Bali, Indonesia

Well it's been more than a month probably since I've last updated this blog. I think I needed the break. I also didn't have very consistent continuous Internet to work with. So, without further ado, I'll do a bit of the highlights from my trip here. Tomorrow I head to Phuket, Thailand.

Since the start of my trip in Bali, I have been blown away by the level of beauty in the most mundane of things here. Everyday life is full of ceremony and is centered around family, the community and the village. It's rainy season here right now, but I can't say that I mind as the downpour usually brings a coolness and relief from the sticky humidity. Bali is unique among the Indonesian islands. Its people are Hindu (and a type quite different form the kind in India) and proudly so. Often Westerners think of Bali and immediately jump to thoughts of bombings and mayhem. The people here were so terribly affected by the Kuta bombings that the tourist economy essentially grounded to a halt. And I've been told that security between the islands, especially monitoring those coming to Bali, has been heightened to protect the recent return of tourists. That said, another major point of discussion here is burgeoning tourism industry that has seemed to overtake all aspects of life, commercializing what was once more rare and special, and pushing prices sky high for even (and especially) the locals. Suffice it to say that you can easily spend rupiah here by the day as if you were in a Western country. But, if you work for it, you can also get by on quite little, maybe $20 USD. It's about 9,000 rupiah to $1 USD, but most people use the 10 to 1 estimation for ease.

While here I got to know a few locals and had some of my most interesting, but also most stressful moments in their company. I've visited to Nung Nung Falls, Kintamani for a view of Mount Batur, Bedugul, the hot springs, Jatiluwih's rice terraces that are vying to become a World Heritage Site (rice paddies one upon the other for as far as the eye can see), Mengwi -- Taman Ayu -- royal temple, multiple temples, much of the east coast up through to Kubu (where I went diving New Year's Day staying in a resort for free, dined on seafood for NYE dinner while a thunderstorm raged, lightning hit the resort as we huddled in the dark with candles singing village songs and sharing Bintangs (did you know there's allegedly formaldehyde in it?) and then set off our own fireworks into the storm), Nusa Lembongan (including snorkeling at Manta Point along Nusa Penida, as well as Crystal Bay and the Mangroves) -- I was also denied the chance to take a dive course or dive b/c I didn't have my medical info on me. I set off fireworks for the first time ever, also learned how to ride an automatic motorbike (a Honda Vario), I took yoga classes at Yoga Barn, also revving my bike accidentally up a curb and flying into the main office there and sidewalk-burning my knee. I was quite good on the bike while moving, but I learned the hard way to not turn on the bike all the way while maneuvering it in tight parking corners, lest my hand slip and I accidentally accelerate. Hmm...I also visited Blanco Museum of Antonio Blanco, who in my opinion is just a glorified pervert. I've also seen a medicine man while here, who was very unsettling as he knew interesting things about my health that he could not have known without taking a glance at my medical charts.

What else...I saw a couple cock fights, the local pastime here. I learned so much about the Balinese. Here when men and women divorce the men are responsible for the kids. Men here seem to envy the freedom of their Western counterparts, but there is a bit of a twist for the expat who falls in love and marries a Balinese. Apparently often enough these men will be perfectly sweet while dating (as the Western woman bankrolls everything), and then once they have the wife and the baby, the men will go off and gamble, cock fight (betting on these), and cheat. When they divorce and the woman wants to leave with the child, they are subject to Balinese law and lose all their rights. Their children cannot go with them. Balinese law here protects the local. Therefore if a Westerner is in an accident with a Balinese, whether or not it is the Westerners fault, they will likely be held responsible. The tip here if you accidentally cause the death of a Balinese despite the fact that the accident was their fault, is to get on the next plane out of the country.

While here I've spent most of my time in Ubud, which is a town made famous now by the book "Eat, Pray, Love," though I didn't know that when I came here. I've since seen the movie, which was filmed in large part here. And so you can see many Westerners here looking for peace, salvation of some sort, or escape. It's been nice for me to get to know a town very well and to use it as a base for travel. I think I chose well, avoiding the craziness of Kuta, which is apparently very much a Wild West, no holds barred, sin city. All in all, I've done most of what I wanted to do here, and am very much ready/excited to head to Thailand. I do have to say that I'd prefer to go to Japan, Hong Kong and Macau...but I will have to save those more expensive areas for another trip. Thailand will be one of the few places abroad that I will be visiting for the second time, though I will be in totally different areas than I was last. I will be headed to the Andaman Islands and its West Coast for the most part, hopefully to do a bit of climbing, and perhaps some diving (my ear has been acting a bit funky)...It will be nice to know some of the customs, language, and history from the start.

I wish I'd been better about updating this blog. I would have included some write-ups wrapping up New Zealand, my awesome second-family of Israelis, and swimming with a pod of 400 dolphins in the open sea near Kaikoura. I've also found it funny that the American accent in a country where English is foreign, doesn't seem so friendly as it did in New Zealand. True, there are many more Americans here, but perhaps the fact that it's not so obviously easy to pick out in NZ makes it more amazing to hear? Not sure...

I've also shipped a couple things home that I just didn't want to drag around anymore, especially in the warmer weather here. They were quite pricey to send, even by sea, but I'm glad to be rid of them. Hopefully lightening my load will also ease the uneasiness in my back. I had an amazing "women only" Venus Yoga session today, also a great last reflexology massage, though I'm a bit sore again. Then, for my last night, I took myself out to dinner at a place in the rice paddies (that made for an interesting long walk back in the dark -- thank G-d for my headlamp!)...Sari Organik is great on ambiance, but a bit pricey...Oh, one more thought, I just remembered, I met three Iranian women yesterday while touring about -- two from Tehran, and another from Mashad, though she is living in Kuala Lumpur. It was really cool. I could pick out where they were from immediately; they were the first Iranian tourists I think I've ever met...

Oof, okay, I only have a few minutes left at this net cafe, so I will say goodbye for now. Updates to come, hopefully, from Thailand.

Mt. Cook National Park and Sebastopol Bluffs climbing

I've found the national parks in New Zealand to be spectacular...maybe it's because I finally have time and am able to visit them. It makes me wish I'd devoted more time in the States to camping and hiking over the weekends, though traffic makes it much more of a hefty endeavour and there are fewer youth hostels and such  to make it easy to do on your own.

That said, Mt. Cook National Park has been a great place to chill for a bit. Maybe not exactly chill, actually. I joined up with the NZ Alpine Club for some climbing Saturday morning. I learned about the trip the evening prior (bout 10 p.m.) and start time was for 7:30 a.m. the next day. I had a 30-40 minute hike out to meet them at Unwin Hut (where they were staying) before we all went out to the Sebastopol Bluffs to do the Red Arette. It was quite a hike and I hitched a short ride toward the Tasman Glacier area (still sore from my previous day of hiking/biking), and then walked the rest of the way. I hate walking flats because the objective is visible for kilometers and kilometers, yet you still have a ways to go...I much prefer the challenge of hills.

When I arrived, we jumped into the cars and zoomed to the Bluffs. The approach is a bit of a hike generally uphill for about 15 minutes through grassy, sharp-edged bushes, and then lots and lots of scree. It was my first time sport climbing outside and I think I freaked out my partner Tom. Anyway, I ended up doing an easy 14 and then a very easy 13. It's a strange feeling to be up 37 meters high. I was going to abseil down, but had never done it before. It's when you control your own descent. One of the guys, Brent, nervously told me that if I'd never done it before, and then hooked on wrong, I could just fly off the rock. It's basically all you and your gear. Well, I wasn't really nervous 'til then. When I got to the top of the first climb I still wanted to try abseiling. So I did -- it was just fine. Then, after we did the easy 13 climb, I decided I wanted to try to lead. It was my first lead climb in a long time. Leading the climb is really taking on the full burden because you have to puzzle out the route on sight, and most importantly hook up your quick draws and then rope in. The person coming up next then is simply belayed from the top, and it's not so scary. When you're leading, you also have to climb up ABOVE your hooks, and so if you fall, you fall pretty far -- to the next bolt -- assuming you hooked in properly. Leading that climb I felt a bit nervous, but focused on the rock and the here and now. I was fine then.

From there we went to the Freda du Faur special presentation at the Edmund Hillary theater at the Hermitage Hotel. I'd tried to get a ticket earlier, for this centenary celebration of her being the first female to climb Mt. cook...but, I'd not succeeded. I ended up lucking out and getting one of the last spare tickets someone had just given up. For $20 I got an awesome presentation by amazing women mountaineers, as well as afternoon tea at the Hermitage -- tuna sandwiches, tea, coffee, and yummmmmy cakes! I had way way too many cakes, but damn they were good. In general the hotel is so expensive that it costs about $500 a night there, so...yeah, afternoon tea for $20 is pretty damn good, especially since I got to celebrate awesome women mountaineers/climbers.

Sunday (today) morning I headed out to meet up with the climbing group again at the Bluffs at about 8:30 a.m. I ended up hitching a ride with a couple New Zealanders who dropped me off at the Bluffs. Then I ran up the side. I'd been unable to reach the head of the group all morning and so wasn't sure if he'd taken up an extra helmet for me or if they were even there. (They did have it, and they were there.) I'd worn shorts this time, because the day prior had been EXCEEDINGLY hot. Well, as luck would have it, today was very chilly with cold, gusting winds. Boy what a day of climbing. I joined Ray and Brent on Shark Attack. It's a 3-pitch climb that's rated 12, 15, and then 16/17. I ended up going last on the first pitch, and then second on the second pitch. Each one was about 30ish meters. By the end of the second pitch the wind was starting to gust and clouds were gathering like it was going to rain. I was pretty damn cold. On the final pitch Brent led up, but then, when he was gathering up rope I was talking with Raymond about knots and the last bit of rope went up without us noticing. I was going to tie into that rope...instead, it was stuck up high and especially because of the wind, we could not get it lower down.

Though Brent could have rappelled down and gathered up gear, I wanted to try going up -- so that meant I had to lead. Let me say that this was probably the scariest thing I have ever done. Up on the final pitch, at about 100 meters, with the wind gusting at more than 40 mph, I was hugging the rock, my knees suffering from multiple bumps and lots of abrasions. On some areas it looked like the slab had no holds whatsoever. Scary as hell. The wind was what made it bad though. Technicality wise, it was fine for me, but with the cold howling wind, it was crazy. I finally got up to the left over rope, after leading all the way past the crux (hardest bit of the climb) and more than 2/3 the way. I stopped on a pittance of foothold to tie myself into the other rope. I was balanced precariously on nearly nothing about 3-5 meters above my most recent bolted hook. That meant a 10-15 foot fall if something went wrong...and as long as the carabiner held up. I finally got the figure eight knot in, after tugging multiple times for more slack, and yelling up against the wind for the rope. I could barely feel my toes as they were numb from the cold and my shoes. After I was roped in at the top, it was less crazy of a climb not only mentally, but also physically -- I'd done the hard part already. I picked up the rest of the gear along the way and once I got up reveled in being safely on the ledge. I edged in so the wind wasn't biting into me so much, even so it was very cold and I was starting to shiver a bit. Raymond decided to stay on the second pitch ledge and not go up in the wind (his words later, "Respect! I was scared just standing on the ledge here in the wind.")

Of course that wasn't the end of it. Then it was time to abseil down more than 100 meters. Since I didn't know how to properly hook myself in, I had to rely on the knowledge of Brent. He was going to go first because the ropes had gotten tangled on bushes below us, but I didn't want to figure out my ropes up there on my own. I went down first. I had to abseil down without going past the bushes or I'd get screwed up on the ropes and could end up falling to my death. As I was going down I wondered if I'd been smart to go first. I had to stop and collect the ropes, while balanced on all my gear and absolutely nothing else on the wonderfully sheer rock face. Then I had to throw the ropes down. But first I had to go to the right and pick up gear that I was still technically roped into from the lead climb up...then traverse back and scoop up rope. I threw them back into bushes twice and had to redo them. I finally got it right and then continued to abseil down to meet Raymond. Brent then met up. Everyone was shaking a bit from the craziness of the day's climbing. We fixed the ropes again and then continued to abseil with Raymond going first. I went second. The last 75 meters or so was a straight abseil down and at the bottom I celebrated by switching into my tennis shoes. I could feel the heat off my ATC (belay device).

After everyone was done we packed our stuff up and headed to meet the rest of the group. They'd set up a 16 rated top rope just nearby. After another 15-minute or so hike down the scree, across grassy bushes and up more scree, we got to them. I ended up going up first. It was FAR easier than the other climbs, but still rather high at about 20ish meters. I was a bit shaken still from earlier, so trying to take it easy and relax. The previous climb I remembered doing some crazy climbing, really good stuff, but crazy so high up...stuff I might do on the boulder wall only a couple feet off the ground. My technical practice really came in handy though, especially relying on my feet. Anyway, back to that 16 top rope. I finished it off handily enough (on sight as well), and then belayed Brent up it. That was it for the day. I got dropped off at my hostel. I took a quick shower (burning knees), dressed my wounds, and did laundry, then ravenously ate some food. Now I'm just relaxing...oh what a day. I distinctly remember being on that rock in the wind and thinking of Tom's words the day prior -- "I should just take up stamp collecting."

The thing is, I wasn't really scared of any of the climbs, but everyone around me was so paranoid that I couldn't help beginning to worry myself. It's mostly a mental job in many cases, and if you believe in yourself and believe in your skill (that has come with good training), you will succeed.

Here and there...

8:13 p.m. 12/3/1: Mt. Cook Village

My neck and back are pretty much killing me right now, but this place, and my day was worth it. A quick backtrack to Dunedin. A very cool university town (Otago University) with about 110,000 people or so…it’s not too big, and not too small, and is very near the Otago Peninsula, where there is a ton of wildlife such as albatross, various other birds, and yellow-eyed penguin. The highlights of my trip to Dunedin included to Cadbury Chocolate Factory, which was huge and took up what looked like a couple city blocks. The 1.5-hour tour was pretty nice – especially considering the bag, which they filled up with chocolate whenever you answered some piece of trivia correctly. The only downside was that I was also on the tour with a bunch of teenage girls who were in town for a volleyball game. They screamed when the chocolate waterfall was dropped. Screamed.

The city is cool in that it has a lot of character, a central area called “The Octagon” off of which are a lot of other streets with cool bars and restaurants – lots of cafes, after all, it’s a university town. The other thing I did in Dunedin was the Elm Wildlife tour. It ended up being about 6.5 hours, including transport time. We saw amazing Northern Royal Albatross, with a 3-meter wingspan, and a 1.2-meter head to toe size. This is the only place where they breed on a landmass that is not an island. We saw five of them sitting on eggs; saw one take off to fly, and lots flying about. It’s not too common, unless wind conditions are right, so we very much lucked out. What I love about albatross are the anthropomorphic features of their relationships: they mate for life, so will take a few years to find a partner; they have a one-year get to know you time, then they separate for a while before returning to breed; when they see each other again they spend quality time bonding again; there are divorces and affairs, but these are relatively rare. Oh, and also, the men and women evenly split nearly all the duties (except laying the egg, of course). But watching it, etc…split. Female sea lions are not so lucky. They get the raw end of the deal in seemingly every way. Penguins too are similar to humans in their pairing. We saw these yellow-eyed penguins (and one very small blue penguin!) and it was so strange to see them without any ice or snow, and just in grass. We saw a couple of them walk right by us! One of them was feeling very social (and single), and hobbled over to say hello to another, tilting its head and chin all the way back – a biiiiig hello. Very cute. All in all, it was a pretty cool way to spend an evening. Oh, and last highlight of this town, nearly forgot. A very nice Asian market with rice balls and soups, and tofu! It was so nice to see…

The next morning it was back on the bus for Lake Tekapo. Of course the bus broke down and we ended up hanging out at a café for a couple hours. It was alright, I took the time to get a bit of work done, and also have ice cream. Later we would stop for ice cream again…and, well, later…Yeah, a triple ice cream day! It’s amazing how doing nothing builds upon itself so much so that you end up festering in the laziness of it all…and eating more ice cream.

That afternoon we arrived into Lake Tekapo pretty late. A big group of us had pitched in $10 each for a barbecue, and boy oh boy was it worth it. Well, first of all, let me describe the view. On the way into town we drove past a beautiful lake (can’t remember the name right now), behind which there was a perfectly cloudless view of Mount Cook. This is the tallest mountain in New Zealand, part of the Southern Alps, and also the training ground for Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to summit Mount Everest with Tenzing Norgay. The white snowcapped mountains loomed up above a bright blue, radioactive-looking lake. Apparently it is that color because of the silt (minerals) from the glacial melt that drips into the water. It’s beautiful. Lake Tekapo is a bit of a deeper blue, situated with a backdrop of snowy-capped mountains, and forest around it. We had an amazing barbecue with burger patties, chicken, buns of course, sausage, homemade coleslaw and salad, potato salad, chips and dip, drinks, and more ice cream (hokey pokey, of course) for dessert. It was spectacular, and really fun to hang out with a cool group and relax right in front of such a spectacular scene. Afterward a small group of us headed into town (only a few hundred people live there) to here Mike King, a Maori comedian who is pretty famous in NZ, perform at a local bar/restaurant. We got a bit of a cheaper ticket in and a complimentary beer, which definitely made it worth it. The guy was good, though very rude (seriously)…though I knew enough not to take offense. He tried to pick on everyone in the place, though when he came to me I think I confused him a bit. He was trying to go off on Americans rushing through things, then he asked me how long I’d been traveling – “five weeks” I told him. Oh…that’s a long time… he said. Actually, I’ve been traveling for six weeks…Anyway, he said some other stuff, and I made fun of him back, which stopped him from bugging our table most the rest of the night. It was an interesting show though, and I’m glad I went. I crawled into bed way too late for my 8 a.m. departure to Mt. Cook National Park.

This morning I was making breakfast with a couple minutes to spare before pickup when I saw the van go by. I frantically called the phone number for the place and they got the guy back. I was the only person to pick up, and so it ended up being quite a pleasant 1.5-hour journey to the park with lots of photo stops whenever I liked. The hostel here is far FAR nicer than the one at Lake Tekapo that I was staying at. I forgot to mention that I met a couple Brits at the comedy show (they ended up giving us all a ride over and back) and one had a girlfriend who was headed up to the park this weekend to climb with the NZ Alpine Club. We exchanged info and he gave me a contact…and well, fingers crossed, I’ll be climbing with them tomorrow! But anyway, today I went on a beautiful hike through Hooker Valley, about four hours return, for wonderful views of Mt. Cook and the lake below it. I also stopped at the Alpine Memorial, which had small plaques memorializing the people who had died in the park (primarily trying to summit/return Mt. Cook or Mt. Tasman). It was very sad. Lots of people had left little rocks as markers that they had been there, and I did too. The little commentaries on the plaques were sad, but also uplifting in some cases. After I did the hike it was about 3/3:30 p.m. The sun was blazing and without much shade during the trail, I really felt the heat. I headed back to the hostel, glad I’d done the shorter of the walks I’d been agonizing between – after all, I’m going to climb tomorrow!

Well, back at the hostel I decided to rent a bike to see the Tasman Glacier. A bunch of people told me I could just bike there and it’d be lovely, and very worth it. And I didn’t know when else to do it. So…I did…12 kilometers each way on a gravel dirt road under the sun. At one point I had to stop and reapply sunblock because I could feel my arms burning. Cars would drive by and dirt and dust would fly up and cover me. I could tell who the empathetic ones were because they’d stop and let me pass, or drive slowly by me so as to avoid dust clouds. Others would just zoom by. Once I got to the trail head, I discovered I had a lovely 20-minute uphill climb to the glacier viewing. But, once I got there, it was worth it. I chilled out and thanked the Lord I’d horded food in my backpack, and then reapplied sunblock again and rode back, taking pictures along the way. The 2-kilometer hill on the way over was OK, but on the way back, it was far steeper. I ended up getting off my bike and walking with it for the hill part. When I got back to the hostel I took a LOVELY shower, made myself dinner and well, here I am. I was way too tired to checkout a local band playing very nearby here apparently…argh. I hope I’m good to climb tomorrow. Anyway, there we go, very very quick update. I’ll try and elaborate more on this place next time. I forget so many things when I finally do get the chance to blog…it’s a real pity.

**Just remembered -- the mountain bike I rented was AWESOME! Great shock absorbers...though the brakes are switched here, as are the sides of the road they drive on...I need to get myself a real mountain bike when I get home...and a road bike.

NZ joke: Is there a single sandfly in the Milford Sound?

Answer: Nope, they’re all married with large families.

[Disclaimer: This post was written on a bus while I was car sick, and is now being posted on a crappy Internet connection without editing. Edits will be added later (fingers crossed).]

Yeap, I've been bitten, even with my gallons of bug spray. The thing is, you don’t really use the spray til you’ve realized you need it in an area – often after you have already been bitten. I’ve heeded warnings from some, and so have probably avoided a lot more bites than most people. The greatest motivator when going for a run is that if you stop, these small fly-like bastards will bite into you and leave a bloody little red spot. Once you itch it, it rises upward and turns an ugly red, purple. It’s quite terrible….

Okay, where was I. Fairly behind. Franz Josef. I’d planned to ice climb last Saturday, but when I woke up that morning it was pouring rain. As a result, the climb was cancelled. For those who have been following the news, 29 coal miners were also stuck underground in Greymouth, ironically the very day I decided to leave Greymouth (Friday), the explosion that trapped them occurred. I found out about it once I reached Franz Josef and monitored the news as best I could, without consistent communications. The Internet at this place was $13 NZ for three hours. Ouch. Anyway, I ended up traveling up to Greymouth Sunday for the story, catching the only morning bus at 9:30 a.m. and cancelling my ice climb (though the sun was starting to peak over the edges fo the mountains). The 3ish hour journey was not great fun…and for some reason bus journeys seem to make most people pretty exhausted. Including myself. Anyway, at about 1 p.m. I finally get to my hostel, drag my belongings up three flights of stairs (pain) and then, in a city crawling with hundreds of journalists from as far as France (!), I went looking for people to give me a gauge on the situation there. The city had hunkered down, I had no car (so everything was a 15 to 20 minute walk), and my phone cost me 89 cents (NZ) per minute to call anyone. Needless to say, I essentially had no phone. It was a challenge…especially since my deadline was in 3.5 hours (drop dead four hours (or 5 p.m.)).

Oh, and of course no one would really speak (officially) until the press conference about 3 p.m. The presser started at 3:15 p.m. and was still going at 3:50 p.m. when I left and went to work – begging a bartender for Internet at their place. I had about 30 minutes to get my notes in order and write the story, ignoring a meeting with the Greymouth mayor. Greymouth, a town of about 10,000 people is the West Coast’s largest town on the South Island of New Zealand. It’s also a coal mining town and the root of much of the South Island’s industrial rise (coal and gold mining). Therefore, most New Zealanders have some tie to the West Coast, especially on this island. Of the 4.4 million New Zealanders, about ¼ live on the South Island. And so with crisis, ambitious reporters seeking to make names for themselves, and everyone working some kind of angle (nearly), the locals had really hunkered down into their painful vigils. I have never seen a place go as brick wall as this place. No one would talk. And certainly not on the record. Because everyone knows everyone, there’s even more pressure to remain silent and let other people grieve/deal in peace. Everyone had kicked in to help out with the hopeful effort (days later that turned a lot more negative, and two explosions later the relief effort has become a recovery effort). It’s so interesting because I have found Kiwis some of the kindest, most helpful people I’ve ever met, so to see them close up so, is perhaps understandable, but also less authentic a picture for those (especially) in the foreign media.

The next day I took the same trip back to Franz Josef. This time I looked at my watch when I got off the bus for a break (I was learning!)…I had my ice climb booked for the next day…and once I arrived in Franz Josef, it looked like it would be a good day indeed. The sun was out and the entire place looked different. My hostel, however, was a bit smelly and I found some person’s toe nail on my bed under my pillow. Vomit.

Okay, just zooming through this update. The ice climb was spectacular, first of all. After Tongariro, probably the coolest thing I have done here. The day started at 7:45 a.m. at the glacier center. We got our equipment: crampons, plastic boots, backpacks, waterproof pants and coat and whatever else we might have needed. Then it was a nice 20 minute bus ride to the carpark, and then a two hour hike or so to the glacier. From there it was another couple hours up the glacier, during which time we put on our plastic boots and crampons, hiking up and up through beautiful ice falls and other formations. The entire area had been checked out by glacier guides earlier that morning to avoid the 2009 catastrophe where a couple tourists were caught in an ice fall. They are very real dangers, and even then, I think most people were careful to walk in each others' steps. Without a guide the area is roped off to visitors because of these real dangers.

It was cool to hear the glub glub glubbing fo the glacier moving and water melting. We also heard what sort of sounded like a car bomb, as a large portion of the glacier fell somewhere. It was a beautiful sunny day, and we got to do a number of climbs with our ice axes and crampons. I was the first volunteer to give climbing a go (I raised my hand so fast the two guides laughed at me)…but it was something I really wanted to do as much as possible. I ended up getting in the most climbs of the day (six) of everyone. Someone asked me if I’d been a pro rock climber, which was really really nice to hear (and not even close). I loved ice climbing. Maybe I’ve read to much Jon Krakauer, but it was cool to trust your feet, to kick in your steps and trust the tips of your crampons and your legs, and to use technique, and a b it of strength (even still) with the ice axe … to move up vertical ice on a glacier. In California I think they have a bit of this, but it’s mostly ice frozen in waterfalls. Colorado has it as well, and I’m sure Alaska too. It was so cool to use features on the glacier and to pick your spots. My arms didn’t tire much until a few climbs  were done, and it was really nice to see that some climbing technique had helped. All in all, a most awesome nine-hour day or so. It made everything worth it.

Then it was onward to Wanaka from Franz Josef. Wanaka is a sleepy little town on the way to Queenstown. I’m not sure if I’m repeating myself here, but I ended up spending Thanksgiving there. I found another American who was working and living at a hostel there with Couchsurfing. It ended up being me, him (a Minesottan), a Canadian, another American who hailed from Boston originally but now lived in Tahoe working at ski resorts, and an Israeli girl, plus later two American guys also from California (Palo Alto). Everyone brought some food and we ended up having salad, bread, chicken, and lots of harvest vegetables, plus chocolate for dessert. Oh yeah, and sparkling wine, cider and beer. It was a beautiful afternoon, and with the sun setting at about 9 p.m. or so here, we had hours to while away and relax. The next day was my last in Wawnaka before heading down to Queenstown, billed as the world’s adventure capital. My last morning I ended up going for a nice walk alogn the lake and meeting another rock climber setting up a line to walk on, we chatted for a bit, and is usually th case, I learned about all these cool climbs, right before I had to leave. Damn. Then I met up with the other California girl and Canadian to play some rugby ball catch on the field near the lake. It was beautiful and I put my feet in earlier…clearer than many a bathtub. Anyway, it was my first time playing rugby ball catch, and so I learned how to throw the ball in different ways, and why. Then we kicked around a soccer ball. Soon enough it was time for me to head out and catch my bus. It was off to Queenstown. As it was Friday night, the Israeli girl had invited me for Shabbat dinner with her parents and her. They had run into each other by accident while hiking the Abel Tasman trail (one of the other smallest population countries out there running into their own family members on another similarly small country – small small world).

It was a beautiful dinner, with lots and lots of food. The family was very sweet, and as I’ve been feeling a bit homesick lately with the holidays coming round, I really appreciated their invite. They  joked about wanting to adopt me, and we exchanged info, as I am on the same itinerary essentially as they are. We will meet again, I am sure.

The next day (Saturday) I headed up the Queenstown gondola and checked out a view of the city, then walked around and got myself a bit more oriented. I also treated myself to a movie, “Harry Potter,,” which I’ve been wanting to see for some time. I’ve been feeling a bit ragged and rushed. And my dad said I needed to learn how to have a vacation. Maybe true, but I guess I’m trying to make up for 10 months in two, or however long. I want to appreciate every moment I have to do whatever I want, go wherever I want, and just be outdoors, living in the beautiful landscapes that are New Zealand. I guess I may be a bit overzealous sometimes.

I forgot to mention…this place is (again) full of random, serendipitous meet ups. I ran into Hubert and Helga, again, this time about sunset in Queenstown, right along the lakefront after my movie, on my way back to my place for dinner. It was so great to see them. And after the last couple meetups we exchanged info so that we can see each other again in one of the next random spots, or in Australia, or otherwise back in Switzerland, where they live…

Sunday, today, I headed out on the bus at 7:55 a.m. to the Milford Sound, apparently *the* place to visit in the world in 2009,. It is a stunning fiord, or narrow inlet from the Tasman sea with the world’s highest vertical rise from the water as well as the highest cliff there known as Mitre Peak. We took a beautiful one hour and 45 minute cruise through the Milford Sound peeking into the Tasman Sea – open water – then back through and getting up close to one of the water falls that is apparently larger in water volume than Niagra Falls (in multiples). Of course I spent a good 30 minutes of this trip trying to wipe tar off my only outdoors pants. Someone had tracked it on their shoes somewhere onto the boat or bus, and onto my pants. It didn’t all come off, and I was pretty upset for a bit…then tried to make the best of my time. Argh. I’m writing this now on the bus ride back as it provides free wireless! To bad the road is so windy it’s easy to get car sick. Funny that they wouldn’t provide this sort of Internet all the time, it just goes to show that NZ *can* provide such Internet use, but chooses not to, chooses instead to charge an exorbitant amount simply because they can. A part of it also has to do with the concept of “horsepower” so to speak, the fact that there aren’t enough people here for enough turn around for items to cost less money, for sales to occur. Therefore outdoors gear, for example, or even food, is incredibly pricey here. In fact, I spoke with Japanese people who found stuff pricey here, so…yeah…Apparently there is a Canadian who regularly goes home and fills his suitcase with Leathermans, for about $75 or so a pop, and since they sell here for about $300, he sells them for $200 or so on a local website, “trademe.co.nz” and that is basically how he makes his money. Not so legal, probably, but a damn easy way to make money.

Tonight I will try the infamous Queenstown “Ferg Burger”…I’d planned to have it for lunch tomorrow, but didn’t realize that I’d be on the road again, traveling out to Dunedin. I didn’t realize my bus was only leaving Monday or Wednesday, and since I’m not a huge fan of expensive cities, even if they are Aspen-esque and beautiful, I’d rather move on and spend a bit of time in Dunedin, which also has a Jewish community of sorts and is a college town as well. There I’ll hopefully get my last bit of work done asap and celebrate Hanukkah. That would be nice…So yeah, burger tonight, bus tomorrow at 7:30 a.m., and then work work work…before Wednesday night’s celebration. I will probably stay in town there an inordinate amount of time because of the work…otherwise I won’t be able to sightsee much at all. I feel a bit of pressure to take my time and do as best a job I can on this story since I was so rushed on the last one. But well, “perfect is the enemy of the good,” so I will do the best I can under the circumstances.

Hopefully I’ll get some Internet connection soon enough (mountains) and be able to post this…

It has been tough feeling a bit homesick this week, and I’m wondering why that’s the case. I think I also miss Baghdad a bit, or not Baghdad, per se, but the people and the relationships I had there, the community of sorts, even though it wasn’t always the best situation. My life has changed so incredibly in a relatively short amount of time, and I’m still reeling as I try to recover from each situation/lifestyle and then move on to the next thing…without perhaps fully processing each thing. I don’t know. Someone told me family and friends will still be there when you get back, but likewise, so too will these countries and places I want to visit. The issue, I guess, is time, and opportunity, and ability and willingness to travel. Who knows how that will be affected by the circumstances of life. But I guess that’s life. Damn sand fly bit me again.

Written Sunday New Zealand local time about 7 p.m. in Queenstown. Posted in Dunedin at about 10:40 p.m. Tuesday. Clearly I have some updating to do.