New Zealand or Bust

The 27th & the 28th...

THANKSGIVING IN NEW ZEALAND!!!

Well, after wandering the streets of Queenstown I ran into Dan & Julie and they showed me a couple of brochures for canyoneering. Canyoneering is the act of traveling down a river canyon by jumping into pools, abseiling down gorge walls, and the occasional ride through the rapid or down a natural rock water slide. The guiding companies sell this trip for about $100

--HOW TO GO CANYONEERING FOR FREE IN NEW ZEALAND--
1. Find brochure for canyoneering trip.
2. Scan brochure for key words that indicate the whereabouts of the canyon
3. Drive to general vicinity of said canyon
4. Look for the company's vehicles to find the start of the hiking path to get to the gorge start
5. Gear up. Wetsuit or drysuit, helmet, lifejacket, throw rope, harness and rappel device
6. Follow path occasionally taking a peak into canyon below
7. Follow sounds of glee from canyoneering clients
8. Watch and see which drops they do and how they do them
9. Follow their lead. Don't do anything stupid.

So the international kayaking team became the international canyoneering team

After the trip yesterday we went into town to gather some food for the thanksgiving feast. We met back at the campground, gathered wood for a fire and started sorting out the food situation. With some Bob Dylan playing in the background we prepared a fine thanksgiving meal of mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetables and cheeseburgers... mmmmm... Along with some $7 wine and we were eating like kings. Stuffed to the gills I climbed into my van and let the food coma gently carry me off to sleep.

Today Jamie and Dan paddled the Nevis river. A continuous class V river with the occasional class VI for about 5 hours. I'm sure it was a crazy time and there is probably a good story about it, but since I didn't paddle it, I have to tell stories about pies and getting my van stuck in various locations to keep y'all interested. Such is the path of the non-class V boater. Yeah... I think they probably got a first descent on one of the drops as well, but who cares because we went on an alpine slide today... How's that for a daring adventure?

Happy Thanksgiving!

23: Queenstown - Paddled the Roaring Meg section of the Kawarau river
24: Wanaka - Hiked up Mt. Roy
25: Queenstown - Paddled the Citroen Rapids on the Kawarau & the Roaring Meg section again
26: Queenstown - Paddled the Upper & Lower Shotover river
27: had coffee... Staring at the thick overcast sky wondering when it is going to start raining

The 23rd: So I never found Jamie the other morning and ended up just driving over to the Roaring Meg section of the Kawarau river and saw a bunch of local boaters getting ready to start paddling so I joined them for a run. The water was pretty high and although it was only a class III+ run at the level we were paddling at, all the boils and whirlpools kept your attention fixed on the river. A good play hole and just the fun of getting spun around and around everytime you hit the swirly water. After that I went to the bungee jump site and watched a bunch of people hop off a 43m bridge into the Kawarau river (with the bungee attached). Hmmm.... Maybe I'll wait until I get my video camera charged up.

The 24th: Drove back up Wanaka the night before and slept in. Had a big breakfast and hiked up Mt. Roy. Yeahhhh... I don't really know what to say about this hike. I mean the name of the mountain alone really does nothing to inspire or add an element of surprise or danger. Roy. Mt. Roy. Well, after two hours of switchbacks I was at the summit and had a great view of Wanaka and the mountain ranges surrounding. I took a moment with good 'ole Roy before descending back down.

The 25th: So Chris and I were going to head from Wanaka back down to Queenstown and try to find Jamie, Beks, Dan, & Julie. We drove into town and woahhhh... look at the time! I think it is time for pie!

--MY TRIBUTE TO PIES--
Crispy, flakey, Buttery
You can hold them in your hand
Mince or Steak or Chicken or Lamb
Vegetables Galore
Oh savory pie why do you tempt me so?!
One bite and I cannot stop
I must eat all of you and all of the other pies
Pies, PIES, PIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEESSSSS!!!!!!!!
So good, so yummy
------------------------------
Basically these are just like the el cheapo chicken pot pies you can buy at the store, but they really seem to be everywhere here in New Zealand. Chris and I have managed to spend (waste?) hours of time talking about pies, and when he didn't get his job in the bakery, we were both greatly disappointed. The idea of free leftover pies was a dream that would never be.

Anyway, we searched Queenstown high and low for pies, but alas, none were found. What we DID find still haunts me and makes my stomach ache. We went into a small corner supermarket/deli in search for pies and after not finding any, we spied the yesterday's bread bin. After sifting through the options we left with three items.

Bryan & Chris's Class V Lunch
-------------------------------------
1- Heavy bread thing: I should have saved the ingredients list for this one, but it was basically 6 big rolls all baked together loaded with tomatoes and bacon and cheese and garlic and chili sauce and all sorts of other toppings
1- 'Chewy American' The most dense brownie I've ever eaten. Graham cracker crust with heaps of brown sugar and chocolate and caramel. Oh yeah, the size that we bought was pretty much equal to 4 big brownie's worth.
1 - Liter of water

ALL FOR ONLY $10!!! That's only $5 each!!!

After we ate the bread I was ready to pass out. I laid down on the grass for a moment waiting for the blackout take me away from the pain that was growing in my stomach. I was almost out when Chris asked if I had anything to cut the 'Chewy American' with. My stomach was telling me no, my brain was not speaking to me, yet somehow I saw my had reach forward to take my share of the brownie and start eating it. Soooo goood.... must keep eating... owww.. my stomach... but sooo good.... just a few more bites.... nooooo..... can't eat anymore.... owwww.... almost done... ahhhh.... kill me now.

Eventually I awoke, oh yeah. we were supposed to go paddling today.

The Citroen is described as just 1 big class IV rapid. At 320 cumecs it is rated as class IV+ to V. We scouted it out and even though I couldn't quite see the proper line through, I figured it was just due to my eyes watering from the stomach pain I was enduring.

"looks good!" I say. (WHAT? Why did I say that?) "let's do it!"

right... back on the horse... goddam class IV+ horse

Well, we got on and as we started paddling I used the realization that if I was to get worked in one of the holes I would probably throw-up and possibly asphyxiate on the vomit. Since I am not a rock star, I decided that this was not the way I wanted to leave this world and paddled into the start of the rapid with confidence and gusto.

So everything was going well as I passed the first move on the rapid and a quick glance saw a breaking wave spanning the 25' in front of me. From this point till the end of the rapid I don't really remember much except for getting back surfed flipped, worked slightly, rolled up and popped out, flipped, rolled, paddled five strokes, dropped into a huge standing breaking wave, though for a moment that I would be able to surf it, flipped, rolled, and then I was out. I paddled up to Chris whose expression I read as "uhhh.... that was an interesting line through that".

"That was a nice rapid, wouldn't you say?" he asked.
"I wouldn't really know... I think I ran most of it upside down." I replied.

So my efforts to get back on the horse ended up with me sort of being dragged along by the horse. Well, you take what you can get.

26: Yesterday we drove forever down a dodgy dirt road and paddled the upper and lower shotover river. The upper section was only class II-III , but had plenty of good play holes & waves along the way and was a good run for Julie & Beks, both of whom were having some confidence issues at the time.
After some van shuttling, Chris, Myself, Dan, & Jamie went and ran the lower section. Several Class IV-IV+ drops that ends with the Oxenbridge Tunnel. to quote the description in the guide book: "Once inside [the tunnel], aim for the white blob of light and brace on the right... keep in the back of your mind that the light at the end of the tunnel might be an oncoming train!" After popping out of the tunnel there is a class IV+ drop right afterwards that was formed from the pile of debris leftover from making the tunnel. Sharp rock that you don't want to flip in. Luckily, I only "kinda" flipped and scratched and bruised my thumb after I braced off of a rock to keep myself up.

27: Staring at the cold dark sky. will it rain? will it shine? what should I do? hmm... only a few weeks left here, maybe it is time for me to send a few postcards?

I just saw this on the Onion... too true... too true...

When your mom reads your Blog

Geeezz... where do the days go? Today is Sunday the 23rd. Less than 1 month left in New Zealand. So what have I been up to?

19: Spent half the day at Sumner Beachl; Drove to Ashburton
20: Drove back to Christchurch
21: Spent the day in Christchurch
22: Drove from Peel forest to
23: Here in Quenstown

Oh yeah.. that's where all the time went. Driving around like an idiot. So the 19th I went out to Sumner beach which was pretty nice. They had a bunch of rocks to climb around on and some caves to explore and then a small pit of quicksand which I couldn't resist jumping into. The quicksand was not a tourist attraction, but sometimes you have to go off the beaten path.

Right. Anyway, drove up to Ashburton so that I could get an early drive to paddle Rangitata river. All was going according to plan except that I never found the signs that were mentioned in the guide book to get to the river rafting company. CRAP! Yep... back to Christchurch with no kayaking that day :( I met up with my friend Jani and we played some pool and watched the 3rd place finals for Rugby. At least NZ won that one.

The 21st was another lazy day. I got some breakfast, walked around a bit and watched some people playing chess in the town square on one of those oversized chess boards. A couple of errands and I met up with Jani again and we spent the rest of the day going up the Gondola to check out the view of Christchurch and then a bit of "wild west" mini-golf.

The 22nd was going to be my second chance to paddle the Rangitata. I had looked up the directions from the webpage and so now I had a bit more confidence that I would be able to find the place. I drove up the night of the 21st and met up with the river guides who informed me that the levels were REALLY high and I had to be a solid class V big water boater to join them. Not wanting to lose my paddle again, I backed off and decided to head down to Wanaka the next day.

So the morning of the 22nd I began the long drive through the mountains. I stopped for a bit at lake Tekapo where I went for a 3 hr mountain bike ride around part of the lake and then up one of the mountains there. The bike was a bit small and the suspension was really loose so I had a pretty bouncy ride, but made it back to the rental place unscathed and feeling good that at least I got some exercise that day. Back in the van and continued to drive through the mountains all the way to Wanaka which is a really cool small town just north of Queenstown. Adam and Chris had settled down there, so I was going to crash at their place for a bit... until I remembered that they were going to be in Queenstown. Back in the car and a little over an hour later I was in Queenstown. Which is also nice, but bigger and much more touristy and expensive. I ran into Jamie and his girlfriend at one of the bars and we watched the very close rugby final of Australia vs. England. England won in sudden death overtime.

And now I am here back in front of the computer trying to figure out how to meet up with Jamie and his lady. It is times like this where I wish I had a cell phone with me instead of just wandering the streets shouting out "JAMIE!!! WHERE ARE YOU!?!?!"

I think that the weirdest part about travelling over here is that I have to remind myself where I am when I wake up each morning. I pretty much remember that I am in New Zealand and whether I am on the north island or south island, but with so much moving around I forget which city I am in, which hostel I'm at, which campground I'm in, who I've been with for the past few days, which river I am waking up to go kayaking on.

No. This not due to overconsumption of alcohol. But thanks for asking, Mom.

Alright, here's the recap:

Nov. 13: Totora river
14: Lower Hokitika river (Jamie and Dan paddled the upper section as well)
15: Toaroha river
16: Arahura river
17: Drove from Hokitika to Greymouth and up to Pancake Rocks
18: Drove from Greymouth to Christchurch
19: Slept reallllllyyyy late and now I'm sitting here in front of the computer.

The Totora river didn't happen. Dan, Julie and myself drove to the river in my van (forgetting to take a bike or another vehicle for a shuttle). and after bumping up the dirt road we finally reached the put in to see that there was maybe just enough water to make the run. 1 box of crackers and humus later we decided to bag it and drive up to greymouth to see the new Matrix movie. Not a bad idea except that the only thing playing in Greymouth was American Wedding. DOH!

Hokitika day!!! File this one under "long kayaking day".
The Upper Hokitika was a class V run (at high water) with two mandatory portages. It was just Dan & Jamie running this. We were going to meet up with them to paddle the lower section when they got there after an estimated 4.5 hours later. Like most of the rivers on the west coast, the put-in was by helicopter. The helicopter ride was so much fun, I could go on and on about it, but instead I'll summarize it in a Haiku:

Hey Helicopter!
Carry Me to The Put In
Here is some money

Ok... Haiku sucks. Helicopter flights don't. Our pilot, Bruce Dando, is the only helicopter pilot in the area. Basically, you get all your stuff together, drive to the pickup point. Wait for him to show up. Strap your boats to the side of the 'copter. Climb in. 2 passengers and 1 pilot all squeezed in together. Then he flies up the river valley to the put in so you get to see the entire river that you are about to paddle. The tricky thing is to see each rapid from several hundred feet up and estimate how big and nasty it will be when you are paddling through it.

Driving to the pick up point was a bit of an epic in itself. Kai and Aku (the Finnish paddlers) had to stop at one of the stream crossings because there rental car wouldn't make it. Julie and I drove back to get them, managed to get our van stuck in some mud in the side. By the time we got back to the pick up point we only had moments to get our stuff together before Bruce showed up for the final airlift.

Eventually we get to our put in and settle down for the long wait for Jamie & Dan. After 5 hours we started to get nervous, one hour later we had no choice but to head out without them. The river was class III-IV and a bit over Julie's head. She took a swim halfway down and lost her boat. Kai and I then had to help her down the rest of the river by ferrying her across from one side to the other when the shoreline ended. At the end of the gorge I spotted her boat broached against some rocks and managed to recover it and get it back to her. After much argument with whether or not we missed the take out, we reached the take out. At this point it was starting to get dark and we were formulating a plan for two of us to go and call Bruce to tell him that Jamie & Dan are still up in the river. Just as Julie and Kai were ready to drive up, Jamie and Dan pull up.

Apparantely, they had some REALLY horrible portages that took several hours to climb up out of the gorge and then abseil back down. But everyone was happy and reunited and we all headed back to tell the local authorities to call off the search.

The next day I was surprised that those guys were still able to paddle, let alone move. But we rallied and went and paddle the Toaroha river. This involved a 50 minute walk with the boat to the put in and then an hour paddle back down. Fun class III+ to IV- run.

The next day we (jamie, dan, and myself) flew in to paddle the Arahura river. I lost my paddle in a rapid and couldn't finish the run (e-mail me if you want the details).

The day after that we were waiting around for Julie to show up. She had taken off to go the hotsprings and was due back the night before. When she showed up with just her backpack and no van. Dan gave me a look of "oh man, I had a bad feeling this was going to happen." We drove up to Greymouth where she had the van towed to and the mechanic told us that the engine overheated and they needed a new engine.

So we went to check out Pancake rocks up at the coast and then back down to greymouth and then saw ameican wedding and then the next day i drove up over arthur's pass down to christchurch and bought a new paddle and saw the new matrix movie which was an utter dissapointment.

As you can tell, these long journal entries get kinda tiring by the end and sort of fizzle out by the end. SOoo.... if there was any section in there that you want to know more about, send me an e-mail and I'll fill in the details. in the next entry.

Aww Gross! I think the first thing that I need to do after I finish writing this is to go and take a shower. I just scratched a big pile of nastiness out of my ear. BLECH!!!

Uhh.. On that note. Five days since the last entry. Here's the summary:
- Sea Kayaking overnight trip in Abel Tasman
- Drove from Nelson to Murchison
- Kayaked in Murchison for a half day
- Drove to Hokitika
- Kayaked the styx river (yesterday) class IV+

Right. So the Sea Kayak went great. Dennis and I had plenty of time to plan the trip and go to the store to buy food. Maybe a bit too much planning because we ended up with way more food than we needed. But determined not to let the food go to waste, we did our best to eat everything we brought. That included a foot long sausage and block of cheese. Heaps of oatmeal and enough mac&cheese to make me not want to eat cheese for a year. I'm actually feeling a little sick thinking about it. The weather was perfect and the paddling went easy. We saw a bunch of seals out on a nature reserve island. One of them swam up really close to the boat, but luckily it decided not to attack.

So Dennis and I split up and divided the remaining food. Back on my own. Back on the road.

Drove around the mountains to Murchison where there is supposedly heaps of good kayaking. Well, I warned earlier that the runs there were nothing special. Easy and not a lot of play-features on it. I tagged along with a class that was heading out that afternoon and we ran the lower Matitaka (or something like that). Short and easy but with a couple of decent play holes that we hung out at for a while.

After that I booked it over the mountains to the west coast... and the rain. It rains so much over here on the west coast of NZ. maybe we get an hour of no rain at a timeee, but then it is back to three hours of more rain. Not a problem when you are a kayaker ;)

So I met up with Dan (from Oregon), Jamie (UK), and Kai and his friend Aku (Finland). Kai decided to take it easy today and not go boating so it was just the four of us. We picked the Styx river and set off down a muddy road in the pouring rain to the take out. Yep. Only one vehicle. No shuttle. Why? Because you get to carry your boat up the trail for two hours to the put in of the run.

Jamie had already rigged up a fancy carrying system for his boat and I tried to copy it but ended up wasting time and getting cold in the pouring rain. I gave up and shouldered the boat for the hike. Then I gave up on that and dragged my boat where I could. My back and shoulder are still feeling that carry this morning. But eventually we made it. Aku ended up getting lost for a little bit which was really amazing because there wasn't anywhere else you could go, but I was just glad that it wasn't me who made the mistake.

So we FINALLY get to the put in, quick stretch and off we go. Jamie led the way, followed by Dan, then Aku, and I brought up the rear. Aku flipped right away and eventually swam out of his boat. With Dan and Jamie chasing him down I was pretty much left on my own to get down.

There was something magical that day because it was probably the best day of boating for me. Almost every drop went perfect and the ones that didn't go clean were quickly corrected. The drop that is most vivid in my mind was a 9' chute on the right side that I had to push off a rock as I went down and then get my hands back on the paddle to brace as I hit the water and then a quick sweep stroke to keep from getting sucked into a hole which did manage to catch my bow making me ender from which I pirouetted out of to face down stream and cruise through the next drop.

After getting Aku back in his boat (which involved him walking a bit down stream and having to rope him across the river twice. He paddled about 100m before he flipped and swam out again. We got him to shore safely and got his boat back too. Unfortunately his paddle was washed away. Dan chased after it and Jamie and sealed up Aku's boat and floated it downstream to the take out while Aku had to walk out.

Well, unfortunately we never found Aku's paddle and his boat has big dent in the side. But on the lighter side, I had one of the best days of boating ever!

Oh yeah, Rob. Aku was paddling a Huck and I was paddling a Huka... He swam twice. I didn't. Which boat were you going to buy?

Six days since my last entry. A few minor events:
- I'm on the south island now
- I have my van back
- I went tramping (hiking) with Dennis from OR
- planning out the next few weeks

Alright so after retrieving my van and making it down to Wellington, I had the challenge of finding a place to stay and food to eat without having any cash. Ahhh, the miracle of the credit card, VISA could come up with an ad-campaign based on my travels here. So, A little bit of museuming and hiking around Wellington on Sunday. On Monday the banks were open and so I had the opportunity to get some cash and get a check to send to the mechanic up in TaiHape. No worries, plenty of money in reserve thanks to my lucrative job at the University of Washington.

Tuesday we got on el-cheapo ferry to Picton. The reason why this ferry was more affordable than the others was because it seemed to be under constant construction even en-route over the crossing. Half of the ferry was inaccesible due to said construction and the prevalent odor of ... urine... mixed with engine exhaust and choppy waters didn't really help ones stomach too much.

So off the ferry into the town of Picton, to the hostel and planning for the tramp the next day.

The tramp (hike) was the Queen Charlotte track which is along the Marlborough sound and we (Dennis and myself) divided it into a 27km day, a 24km day, and then finished with a 20km day. A lot of mileage...err... kilometerage, but the bonus of the track being close to the water was that they would carry your gear for you each day so you only needed to carry a day pack with water, food, and clothing for the day.

We got out yesterday and drove over to Nelson in really strong winds that felt like they would blow the van off the road at any moment. But we made it and after trying a couple of booked hostels, we finally found one that had some room, dropped off our stuff, walked our stinky selves down to the bar and got some burgers and beers.

Tomorrow we go and sea kayak the Abel Tasman coast and then it will be off to Murchison for me to resume the river running.

That's all fer now

So its been a few days so let me catch up a bit.
Wed: ???
Thurs: Mohaka river to Napier
Fri:Spent the day in Napier and then to Palmerston Nth
Sat: Palmerston N. to Ti Hape to Wellington

So I'm not sure what happened to Wednesday, I know I did something that day and unfortunately I don't have my written journal nearby so I cannot look up the days events. I'm betting that it involved kayaking, probably on the Full James again. But as you can see, the days of the week have seem to lost most of their importance to me. Except for the weekends.

"But Bryan, it seems like this whole trip has been a weekend for you, why does it matter if it is the weekend for you over there?" Good question. Banks aren't open on the weekend, neither are mechanics.

After calling the mechanic all week to inquire about my van's repair progress and estimated costs of repair (both of which changed every time I called). They finally told me that the new gearbox had arrived on friday and they were putting it in and were going to test it out. After confirming that I could come in on Saturday to pick it up, I was excited to get back behind the wheel and head down to Wellington, though I was nervous about what the final cost of repair was going to be.

So Saturday morning I took a bus up to Ti Hape, a ride that should have only taken an hour and a half, but instead took three because of a bus switch in Bulls and an hour lunch break in the middle of nowhere. Finally in TiHape at the mechanics and he hands me the bill. I try my best to negotiate a lower price, but there is nothing that will change his price.

try 1: "But you gave me a price $100 lower than that on the phone!"
try 2: "why did you spend so much time taking apart the gearbox when you were just going to replace it with a new one?"
try 3: "I am just a poor backpacker, I can't afford to pay for repairs like that!"

---Nuthin'---

So I whip out the 'ole REI credit card thinking that I would at least get 1% back in REI dividend, anything to cheer me up.

"We don't take credit cards." the mechanic says staring me in the eye
"right". Well, let me just pull out my big wad of cash that I don't have. "I'm just going to run over to the ATM and get some cash then"

Up the street to the New Zealand Bank and enter in $800. Some humming and whirling of the machine and I reach out to grab the fat wad of $20 that emerges from the slot. Except that nothing came out except a little note saying that my card had been retained for security purchases.

... hmmm... I wasn't expecting that to happen... hmm.... that REALLY isn't good... Oh I can just get a cash advance from credit card... except I don't know the PIN for that because I never use it for cash advances... alright... how can I get $804 dollars right now?

Well, I reluctantly head back to the mechanics and explain my situation which makes him even more suspicious of my finances. After some some attempts at an electronic funds transfer which failed and contemplating leaving behind an item for collateral until I pay him back, I make a firm decision that I do not want to end up back in TiHape except for when I am heading back to Auckland at the end of my trip and I am not leaving anything behind, nor am I going to wait untli monday. I leave him my credit card info and my name and a promise that monday I will go into a bank and work something out so that I can send him a check.

Time do get van repaired: 7 days.
Bill for repairs: $804
Amount paid: $0
Upset feeling in my stomach when my ATM card didn't come back out of the machine: Priceless