Friday, December 26, 2003
Alright.
Back in Seattle.... with a blue kayak :)
Getting out of Queenstown was about as difficult as possible. I managed to sell the van for $150 and a six pack of beer. I highly reccomend adding the six pack of beer to any deal you may make in the future where you are taking the short end of the stick. It gives a bit of satisfaction and if the deal is particularly bad, see if you can get a case of beer to help drown your losses.
The $150 disappeared surprisingly quick as I had to use it to pay excess baggage fees to get the kayak to Sydney. Going from Christchurch to Sydney had a baggage limit of 20kg (TOTAL!). My backpack alone weighed 26kg. The kayak and gear weighed an additional 26kg. Not to mention all the weight I had in my daypack that I was taking onboard. Through much begging and pleading I managed to get the nice lady behind the counter to get the bacpack to go through without any excess fees and have the excess baggage fees for the kayak to be counted at 20kg... I couldn't even imagine how much it would have had to cost if they counted the real weight.
Arriving at LAX wasn't too bad. Using the kayak as a human snowplow I managed to get to the Alaska airlines ticket counter and luckily I had my bags already tagged for Seattle I "accidently" checked them straight through without having them weighed or charged for oversize and excess weight. No... really... it was an accident ;)
After all that travelling and finally getting back to "my" house I unpacked, did a little laundry and slept till 1:30 in the afternoon. spent the day getting my car, sorting through mail, paying bills, blah blah blah...
This will be the last entry for this journal. From the e-mails that I've received, it sounds like many of you have enjoyed reading about my adventures and mishaps. I'll see you all soon and don't worry... there are still many more stories to tell that didn't quite make the journal...
-Bryan
Back in Seattle.... with a blue kayak :)
Getting out of Queenstown was about as difficult as possible. I managed to sell the van for $150 and a six pack of beer. I highly reccomend adding the six pack of beer to any deal you may make in the future where you are taking the short end of the stick. It gives a bit of satisfaction and if the deal is particularly bad, see if you can get a case of beer to help drown your losses.
The $150 disappeared surprisingly quick as I had to use it to pay excess baggage fees to get the kayak to Sydney. Going from Christchurch to Sydney had a baggage limit of 20kg (TOTAL!). My backpack alone weighed 26kg. The kayak and gear weighed an additional 26kg. Not to mention all the weight I had in my daypack that I was taking onboard. Through much begging and pleading I managed to get the nice lady behind the counter to get the bacpack to go through without any excess fees and have the excess baggage fees for the kayak to be counted at 20kg... I couldn't even imagine how much it would have had to cost if they counted the real weight.
Arriving at LAX wasn't too bad. Using the kayak as a human snowplow I managed to get to the Alaska airlines ticket counter and luckily I had my bags already tagged for Seattle I "accidently" checked them straight through without having them weighed or charged for oversize and excess weight. No... really... it was an accident ;)
After all that travelling and finally getting back to "my" house I unpacked, did a little laundry and slept till 1:30 in the afternoon. spent the day getting my car, sorting through mail, paying bills, blah blah blah...
This will be the last entry for this journal. From the e-mails that I've received, it sounds like many of you have enjoyed reading about my adventures and mishaps. I'll see you all soon and don't worry... there are still many more stories to tell that didn't quite make the journal...
-Bryan
Friday, December 19, 2003
Last day in NZ. I feel like I should write something really profound and meaningful. Maybe go on and on about how much I've learned and how I've grown and all that stuff, but I don't think I will. It is just too much to go into and write about in a Blog of all places.
I'm certainly not going to talk about my van.
I will say this though: I wouldn't take back this trip for anything... despite any obstacles that came my way (seems like every day had something to dish out to me), despite bad decisions and missed opportunites, despite the bruises and scratches and lost kayak paddles, despite the occasional jerk that I run into, and despite the fact that yesterday I began scratching the VIN off of my van and trying to find some pliers to remove the license plates... This trip has turned out exactly how I planned it: an adventure.
oh wait... what the hell am I doing starting to wrap things up? I still have to fly out of NZ and get to Sydney and then get to Seattle with a kayak and a pile of gear. There are SOooo many more opportunities for things to go wrong.
It ain't over yet.
I'm certainly not going to talk about my van.
I will say this though: I wouldn't take back this trip for anything... despite any obstacles that came my way (seems like every day had something to dish out to me), despite bad decisions and missed opportunites, despite the bruises and scratches and lost kayak paddles, despite the occasional jerk that I run into, and despite the fact that yesterday I began scratching the VIN off of my van and trying to find some pliers to remove the license plates... This trip has turned out exactly how I planned it: an adventure.
oh wait... what the hell am I doing starting to wrap things up? I still have to fly out of NZ and get to Sydney and then get to Seattle with a kayak and a pile of gear. There are SOooo many more opportunities for things to go wrong.
It ain't over yet.
Wednesday, December 17, 2003
oh my god! Why!?!?! WHY OH WHY OH WHY!?!?!?! Why am I here in Queenstown writing in my journal instead of in route to Christchurch getting ready to sell the van? Why did my van start making that god awful familiar sound that it did 2 months ago when the gearbox was grinding down to nothing? Why did I turn around and head to Queenstown thinking that I would be able to find an honest salvage shop to sell it... driving in 4th gear the entire way because that was the only gear that didn't make children cry when I drove by? Why did the lady at the hostel tell me to move my van immediately from the front of her hostel? Why did the two mechanics next to the salvage shop tell me to "fuck off" when I parked in front of their place because there wasn't any parking in front of the salvage shop? Why did they start walking at me with large heavy tools in their hands when I told them they were being ass-holes? Why did that guy call me a septic tank? I mean... of all the insults... a "septic tank"? ("you are a septic tank!" was what he said... I am not kidding.) Why was the salvage guy only willing to give me $250 for it? Why did he say then that he wasn't even willing to buy it for another week?
Why are YOU laughing at my MISFORTUNE!?!?! Don't worry, I know why you are laughing and once I get a few beers in me I'll be laughing too.... And crying... and then back to laughter (perhaps followed by some more crying and daydreams of throwing a rock through the window of the salvage place. In fact I might as well push the van into the river to create a new feature on the river. Perhaps the perfect playwave? Perhaps a gnarly hole/sieve? Oh the possibilities are endless...
ahhhh New Zealand... it weren't for the sandflies, shitty backpacker cars, and threats of violence... I would love this place.
Well, Its time to leave Martha... Hereafter named The Shitmobile. A day to enjoy Queenstown, a day to get back to Christchurch, and then I'm outta here.
Now if you'd excuse me I have to go make a "FREE VAN" sign for the Shitmobile. OY!
Why are YOU laughing at my MISFORTUNE!?!?! Don't worry, I know why you are laughing and once I get a few beers in me I'll be laughing too.... And crying... and then back to laughter (perhaps followed by some more crying and daydreams of throwing a rock through the window of the salvage place. In fact I might as well push the van into the river to create a new feature on the river. Perhaps the perfect playwave? Perhaps a gnarly hole/sieve? Oh the possibilities are endless...
ahhhh New Zealand... it weren't for the sandflies, shitty backpacker cars, and threats of violence... I would love this place.
Well, Its time to leave Martha... Hereafter named The Shitmobile. A day to enjoy Queenstown, a day to get back to Christchurch, and then I'm outta here.
Now if you'd excuse me I have to go make a "FREE VAN" sign for the Shitmobile. OY!
oh man... My last real entry was the 28th!?!?!? I feel like I did at the end of the semester when I had a huge pile of problem sets and essays that I kept on putting off till the end of the quarter and then I had to sit down and do all of them all at once. Yep. The stress that I feel all for the entertainment of my faithful (and unfaithful) readers out there. Well, let me see what I can do, I think I have something like 20 days to recap.
29: Went to paddle the Routeburn & go canyoneering on Bridal Veil creek
30: Back up to Wanaka, tried to go canyoneering up there
K1: Citroen rapid (Kawarau river)
2: Drove from Wanaka to Franz Josef to Hokitika
K3: Paddled the Upper & Lower Toaroha (!!!CARNAGE!!!)
4: Rest day! Went to the hot springs then drove up to Murchison
K5: Buller river (earthquake section)
K6: Lower Matakitaki + Buller earthquake
K7: Glenroy river
K8: Middle Matakitaki & Dr.'s Creek section of the Buller
K9: Lower Matakitaki + Glenroy
K10: Buller Earthquake run
11: Drove to Arhur's pass to meet up with Ma & Pa Cunitz at the "wilderness" lodge
12: Took Ma & Pa out for a hike up to Devil's Punchbowl Falls. Realized my mother's fear of heights & took plenty of video footage of it as well!!! oh yeah... sheep sheering & mustering. (yeah... look up mustering before you start making jokes you sickos!)
K13: Lower Kokapatahi river
14: PUZZLING WORLD!!! (In Wanaka)
K15: Drove (like, forever) to Milford sound. Kayaked the Falls Creek section of the Hollyford river.
K16: Went out on a cruise in the Milford sound with the Momma & the Poppa and then paddled the Arthur river.
17: typing up this journal instead of driving to Christchurch to sell my van.
Well, I know I left out a lot of details, but let me just say that I though I was done boating on Dec. 3 when I lost my second paddle, but through the kindness of friends (I think they just needed someone to boat with) I borrowed a paddle and got in 9 more days!
My last two days were probably the most spectactular. The rivers weren't anything particularly difficult though we were in our playboats for both of them. Falls creek was class III+ with a couple of IV's but very continuous and all of it was roadside. The last river was the Arthur river. After 45 minutes of hiking with the boats to the put in. We paddled across a lake down to where the gradient starts. the run was mostly class III with a couple of class IV+'s the last one had some serious gradient to it and was filled with pinning potential in the beginning and then a bunch of holes at the end in case you made it that far. Finishing up in the remote Milford sound with huge mountains with cascading waterfalls around us was the perfect way to end my NZ kayaking... and also not swimming on the last river also helped :)
So now it is time for me to drive back up to Christchurch and sell Martha and pack up my stuff and then on the 20th I will head to Sydney for a few days and then fly back to good old Seattle where I will drown my sorrows in double latte's and Red Hook ESB beer. Oh yeah, and spend whatever money I get back from selling Martha on a new Creek boat and some new paddles :)
29: Went to paddle the Routeburn & go canyoneering on Bridal Veil creek
30: Back up to Wanaka, tried to go canyoneering up there
K1: Citroen rapid (Kawarau river)
2: Drove from Wanaka to Franz Josef to Hokitika
K3: Paddled the Upper & Lower Toaroha (!!!CARNAGE!!!)
4: Rest day! Went to the hot springs then drove up to Murchison
K5: Buller river (earthquake section)
K6: Lower Matakitaki + Buller earthquake
K7: Glenroy river
K8: Middle Matakitaki & Dr.'s Creek section of the Buller
K9: Lower Matakitaki + Glenroy
K10: Buller Earthquake run
11: Drove to Arhur's pass to meet up with Ma & Pa Cunitz at the "wilderness" lodge
12: Took Ma & Pa out for a hike up to Devil's Punchbowl Falls. Realized my mother's fear of heights & took plenty of video footage of it as well!!! oh yeah... sheep sheering & mustering. (yeah... look up mustering before you start making jokes you sickos!)
K13: Lower Kokapatahi river
14: PUZZLING WORLD!!! (In Wanaka)
K15: Drove (like, forever) to Milford sound. Kayaked the Falls Creek section of the Hollyford river.
K16: Went out on a cruise in the Milford sound with the Momma & the Poppa and then paddled the Arthur river.
17: typing up this journal instead of driving to Christchurch to sell my van.
Well, I know I left out a lot of details, but let me just say that I though I was done boating on Dec. 3 when I lost my second paddle, but through the kindness of friends (I think they just needed someone to boat with) I borrowed a paddle and got in 9 more days!
My last two days were probably the most spectactular. The rivers weren't anything particularly difficult though we were in our playboats for both of them. Falls creek was class III+ with a couple of IV's but very continuous and all of it was roadside. The last river was the Arthur river. After 45 minutes of hiking with the boats to the put in. We paddled across a lake down to where the gradient starts. the run was mostly class III with a couple of class IV+'s the last one had some serious gradient to it and was filled with pinning potential in the beginning and then a bunch of holes at the end in case you made it that far. Finishing up in the remote Milford sound with huge mountains with cascading waterfalls around us was the perfect way to end my NZ kayaking... and also not swimming on the last river also helped :)
So now it is time for me to drive back up to Christchurch and sell Martha and pack up my stuff and then on the 20th I will head to Sydney for a few days and then fly back to good old Seattle where I will drown my sorrows in double latte's and Red Hook ESB beer. Oh yeah, and spend whatever money I get back from selling Martha on a new Creek boat and some new paddles :)
Sunday, December 07, 2003
Yes, I'm still alive.
