Adventures in Oceania

Good day again mates, as I am sitting down for another session of 'blog updates from the barge,' my second consecutive hitch where I've been relegated to the slow-moving (yet remarkably financially beneficial) Zamil barge out on the Persian Gulf. I last remarked on the awesomeness of Inca ruins and the poor taste of small ferret-like delicacies. Well, after surviving another hitch in the Kingdom, I decided I needed a taste of modern living and went to two of the happiest, freest, and healthiest places in the world: Australia and New Zealand!

During my time since Peru, I decided to stay in contact with AP, one of the girls in our group. We got a long really well and found we had a fair bit in common, so I proposed the idea of visiting her in her native land, Australia. So off I flew to Brisbane, the largest city in Queensland, the Australian state that takes up just about the entire northeast section of the continent. My Easter morning arrival coincided with Jesus's and luckily AP's family let me stay with them. I heartily enjoyed AP and her mother's cooking, which was a welcome departure from Khurais' poor version of Yemeni food. AP also took me around Brisbane, showing me everything the city had to offer, which honestly was mostly limited to good restaurants and nice parks. It's a beautiful city though, with awesome weather, low crime, and it's been ranked among the world's most livable cities.

Downtown Brisbane

Inside Queensland University of Technology

We also trekked out to Byron Bay, despite the sudden deluge that the east coast of Oz experienced. Byron is a massive tourist/surfer/traveler spot along the coast and AP and I discovered some remarkably high scorers on our 'Traveler Rankings,' a newly devised methodology of describing people we see on our journeys. It works on a 1-10 scale, with 10 being the highest (and most ill-advised) score. High scores are given to those who appear unshowered for multiple days, have hair in undesirable places, carry musical instruments, have excessive patches on luggage, and absolutely LOVE telling people about the locals. Byron had that feel at a lot of places, but we had fun as we were able to get away from Brisbane for a night. 

Fun little hike out to the Lighthouse at Byron

Upon our return to Brisbane, we had a fun night out at the bars 'round town where I discovered once again that Australians are hilarious dancers. Just imagine a bunch of white people dancing. That's pretty much it. Hence the hilarity. I think since grinding and hip-hop never really permeated in their culture, they've kept things a lot....simpler.

I was then invited to go see the local Australian Rules Football (AFL) team play that Saturday, conveniently named.....the Lions. AFL is actually very exciting, as teams score by kicking the ball at any point through  2 sets of uprights not unlike field goal posts, with more points being awarded if they kick in between the narrower of the two sets. The guys who play AFL have to be able to run, jump, tackle, kick, and throw, so they all appeared to be remarkable athletes. AP's dad gave me the low-down on the rules and the Lions kept the game very close until a tragically unproductive 4th quarter. Same old Lions.

At the Gabba

Go Lions indeed

The next day AP and I decided to fly south to Canberra, to scope out the city in case AP decided to take a new job there.  Then we took a little 3-hour drive down to Kosciuszko National Park. There lies Australia's highest point: Mount Kosciuszko, a towering Himalayan savage mountain that sits at an Olympus-like.......7,310.....feet. Really? Yeah, it's basically just a big bunny hill. There's plenty of decent skiing apparently in the area during the winter months, but our fall conquest of Kozzy was about as challenging as putting on a spring coat and walking to North Campus at UofM. It was a beautiful park though and we almost had the whole place to ourselves. We treated ourselves to potentially the best meal of my entire vacation, at an Italian place in Jindabyne, the ski-town located just beside the National Park. I swear that Clam Chowder made me re-think my life. 

Canberra, the (not-so) famous capital of Australia

Steering wheel on right side? Recipe for disaster

Kosciuszko National Park

Made it to the top!

My high-altitude fashion sense never ceases to shock me

The land of Oz dazzled me once again, returning for the first time since studying abroad there for a summer during my university days. However, after conquering its most formidable summit, we decided we needed to take our adventures even further into the southern hemisphere, flying over the Tasman Sea and into New Zealand! Now I must confess, I've been wanting to go to NZ for a long time, and Frodo Baggins might've had something to do with that. The vast, unspoiled views over huge tracts of the country are enough to make any urbanite want to fly across the world to check it out. Lucky for me, two of my buddies also working in Saudi decided that they too wanted to check out the land of Maori's and Mordor.

AP and I flew into Christchurch, a city on South Island recently devastated by not one, but two HUGE earthquakes. Most of the town was in pretty good shape as far as we could tell, but a big chunk of the downtown area was 100% completely blocked off from all traffic, motorized and pedestrian. Having said that, the downtown was rebuilding quite well, with big outdoor malls and restaurants designed to seemingly stick it to the earthquakes. They built shopping centers that looked like cargo containers and put an earthquake museum right in the middle of it.There was also a famed British historian filming some of his show right in that central shopping area. He was discussing how New Zealand was the first country in the world to legalize women's right to vote. I think the shoot was designed to be a public lecturing-type deal since basically any bystander came up and joined in the re-creation of the two opposing parliamentary angles of the day. I might've even snuck my ugly mug into a few shots. Afterwards, AP and I roamed around the downtown, strolling through some of the beautiful parks the city had to offer. We also caught a few buses and wound up in a small wildlife park, where we met up with some reindeer, swans, eels, Clydesdale's, llamas, and of course, Kiwis! The Kiwis are actually nocturnal creatures and thus were housed inside a dark room where photography was forbidden, but we did gaze our eyes upon the strange wing-less and arm-less creatures.

The 'ReStart Mall'

Botanical Gardens of Christchurch

Classical architecture abounded

Reindeer games

So cool

Budweiser is smiling somewhere

 Our walk home allowed us to discover just how desolate the downtown area was after dark, as we discovered block after block of pedestrian detours, with all buildings being completely shut down and marked with the 'All Clear' paint symbols. Lucky for us, we did manage to find our way back in time to enjoy some delicious bar food and beer and our hotel's adjacent restaurant.

Day 2 in NZ brought some new friends as my buddy Joe arrived from his travels in southeast Asia, this time directly from Cairns in northeastern Australia. We all decided to check out the Antarctic Centre, which was a little tourist attraction right next to the airport. My other buddy John was supposed to arrive soon anyway, so we figured 'why not?' The Centre was very cool, some places even downright chilly, with one of the attractions being an enclosed room that flushed people with average Antarctic wind chills of -20 degrees Celsius. It was pretty cold, but honestly not the worst I've endured. There were also penguins and a lot of fun facts about the Antarctic explorers and even current research down there.

This is like...Canberra cold

Could be worse

Comfortable?

After Antarctic Centre, we walked over and waited for John to arrive, straight from the Kingdom. Now we had already booked a place for the night in Lake Tekapo, which was a healthy 3-hour drive from Christchurch, but we also wanted to squeeze in one last uber-testosterone fixated attraction before we left. So we drove about 30 minutes past the airport to a place called 'Tanks for Everything,' where yes, you literally can drive a tank. The guy who owned the place was an old British collector who bought a huge space of land, picked up some tanks, and started a business. Pretty awesome if you ask me. We had the privilege of driving their newest tank, a Russian T55AM-2. It's the same style tank seen during the Tiananmen Square massacre, and driving it definitely made me feel like I could run over some protesters (too soon?). We all got a nice lecture about the dimensions, uses, horsepower, and of course operation of the tank. Joe and I each drove a lap around the course, cranking the two huge levers that controlled the tracks. It was basically exactly like this, minus the Nazis.  The thing was loud, it was angry, and it was awesome. Joe gave our instructor the GoPro, so we each got a little film of us dominating the course. The tank could've gone up to 40-50 mph, if I recall correctly, but it was a manual transmission and we never got beyond 2nd gear. Sadly the course wasn't enormous. But it was still the coolest thing I did all year, in my humble opinion.  

Getting all the info

I think G.I. Joe likes it

Action shot

Getting my lesson

I enjoyed the post-drive relaxation

Peace through Strength

Then off the gang went in our rented SUV to Lake Tekapo. I'd read an article a few years ago about the town, which has strict regulations regarding a different type of pollution we're used to: light pollution. Only sodium-powered light bulbs are to be used in the small town, as they last longer and have minimal light pollution. All lamps must be pointed in the downward direction in public after dark. The article billed Lake Tekapo, home of the Mount John University Observatory, as one of the best night skies in the world. Apparently, the International Dark-Sky Association agreed, and listed it as one of only 4 International Dark Sky Reserves in the entire world. The closest town is 50 miles away, blocked by a row of mountains anyhow. After reading the article, I swore to myself that before I died, I'd visit Tekapo and see it's mesmerizing night sky.

We arrived into town just in time for the stargazing tour we'd booked. We drove up to the observatory, and walked around using only our guide's small dim laser as a guide. Luckily the stars provided us with enough light to see. Not-so-luckily however, the clouds rolled in before we could really get an excellent look at the stars. The guide did give us a tour of the observatory, which was essentially powered down since the clouds rolled in. However, the brief breaks among the clouds revealed the piercing smidgens of light poking the blanket of the night sky. I slept very contented that night, despite mother nature's best efforts.

The next morning we walked around the amazingly blue, glacial-fed waters of Tekapo. It was honestly the bluest water I've ever seen. The Astro Cafe next to the Observatory was our next stop, so we could get a nice daylight bird's eye view of the Lake. It was truly stunning. In another example of just how small this world really is, we met a guy working at the observatory who just happened to be from John's hometown in Michigan. He'd apparently read the same article that I read a few years ago and when he left his previous job, he threw out an application to the Observatory and they gave him a job. So Michigan meets Michigan....in New Zealand.

View from the Astro Cafe

Tekapo was the crux of my personal desire to go to New Zealand, and since we still had 6 days left, everything else would be a bonus. We left Tekapo with yours truly driving on the wrong side of the road again in NZ. Our drive through the Otago region and into the popular resort town of Queenstown in itself was spectacular. It definitely felt like places dreamed up by Peter Jackson and the lot. I was so stupefied by one of the views that I might've driven us directly into a ditch while merely trying to pull over. It's a good thing a couple enormous Samoan guys might've driven by and helped us all push it out of the ditch. I might've not driven for a while after all that. Might've.

Decent views

Bro-admiration

Our late afternoon arrival in Queenstown coincided with a beautiful sunset and the discovery that Joe booked an absolutely awesome apartment for us all. Queenstown is the adrenaline capital of NZ, with all modes of outdoors and extreme activities, geared toward young travelers. 220 adventure tourism activities are available in the area. Modern bungee jumping was essentially born here as AJ Hackett's first permanent commercial bungee jump is a bridge just a stone's throw from Queenstown's downtown. .

Our first full day there began with some hiking around the Arrowtown area, a city just a few miles away from Queenstown. I was pleasantly shocked to see how fit New Zealanders were. It was a Saturday morning and the elderly were passing us while hiking up some of the hills. It was definitely refreshing, yet reminded me just how fat the US is. Nevertheless, the views were spectacular as always. After our hike, we stumbled upon the Arrowtown Autumn Festival, which featured a parade of classic automobiles, the pet-owners of Arrowtown, and enough food and drink samples to kill a grizzly bear. We hopped around checking out the various wine and cheese concoctions, saw kilt-laden Scots belting out bagpipe beats, listened to guitar mavens pluck and strum their way into our souls, and enjoyed the local women tap-dance to the tune of old festive Irish jigs. It was a perfect Saturday afternoon.

It was even more perfect when we made our way back to Queenstown and we took the SkyLine Gondola up the cliff overlooking the city and lakes. AP and I decided to go paragliding from up there, while John and Joe opted for a few bouts of street luge. Paragliding was pretty fun actually. Just running off the edge of a mountain and then hovering above a beautiful city below was quite surreal.

<3

Arrowtown Autumn Festival

Kilts for everyone

She let me wear the Oakleys. Muwahaha

Ready for paragliding?

Day 2 in Queenstown began with one of the region's most famous activities: jet-boating. 'What is jet-boating?' you may ask. Well, it's basically where crazy Kiwi drivers launch you down a narrow canyon in a high-speed boat, spinning you around crazily while also freezing your face off. I honestly could hardly understand our driver because his NZ accent was so thick, but he knew how to drive a boat like a champion. The boat works like a jet-ski, sucking in water through the front and venting it out the back, so the boat can operate in water that's only about 4 inches deep. He must've brought us 4 inches away from the canyon walls too, but that's what made it so damn fun.

Pre-freezing wetness

Totally worth it

That afternoon, AP decided to relax and take a walk around town while us engineering nerds drove over to Puzzle World in Wanaka. It had every possible little hand puzzle you could think of. There were enough optical illusions to drive people insane, even without the influence of psychedelic drugs. They also had an enormous maze outside, where I made up for my lack of puzzle-solving by dominating Joe and John. Another excellent fall afternoon in NZ. We headed back, scooped up AP and made some dinner for ourselves on a very relaxed Sunday night.

Weird

Weirder

Monday, AP and I set out for Milford Sound, one of the great 'Must-Do' places in South Island, once declared the Eighth Wonder of the World by Rudyard Kipling. Milford Sound is actually a fjord right at the edge of Fiordland National Park, eventually leading out to the Tasman Sea. We hopped on a pre-dawn bus in Queenstown and slowly trekked out to the Sound, stopping at Te Anau for a quick break. Te Anau in its own right claims to have some of the most beautiful hikes in the area and the lakeshore was definitely worthy of some of its acclaim. As we got into the national park, the rain just kept coming. Not shocking, because the Sound is one of the wettest inhabited places in the world. We witnessed the temporary cliff streams this creates firsthand. We pulled out of a tunnel into an enormous cliff valley and both sides looked like wet zebras, with the white rushing waters streaming down the dark rock. It was spectacular. When we got to the Sound, we hopped aboard a small tour boat, which took us around the Sound, describing the local plant and animal life, as well as a geological history of the area. We went out to the Tasman Sea where the salt-water finally mixed with the glacial fed waters of the rest of the Sound. On our drive back, we were greeted by dolphins and came upon a slew of seals baking on the rocks as the sun finally snuck through the occasional break in the clouds. AP was ecstatic at the seals and I was at the dolphins, as it was my first time seeing them in person up so close. It was a pretty fun day, and though some might've hated the rain, I think it actually helped me enjoy the scenery.

Streaks

Milford Sound

The lazy seals were AP's fave

Dolphins!!

Great day on the Sound

For our final full day in Queenstown, us boys decided to go rock climbing through one of the companies in town. Our guide led us to a couple nice rock faces that faced the lake. It was quite chilly, but it was good to get out and just do a few sport climbs. None of the routes were too tricky, but I got more comfortable on the rock and it always felt good getting some exercise in. That afternoon, we grabbed AP and headed out to Wanaka. Wanaka is kind of a mini-Queenstown, with a lot of the same activities offered there except the area is a lot more low-key. Nobody could really agree on any of the activities, except we noted it was a nice day out and there were some nice bike paths around the whole area, so we rented bikes and rode around for a couple hours. Wanaka was, just like most of New Zealand, just teeming with beauty. A sunset walk on the beach with AP was a perfect cap to the day.

Stroll along the lake

She works out

Bromance?

I think so

Not too happy about leaving

Speechless

Our next day involved a very long drive from Queenstown back to Christchurch, covering a huge chunk of the South Island. Many a radio/iPhone battle ensued and we all discovered everyone's Presidential sexual preferences, but that's normal road trip stuff, right? AP flew home to Brisbane the next morning. Joe and John hung around Christchurch until they flew to Sydney together to explore the east coast of Australia. I myself actually flew to the North Island for a night because my flight back to Saudi was through Auckland, the huge city that houses about a third of the NZ population. I also happened to get in contact with an old high school friend who moved there with her boyfriend a year ago. It was hilarious because I hadn't seen her since senior year and I was apparently the first of her friends who'd ever visited her out there.

I also took a little nature tour where I found it was just myself and the guide. He drove me around some of the black sand beaches surrounding Auckland and the Waitakare park areas. He had superior knowledge of all the flora and fauna of the area. A famous beach scene from the movie The Piano was filmed at Karekare Beach, where the titanium magnetite causes the sand to be black and also retain some magnetic properties. 

Karekare Beach

Piha Beach

Who says South Island has all the beauty?

My last morning, I took a little ferry to a small island across from downtown Auckland in order to take in the final good view of NZ I would have for a while. We passed by the America's Cup port where all the sailors and ships maintain their ships and train. Auckland easily earned it's nickname as the 'City of Sails.'

Auckland, the City of Sails

So I bid adieu to New Zealand and vowed to myself to return within 5 years, if only to enjoy stuff while I'm still reasonably young. It was really an awesome country. Anyone who likes the outdoors at all will absolutely love it. I flew back to Saudi fully refreshed and also fully, officially dating AP. Who knew?! Meet a girl in Peru and next thing you know, you're serious. More adventures with her will surely come in the future.

My next hitch back in Saudi had me spend just about my whole month on the offshore barge in the middle of the Gulf. Back then we did 3 jobs in 3 weeks, but my current stint has had me on this barge for a week and I've had zero jobs. Pooey. The deeper the summer, the harder the labor, that's for sure. Luckily I've been catching up on some random work, sleep, some reading, and all 3 seasons of The Walking Dead, which is quite awesome btw. I'll do my best to keep the blog up-to-date since I have this magic time. My last hitch was a short one, with only 5 weeks, because I'd made arrangements with my replacement to let me take time to go to Michigan for my cousin's wedding in early June. I'll detail that trip in my next post! For now, enjoy your summer everyone!