October 1 Thursday We got up, broke camp and drove back by Twizel and up to Mt Cook/Aoraki, The sky was partially cloudy, but there were blue skies enough of the time for us to be hopeful. At the visitor center we checked out the available walks and were told we could go up the trail to the Mueller Hut until we hit the snow and then we would need to turn back. Only those with the correct snow equipment were allowed to continue. Correct equipment including axes, crampons, rope, etc. We did the Kea Point walk, which terminates with views of the Mueller glacier and the lake at its feet. This is not a particularly pretty glacier as it is mostlly a dirty gray from accumulated bits of rock and dust, but it is the first glacier we have come to so it is impressive none the less. We retraced our path until we could begin ascending the Mueller's Hut walk and went as high as we could. Once we hit the snow we had our lunch looking down over the valley. After climbing back down to the valley floor we drove about 14 kms to a side valley to see the Tasman Sea/Glacier and Blue Lakes. This entailed a short walk to a hilltop where we could see the three Blue Lakes, which are actually a deep green color, and the Tasman glacier terminal end and lake. The lake is spotted with icebergs and the glacier itself is much cleaner than Mueller's. There is a further trail down to the lake and we could see a couple small water craft venturing out to the icebergs. There is also a 8 km hike which would put you right at the glacier terminal end, but we chose not to do that. One other walk in the area is the walk to Hooker's Glacier. This one crosses two cable bridges before getting to the glacier itself, but due to a “rockfall” (landslide) that trail is closed.
So we left the Aoraki valley and began our drive towards Queenstown. We found a secluded little bend off the road along the Kawarau River gorge to camp in for the night about 40 kms outside of Queenstown. After dinner we watched “Lackawanna Blues” and went to bed.
October 2 Friday We woke up to a mostly clear sky with the sun shining. I got somewhat washed up in the frigid water of the Kawarau River and then Chris and I had breakfast. Our little campsite was excellent and it did not take long to break camp and be on our way the last little bit to Queenstown. The town is actually spread out over a long stretch of the Lake Wanatipu shore so the impression is of a much larger town than the 13,000 that actually live here. It is a hub for all kinds of extreme sports and outdoors activity in general. You can do jet boating, whitewater rafting, skydiving, bungy jumping (the first bungy jumps in th world happened just outside town on the Kawarau River), paragliding, mountain biking, hiking, etc. Chris is a member of BBH, a hostel collective similar to YHA (where I am a member) and so we went to a backpackers listed in his booklet. I got the discount as well for traveling with Chris. The first thing we both did was get showers. Then we walked down to the town center and I exchanged the dvd we had watched and Chris started getting info on whitewater rafting. I left him to climb Queenstown Hill and get an overview of the area. It was a nice walk, with a few sprinkles on the way up, but it was clear once I got to the summit. There was a lot of wind, but I had enough layers to be warm. When I returned to the hostel, Chris told me that they had already booked out the rafting trips for Saturday, so he booked for Sunday afternoon. The weather was supposed to be much better on Sunday anyway. That was fine with me. The hostel has free internet access so I tracked down the local SDA church. That involved calling a number because they do not have a permanent location and move from week to week. I read a book for a while before going to bed.
October 3 Sabbath Woke up to a dusting of snow as predicted and more wet clumpy snow falling. I got up and after breakfast of bread with nutella and banana, some yoghurt, and a nectarine, started walking to Frankton 6kms away. I chose not to drive, because it looked so nice with the snow. It was lovely walking along the lakeside with snow gently falling. The temp was 34 degrees so most of it was not really sticking to the ground, instead it was making slush and my shoes got wet quite quickly, which I had not really planned for. Cold wet socks are not the best for walking in. But it was a beautiful, quiet morning and I made it to the designated location, just after the 10:30am starting time I had been told. They were actually still having a morning tea and so I had a few cookies and a nice hot cup of ginger tea. There were 17 people in attendance for this week with the Queenstown SDA company. Pastor Soon Yeung said that in the three years he has been the pastor, his wife has each week declared that maybe this week she will be singing for him and he will be preaching to her (they are the only members of the company), but it has never happened once. People always show up. There was a youth group visiting from Invercargill, further south that made up the bulk of the group, but there were also three traveling Australians and myself. Seven different nationalities were also represented. We did not study the lesson, but instead had a discussion about broaching the subject of why bad things happen to good people with non Christians. One of the youth group members had the sermon about how we need to ask God specifically for help and truly believe He will answer. English is not the young man's mother tongue, but he did a good job anyway. Then we had a small potluch with just the right amount of food and eventually about 3 pm we split up and I headed back the way I came. The snow was nearly all melted, the sun was out, and while it had been very sleepy on my walk in the morning, people were out everywhere now. It was also still very cold. Instead of heading directly back to the hostel, I went through the Botanical Gardens and ran into Christopher about half way through. I continued back to the hostel and he stayed at the gardens a while longer. After a brief rest, I decided there was still enough time for another walk and so I headed towards the suburb of Fernhill on the west side of Queenstown. This leads to several multihour 'tramps', but I gave myself an hour up so I would not get back when it was too dark. I got a lot farther than I thought I would. The One Mile track follows an old water pipeline from a defunct gold mining operation up a canyon to a place called Midway Meadow. From here the Fernhill Loop goes an additional 2 hours, or the Ben Lomond Track goes to the top of the peak for which it is named in 5 hours, or you can walk to the top of the gondola. I decided to follow the Fernhill Loop for the time I had alloted myself. It worked out quite well, because when I had to turn around I had reached a creek crossing that was swollen with snow runoff. While I could see a way across it was probably safer that I did not try. I had a great time marching through the snow that was still heavy on the ground for the last half hour of my walk up. When I made my way back down to the trail head, I discovered that I had nearly done half of the Fernhill Loop and it had not taken nearly as long as they described. I also logged my 6000th picture of the trip, which seems like an awful lot, but I know I could have taken many many more.
In the evening Christopher ran into a English girl he knew from Australia and they went off together. I walked through the town center again and picked up some groceries I needed, then read some more and worked on my trip notes before going to bed.
October 4 Sunday We checked out of the hostel just before 10, but I hung around a while longer using the internet. While Christopher was out for the day whitewater rafting, I drove 10 kms west of Queenstown and walked the Mt Crichton/Sam Somers track. This was easily my favorite walk in the Queenstown area. It was a loop track and the way I went had me following a creek through a nice forest, eventually reaching Sam Somers cabin. The cabin has a couple rudimentary beds and all the cooking utensils you could need, although the whole trail is not really long enough to warrant camping overnight. There was also a somewhat sleepy red possum in the rafters. He woke up sufficiently to get hidden in a wall before I could get the camera out and attempt a picture, but I was glad to have seen one alive since I see so many along the roadsides dead. The trail continues and breaks out of the forest to snowy mountain peaks and there was a brief side jaunt through a narrow gap between two large sheets of stone to some old mine openings. At the peak of the trail there was a great view of the mountains and a few minutes later was another viewpoint overlooking Lake Dispute and Lake Wanatipu. While driving back to town I stopped at a turnout to read the Dept of Conservation marker. A lady parked there said she would let me know her favorite trails in the area. Top of the list: Mt Crichton/Sam Somers track. I told her I just came from there and it was my favorite as well. She recommended one branch of the Bob's Cove trail and a few places up near Glenorchy, where we are heading this evening.
I met Christopher at the appointed time and he said he was slightly disappointed with the whitewater rafting. It had been mostly in Class 3 rapids (we do a couple of those on inner tubes, when we pirate raft the Cache Creek), but too much of the time had been spent just floating lazily between the rapids. At least for the amount of money he spent. We drove up the valley to Glenorchy and made it to the campground at the foot of the Routeburn Track before dark. There was another German couple already there cooking over a small fire. We collected as much wood as we could, made our own dinner with our stove and then joined them to talk over the combined fire. It was bitterly cold and the fire only kept one side slightly warmer, so after talking for about an hour most of our wood was gone and we all headed for bed. They were both from Berlin and had been working picking fruit for almost four months. They were taking a break from that to see some of the island and then look for different jobs. They were going to try and go to the first hut on the Routeburn Track and stay one night. The same issue is in play here: there is snow all over the higher elevations and without the proper gear, you can only go so far. We will probably do another hike instead.
October 5 Monday We got up and decided to take the Rockburn trail past Lake Sylvan and see what we would do from there. The trail was quite muddy, but the forest is not very thick and with so much moss, it often felt like we were walking on a spongecake. Lake Sylvan was beautiful and we found a nice little hut at the end of the Rockburn trail. There was also a short diversion trail to a gorge and what a gorge it was. When we got on the small bridge we were probably looking straight down a narrow crevice churning with water 150 ft below us. Pictures can't even begin to show what it really looked like and we both thought it was the highlight of the walk to that point. Looking at our maps we thought we probably could walk along the river and make it back just as fast as going back on the trail, so we took that route. We wanted adventure, we got adventure. Very soon we had to cross the snow melt river and so we took off our shoes and socks and waded across. Very cold, but invigorating at the same time. Well, after doing this 6, 7, 8 times and the water getting deeper each time, we both began wondering about the wisdom of our decision. I was not worried about my feet, we had enough time between crossings for them to warm back up, but I was becoming concerned that we might get to a point where a crossing would be waist deep or more and with the swiftness of the water, that could lead to many other more serious risks. At one point before we got too concerned a group of canoeists went by. Later we watched a couple jet boats plow through the shallow water we had earlier crossed. Eventually we got to the side of the river we needed to be on and stayed there, but it was still almost an hour of walking through forest and field (with thousands of rabbits criss crossing it in a panic as we came) before we made it back to the car and campground. It was worth it, but tiring and we headed back to Queenstown without stopping at two other short walks that had been recommended to us. Since Chris had met his English friend he wanted to spend some more time with her, so I dropped him off in town at the hostel she was staying at and I went back outside town to a campground for the night.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
September 26 Sabbath I showered, ate two bananas, a bagel, and some apricot yoghurt for breakfast, and headed out for church. The first option was the building I had checked out before (with no signage). Well it was a good thing I left early enough, because the building was still locked and no one was around at 9:20, so I abandoned that option and headed for a church on the north side of town. It was closer to where I was (I had a third address but it was further still). This morning the sun was out and there were some clouds but not many, so it was nice to be outside and it made the walk much more endurable. I hurried and made it while they were still in a song service for sabbath school. The St. Albans SDA Church is a small building with a small flock. (later someone said that was the smallest church in the area) There were about 15 people when I arrived and it maybe doubled when the last person came. The congregation is older, but they were very friendly and welcoming and the sermon by one of the members was spot on. Their main pastor has three churches, so they only get him once or twice a month. After church I was invited to the home of Jan Odonnell for lunch. She and her friend Olive are both widows whose husbands died about a year ago a week apart (about the time my dad died actually). We had a nice lunch of vegetable soup and home made bread (and some cookies for desert). Later they dropped me off a short distance from my hostel on their way to another friends birthday party. The weather was still very nice so the walk back was lovely. There are only two of us in the room now so we have lots of space to ourselves. I read for a while in the evening
September 27 Sunday Another day in CHCH. My notes are bad for this day and I did not go anywhere, so I'll leave it at that.
September 28 Monday By chance I found a notice from a German guy looking for a travel mate and we met and decided to give it a go. We will leave tomorrow after I pick up my campervan. I picked up some groceries and did a load of laundry. I also finished two books and picked up a new one. The ones I finished were called In The Woods and The Anatomist, a detective story and a historical expansion of the Italian who “discovered” much of what was known about the circulatory system and the clitoris in the 1600's. The one I picked up I am excited about: Born on a Blue Day. It is the autobiography of a highly functioning autistic savant with Aspergers and synesthesia.
September 29 Tuesday Vacated Around The World and walked with all my stuff to the Spaceship office. I got there at about 8:45 and the sign said Back at 9:15, so I waited. But I got to thinking and when no one arrived by 9:25, I concluded that maybe I needed to be at the other location in town, the actual Spaceship depot to pick up my vehicle. So I made the walk over to the second address and sure enough I had a vehicle waiting. They showed me what came with the van and how things worked with it and by 10 am I was over at Foley Towers to pick up Christopher. We basically just threw our bags in the back and planned to organize everything better when we stopped for the night. So leaving CHCH we headed for the Banks Peninsula and the town of Akaroa. Almost as soon as we got outside of town the weather cleared up and we had sunshine. We both thought that Christchurch had been pulling the wool over our eyes and it was probably the only cloudy/rainy place in all of New Zealand. We were partially right. The Banks Peninsula has several scenic drives through it and we took a different route back than the one we drove out on. The town at the end of the pen, Akaroa was incredibly small and is mainly a starting point for bay cruises (where small dolphins are frequently seen). There are many places to take walks in the hills (except that Sept and Oct are lambing season and about 90% of the walks were closed due to this. We did take a nice walk to the top of the ridge where we could see bays on both sides of the peninsula and some expansive views. I guess nice is how I would describe it in hindsight because the views more than made up for the almost nonexistent trail we followed up a stream bed to get to the top. After leaving Banks Peninsula we got on the Inland Scenic Route, which was indeed scenic. The landscape is lush green, with sheep nearly everywhere. As we got a little further inland we could see the snow capped peaks rising in the near distance. Our first real stop was at Rakaia Gorge, where the color of the water fascinated us. We knew of a place to camp, but diverted to the town of Methven to get a few groceries and see if anything was happening. The town was essentially dead, but we got a local map with some trails marked on it and headed for our campground near a place called Taylor's Stream. We watched “Supersize Me” after eating and then went to bed.
September 30 Wednesday After getting up, having breakfast, and breaking our camp at Taylor's Stream, we backtracked to the Gorge and did the Gorge Walk. It took us a couple hours, but was well worth it. The water has such an amazing color from the snow melt and the rock dust in it. We continued up to Lake Tekapo, with stops at the Church of the Good Shepard on the shore and a nice walk up to Mt John's Observatory for great views back to the town and all around. Then we continued past Twizel, with a stop to exchange dvd's at the Helicopter Line, to a campground near another river. I'll have to look the name up on a map. There was a German couple already there and we talked for a while before having dinner, watching a movie and going to bed.
September 27 Sunday Another day in CHCH. My notes are bad for this day and I did not go anywhere, so I'll leave it at that.
September 28 Monday By chance I found a notice from a German guy looking for a travel mate and we met and decided to give it a go. We will leave tomorrow after I pick up my campervan. I picked up some groceries and did a load of laundry. I also finished two books and picked up a new one. The ones I finished were called In The Woods and The Anatomist, a detective story and a historical expansion of the Italian who “discovered” much of what was known about the circulatory system and the clitoris in the 1600's. The one I picked up I am excited about: Born on a Blue Day. It is the autobiography of a highly functioning autistic savant with Aspergers and synesthesia.
September 29 Tuesday Vacated Around The World and walked with all my stuff to the Spaceship office. I got there at about 8:45 and the sign said Back at 9:15, so I waited. But I got to thinking and when no one arrived by 9:25, I concluded that maybe I needed to be at the other location in town, the actual Spaceship depot to pick up my vehicle. So I made the walk over to the second address and sure enough I had a vehicle waiting. They showed me what came with the van and how things worked with it and by 10 am I was over at Foley Towers to pick up Christopher. We basically just threw our bags in the back and planned to organize everything better when we stopped for the night. So leaving CHCH we headed for the Banks Peninsula and the town of Akaroa. Almost as soon as we got outside of town the weather cleared up and we had sunshine. We both thought that Christchurch had been pulling the wool over our eyes and it was probably the only cloudy/rainy place in all of New Zealand. We were partially right. The Banks Peninsula has several scenic drives through it and we took a different route back than the one we drove out on. The town at the end of the pen, Akaroa was incredibly small and is mainly a starting point for bay cruises (where small dolphins are frequently seen). There are many places to take walks in the hills (except that Sept and Oct are lambing season and about 90% of the walks were closed due to this. We did take a nice walk to the top of the ridge where we could see bays on both sides of the peninsula and some expansive views. I guess nice is how I would describe it in hindsight because the views more than made up for the almost nonexistent trail we followed up a stream bed to get to the top. After leaving Banks Peninsula we got on the Inland Scenic Route, which was indeed scenic. The landscape is lush green, with sheep nearly everywhere. As we got a little further inland we could see the snow capped peaks rising in the near distance. Our first real stop was at Rakaia Gorge, where the color of the water fascinated us. We knew of a place to camp, but diverted to the town of Methven to get a few groceries and see if anything was happening. The town was essentially dead, but we got a local map with some trails marked on it and headed for our campground near a place called Taylor's Stream. We watched “Supersize Me” after eating and then went to bed.
September 30 Wednesday After getting up, having breakfast, and breaking our camp at Taylor's Stream, we backtracked to the Gorge and did the Gorge Walk. It took us a couple hours, but was well worth it. The water has such an amazing color from the snow melt and the rock dust in it. We continued up to Lake Tekapo, with stops at the Church of the Good Shepard on the shore and a nice walk up to Mt John's Observatory for great views back to the town and all around. Then we continued past Twizel, with a stop to exchange dvd's at the Helicopter Line, to a campground near another river. I'll have to look the name up on a map. There was a German couple already there and we talked for a while before having dinner, watching a movie and going to bed.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
September 21 Monday I walked down to the Market street post office and mailed off a package to home. Postage: $100. That hurts and I still have too much stuff with me. I went to the Maritime Museum which was rather small and I went through it quickly. There was an exhibition on the history of the bikini, which was not as exciting as it might sound. They have three or four vessels that you can tour, but they all cost additional and so I gave them a miss. Next I went up to the Observatory and spent nearly an hour there, seeing the old telescopes and other things there. The caretaker was a friendly, but monstrously overweight man. Then as I was walking back to Asylum, I ran into Jon, my Scottish travelmate from earlier in my trip. One of the guys in the hostel said they had seen him, so it was not a complete shock to see him. We talked for a bit and he said he would join Danny and I when we got something to eat later in the evening. At about 6pm the three of us got together, but finding a place to please a Scottish, Korean, and American palate was not easy. We ended up at a pizza parlor, which was fine and cheap. Jon has decided to head back home within a week, instead of staying until November as he had planned earlier. Danny is excited about his new job. He said the first day went well, but he is worried about being lonely in Sydney. There are not very many Koreans here.
September 22 Tuesday I got up at 5:55, did my final bit of packing, slid my key under the reception door, dropped off my linens and went to the shuttle bus pickup spot. I ate my two bananas and an apple while waiting. There were only a couple other people in the bus, but we made many more stops and were full when we arrived at the airport. The many stops took longer than I was comfortable with and I kept watching the clock. My flight was at 8:50am, but it was an international one and in theory I should be there two hours early. I checked my bag at 7:35 and they got on the radio saying they were closing my flight after me. So anyone getting there later would not be allowed to fly. That was a big relief for me. I had an isle seat so did not get to see much during the flight and it was overcast when we arrived in Christchurch. I changed the 21 Australian dollars I still had to New Zealand dollars and caught a shuttle to the city center. My arrangement with the Dumbles, who I was to couchsurf with, was that I could arrive after 5pm. That meant I had nearly three hours to explore. Normally that would be plenty to do something, but I had my pack, my daypack and another bag, so I did not venture very far. I changed some more money and at 5 caught a bus heading towards the suburb of Opawa. Thankfully the directions the Dumbles had sent me were very good and I got off at the right stop and had a short walk to their house. They showed me my room which is a cottage by the garage. Very nice, private space with its own bathroom. Their daughter Maddie is 4 and like most small children likes to be the center of attention. Her grandmother was having a birthday and they were there to celebrate it with the Dumbles, but Maddie wanted everyone to know that even if it was grandmas day to be the star, she was still the second star. There is a two hour time difference between Australia and New Zealand and I had gotten up earlier than usually this morning, so after a while I headed out to the cottage, read for a bit and went to bed.
September 23 Wednesday I walked all over CHCH today, starting from the Opawa suburb where I'm staying at the moment, through an industrial section, moving along the south end of the city center, visiting backpackers (and finding a person who is leaving tomorrow to tour the country), most of the three city walks, the botanical gardens, the Museum, the main Art gallery, and other places. It was overcast all day and actually rained off and on, but I always had somewhere to duck into when it did. I was just finishing the Botanical Gardens when the first showers hit and so I spend some time in the Canterbury Museum. I liked the Around the World Backpackers and will probably go back there to stay once I leave the Dumble's. I met up with another person I had contacted through Couchsurfing, Alice, for smoothies and conversation. She is working with World Vision in public relations and has done quite a bit of volunteering/traveling. After that I met up with the potential travel partner who is leaving tomorrow. She had been on a day trip and we were both hungry so over some sub sandwiches we talked about the plans she had and how it might work for the two of us. She also had one other person to meet before making a decision. She could only take one more person. She promised to call later that evening to let me know yes or no. It turned out to be no. So I will keep looking at options.
September 24 Thursday I walked into town again, made a reservation for four nights at Around the World, and talked to four different rental companies about vehicles. Then I went to the library and did some number crunching. I had a really good quote for a Spaceship and it looked better and better as I worked the numbers, so I went back and booked it. It is a long term relocation and because I got it in Sept it still falls under their off season rate structure. If I had had to start in October the best rate I could hope for would be NZ$75 per day. I got it for NZ$25 per day. Now if I can find someone to share some fuel expenses it will work out even better, but I have the freedom to do just what I want if I choose. And because it is a space ship it has a bed, frig, cooker, etc for less than renting a car would be. Too bad Gabe is still trying to work up the nerve to join me. Come on, the travelings fine, Gabe. (Get well soon, back, I want to have a good friend to share my journey.
September 25 Friday After breakfast, when Maddie and her mom had left for kindy and squash, I left the couchsurfing experience behind and walked the 2+ miles to Around the World Backpackers, where I had made my reservation. Four nights at NZ$20/night. This is a smaller hostel run by a family living on the premises. It has free internet (non free wireless which I am not using, it is expensive), a large cd/dvd library (I ripped a few cd's using the free computer and my flashdrive), a nice kitchen, big backyard (too cold to hang out there yet anyway), small library/book exchange, etc. All the things that make a hostel nice. The dorms are only four beds each so that is also nicer than staying in a 16 bed dorm to get the cheapest rate. Even though it was just after 10 I could check right into my room. I walked to the address (across town) that indicated the nearest SDA church just to see where it was. The building had no signs on it and was locked up, but looked more like an office building than a church. I picked up some potato noodles for my dinner and they were very spicy. The texture was different from what I expected and they are not my favorite, but that could just be a mistake in how I prepared them. Earlier in the day I also sent a few emails to the Chinese embassy to make sure I can get the correct visa there. Just like with the Brazilian info I got a few days ago, it would cost me $160 as a US citizen, but only $60 as a swiss citizen. I also started looking into a side project that John Hemphill had given me to try and get a birth certificate for his grandfather. I now have the address and will stop by the Christchurch office of records on Monday.
September 22 Tuesday I got up at 5:55, did my final bit of packing, slid my key under the reception door, dropped off my linens and went to the shuttle bus pickup spot. I ate my two bananas and an apple while waiting. There were only a couple other people in the bus, but we made many more stops and were full when we arrived at the airport. The many stops took longer than I was comfortable with and I kept watching the clock. My flight was at 8:50am, but it was an international one and in theory I should be there two hours early. I checked my bag at 7:35 and they got on the radio saying they were closing my flight after me. So anyone getting there later would not be allowed to fly. That was a big relief for me. I had an isle seat so did not get to see much during the flight and it was overcast when we arrived in Christchurch. I changed the 21 Australian dollars I still had to New Zealand dollars and caught a shuttle to the city center. My arrangement with the Dumbles, who I was to couchsurf with, was that I could arrive after 5pm. That meant I had nearly three hours to explore. Normally that would be plenty to do something, but I had my pack, my daypack and another bag, so I did not venture very far. I changed some more money and at 5 caught a bus heading towards the suburb of Opawa. Thankfully the directions the Dumbles had sent me were very good and I got off at the right stop and had a short walk to their house. They showed me my room which is a cottage by the garage. Very nice, private space with its own bathroom. Their daughter Maddie is 4 and like most small children likes to be the center of attention. Her grandmother was having a birthday and they were there to celebrate it with the Dumbles, but Maddie wanted everyone to know that even if it was grandmas day to be the star, she was still the second star. There is a two hour time difference between Australia and New Zealand and I had gotten up earlier than usually this morning, so after a while I headed out to the cottage, read for a bit and went to bed.
September 23 Wednesday I walked all over CHCH today, starting from the Opawa suburb where I'm staying at the moment, through an industrial section, moving along the south end of the city center, visiting backpackers (and finding a person who is leaving tomorrow to tour the country), most of the three city walks, the botanical gardens, the Museum, the main Art gallery, and other places. It was overcast all day and actually rained off and on, but I always had somewhere to duck into when it did. I was just finishing the Botanical Gardens when the first showers hit and so I spend some time in the Canterbury Museum. I liked the Around the World Backpackers and will probably go back there to stay once I leave the Dumble's. I met up with another person I had contacted through Couchsurfing, Alice, for smoothies and conversation. She is working with World Vision in public relations and has done quite a bit of volunteering/traveling. After that I met up with the potential travel partner who is leaving tomorrow. She had been on a day trip and we were both hungry so over some sub sandwiches we talked about the plans she had and how it might work for the two of us. She also had one other person to meet before making a decision. She could only take one more person. She promised to call later that evening to let me know yes or no. It turned out to be no. So I will keep looking at options.
September 24 Thursday I walked into town again, made a reservation for four nights at Around the World, and talked to four different rental companies about vehicles. Then I went to the library and did some number crunching. I had a really good quote for a Spaceship and it looked better and better as I worked the numbers, so I went back and booked it. It is a long term relocation and because I got it in Sept it still falls under their off season rate structure. If I had had to start in October the best rate I could hope for would be NZ$75 per day. I got it for NZ$25 per day. Now if I can find someone to share some fuel expenses it will work out even better, but I have the freedom to do just what I want if I choose. And because it is a space ship it has a bed, frig, cooker, etc for less than renting a car would be. Too bad Gabe is still trying to work up the nerve to join me. Come on, the travelings fine, Gabe. (Get well soon, back, I want to have a good friend to share my journey.
September 25 Friday After breakfast, when Maddie and her mom had left for kindy and squash, I left the couchsurfing experience behind and walked the 2+ miles to Around the World Backpackers, where I had made my reservation. Four nights at NZ$20/night. This is a smaller hostel run by a family living on the premises. It has free internet (non free wireless which I am not using, it is expensive), a large cd/dvd library (I ripped a few cd's using the free computer and my flashdrive), a nice kitchen, big backyard (too cold to hang out there yet anyway), small library/book exchange, etc. All the things that make a hostel nice. The dorms are only four beds each so that is also nicer than staying in a 16 bed dorm to get the cheapest rate. Even though it was just after 10 I could check right into my room. I walked to the address (across town) that indicated the nearest SDA church just to see where it was. The building had no signs on it and was locked up, but looked more like an office building than a church. I picked up some potato noodles for my dinner and they were very spicy. The texture was different from what I expected and they are not my favorite, but that could just be a mistake in how I prepared them. Earlier in the day I also sent a few emails to the Chinese embassy to make sure I can get the correct visa there. Just like with the Brazilian info I got a few days ago, it would cost me $160 as a US citizen, but only $60 as a swiss citizen. I also started looking into a side project that John Hemphill had given me to try and get a birth certificate for his grandfather. I now have the address and will stop by the Christchurch office of records on Monday.
September 16 Wednesday We got up early again for sunrise, and again it was nice, but not what Geoff had been hoping for. We got back, had a quick breakfast, loaded the van with our bags and all the trash/recyclables, and cleaned the floors of the kitchen, bathrooms, and bunkhouses. Before leaving the park completely we stopped at the Ranger station and were given certificates for having served the park as volunteers. We also stopped at the art wherehouse to pick up a few more pieces for other people. I took the opportunity to get mine wrapped in bubble wrap. We stopped in Yulara again to get fuel then drove on to Alice Springs. It took a while longer than before because there were some heavy dust storms and visibility went to near zero several times. Our brief lunch stop was an adventure just keeping things from blowing away in the hard wind. I got dropped off at Haven (my hostel) and we had all agreed to meet at the restaurant in Annies Place in the evening for a sendoff. In Alice I walked over to Anzac Hill and took several pictures of graffiti, then walked down to the other end of town where I had seen some other graffiti. It was already getting dark and I found the place. It was at a youth center and there was a large group of teens playing rugby. I was on the property when a man accosted me and demanded to know what I was doing. We got it straightened out quickly, but they were definitely concerned about people just walking onto the property and their intentions towards the kids (sad state of the world when this is the case, but not really surprising). Most of the CVA volunteers got together for food and drinks at Annie's Place. We had a nice time once more and said our goodbyes for the most part. Several of us will meet in the airport again tomorrow.
September 17 Thursday The three other people in my room got up and left at 5:30am. They are part of a tour group coming from Darwin south. The girl had scattered her underwear all over the bathroom last night. I went back to sleep until almost 7:30. Then I had a simple breakfast of bread and jam, checked out of my room and waited in the lobby until the shuttle came to take me (and seven others) to the airport at 10:30. I spent the time reading (and realized I did not get a picture of my room at Haven – doh!). Once at the airport it did not take long before I saw Danny, Derek, Gary and Janet. Later after making it through the check in process we also met up with Gillian, Vita and Mei. My bag was one kilo over the limit so they charged me $10. I would not have known what to take out to get it under the limit because my carry on was really full. Those of us from CVA talked and exchanged email addresses and other things, including sandwiches until our flights started boarding. Five people were going to Melbourne on the same plane (and Danny was continuing on to Sydney later in the afternoon. One had a direct flight to Sydney, and Mei and I were on the same plane to Adelaide (but Mei was staying there while I was continuing to Sydney). Danny and I made arrangements to meet on Sunday for lunch. We all said our goodbyes and I got on my plane. There was a slight rain storm as we left Alice Springs and that translated into a lot of turbulence, so the trip was much like a good roller coaster. I enjoyed it and could continue reading, but I did not get to see much of the landscape from the air and my window seat was kind of wasted. My bag was checked straight through to Sydney, so I just had to wait for my plane in Adelaide. The flight to Sydney was uneventful and we arrived five minutes ahead of schedule. Airlines seem to have it in for backpackers. My bag came through and it wasn't until I was already walking out of the terminal that I realized that my tent was not attached to my bag. Why they had to remove it is beyond me, but I had to go back and pick it up from the luggage carousel. Nothing else seems to be missing. I caught a shuttle with six old people and two business types into the city. I was the last one dropped off. Got checked in at Asylum, but it was too late by then to get the free dinner, so I went to Coles to pick up some food for the next few days. I am almost out of Australian money and do not want to change more, but should be okay. I do not need much. I checked my budget and I did not manage to save anything while in Australia. I don't expect I'll be able to in New Zealand either, but after that things should be quite cheap for several countries.
September 18 Friday I spent some time getting my notes together and uploading pictures to Scott's server, but did not get my notes posted and the internet was down later when I tried. It just turned into a rather lazy day and that was fine with me.
September 19 Sabbath I walked to the Woolhara church this morning. I did not take a map, but followed essentially the same route as when I was here a month ago. Sabbath school, church, and a nice potluck all awaited me. The only downside was at the potluck an Indian man sat at my table and was non-stop jabbering about one conspiracy after another, which I as an America was supposed to confirm or deny for him. He gave me his email (I did not give him mine) and I do not plan to contact him. His ideas were so wild that I just tuned him out very soon after he joined the table, but he was persistent. As potluck was winding down, the Pathfinders were gathering to join Pathfinders from all over the greater Sydney area for a Drug Free Sydney Harbor Bridge walk. I was talking with one of the parents involved, having a really nice discussion about Adventism (he was not born into the church and we were comparing viewpoints from inside and outside) and he invited me to join the walk. I did not have anything really planned so I said yes. We drove across to the north side of the bridge and walked across with close to a thousand Pathfinders and like-minded people. It was late afternoon and the wind on the bridge made it rather chilly, but it was nice to do the whole Bridge. Before I had only gone to the first set of towers which had the observation deck and then gone back. I walked back to Asylum on my own. Again, while walking down a major street I got 'props' for my facial hair. That is an ongoing thing. People somehow feel compelled to tell me that they love my beard (it was a Abe Lincoln chinstrap style), or now goatee. The Taiwanese girls all were fascinated and wanted to see what I looked like without some of it, which was part of the reason I went down to the goatee. I'll let it grow again. But it has happened far more than I ever expected and people aren't shy about commenting or wanting to touch it.
September 20 Sunday Another nice big free breakfast of toast, fruit and a cereal suicide with yoghurt instead of milk. I met Danny at noon at the King's Cross Coles and we walked down to Chinatown, had some lunch at a Thai place near where he is living and then wandered over to a Brazilian culture festival at Darling Harbor. There was music, a small parade went through while we were there, and many booths, some with info and merchandise, but most selling Brazilian food stuffs. I talked to the people manning the embassy booth and discovered that because of reciprocal treatment of US citizens trying to visit Brazil, to how Brazilians are treated entering the US, it costs $270 for a visa. But the same regulation means that using my Swiss passport I can enter for free. Danny had to leave to meet some other friends and I went back to Paddy's market, picking up some apples and bananas. Back at Asylum I watched Blades of Glory with a group of people from the hostel. Danny stopped by again and we said we would meet tomorrow night to say goodbye. The internet was not working properly so I was able to upload some to Scott's server, but not post anything to my blog or access my email. Everyone in the hostel has been getting frustrated with the spotty internet usability. Several people were watching a remake (it must be a for TV version) of Michael Crichton's Andromeda Strain, which was laughable. I remember vaguely enjoying the book, but the other movie made from it was also rather goofy. The endings of many of his books are not satisfying to me, I've found.
September 17 Thursday The three other people in my room got up and left at 5:30am. They are part of a tour group coming from Darwin south. The girl had scattered her underwear all over the bathroom last night. I went back to sleep until almost 7:30. Then I had a simple breakfast of bread and jam, checked out of my room and waited in the lobby until the shuttle came to take me (and seven others) to the airport at 10:30. I spent the time reading (and realized I did not get a picture of my room at Haven – doh!). Once at the airport it did not take long before I saw Danny, Derek, Gary and Janet. Later after making it through the check in process we also met up with Gillian, Vita and Mei. My bag was one kilo over the limit so they charged me $10. I would not have known what to take out to get it under the limit because my carry on was really full. Those of us from CVA talked and exchanged email addresses and other things, including sandwiches until our flights started boarding. Five people were going to Melbourne on the same plane (and Danny was continuing on to Sydney later in the afternoon. One had a direct flight to Sydney, and Mei and I were on the same plane to Adelaide (but Mei was staying there while I was continuing to Sydney). Danny and I made arrangements to meet on Sunday for lunch. We all said our goodbyes and I got on my plane. There was a slight rain storm as we left Alice Springs and that translated into a lot of turbulence, so the trip was much like a good roller coaster. I enjoyed it and could continue reading, but I did not get to see much of the landscape from the air and my window seat was kind of wasted. My bag was checked straight through to Sydney, so I just had to wait for my plane in Adelaide. The flight to Sydney was uneventful and we arrived five minutes ahead of schedule. Airlines seem to have it in for backpackers. My bag came through and it wasn't until I was already walking out of the terminal that I realized that my tent was not attached to my bag. Why they had to remove it is beyond me, but I had to go back and pick it up from the luggage carousel. Nothing else seems to be missing. I caught a shuttle with six old people and two business types into the city. I was the last one dropped off. Got checked in at Asylum, but it was too late by then to get the free dinner, so I went to Coles to pick up some food for the next few days. I am almost out of Australian money and do not want to change more, but should be okay. I do not need much. I checked my budget and I did not manage to save anything while in Australia. I don't expect I'll be able to in New Zealand either, but after that things should be quite cheap for several countries.
September 18 Friday I spent some time getting my notes together and uploading pictures to Scott's server, but did not get my notes posted and the internet was down later when I tried. It just turned into a rather lazy day and that was fine with me.
September 19 Sabbath I walked to the Woolhara church this morning. I did not take a map, but followed essentially the same route as when I was here a month ago. Sabbath school, church, and a nice potluck all awaited me. The only downside was at the potluck an Indian man sat at my table and was non-stop jabbering about one conspiracy after another, which I as an America was supposed to confirm or deny for him. He gave me his email (I did not give him mine) and I do not plan to contact him. His ideas were so wild that I just tuned him out very soon after he joined the table, but he was persistent. As potluck was winding down, the Pathfinders were gathering to join Pathfinders from all over the greater Sydney area for a Drug Free Sydney Harbor Bridge walk. I was talking with one of the parents involved, having a really nice discussion about Adventism (he was not born into the church and we were comparing viewpoints from inside and outside) and he invited me to join the walk. I did not have anything really planned so I said yes. We drove across to the north side of the bridge and walked across with close to a thousand Pathfinders and like-minded people. It was late afternoon and the wind on the bridge made it rather chilly, but it was nice to do the whole Bridge. Before I had only gone to the first set of towers which had the observation deck and then gone back. I walked back to Asylum on my own. Again, while walking down a major street I got 'props' for my facial hair. That is an ongoing thing. People somehow feel compelled to tell me that they love my beard (it was a Abe Lincoln chinstrap style), or now goatee. The Taiwanese girls all were fascinated and wanted to see what I looked like without some of it, which was part of the reason I went down to the goatee. I'll let it grow again. But it has happened far more than I ever expected and people aren't shy about commenting or wanting to touch it.
September 20 Sunday Another nice big free breakfast of toast, fruit and a cereal suicide with yoghurt instead of milk. I met Danny at noon at the King's Cross Coles and we walked down to Chinatown, had some lunch at a Thai place near where he is living and then wandered over to a Brazilian culture festival at Darling Harbor. There was music, a small parade went through while we were there, and many booths, some with info and merchandise, but most selling Brazilian food stuffs. I talked to the people manning the embassy booth and discovered that because of reciprocal treatment of US citizens trying to visit Brazil, to how Brazilians are treated entering the US, it costs $270 for a visa. But the same regulation means that using my Swiss passport I can enter for free. Danny had to leave to meet some other friends and I went back to Paddy's market, picking up some apples and bananas. Back at Asylum I watched Blades of Glory with a group of people from the hostel. Danny stopped by again and we said we would meet tomorrow night to say goodbye. The internet was not working properly so I was able to upload some to Scott's server, but not post anything to my blog or access my email. Everyone in the hostel has been getting frustrated with the spotty internet usability. Several people were watching a remake (it must be a for TV version) of Michael Crichton's Andromeda Strain, which was laughable. I remember vaguely enjoying the book, but the other movie made from it was also rather goofy. The endings of many of his books are not satisfying to me, I've found.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
September 11 Friday It is funny. In South Africa, the group came up with the Stump the Austin game. Now I've acquired the name Austin Library. As in “Is the Austin Library open?” whenever one of the Taiwanese have a question on pronunciation or grammatical English, or any other question for that matter. They are all a fun group. They love taking pictures of each other. They are all hard workers. And I am happy to answer their questions. In particular I have a lot in common with Derek and we talk quite a bit. He has similar tastes in music/movies/many other things. We had a long conversation one evening, where he said the Taiwanese all liked me and how he could tell I had inner peace, which is something he finds rare in the people around him and which he is seeking. He does volunteer at a temple back at home and that is a place where he finds peace.
September 12 Sabbath. Thank God for the little things. On Monday when we started out we were told we would have one day off and it was scheduled for Saturday. Then they got the weather forecast and it looked like Sunday would be hotter and they tentatively changed it to have Sunday off and we would work on Sabbath. Well, I talked to Jeffrey and he said we could work something out no matter what happened, but as it turns out on Friday the updated forecast had a very hot Sabbath and an much cooler Sunday, so we are having our day off today. That means we get to go to Kata Tjuta. But first we walked around Uluru in one three hour loop. We have seen segments each day, but this was the whole thing. We had a relaxed middle of the day and in the early afternoon we headed to Kata Tjuta. Kata Tjuta is much less developed and still fairly private for the Aboriginals. There are only a couple walking tracks and we did the main one through the Valley of the Wind (which truly lives up to its name). The aboriginals believe the wind is the voices of their ancestors. The formations at Kata Tjuta are similar to Uluru, but the rock is much more intermixed with other mineral deposits, which is why the erosion has happened much faster here than at the Rock. Uluru seems to be a much purer iron ore base, slowly rusting away. We were supposed to go generally together as a group on this walk, but somehow the group got split in two with four of us heading west around the loop and the rest going east around the loop. So we met halfway around on the back side. And Janet lived up to her quickly solidifying reputation: she got all sullen when I did not want to walk with her back around the half of the walk I had already done, instead of getting to do the whole loop. Sorry, but I wanted to do the whole walk, not keep her company. The clouds and setting sun conspired to make a fantastic work of art on the horizon as we finished up our walk. Back at camp we had a great dinner of burgers and salad.
September 13 Sunday Our extra excursion today was to the Maluru Art wherehouse. Their gallery at the cultural center is only so big and everything else is stored at the wherehouse. There are thousands of carvings and tools, but not nearly as many paintings as I had hoped. But I did find a very beautiful piece and snagged it early on. In the gallery at the cultural center are three pieces I would love to have, but they are all over $2000. This was quite a bit smaller, but also in a price range I can justify.
September 14 Monday We got up at 5:55 to try and catch a sunrise, but the clouds did not cooperate. It was still beautiful, but just not we had hoped for. We still have two more chances. Work was again productive and Danny made a special dinner of kimbop, korean sushi.
September 15 Tuesday Our last day in the field. By the end of the day we had a week total of 263 bags of buffle removed and the equivalent area of 3.499 square kilometers cleared. That put us as the second highest group this year. There is only one session remaining. Not that it is a competition, but it felt good to know we had contributed. Derek, Gary, Geoff, and I cleaned out the van, while some of the others started prepping dinner: kebobs. Dinners have all been team efforts and the food was wonderful all the time. We were using up as much of the vegetables and food
September 12 Sabbath. Thank God for the little things. On Monday when we started out we were told we would have one day off and it was scheduled for Saturday. Then they got the weather forecast and it looked like Sunday would be hotter and they tentatively changed it to have Sunday off and we would work on Sabbath. Well, I talked to Jeffrey and he said we could work something out no matter what happened, but as it turns out on Friday the updated forecast had a very hot Sabbath and an much cooler Sunday, so we are having our day off today. That means we get to go to Kata Tjuta. But first we walked around Uluru in one three hour loop. We have seen segments each day, but this was the whole thing. We had a relaxed middle of the day and in the early afternoon we headed to Kata Tjuta. Kata Tjuta is much less developed and still fairly private for the Aboriginals. There are only a couple walking tracks and we did the main one through the Valley of the Wind (which truly lives up to its name). The aboriginals believe the wind is the voices of their ancestors. The formations at Kata Tjuta are similar to Uluru, but the rock is much more intermixed with other mineral deposits, which is why the erosion has happened much faster here than at the Rock. Uluru seems to be a much purer iron ore base, slowly rusting away. We were supposed to go generally together as a group on this walk, but somehow the group got split in two with four of us heading west around the loop and the rest going east around the loop. So we met halfway around on the back side. And Janet lived up to her quickly solidifying reputation: she got all sullen when I did not want to walk with her back around the half of the walk I had already done, instead of getting to do the whole loop. Sorry, but I wanted to do the whole walk, not keep her company. The clouds and setting sun conspired to make a fantastic work of art on the horizon as we finished up our walk. Back at camp we had a great dinner of burgers and salad.
September 13 Sunday Our extra excursion today was to the Maluru Art wherehouse. Their gallery at the cultural center is only so big and everything else is stored at the wherehouse. There are thousands of carvings and tools, but not nearly as many paintings as I had hoped. But I did find a very beautiful piece and snagged it early on. In the gallery at the cultural center are three pieces I would love to have, but they are all over $2000. This was quite a bit smaller, but also in a price range I can justify.
September 14 Monday We got up at 5:55 to try and catch a sunrise, but the clouds did not cooperate. It was still beautiful, but just not we had hoped for. We still have two more chances. Work was again productive and Danny made a special dinner of kimbop, korean sushi.
September 15 Tuesday Our last day in the field. By the end of the day we had a week total of 263 bags of buffle removed and the equivalent area of 3.499 square kilometers cleared. That put us as the second highest group this year. There is only one session remaining. Not that it is a competition, but it felt good to know we had contributed. Derek, Gary, Geoff, and I cleaned out the van, while some of the others started prepping dinner: kebobs. Dinners have all been team efforts and the food was wonderful all the time. We were using up as much of the vegetables and food
September 6 Sunday With our local map and recommendations from our host we set out for the West Macdonnell Ranges. The recommendations were spot on and we had a wonderful day. First we stopped at Standley Chasm and did a few kilometer walk to a scenic lookout and down a dry creekbed, then took the short path to the Chasm itself. We were there early in the morning and were the first people in the canyon. Most of the crowds come between 11 and 1:30, the window when at some point the sun will shine through the narrow gap at the top and flood the canyon walls with light for around 15 minutes. It is a picturesque canyon and the walk to it was quite nice, but it was not overly impressive to either Eva or myself. We then pushed on to near the end of the paved road in the West Macdonnells to a place called Ormiston Gorge. We had been told that the Pound walk was a good one, but when we arrived and considered the 2 ½ hour estimated time and the increasing heat of the day we chose the shorter Ghost Gum walk that included a lookout over the canyon. This turned out to be a nice walk and did not take nearly as long as the park signs had indicated. In the bottom of the canyon were several water holes of various size, but the water seemed rather stagnant and uninviting for a swim. We had another swimming hole in mind anyway. Returning about halfway to Alice Springs we stopped at Ellery's Big Hole and this was a true swimming hole. There were probably 40 people there mostly picnicing in the shade. The water was shockingly cold, but we had been warned about that (and the number of drownings that have resulted from people not paying attention to what the cold does to the human body). It was rather invigorating and I had a good swim. Eva only got in long enough to swim a short distance and be able to say she swam in an Australian watering hole. It was really cold and I do not blame her at all for get back out so quickly. There was only one other guy that seemed to be enjoying the water as much as I was. After my swim we ate our lunches and then went back to Alice Springs.
Our host asked us to help with some yardwork, which we were happy to do, and so we raked eucalyptus leaves and mowed the lawn. After that Eva and I went to the top of Anzac Hill to watch the sunset. It was a beautiful sunset that was slightly muted by the heavy clouds on the horizon. That ended up making it even more spectacular, because there was an unseen gap under the clouds and once the sun reached that point it lit up the clouds with rich reds from underneath. The hill also gives a good view of the city itself. I helped Eva navigate around town to all the backpackers hostels to put up notices for travel mates to continue her trip. She wants to spend some time in this area (there truly are more things to do in Alice Springs than one would imagine and the parks in the area promise a wealth of amazing sights) before continuing up to Darwin. I have been very fortunate to have had two great travel companions over the last month or so. Both Jon and Eva have been great people to get to know and spend time with. We made dinner and talked with our hosts until late in the evening and then turned in for the night. Carl, the son of our host recommended that we find and watch “Samson and Delilah” a newly released film from the Alice Springs area, so I may keep an eye out for that.
September 7 Monday Eva came with me to the orientation so she could get a little information on Conservation Volunteers of Australian for a possible future project instead of just WWOOFing across Australia. After she did that we said our goodbyes and I started meeting the fellow members of our 10 person volunteer group. We have one Australian woman, an English woman, a Korean guy, two Taiwanese guys and four Taiwanese girls and myself. Jeffrey our team leader seems to have boundless energy and a really friendly personality. Everyone seems quite nice, although the Australian woman appears to be like the Mary Ellen character from the Bill Bryson, book I just finished reading (A Walk in the Woods), which is not a compliment. She is the most talkative in the group and has the least intelligent things to say. Sad how that seems to go together in this case. Jeffrey briefed us on different aspects of the project while we drove to Uluru back the same way I had driven with Eva a couple days ago. It was about a five hour drive, which included stops at several lookouts taking in the three Red Center monoliths from a distance (Mt Conner, Uluru and Kata Tjuta). The view for Mt Conner is opposite an enormous dry lake bed that immediately brought to mind that Burning Man was wrapping up and the exodus was surely underway as I gazed over the mind numbing expanse that makes up central Australia. We also stopped once for Jeffrey to drag a kangaroo body off the road. We did this because there were several eagles at the carcass and Jeff told us they are monogamous. If one eagle were to get hit by a car or truck (which was likely in this case), the partner would hang around and very likely join the first in being hit). They are large beautiful birds and it was nice to see more after seeing so many while driving with Eva. Jeff also pointed out several other kites as we drove. We made a short stop at Yulara, the last spot of civilization before entering Uluru National Park. Yulara is 20 kilometers away and it is were everyone visiting the park has to stay. Except us. We are about a kilometer away from the Rock on the side with the best sunrise views. Truly I can say that as spectacular as the pictures of Uluru are from a distance, driving around it at close range is another experience entirely, the scale blows you away and the formations are incredible and vastly different from what I was expecting (but in such a good way). Another bonus we had as we drove in was that an echidna was feasting on ants in the middle of the road. This is quite a rare treat to see them in the first place and during daylight especially. We stopped long enough to make sure it was not run over until a ranger could arrive. He came out with two heavy blankets, tossed them on the echidna and carried it away from the road.
We have comfortable quarters, there is plenty of good food, and while the work will be hard, it looks like it will be quite rewarding and I am looking forward to it. I was on dish duty with Gillian from England after dinner, then I played a game of chess with one of the Taiwanese guys and a couple of games of Chinese checkers (Jump Checkers according to the Taiwanese) with some of the others.
September 8 Tuesday Today was a busy day, starting when we left the ranger compound at 8 am, although we only worked briefly at actual conservation work. First we did a half hour of weed pulling where we could comfortably identify the buffel grass we are trying to remove, then we went on a ranger guided walk on the Mala Trail section of the Uluru circuit. This was an excellent glimpse up close of a small section of the rock with caves, paintings, waterholes and more. Our guide told us the stories behind some of the rock features and the origins of the people who call this area home. One primary story was about a group of Mala men who were performing a ceremony on the top of the rock when a group of men from the Mulga Tree people came to invite them to a ceremony with them. Now apparently there are some hard and fast etiquette rules among the aboriginals and two came into conflict at this point: 1) once a ceremony has been begun it must be completed and 2) no invitation can be refused. So the Mala men who were in the midst of a ceremony already refused the invitation from the Mulga Tree men. This infuriated the Mulga Tree men and they summoned a powerful demon to punish the Mala people. A wise woman saw the demon approaching and went to warn the men, but since women are not allowed to attend men's ceremonies, she was chased off. She also went to warn the Mala women, but was too late and they were mostly killed. When the men realized what was happening it was too late and they fled with the demon pursuing and killing them too. For a long time the Mala stayed away from the rock because of this and it has significance today in that the path that people use when they climb the rock is the path the Mala men had used. This is why it is offensive to the Mala people to have others climbing the rock: it is a constant reminder of a bad memory for their people. The question I still need to ask a ranger is why, if those two aforementioned etiquette rules were known by everyone, did the Mulga Tree men make the first offensive move and interrupt a ceremony that had already begun. Either they did it intentionally to put the Mala people in a no win situation or they were so egotistical and selfish as to not even see their own offense, when their invitation was refused.
Regardless, the Rock is amazing. It is its own ecosystem out here in the semi arid outback, and that eco system is under human attack. There are nearly 400,000 yearly visitors and a quarter of them choose to climb the Rock. Many of those then use the top of the rock as their toilet instead of coming back down the half hour to the real bathrooms. This has created a sanitary problem which will likely close the top of the rock, when the wishes of the aboriginal people for years could not. We spent about 2 hours at the cultural learning center having lunch and learning more about the area. Then it was back to weeding for about a hour before returning to base camp. Gillian and I were on cooking duty for dinner and Geoffrey told us it would be prudent to get some of it prepared now since we had a ranger coming to speak with us about our contribution to the park and then we would be going to a private viewing site for the sunset. The menu called for stir fry chicken and we had already put out the chicken from the freezer in the morning, but we chopped broccoli, peppers, onions, zucchini, and carrots. We also got some garlic ready and cubed some tofu for the vegetarians in the group (there are three/four of us, me, Derek, and Gillian, and Danny who is Korean and only vegetarian because of food allergies.
When the ranger came he explained how the buffle grass got here (it was planted in the early sixties by park personnel to try and stop some erosion problems at that time), how it has spread and why, and how CVA and volunteers like us have been contributing to fixing the problem for the past nine years. He told us that the echidna that we saw yesterday was only the third one seen in close to 20 years in the park. The aboriginals eat them and that is a main reason they are scarce in the area, but they are rare anyway.
September 9 Wednesday We have a routine now. Up at 7 for breakfast, in the van by 8, work on clearing a section of buffle until 10:30, have morning tea (cookies/crackers/apples/oranges), more clearing until about 12:30, break for lunch near the cultural center, another session of work until 3:15 or 3:30 then back to camp. The evenings are mostly free. We usually go to a sunset viewing location and a couple people have cooking duties (and a couple other have clean up afterwards. Geoff said we are the first group he has led out here that has congregated outside in the open common area in the evenings. That is the most comfortable area, so it is surprising that we are the first. He said other groups all holed up in their separate rooms. My initial assessment of the Australian woman has been soundly confirmed. It is one of those things that is so sad it becomes funny. She is oblivious to the goals and aims of the conservation project, doesn't understand what we are supposed to be doing, does what she wants, wants to climb the rock, continually throws out completely random comments that have nothing to do with the the group conversation. It is embarassing. Luckily Geoff is a fantastic example of what Australians can be and so her damage is minimized. She seems to have latched onto me (as boyfriend material) and it is a struggle to make her understand that will never happen. She is as I said before completely oblivious to how she comes across and how other people are responding, to a degree I have never in my life seen. It makes it very clear why she is unemployed back in her home town of Melbourne.
September 10 Thursday Same routine. Gourry and I were cooking for the evening and making curry. We started early and while the rice was easy, the vegetables and curry mix were taking a long time. We all went to view the sunset and Gourry and I decided to turn the stove off, because we would be gone for an hour. I thought we would probably have to cook for a while longer when we returned, but actually there was enough heat in the pot to nicely cook everything and it was perfect once we got back. Did not have to hold up dinner at all.
Our host asked us to help with some yardwork, which we were happy to do, and so we raked eucalyptus leaves and mowed the lawn. After that Eva and I went to the top of Anzac Hill to watch the sunset. It was a beautiful sunset that was slightly muted by the heavy clouds on the horizon. That ended up making it even more spectacular, because there was an unseen gap under the clouds and once the sun reached that point it lit up the clouds with rich reds from underneath. The hill also gives a good view of the city itself. I helped Eva navigate around town to all the backpackers hostels to put up notices for travel mates to continue her trip. She wants to spend some time in this area (there truly are more things to do in Alice Springs than one would imagine and the parks in the area promise a wealth of amazing sights) before continuing up to Darwin. I have been very fortunate to have had two great travel companions over the last month or so. Both Jon and Eva have been great people to get to know and spend time with. We made dinner and talked with our hosts until late in the evening and then turned in for the night. Carl, the son of our host recommended that we find and watch “Samson and Delilah” a newly released film from the Alice Springs area, so I may keep an eye out for that.
September 7 Monday Eva came with me to the orientation so she could get a little information on Conservation Volunteers of Australian for a possible future project instead of just WWOOFing across Australia. After she did that we said our goodbyes and I started meeting the fellow members of our 10 person volunteer group. We have one Australian woman, an English woman, a Korean guy, two Taiwanese guys and four Taiwanese girls and myself. Jeffrey our team leader seems to have boundless energy and a really friendly personality. Everyone seems quite nice, although the Australian woman appears to be like the Mary Ellen character from the Bill Bryson, book I just finished reading (A Walk in the Woods), which is not a compliment. She is the most talkative in the group and has the least intelligent things to say. Sad how that seems to go together in this case. Jeffrey briefed us on different aspects of the project while we drove to Uluru back the same way I had driven with Eva a couple days ago. It was about a five hour drive, which included stops at several lookouts taking in the three Red Center monoliths from a distance (Mt Conner, Uluru and Kata Tjuta). The view for Mt Conner is opposite an enormous dry lake bed that immediately brought to mind that Burning Man was wrapping up and the exodus was surely underway as I gazed over the mind numbing expanse that makes up central Australia. We also stopped once for Jeffrey to drag a kangaroo body off the road. We did this because there were several eagles at the carcass and Jeff told us they are monogamous. If one eagle were to get hit by a car or truck (which was likely in this case), the partner would hang around and very likely join the first in being hit). They are large beautiful birds and it was nice to see more after seeing so many while driving with Eva. Jeff also pointed out several other kites as we drove. We made a short stop at Yulara, the last spot of civilization before entering Uluru National Park. Yulara is 20 kilometers away and it is were everyone visiting the park has to stay. Except us. We are about a kilometer away from the Rock on the side with the best sunrise views. Truly I can say that as spectacular as the pictures of Uluru are from a distance, driving around it at close range is another experience entirely, the scale blows you away and the formations are incredible and vastly different from what I was expecting (but in such a good way). Another bonus we had as we drove in was that an echidna was feasting on ants in the middle of the road. This is quite a rare treat to see them in the first place and during daylight especially. We stopped long enough to make sure it was not run over until a ranger could arrive. He came out with two heavy blankets, tossed them on the echidna and carried it away from the road.
We have comfortable quarters, there is plenty of good food, and while the work will be hard, it looks like it will be quite rewarding and I am looking forward to it. I was on dish duty with Gillian from England after dinner, then I played a game of chess with one of the Taiwanese guys and a couple of games of Chinese checkers (Jump Checkers according to the Taiwanese) with some of the others.
September 8 Tuesday Today was a busy day, starting when we left the ranger compound at 8 am, although we only worked briefly at actual conservation work. First we did a half hour of weed pulling where we could comfortably identify the buffel grass we are trying to remove, then we went on a ranger guided walk on the Mala Trail section of the Uluru circuit. This was an excellent glimpse up close of a small section of the rock with caves, paintings, waterholes and more. Our guide told us the stories behind some of the rock features and the origins of the people who call this area home. One primary story was about a group of Mala men who were performing a ceremony on the top of the rock when a group of men from the Mulga Tree people came to invite them to a ceremony with them. Now apparently there are some hard and fast etiquette rules among the aboriginals and two came into conflict at this point: 1) once a ceremony has been begun it must be completed and 2) no invitation can be refused. So the Mala men who were in the midst of a ceremony already refused the invitation from the Mulga Tree men. This infuriated the Mulga Tree men and they summoned a powerful demon to punish the Mala people. A wise woman saw the demon approaching and went to warn the men, but since women are not allowed to attend men's ceremonies, she was chased off. She also went to warn the Mala women, but was too late and they were mostly killed. When the men realized what was happening it was too late and they fled with the demon pursuing and killing them too. For a long time the Mala stayed away from the rock because of this and it has significance today in that the path that people use when they climb the rock is the path the Mala men had used. This is why it is offensive to the Mala people to have others climbing the rock: it is a constant reminder of a bad memory for their people. The question I still need to ask a ranger is why, if those two aforementioned etiquette rules were known by everyone, did the Mulga Tree men make the first offensive move and interrupt a ceremony that had already begun. Either they did it intentionally to put the Mala people in a no win situation or they were so egotistical and selfish as to not even see their own offense, when their invitation was refused.
Regardless, the Rock is amazing. It is its own ecosystem out here in the semi arid outback, and that eco system is under human attack. There are nearly 400,000 yearly visitors and a quarter of them choose to climb the Rock. Many of those then use the top of the rock as their toilet instead of coming back down the half hour to the real bathrooms. This has created a sanitary problem which will likely close the top of the rock, when the wishes of the aboriginal people for years could not. We spent about 2 hours at the cultural learning center having lunch and learning more about the area. Then it was back to weeding for about a hour before returning to base camp. Gillian and I were on cooking duty for dinner and Geoffrey told us it would be prudent to get some of it prepared now since we had a ranger coming to speak with us about our contribution to the park and then we would be going to a private viewing site for the sunset. The menu called for stir fry chicken and we had already put out the chicken from the freezer in the morning, but we chopped broccoli, peppers, onions, zucchini, and carrots. We also got some garlic ready and cubed some tofu for the vegetarians in the group (there are three/four of us, me, Derek, and Gillian, and Danny who is Korean and only vegetarian because of food allergies.
When the ranger came he explained how the buffle grass got here (it was planted in the early sixties by park personnel to try and stop some erosion problems at that time), how it has spread and why, and how CVA and volunteers like us have been contributing to fixing the problem for the past nine years. He told us that the echidna that we saw yesterday was only the third one seen in close to 20 years in the park. The aboriginals eat them and that is a main reason they are scarce in the area, but they are rare anyway.
September 9 Wednesday We have a routine now. Up at 7 for breakfast, in the van by 8, work on clearing a section of buffle until 10:30, have morning tea (cookies/crackers/apples/oranges), more clearing until about 12:30, break for lunch near the cultural center, another session of work until 3:15 or 3:30 then back to camp. The evenings are mostly free. We usually go to a sunset viewing location and a couple people have cooking duties (and a couple other have clean up afterwards. Geoff said we are the first group he has led out here that has congregated outside in the open common area in the evenings. That is the most comfortable area, so it is surprising that we are the first. He said other groups all holed up in their separate rooms. My initial assessment of the Australian woman has been soundly confirmed. It is one of those things that is so sad it becomes funny. She is oblivious to the goals and aims of the conservation project, doesn't understand what we are supposed to be doing, does what she wants, wants to climb the rock, continually throws out completely random comments that have nothing to do with the the group conversation. It is embarassing. Luckily Geoff is a fantastic example of what Australians can be and so her damage is minimized. She seems to have latched onto me (as boyfriend material) and it is a struggle to make her understand that will never happen. She is as I said before completely oblivious to how she comes across and how other people are responding, to a degree I have never in my life seen. It makes it very clear why she is unemployed back in her home town of Melbourne.
September 10 Thursday Same routine. Gourry and I were cooking for the evening and making curry. We started early and while the rice was easy, the vegetables and curry mix were taking a long time. We all went to view the sunset and Gourry and I decided to turn the stove off, because we would be gone for an hour. I thought we would probably have to cook for a while longer when we returned, but actually there was enough heat in the pot to nicely cook everything and it was perfect once we got back. Did not have to hold up dinner at all.
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