Ruakaka Kiteboarding

Eve and Heather at Mair Rd

by Scott

Several weeks ago, while hunting for kiteboarding possibilities, we stumbled upon Ruakaka. Lucky us. Within minutes of arriving, Dave, the local kiteboard builder (Decay Kiteboards), kiteshop owner, kite instructor, and cable park entrepreneur was offering us demo gear. Later, he gave us a tour of his factory, let us plug in the van, hosted a barbecue for all the kiters, and even cleaned and cooked a fish I caught.

We kited for a couple more days until the wind died. Heather, excited to finally meet another female kiter, finished off the remaining wind with a girls-only morning session with Eve (from Switzerland).

Thinking the wind was over, we said our goodbyes, and hit the road, but like many kiters, we couldn't quite escape Ruakaka. For no-wind days, Dave has built a cable park--think wakeboarding behind a boat, but without the boat or the wake. OK, maybe more like kiting without the kite or the need for wind. See (and listen) for yourself, as Heather, inspired by Eve and coached by Dave, almost lands a backroll.

With no wind in the forecast, we said our goodbyes again, only to end up back in Ruakaka a couple weeks later. Again, Dave hooked Heather up with a small kite and Decay board, allowing both of us to be on the water at the same time -- a rare pleasure. We did an epic 20km (12 mile) down-winder from one end of Bream Bay to the other. The day was capped off with a big kiter gathering back at Dave's with fantastic carbonara pasta and freshly made Kiwi pavlova.

There was no wind the next morning, so we again said our goodbyes. With a flight back to the states in 5 days, we aren't planning to be back in Ruakaka, but until the plane is on the runway, you never know.

Plan The Plan's Planny Plan Part II

It's been 1 year since we posted our planny plan for leaving Australia and moving to New Zealand.  Since then, we've found adventures in the many nooks and crannys of NZ, and had a wild ride navigating the unpredictable weather.  In 13 days, we will be on a plane heading to the USA to start another era of "hsadventures".  Many people have asked, "what's your plan now?".

We will be landing in Detroit and staying with my parents in Ann Arbor.  Our initial focus will be on visiting family/friends while shopping for our next vehicle and it's contents.  What type of vehicle that will be is still up in the air, but it will be dictated by the planny plan.

So, what is our plan for the next few years?  A little back-story first.  While reading various travel blogs over the past year, I came upon a surprisingly large contingent of people (mostly Americans and Canadians) who have driven from Canada all the way to the tip of South America.  Yep, that includes Mexico, Central America, and South America!  As soon as I started reading about the possibilities, I was hooked.  It didn't take long to convince Scott that this should be our next goal (surfing possibilities = happy Scott).  So, there you have it.  Our plan for the next many years is to drive the Americas -- all of 'em.  You can imagine the logistics that are required for such an endeavor -- just the kind of challenge and excitement we are looking for.  We will finally learn Spanish, too.  We still aren't sure if we will head south in 2011 or 2012.  Depending on what we learn about the weather patterns in Central America, we might want to stick around North America for a bit.

This takes me back to our next vehicle.  We know that we want 4WD, but aren't sure what we will find that meets our needs.  We hope to find a van that has already been customized as an RV that we can tweak a little and then convert to 4WD.  Thi$ i$ ea$ier $aid than done.  We also need to consider vehicles that are easily serviceable in Central and South America.  Another complication is the fact that we really don't want to buy a used vehicle in Michigan (salt on roads = rust).  During a cursory check for used vans and RVs, I found quite a few in Florida, Texas, and Arizona.  Looking at vans in these states would involve more logistics.  Do we buy a new one?  Do we get an empty van and convert it ourselves -- plumbing including shower, electrical including solar panels, propane including cooking and heating, etc?  We'd prefer not to start with an empty van.

Scott has already spent many brain hours on the gear we will want while traveling through the Americas.  Surfboards, kiteboards, kites -- how many and which sizes?  Bikes -- fancy full-suspension or simple hard-tails? The backcountry snowboarding equipment will probably have to wait in Ann Arbor until we can accompany it on a plane trip back to South America.  The gear shopping is a time-consuming challenge that we will be focusing on over the next couple of months.

Scott told me the other day that he hasn't been sleeping well.  I think he's got the planny plan on his mind...

Maybe we Shouldn't Park on the Beach Tonight

We were near the northern tip of New Zealand when the Japan earthquake and tsunami occurred.  The earthquake struck during the night, and we happened to be parked nearly on the beach.  In the morning, the radio warned of the potential for the tsunami to reach the northern tip of New Zealand.  At first, I ignored the warning.  After 10 months of not being in Northland, I forgot that we finally were in Northland.  We moved the van.

Later that morning, we ran on the beach, and walked up the stream feeding into the ocean.  We watched waves of water run UP the stream every 8 minutes.  The waves were small, but it was fascinating to realize the power of the tsunami.   The waves had traveled across hemispheres and 5500 miles.  Scott tried to catch a big trout with his bare hands.  It had been stranded in the shallow water by the rapidly rising and falling stream, but it flip-flopped it's way to safety.

About a week later, we were at Bayley's Beach on the west coast. Here, you can drive onto the beach, even with a 2WD vehicle.  We thought it would be epic to park the van on the beach for the night.  It happened to be the equinox (spring or autumn depending on which hemisphere you're in).  The moon was the closest it had been to the earth in 30 years.  Thus, the tides were expected to be extreme.  Keeping this in mind, we hung out in the van, watching the sunset, and carefully watching the rising tide as it inched towards our van.  High tide was scheduled for 10pm, so we figured if the van wasn't swept away by say, 10:30pm, we would probably be okay for the rest of the night.  Come 9pm, a large surge of water lapped at our tires.  We decided to find another place to sleep.  The next morning, we drove back to Bayleys, only to find that the ramp on the beach was closed.  The massive tide had flooded at least 50 feet beyond where we had been parked.

Maybe we shouldn't park on the beach tonight...

Link to March Pictures

White Sand Beaches and Rooster Rest Areas

White sand tropical-ness

It was about about 1.5 months ago that we started our adventures in Northland, the region north of Auckland.   It is much more tropical than we had ever imagined.  In many parts, there are no more than 20 miles between the east and the west coast. The fine, sugary, white sand beaches on the north and east coasts are my favorite.  The west side has black sand beaches created by volcanic rock that was carried up the coastline from Mt. Taranaki.

Rooster rest stop

A weird
thing we noticed in Northland was the abundance of wild roosters at the roadside picnic and rest areas.  We suspect people simply dispose of their male chicks, since they only need one rooster. One night, we were really tired, and we couldn't find one of our epic camping spots.  We decided to park along the road at a rest area.  It was still very dark when a dozen roosters introduced themselves.  At one point, I think they had our van surrounded.  There was no sleeping-in that morning.        

Link to March Pictures

Ode to The Van

Now that our time in New Zealand is quickly coming to an end, it's time to pay tribute to our trusty stead, THE VAN.  Anyone who reads this blog may remember my post about 10 months ago that suggested the stead was less than trusty.

It turned out that all of our troubles were related to moisture in the connection between the control module and the injector pump. Moisture in New Zealand?!  Once we got that fixed (and everything that it damaged), all was good.  We assumed that our streak of bad luck would continue, but it didn't.  We've come to trust and even like our van.

What follows will probably be quite boring for most people.  It documents how we manage to live quite comfortably in a 17 x 6 x 5 foot box.

Increased size alone was a big deal.  The box in Australia was 15 x 5 x 4.5 feet. Also, our van in Oz was a cargo van--no windows. This van had a massive number of windows, enabling us to enjoy the New Zealand views while eating and hanging out.

One of the unique and surprisingly useful features were the custom mini-awnings.  We call them "Sylvias", after the previous owner who invented them.  They are absolutely ESSENTIAL for ventilation while it is raining.

Next, is the little gem of a water heater that runs off propane and heats water on demand.  This type of water heater is typical for motorhomes.  It provided HOT showers for us even while the temperature outside was near freezing on the mountain.  I'll never have another van/motorhome without one.

Other van-living luxuries I won't be able to live without are a fridge and a little sink.  Previously, we used a cooler for our food.  Hunting down ice was a never-ending battle in Australia.  We never thought a sink would be worth it, but it sure was nice to be able to clean dishes inside while the mosquitoes buzzed around outside.

Things we could live without are the microwave (never used), toilet (never used), and the king-sized bed.  Funny enough, we've never owned a king-sized bed except for in this van!

Link to February Pictures

Swell Bent

by Scott


It's a bit of an understatement to say that I've been hell bent on surfing the last couple years. After breathing, surfing has been second on my priority list. Eating? I can do that when I take a break. Sleeping? I can do that when it's dark.

Any time we get near the coast, I start doing research on surf spots and checking the swell forecast. Then, just in case the forecast is wrong, I have to go to the beach to check it out myself. Heather hasn't quite shared my enthusiasm.

This wasn't "the spot"

After a few good days in Australia, I decided we were ready for shortboards. We switched from a 7'10" and 7'6" to a 6'6" and 6'5". Both of us struggled, partly due to lack of skill, but also because we didn't stumble upon the right place at the right time.

Our nomadic lifestyle is actually not conducive to surfing. It takes the right size swell, from the right direction, at the right beach, with the right wind...and we need to be there when it happens. A better approach would be to stay at a spot known for good conditions, but patience is not one of our virtues.

In New Zealand, we have even shorter boards that we can store in the shower--a 6'4" for me and a 5'6" for Heather. Despite the small boards and our lack of skill, we finally got lucky and stumbled upon several days of good surf at a remote spot. I'm not even going to disclose the location for fear of spoiling it. It was so good that we don't even have pictures.

On the last day, conditions were perfect--head high waves, no wind, and no people. Just me, Heather, and a friendly local named Dennis. I was the first one to paddle out. I caught the first wave and rode it 100m all the way to the beach. It was the best wave of my life. The second wave was bigger and better. It was the new best wave of my life. This trend continued all day, as I watched from the back side as Heather caught the best wave of her life. She still doesn't quite share my enthusiasm, but she's getting there.

Link to February Pictures

Rock Gym

by Scott


In our previous life, after a day of sitting on our butts in a cube, we would head to the gym for some exercise. Even during our year-long trip in North America, we kept our 24-Hour Fitness membership active for the occasional workout and shower. In Australia and New Zealand, there is no big chain fitness center with locations outside the cities, so we've been forced to get creative.

It's easy enough to work the legs: jogging, biking, hiking, stair steps, and our favorite, running up sandy dunes. It was a little harder to figure out how to work the upper body. Sure, we can do push-ups anywhere, and playgrounds are good for pull-ups, but both get a little boring. Attending a few strength training classes with Heather's Mom inspired us to try some new things.

For a mere $15, Heather bought a set of elastic bands. These things are great for the traveling fitness fanatic. There are 3 different bands, each color coded to indicate resistance level. With some discarded PVC pipe, I made an extra set of handles so we can work out simultaneously.

We've also realized that a rocky beach is like a free gym with an infinite variety of dumbbells. The downside is that the dumbbells aren't labeled, but it doesn't take too much effort to find a reasonably matched pair. The upside is that we never have to wait for someone else to finish using them, there's no nasty gym smell, the views are to die for, and we can take a refreshing dip when we're done.

UPDATE:  Comments from our Scottish Highlander fitness consultant inspired the driftwood caber toss -- thanks Doug MacChilders!

Link to February Pictures

Sliding Down Rocks at Rere Rockslide

The Rere Rockslide is a natural 180 foot rock incline with just enough water pouring over it to entice the kid in all of us to risk serious injury.

I had anticipated Rere Rockslide for a couple of weeks.  Various tourist publications suggested that this "natural wonder" could best be enjoyed with a boogie board, inner tube, or blowup mattress.  We assumed that the town near Rere Rockslide would have loads of used boogie boards in their second-hand shops. However, when we arrived during a very hot day and asked at the visitor center, they pointed us to the nearest Warehouse (NZ version of Walmart).

Since we didn't want to buy a new board, only to throw it away after a few slides, we headed to all of the second-hand shops.  No luck.  Next, we trudged around town in the 90 degree heat, on foot and in the van.  The Warehouse was sold out, and our next best option was a $30 board at a lawn and garden shop.  We couldn't bring ourselves to pay that much for a piece of foam that we would use for 30 minutes and then throw away.

As usual, Scott had a "great" idea.  We bought $4 worth of foam padding at a second-hand shop that we planned to wrap around my little surfboard.  We thought this was a good idea until we got to the rockslide and discovered how long, rocky, and bumpy it is.  We didn't want to risk breaking the surfboard, so we used a cracked boogie board from the trash can at the parking lot.  The first slide turned out pretty well (the ending is the best part):

You can watch the following two videos to see how the rest of the slides turned out:

If you can't tell from the videos, we both rode down the rockslide on our hands, knees, and toes for most of the way.  The board got stuck on one of the diagonal cracks.  You would think we would have cut our losses at this point, but we didn't.  Both of us tried again, and both of us lost the board before the end.  Our elbows and wrists were sore for days -- I thought I might have broken something. Now that 3 weeks have passed, I can look back on it and kinda laugh (while cringing).

Link to February Pictures

Random January News: South Island to the North Island

How many places can you travel from the east coast to the west coast to the north coast to the south coast to the west coast and finally to the east coast again, in a vehicle, in a span of 4 weeks?  We put the van to work over the past month as we traveled from Christchurch on the east coast of the South Island in a very round-about way to the east coast of the North Island.

Scott worked up quite a thirst on our hike

In order to get to the west coast from Christchurch you must travel over one of the mountain passes.  The quickest route is over Arthur's Pass, where we enjoyed a few glorious, sunny, and warm days in the mountains.  As we hiked down from Avalanche Peak, we spotted Devil's Punchbowl Falls across the valley, and had some fun taking pictures.  Living so close to waterfalls for so long in the northwest, you'd think this would have occurred to us before. Surely other people have done it. Show us your pics!

The wild, unpopulated, and gorgeous northwest coast of the South Island was definitely a highlight.   It had been a while since we had been around native forest.  Unfortunately, many parts of New Zealand are logged for grazing or forestry business -- they don't tell you this in their "Clean, Green, 100% Pure New Zealand" tourist brochures.  We just learned that NZ has the 2nd most endangered forest ecosystem in the world (2nd to Burma).  Here's my 2 cents:  less sheep and cows -- more greenery.

We had a self-imposed deadline to get to the Wellington immigration office by the end of January.  This was to allow time to buy a plane ticket if our visa-extension application wasn't approved.  We decided to get to Wellington on a Sunday night so that we could get to the immigration office bright and early on Monday morning.  Wellington is the North Island port, the capital of NZ, and home to one of the bigger immigration offices.  We managed to pick a bad day to cross the Cook Strait, as it was stormy, windy, and rainy -- only slight sea sickness this time.  We woke up early and hurried to the immigration office only to find that it was "Wellington Day" (!!!???) and all government offices were closed.  DAMN.  Our patience was rewarded with a visa-extension approval and a sunny day on Tuesday.  It was our 3rd time in Wellington and the first time to experience anything other than rain, wind, and cold.  In fact, it was downright beautiful weather. Our visa was extended from March 30th to May 30th.  We still haven't decided exactly when we will fly back to the USA (probably sometime mid-May).

From Wellington, we traveled up the west coast of the North Island, chasing wind and waves (and sunsets) but after a couple of days we headed to the east coast where we made a stop at a place called Castlepoint.  We had never expected to go out to Castlepoint as it's a big out-and-back drive for something unknown.  We were so glad we made the drive.  Castlepoint is an unusual limestone reef/peninsula/island-like formation with epic beach driving and good surfing and hiking options.  I went overboard taking pictures of all the seals lazing on the beach and rocks.

Summer on the east coast of the North Island is kicking our butts a little bit at the moment.  I know no one in the snowy USA wants to hear about the hot and humid days/nights but honestly, it's not very comfortable -- this morning we woke up and it was 84 degrees in the van.  SO HOT AND HUMID.  I don't expect this to last for very long so we're trying to enjoy it for what it is -- good surfing and swimming weather!

The hot weather is taking it's toll on the seals too

Link to January pictures

Random December News

We spent nearly half of December hoping that Scott would get over his mystery illness.  I'm writing this in January, and happy to report that the illness has disappeared.  Luckily, for his 40th birthday, he started to feel well enough to enjoy the best kitesurfing session of his life at Colac Bay in the far south.

We headed west after our ER visit in the southern-most city of Invercargill.  We found plenty of amazing freedom camping spots on the southern coast.  At one of the great camping spots, Scott decided to fish in a small lagoon, right next to the ocean, where he caught his first brown trout.  He ran up the steep hill to get me from the van so that I could witness his catch.  As we were running back down to the lagoon, the conversation about whether we would kill the fish began.  Despite the fact that I eat meat, I still have issues with the idea of someone, especially us, killing something.  After a few moments of back-and-forth conversation about whether we should eat the trout, Scott reminded me of his recent track record, convincing me that this might be our one and only chance to eat fresh NZ trout tacos.  I had a sad feeling all night about the fact that we killed the fish.  Why don't I feel that way about the chicken and beef that I eat?  I think everyone should have to kill their own meat -- it would make us much more thankful for what we put in our mouths everyday.  A few days later, we found this graffiti (pictured) on the pylon of a bridge near a large reservoir.

Fish Feel

Clifden Caves

Not many tourists make the trip all the way to Invercargill.  We benefited by finding some great off-the-beaten track experiences.  One notable find, was the Clifden Caves.  This underground cave system was denoted by a sign on the highway labeled, "limestone caves".  You park along the road, cross over a private-property fence, and climb down a hole beneath grazing sheep.  We found ourselves crawling, shimmying, and climbing through some impossibly narrow, wet, and muddy spaces.  The limestone formations were very cool.  It was surreal to emerge from the caves, 2 hours later, into blazing sunshine, with the temperature 20 F degrees hotter than in the caves.

As we headed back north, we zipped through some areas that we had already visited, including the incredibly scenic area around Queenstown and Wanaka.  We even found ourselves back in Timaru, the little city that had kept us warm and dry during the big northwesterly storms in October.  During our trek northward, we also passed through Christchurch and the surrounding area.  It was fun to be in the area during the summer, since all of our prior experiences in Christchurch were during the wet and cold months.  One of the memorable times near Christchurch was at a "locals-only" free camping area that we found on Lake Ellesmere.  We met Greg, a Kiwi originally from Alaska, his adopted son, and his son's biological father. The three of them were traveling together for the holidays. Greg is a fellow engineer, kiter, kayaker, mountain biker, and all-around adventurer. We kited and kayaked with him for a few days, and we even met up with him a week later, where we learned how to play parcheesi in his recently purchased motorhome.  It's always fun to connect with like-minded people.  We spent New Years Eve at the camping area on Lake Ellesmere where we went to sleep at 10pm.  We were "treated" to a small fireworks blast around midnight, but other than that, 2010 went out with a whimper.

Link to December Pictures

The Three Questions for 2010

Today, I had the pleasure of briefly chatting, electronically of course, with one of my dear friends, Aly.  Since it was recently Scott's birthday, she passed along her "3 birthday questions" that I decided would be a great way to end 2010 on our blog.  Both of us answered the questions without looking at the other's answers.  We also answered them pretty hastily.

The questions Aly poses to her friends every year for their birthday are:  what are 3 things in the past year you are proud of, 3 things you learned, and 3 things you're looking forward to in the next year?  The answers to these questions are really the essence of living. I wish I could hear the answers from all my friends and family --  get prepared.

HEATHER

3 things in the past year you are proud of:

1. Pulling off our move from Australia to New Zealand with hardly any issues, including getting rid of all our "stuff"
2. Finding some great secret adventure spots in NZ -- off the beaten track
3. Making it through a NZ winter, living in a van

3 things you learned:

1. They don't call it the "roaring forties" for nothing -- NZ weather pretty much sucks ass
2. All about how diesel engines work -- thanks to the failures of our campervan after we bought it.  Luckily, all of the issues were fixed and it's running like a charm (I know I just jinxed us).
3. Virgin Blue Airlines lets you travel with 2 pieces of "sporting goods" that can weigh up to 50 lbs each, FOR FREE!

3 things you're looking forward to in the next year:

1. Heading back to the USA for a visit with family/friends
2. Buying a new home (van) and customizing it from scratch
3. Getting better at kiteboarding
4. For the record, I have way more things to say in this category than any of the others

SCOTT:
3 things in the past year you are proud of:

1. Blogging
2. Writing and recording more songs
3. Catching and filleting my first trout

3 things you learned:

1. Way too much about diesel injection systems 
2. The UK should be thankful that the Holocaust overshadows their brutal colonial history
3. New Zealand isn't nearly as clean and green as they want tourists to believe

3 things you're looking forward to in the next year:

1. Outfitting a new van
2. Cheap good beer, wine, and liquor
3. Getting better in the waves, both surfing and kiting 

Happy New Year to all our family and friends.  Wishing you a year full of proud moments, learning opportunities, and great expectations.

Link to December Pictures

Guacaganoush or Babagamole?

by Scott

One of the fun things about our necessarily frugal lifestyle is that it encourages us to get creative with our food. When we are near civilization, we cruise the supermarkets for deals. Often, we end up with perishable items that must be consumed within a day or two. For example, today, we needed to eat avocados and eggplant. Heather sauted the eggplant with onions, salt, pepper, vinegar, and oil, then mixed it with avocado to make a Mid-East Mexican dip we called guacaganoush or babagamole. It was fantastic.

Other times, when we are far from civilization, we have to make do with the items in the cupboard. I've come up with a couple good salad dressings. One was a raspberry sesame vinaigrette made with raspberry preserves, malt vinegar, olive oil, and sesame seeds from the bottom of an empty bread bag. The other one was simply a mixture of the juice from a can of beets and olive oil. Unfortunately, I didn't have any seedy dregs for that one.

If you try any of these recipes and don't like them, go outside and exercise for 3 or 4 hours and try again. That usually works for us.

Sick in Southland

Just as we decided to head into The Catlins region of the South Island, Scott developed an unusual sickness characterized by intense abdominal/back pain and extreme fatigue.  The Catlins is a remote area in the southeast where you are lucky to find cellphone service or radio, much less medical services.  I learned what it feels like to travel alone because during the 5 worst days of his illness, he could barely sit up (much less walk).  Walking alone on a beautiful beach or through the forest just isn't the same when your partner isn't there. We kept thinking he might be getting better because he would feel slightly relieved every morning. On the 5th night of his sickness, he woke up at midnight writhing in pain.  Luckily we had arrived to the city of Invercargill earlier that day, so we were only 20 miles from the nearest ER.

The pain slowly subsided while Scott laid on the narrow ER table between 2 - 8 am. The ER team couldn't find anything wrong with him after a quick physical exam in addition to a general blood test, urinalysis, and stool analysis.  He still has generalized pain in his abdomen, so when we get to the next population center, we will find a GP and request some more specific tests for ulcers.

How apropos that this all occurred as he approached his 40th birthday, which happens to be today!  That $600 New Zealand insurance policy will definitely pay off.  In the meantime, because a possible ulcer is in the cards, no beer for the birthday boy.

Link to December Pictures

Sea Creature Encounters in NZ

Over the past few weeks, we've spent time mostly along the southeastern coast of the South Island.  Scott found a used surfboard, and we are in full-on summer mode.  Too bad the weather isn't necessarily in summer mode.  Is that what happens when the next land mass to the south is Antarctica?  For every one day of 75 - 80 degrees, we get 5 days of 60 degrees.  There is some fantastic scenery, and lots of sea lions, seals, and dolphins, so we are happy to explore despite the dreary weather.

The most exciting and memorable thing in the past few weeks has been our surf session with a pod of the rare and endangered Hector's Dolphins.  They are the smallest dolphin in the world and can only be found off the coast of NZ.  They were very playful and quite curious as they zipped around us and under us with amazing speed.  As long as we were out there, they never strayed far from us.  Many times, they popped out of the water within inches of us while never letting us touch them.  Priceless.

Snuggling in the sand

The southeastern coast is home to the NZ sea lion.  We've learned that the NZ fur seal that we started to see on the northeast coast favors rocky shorelines, while the sea lion favors sand.  It's been really exciting walking along the beaches to find sea lions resting.  A good way to spot a sea lion on the beach is to look for flying sand, as they sweep it over themselves to keep cool. One day, we were relaxing in the van, overlooking Blackhead beach near Dunedin, watching a couple of surfers.  Next thing we know, it looks like there are 3 surfers.  One of the guys had another "surfer" almost right on top of him.  We watched a sea lion (the other surfer) chase the guy out of the water and UP THE BEACH.  The guy was running through knee deep water with all his might, while the sea lion was riding the shore break to get to him.  Sea lions are amazingly quick out of the water.  It turns out the guy escaped unscathed.  I laughed for days.

We spent a few days at the Taieri river mouth where Scott caught one small trout while fishing.  The toughest fight came from a cockle that wouldn't let go of his hook.  Who knew cockles chased lures?

Fiesty cockle

We watched some locals collect pipis at the mouth of the Taieri river and decided to give it a try.  Pipis are like small clams and in fact, taste exactly like the baby clams that we've bought at the grocery store.  We couldn't get them to clean out their system (ahem, poop bag) so they were full of sand.  The cleaning process was ridiculously tedious. A bucket of pipis resulted to about a cup of meat.  Never again.  This story sounds very familiar to our experience with the fresh shrimp we bought in Australia, and the blue crab given to us by a friendly Aussie.

Bucket full of pipis

It is the start of peak tourist season, and we are starting to feel the effects.  We were the first ones to arrive, around 3pm, to a seemingly epic camping spot overlooking the ocean.  Since the camping spot is published in the tourist literature and is only $6, I had a sneaking suspicion that it would turn into a madhouse come 8-9 pm.  Unfortunately, I was right - reason #1001 to freedom camp?

Awesome campsite before anyone else arrived

In the morning I took a walk along the beach, over the rock walls, and surprised a little fur seal trying to get some shuteye on his private bed of kelp amongst the rocks.

Flippers tucked up

Link to November Pictures
Link to December Pictures

They Call It Freedom Camping

Kiwis call what we are doing "freedom camping".  It's essentially camping outside of motorhome parks and designated campgrounds.  We do it for many reasons.  Number one, it's free, but just as important is that we aren't packed into a small space next to another campervan.  Most of our freedom camping has been in amazing locations overlooking an ocean, a river, or the mountains.  Inevitably we've had to "park up" (that's another Kiwi and Aussie saying) on a neighborhood street or in a paved parking lot.  The last time we had to do that, the Christchurch earthquake shook us awake at 4:30 am.

In populated areas, freedom camping is frowned upon.  Part of the reason is because there are so many rental campervans roaming the small country from December - March, and they all seem to "park-up" in the same locations.  It doesn't take long to learn that the beaten path is not the best place to find peace and quiet.  Locals blame trash and "human waste" on freedom campers.  We take huge issue with this accusation as all of the freedom campers we've ever seen are more likely to pickup garbage than leave it.  I think those McDonalds bags, empty cigarette packs, and beer bottles are probably from the local kids enjoying their secret party spot.  In fact, this past Friday, we were awakened at 1:30 am by a car full of people throwing their beer bottles over the cliff into the vegetated sand dunes above the ocean.  In the morning, the parking lot was littered with garbage from the Friday night partiers.

One of the more beautiful camping spots we've had recently

When we are in populated areas, finding a good camping spot takes some patience and ingeniuty.  We usually spend time looking at maps, riding around on our bikes, walking the area, or hiking to a lookout to scope things out.  Our general requirement is that we aren't in view of any houses, we have some sort of a view (sunset, ocean, nestled in a forest, etc), and that it's quiet, without any threat of hoons (punk ass Kiwi kids) waking us up in the middle of the night (that's the hardest requirement to meet).  Bonus points for a flat spot, light winds, and no trains.  Generally, we park in a public location -- never on someone's private property.

Summer Has Sprung in New Zealand

It doesn't seem like very long ago that the sun was setting at 4:30 pm and the relentless rain caused everything in our van to grow mold.  I remember looking up the sunset times online, desperately yearning for the days when the sun would set at 9:30 pm and the rain would end.  Despite my catastrophizing of the rain and mold situation, we've survived to see some really fabulous weather and long days. Summer is definitely knocking on our door.  We've already managed to kiteboard a couple of times, which is surely a sign that the weather (and water) is getting warmer.  Plus, the dank smell of mold in the van has been replaced by the sweet mango-like aroma of the local wildflowers.

Scott taking a freshwater dip before dinner

We are currently in Dunedin on the southeast coast of the South Island.  Dunedin is a very large city for New Zealand standards (pop. 125,000), with a third of the population being students (Otago University).  It seems that we've fallen into a familiar pattern of staying somewhere for at least 2 weeks before moving on. This allows us to learn about the area, the recreational opportunities, the secret camping spots, and the good shopping (mostly groceries since we eat a lot).  Since this will be the last big city we'll see for a while, we are spending a fair bit of our time doing chores, bike repairs, van maintenance, and stocking up on supplies. Also, Scott is desparately searching for a used surfboard before we hit the desolate area south of here that we call the Baja-of-NZ.

The Trout Drought is Over

by Scott

I was secretly hoping that  writing about my poor fishing performance would reverse jinx me. It apparently worked. As the sun was setting on a small lake outside Alexandra, I decided to make a few casts. I tied on a black rooster tail spinner. On my second cast, retrieving at a moderate speed along a rock ledge, I felt the unmistakable bite of fish lips on steel. The fight was on. I landed what may some day be a 5-lb perch.

He'll have to get smarter if he ever wants to be a 5-lb perch

A few casts later, I also caught a small rainbow trout. I had to throw it back because we'd already eaten dinner, and Heather wouldn't allow a dead fish in the van overnight.

Trout Wishing

by Scott

Several months ago, I met a Kiwi mountain biker who read me the riot act for traveling around NZ without a fishing pole. With all the ocean-side, lake-side, and river-side camping spots, not to mention the high cost of seafood, he thought I was crazy. Soon after that, my father-in-law recalled his cousin's story about the fabulous fishing in NZ. He claimed that you had to hide behind a tree just to bait your hook. So, I finally bought a fishing pole, and the weather has improved enough that I've done a fair amount of fishing over the past month. I've found some beautiful spots, but I haven't had a single bite.

Trout wishing on Lake Wakatipu near Queenstown

I'm starting to think the story about having to hide behind a tree to bait your hook was not because the fish are so eager to bite, but because the water is so damn clear that the fish can see what kind of bait you're using and actively avoid it.

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Queenstown Part II (The Good)

Portable yurt

A large storm hit Queenstown and the surrounding mountains during the first weekend we arrived, that dumped 2 feet of new snow. This coincided with the end-of-season closing of the local ski resort in the Remarkables mountain range, aptly called "The Remarkables". We were able to use their road to access some incredible backcountry snowboarding and equally incredible camping in the portable yurt. The mountain road rises sharply from Queenstown into the steep mountains. The van got quite a workout. On much of the upper road, we had to drive in 1st gear.  We even had to use our chains for the first (and probably the last) time.

Winding and steep road from lake to mountain

Kea like bike seat foam

One day, as we were climbing up for the last run, we heard the ominous call of the Kea, the world's only alpine parrot. We didn't see them in the parking lot, so we didn't put the bikes inside (note to self: birds can fly). We watched helplessly as they flew across the valley toward the parking lot. When we got back to the van, sure enough, a gang of kea had chewed through our brand new bike cover and finished what they started  on Scott's bike seat. Luckily, when Scott put on the tire chains, he happened to put the heavy cordura tire chain bag over my brand new bike seat, so it survived unscathed.

Snow-us

As is typical this time of year, the snow ranged from powder on the south facing slopes to corn on the north facing slopes to ice and/or slush depending on the time of day. When all we could find was heavy wet snow, we gave up on snowboarding and made a snow-us.

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Queenstown Part I (The Bad)

Gorgeous scenery in the Queenstown area

Since we arrived 10 days ago in Queenstown, the "adventure capital of the world", our experience has been a mixed bag. Our first impression of this tourist town was not good.  As we drove into Queenstown, we were overwhelmed with the blatant consumerism and tourist-targeted money grubbing.  Bungy jumping, bunjy swing, 4WD tours, paraglide, parasail, skydiving, helicopter/plane tours, alpine slide, monster truck driving, flying fox, jetboat tour, kayking, rafting, river diving, the list goes on...  Luckily, the surrounding landscape, dominated by snow-capped mountains and a large glacial lake, is so breathtaking that you can almost forget about the overdeveloped center of it all.  The area was the sight for many scenes from The Lord of The Rings -- all of those scenes where you think to yourself, "Where is that?!".

My clipless bike shoe was dismantled during the crash

We prematurely panicked when we found ourselves amongst the trendy shops, raucous springbreak-like 20 somethings, and rich tourists.  We quickly retreated out of town to reassess our options. We found a nice bike trail along the lake, and started to feel better about the area.  That quickly changed when I had a head-on collision with another cyclist on the bike trail.  It was a blind corner and both of us were going pretty fast.  He put his head down and bashed it directly into my bicep -- good thing he had a helmet on to sustain the impact from my big pipes.  The guy kept asking me if I was okay. At first, I couldn't answer him.  Both of us stood up, and I realized that the sole of my shoe was gone -- a testament to the force that removed me from my bike.  As I hobbled up the trail, the guy asked me for the 20th time if I was okay.  My answer: "I'm fine, I just need to get the sole of my shoe...".  I did, in fact, find the sole of my shoe. Fortunately, I only had to hobble about half a mile back to the van.  I must have landed on my arm, because I was convinced that it was broken. I decided to postpone the hospital visit until the next day, but in the morning, I was shocked at how much better it felt.  However, with the "broken" arm feeling better, I noticed the other deep bruises all over my body.  Looking back on the accident, I feel sooooooo lucky that I didn't break anything -- what a major bummer that would have been.  

Stay tuned for Queenstown, Part II...

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