Mom & Dad: I pick up hitchhikers

New Zealand is, apparently, the only safe country left to hitchhike in and pick up hitchhikers. While I haven’t done the former (and don’t plan to given our great rental car), the latter has become one of my favorite things over the past few days. So far, we’ve had 7 hitchhikers in our smokin’ Toyota Corrolla:

1) Miguel: from Spain, has been traveling for 19 years. Julie met him at a vegetarian restaurant in Christchurch and we agreed to let him ride with us until we got to Dunedin, where my aunt and uncle live. When we got there, my aunt and uncle invited him to stay at their house, so we didn’t leave him until 2 days later, when we left him on the side of a road heading south.

Julie and Anne saw him on the top of a mountain during their 3-day trek about one week later. What a small world….

2) Emily: from New York, but her dad lives in Madison. I met her in the Te Anau Visitor’s Center bathroom when she asked me about shuttle buses to a trek she was doing. Knowing that the shuttles had all left by that time, I offered to drive her, as it was only about 10 minutes down the road.

Unfortunately, she left her Nalgene bottle in the car but, since Anne lost her Nalgene on the first airplane we boarded on the trip, it is being put to good use.

3) Felix: from Germany, works in New Zealand for a cruise boat that tours Milford Sound ($80 for 2 1/2 hours). I was driving home from a hike up to a beautiful lake on the top of a mountain when I saw him on the side of the road with the customary thumb out. On a whim, I stopped and picked him up, giving him a ride back to the town where we were staying. When I asked him for cheap ways to see Milford Sound, which we were planning to tour the next day anyway, but didn’t know if we wanted to spend $80 for a boat ride, he told us that he could get us on the boat for free if we met him at the park the next morning at 9:30am. Before I dropped him off we introduced ourselves, with promises to see each other the next day…and sure enough, early the next morning he gave us passes onto the boat for free.

The free tour included a 2 1/2 hour boat ride with funny commentary telling us about all of the geological features, dolphins swimming within feet of the boat, and free coffee and tea.

4) Yoni, Gil, and 2 others: from Israel, all 4 of them with their 4 giant backpacks stuffed into our tiny car (and me). I was driving back to Te Anau to find petrol and lodging while Anne and Julie explored a little more when I found them on the side of the road, looking defeated. They had just done a 3-day trek and had been waiting on the side of the road for a ride for an hour, when I came along in my little car and told them that if they could fit, they could ride with me (but the trunk was full of our own packs). They agreed and stuffed themselves into the car, where they proceeded to talk really fast in Hebrew and then pop out a question to me in English every now and then. The best one:
Gil: What is your name?
Me: Lu-thee-in
Gil: What?!
Me: (sigh) Lu-theeee-in
Gil: As in Luthien from the Silmarillion??
Me: <complete shock>

I tell heaps of Americans my name and its origins every year, yet this Israeli hitchhiker picked it up right away. Awesome.

-Luthien

Tramping through Middle Earth

We just returned from a three-day tramp through the Fiordland National Park in the southwest. It was called the Kepler Track and is one of the nine great walks in New Zealand. The hike began early on Monday morning with a flat walk around Lake Te Anau, a crisp, clear glacial lake surrounded by mountains. The trail then brought us into the forest (aka “the bush”) and we began to climb Mount Luxmore. After alternating between huffing and puffing over the elevation and being in awe at the countless shades of green mosses, ferns, and trees surrounding us, we reached the treeline several hours later and were treated to a panoramic view of the area. To one side, we could see patterned yellow-brown farmland and the lake, and on all other sides were jagged, beautiful mountains and fiords. We lingered at the viewpoint for a good hour, watching the clouds and the landscape, quite content with the world, before continuing on to the first hut of the hike. Most walks in New Zealand have huts maintained by the Department of Conservation that come with basic cooking, sleeping and toilet facilities. The huts were a great place to meet other hikers, and we met other trampers from Germany, Austria, Israel, New Zealand, and Australia. Most impressive was three generations of a family that hiked up the mountain together: kids, parents, and grandparents.

The next morning we were awoken by the hut ranger and told that we needed to get moving as the weather forecast called for gale force winds of 90 km an hour later in the afternoon. Apparently we would be blown off the mountain if we waited around (eek!), so off we went. Whereas the view was sunny and clear the day before, for our second day of hiking we were walking through the clouds. We could see about 20 to 30 feet around as as we walked through light rain and wind over the ridge line of the mountain. While the view would have been great, the effect of staring over sheer mountain drop-offs into nothingness was pretty spectacular in itself. We could see silhouettes of mountain peeks in front of us as we went, as the clouds swirled around rock formations all around and water ran down the path. We climbed the summit of the main mountain of the hike, Mount Luxmore, and continued onward over several more misty mountain ridges. After about four hours of hiking, the path began its steep descent into a mountain valley through a rainforest that seemed to have awoken with the fresh moisture from the rain.

After another hut stay and more adventures meeting fellow hikers, our last day of trekking was quite mild and pleasant (only a bit of rain and then sun), as we walked on a mostly flat track through fern covered forests, past another glacial lake, Lake Manapouri, and on to the Waiau River and Rainbow Reach. For the Lord of the Rings fans out there, this is where they filmed some of the scenes of fellowship sailing down the River Anduin to Gondor. (: Looking back as we crossed the final bridge, we could see the mountain ridges that we had just crossed in the distance.

All too soon, we were whisked back to reality as a shuttle bus driver picked us up at the trail lot and returned us to the small town of Te Anau. Tomorrow we head to Milford Sound and then we’ll begin to make our way north past glaciers and more fiords. If you’re a fan of hiking, definitely add New Zealand to your trip list.

Kia Ora,

Julie

Thanks from New Zealand

I’m in Christchurch, New Zealand now and for the first time on the trip I’m actually staying at a youth hostel.  And while the hostel is quite nice and a bit eccentric really - it’s built in a remodeled historic jailhouse – it’s definitely still accommodations for the masses in my ten-bed dorm room. This led me to think that it is pretty wonderful that we’ve not had to stay at a hostel until now thanks to the kind generosity of friends around the world.  A few well-deserved shout-outs to them:

Thanks to Erin and Etienne in Tokyo, Japan who let us join them in their housing at the Canadian Embassy and showed us where to get the best sushi in town; to Kate in Nam Yang, South Korea who let us squash into her efficiency apartment and joined us in our travels south; to Josh in Bussan, South Korea who let us squeeze into his even smaller efficiency; to Rebekah, Andrew, Juno, and Alastair for welcoming us to their home right before Christmas – Alastair even gave up his room for us!; to the Kienhius family for kindly hosting us over the holidays in Melbourne and Ocean Grove and introducing us to lots of Aussie culture; and to Graeme and the crew at QDOS for welcoming us as wwoofers and giving us fine tree house-style accommodations.  And thanks as well to the many other friends (old and new) we met along the way who helped us experience the places we were visiting in ways we never could have on our own.

Tomorrow we are picking up our hire car and heading off to explore the south island.  I already miss being able to pop down to the Lorne beach, but it’s hard to be sad when New Zealand awaits. (:

-Julie

Australian Closure

So Lou and I are back at the Kienhuis’ in Canterbury today, soon to be catching a train to a bus to a plane to New Zealand. I am so excited to drive around that beautiful country listening to Paul Simon and whatever other music we unlock from the ipods we have been keeping to ourselves for so long… It is great to see the Kienhuis’ again, it brings some closure to our time here and time to say thanks again.

Our experience in Australia has been excellent, I’m a bit sad to leave all the great people we have stumbled upon along the way, but refreshed by life and its randomness. Yesterday as we were leaving our WWOOF location in Lorne, I just couldn’t wipe the smile off my face– Qdos was such a nice change from the urban sightseeing we had been doing so far, the Great Ocean Road was breathtaking, and the Lorne community was actually getting small enough that we ran into people we knew everywhere, ha! It was nice to actually feel apart of the cafe we worked at–able to recognize the coffee drinks we were serving and making some mean antipesto trays, pizzas, and toasties. I definitely wouldn’t mind visiting that beautiful place again and I wish good luck to all the characters we met while we were there!

Last night over dinner (which was burgers with all the normal vegetables, plus a fried egg and slices of beet root) I shared my photos of our treehouse accommodation, Great Ocean Road travels, and bush walks amongst the waterfalls of the Otway National Park in Lorne, and then my memory card cycled back to Tokyo and Korea and our first days here in Australia. I know it sounds sort of obvious, but I can’t believe have much we have already done! I really hope that all these amazing moments that we have shared with all of these great people will remain distinct in my mind as we pass the two month, three month, four month, etc, timepoints. I really think things will change pace as we enter India, Nepal, Thailand, and then Africa, but up until now things have been so easy… People have been so incredibly accommodating and open, I’m so curious to see what the future will bring…

Now we are off to the beauty of the Lord of the Rings, hired cars, couchsurfing.com, volcanoes, glaciers, and mountains galore!

Vrede,

Anne

Kookaburras and Koalas Galore

“So how can I find koalas?” I asked Graeme, the man who owns the cafe we are wwoofing at in Lorne, one evening over dinner.  He pointed up to the rainforest behind us and said all I had to do was walk in that direction.  And then he added that I might actually hear them first as they sound like pigs.  He made a noisy oinking snort-like sound for emphasis.  A little dubious, I headed up the trail after eating, torch in hand (oop, I mean flashlight), and face staring up at the trees.   As promised, I actually heard the koalas first.  Their cries are similar to pigs, somewhere between belching burps and grunts that sound far too loud for the tiny marsupials that make the noise.  I followed the sound up the gum tree it was coming from and saw a koala perched above.  So amazing!  Koalas are very picky eaters and only chew on the freshest eucalyptus leaves.  Since the leaves have almost no calories and are also very toxic to digest (thus requiring lots of energy), koalas don’t move a lot.  They sleep when they aren’t eating and some scientists believe that their brains are either shrinking or that they are too small for their heads due to lack of nutrition.  These thoughts aside, the first koala that I saw was wide awake and peering down at me.  I continued walking for another hour, and saw four more koalas.  One was even walking along the path in front of me, and I got to see another in action making the belching noise from a nearby tree, head thrust back and nose in the air.  Add in a gaggle of bright white cockatoos that were screeching around, a few random wallabies crashing through the forest, as well as kookaburras (which sound similar to hooting monkeys), and there was pleny of Aussie wildlife to see and hear.  During the moments that they quieted down enough, I could even hear the ocean in the distance.  All this only a few steps from the treehouse we are staying in at Qdos.  Happily, I have yet to see any of the poisonous snakes and spiders that also live in the area.

Our time in Lorne and Australia is coming to a close and in a few days we head on to New Zealand.  We rented a car yesterday to drive down the Great Ocean Road , and had a spectacular day (pictures coming as soon as we find a place to upload them).  The ocean is slowly beating away at the limestone cliffs that border the beaches, leaving amazing rock formations and coastlines to see, as well as some great swimming spots.  Oh yes, and one more bit of Aussie terminology for the day: Imagine your face being swarmed by small black flies.  Thankfully they don’t bite, but they do like to aim for your nose, ears, mouth, and eyes.  Now imagine everyone you see swatting at them and ta-da, you’ve got the Australian wave.  People were waving a lot yesterday and it was a bit hard to get a fly-free picture.  Despite that, this is still one of the most beautiful places that I have ever been.

More Adventures to Come,

Julie 

Attn: Internet Very Expensive

We’re safe and sound in Lorne, Australia right now. The main street of town is about 5 blocks long and contains only 2 Gelato shops, about 6 Fish and Chips shops, a Middle-eastern restaurant called “Arab”, and 2 pubs. More importantly, however, is that on one side of the street is the ocean and an miles and miles of beach and on the other side are forests of giant gum trees containing waterfalls and Koalas.

 We’re spending our days “WWOOFing” by working in a cafe that is housed in an art gallery (www.qdosarts.com) and our afternoons and evenings swimming and walking through the forests….

Unfortunately, Internet is $2 for 10 minutes, so that’s as long as this update can be for now.

 -Luthien