Thursday, August 30, 2007

The last 24 hours in NZ

Man, how did this happen? How is it that it is time for me to go back to Canada?... "But I'm not finished yet." Finished what, I dunno, but I'm not done yet. So, I guess this means that should there be an opportunity to come back to NZ, I'd take it faster than you could say, "Whakatani" (pronounced Fah-kah-taan-ee). The next hours for me are to be spent in the sunshine, watching the ocean, drinking beers with friends at the Boat House (anyone in Nelson right now wanting to join in are invited to come and enjoy 5:30 onwards). After the beer wears off and one last sleep, I'll go to the Nelson Saturday Market in the morning and drink strong coffee and then all of a sudden I'll be on my 22-hour journey back to Vancouver. The next time I write on this blog, I'll probably be in the Wack at my parents' place all weirded out with people driving on the wrong side of the road and everyone I meet not having an accent. And of course, I'll be wishing I was still in New Zealand. -- hey, wait a minute! I am still in New Zealand! So, I'll get off this computer and get out and absorb as much as I can. Adios.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

The Queen Charlotte Mountain Bike Trip

Last weekend, my real 'last weekend' in New Zealand, we did a big mountain bike trip. Three days of riding and playing in the sun along the coastline in the Queen Charlotte Sounds on the top of NZ's South Island. It was fantastic. The Couger Line (a water taxi) took us and our gear and our bikes and our coffees for a long tour towards the end of the sounds and the beginning of the 77-km trail. This dog was enjoying the boat ride as well.
The beginning of the trail was on the jetty at Ship's Cove (flat riding) and then the dirt trail began (very steep riding uphill for a long time to the ridge line). We ended up pushing our bikes for the first half an hour before the actual riding began, but it was okay, because we only had day packs - all our heavy gear was transported by the water taxi to our day's end destination, the backpackers at Punga Cove.
Half way through the first day, we popped out of the native forest into a little community called Furneaux. I had a toilet stop, and the bikes got a rest too.
The first night was spent at Punga Cove. It's a wonderful, secluded spot capable of accommodating 80 or so people, but because it is off season we were the only four people there. It was fantastic!
I took some time to watch the stars while Brian braved the cold ocean. Yes, he went swimming by moonlight. He's been fairly consistent with his ability to swim in cold ocean waters lately. This time he wasn't naked, but it was dark so it wouldn't have mattered.
Day two was excellent riding with amazing views and stellar, hot weather (may I remind you that it's supposed to be winter here?).
The sounds here in NZ look like places I've been in the Gulf Islands, or further up the BC coast closer to Princess Royal Island.
The team of four: Dee, Nashi, Janie, and Brian.
Lunch breaks are so good, but don't sit too long or eat too much or else sleep is likely to take over and then it becomes impossible to jump back on the bike.
Da girlz.
Along the trail, we came across a lonely, crying lamb looking for its mum. Awe... Don't get eaten by the night monsters (wild boars).
The second night was spent at Portage Cove at another backpackers, where we met up with Dana and Lisa for beers and Mexican food a la Dee.
The following morning, I headed out just before the rest of the group to gain some time on the steep hill climb to the trail head. I made one wrong turn and ended up backtracking for a bit and missed the rest of my biking posse who scooted off thinking I was ahead of them. Long-story-short, they finally realized what was going on and Brian found me not too far behind them a few hours later, but my spirits were a bit shot because A) I was wondering all morning when they would figure out I was 'missing', B) I pushed my bike up a steep hill for an hour by myself, and C) when I got to the top of the hill, the downhill was too steep with tight switchbacks that I had to walk my bike all the way down (that was when the curse words were being tossed around concerning the lack of usefulness of my freaking bike). I felt unbalanced in my mind which lead to unbalanced behaviour on my bike, and with my exhaustion from the previous days of riding I found myself off-and-on-and-off-and-on my bike far too much for the level of difficulty of the trail. In the end, I made it and tried to enjoy the last part (the best part of the entire trail for riding).
By mid-afternoon, we found ourselves back on the water taxi (after Brian had another dip in the ocean, of course). And back towards home after three days of riding, of extreme sunshine and plenty of good times (with the exception of getting temporarily lost).

Sunday, August 19, 2007

The Ugly Blanket Loses... Again.

Last night, the windows in our bedroom were open and the lamp was on, which meant that insects of all sorts were attracted to the comforts of our little, warm, well-lit room. A big moth was fluttering about near the lamp, and I stated my fear in the moth sticking around all night and eating holes in my wool sweater. Brian guffawed at me and said that moths don't eat sweaters. I said "Yes they do", and asked for a friendly wager to see how strongly he felt that moths don't eat sweaters. We agreed that we would check Wikipedia the following day, and if moths eat sweaters, then we get to leave the ugly blanket behind here in New Zealand, and if moths don't actually eat sweaters, then I have to safely bring back the ugly blanket with me in my carry on luggage when I fly back to Canada. Upon a quick "moth eat wool" search on Wikipedia, it appears that the ugly blanket will remain in New Zealand for eternity. Brian, you should check your sources before making deals like that, especially when you love your barfy blanket so much. Oh, speaking of barf, I spoke to Sarah this morning on the phone and she said that my brother and her and a few other people were all having drinks last night and one of the conversation topics was "the times Dee barfed". Can you believe it? That's pretty cool. I immediately thought of the time I puked at Farmhouse Fun in the Maritimes - spaghetti and beer and Jägermeister don't mix well...

Wakapuaka Quiz Night!!

For a good cause, we'd do almost anything, so it was pretty easy to say "You betcha!" to Wakapuaka Quiz Night, the local elementary school fundraiser. What better way to raise money than to offer parents a night without the kids, full of fun quiz challenges, and the opportunity to spend money getting drunk all in the name of a new playground. Brian and I came up with a Canadian-plus-one-Kiwi-plus-one-American team called the Spangled Maple Ferns. But our American friend couldn't make it, so we became just the Maple Ferns. The questions were kind of hard considering only one of us was from New Zealand, especially the "General Kiwi" category, which was intended to be the easy round. Difficulties went out the door when it came to the rounds involving audio clips from movies and music. Yes, we kicked butt at those rounds thanks to the countless hours we all spent watching television and listening to the radio when we were younger. I was pretty excited when they played the intro to The Muppet Show! Here's a short clip showing the excellency of our team knowledge of television theme songs:
The fun in poking fun at Brian for recognizing Roxette's Joyride was pretty priceless. He blamed that knowledge on his sister.
Here's another clip of us getting one of the audio answers correct.
Our knowledge of popular radio fare got us a whopping 7.5 out of 10, and a prize for having skunked the rest of the teams, none of whom scored higher than 2 on that category. That was our only glory moment of the night, and sadly not the TSN Turning Point (difficulties arose quickly again after the audio file competitions were complete).
One part of the competition had us put hands on the head for questions that were "True" and hands on the butt for questions that were "False". Hopefully that fully explains the following photo:
Cakes and treats were hand delivered to each team during the intermission. The girls ate chewy chocolate cake:
Ever seen a Smartie the diameter of a twoonie? It tasted twice as good.
In the end, everyone got a prize, but you got to select your prize in the order of winning teams. We came out 13th out of twenty teams. Not too bad of a result, but it meant that we had to wait our turn to go to the prize table until it was likely that all that was left were "Tampons and Marmite", as Dallen, our teammate, said.
Brian and I managed to score some entertaining books as prizes for the night. The Action Heroine's Handbook, which gives ladies-in-heroine-training some ideas as to "how to win a catfight, drink someone under the table, choke a man with your bare thighs, and dozens of other TV and movie skills."
The other book we won is an erotic bestseller about some teenage girl's diary... "A wisp of a book with a wallop of an impact" writes the New York Times. What's that supposed to mean? I don't think this will fit into my backpack when I go back to Canada....

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Published Authors and Photographers once more!

Vue Weekly has published an article that Brian and I co-wrote a few months ago (can you tell who wrote which parts?? I bet Sarah can). It's all about two trails we hiked on the South Island of New Zealand. The story would probably be a bit better with all the photos... however, they're only shown in the paper version (if you're lucky enough to live in or near Edmonton), and not online. Anyway, for a quick read, click on the link below:
FROM LUSH VALLEY TO ALPINE SADDLE, NEW ZEALAND TRAILS AMAZE HIKERS

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Looking forward...

I have to say that I'm really looking forward to returning to Canada - and that doesn't mean that I don't like it here in NZ (I love it and want to come back someday soon). In the past few weeks since Brian and I decided to head back home, I've been trying to appreciate and enjoy the little things and the big things that I love about Nelson, about New Zealand, about the people I know and love here... But at the same time, a little switch has been flicked to a new direction in my head and I find my thoughts turning towards the friends and family and scenery I love back home; it is subconscious mental preparation for another big change - another great change. This morning, I received a number of emails from amazing and beautiful friends of mine back in Canada, and we're all making plans to see each other in the beginning of September, and thinking forward to this time makes me really happy. I suppose noticing this shift, and really enjoying it makes the entire process all the more special.

I understand the lure of fishing... heh heh.

Fishing is the answer to all problems. Bored? Go fishing. Hungry? Go fishing. Need some fresh air? Go fishing. It's perfect really. And each time you go fishing, there are three things you can always count on: 1) You will be cold. 2) There will be at least one moment of pure excitement (even if it's just a nibble on the line). 3) You are never guaranteed to catch anything. Ahhh, fishing always puts a smile on my face... once my face has thawed out from being cold, of course. And yesterday's fishing excursion was nothing short of my guaranteed list! We were cold (there was a southerly wind, which means cold wind in the southern hemisphere), there were exciting moments when the squid bait was being nibbled on by the blue cod below the water surface, and even better than expected - we caught a fish! Well, Craig caught a fish; a blue cod, at least three inches bigger than the limit. If you don't like photos of bloody fish, please skip by the following photo.
The entire fishing clan were excited to be in the boat - Brian, Craig, Alana (Hazel's cousin), myself, and wee-Colesy. We anticipate fights over who gets to drive the boat come time Colesy can make the appropriate verbal request... After displaying my abilities to gut and fillet a fish (thanks for those skills, Dad), we ate blue cod for dinner. Mmmmm-mmmmm.
Special thanks to Craig for taking us out on his boat! And we won't mention what day of the week it was.... Shhh.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Getting Into Bike Shape

No, I don't want to be the shape of a bike, rather I want to be in biking shape so I can sit on a bike seat pedalling for five to seven hours without getting a blister on my ass, because I know how that feels and I don't like it. So getting into shape for the road means that I get to play on my bike (ahem, Brian's sweet bike) as much as possible for the next few weeks until Brian and I start bike-touring in San Francisco. I've been riding the 30 km into town and back when I go to work, and then on my days off I try to get out on the trails to beef up my mountain biking skills (this won't necessarily help with the Blister Prevention Program, but it is more fun than simply riding into town). This morning, Nashi and Jane and I rode up Kaka Road (yes, pronounced kah-kah), and when I say "up" I mean we rode up a very steep gravel road for an hour... and then along the trail following the ridge line towards Nelson.
Once we got through the gorse (gorse: pricky-thorny bush that grows infectiously on most mountains and makes the mountain bikers crazy with flat tires and intense scratch marks on bare legs and arms), we popped out onto the ridge line, and the views made up for the gorse issues.
The ride was certainly a great way to spend my morning - thanks Nashi for inviting me!
Now that I'm back home, I'm going through all of our things trying to make piles of stuff to sell on TradeMe (a New Zealand version of eBay). We're getting rid of loads of stuff like bike locks,
... and books,
... and anything else that won't fit in our packs or won't make the 20-kg weight restriction on the airplane. I'm going to be relentless in my sorting strategy. Relentless! I hope to bring back to Canada less than what I originally left with. That may indeed prove to be difficult when I want to bring back our coffee percolator....

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Things never to say "No" to...

When your good buddy (who happens to be named Craig) offers you FREE FOOD, FREE BEER, AND FREE TICKETS to a rugby game, you cannot say "No". When your honey offers you a fuzzy, fleece blanket to keep you warm while watching the game, you cannot say "No", except when the fuzzy, fleece blanket happens to be the one and only ugly blanket (Brian, you can have that one).
When your friends decide to get together one evening and make a plate full of sushi and warm bowls of miso soup, you cannot say "No" (even though that already happened two weeks ago in Wanaka).
When your friend dares you to eat a spoonful of wasabi, you cannot say "No" (especially when someone is armed and ready to capture the moment on the digital camera).
When your beautiful friend, Nashi, wants to go mountain bike riding, you cannot say "No".
When the bike wants to get downright dirty, you cannot say "No".
When riding in warm sunshine makes for two happy, muddy ladies, the sun cannot say "No".
When your fiance offers to go to work for you so you can bum out all day with Layla (my friend Nashi's daughter), you cannot say "No" (especially when Layla looks at you with that smile!). And finally, when Layla asks you to come down the slide with her, you simply cannot say "No" no matter how wet the slide is...

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Whakariki Beach

Brian and Dee had one day off together, so instead of going skiing again, they went to the beach! Golden Bay was our destination - north of Nelson, to the most northern part of NZ's south island, in fact. The ride up was fairly uneventful, with the exception of some sweet ipod tunage and a bit of crocheting in the passenger seat. Up past Fairwell Spit is a remote place called Whakariki Beach (Fah-kah-ree-kee)... I've been there before and it's beautiful, but Brian missed out by 6 km when he was up in that area on his bike. Doh! The sand was gorgeous, the waves crashing, and the sun was out, but it was c-o-l-d and pretty windy, so what did Brian do? He took off all his clothes and ran into the water. Yeah, "WHAT?!" I wasn't quite so brave, so I took the opportunity to photo document the whole thing:
I quite like this picture (that I had to modify, for obvious reasons):After Brian put his clothes back on and attempted to warm up, we strolled the beach for a bit trying to dodge the two elderly folks who had caught Brian with no clothes on. "Sorry elderly people, we didn't mean to scare you."
I could barely put my feet in the water, so I'm not entirely sure how Raynaud's-Syndrome-Brian managed his entire body... Brrr.
The lovely scarf Brian is wearing is a Dee Special. I finished it in the car on the way up to the beach. It's made out of possum fur and merino wool - the best combination for warmth and softness. Oooh, it's just yummy! The most excitement that afternoon wasn't actually Brian's skinny dip, rather helping out two German kids driving one of those holiday vans which happened to be very stuck in the ditch. They couldn't speak much English, but with the help of hand gestures, two locals, one weak chain and a decent amount of luck, we got it out of the ditch and back on the road. The best part was hearing the two kids saying, "Ah, Sheet, Sheet, Sheet" and then mixed in with "Sheiza" (spelling? I take that as the German form of 'shit').
Back on the road, we scarfed peanut butter sandwiches with apple slices (who'd have thought of having an apple sandwich? So awesome!), and headed back to Takaka and up to the Anahata Yoga Retreat where Brian got to experience 30 minutes of guided meditation, homemade soup, visits with the Swamis and Atmabhava and Zac, and then a Kirtan (getting 'giggy wid it' using the harmonium and bongo drums)... I want to take a drumming class sometime soon.

Clever advertising...

Part of my job at Kathmandu is to draw up the white board sign that sits out by the front doors to attract the attention of those walking by. It's my favourite part of the job... My newest creation is Mr. K, or rather Mr. Konstipated. He's the new Kathmandu mascot (according to Dee). He first appeared as a snowman (typo: snotman, heh heh...) in the sign shown below. I quite like this one: And then Mr. K reappeared last week as a professional boxer:
Speaking of advertising.... I'm not condoning eating fast food, especially that of Burger King, however, it was about an hour after lunch the other day, and I was at work, still rather hungry and eager to get some grease. So, I walked in the rain two doors down to the newest restaurant in Nelson: the Burger King. The original plan was to get some fries, but when I saw the whole menu my stomach started to get all excited, so I ended up getting a Whopper Junior with cheese, a fries, and a Coke. It's probably been three years since I'd been to a Burger King, so I figured it would be okay to just test it out again to make sure it's still just as unhealthy as ever. -- No wait! I lied! I think I remember going to Burger King in New Plymouth with Beth last year... and, I believe I had Burger King twice when I was in Tokoroa with Hans and Elaine. Crap. So, I guess I am not as angelic when it comes to fast food as I had hoped. Oh well. Anyway, back to my story. So, I got my meal deal and returned to work to share the fries with my coworkers. With my vast experience with fast food (this is making me look worse and worse), I realized the true brilliance of the fry container design at Burger King. Normally, the pitiful amount fries in a small order fall over and come out of the envelope-like packaging (e.g., McDonald's) as soon as the cashier places them on the tray. The design of the bigger sizes of fry containers have that concave shape in the bottom of the thin cardboard packaging, which is great for maintaining an erect fry container on the tray while inhaling the rest of your dinner (and if you fold down that concave bit of an empty container, stick a crunchy, hard fry end-bit at the bottom and then squeeze the container back to its normal shape, the fry bit will fly across the restaurant - it's great fun; give it a go someday). However, when it comes to the laziest form of fast food (the drive through), the average fry containers become as useless as the small paper envelopes mentioned above, fries end up on the floor of your car, and then your car stinks like greasy fries for about three weeks (which can be good for some people, but I'm not a fan). Burger King here in New Zealand have struck it big! They made the fry container with the same concave shape at the bottom, but the rest of the container has a similar shape as the disposable drink cups, so the fry container will fit quite nicely in the cup holder of your car (most cars have at least eight cup holders nowadays, right?). There's even a little caution note at the base of the back of the fry container stating that "If you can read this then the container isn't in the cup holder properly." I'm trying to guess if that was put there to truly assist those who can't place cups in cup holders, or if it's there to get people to figure out that indeed this fry container will fit into your cup holder..... Regardless, I'm excited at the ergonomics of it all and secretly wish that I had a cup holder on my bicycle so I could go through the drive through too.