Doubtful Sound

So we finally got to Doubtful Sound. We had a boat, bus, boat tour with about 90 other intrepid souls. I think we were the only tour boat on the lake that day, with a few other scientists' boats and others around. It was incredible. I loved Milford Sound when I was there before, but it was definitely more of a tourist destination. Many more people and boats. Rich went crazy with the photos, but I only took about 50. I liked just sitting and watching the scenery and trying to absorb it, so that when I'm freaked out at work, I can go back there in my head. One of the coolest aspects of the tour was when they took us into an arm of the fiord (its really a fiord not a sound) and turned off all of the engines. It was silent. Your could hear the water, the birds, the wind, but nothing else. Silence. We don't have much of that in our world anymore and it was a great moment.

Here are some of my favorite shots (yes, Rich I promise to purchase the flickr account (soon) and post everything):




That night we drove into Te Anau (I swear no two Kiwi's pronounce it the same, and I can't say it to save my life). We had a fantastic dinner and while Rich was taking his photo of "Wong Way" he missed the shot of a lifetime:
It's kind of hard to see, but this is a busload of Chinese tourists heading into the local Chinese eatery. It was great. I'm sure they were disappointed. We also found a miracle cream in Te Anau for the sandfly bites. It was amazing. It helped so much. They are evil. EVIL,

The next day was very interesting considering it was Good Friday and we had a 10-hour drive ahead of us. In New Zealand, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and Easter Monday are holidays. Not much is open. On the Friday and Sunday, almost nothing is open-legally. Petrol stations, some restaurants, and that's it. We were driving through tiny little ghost towns all day. And at times, there was fog. It didn't help. Eerie! We did have our amusements along the way. In one store we saw this:
Which made me stop. Especially when you see the whole image:
Yep, that's two men overcoming their fear of big nuts. I'm so happy for them.

We got to Dunedin around lunch time. Compared to two days before, you would think the apocalypse had happen. This is a bustling city normally, but the streets were empty and most businesses closed! We ate lunch at a little place we'd eaten breakfast at before. They add a surcharge of 15% on holidays because they have to pay a fine for being open! So different. While lunching there, we both had to use the facilities. The facilities had pets:

There's fish in that thar pond!

We made it safely to Christchurch, stopping to admire the views along the way. Unpacked and got ready for the wedding of Luke and Bronwyn. That's next.

The trip continued

I've been lackadaisical about finishing the story of our fantastic trip! So I'll write more and see how far that gets us.

On March 19th, we shopped a bit around Dunedin (I bought a beautiful merino wool shawl-came in useful at the wedding) and went to the Otago Museum. There was a really cool special collection of DaVinci's machines. Some of them we even got to play with! We then visited the rest of the museum where I had a horrible allergic reaction to something (we think mold). I didn't bring my inhaler, which was stupid, but I managed to keep myself calm, drink lots of water, and breathe, and finally my system settled down. With that we decided it was time to head to Lake Manapouri for our tour of Doubtful Sound.

With Rich at the wheel, we left Dunedin and drove through beautiful countryside to such great towns as Gore and Clinton. We stopped and got groceries somewhere, because we weren't sure of the food situation in a tiny town like Manapouri (it was fine, but you never know). I thought I had booked lodging in Te Anau (the town that no one in New Zealand can say the same way twice), but it turned out we were down the road, closer to Doubtful Sound. Sometimes I amaze myself.

This lodging was also good. We had an incredible view of the lake.
And Rich took great photos (that you can see on his Richypants account on flickr). We had a great restaurant next door. And our neighbors below us? Alpacas. Yep. I wanted to take them home!

This one like me!

That first night as we were settling in, I got to watch sheep dog trials on the telly. It was great. The four-time national champion was in danger of losing his crown, but through sheer determination and grit, he and his dogs pulled it out. Wow. The intensity.

We got up the next day and went to Doubtful Sound. And got bitten by sand flies. The End.

Okay, I'll write more about that tomorrow. Don't want to finish the story too quickly. And remember:

What to do When You Miss Your 'Partner'

Dateline Lower Hutt.

I've been watching Rugby Sevens all day. After seeing the bloody Canucks beat the USA, I was a bit bummed. I mean it's one thing to loose to the All Blacks (the Kiwi's have something to prove after their dismal showing in the World Cup) 47-7, but to losing to Canada is a bit of an insult.

So I hop online and start Googling some of the terms that I've been hearing down here. Interestingly enough, the term "bollocks" refers to testicles, while "bullocks" refers to a castrated bull. According to an exhibit on immigration at Te Papa, rugby was started in New Zealand when some posh school boys inflated a "bullock's bladder" and started beating the tar out of each other.

While I was on Wikipedia, I typed in my own name. Needless to say, I have a common name so there were a few hits. Most famously I am a cricketer, a rugby league player, a congressman from my home state, the animator for Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, and the one-eyed guitarist for Kansas.

Then I decided to lookup Aimee's name. Needless to say, there is one famous Aimee that deserves mention. Here's a few videos:

"Love in a Vacuum"

"What About Love"

"Coming Up Close"

"Voices Carry"

jet lag sucks

I have jet lag. Bad. I'm exhausted at work, come home and wake up! Rich and I were on the phone until after 1am last night and now I'm up heading to work. I'm sure I'll be a super effective librarian today. As I have the weekend off, I'm tempted to just sleep, but I know that that won't help me get to work next week. Argh. So jet lag sucks.

I want to be a cat.

And sleep all day. And no jet lag.....

New Template and More Photos!

So - I've FINALLY finshed uploading all of the photos that I took. The link to view them is here: Richy Pants' Photos. Here are a few of my favorites:

Aimee needs caffine:


Dusk at Lake Manapouri:


@#$!ing Sandflies!


Auckland Harbor from the Sky Tower:


Doubtful Sound was stunning!


Driving was always a joy (were it only true):


Road signs were always, uh..."interesting."


We found more beautiful sunrises on the way back from Manapouri:


Moeraki Beach is unreal!


...And the Otago Penninsula is unreal!


If you are interested, here is the route that Aimee and I took:

View Larger Map

..oh yeah - and I tweaked the blog template around a bit. Consider it a work in progress for now. Feel free to comment!

Penguins

One last note, I had to come home to figure out the penguins. It turns out that the penguin rehab is outside of Moeraki (where Rich and I saw a great sunset). Here's a link to the trust: Katiki Point Penguin Charitable Trust. Check them out.

I'm Back!

Hi all,

Just a quick note to let you know that I indeed made it back into the USA. No dicey moments or anything. I was stuck in coach, but luckily the plane was only 2/3rds full and since Rich had a seat next to me that he wasn't in, I had the row of three seats to myself. Not quite as good as business class, but doable.

I also flew standby on an earlier flight into Portland, so I got in at 3:45 instead of 8:00! That was great. I got home, unpacked, went through the mail, talked to the neighbors who watched the kitties, talked to the kitties (it took until today for them to talk back to me), and finally collapsed around 1am. F#$%*(#&$*&g jetlag. I got up at 10:30 this morning. I don't normally sleep past 7:30. How am I going to make it into work tomorrow? I'm actually tired after a day of doing nothing. NOTHING. I literally had to remind myself to eat today. So I'm off to bed and sleep (thank you xanax) and I'll be at work in the morning.

I'll go back and fill in the holes on the rest of our travel adventures. And include photos. I have to upgrade my flickr account first. But here's a photo of Spike making himself at home on the merino shawl I bought in Dunedin.


BTW, I love American highways. We may not do a lot of things as well as other countries, but by all that is holy, we build amazing highways where cars can go and go fast!

Rich's Photos

Aimee and I had a wonderful time touring New Zealand. Doubtful Sound was stunning:


Southland was most interesting - and driving was always quite an adventure:


...and after getting back to Auckland, we spent some bucks and went up the sky tower. They have glass floors in that structure:


Probably the best way to look at the photos that I took (all 500 some odd) is by date. The link is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/richypants/archives/date-taken/2008/03/calendar. I will be posting more pictures as I work today - so make sure to check back.

As for today, we got up at OMG:30 to get to the airport. She slept in the lounge (see posting below). We spent a few hours in Sydney - but alas the knit shop she wanted to visit was no more. We then went to the Opera house, and then back to the airport. Aimee didn't get the upgrade for the flight - and I'm doubtful that she's going to get on an earlier flight to Portland from San Francisco.

It was a bit of a tearful farewell as well. Aimee was upset that we wouldn't be together for the next few weeks...I told her that she would be cursing me as she was flying over New Caledonia and Fiji. '...#@$! him. I'm sitting in coach and not in business class....what a @!$!ard!' I'm writing this as she is in the air. Mom, if you are reading this, please understand that she knows you and Dad were married when I was conceived...

im in ur lounge, stealing ur ZZ's

Aimee is getting ready to come home today. Here she is in the Auckland airline lounge doing what she does best:

Lola

A few years ago, our cat Lola (a.k.a. "Bitchy McPhee") got into my suit case. This posting reminded me of that...


see more crazy cat pics

The BiDave Video

Earlier, Aimee and I were telling you about the hostel we stayed in in Nelson where the toilet was in the shower. I commented that it was, a "BiDave." Here's what I meant:

And then three days passed by....

If you are reading this (which obviously you are), please forgive the length of this post. I have many days of adventure to fill you all in on.

I'm not sure I've expressed the true horribleness of the backpacker's we stayed at in Nelson. Besides the stiff as a board (a three-inch foam camping mattress on plywood does not equate comfort) bed, the tepid shower, and the lack of room for manuevering around each other, we also had to deal with an infestation of biting insects. We aren't sure what attacked us, but leaving was sweet reward. We are covered in bites from something. It turns out that cortisone is a controlled substance so I had to promise my first-born child in order to get some.

Back to Sunday... We enjoyed a wine tour of Nelson and the surrounding area. Dani and I did this same wine tour seven years ago, so I went ahead and booked with the same company. We had a rather annoying tour guide (well-informed but constantly nattering), but good company. We went to two wineries I'd been to with Dani, but the others were new. We purchased 7 bottles of wine, two bottles of olive oil, and some yummy fejoia chutney. It was a fantastic day. We then discovered a local pub called the Sprig and Fern. They brew their own beer and cider and they are unpasteurized. This means we couldn't buy it to bring back, but it was great. Too great. We got a little tipsy and then decided to walk into Nelson for dinner. We had great Thai (truly it seemed great at the time, who really knows) and then stumbled back to the backpacker's. After packing and sleeping, we got up early for a flight to Queenstown. Our taxi didn't arrive as promised. Argh. We finally got on. She rushed like crazy to get us to the airport only for Rich to discover he'd left his passport in our room. He called the hostel, they rushed it by taxi to the airport and we barely made the flight! During our layover in Wellington, we left a poster tube with an antique map in it in the terminal. The tube hasn't turned up yet, so it may only exist in our memories from now on, but it was a beauty. The South Pole in German from the mid-nineteenth century. Argh.

We got safely to Dunedin and picked up our rental car. It is a Toyota Yaris manual. Yep, manual. That means we are shifting left-handed. Good times. So far so good. It's tiny, which works well on these narrow streets. We spent the rest of Monday shopping and sight-seeing in Dunedin. It is a beautiful city. The town center is laid out in an octagon! The art museum is free. The train station is stunning and we had a lot of fun. As it was St. Paddy's Day, we found an Irish pub to celebrate in. We heard great live music and saw some Irish dancers.

Our new backpackers is 100% better than the last. Our room is quiet and clean. No infestations. The shower and toilet are separate. Amazing technology that. It is a short walk to the center of Dunedin and everyone there has been very friendly. I highly recommend it.

Today we drove out to Larnach Castle on the Otago Peninsula. It was a stunning day. Blue skies, few clouds, and warm, but not hot. We couldn't have ordered better weather. I have tons of photos of the bay and the gardens at the castle. Stunning flower gardens. We then drove out to the tip and saw the Albatross colonies (but no albatross). Another great view. Then Rich, being the great guy he is, helped me find two yarn stores on the way back. One is a small Romney sheep farm that has factory spun, undyed wool. It was fabulous and cheap. The other was a little old lady (polio survivor) selling handknit jerseys out of her home. She doesn't really sell her handspun yarn, but she found some bits for me and I bought what I could from her. I have some grays, orange, and a nice blue/green/red blend, as well as a piece she had already knit but wasn't working. I'll frog it and use it for something else. She was great to talk to and it was an experience I've never had in the States! She had us in her home and showed us around her beautiful gardens. It was fantastic.

Rich and I then drove back to Dunedin and headed north to the Moeraki boulders. We drove past them at first to try and see penguins in Oemaru. Alas, the penguins were out to see, so we missed them. We did get to Moeraki to see the boulders (google them) as the sun was setting. I found an intact Paua shell (google that too) and some other shells unlike I've ever seen. It was a magical day. We finished it at a Korean restaurant that I ate at during my first trip here with Dani and Shannon (remember it?). It was still great and filling. Overall Dunedin is a fantastic city.

Side note: when I was here seven years ago, we somehow found our way to a penguin rehab hospital and got to hang out with the penguins. It was a highlight of my life. But I couldn't retrace my steps. Oh well. Maybe the memory is best left as is.

Tomorrow we will go to the Otago museum and see some butterflies and pieces by Da Vinci. Then we head west to Te Anau for our trip to Doubtful Sound. Cross your fingers that our great weather holds and we see seals, dolphins, and penguins on our trip.

I hope you all have a chance to visit New Zealand one day. This is my third trip and I love it more each time. The food has improved. The wine is great. And there is wool to be knit. Now the chocolate needs to improve and then we can discuss emigration.

Madame Librarian on Youtube

So Aimee and I found a lovely little microbrewery in Nelson. While I was looking through my various electronic devices from my utility belt, she started rocking out on her ipod.

Do you know that insipid O-Zone song, Dragostea Din Tea? It's Aimee's 'happy' song. Here's what I am subjected to every morning:



...Well, Aimee starts listening to that on her ipod. Meanwhile, I got my electronic fix and started to video her. Oh that my camera had sound:

The World's Most Beautiful Sunrise

So here it is: Our seven hours (photographically) in Samoa. We even got stamps in our passports.

Here's a montage of the sunrise. Clicking on the pictures will open it up larger. Enjoy!

Sunshine and heat

I choose to live in a place that isn't exactly sunny. Even the loosest definition of a sunny climate would not cover Portland, OR. But it's a choice that I enjoy most of the time. By March, however, every cell in my being is craving sunshine and heat and its not to be had for a bit longer (if at all-see last summer's temps for example). We've actually had sun this Feb./March but not with any heat. At last I have sun and heat. And it's delightful.

Rich and I are on a budget this trip, since the South Island of New Zealand does not tend to cater to business travelers, we can't use hotel points like we normally would. As a result, we are staying at a backpacker's hostel. Backpacker's are interesting in New Zealand. They range from very nice to grungy and cater to students. I've stayed at both in the past. The one we are staying at in Nelson is pretty middle of the road. I warned Rich before I booked it that it would be noisy, but we decided to go ahead and be brave. It's very noisy. As in NOISY! There are two six-bed dorm rooms behind our cottage (double bed, with two twins overhead and bathroom) and at least one has six girls staying in it. I know a lot about their sex lives and I've never seen them. One really likes Norwegian men. As well, we had a school group staying in the other part of the hostel last night. 10 year-olds gone wild. We toured around after dark and found the Magic Bus. There was magic happening there of the kind that is illegal in the States. After looking at the Southern sky we decided to hit the sack. I took Xanax, put in the earplugs, put on the eyemask and went to sleep. Poor Rich kept getting awakened by school children, the women cooking the students' brekkie, and drunk girls coming and going. Two more nights and then off to another in Dunedin. May it be somewhat quieter.

We had breakfast at a fab cafe this morning. Nothing like a flat white (better than a latte, less milk, but more milk han a cappuccino) and food. I had berry pancakes with a banana and whipped cream on top. Yumm. And we talked to two lovely ladies from the UK. Breakfast was so filling, that we still haven't eaten except for some gelato. We then went to the local arts and crafts market and found some great things to splurge on.

We've been wandering around Nelson on bikes today. I've been close to losing my life 4 times. Everything is on the other side of the road and its confusing. I'll plow on and live. Once we are done at the cafe, we are off to a pub crawl. Drinking and biking should be even safer for me.

Okay enough blathering for now. Thanks for the comments!

First entry new blog

Today is the start of the first day of my new blog. As I type this, I'm sitting in an email cafe in Nelson, NZ! Its a cafe I came to seven years ago with my cousin Dani (hey Dani). Much has changed in Nelson. It seems to be an entirely different town from what I remember. But before I go there, I'll go back in time to the start of this journey.

Rich and I left Portland on March 11th for a flight to LA. All was good in the world. We then caught a flight to Samoa. Why Samoa? Well when traveling on frequent flier miles, you often get screwing routing and that's what we got this trip. We had a seven-hour layover in Apia Samoa! We'd never been there, so it was an adventure. We had planned on sitting out our 7 hours in the airport lounge waiting for our plane. However, the airport is so small that it is only staffed when planes are coming or going! So we had to enter the country (new passport stamp)! We had to wait for the Samoans to figure out what to do with us, so there was much walking back and forth, but we were finally allowed entry. It was a humid morning with no breeze so we left the airport and walked out to the large fountain with lights and loud music. Welcome to Samoa it screamed! Since the sun was about to rise, we decided to walk towards it and see the sun come up. It was amazing. Bright colors and friendly people were around. Everyone we passed greeted us. (We will definitely visit in the future.) We headed back to the airport with 5 hours to go. We waited here and there. Rich found and internet cafe and I slept. We ate. We shopped at the one open store. And waited. Finally it was time to go! We checked in again--were assured we wouldn't have to pay an exit tax-since we were never really there and that our luggage had beat us to Auckland (key to the upcoming story). We then tried to exit and were told to head to the bank for the exit tax! We talked them into exempt status and went back through customs and security. Samoan security is stricter than ours! I had to explain why I had nasal spry for allergies! We got on the plane, ate and slept.

I forgot to mention that we were business class the whole way and it was the best trip ever! OMG it was great! I wish I was independently wealthy and could fly business class every where. The food is unbelievably good. The wine and drinks flow. You lay back to sleep (far back). They give you socks, eyemask, toothbrush, toothpaste, and more! It was lovely.

We arrived in Auckland, but our baggage did not. And Air New Zealand had no idea where it was or when we would get it! We had nothing on us. Okay, I had one clean pair of undies (thanks Mom for that lesson). So we took a taxi to our hotel (the Hilton Auckland-a winner in my book) and went shopping. Kathmandu here we come. Kathmandu is not sized for larger women. I found one t-shirt and socks and a waterproof anorak for our upcoming trip to Doubtful Sound! I was almost in tears, fearing the worst. I figured it was sitting on a runway in Tonga. Seriously. We ate and went to bed in exhaustion (after washing what clothes we had in the sink and scrubbing travel muck off).

We got up this morning and shopped at a local discount place (like K-mart). I found clothes that fit and happiness was had. We were heading into the hotel when I spotted Rich's bags! I almost did the happy dance in the lobby of the Hilton (they wouldn't have appreciated it), but I waited until we got to our room. While Rich re-packed, I returned our purchases (except my new pink Birkenstocks flip-flops Tudy!) We ran for our plane and landed in Nelson a bit later.

It is very warm here and sunny. So nice after our gray winter. We are staying in a backpacker's lodge that I thought Dani and I had stayed in during our last visit, but I was wrong. This one seems very nice-pool, hot tub, sauna, kitchen, and our own cabin. The toilet is technically in the shower, but for $52 kiwi per night, I can handle that. We're wandering around the center of Nelson. It is much bigger than I remember and I can't find any of the shops I recall. We'll explore more tomorrow at the artists' market.

Tomorrow we wander. Sunday we whine (okay we drink wine and beer) Yummm. I'll post more of our adventures. But I want all of you to take a moment, bow your heads, and thank whomever you want/need to for clean underwear. When you don't have it, you sure do miss it and the world is not a happy place.

Cheers