fush and chups

feb 23, 2010

nz rocks! e and i officially love it here. it's super green. 25% of the country is protected. the hills, fields, orchards, coastline and mtns are stunning. the water is crystal clear. salt and fresh. and people are so so friendly - even more than home i think. just come up and start talkin to you on the street or in the shops. so willing to help or even just chat. and always smiling and laughing. and everyone is environmentally concious. i'm v impressed with nz govn't. they've got the green way of life and the tourism thing figured out.

e and i just spent 5 days in an awesome little city (pop 60,000) called nelson on north coast of south island. the gateway to abel tasman nat'l park. which is awesome. did a day hike there with friends from b.c., chile, and uk/aus. spent 2 days at tahunanui beach just outside town. snagged free bus rides there =). and last day hiked up a hill to 'the centre of new zealand' survey marker in town and then swam in river on way down hill. at night we frequent a local pub that makes its own beer. and it is fabulous beer. then we usually moved to 'the shark bar' where backpackers get a "passport" which is 4 beer and a shot for $15. and b/c we're in nz's wine region, a good bottle costs $8. oh, and the fish and chips here is better than home. but it's pronounced fush and chups. ha. mostly hanging with simon from germany, rachelle from calgary, bryan from glasgow, and 3 girls from northern ireland. life is rough.

we're loving the hostel life. lots of other travelers to meet. backpackers everywhere here. mostly german and british, actually.

magic bus has been a good choice. drivers are friendly and always tell us interesting nz facts. we stop at many points to see local attractions (e.g. seal colonies, geologic features, rivers, etc), go for a hike, grab coffees, or go to the toilet. yesterday was interesting - as soon as we were leaving in the morning, the bus hit a car as we are making a turn. lifted it clean off the ground! ha. and in the afternoon as we were hammering down the mtns along the coast, we lost the radiator. awesome. but, we were impressed with how they handled it. within 45 min, another bus (schoolbus) was there to pick us up and bring us to our accommodations and our bags arrived shortly after. oh, tragic magic.

we're now in franz josef on west coast of south island. home of fj glacier. crazy beautiful mtns here. and it's pouring! flash storm. the drive here was crazy. beautiful mtns and coastline here. subtropical rainforest.

other fun tidbits:

- the liquor store is called the bottle store

- instead of `awesome!`, kiwis say `choice!`. i like that one =).

- diary products are insanely expensive, even though nz is the world's largest exporter of dairy. appar farmers aren't subsidized.

1st photo on this post is tahunanui beach where we spent 2 lovely days in the sun.

2nd photo is looking down on nelson from 'the centre of nz' survey marker

3rd photo is typical view of coastline on our abel tasman nat'l park hike.

all for now,

t

links to photos

to see a few photos, copy and paste these links:

fiji - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=386853&id=846415455&l=7c6462d94a

christchurch and kaikoura - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=387264&id=846415455&l=f22f1606d0

more english than england

February 17, 2010

We spent the last 2 days/nights in Christchurch. Not v warm here! Tina wears her toque and Erin her scarf and 2 coats. Haha. About 10 C in morning, but air is moist and damp. The city is known as being “more English than England”. Sharing a hostel room is Janine from Germany, 2 young guys from Holland, and 2 others we didn’t meet.

Our mission was to develop some sort of a plan for our 6 weeks in NZ. At the visitor’s centre, a man informed us that he thought we were basically crazy to hitchhike-just us two girls. So, we then began researching bus passes, which turned out to be quite a lengthy process! We spent lots of time at the public library trying to figure out the best deal. For many people’s delight, we are sure, we now have a bus pass which we can use for the entire length of our stay in NZ. We get to get on and off when we want and the bus goes all around the north and south islands. We are set! Not really sure if we’ll get to work while here.

When we were not at the library researching bus companies and places to stay, we explored the city a little. We walked through the city centre, which is filled with lots of little shops and bars. There are Irish pubs everywhere! The first day we had our lunch on a little bench in the city centre. We had a can of tuna and some rice crackers. Oh, and a large coffee from Starbucks that we split. Today for lunch we split a $6 plate of curry, naan, and rice – much to the chagrin of the restauranteur. Haha. We are going to be experts on how to make travelling cheap and on developing clever ways to save some money!

We also walked around the botanical gardens. They were quite large and very nice. Erin liked the rose garden J . Did a quick grocery run and finally had salad with dinner! Also bought Nestle ‘coffee and milk’ in a tube like toothpaste. Just add boiling water! It’s uber gross. Not gonna get caffeine fix there...

So far, prices are slightly cheaper than home but not by much. Noticeable differences from Canada:

I. Everyone here smokes. Even pretty old ladies walking to work in the morning in skirts and nice shoes. Gross.

2. Car parks = parking lots; takeaways = take out food – these are prob same as in UK

3. i = e; that is, we say pen, they say pin; we say tent, they say tint – erin was a bit confused when the customs agent at the airport in Christchurch asked her if she had a tint. haha

Now en route to Kaikoura,

erin

chicken duck monster truck

14 feb/10

Flying over NZ is retarded. RETARDED. the mtns are nuts. arrived in NZ on time; no probs with customs. Got work permits for one year. But tina lost the blueberry honey that she brought from pasadena to give to shane and raph in Dunedin. Caught city bus to downtown. Neighbourhoods here are lovely! Clean, well kept, quaint but not the annoyingly cute quaint. People v friendly – they thank the bus driver, etc.

Drive thru downtown Christchurch is v cool! Kinda like boston, but newer and more happening. Clean, tons of shops, restaurants, pubs, museums, churches, market in main square. Got bus transfer at central station to our cs host who lives in suburb called Lincoln (we didn’t realize when requesting that his place wasnt in the city). 30 min bus ride, 1.5 km walk to Lincoln Univ. Dairy Farm. First impression is countryside is kinda like nova scotia. Farms, trees, smells, friendly people.

Get to cs place and met sean, our host and his flatmate mirth. We are handed cold beers as soon as we walk in =). House is owned by Univ. and used by agriculture grad students. Sit and chat with sean – he talks A LOT and is so full of shit. Haha. Our kind of people! 36 yr old environ. sci. grad who works for cell phone company. Mirth has phd in ag. Sean gives us map of nz and shows us must-see places. Tons to see!

E and i hang around garden for a bit, then sean gives us driving tour of area. First to beauty little beach with iron sand. So soft. Houses all along hill and cliffsides; looks bit like south coast of NL but not so rocky. Then to Lyttleton, 12 km from CC. Site of old volcano, used to be booming port but no more. Drive down to harbour was spectacular; high cliffs overlooking infertile, grassy hills and aqua blue waters of Diamond Harbour.

In lyttleton, went to The Wunderbar, a retro pub overlooking harbour where sean and his band play occasionally. It’s transvestite nite, and the young blond man with dreads and long, scraggly beard looks quite lovely in his 4”red pumps, fishnet stockings, and velvet red and black skirt and boustier. His little dog with the pink leopard print collar is cute, too. We have nz wheat beer; tina tips bartender and gets weird looks, same as when tipped cabbie in Fiji. Appar tipping is a NA thing so we should get used to not doing it.

Sean cracks us up the whole time. Never stops talking or goofing around. Head home around 2000 h. Stopped at grocery store in Lincoln to get din and bf supplies. Home at 2100 h – have hummus and hang with mirth and sean who offer us more beer. We do tea =). Get more travel advice, esp on aus from both. To bed at 2200 h. Erin and i share twin bed in room in basement. Plan for tomo is head back into city, stay at hostel, call wwoofing farms and do internet stuff.

Roger that,

t

bula, vinaka, and singa na linga!

bula! we arrived in nadi, fiji 1/2 hr late due to weather (rainstorms). 15-min drive cab to fi and api's, our first couchsurfing hosts. married 22 yr, live in a traditional fijian village called viseisei (first place settled in fiji, means 'separation' b/c original settlers from tanzania stayed here while others went separate ways).

got to house at 0700 h. very rustic and thus lovely =). concrete walls, corrugated sheet metal roof, 2 bdrm, toilet room, shower room, cockroaches, ants, lots of stray dogs. fi and api are so so friendly. babysitting niece named lacee, have dog named c.s. (for couchsurfing) and cat named tony.

anna from poland and milan from slovakia also surfing here. funny, cool, and down to earth people.

api gave us tour of village grounds as soon as we arrived: courtyard square with church (methodist), church bell, and chief's quarters (thatched roof building), where he holds meetings and hosts visiting diplomats. chief determined by bloodline.

ate bf with all, compliments of anna and milan (fruit, tea, fresh bread). then they went to nadi; e and i took the bus with api and another little girl to lautoka, a nearby city that's apparently nicer than nadi. went to the market which is huge!! hundreds of vendors. pineapple, watermelon, bananas in season. tons of east indian vendors selling spices, chillies, okra, eggplant, etc etc. lots of tarot root and other fijian foods. e and i bought supper for all - a string of 5 red snappers ("ika") for $25. very hot now. about 35^oC. bussed back home round noon.

checked emails - still no word back from couches to surf in christchurch when we arrive tomorrow. heard from one farm who already has wwoofers and thus no room for us.

2 hr nap each, woke to heavy rainshowers, but lasted only 10 min. so homey here - lots of family members keep coming over and we all sit around on the grass mat carpet in the living room and talk, laugh, eat, nap. fi, her pregnant niece, and lacee are always passed out on floor. v humid.

showered, then i birded around grounds - no guide so took notes and need to google species for id =). bought earrings off village ladies selling wares in courtyard.

still no emails from surfing hosts in CC. so sent 'we know this is last minute, please pity us' requests to 3 more hosts.

api plays guitar and sings at a nearby resort during dinner; at 1700 h he took e and me with him. we want to sample beer and coffee in each place we visit, and no pub in trad village, so to resort we go! walked 20 min along traintrack thru backwoods. lots of men catching crabs in brackish water along tracks. v cool habitat. like any equatorial country, really. broadleaf forest.

paid $10 for 2 beers ($1 fiji = $1.3 Cdn)! yikes. fiji gold and fiji bitter. v nice! hung by the pool for an hour, strolled home ourselves along track at 1900 h.

fi was passed out on floor when we got back. as per usual =). so had tea with a and m. played with little girls in neighbourhood, taught them how to use my camera. 3 yr olds take nice photos! checked couchsurfing and yay! a dude named 'chicken and duck truck' has room for us! haha. named sean, lives near university in CC and owns a goat.

at 2000h i am starving and ready for bed. so i try to 'accidentally' wake fi by coughing, singing, whistling, dropping stuffed toys on her feet (chinnie, you`d be proud). haha. success when i brushed by her arm with my foot. get up, woman! it works and she wakes in a daze. but promptly begins boiling the fish and goes on back stoop to prepare coconut for the sauce. cracks 2 open with huge machete and grates them over a blade into a bowl, adds milk, water, chillies, and green onion.

api home at 2100h and serves us 'lovo' - fijian word for tarot cooked in underground oven. yum. texture of thick mushy bread and tastes smokey. dinner ready and it's delicious. called 'ika waka miti' (red snapper with fresh coconut).

off to bed at 2230 h. woke at 0445 h, jit arrived at 0500 h to bring us to airport. a and m come too; they're flying to auckland same time we fly to cc.

3 most common phrases we heard:

bula = hello

vinaka = thank you

singa na linga = no worries

so, a v awesome Day One!! see what nz has in store....

peas,

t and e