Rotorua, New Zealand

Day 5 Rotorua, New Zealand

Wake up, catch the bus to Rotorua, meet up with Coner (a writer) and Antje (an artist) and we ride to Rotorua.  I still don’t know where I’m staying yet, but Conner and Antje tell me they’re staying at the Funky Green Voyager.  We wander over, it looks cool, and so that will be home for the next couple of days.  It’s a small place, painted green obviously, and feels more like a home than the other hostels I’ve stayed at so far. We grab lunch at the mall across the street.  I get ‘New Zealand Fish and Chips’.  I’m not sure if it was delicious because I was so hungry or because it was really that good.  Doesn’t really matter I guess.  Antje draws a picture of me in her book as we eat and Conner tells me about Laos.  I’ve found that everyone is extremely knowledgeable about the world out here.  All of the places I plan on going, someone has been there before and offers plenty of advice (go here, don’t go there, India is shocking but worth it, etc)
I then go off and grab some things I need: a daypack, sunscreen, super glue, another shirt, a couple pair of socks (because I left 2 pair in Waitomo…fuck.  And this normally wouldn’t be a big deal but when you only have 5 pair total, you’ve lost almost half your socks!)

I then head out to do the Lonely Planet’s Walking Tour of Rotorua.  I borrow a copy of the book and head off.  The town is situated on a lake and the Maori culture is big in this town.  Over 25 percent of the population is Maori (the original settlers of the island…kind of like the Indian tribes in American).  The first thing you notice about the town is that is smells like sulpher, everywhere.  The town is famous for its hot springs (think Yellowstone National Park) and there are lots of smoking pools and vents everywhere.
I walk by a young man who says something in Maori to me.  I respond with ‘How are ya doin’.  He says ‘I didn’t say how are you doing, I asked if you had a smoke’.  I say I don’t and move on.

I start to lose daylight as I walk through the park where there are lots of smoking pools.  There’s not really anyone out anymore, so I pick up the pace a little.  I hear a woman (local and Maori) call from behind me.  She tells me she’s looking for her sister in the park.  I tell her that I haven’t seen her, and we start walking and talking.  I start to get a bit nervous as she yells her sister’s name.  Is she calling for someone to rob me?  I have 500 dollars worth of electronics in my pocket and more cash than I want to lose.  She asks me if I’m the Queen of England’s son, and I tell her I’m from the States.  Finally we see a couple people approaching, her sister and brother.  She gives me a hug and tells me to enjoy New Zealand and walks off.  I smile for a minute realizing that no one is out to get me.  I wouldn’t walk by myself at night through many parks in the States.

On the way home I stop by the grocery store, grab some noodles, vegetables, and a big beer.  I make dinner in the hostel about 10pm and talk to the others in the kitchen.  One woman from Sweden has bought a car and is traveling around for 3 months, everyone else is from Germany.  We talk about the thermal pools which people can swim in (I’m doing this tomorrow), bungee jumping, and the best places to enjoy New Zealand wine.   I decide that I really like the Germans, and then go to sleep.

Lake "I forget the name" in Rotorua

Day 6 Rotorua, New Zealand

I start the day off with an apple. I wander outside to the smoking gazebo (mostly because it provides shade, but I later realize that it is a prime location to meet people) in the courtyard and start scheming about what to do on my last day in Rotorua.  I decide not to do any Maori cultural things; something about paying 80NZD to watch people sing, dance, and parade around on a stage doesn't really appeal to me.  I decide I would have done it if it was free.  In the end, I decide to take it easy and hang around the hostel for the day.

I meet a Swiss guy who comes out to have a smoke.  He tells me he has rented a car for 3000NZD for 3 months.  He also tells me about a road-trip he took 10 years ago around the USA, down through Central America, and down to Bolivia in South America...with no internet or GPS!  We joke about it being like traveling on the Oregon Trail but come to the conclusion that if you've never had it you don't miss it.  We discuss what kind of gadgets we will have in another 10 years.  Technology evolves so fast these days.

I meet a guy from England and have the standard conversation; whats your name, where are you from, where are you going, where have you been, not much more before he puts out his cigarette and heads back inside.  I continue researching where to go after New Zealand.  A girls tells me about Fiji last night and I contemplate whether to go there or go to Australia.  I don't make a decision.  I decide to walk down to the lake en-route to the spa.  It's about 7pm.

    

I see a couple sitting next to the water with a baby duck.  There's a cage next to them, not sure what exactly what the story was with this.  I see a bunch of black swans in the water, and am surprised how big they are.

I then discover a street festival, there's a band playing (two guys with guitars actually), and I listen for awhile. I check out all the booths. People are selling all sorts of things from jewelry to waffles.  I pass by a stand where they have a machine that mixes vanilla ice cream and whatever kind of berries you want together into a cone.  I decide I can't live without the blackberry/vanilla mix, so I get it and head toward the spa.  I run into the Canadian guy from Waitomo, tell him about the spa (only costs 20NZD), and tell him to meet me there if he wants.  I never see him.    

I arrive to the spa at about 8:30, and the woman at the front desk asks me if I have ever been before.  I tell her no, and she then proceeds to explain that the green pool has saltier water and it good for your muscles, the other ones are good for something else.  I don't listen too closely...seems a little astrology-esque.  

There are 7 pools, each has a different temperature right on the lake.  I walk out and immediately see a bunch of Chinese people...like over 100.  I'm officially a minority, but it  doesn't really bother me.  At one point while moving from pool to pool I pass by a European looking guy, we nod and look at one another like we have just done some kind of secret mental handshake.  You see, the Chinese like to come and go in huge tour buses in New Zealand, and I've never met a single person from China yet.  It like they are some kind of collective consciousnesses; like the Borg (for the Star trek nerds) or something.  They travel in packs.

At about 9:30 the buses must be leaving because the place empties out.  I take over the best spot in the pool closest to the lake and do one of those poses where you put your arms over the edge of the pool and rest your head on them, looking out into the lake.  Pretty relaxing.  A Czech guy and a Dutch girl from the hostel wander over and we talk for a while.  I show them Jupiter and the girl tells me she thought they were all just stars up there ;)  Cringe.  We also talk about how hard it is to photograph things in New Zealand.  Everything is so much more amazing when you are there in 3D.  When you snap a picture and put a border around it, you lose 3/4 of it.  She tells me, "but if you can take a great picture, you can then go back and remember how much better it is in-person".  I agree.

  

I stay until the place closes at 11pm, and float back to hostel.  I end the day with apple.

Maori guy

Waitomo, New Zealand

Day 3 Waitomo, New Zealand

I was planning on going to Raglan, a big surfing town with some cool beaches but the weather is supposed to be cloudy, so I scratch that idea and go to Waitomo instead.

I arrive by bus in the morning, grab some tea at a country store, and walk about 2 miles to the nearest hostel.  I have a feeling that walking is going to be a common activity out here.  Not really a big deal though considering the countryside is pretty unbelievable.  The air in the country is fresh, and smells like honeysuckles the entire walk to the hostel. This place must be some kind of utopia. I check in without reserving a room this time.  I quickly realize reserving rooms on-line is for rookies. If you get there early enough in the day, they always have plenty of space.  The Korean girls I'm rooming with for the next two days seem to agree.

I'm in Waitomo to explore the glow worm caves.  Apparently, they are only found in New Zealand and Australia.  I go to the 5:30 tour because they tell me most of the tourists are gone by then that come during the day in buses.  I arrive early, talk to the guy working the front (from Washington state) who tells me to go across the street and do some tramping (Kiwi term for hiking) up the mountain.  There is supposed to be a good view.  I do.  On the way to the top I see a couple, and I ask how far it is to the top.  "Not far, about another 500 meters"  I continue on not really knowing how far that is.  She turns back around and tells me she just got engaged on the top. "I just needed to tell someone!" she exclaims excitedly. Her fiancé nods in agreement.  I congratulate them, tell them I'm honored to be the first one the know, laugh, and continue on.

Back at the caves, the tour begins.    The tour guide takes us through the cave explaining the specifics of the cave ecology and so forth.  We then get in a boat and ride down the river...in the cave.  It's pitch black except for the hundreds of thousands of glow worms on the top of the cave.  It was like looking at stars in a really dark sky.  It was awesome!  The guide instructed everyone to be dead silent, no pictures.  It felt like I was in some kind of dream or something floating down an underground river with glowing worms dotting the cavern walls.  More of this to continue tomorrow except there will be repelling equipment, and wet-suits involved.  Should be wild.

The only other noteworthy thing about the day was dinner.  I ordered a hamburger and fries at the only bar in the area.  The burger had a slice of beet and lettuce (Dwight Shrute would be proud) and it was surprisingly good.  The ketchup tasted a little different too, not bad, just different.  It's kind of neat how even familiar things are made a little different, and taste a little different out here.  

Walking to the hostel

Countryside

Day 4 Waitomo,   New Zealand

I start off the day doing more glowworm caving.  Glen is our guide, somewhere around my age, painted head to toe with tattoos.  There is a group of 8 of us; 3 from Singapore, 2 from Denmark, 1 from Germany, and me and another guy from the USA.  We start the day off with a standard issue wetsuit, caving boots, harness and abseiling (repelling) lessons.  We then pile into a van and head to the cave.  The guide puts on some type of electronic/reggae music which I like.  We start by repelling down about 120 feet into the cave, followed by a short walk through the cave. Along the way the guide gives a lesson on the caves, glowworms, etc.  He asks us if we know what the caves are made of (limestone) and how long it takes a stalagmite to grow 1 cm (100 years).  I volunteer the answers while everyone else is silent; perhaps thinking I’m some kind of Jeopardy champion.  Truth is I learned all of this from the tour I went on yesterday.  I didn't offer that information though.

We then zip-line to another part of the cave in the dark and they give us hot chocolate.  At this point my I start to worry that I was duped into some stupid tourist excursion.   Luckily I was wrong.  We hand back our cups and walk deeper into the cave to the underground river.  I see a bunch of black tubes which I only imagine are for floating down the river to see the glowworms.  The guide tells us that we can either jump from a 3 meter platform into the river or take the steps down.  I was the first in line and of course go for the jumping option.  I step up to the platform, look down, and immediately look over to Glen to confirm that I’m supposed to jump and keep the tube under me (you want me to do what!)…since it kind of high and we are jumping into pitch black water in a cave.  I hit the water, which is freezing cold, and follow a rope down the river.  Everyone else follows.  There are glowworms everywhere.

We then ditch the tubes and continue on foot, the water was shallow.  I see and eel in the water, and move on.  One of the girls from Singapore falls over into the deeper water and the guide gives her a piggy back the rest of the way into the shallower water.  This shit is no joke.  We rock climb up a couple waterfalls with guidance from Glen (the girls from Singapore take another easier route) and we finally make it out into the light of day.  Crazy.  Back at the starting point they give us lunch and everyone hangs out.  The German girl bought the pictures and said she would send them to me via email.  I learn that her, the guy from the US, and I are taking the same bus to Rotorua tomorrow and that they are engaged.

Back at the hostel I decide to read for about an hour before doing some tramping on a 3.3 km track through the countryside, into the rainforest, and around a couple more caves.  I sit down on the porch outside hoping the read, but instead start talking to an older man from Canada.  We talk for an hour; I pick up my kindle, put it away, and head out to the trail.  I see all kinds of crazy birds, one of which was a parrot…like a real red, green, blue, yellow colored parrot.  I had no idea they even had those here.  It reminded me of seeing some episode of Lost where the people see a polar bear in the middle of the jungle.  Odd.  It’s dark when I get back, the guy is still sitting on the couch outside and we talk about Amsterdam, having kids, saving money by not having a car, etc.  The stars are plentiful and I notice that Orion is upside down in the Southern hemisphere.

Glowworms!

Best. "Torch." Ever.

Move it cows!

Auckland, New Zealand

Plane to New Zealand
As I’m sitting on the 14 hours plane ride to New Zealand, the beginning of a new lifestyle, there is an equal mix of excitement, nervousness, relief, and fear.  It’s kind of like the first day of school or the first day of a new job; you’ve showed up but you don’t know exactly how it’s going to be yet.  You don’t know anyone, you don’t know the routine, and you don’t really know what you’re going to be doing in any detailed sense.  There are too many unknowns to settle down just yet.  There’s also that recurring thought of ‘holy shit, I’m so fucking far away from anyone or anything I know’.  It’s kind of surreal and also humbling.

First people on earth to see the sunrise

Day 1 in Auckland
Auckland, New Zealand is a wild mix of places and people.  It’s almost a mix of England, Australia, and some Asian country, maybe Japan with a little dash of Los Angeles.  People drive on the wrong side of the road like England.  Peoples accents are some kind of mix between English and Australian and there are Asian influences everywhere.   There are sushi places on every corner, I ate pho for dinner tonight, and I passed at least two legit karaoke bars (the Japanese kind, not the redneck trailer trash kind that I’m used to back home).  There were artists playing on the main street; some guitar, some flute, a couple magicians.   There’s a mix of palm trees like some tropical island and big oak trees like in Mississippi.  The water is the harbor, and everywhere else for that matter is turquoise green.  There are all the fastfood places from home, though for some reason they all look like nice restaurants.   


Some guy helped me with directions, I didn't even ask. The people are very nice.


Saw some poor girl trying to decipher one of those free maps of the city.  I smiled realizing it was a wise decision to bring a smartphone with google maps. 


Some old guy, sitting in a restaurant, waved me over to play a game of chess.  I kept walking and immediately regretted it.


I saw my first ‘Occupy’ rally.  Odd that I had to fly halfway across the globe to see one of these.  Apparently the people had been camped out for over 50 days. There were tents everywhere near city hall.


Saw a boat full of people dressed up in superhero costumes, obviously enjoying a couple beers.  Magneto yelled across the water asking if there was any crime which needed to be stopped.  I laughed and said "No, not that I know of"  If i wasn't so tired I might have come up with something a bit more witty.


Some little girl was practicing piano at one empty part of the harbor.  She was surprisingly good so I stayed and listened for awhile.  Not sure how she got a piano out there.


Sat under a huge Christmas tree with 100s of other people in bean bag chairs in the harbor.  There must have been 200 just sitting around for people to use.  It was oddly comforting.
  
 Good first day in New Zealand.  

Auckland Harbor at night

Christmas Tree

Day 2 near Auckland
After a decent night of sleep I decided to be a bit more adventurous.  I booked a 30 minute ferry to a volcanic island (the entire island was a volcano) called Rangitoto.  The weather forecast called for rain, and it was spot on. It rained more or less the entire day, but a little rain never hurt anyone, so I went. Of course, I did have a top of the line rain jacket and water-proof khakis.  Yet another time I was proud of my gear.  I didn't get wet all day.

I met a girl from Germany on the trail along with a couple from France.  We explored the island together all day.  The girl from Germany was wearing jeans, and the girl from France was wearing some kind of spandex.  They got a soaking wet, but continued to laugh it off even as we were hiking around the crater at the top with the wind blowing pretty hard.  At least it wasn't really raining at the top since we were in the clouds at that point.  It was kind of like being in a cool, wet steam room.   On a good day, you're supposed to have a great view of the harbour but being in a cloud was just as cool.

On the way back, we met an American who was in town for work.  We commented that he must have a crazy job if it was taking him from California to New Zealand.  It turns out that he was a computer programmer working for some marine biology company.  We proceeded to nerd out for a bit until the ferry arrived back in Auckland.  Everyone parted ways.  It seems that friendships only last for a short time out here.  People meet up, enjoy the time spent together, and then go off to wherever they are going next.  For me thats Waitomo about 3 hours south in the country.         

Rangitoto Island from ferry

Initial Motivation

Walden Pond, Massachusetts

I watched a Steve Jobs graduation speech awhile back, and something he said stuck with me: "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

He was basically saying, find something you believe is important and do it.  So my simple answer when someone asks me 'why' is that I think it is important to see new places, meet new people, expose yourself to new and oftentimes fear-inducing and uncomfortable circumstances.  It allows you to grow.

I also find the freedom appealing, and exploring the world for an extended period of time is true freedom. There are no alarm clocks, no deadlines, no strict schedules, you can literally do whatever you want whenever you want.  The concept of a weekend becomes meaningless because everyday is a weekend.  This of course can be dangerous for the unmotivated.  Without a boss dictating the time on your alarm clock, you are left to make your own schedule, to do your own planning, design your own life for awhile.

Perhaps Thoreau expressed this point the best:   "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if f I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

I think I had reached a time when I just needed to stop, reflect, and slow down for awhile. Ever since college started I really never stopped working, whether it be school or career. I was always going 100 mph and its true what they say, you get out exactly what you put into the things you do. I got two degrees and a job where I worked myself into a great position. I worked hard, and I was actually very happy during the entire period, all the way up to the end. I did however want a new type of challenge though and  I certainly don't need ‘go find myself’ or something pathetic like that.

To teach myself to live deliberately, to face my fears, to explore the unknown, to combat the sedentary comforts which make people lazy, to satisfy an inner curiosity, to feel true freedom, to have a really really ridiculously fun time, these are the reasons I want to go.