CouchSurf's up in Tahiti

And so just like that, we left our home for the last year, putting the Land of the Long White Cloud in our rearview mirror, so to speak. It was bittersweet to leave, as we’ve had so many great times, seen so much amazing scenery, and in particular, have met so many tremendous people this year. But at the same time, we hadn’t been doing too much in Auckland besides going to the beach for the past few weeks, so it did feel like time to get back on the road. It’s also tough to feel too bad when you’ve got your ticket punched for French Polynesia, so there you are.

The warm waters at Mahina

Before leaving NZ, we did some cursory research on French Polynesia, which we can sum up for you pretty quickly: it’s composed of heaps of small, remote islands in a big ocean, it’s gorgeous, it’s useful to know French there, and it’s expensive as. To be honest, if not for Couchsurfing, we probably would have been much more hesitant to go there, as the guidebooks are sure to let you know that anything worth doing is tres cher in Polynesia, owing to the fact that everything must come a long, long way to get there.

Stay out of the bamboo!

Thus, when we looked up CSing hosts in French Polynesia, we were pleasantly surprised to see quite a few hosts for such a small and far-flung place. As is our usual practice, we sent a bunch of emails, got a few replies, made plans to meet some CSers, and mostly left it at that. I’ve gone back and counted the times we’ve said this, and this is now the thousandth time, but wow did we get lucky with the people we CSed with in FP. Perhaps it is simply French hospitality or a laid-back and generous attitude due to living in a tropical paradise, but we were blown away by the warmth of all our new CSing friends. Our karmic travel debt continues to mount.

Andrew takes in the stunning coastline

After an uneventful 5-hour hop from NZ, we landed in Tahiti on Saturday afternoon, gaining back the day we’d lost earlier in the year. We’re more than OK with getting it back in Tahiti. We landed at Faa’a airport, where we were to meet our first host, Estelle, who was good enough to pick us up there. Unfortunately, when we went through customs, we didn’t have Estelle and her husband Dan’s address, so we only filled in their town, “Mahina” as the destination for our first night in FP, which was unsatisfactory for the customs agent. He wouldn’t let us leave the airport without meeting Estelle, who true to her word was there waiting for us, and was able to quickly assuage his concerns that we’d be sleeping on the beach, or pulling some other sorts of shenanigans.

Driving through FP’s capital of Papeete to their home in Mahina is a good way of rapidly disabusing one of the fantasy that Tahiti is just a sleepy, lush, tropical paradise untouched by the outside world. Malheursement, mais non! Even though Lonely Planet prepared us for the fact that it is substantially developed and populated place, we were still somewhat astonished at the dirty and congested nature of the town. We were most surprised to learn from Estelle that it can take an hour to drive less than 10 miles from Mahina to Papeete in morning rush hour traffic; congestion in paradise, eesh. Not to say that the whole of the island is all bad or anything, but Papeete isn’t anyone’s idea of paradise and is generally best swiftly passed through.

We spent two nights with Estelle, Dan and their two children Lou (aged 5) and Yanis (aged 2). When we arrived, the family took us to the local beach which was teeming with locals surfing, kayaking, and swimming in the warm afternoon ocean waves. After a year in NZ’s picturesque but chilly beaches, swimming in the tropics is pretty great. We can see why so many Kiwis take beach vacations in Fiji. That evening Dan made us a great chicken dinner and we slept very well. We later figured out that they’d given us their room, which was even more generous when you realize that their other bed wasn’t equipped with mosquito netting.

Becky was grateful to sleep underneath mosquito netting

The next morning Estelle took us and the kids to the local market in Papeete, which was packed with stalls of local fruits, fish, baked goods, and handcrafts. We spent an hour wandering through the stalls and sampling some of the products. Apparently, the market starts very early in the morning and even though we arrived by what we thought was a very reasonable 8:00 AM, many of the stalls had already closed.

The bustling morning market in downtown Papeete

Later in the day, Estelle and Dan were kind enough to let us borrow their car to do a tour around the island. It’s been a bit of an adjustment being back on the right-hand side of the road, but we’ll figure it out before too long. Tahiti gets increasingly quieter and more rural as you venture away from the traffic and noise of Papeete, and seems to be chockful of black-sand beaches filled with surfers catching some of the Tahiti’s famed waves. We went for a quick hike to visit some waterfalls, to the delight of the mosquitoes, who found Becky to be on the menu.

A cascading waterfall in Tahiti

In the evening, we went into Papeete with the whole family to have dinner at the Roulottes, or trucks, in Vaiete Square. In Tahiti, it’s common to see these trucks parked along the roadside, serving takeaway food, mainly fish or Chinese dishes, to the locals. At the square these trucks are concentrated in one area along the waterfront and feature tables with wait service. We enjoyed a delicious dinner of grilled mahi mahi and really enjoyed the ambience of the setting. Unfortunately, a tropical rainstorm brought our meal to an abrupt end, reminding us that we were visiting FP in the beginning of its rainy season, sending us diving under some nearby awnings.

The Roulottes, before the rain

Our stay with the Dellanoys was a great time, and we really enjoyed our conversations with the family in spite of a slight language barrier (it’s always good to have a French-English dictionary close at hand!), and they spoiled us with their hospitality. Between the roast chicken dinner, dinner at the Roulottes, a lunch featuring local delicacies including cru, which is prepared with citrus juice and coconut milk, and allowing us to borrw their car, they went so above and beyond the call of CSing duty! They are just a lovely family and made our first few days in Tahiti a memorable experience.

Andrew and Becky with the Dellanoys

The next morning we mastered the local bus system when Estelle dropped us off at a bus stop on her way to work. We had a lot of luggage with us, so we had decided to unload some of it at the airport instead of carrying it around the islands over the next few days. The rainy season was really making its presence felt, so we felt lucky to be waiting under one of the few covered bus stops. We successfully made it into Papeete but had to change buses to get out to the airport. Unfortunately, as soon as we got out of the first bus, the rain really started to come down. We were soaked by the time we got on our second “bus,” which was a relic of the old “Le Truck” system on Tahiti. These trucks are a throwback to an earlier day in public transportation in Tahiti and are certainly rustic, with a low ceiling and bench rows lining the back of a large flatbed truck. Using our mastery of the French language, “L’airport, s’il vou plait”, we managed to get there and finally unload our bags.

Our next stop was to meet our next CS hosts. When we decided to go to FP our research showed that the best plan is to leave Tahiti for one of the smaller, nicer islands. We had decided to visit Moorea, Tahiti’s sister island, and were extremely lucky to find another CS host on the island. We met Sebastien and Zouzou in Papeete at the pearl shop where Sebastien works. They were another great couple – friendly, enthusiastic, and extremely helpful. Zouzou helped us by our ferry tickets and then we were on our way to Moorea.

Moorea has a much smaller population than Tahiti and is certainly more scenic. There are beautiful white sand beaches, stunning lagoons, and a gorgeous mountain interior. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see much of this during our few days there as everything was quite often covered in clouds and soaked in rain. Still, we had a great time in Moorea, again largely due to our CS hosts. Zouzouz acted as our personal tour guide, driving us around the entire island (which took a little over an hour) and stopping at all the points of interest. When the weather cleared, she took us to the local beaches and other scenic areas. As in Fiji, we enjoyed some snorkeling among the coral and tropical fish just meters from the water’s edge, and soaking in the warm tropical water.

The interior mountains on Moorea

In the evenings, we were treated to Sebastien’s delicious cooking. He likes to prepare the local delicacies, including various raw fish dishes. We’re normally not sushi fanatics, but his cooking, combined with the freshness of the tuna, could convert many people, we suspect. Sebastien and Zouzou both spoke English very well, and they were terrific to talk to, having had their share of travel adventures. We would have loved to spend more time with them on Moorea, and will perhaps have to come back again sometime when it’s not the rainy season, and after they’ve built their modern Polynesian home. We can dream, can’t we?

We enjoy a delicious dinner with Sebastien and Zouzouz

After a few mostly rainy days away from Tahiti, we ferried back and met our third and last FP CS host, Thibault, at the docks. Thibault, who is from Versailles, works as a controller for a subsidiary of a French firm in FP, and his girlfriend, Ellie, makes modern lamps from driftwood found on Tahitian beaches. Cool lamps, but only in FP, as the cost of shipping just about anywhere eclipses the price of the lamps themselves. They live in Punaauia, down the west coast of Tahiti, near one of the few white-sand beaches on the island.

The white sand beach at Punaauia

We spent a day and a half with them, and they were just tremendous hosts as well. We shared Hinanos (local Tahitian lager, don’t worry, I bought plenty of merchandise as souvenirs) with them and their friends on their cozy porch, and Ellie prepared a delicious shrimp curry on the night we stayed there. The next day, our last in FP, was thankfully dry, and we enjoyed the white sand beaches for our last time before our imminent return to the northern hemisphere winter. With a flight at 8:30 pm, Ellie gave us a ride to the airport, where we met up with Thibault and enjoyed a few more Hinanos at the airport cafeteria with them.

These over water bungalows cost beaucoup bucks in French Polynesia

We were sad to get to only spend a few days with our last CS hosts, but we keep finding ourselves saying that these days. Despite having almost no plan for how we were going to spend 5 days in Tahiti, we had a most excellent time, meeting some great CSers and enjoying many of the best parts of FP without having to spend a fortune at a hotel in Bora Bora. We really lucked out in Tahiti and have CSing to thank for it – Couchsurfing, you’ve done it again, cheers to all our new friends in French Polynesia!

Having one last Hinano at the airport with Thibault and Eli

Hoppy Birthday and Up To Whangarei (Nov. 17 – 24)

My birthday arrived amidst a stretch of nice weather last week, here on the North Shore, where we’ve been housesitting over the past few weeks. In NZ one hears a lot of gripes about the weather in Auckland, but it would be hard for anyone to find fault with the streak of warm, sunny days we’ve had here. Warm enough to hit the beach in late November works for me.

Red sunset in the North Shore means more beautiful weather tomorrow

My birthday, much like Becky’s, was a low-key affair for us, though it was without a signature moment (for example, on Becky's birthday we enjoyed a great bottle of Belinda’s wine while eating a bad steak accidentally seasoned with Christmas-cookie spices, because I don’t know how to cook, all the while it was raining like crazy outside the little hostel/shack that we were wwoofing at in the Catlins).

According to an anonymous brown-haired twenty-seven year old American woman currently in New Zealand: “The past few birthdays for Andrew have invariably revolved around beer somehow, and surprise!, this one was no exception.” We did indeed head out to the Hallertau Brewbar way out in the sticks in Riverhead (perhaps Auckland’s best beer place, certainly in the top 3), and tried their products. On the bad side, it was so full it took over 20 minutes to get our beer sampler. On the good side, they eventually made it free, but not before they accidentally added four extra things to our bill, oops. They did make some pretty good beers, but I won’t forget their imperial IPA, a ridiculously hoppy beer that was huge at 10% alcohol. They call it the Stuntman, but even though it is tasty, Masochist might be more accurate. In any event, best to have just one.

Andrew mans the barbecue on his birthday

It’s strange to celebrate my normally late-fall birthday here in the Southern Hemisphere, as Auckland’s unusually warm late-spring has been akin to mid-summer weather in the last place we lived, Vermont. For my whole life my birthday has occurred somewhere at least pretty cold, so it feels odd to be walking around in shorts around on my birthday, but I’ll certainly take it.

Later in the week, we took in a cricket game at Eden Park in Auckland, played between what I think were at least semi-professional sides. Cricket, of course, is the British Commonwealth’s answer to baseball, where it reigns as a hugely popular sport in countries India, Pakistan, and Australia. It’s somewhat like baseball in that a bowler is trying to get a batter out by throwing it past him or making him make an out some other way (e.g. a caught pop-up), but otherwise is way dissimilar. We thought we might as well check a game of cricket out, since it’s probably NZ’s 2^nd favorite sport, though by a such big margin behind rugby that it’s not even funny.

Andrew enjoying the cricket on a sunny afternoon

So we spent most of a sunny afternoon in the company of a few dozen cricket-mad students, pensioners, and people enjoying some time on the dole. It was the third day of a four-day test in which Auckland was destroying Central Districts, taking wickets at what apparently is a tremendous pace. We’d be lying if we said we understood everything going on out there, but it was pretty enjoyable, though it moved slower than even a really slow baseball game. If you don’t have the patience for baseball, you won’t make it through even an abbreviated cricket game. Pitchers take even longer between pitches, they have to run like 50 yards before each pitch, and individual batters can stay at-bat for hours at a time, scoring hundreds of runs. There are often substantial breaks for things like tea. And that’s before you consider that some games are of the 5-day variety, and that many of them end in a tie! That’s right, after 5 days of scintillating cricket action, they can’t even bother to have a winner! Instead, the rules of cricket allow one team to go in a giant stall, for the game to end without a decision, good god. In the end we enjoyed finally getting to see two teams of sweater vest-wearing gladiators go at it on the pitch, battling the proverbial ‘sticky wickets.’

Cricket fever... catch it!

Since we were in Auckland we thought we should go the Museum at some point, so we went one cloudy afternoon. Most of it was just OK, standard museum-type exhibits, but it really shined in its Volcanoes exhibit. Since Auckland is built on heaps of dormant and extinct volcanoes, there is special interest in it here. The museum’s best feature placed you in the scenario of being in an Auckland home as a new volcano explosively formed out your window in the harbor. The show had a convincing TV news program and disturbingly life-like blackout and shaking effects of the volcanic destruction of New Zealand’s major city. All in all, totally worthwhile going there.

Later in the week, we drove up to visit our CSing buddies Matt and Stu in Whangarei. We first Couchsurfed with Matt in January, as we toured the Northland in our first week in the country, and had a great time hanging out with him, his flatmate Stu, and their buddies Kel and John-Boy. Stu, who actually owns the house, has really gotten into CSing as well this year, hosting a bunch of CSers himself while Matt was out of the country. Matt has just recently returned from a six-month stint in Europe, working at a farm in the foothills of the Alps in Germany before CSing his way through northern and western Europe for a few months. We were glad to get to see these guys again after nearly a year, and we got to meet some other interesting travelers there, since their place is basically CSing headquarters.

Back to nature in the Northland

Seriously, these guys are CSing MVPs. On our first visit in January, we were just two of four CSers at their house at that time, and this time they were also hosting a girl from Hong Kong and a young couple from Sweden. The Swedes were very young and as a result were good for a lot of entertainment, though I don’t think they intended it. First, they were positively rapt about Canberra, Australia’s capital, which you don’t hear anything good about anywhere else. Seriously, we’ve met heaps of people who’ve traveled through Australia, and had never heard a good word about the place. We also learned from them that Danes are incorrigible drinkers and smokers, and that we should avoid Stockholm as it was quote unquote “gay.” “I’m from Stockholm and I think I’m so much better than everybody else”, they said in accents that we can only guess hilariously mimic those of the typical Stockholmian. But perhaps best of all, we really enjoyed that they actually pronounced the word jogging with the soft J, just like our car’s namesake, Ron Burgundy.

Amazingly, Matt and Stu had had 8 people staying at one time earlier this week. Most people would mind stepping over 8 people sleeping in all the available spaces in their house, but Matt and Stu can’t get enough, and are almost unable to turn anyone away. They also often go out of their way to show people a good time: Matt took us to his parents’ farm on our first visit, and Stu had just taken some CSers waterskiing earlier this week. On this trip, we caught up Matt, Stu, and Kel, and had a nice time hanging out in Whangarei for a few days. It really is a beautiful area, and after being in Auckland for awhile, it was nice to be in the more-rural NZ we’re used to. All in all, we just can’t say enough about their hospitality, friendliness, and generosity: cheers, guys!

Matt, Andrew, Becky, and Stu enjoying some quality "couch" time

Ambling Aimlessly To Auckland (Nov. 4 – 7)

We were sad to say goodbye to the East Cape, but our days were running short before we were due back in Auckland to house-sit for Rachel and Shanon, our first CS hosts in New Zealand. We had made plans with them months before to watch their cat Jessie and their house for them while they went on a safari holiday to Botswana and South Africa. With less than a week until their trip, we had to decide to how to spend our last few days before returning to the Land of Jafas (Just Another…Friendly Aucklander). Originally we had planned to visit White Island, an active volcano in the Bay of Plenty, but those plans fell through. Strike one. Then we thought we’d hike the Pinnacles in the Coromandel, which we had tried to do at the beginning of the year but were dissuaded by a DoC ranger who insisted we wouldn’t have enough time to finish the hike (she was clearly unaware of our amazing fitness). But with a long rainy front hovering over the island, that quickly became strike two.

Last view of the East Cape before we turned inland

However all was not lost. We had the good fortune of finding a very nice CS host in Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty, not too far from the East Cape. We only spent a night with Ayesha, but she was very friendly and welcoming as all our CS hosts have been. Ayesha is a hardcore surfer but had been disheartened by the lack of waves in the area for the last few weeks. Since she was stuck in the house with us chickens, we spent the evening chatting and trying to commiserate with her and her surfing pal, Luke.

The next morning we still had yet to decide what we’d do over the next few days. With the weather still crap, we thought we’d head towards the last sort of “tourist” area that we had yet to visit – Raglan. Raglan’s a world-renowned surfing destination on the North Island’s west coast, about two hours south of Auckland. Though neither of us surf, we thought we should see its famous right-hand break (Though we don’t really know what that means, either). Heading to Raglan meant heading back west across the island, making our path north through the island even more unorthodox, as we’d first gone west, then east, and now had our sights set for west again. Maybe doing this broke all the rules, but then maybe rules ain’t our thing.

En route to Raglan, we crashed with a few CSers in Hamilton, basically the only city in NZ that’s not on a coast. Sam and Hazel are a chemist and student aide with the university, respectively, and above all, are huge gamers. They certainly enjoyed their World of Warcraft, which wasn’t necessarily our scene, but we had a nice visit with them, as I can’t remember the last time we had anything in fondue. In re: Hamilton: it’s a pretty nondescript town, and we found not much to do there but visit the city’s impressive gardens. However, we can’t recommend the American Modernist garden – surely we can do better than a kidney-shaped pool, faux-Frank Lloyd Wright cantilevered patio, and a fading Marilyn Monroe pop art mural?

Raglan’s just a short hop from Hamilton, so the next afternoon we left to meet Leon, our CS host there. Leon’s a video store manager and is a few years younger than us, and is really into working with local teens in his church’s youth group. Much of his house was a testament to this, which he described as a “bombzone.” We were his first CSers, so he was quite keen to make a good impression and show off his home time. We’ve met a lot of great people through CSing this year, and Leon might’ve been the genuinely nicest guy we’ve met, which is saying a lot. We ended up having a really good time in Raglan despite iffy weather, and have Leon to thank for much of that.

For starters, he shouted for our dinner our first night there, chicken rotis, a local specialty. They’re basically chicken, crispy potatoes, a creamy sauce, and tomato sauce, all in a tortilla wrap. We ate them at the beach while watching the surfers tackle the point break, and found them messy but fantastic. He also insisted on making breakfast both days we were there, whipping up a huge Kiwi breakfast our last day there. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten 3 large sausages at breakfast before, but you do what you have to do.

Becky works her way through the big kiwi breakfast: eggs, sausage, toast, and baked beans

One of the best perks of staying with Leon was that he got free DVD rentals from work, and with good DVD weather, we took the opportunity to catch up with some of the pop culture that we’ve missed out on this year. Verdict: Pan’s Labyrinth was excellent, Blades of Glory was surprisingly funny, Children of Men was alright, and we never need to see Transformers again. Ah, to be watching new movies again…

Leon and Andrew in downtown Raglan

Our last night with Leon was quite memorable, as we went out to the local hot springs with him and a couple kids from his youth group. Moral of the story: Leon has done his research and read a bit of our blog. The hot pools were nice, but the best part was the possum-hunting expedition the ride home became. Let’s just say that they did their patriotic duty in ridding the country of a few destructive possums, though the road may be a bit worse for the wear after some of the boys’ misfires. Now all that’s left is to actually go back to Auckland, hopefully we can handle the big city after nearly a year out in the back blocks.

Gisborne Golds And The Wild Blue Yonder (Oct. 29 - 31)

After our premature departure from Taranaki, I managed to convince Andrew that we should take in the final bit of the country we had yet to visit – the East Cape. Jutting out into the Pacific Ocean and isolated from much of the rest of the country, the East Cape is definitely not on the major tourist routes, which, to be honest, is almost always a plus for us. However, it had been described to us by some as “hillbilly country,” which put us off during our first pass through the North Island. Other more reliable sources later told us that the East Cape was not to be missed due to its sunny weather, stunning coastlines, and relative isolation. It’s also home to a large Maori population, providing more of an authentic cultural experience than, say, a touristy hangi in Rotorua. Plus, there is a lighthouse to visit, so say no more… East Cape, here we come!

Earlier in the week we’d arranged to stay with a young couple in Gisborne, a pair of Wellington refugees who’d fled its windy weather for the sunny climate of the east coast. They’re there for Tanya’s early childhood education university program, while Andrew (her partner, also known as Cozzie) works variously as an artist, house painter, and tennis coach. In Gisborne, they’re able to rent a house a block from the beach with a guest bedroom, sleep out, garage, and large yard. We arrived early on a Sunday afternoon and quickly settled in to get to know one another over an adult beverage or three.

Basking in the sunshine in Gisborne - we're not totally looking forward to the upcoming N. hemisphere winter

The next day we made our requisite pilgrimage to the local brewery, Sunshine Brewing, who make a range of quite reasonably priced and well-made brews. A rigger and a pint glass later and Andrew was one happy beer geek. We also ventured up to the lookout spot over Poverty Bay at Kaiti Hill, featuring one of the heaps of Captain Cook statues (though it apparently isn’t actually him) commemorating his first landing in the area. We were loving the blue skies and beautiful weather and returned back to Tanya and Cozzie’s to enjoy some time in the sun in their backyard and to partake in our recently procured Gisborne Gold. Unfortunately, Andrew, Tanya, and I finished off the beer before Cozzie got home from his afternoon tennis lesson. He was a good sport, though, and went to the grocery store (three times) to restock and get supplies for that evening’s barbecue.

Tanya, Marley, and Cozzie - no points for guessing that they're reggae fans

That evening we were treated to a proper kiwi barbecue with several of Tanya and Cozzie’s friends from the area. The evening featured a jam session with a guitar and drum circle. There was also some fire dancing, as Tanya and Cozzie showed off their skills on the poi and staff, respectively. Once again, we felt really lucky for meeting such incredible people through CouchSurfing. Cheers, guys!

The next day our outrageous good fortune with CouchSurfing continued when we met up with Kelly Thompson. Kelly had shifted (moved) to Gisborne years before and had recently signed up with CouchSurfing to spread the good word about her adopted home. Although she does not have a couch for people to surf, she is quite happy to show them around the area. As such, we met up for an afternoon with Kelly as our tour guide.

She first took us on the (naturally) very windy road to the Morere Hot Springs where we spent several hours lounging in the natural hot pools. Even though it was a Tuesday afternoon, the pools were filled with a veritable united nations of people, with representatives from New Zealand, the U.S., Holland, Scotland, and England. I always enjoy the natural thermal areas, and they’ll definitely be missed when we return to the States.

Next, Kelly took us to the Gisborne airfield for the highlight of the afternoon (and one of the highlights of our entire trip). Her husband Glen is an aircraft engineer who also builds and flies his own acrobatic airplanes. He had offered Andrew and me the chance to go for a scenic ride in the open cockpit bi-wing airplane complete with acrobatic tricks. Andrew and I could hardly say no to such an opportunity, although I was a bit hesitant about the acrobatic tricks portion of the flight. My Dramamine supply ran out weeks ago, and I had forgotten to pick up the ginger tablets recommended by Clare, our CouchSurfing host in Taupo. Anyway, I agreed to go first, and Glen and I discussed hand signals to be used during the flight (two thumbs up = great time! Give me more!, two thumbs down = land this plane immediately!). He also gave me a plastic bag, in case I decided to be “unsociable.”

Becky doing her best Amelia Earhart impression

As we sat in the plane getting ready to take off, I kept thinking, “I can’t believe I’m doing this.” My previous small plane experience consisted of taking a 40-seat puddle jumper from Harrisburg to New York, nothing like flying in a two seat open aircraft! Glen told me to not be worried as he made his way to the runway, “I have to drive like I’m drunk because I can’t see where I’m going when I sit in the back.” Minutes later we were taxiing down the runway and were in the air.

It looks like a bug, but it's just us, doing stunts at a couple thousand feet

The scenic part of the flight was amazing in itself. Andrew and I have never really had the opportunity to see New Zealand from the air (unlike Mom and Don who took a flight from Auckland to Christchurch). The landscape is amazing from up high, and we had perfect weather to appreciate the view of the land and the sea. I had responsibly decided not to bring the camera with me due to the second part of the flight – the acrobatics. Glen informed me over the radio what was to come next – barrel rolls, spins, and flying upside down. It’s hard to describe the intensity of being in airplane that is seemingly defying the practical rules of aviation. It was incredible, and Glen got lots of “thumbs up” before we returned to the earth. Fortunately, I also managed to remain sociable until we were back on the ground and discreetly sneaked away to leave my lunch behind the building.

Andrew was up next. It was a good thing that I went first, otherwise I would probably have never agreed to get into the plane. It was amazing watching the performance from the ground, and Andrew was definitely given a much more intense performance than I was. With his thumbs permanently stuck in the “give me more” position, Glen was more than happy to oblige. When they finally returned to the earth, Andrew immediately laid on the ground to try and recover from the ride. The adrenalin rush, even more than the continuous loop-the-loops, is enough to twist one’s stomach into one hell of a knot. Even with all that, Andrew managed to keep his lunch down - well done.

This is actually the 'after' picture, after we had some time to compose ourselves

So cheers to Kelly, Glenn and their two girls for showing us a terrific time at the Gisborne Airport. We were seriously lucky to come across them on CouchSurfing, and won’t ever forget them, or the death-defying rides in the family plane. Something tells me this is going to be a tough CouchSurfing experience to top, whew!

Top Of The Mountain In Taupo (Oct. 26 - 28)

Bidding Taranaki farewell, we turned our sights east. Since we weren’t going to spend our remaining pre-Auckland time in Taranaki, Becky reckoned that we should really see the East Cape, a heavily forested, quite rural, and strongly Maori region on the opposite side of the island from Taranaki. Much like New England, there really are no direct east-west roads on the North Island, so it’s quite a haul, making a stop in the center of the island a good idea. We had tried to Couchsurf around there with a couple in February, but they’d been away in the States when we passed through. We had heard nice things about them, so we figured we should try again. When we emailed them they said they could host us over the weekend, so we thought great, and got on our way.

The amazing blue water at Huka Falls outside Taupo

We arrived in Taupo around mid-day, and promptly ran into some Red Sox fans on the street, who informed us that the World Series was on that day. With nothing on the agenda for that afternoon, we thought we should catch the end of the game. Funnily enough, we know where to see American sports in Taupo: the same sports bar where we watched the Super Bowl in February on our last pass through. We got a kick out of the randomness of the whole thing, but I think some times you just have to accept that the universe obviously wants you to watch sports. I certainly wasn’t going to fight the universe on this one.

The mandatory photo of thermal activity at the Rotorua mud pools

After the cosmically predestined game we headed out to Reporoa, where our Couchsurfing hosts Brad and Clare live. As they live on a mountainous section of her family’s property, we saw that they had a nice, long driveway. As Becky says, we’ve found that we always have had nice experiences with people who have long driveways. Brad and Clare’s was certainly no exception, as they came out to give us a ride up the really washed-out top part of their drive in their ute.

Brad and Clare's mountain hut - check out the view!

When we reached their home, a hunting hut perched on top of a small mountain, we were awestruck by the view and tremendous location. It seems that everywhere we go, the places we stay just get more scenic by the day. Once again, Couchsurfing comes through, amazingly. The hut was originally built by Clare’s dad as a hunting retreat, and on the rustic interior it shows, with bunks and hunting trophies the main adornment. But the view is really the thing with their place.

We spent a couple nights with Brad and Clare, and had a great time just chatting and hanging out in the mountain chalet. They’re just really cool and outdoorsy people, so Brad knew everything about hunting in NZ, and on his day off took us touring around the property in his ute, showing us how to track various wildlife. Clare is a former adventure tourism worker who can tell you all about the ups and downs (well, mostly downs) of abseiling. They also had some cool experiences, as they’d lived in Haast, on the west coast above Fiordland, and in Chch.

The view of the valley on our 4x4 tour of Brad and Clare's property

They were also keen about the States, as they’d Couchsurfed in the US and Canada for almost five weeks on a massive snowboarding trip earlier in the year. All in all, experiences and people like this are what make Couchsurfing such a great way to travel. Yeah, being able to stay places for free is a boon to any traveler, but getting to stay somewhere amazing like this, learning about the area from the locals, and just getting to meet really cool people is what makes the whole thing magic. Cheers, guys!

Becky, Piper, and Clare at the mountain hut

Dispatch From The North (Oct. 20 – 21)

Andrew has insisted that I finally take a turn at this blog writing thing and suggested that I write the “farewell to the South Island” post. It’s not his worst idea, actually, as teary goodbyes are one of my specialties. We had a nice send-off from Arapawa with all the remaining Radons waving goodbye from the wharf as we sailed back to Picton (all except for James, who was already pre-occupied with the blue motorbike).

Andrew and I say farewell to Arapawa Island

From Picton we headed to Blenheim to spend one last evening with the boys from Renaissance Brewing, barbecuing with Brian, his fam, and Andy and his giant children. Seriously, who is going to cook for us on the North Island? Brian made a very nice toast to Andrew for all his efforts to spread the Renaissance beer gospel on the South Island. It makes us feel as though we’ll be missed on the Mainland. Here’s hoping the Renaissance guys make a good fist of it, and if/when we return to NZ, we’ll return to an even bigger operation.

The next morning we enjoyed a nice breakfast, and spent a few hours entertaining the kids (OK I entertained the kids while Andrew watched the Springboks beat the Pommies in the Rugby World Cup final) before heading through Picton once again, this time to catch our ferry back to the North Island and civilization, more or less. Several months ago I would have really been looking forward to the trip back to the North Island, since the closer we got to Auckland, the closer we would be to our trip home. In June, while toiling in the vineyards of Marlborough, I had decided that I had had enough of the backpacker lifestyle. I even made a few teary phone calls home and started making alternate (albeit implausible) plans to go to Oktoberfest or Barcelona. I managed to stick it out, however, and now our departure date of December 2^nd seems to be approaching all too rapidly.

Andrew enjoys the calm seas on the ferry

All in all we spent eight months traveling around the South Island, north and south, east and west, looping over track numerous times. We didn’t really have a set-in-stone itinerary, which becomes painfully obvious when you look at our Jauntlet map. But for us much of the adventure of the trip was in not really having a plan. People have asked where we spent our time in the South, and all we can really say is “all over.” I tried to retrace our route in my mind while the ferry slowly moved through Tory Channel, but only got as far as our flight from the dirty flat in Wanaka before I was distracted by our final trip past Arapawa Seafarm (second house from the end as you head into Cook Strait). For the most part, time has seemed to move very quickly, although we could look at certain pieces of the trip (see Lemon Tree Cafe) as being interminably long. The details will soon start to fade, and soon we’ll only remember the good bits.

Our final glimpse of Arapawa Seafarm as we return to the North Island

Moving away from more philosophical ponderings, arriving in Wellington again it was a bit surreal to find ourselves back on George’s doorstep (see CouchSurfing) after having first met him in February. We stayed with him shortly before our departure from the North Island, when all the best parts of our trip were still ahead of us in the South Island. Now we have less than two months to go until we leave New Zealand for good (or at least until the 2011 Rugby World Cup). George was just as we remembered him: friendly, talkative, enthusiastic. Since we saw him last, he had visited the states, went kayaking in Fiji, had a relationship, switched departments at work, and torn down all the gib (drywall) in the guest bedroom. He even found the time to sew a prototype of his new blanket, which we are certain will turn the blanket industry on its head for years to come. What have you done with your last eight months, whew! We spent a cruisey night in the capital splashing out for thai takeaways and chai gelato for dessert (this counts as really living it up for us).

George's amazing blanket! (patent pending)

After watching Borat, Andrew and I crashed on our respective couches. On our first visit George’s living room was dominated by a queen-sized bed set up to accommodate guests. It has since found a new home – in someone else’s home – so we took the couches, making this perhaps our first actual “couch” surfing experience in NZ). The next morning we woke up early to beat the morning crowds at the local cafes. George knows all the best places for brunch with a view and took us to Maranui Surf Club Café for pancakes with bacon and banana (an NZ specialty… you should try it!). Then we hit the road north. We’ve had to say quite a few goodbyes in this country already, and I’ve already shed quite a few tears. I can only imagine my reaction when we get on the plane in Auckland. But we’ve got heaps of time til then, literally weeks!

A couch with a view, from George's living room window

More Guests for Becky (Sep. 20 - 21)

Pre-script: We’ve been meaning to get some of these posts up for awhile now, but internet access isn’t always constant in NZ, you know how it is. For more details of our trip with Don and Linda, click here .

On Thursday morning, after months of planning and back-and-forth emails and calls confirming various travel details, we welcomed Becky’s mom Linda and her dance partner/friend/(someone think of a good term to describe middle-aged boyfriend), Don into NZ at the Christchurch airport. After about 26 hours of flying from the east coast of the States, they were happy to finally arrive at their destination, though they looked no worse for the wear. Having picked up and dropped off people on five trips so far, we’re getting to be old pros at the Chch airport, though that doesn’t mean I managed to park in the best lot. However, I am getting closer, so if anyone else wants to visit, I promise to park in the most favorable lot next time, in case that might sway your opinion.

Linda and Don are all smiles as they arrive in Chch

Luckily for L&D the weather over the South Island cleared up in time for their arrival, affording them great views of the Southern Alps from the sky as they flew in to Chch. We’re getting to think we should’ve flown out of Chch at some point to get such a view of the South Island, as it sounds lovely. Our lot is so tough… Anyway, congrats to Don, as this is his first time out of the country, and he had to finally get his passport to make this trip. I guess if you’re going to wait this long to come overseas, it’s good to do it in style and fly all away around the world. Good on ya, Don.

Also fortunate for our visitors is that they weren’t very jet-lagged, having slept a good portion of the LA-Auckland leg of their flight, as we had a good drive planned for the day of their arrival. Since they’ve come to visit while we we’re still on the South Island and we’ve frankly driven around the southern circuit enough by this point, we’ve planned an itinerary to take them around the northern part of the South Island. And so on the first of their 12 days in NZ, we had a drive along the east coast planned, up to Kaikoura, just a few hours north of Chch.

Along the way to Kaikoura, we made a few stops, dropping by Kieran at the Brew Moon as he was brewing up a batch of his black beer, and then out to Gore Bay, a prototypical NZ beach – secluded, empty, full of cliffs, and largely undeveloped. Out in Kaikoura, the weather was again cloudy for us. We’ve driven through Kaikoura 4 or 5 times now, and all but one time it was cloudy, which is really too bad because the town is really something when the weather is favorable. Unfortunately, we can’t believe that that happens much of the time there. Still, we managed to take in a walk and see a few seals (mostly sleeping, but still) along the way before dinner. All in all, a pretty full first day for our new arrivals.

Don is king of the world at Gore Bay

On the next day we headed out of Kaikoura since there wasn’t much we wanted to do there. To wit, most of the activities in Kaikoura revolve around whale-watching (which is expensive here, causes Becky and Linda sea-sickness, and which they’ve done back home), or lobster eating (which is also quite pricey and which Don doesn’t enjoy at all). So heading north towards Blenheim really made the most sense.

On the way out of Kaikoura the weather really improved, allowing us to see the snow-covered mountains to the west and the sea stretching forever on the eastern horizon. This gave Don an opportunity to make good use of his new video camera. He has since filmed heaps of tape; hopefully he gets a good editing program or his friends and family are in for a long evening at some point in the near future, hehe. After a few hours on the road, twisting and turning through the mountains we made it into Blenheim.

With a good afternoon to kill in Blenheim we went and did the Wairau Lagoon walk, recommended by Becky’s 202 Great Day Walks in New Zealand book. It was a nice little walk which lived up to its billing of “elegant flatness”, though I don’t believe the book mentioned the charming sewage treatment plant on either side of the park’s carpark. Still nice overall, though. After the walk we stopped by to see the guys at Renaissance, where Brian showed us his new flash bottling and labeling machines and insisted we take a box of beer along, which I agreed to only so that we could show Linda the beer we’ve been selling. Yeah, that’s the ticket, for Linda.

Andrew and Becky enjoy the elegant flatness at Wairau Lagoon

A few weeks ago when Becky was planning the itinerary she emailed Chris and Martin, the couple we Couchsurfed with in Blenheim in late June, and asked them if they’d like to get together for a coffee when we were in town. They replied by saying why didn’t we all just come to stay the night? Eager to show L&D the wonders of CSing, we took them up on the offer, and arrived late in the afternoon. In yet another gracious turn Chris prepared a proper Kiwi dinner for all of us with a lamb roast followed by pavlova for dessert. Just heavenly.

Chris puts the finishing touches on a delicious pavlova

A good part of the reason that we headed towards Blenheim with L&D so quickly was that they’d wanted to see a rugby match while they were in the country, and that Friday’s Tasman-Canterbury match in the Air New Zealand Cup series was the only one that really worked with the itinerary that Becky was working on. After our huge meal we headed to the match, and it was a real cracker. Since the teams are rival clubs (both feed the Crusaders, Chch’s professional team), Lansdowne Park was just about packed, and the local Makos (“Go the Makos!”) came out really firing against a much bigger and talented Canterbury side, even taking a lead into halftime. Unfortunately for the locals Canterbury exercised its muscle in the second half and took home an unconvincing win. Still, a great night for rugby, and we were glad to get to a provincial match out in the country, far from the glamour stadiums and more antiseptic atmosphere of the bigger cities. After another full day, we started the drive back to Chris and Martin’s, where everyone passed out nearly as soon as we were home. I foresee a busy 10 more days ahead.

Go The Makos!