A face on the bus
that one companion
or study buddy.
Travelers on the road
from necessity relationships born
and friendships formed
or not.
And then they are gone.
But the faces remain imprinted
on my mind like footprints
of a long gone wanderer in a
long gone wood.
Fading.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Going home
It has been a long time since Independence Day. I say that because it was on the 4th of July that I boarded a plane and came to New Zealand. Tomorrow I board a plane and return to the US, and all I can say is that it has been a long time since the 4th of July.
It has been a long time since I waved goodbye to my parents at the airport, as the escalator descended into the subway. It has been a long time since I showed up in Palmerston North and they didn't even have a room ready for me. It has been a long time since I started classes, and thought they would be a breeze. It has been a long time since everyone I thought of as friends abandoned me and went to Wellington one weekend early on without even telling me. Since I met up with a crazy American named Jackie, and she invited me to her Christian small group. Since I went tramping with the alpine club. Since I first had to stay up all night to get some of the assignments done. And since I did a million other things which all defined my experiences here.
People ask me if I've had a good time in New Zealand. Of course I have, and of course I tell them that. I know that I most definitely have. And yet, such qualities are tough to measure. When I first left for New Zealand, I was very apprehensive to say the least. At times I wasn't even sure I wanted to go. And now, it is the eve of my return home and I can think of nowhere on Earth I would rather be than home. So if I barely wanted to go, and now I want to be home, how can I possibly say that I had a good time?
I believe the measure of my experience rests in the relationships and bonds I formed. Put aside my 'vacation' around the South Island for a moment. How I really measure and prove that my time in New Zealand was worthwhile was in how difficult it was to leave Palmerston North. The city itself was not very exciting, nor was the weather any good, but out of everything I have done in my entire trip, leaving Palmerston North was the hardest. It was so hard because I had to say so many goodbyes. I tried to deeply imprint the faces of all my friends in my mind so that I would not forget them. I would try to hang out with a group again, just so that some event would not be the last time I saw someone.
I guess what I am saying is that I am very excited to get home, but I will undoubtedly miss Palmerston North. And in someways, I can't even imagine what it will be like to return home.
It has been a long time since I waved goodbye to my parents at the airport, as the escalator descended into the subway. It has been a long time since I showed up in Palmerston North and they didn't even have a room ready for me. It has been a long time since I started classes, and thought they would be a breeze. It has been a long time since everyone I thought of as friends abandoned me and went to Wellington one weekend early on without even telling me. Since I met up with a crazy American named Jackie, and she invited me to her Christian small group. Since I went tramping with the alpine club. Since I first had to stay up all night to get some of the assignments done. And since I did a million other things which all defined my experiences here.
People ask me if I've had a good time in New Zealand. Of course I have, and of course I tell them that. I know that I most definitely have. And yet, such qualities are tough to measure. When I first left for New Zealand, I was very apprehensive to say the least. At times I wasn't even sure I wanted to go. And now, it is the eve of my return home and I can think of nowhere on Earth I would rather be than home. So if I barely wanted to go, and now I want to be home, how can I possibly say that I had a good time?
I believe the measure of my experience rests in the relationships and bonds I formed. Put aside my 'vacation' around the South Island for a moment. How I really measure and prove that my time in New Zealand was worthwhile was in how difficult it was to leave Palmerston North. The city itself was not very exciting, nor was the weather any good, but out of everything I have done in my entire trip, leaving Palmerston North was the hardest. It was so hard because I had to say so many goodbyes. I tried to deeply imprint the faces of all my friends in my mind so that I would not forget them. I would try to hang out with a group again, just so that some event would not be the last time I saw someone.
I guess what I am saying is that I am very excited to get home, but I will undoubtedly miss Palmerston North. And in someways, I can't even imagine what it will be like to return home.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Life on a farm
A farm? Yes. A farm. A sheep farm at the bottom of the world.
For the past couple days I have taken a break from travelling and settled down on a sheep farm near Invercargill, the southern most city in New Zealand. The farm is run by two people who are old friends of my mother, and coincidentally friends of several other family friends.
This farm is a quiet place in the countryside, and it does provide a much needed rest from travelling. The Kiwi Experience bus I have been on has been very fun. However, seeing sites and travelling every day, and then seeing more sites gets a bit exhausting. On the day I arrived here I had been up since early in the morning either on a bus, or hiking through the rain in the Catlins. That day I got to see seals, sea lions, and a penguin who belonged to the worlds rarest species of penguin.
So here I am on a farm. It is a small farm, only about twelve hundred sheep. We are in a quiet house surrounded by rolling green hills dotted with white sheep. The birds sing and the sheep 'baa'. Betty and Gillian (the owners of the farm) have made it my job to feed a group of lambs who have no mothers each night. They always run out to greet me.
Yesterday Betty and Gillian took me out to see some of the southern coastline around here, and I got to see a whole lot more seals, as well as the southern-most point of the southern Island. I have stood at the northernmost point of the North Island, and the southernmost point of the South Island.
Tomorrow I am getting up early. I have a big day, I am travelling from here to Invercargill, then to Te Anau, to Milford Sound, a boat cruise on Milford Sound, and then back to Queenstown. And it's even more amazing to think that I will be home next Monday. Wow.
For the past couple days I have taken a break from travelling and settled down on a sheep farm near Invercargill, the southern most city in New Zealand. The farm is run by two people who are old friends of my mother, and coincidentally friends of several other family friends.
This farm is a quiet place in the countryside, and it does provide a much needed rest from travelling. The Kiwi Experience bus I have been on has been very fun. However, seeing sites and travelling every day, and then seeing more sites gets a bit exhausting. On the day I arrived here I had been up since early in the morning either on a bus, or hiking through the rain in the Catlins. That day I got to see seals, sea lions, and a penguin who belonged to the worlds rarest species of penguin.
So here I am on a farm. It is a small farm, only about twelve hundred sheep. We are in a quiet house surrounded by rolling green hills dotted with white sheep. The birds sing and the sheep 'baa'. Betty and Gillian (the owners of the farm) have made it my job to feed a group of lambs who have no mothers each night. They always run out to greet me.
Yesterday Betty and Gillian took me out to see some of the southern coastline around here, and I got to see a whole lot more seals, as well as the southern-most point of the southern Island. I have stood at the northernmost point of the North Island, and the southernmost point of the South Island.
Tomorrow I am getting up early. I have a big day, I am travelling from here to Invercargill, then to Te Anau, to Milford Sound, a boat cruise on Milford Sound, and then back to Queenstown. And it's even more amazing to think that I will be home next Monday. Wow.
Monday, November 15, 2010
My big day
Mom, I apologize for the heart attack I'm about to give you. Really.
Think back to a time when you were at a mall, one of those verticle ones with six or seven stories. You are on the top floor with the food court. Now, have you ever looked over the edge, down at that huge drop to the bottom floor, and wondered, just for a second, what it would be like to jump?
Well I just found out. I did a bungy jump. I was at the Kawarau Bridge, 20 min outside of Queenstown. It is the original home of bungy. I got to jump in front of all my friends of the Kiwi Experience bus. It was a 43 meter drop, and I got a bit wet.
So yeah, check it out.
Words really cannot describe it. Somewhere deep down my subconcscious understood that I was not about to die, so I was not scared for my life. Yet, what I experienced was the sheer and enourmous terror that only such a situation can bring. I was falling down the middle of a canyon. And there were no supports for myself visible. I also knew that I would be hitting the bottom because I would be partially submerged in the water. I'm still a bit rattled by the immensity of the experience.
In other news, I'm writting this from Dunedin. I did my big jump yesterday, and then rolled into Queenie (Queenstown) that afternoon.In the afternoon I went to the top of the gondola. I hiked up because I was far too cheap to pay for the gondola, and the station at the top did not look very far away. At the top I got some beautiful views of the whole area.
That night I had to say goodbye to a lot of the people I knew from the Kiwi Experience bus because I was leaving in the morning. Most people spend a lot more time in Queenstown, but I had a schedule to keep, and my schedule had become even tighter when I missed that bus in Picton. So here I am in Dunedin. Tomorrow I will see that Catlin Islands, and then arrive in Invercargill where I will be staying with some old family friends for a few days. They own a sheep farm.
Again Mom, I'm sorry.
Think back to a time when you were at a mall, one of those verticle ones with six or seven stories. You are on the top floor with the food court. Now, have you ever looked over the edge, down at that huge drop to the bottom floor, and wondered, just for a second, what it would be like to jump?
Well I just found out. I did a bungy jump. I was at the Kawarau Bridge, 20 min outside of Queenstown. It is the original home of bungy. I got to jump in front of all my friends of the Kiwi Experience bus. It was a 43 meter drop, and I got a bit wet.
So yeah, check it out.
Words really cannot describe it. Somewhere deep down my subconcscious understood that I was not about to die, so I was not scared for my life. Yet, what I experienced was the sheer and enourmous terror that only such a situation can bring. I was falling down the middle of a canyon. And there were no supports for myself visible. I also knew that I would be hitting the bottom because I would be partially submerged in the water. I'm still a bit rattled by the immensity of the experience.
In other news, I'm writting this from Dunedin. I did my big jump yesterday, and then rolled into Queenie (Queenstown) that afternoon.In the afternoon I went to the top of the gondola. I hiked up because I was far too cheap to pay for the gondola, and the station at the top did not look very far away. At the top I got some beautiful views of the whole area.
That night I had to say goodbye to a lot of the people I knew from the Kiwi Experience bus because I was leaving in the morning. Most people spend a lot more time in Queenstown, but I had a schedule to keep, and my schedule had become even tighter when I missed that bus in Picton. So here I am in Dunedin. Tomorrow I will see that Catlin Islands, and then arrive in Invercargill where I will be staying with some old family friends for a few days. They own a sheep farm.
Again Mom, I'm sorry.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Franz Josef
I spent today exploring the the Franz Josef glacier. It is one of the lowest glaciers in the world, and on either side of it is rain forest. There was a low cloud ceiling, so the best I could do was catch glimpses of the surrounding mountains. Still, it gave whole region a sort of mysterious majesty. I did a six hour hike to get out to my vantage point.
Tomorrow: Wanaka.
Sunday: Queenstown
Right now: More photos
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
A little more explanation
It always seems like I'm in a hurry. When I wrote that last post I was running off to catch the bus to
Wellington. All day before that I had been running to make sure that I would be able to get things packed on time and be fully prepared for my final.
I have a lot more about the second half of the semester that I want to say. Unfortunately, I learned that keeping up with a blog is harder than it looks. Even now I am counting the 9 minutes left to write this before my time expires. When I get back home I will write a lot more about the second part of the semester, how tiring the assignments were, how wonderful some of my friends were, the awesome christian fellowship I got involved with, and the hours I managed to waste procrastinating so that I had time for nothing else.But not now. 7 minutes left.
So I am travelling the south Island now. Today was a little bit rough, not because of the waves on the water crossing over to the South Island, but because the bus I was going to take to Chch left Picton without me. Long story. Anyway, I got to spend a bunch more money and get things worked out. I gain a day in Christchurch and I lose two in Queenstown. I'm still on track to take a the Kiwi Experience tour bus down the west coast, into Queenstown, around to Dunedin and Invercargill (where I'm saying with some old friends of my mom), and then to Milford Sound and back to Queenstown and back to Christchurch. Easy as.
I'll try to keep this updated whenever I get internet. I even have a USB camera cable so that I should be able to upload pictures before I get home.
Wellington. All day before that I had been running to make sure that I would be able to get things packed on time and be fully prepared for my final.
I have a lot more about the second half of the semester that I want to say. Unfortunately, I learned that keeping up with a blog is harder than it looks. Even now I am counting the 9 minutes left to write this before my time expires. When I get back home I will write a lot more about the second part of the semester, how tiring the assignments were, how wonderful some of my friends were, the awesome christian fellowship I got involved with, and the hours I managed to waste procrastinating so that I had time for nothing else.But not now. 7 minutes left.
So I am travelling the south Island now. Today was a little bit rough, not because of the waves on the water crossing over to the South Island, but because the bus I was going to take to Chch left Picton without me. Long story. Anyway, I got to spend a bunch more money and get things worked out. I gain a day in Christchurch and I lose two in Queenstown. I'm still on track to take a the Kiwi Experience tour bus down the west coast, into Queenstown, around to Dunedin and Invercargill (where I'm saying with some old friends of my mom), and then to Milford Sound and back to Queenstown and back to Christchurch. Easy as.
I'll try to keep this updated whenever I get internet. I even have a USB camera cable so that I should be able to upload pictures before I get home.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
And I'm off
I'm off, out for summer, and have a bus to catch in 20 min. I'm heading down to wellington tonight, and then I will spend the next 16 or so days travelling the South Island.
I better get to that bus...
I better get to that bus...
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