headed to the Taronga Zoo. It was cold and gray and windy, so a lot of the animals were hiding. Who could blame them? But the Asian elephants were awesome! There was this one bull standing by the water drinking when all of a sudden he dove in! Seriously, one minute he was dry, the next he was fully submerged. I had no idea elephants were so aquatic! He would dive down, then bring his trunk up for air, lift his head above water, and dive again. Hilarious! After a couple of hours at the zoo, I felt I had seen enough and was getting tired of the field-trippers, so I ferried to Darling Harbor by way of Luna Park. I took lots of pictures (for the Cass-monster), and wandered around for a bit. It was quiet and abandoned and mildly creepy in a Scooby Doo kind of way.
I got some lunch and hit up the Aquarium. I was thrilled to finally see a platypus (cue Flobots), thrilled! They are so darn cute! I want one! The rest of the Aquarium was nice; I found Nemo, so that was cool. No dolphins, but some pretty hardcore sharks. On my way out, I got surveyed by a woman who just returned from holiday in Lancaster, PA. Small world, eh?
Walking back to the hostel from Darling Harbor, I stumbled upon Paddy’s Market. It’s a massive quagmire of stalls and vendors, all of them aggressively peddling their goods and services to the passers-by. It reminded me a lot of the market in San Salvador, but with slightly better English. I wandered around for ages, talking my way out of countless massage offers (I know, sad), admiring the massive quantity of Aussie emporia, and marveling at the number of stands selling weaves. I bought some lively colored socks and continued on my way.
Back at the hostel, I repacked my bags and headed out to reception to see if anything was going on. Turns out it was burger night! For five bucks, I grabbed a kangaroo burger and an Australian beer (that is to say watery crap), so that was cool. I flew solo all day, and I gotta say, I like making friends better.
Tonight, I found myself in the company of Germans. I was just about to go to bed, when two of my roommates asked me to hang out with them to help them with their English. In exchange for a bowl of pasta, I taught them words like “condiments”. Turns out, the whole place was crawling with Germans! They were joking about how there are so many travelling in Australia, and I quizzed them on the best places to visit in Germany. It was quite a pleasant way to spend an evening, but I had to get to bed early. New Zealand tomorrow!
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