New Zealand

So I've been procrastinating and not writing as much as I should ahve. But somwhere between exploring classic Christchurch, enjoying the sights of the TranzAlpine train ride, hiking on glaciers or getting a bruised ass snowboarding in Queenstown, I just haven't had much time!

I felt the NZ wniter as soon as I arrived in Christchurch. Stayed at the Charlie B's backpackers hostel for 3 nights which was plenty for the small and quaint city of Christchurch. I was actually only going tostay for 2 but I overslept and missed my shuttle/train on the hop-on-hop-off backpacker "Magic" bus. I avoided extra costs when I got a different operator from Magic who smoothed it out but it still cost me $14 NZD to call Auckland to do so. However, the Sky movies/sports channels at the hostel was more than enough to entertain me. On the extra day, I also tried to look for a mysterious skating rink that could not be found with Deana (Darwin, Australia) and John (Melbourne, Aus.). We walked around for 2 hours before finally giving up.

It was also in Christchurch that I finally experienced smoe friendliness that reminded me of Canada. While walking in town, a mother wich a child smiled at me and said hi while passing by. In my post earlier I had said that I missed that while travelling.

Took the TranzAlpine train from Christchurch to Greymouth via Arthur's Pass. It was a magical ride and the scenery was amaznigly beautiful. I can understand why the Kiwis are so concerned, proud and protective of their land. The beauty of the snow-peaked mountains, crystal clear streams, yellow and green hills and plains rivals the most amazing engineering feats of humanknid.

There wasn't much to do in Greymouth but I had a $5 all-you-can-eat BBQ and it was great. Good sausages and decent salads. Watched "Notting Hill" (there was 5 girls and 2 guys) and "Starsky & Hutch" before going to bed.

New Zealand promotes itself as a land of great beauty and endless opportunities for extreme sport. There's a joke that goes: "Given a mountain, a Kiwi will find 2 ways to get around it, 3 ways to climb it and 2 ways to go over it!"
I believe the joke was actually truth as I was hiking on the the Franz Josef glacier. I went with a half-day hike but I really wanted to do the heli-hike however it cost way too much. The hike was an amazing expereince. It wasn't too cold and there were a lot of rests. Saw a lot of cool sighs and deep blue peaks. Watched Trainspotting with Daan, Linda and Helen before having an early night for an early morning drive towards Queenstown.

I wanted to do 1 day of snowboarding and 1 day of skiing. However, I decided to forgo skiing for handgliding. The day of snowbaording was really fun, educational and painful. The pain to my ass was enhenced by the near dislocation of my shoulders and a small strain in my neck muscle when 6 of us beginners decided to go to the intermediate slope next to the magic carpet. It was going to be our last run and I must've taken 15 falls. Great views thuogh but my ass is more than bruised than that of an inmates after his 1st night in jail!
Everything hurt. However, not enough to deter Daan and I to go get some $5 pasta and some pints of Monteith's beer. But the kitchen closed by the time Helen got back so we had to search somewhere else for dinner.
Enter the Fergburger!
A famous delicious burger reknown from Queenstown. Though it cost $10 NZD, it was quite sumptious though I believe the Pluto burger at JJ' in Kingston is still superior.

Milford Sound, Fiordland.
5 hours to Milford Sound from Queenstown via Te Anau and 5 hours back hurt my ass like no tomorrow. The scenery to and back was beautiful and that of the cruise was stunning. Maurice and I kept taking pics fro each other since we trusted each other's skills. I even drank from a stream that was 99.8% pure water!

I got up early for my paragliding experience. However, upon calling to confirm, I found out that my morning flight was cancelled due to high winds and to check later. However, upon checking in the afternoon the wind conditions hadn't let up and I was leaving Queenstown the next day. Hence, I went luging with Daan and Linda. But instead of taking the gondola up, we decided to save money and hike up instead. I twas a somewhat strenuous hike but totally worth the savings which was used to purchase a nice beef vindaloo dinner and beers later.
The luge race was tight but in te end I won 3 of 5 races. Daan and I watched the Waikato/North Harbour Rugby game and then had the Fergburger again!

It's been good Queenstown!