Pictionary!

So many things have happened in the past week, and i might eventually get around to posting them, but in the meantime I thought I'd share a night that Jeff and I found quite amusing...

So if you have been a lifetime ourlivesaskiwis reader you will remember Markus and Jonas, who are the Finnish guys we originally met playing ultimate frisbee in Nelson.  We also visited Markus in Greymouth recently.  Well they are here in Queenstown for a couple days as part of their South Island road trip, with another friend.  I insisted on feeding them, a value only my mother could have instilled in me.  I made a spaghetti bolognese with garlic bread, and Jeff made some veggies, and we bought some chocolate eclair ice cream (YUMMM).  They brought some wines from the vineyards they visited in Nelson (double YUMMM).  Dinner was great, but we needed to find something to do inside for the night because there were torrential downpours outside.  I rummaged through the upstairs closet only to find the most appropriate game for 3 Finnish people and 2 Americans to play together ... PICTIONARY!!

They are very competitive, and we tweaked the game a little bit so it was every man for himself, but damn! They all were ahead of Jeff and I by the end and Jonas won!  I was the most pathetic example of Americans playing a board game ever.  We were slaughtered by their accurate drawings and extensive knowledge of English nouns and verbs.  Maybe this experience was only funny to the 5 of us, but I never would have expected getting our asses kicked by them!  Although they do start learning English at a young age.  This is just a warning to everyone who likes to put big money on games of pictionary... People from Finland are really really good, OR Jeff and I are just really bad.

I PROMISE to get some pictures of Queenstown up soon!  It is too pretty not to appropriately represent through photos.

Queenstown - "The Adventure Capital of the World"

So apparently time runs a little faster in Queenstown... We have already been here for 2 weeks!  And I have not blogged once! It's way too easy to keep busy here, and I'm worried that I might blink and September will be here, or maybe things will start to slow down now that we are settling in, but I wouldn't count on it.  It is difficult to go into great detail about the past 10 days, so, again, I am going to try to highlight some of the more interesting moments using bullets (sorry).

In somewhat of a chronological order

• Jeff and I went out for our first Fergburger (The "best burger in New Zealand").  I think its a law that everyone that comes to Queenstown must try one because there is almost always a line outside, and people wait up to an hour for this burger. (It is open from 8:30am-5am).  It was delicious, but because of the sauces, the meat itself was not much more than any other american burger.  It probably is the best burger in New Zealand though.  While we were there we saw Gabriel, a boy we met on the Heaphy track.  He and his other French friend invited us to Cowboys for a beer (A bar Steve and Laurie had suggested to us on our way to Nelson from the Heaphy).  Cowboys is a really awesome bar with pool, shuffle board, and a mechanical bull.  We let some older man play pool with us so he bought everyone a liter of beer and I got to watch all of the guys attempt the bull ride.  It was a great night that started off with an impromptu trip to Fergburger.
• When something is going on in Queenstown (as there usually is on the weekends) everyone goes, so we thought we'd try our hand at properly attending the National Rugby 7s Tournament.  It is all of New Zealand's regions playing against eachother in a 2 day tournament, but it is a 7 on 7 game and is shorter in duration. We went with Dan, and you pay $10 to enter and because it is early afternoon you have no intention of drinking until you realize that is basically why everyone is there.  Dan and Jeff split a 6 pack of cans for $20.  Sadly, that isn't too outrageous for Queenstown.  
• I started my job at the Pub and I love it alot.  All of the people there are so nice and friendly, and they are from all over the world so they give some great insight and ask some funny questions about the US.  They come from the UK, Canada, South America, South Africa, NZ, and the US.  We went out with all of them and some of the other hotel people, and Jeff got along with all of the guys great, and from what I remember (or have been told) Ashley, Fran, and I spent a lot of the night dancing, telling boys they can't dance with us, and yelling I love you.  It was really fun, and apparently quite funny to watch.
• Jeff got a full-time job at Hertz rental cars working as a customer service agent or something?  Today is his 3rd day he seems to really enjoy it, and he will get to learn how to drive manual, well other than his motorcycle.  He teases me because he makes more money than I do, but I think I win after tips.  Either way we both have really perfect jobs that will let us enjoy Queenstown, its activities, and save for travelling once we leave New Zealand.
• Jeff's mom, sister Laura, and brother Tom are thinking of visiting in April/May which is super exciting, and I hope my mom will get a chance to come out too.
• We have a hotel co-ed basketball team, so there has to be 2 girls and 3 guys on the court at all times or you have to play a man down. So I heard this mentioned and wanted to go so that Jeff could play, and they said it was fine if he played as long as I played.  Jeff missed most of the first game because he was working, but when I got there I found out there was only one other girl there for our team so we had to play the entire 40 minutes!  I made one basket and we lost by one shot the first game.  There wasn't enough people to make up 2 full teams next game so they asked us to fill in so Jeff got to play, and I ended up playing a whole entire other game.  We got killed that game, probably because I took it easy :).  The second game had some aggressive boys so I backed off a bit because I have a tendency to get hurt in basketball.  I was fortunate enough to just be super super super sore for the next 2 days, and I will be there next week, and was even invited to play net ball on Wed nights (mostly because they need girls, and I have no idea how to play).  Jeff didn't like it as much as I did though, which I assumed he wouldn't when I knew there would be 4 girls on the court and most of the people hadn't played basketball before. There wasn't a strong defense or much strategy and he wasn't getting much playing time because there were so many guys, so it wasn't ideal for him, but I think there are more serious leagues coming up for him to join. 

That's about it for now, and I need to get ready for work, but Jeff suggested we start a little chart with the differences/similarities between a city like Philly and Queenstown to paint a better picture of the city, and speaking of pictures I will get some up here soon!

Love and miss everyone so much!!

Cheers!

Jeff & Nicole's Hitchhiking Adventure

So there comes a point in your life when you go on a long hike, you have to hitchhike 400km back to your car, and by the time you get settled in the next city, you're so far behind on your blog that you have to summarize adventures, leave out some details, and get on with reality... Welp that's where I am at.  Too much to put into detail in the blog, but I will try to summarize, and happy to talk about on skype.

So I left off with us finishing the hike and arriving in Karamea (the town closest to the end of the Heaphy).  Basically we had to get up to the car (430km away) in the next 2 days to make it to the Heaphy start and down to our friend Markus in Greymouth (all the way back past Karamea).  It didn't go quite as planned.

The first day we got lucky enough to be picked up by Steve and Laurie (The American couple we met on the Heaphy) outside of Karamea, and they took us all the way to Nelson (approx. 5 hrs)!  After that it took 2 more days and 6 more hitches to get to the car at the start of the Heaphy.  It wouldn't have even helped to get there any earlier though because for the 3 days we were hitching it was pouring rain, and in the last 10km of the road to get to our car there are 3 water passes (basically a flowing stream with a cement road under it to drive through) that were over a meter higher than normal, so even if we got to our car during the rain we couldn't get out of the lot.

Our last hitch was on New Years Eve, around 1pm, and about 5 hours after the rain had subsided, after hitching 2 times earlier that day and walking about 15km already we only had 15km to go and a German kid stopped and picked us up, claiming to have been looking for a waterfall.  We were so hopeful we would end up at the track start before he found his waterfall, but only 3km away from the pickup point was the intersection for the waterfall.  We were discouraged, but the boy, Metaius, was insistent on taking us to our car despite our warnings of the possible high water passes.  We drove through the first one fine, and warned him that the second one is the worst of the 3.  We urged him to drop us in front of the second, but he claimed his brother told him his Subaru could drive through knee deep water and he and Jeff tested the water to be a little below the knee.  Metaius was excited to drive through the water pass!  (and we were excited to be getting a ride).  We kicked it into 1st gear and made it through all 3 no problem.  We found our car right where we left it!  We thanked Metaius and wished him good luck on his travels.

So it was 2pm on NYE and we were supposed to meet Markus, and we had no phone on the Heaphy so he still didn't know if we were coming or not.  We decided that we were too tired to get to Nelson (2 hrs) and grab the motorcycle then drive the 4hrs it would take to Markus (possibly in the dark on some really windy roads).  We charged up the phone and told Markus we'd see him the next day, then drove into Nelson, cooked and ate Cup Noodle in the car, grabbed some drinks, discovered this neat outdoor concert they had set up in town, watched some live music, greeted the new year with open arms, and slept in the car. :)

Sunset in Nelson on NYE

The next day was a long day in the car, and on the bike, but we made it to Greymouth in a little under 5 hours.  Markus gave us an awesome rate on a couples room and we just cooked up some amazing dinner and headed out to the pacific to watch the sun drop off the side of the earth... so beautiful.  The next day he took us to Lake Brunner, where we grabbed a tan and a jump of a bridge!  We decided to stay one more night because we were really exhausted from the constant go go go we'd been doing, but on the 3rd of January we were off to Queenstown!  Unfortunately the windy roads and the constantly changing weather wears on a lonely driver and the biker following her so we stopped to sleep in the city Haast, about 2.5hrs from Queenstown.  It was Jeff's birthday so we grabbed a nice dinner and a few drinks.

Sunset in Greymouth

Finally the day had come!  We arrived in Queenstown.  We instantly stopped at the McDonalds for their $5  coffee and muffin deal (and free internet) so we could start calling places to rent.  We were able to see 2 places the first day, but the first was too expensive and the second was smelly... That night we met up with Dan (our British friend we lived with in Nelson for a short while), and grabbed some drinks and live music. It was great seeing Dan, but sad to hear he might leave Queenstown soon!  The next day I had an interview at the hotel at their pub (I had already had a phone interview in Nelson with the manager), and we were able to set up 2 rooms to look at to rent.  The interview went great and she offered me a trail night the next day and the first place we saw that day we loved, but wanted to hold out until we saw the second place.  The second place wasn't even available until 2 weeks later, so we left and called Lucy in the car asking if we could move in that night.

That brings us right about to reality (although I have a few more stories about Queenstown to add later), but we live with a woman named Lucy, who owns the home we live in, and who is a painter/designer, so the house is beautiful and tidy.  She has an adorable French Mastiff named Marley, who we love.  We also have another guy at the place who rents a room, but keeps to himself.  They are both very nice and we pay a little under a $100/wk (which is less than our last place).  It is in Fernhill (approx. 4km from the center of the city), so it is up a huge hill, but it is great exercise, and Dan lives on the street next to ours, so we have some company close by. As for employment, my trial night went amazing.  I loved the atmosphere and the people I work with, and they wash my uniform every day and I get to wear jeans, and if they have a hole they fix it, they feed me for free, among other neat thins.  They checked my NZ references and I should be starting at the end of this week!  Jeff has been applying all around town and should have no problem getting a job, and there is certainly no shortage in people who say "there are tons of jobs in QT".  I think I just got really lucky with mine!

I may have left a few things out, but i'll check my notes and fill in any blanks ASAP, but I feel better to be somewhat caught up on the blog, and feel like i'm writing about reality.

Really missing everyone at home, especially around that holidays.  Hope all is well!

Cheers!

ps. will take QT pictures soon and post them... it's beyond breathtaking!

Our Heaphy Adventure

The second day was about 17km from Gouland downs to the Mackay Hut.  We had to cross a few rivers (more like bustling small streams) by foot (most have bridges), which meant I had to fall into at least one.  My record has been pretty good with crossing waterways in New Zealand, but when you strap a 20lbs pack on my back I'm bound to fall right into the water like a turtle on its back, and sure enough I did.  With a little time and the hot sun I dried up a bit, and at the next rest stop Jeff and I went dipping in a watering hole. (too cold for swimming)  It was a beautiful afternoon, but the discovery of some nasty looking spiders under the rocks quickly scared me from the water hole.  We arrived at the Mackay huts and were greeted by the sandflies.  They basically make is so we cook quick and run and eat it in the tent.  My feet were killing me by day 2 so I was very content setting up the tent and falling asleep before sundown (which was about 9:30-10).  We were abruptly woken around midnight to the sound of a Weka trying to steal our food.  We were able to save the cous cous, but he got our last few slices of bread!

Honestly, I was quite surprised that of all of the things that could really hinder my ability to enjoy the hike it was my feet.  I expected sore shoulders, a lower back spasm, or maybe some really rough hills, but not sore feet, but they were so sore at times i could feel the adrenaline pumping so that it was almost numb.  Day 3 came along and the feet were still pounding, but we had to move along so I took it one step at a time for about 20km to the Heaphy Hut.  It was the most beautiful of the hut locations, and it was located right where the Heaphy river (a very large river) dumped into the Pacific Ocean.  Despite all of the sandflies, we made sure to take a swim in the waves of the West Coast.  We were informed by John, a friendly American born (attended HS in Allentown!) guy who has lived in NZ for 8 years, that there was a shuttle from the track end to Karamea (an additional 18km) that came at 1, so we made sure to get up around 6am to get to the trail end by noon.

The last day was the most beautiful, as we walked almost entirely along the beaches of the upper west coast, and we arrived at the end around 11:30 and grabbed a shuttle to Karamea to find a backpackers to clean up in.  It took us 72 hours but overall I enjoyed the hike.  I don't mind camping at all, but I did not enjoy walking when my feet were acting up or the sandflies.  I think I prefer camping when I don't have to carry a pack the whole day, because I was so exhausted by the time we got the huts each day, I really couldn't enjoy the surroundings too much.  We also had to ration out food, which is my weakest point because I love to eat, but we brought a soup for each night, and about 18 granola bars, some cous cous, some scroggin (kiwi name for  trail mix), breakfast shakes, a bar of dark chocolate, a loaf of bread, and a jar of peanut butter, and we had finished everything by the end, and didn't go too hungry, although a bigger dinner would have been nice.

The Heaphy River draining into the Pacific Ocean

Arriving in Karamea was like a huge ray of sunshine, despite the dark clouds rolling in.  We got some laundry going (for $5 a wash!!) at the Rongo backpackers.  Rongo was really fun and there were a few Heaphy trampers there.  Petia stayed the same night we did, as well as our new found French friend Gabriel (he'll show up later in our adventure as well), and we even got to pet our first sheep (because it was on a leash)  That afternoon we headed out to a cafe called "The Last Resort" for a proper bite to eat.  There we had run into an older American couple, Steve and Laurie, we had seen/spoken to along the Heaphy, who were currently living in Nelson.  We said hi and joked with them about following them here, and you could tell they felt bad about not offering us a ride from the trail end when we spoke to them there.  They offered to take us on this nature adventure they were doing the next morning, and said if we wanted to go to just wait outside the backpackers at 8am.  We thanked them for their generosity, but decided not to go because we wanted to sleep a bit and there were rain clouds coming. By the time we got all of our things together and has some breakfast it was 10am and time to set out for our first hitchhiking experience.  It is 430km from Karamea back to the Heaphy start where our car was, so we knew this could be quite the adventure (when driving to the west coast you have to go all the way around Kahurangi National Park rather than through it).
(side note:  At "The Last Resort" we ordered a milkshake, and apparently a kiwi milkshake is just shaken milk with a flavor... quite disappointing for $5.50)

We often refer to our experience getting back to the car as "more of an adventure than the Heaphy itself", but it only took 50 hours to get the 430km. We could have taken a shuttle for 6 hours and $110, but we decided to do it the hard way, or the "adventurous" way as some may put it.

I hope to get caught up to Queenstown by tomorrow because I really can't wait to blog about QT, but there we have had a lot of great experiences before we even got here!

Cheers!

Jeff & Annabelle

Christmas & the Heaphy Track

I know it’s been quite a while, but it has been a non-stop adventure ever since we’ve left our house in Nelson.  This may end up being a 3 part blog entry because there’s a lot to tell, and I want to start from where I left off last time.  So where did I leave off last time?  Jeff finished up at the orchard, and I worked 2 shifts at the council.  I brought my lunch friends Tim Tams so they could try the Tim Tam slam, but they all insisted I do it for them.  I tried to be as eloquent as possible while shoving a melting cookie into my mouth, and I’m pretty sure they were delighted.  This time working at the café I worked with James (the manager/chef) rather than Lorraine (who left early for Christmas), and he was really fun to work with and even taught me how to make coffee!  It was an invaluable experience because it looks really good on my CV (resume).  Speaking of resume, I was reading a weekly bulletin put online that lists Queenstown jobs and apartments while we were still in Nelson to get an idea of how difficult it could be to obtain employment and housing once we get there.  It was clear we would have no trouble finding a place to live, and I saw an ad for waitstaff at the Hilton in QT, so I applied, and within a day the manager had called me for a phone interview and asked me to come in to meet her as soon as I got to QT!!  More on this later.

So Thursday night I took Jeff to basketball because I needed to go to the grocery store out that way anyway, and I came and watched the end of his games, and he was playing with a Giants player!  The Giants are equivalent to the Sixers in that they are the big team for that city in the country, but unlike the Sixers, they are not super rich and famous, but apparently he was a pretty decent player, and super tall.

Friday, Jeff finished up at noon, and I at 2, and we went to Coverstaff to say our goodbyes and collect our holiday pay.  Then we went on a mission to find a speaker that could play music while we were on the Heaphy track.  We came across this awesome speaker called the “Bassburger” (seen below), which has a rechargeable battery that charges by USB and lasts for 8 hours on a 3 hour charge.  The sound is terrific, and it is way too loud if you turn the ipod up all the way.  It was perfect for the hike, and a really great reflection of what modern technology can accomplish in a combination of size and quality. 

That night we went out to the Nelson Hotel, which is a bar we found that had $3 Tui, Heineken, and Speight’s bottles (which is really cheap by NZ standards) and an amazing Ginger Lime cider that I am in love with.  We met up with Jeff’s basketball buddy Jake who is from Germany (the same town as Dirk Nowitzki, which is kind sweet).  We spent a few hours talking to Jake about Germany and basketball and life, and we hope to meet up with him when he comes to visit Queenstown soon.

Saturday was Christmas Eve and we headed to Golden Bay to find a backpackers to spend a warm night in before our big hike.  The Shambhala backpackers and yoga retreat was recommended to us by James at the council.  It looked and sounded beautiful on the website, and the price was right so we headed there, and it was beautiful in real life but we were disappointed that they didn’t have internet because we wanted to skype with family before Christmas.  Needless to say we had a free yoga session and a wonderful Christmas eve dinner because everyone there that night made a dish and we all shared.  Jeff and I made a vegetable scampi of sorts.  We got a really good sleep in and were off to the Heaphy track on Christmas morning. 

 

We picked up Petia, who was hitchhiking to the track and walked with her for the first couple hours of the track.  She was a nice 46 year old forest ranger turned music teacher who was very eccentric and fun to talk to, and loved to take pictures.  Our first day was about 24 km (& 7 hours) to Gouland Downs Hut, and once we arrived there we were hungry and I was beyond exhausted.  We made some dinner and put some decorations on a tree to get in the Christmas spirit.  We were the only ones there from 7-9pm then a young group of trampers showed up (from France, Switzerland, Germany, and Mexico).  Jeff and I attempted to go look for kiwis as the sun went down, but the sandflies were really bad so we went to bed. 

Side note:  Because the track is 49 miles (76 km) long we didn’t really expect to meet too many people on the track, but we didn’t realize that we would get to the huts and the break shelters and there would be about 20 others who had booked hut beds or camp sites.  It ended up that we would see the same people every morning and night for 4 days, and we made a lot of friends who appear very often later in our adventures.  It was actually really great to be able to hike alone during the day, but share your experiences on the track with the others at the end of the day. 

It’s getting late and I’m getting hungry, but I will blog about the rest of the Heaphy track and our adventure to Queenstown tomorrow.  Hope everyone had a happy and safe Christmas and New Years and I want to hear about everyone’s Christmas so please skype/e-mail!

Cheers!!

Ps. I have uploaded all of our most recent pictures to our Flickr/Photo page!