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New Zealand Travel Blog
www.andyjcollins.com

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Home Snow Home
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We finished our travels by leisuring seeing Akaroa on the South Island during our last week and visited (and my parents met for the first time) Kerry, Darrell, and their daughter Paige for fish and chips on the beach our last night. It was a nice way to start and end my trip to New Zealand.

Waiting for our night flight we hung out in Auckland City and did a “Reverse Bungy” as our last thrill ride. If you take a sling-shot, point it to the sky, enlarge it a thousand times, and substitute people for rocks you’ll get an idea of what this contraption looks like. It was a huge rush as we were shot at 200kph (120mph) into the sky and twisted upside down and back on the way down! What a way to go out. =)

Then it was off to our long plane trips home and were welcomed by snow on the road home to our house.

Home Snow Home.
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WoW
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WoW, I’m not even back yet and rumors are already starting. Just to remind Joe and Jozlyn back home, and anyone else, I am not engaged and am not getting married. And I have not proposed. Just wanted to clear that up before anything got out of hand. Later.
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Moving On?..
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My dream-machine aka Toyota Corolla is no more. I sold it a few days ago in Christchurch to a car rental agency. I do this in preparation to make the long trip back to the States. As you all may or may not, I am heading back sooner than I originally planned for. The plan was to work here in NZ, but as I found work I found it wasn?t worth it. Most places required you work 3-4 hours a day, 7 days a week in exchange for room or sometimes room and board. Yes, the pay isn?t great, but I expected that. What I didn?t expect was the 7 days a week thing. I hoped to work and travel at the same time; however you can?t get real far in half a day. So I decided to simply travel and see and do as much as I wanted. Now that I have done that I am coming home. Coming home to what I don?t know, that is yet to be decided. I have some temporary work lined up, and after that maybe I?ll look for some more or perhaps go back to school in Arizona for some refresher courses. I?m sure it?ll all work itself in due time as this chapter in my life comes to a close and I transition into another.

Pictured above is the Backpackers Car Market where I sold my car. For $65NZD bucks you can put your car on their lot for 3 days. The hope being another backpacker will come through wanting to buy it. To the right is me swimming in the cash I got paid in! The Corolla was a great car, and never gave me even problems over the 15,301 kilometers (~9,500 miles) that I drove it. Now with my plane tickets changed to coincide with my parent?s departure date we will be leaving this land on the 18th of this month. Therefore I will see some of you all back home very soon!
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Happy New Years for 2006!
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Wow, has time been flying by! It?s already 2006 and I?m not even sure when I last wrote on here. Ever since my girlfriend Rachel arrived on the 21st of December time has slipped right on by. It feels like she just arrived, but sadly she has just departed two days ago on the 4th of this month. I hope everyone out there had an enjoyable holiday like we got to have here and got lots of nice pressies! Like I was just saying Rachel arrived a couple of weeks ago and we all traveled long and hard to make the most of her time, all the while hopefully making the most of it. Her first day in we didn?t even waste I picked her up by myself at the airport in Auckland early in the morning and we drove to Waitomo Caves from there. Waitomo was one of my favorite places and I thought she?d like it too, and as her Christmas present (since I couldn?t think of anything better) I signed us with a local company who dressed us up in some sweet, smelly dry suits with headlamps and white rubber boots. They then took us rappelling down into a cave where we grabbed tubes and hiked upstream through an underground river to begin our black water rafting adventure. As the current swept us downstream our group was instructed to turn our lights off and we were then greeted
by thousands of little blue lights made by glowworms. I?d seen glowworms before, but these were by far the most abundant and amazing to see. We past our starting point and kept going down the cave on our tubes until the guide stopped us for a chocolate and hot orange drink before we made our way back. Once back to where we dropped down into the cave we ditched our tubes and harnessed into a safety rope to climb our way out. It was a great time that we got to experience with a local guy (the guide), two Irish girls (one of which had a hell of time in the caves that kept tripping, losing her tube, and even accidentally caused her friend to fall and go spilling over some rapids face first on her stomach), and a Canadian guy.

After that we did a couple of hikes to Mangapohue Natural Bridge and Marakopa Falls to add to the Ruakuri Caves trail that we did earlier in the day before the tour.

The following day we drove to Lake Taupo where we met up with my parents for my 23rd birthday. Dang I?m getting old! Our first stop for the day was just down the road from where we were staying, Taupo Bungy. If there?s one thing New Zealand is known for besides it?s beautiful landscapes it would have to be it?s extreme sports, and there?s a few I felt compelled to do before my time here is up. I?d been telling Rachel for months that she would be jumping with me, despite her large hesitation or want not to she did! And so did both of my parents! My Mom was the bravest out of all of us and went first to the blue, blue river below us, followed nextby my Dad, and finally side-by-side with one arm around each other we jumped tandem screaming (I think) all the way down. It was an awesome ride and well worth it I thought to do at least once. A little yellow raft came out from shore and picked us up to courier us to the rivers bank where we made our climb up to watch our daring leaps of faith on video. We also got pictures taken, but haven?t had time to get them scanned, otherwise I would have loved to put them on here. Until I do though these ones will have to do.

Following that we drove up to Rotorua where we went zorbing. Those of you who don?t know what zorbing is it?s a large plastic ball with another plastic ball suspended inside it. You climb into the inner plastic ball filled with warm water, push the thing over a hill, fall down, and go laughing the entire way down. Prolly doesn?t sound all that great, but it was actually a lot of fun and better than I thought it was going to be. My parents rode in one zorb together and Rachel and I rode in another together.

To finish out the day we arrived at local Maori village where we could observe them doing traditional things like weaving baskets with flax, playing games, cooking, and so forth. They then took us inside where they performed on a stage singing songs, telling Maori legends, and the women showed their talent by demonstrating there use of ?pois? (I think) which is small, white pom-pom attached to a long string back to a handle. At one time each of the four ladies had four separate pois of their own swinging around in succession with one another in different directions without hitting anything else. Really quite impressive, hard to explain too, and a nice change on birthday from the usual dinner and movie routine since nothing is ever open on Christmas Eve.

The next day was Christmas and we didn?t want to waste a day, even though I think everyone would have liked a day to rest we drove south of Taupo to hike part of the Tangariro Crossing, which I hope everyone found worth wild. We went as far as Red Crater (pictured below) where we could see blue lake, three emerald lakes, two volcanoes, and the far stretching valley below all from this one vantage point. That night we had a nice dinner where we stayed followed by opening pressies.

On the 26th we left Taupo to catch the ferry from Wellington over to the South Island. We left early because my Dad wanted to stop at a place called ?Gravity Canyon? to ride the ?Swoop? or as they called it the ?Flying Fox?. My Mom didn?t want to do it so he easily persuaded Rachel and I to join him. After making a daunting climb up to the top of the canyon wall we were coaxed to climb into two safety harnesses each complete with matching glasses. When our turn came up we walked up to a platform which raised us high enough for the operators to fasten us in. They checked and rechecked everything and sent us on our way. All of us were attached together on a single suspension cable with our stomachs parallel to the ground and faces forward as it swooped us down through the gravity canyon, dropped us 175 meters, and caused us to reach speed in excess of 160kph. What a rush! And then we got to do it all over again in slow motion as they slowly reeled us back to the top.

The ferry ride wasn?t as fun as the swoop, but was beautiful as ever passing through Cook Straight and entering the Marlborough Sounds of the South Island to the port city of Picton. We got in late and were thankful to find a place since the ferry was full and everyone else was scrounging for accommodation. Rach and I ended up having to camp for the night, which was fine, but I ?forgot? to tell the place I was traveling with her since I?m so used to traveling alone and this seriously upset the manager who noticed it the next day. I tried to explain the situation to him, but I don?t think he bought it and said he woulda ?tossed? me out if he noticed it the night before and I was ?lucky to get any sleep?. I nodded accordingly and paid the man an additional 14 bucks. I kind of find it ridiculous that there?s no discount for additional people in a party because it?s not like that tent is taking up anymore space regardless if there?s one or two people in it.

Oh well. We split company with the angry man and went on to Christchurch stopping off in Kaikoura along the way where I took everyone to a walk around a peninsula where fur seal colonies hung out on the oceans jagged, rocky edge. My Dad got a little close to one of the seals causing it to yelp and growl in a discouraging fashion telling him not to come any closer. Other than that we had a great time hanging out and watching them play in the water or sunbathe on the open rocks. My Dad even liked the town so much that he wants to return there on our way back for a couple days.

In Christchurch we wondered downtown to Cathedral Square for some evening ?nibbles? as my Mom likes to say now and drinks at a local Irish bar.

On our way out to Franz Josef Glacier the following day we stopped at Kura Tawhiti Conservation Area. I had a hard time explaining this place before and I?m still not sure how to go about it. From a distance it looks like it could be ruins of an old city, but upon closer inspection you?ll see its only large limestone rock formations. It?s a rather big, spread out area filled with hundreds of nooks, crannies, and tunnels to hide in and climb about. Making for a nice place to hang out for a day, and would be awesome if you had a lot of people to play hide and seek in or sardines.

We also went to Arthur?s Pass for a picnic outside, and where I was hoping we?d get to hike up to Devil?s Punchbowl Falls, but due to time we had to drive to make it Franz Josef Glacier. We didn?t make it in time though because the whole town was booked up when we arrived causing us to backtrack to an earlier town for the night. This turned out all right because we got to eat the local delicacy ?wait bait? at a restaurant and have a ?jug? of beer. Rachel asked the bar tender lady for pitcher of beer, but only got wide eyes in return. She had never heard that word in life she said, so with a series of pointing gestures she got what she was asking for across and found out they call them ?jugs? here.

To my dismay we found out the glacier tour companies were booked up and couldn?t take us on. The holidays here are much different from what I?m used to here. Coming through before earlier by myself I never had to book anything ahead. Accommodation and tour companies always had room when you showed up, but from Christmas to New Year?s it?s as if the whole of New Zealand takes off and backs everything up during that time. We always made due with what we could get though and made the most of it. Although we couldn?t hike on the glacier we did hike up to it and got close enough to walk over chunks of ice that had fallen off. I found the warning signs to be a lot fun and tried mimicking the black stick man?s body actions in them. Driving on from Franz Josef we stopped in one of my favorite towns, Wanaka for a few days. My Dad kind of wanted a day to just hang out so Rach and I took the car up to Mount Aspiring National Park and she got a chance to drive through the fords! =) She did quite well seeing as how we didn?t get stuck and I?m writing this here today. We took the hike up to Rob Roy Glacier through what looked like a subtropical rainforest covered in moss with a large river cutting through it. Once in the Rob Roy Valley we of course had our patented PB&J sandwiches and were joined by Kea birds. One thought he was oh so clever and sly and managed to poke a hole in our bread bag, knock the peanut butter jar down the mountain where he tried to break it open without success, put a few notches in my backpack?s cup holder, and almost made off with our bag of cookies. Prolly sounds kind of pestering I?m sure, but they?re quite entertaining assuming they don?t make off with any of your stuff. The glacier was beautiful as ever with its numerous waterfalls and cracking sounds echoed throughout the valley.

We needed a day to rest ourselves and relaxed on New Years Eve day taking in the sun, ultimately getting burned (which is easy to do since New Zealand doesn?t have an ozone layer above it), and playing in the lake. That night we managed to find a Mexican restaurant which was awful and followed it up with drinks back at our place. Among my drinks I managed to drink 3 beers! I?ve never drink that many beers (because I hate the taste) in my life, and broke my previous record of 2 beers that I set when I was 15 in Mexico with my parents trying it for the first time. Man was I proud of myself and still am. Don?t have any plans to drink it again, but still proud. Oh yeah, they shot off fireworks at midnight over the lake. Rach and I ran down to barely make it in time. Cheers to everyone for 2007! I mean 2006!

As a last thrill ride we headed to Queenstown the next day in hopes of riding the Shot Over Jet Boat up the Shot Over river. However they weren?t operating that day, and weren?t yesterday either because one of their boats caught on fire. They of course didn?t tell us why, we had to find out in a local newspaper article why. With the weather turning stormy we ducked into a local theatre to watch the New Zealand made movie, King Kong. It was good, but definitely overdone in a few spots.

Mount Cook was a place Rach wanted to visit while she was here, and one I hadn?t been yet. Leaving the parents in Wanaka for a couple days more we moved on in that direction. And of course Mount Cook Village was booked up solid, except for one room that ran $660 bucks a night that just so happened to be half price. Usually being a sucker for ½ priced goods I wouldn?t to jump on the offer, but thinking better about it we stayed in a town called Twizel. It worked out well because clouds hung over the mountain range the entire time, but it was clear in Twizel. We decided to do a hike to Mueller Hut and up to the peak of Mount Oliver, the first mountain Sir Edmund Hillary climber. We didn?t make it however because rain and eventually heavily falling snow cut our hike short. With that though we concluded we had experienced every type of weather possible during our time here: rain, dry heat, humidity, snow, sleet, overcast skies, high winds, clear fine days, and so on.

Overall though Rachel?s time here was met with some of the best weather I?ve seen. So all in all a really great time with her that I wish didn?t have to end, but all good things must. I took her to the Christchurch International Airport on the 4th of this month. I won?t go into it, but it was a long and hard goodbye, followed by an even longer drive back to Wanaka by myself, but prolly not near as bad as Rachel?s flight from Christchurch to Auckland to LAX to Washington Dulles to Charleston, North Carolina.

Now we are in Te Anau and my parents just got back form a cruise in Milford Sound. I stayed behind today as I?ve already been up there and need time to figure out a couple things like selling my car and changing my plane tickets to leave soon. Our time here is almost up! My parents are booked to fly out the 18th! They?ve almost been here 6 weeks already.

Hope everyone is doing well back home and enjoyed the holidays. Cheers once again for the New Year!
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Whangamata
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We have since moved on from Taipa after spending a very good time with my parent?s friends up there. And we would like to thank them again for showing us around, putting us up in a flat, taking us fishing, and everything else in between! So thank you Mark and Ann and your friends! And we hope you enjoy your holidays back home in Estes.

- Pictured above left is Mark and Ann, and above right is their neighbor Keith who took us out fishing. -

After leaving from up North we thought it best to get things sorted for the holidays before everything filled up and left us to celebrate it in the streets. Thus we made towards Rotorua with a quick stop in Matakohe along the way. Once there I got to show my parents around and let them see a couple things I enjoyed during my time such as the Redwoods Forest there and experience a couple things I didn?t get to as well like Wai-O-Tapu and the gondola and louge rides.

Wai-O-Tapu - This is a large volcanic and or thermal area wreaking of sulfur smell and bound by endless unnatural, yet natural colors that you ordinarily wouldn?t find elsewhere. There were formations of brilliant yellows and reds, boiling lakes of greens, red algae covering the surface of almost all the trees, and my personal favorite was Champagne Pool which constantly steams and has a deep aqua blue center framed by fiery orangish-red color and a crusted edge. I wish I could remember all the different mineral makeups that formed these awesome creations, but they have slipped my memory. I might have to look at my brochure
again if I can find it??.

- To the left is the famous Champagne Pool and to the right is me Mum and I in front of I think Devil?s Hot Tub or Devil?s Bath. I can?t remember for sure because Devil this and Devil that were of high use. -

The one picture I wish I could have gotten, but missed because I was too slow, was of my Dad sticking his foot in a thermal pool. It was right off one of the trails, was clearly marked to stay to the trail too, but he ?wanted to see how hot it really was? and burned his foot in the process. Turns out it was, ?damn hot(!)? and quite amusing to my Mom and I. =) And hopefully teaches everyone else out there not to stick your foot in boiling thermal pool.

Gondola and Louge Rides - The ride up to the top of the mountain in the gondola was nice and gave an excellent view of the city, lake, and surrounding area from the top. The louge rides were fun, but a bit disappointing. On one track you picked up a good deal of speed, enough to blow your helmet back, but the fun was soon cut short as they placed crisscrossed 2×4?s across the track to make you lose your speed as you zigzagged in between them and the speed could then never be recovered.

- Here?s my Dad and I wearing our sweet safety helmets as we tried rock the lift back up to the top, and the other is a partial view out of the gondola down upon Rotorua. -

During all this and a few other things we managed to get sorted for Christmas. We will be staying in Taupo for a few days during which, if all goes according to plan, we plan to go zorbing, bungy jumping, and experience a traditional native Maori dinner on my birthday with Rachel after she gets in on the 23rd, resting on Christmas day, and catching a ride on the ferry to the South Island the following day in the evening.

Waitomo Caves - This was one of my favorite places on the North Island and thought my parents would enjoy it as well. So they got to experience the glowworm night walk along a stretch of small river intertwined with small cave tunnels off it?s banks, walk through the natural land bridge, see Marakopa Falls, and even took off on their own for a day with a local tour company where they got to rappel, go caving, black water rafting (tubing through caves), see even better glowworms underground as they floated along in their tubes, and climbing.

- Here they are in their stylish wetsuits as they rappel down to the stream below. -

Now we are in a town called Whatamanga on the coast of the Bay of Plenty where we have been for the past few days, and prolly will stay until we go to Taupo. It?s a nice central location to a number of sites in the area and allows us to have a home base to travel from. Yesterday we drove to a nearby gorge where hiked among numerous old gold mines, even ventured into some bigger ones despite the lack of flashlights and were just thankful to be out of the rain because we got absolutely drenched while outside on the trail.

Today was super nice out and we took a drive up to the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula and followed a trail up to a lookout point for some stunning views like the ones pictured below.

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The Parents Are Coming!
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Actually the parents are here! And have been for quite some time. Almost a week in fact, I guess I’ve been slacking on updates because of it!

- Here we are at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds with a Maori carving substituted for my bro who couldn’t make it out here. -

Anyway, Me Ma and Pops got in just fine last Friday, and didn’t suffer too much from the effect of a long flight. We’ve been doing a variety of things. First we got out of the big city and headed up North to a town called Whangerai. Stayed in a nice Bed and Breakfast our first night and did a couple easy hikes in the area there to get a feel for things. And moved on to Paihia in the Bay of Islands, my first stop on my own, where we stayed for another night before coming up here to our current destination of Taipa. Taipa is a very small town and not touristy at all which is just fine. My parents have friends here, Mark and Ann Perry, that we’re staying with at the moment who are actually from Estes, and have been coming here for 21 years if I remember correctly. They have been great and are showing us a good time. Our first day we ticky-toured up to the Northern tip of the North Island to Cape Reinga stopping off at Spirits Bay and the sand dunes along the way. The sand dunes were fun. My Dad and rented a boogey-board to ride down on them. No one else was up for I guess, but we had fun as they watched us from down below. My Dad must have felt I was a little kid during the experience because at one point he held the board for me while I climbed on to go shooting down the sand to a vicious spill and sliding halt on my rear. It didn’t stop me from getting back on though and ending up in a stream below before getting off. And then on the way back down we took Ninety-Mile Beach which was awesome. Driving on the beach was so much more relaxing surprisingly than the curvy, bumpy roads of New Zealand. The beach was nice, straight, only a few bumps, we could watch the waves beat in on the sand, see
seagulls pick up small shells to about 20 feet in the air before releasing them to the ground below in hopes of breaking them open for a small treat, and so forth.

- Here’s a picture of my Dad wiping out on the dunes. -

We’ve also been out fishing in Doubtless Bay where we caught Red Snapper and a number of other fish that I can’t recall there names at the moment. I caught four of them, and was happy with that(!) because when we usually go deep sea fishing in Mexico or something we usually don’t catch anything at all, or everybody else does and I don’t get squat. So we had a local restaurant fix some of the catch last night which was fresh and delicious!

- This is one of Mark’s catches of the day. -

What else….oh yes, we’ve been oystering as well when the tide is out. Yesterday we brought in bucket after bucket of the little guys, which are quite good steamed or even cooked on the grill with a little sauce. So all in all things have been going very well and we’ve been enjoying living on the sea if you will. We plan to move on shortly though South of here and figure out where we’re going to stay for Christmas before everything books up! Hope everyone is doing well back home in cold Estes Park! We heard today that it was 17 below there! Yikes
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Southern Walkabout
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Hi Everybody! Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving and ate lots of turkey with all the fixings. I know I wish I could have been there to partake in the feast, and to watch some football, but that?s all right. I actually bought meat for the first time, sausages to be exact, and ate them with baked beans in tomato sauce and garlic bread. Prolly doesn?t sound too great, but it is was really good and my stomach ached from eating too much. That?s what it?s all about right? =)

Anyway, the last few days have been quite busy as I make my way back up north to pick up the parents in a week. So I?ve been all over the southern part of the south island ?ticky-touring? or having a ?walkabout? as they would say here to places such as Milford Sound, Slope Point, Curio Bay, McLean Falls, Cathedral Caves, Nugget Point, Dunedin, Moeraki, Oamaru (Penguins), and now Fairlie.

Milford Sound ? It took a while for the weather to clear up, but it finally did and allowed for a wonderful day in New Zealand?s best known attraction, and only Sound that is accessible via a car. I could describe this place, but feel a picture would do it more justice.

This one is kind of small, but there is more pictures to be seen in my pic and 360 section. To the left center is the most photographed peak that appears in all the books, Mitre Peak.

Slope Point - This is New Zealand?s southernmost point of the South Island. The equator is 5140km from it, and the South Pole is a 4803km away.

Curio Bay - Here is where Hector Dolphins can be found most often, which are the world?s smallest dolphin and I think they maybe endangered as well. The sea was rough that day so I failed to see any, but did come across a 180 million year-old petrified forest in the bedrock leading out to the ocean. There were trees and stumps strewn about in reckless order that seemed very well preserved given their age.

McLean Falls - Just a short hike up to these nice falls on a trail created by local high school kids.

Cathedral Caves - These were impressive caves off the south coast formed from the tide coming in and out daily, and therefore only accessible during low tide. As the name implies these caves were huge with ceilings reaching 35-40 feet in height (maybe more, I?m just guessing). A couple of the caves even joined together creating a u-shape and spitting you out on a different section of the beach when you came out.

Nugget Point - Here massive land forms jutted out into the ocean with a tint of gold to them giving them their name, and creating a very dangerous point for boats crossing by. So a lighthouse was present on the point on as well. I was hoping to be able to go inside it, but it was fenced off and according to a sign was all controlled remotely from Wellington since 1989 when the last lighthouse dude retired.

Dunedin - This seemed like a very pretty and appealing town as I was pulling in for the night, but as I was doing so I got pulled over for a speeding ticket. This upset me to where I only felt like driving more and continued on to Oamaru. I think I?m over it now though???

Oamaru - Penguins! Penguins! Penguins! What more can I say? Here in the town of Oamaru they have a blue penguin colony. I believe the penguins are somewhat threatened, but are thriving in the area thanks to the protection they receive. The penguins go out all day to the ocean fishing and screwing around, and come back to their homes on land in the dusk. It was sweet to see them coming in in the distance singularly and in small group called ?rafts?. They looked funny paddling in on their white stomach with their heads sticking above the water like a duck, but when they dove they could quickly dart and move about with such grace and ease. They rode waves into the shore and beached themselves on their stomachs until the water cleared allowing them to promptly stand up and waddle clear of the next wave (hopefully). They then formed small groups to ascend up the rock hillside and run to their homes. The ones who arrived early waited at first for it to become darker before making their move. Once at their homes they went through a ritual where they stood outside their entrances and announced they were back by standing as tall as possible, flippers spread wide and squawking obnoxiously. If their mate was inside they?d do the same. Kind of like saying, ?honey, I?m home? I guess. Wish I could have gotten some better pictures; they turned out most blurry as I was taking them from the hip since cameras were prohibited, but it was still great to see some 200 odd penguins, which was as little as 48 nine years ago before they were protected, and I?m glad I got to because I don?t think I?ve ever seen them in real life except maybe when I was a little kid at the zoo, but don?t recall it.

Now I?m in a small town called Fairlie not rushing around, and happy to be back in the tent and not sleeping in the car again. I plan to make more stop in Hamner Springs before crossing back to the North Island and meeting my parents in Auckland.
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Augh!??.
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November 24, 2005

So yesterday I’m having a great day right? Doing a whirlwind tour of the rest of the sourther south island, seeing the Catherdral Caves, the most southern point, a lighthouse, and all this stuff……and I pull into Dunedin where I planned to stay the night. Not more than 2 minutes into the city the speed limit gets cut in half to 50 on a downhill. So I start braking and get it down to 65 when I copper spots me coming the opposite way, flings around, and pulls me over….I explained the situation to him, but he wasn’t having it, pulled the whole GIGO. Garbage In, Garbage Out. Said I was going a “wee-bit too fast” and wrote me up an $80 dollar ticket. I was soooooo pissed! I still can’t believe. The worst part was when I pulled back on to the road and it switched back to 100kph. Which means for about 1/2 a mile the speed limit was 50 for whatever reason. And I make every effort not to speed here, usually find it hard to, get passed all the time, and then this happens. It gets away from me once and now I’m paying for it! Augh!….
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Stepping Back In Time..
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November 22, 2005

So today I was headed up to Milford Sound, and stopped off at the petrol station to fill up the tank. Before I even got out of the car a lady came out and started pumping the gas for me. It was like I stepped back in time or something. I have to admit I didn’t care for it, felt strange, and then she offered to check the oil and clean the ‘windscreen’, but I said I already took care of it and it was not needed.
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Queenstown and Beyond
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November 21, 2005

Just when I think I?m actually getting used to the roads and rules in New Zealand they go and throw something new at me. It definitely took some time to get used to everything being backwards like driving on the left side of the road and having the steering column on the right side of the car, but I?ve been adapted and adjusted to this and it seems second nature anymore. Although I have to admit I still get into the wrong side of the car at times. New Zealand is filled with numerous one lane bridges, some fords, a dotted passing line that never seems to end even around corners for anyone so daring, road construction crews working without the Stop and Go sign people leaving you to pass through as you can and see fit, and a 100kph speed limit on all open roads which seems impossible to fulfill most of the time. Most the roads remind me of those found in the Loveland and Boulder canyons back home. The other day though when I was headed out to Glenorchy from Queenstown the two lane road suddenly became one with little warning and no reduced speed limit sign. It made me slow
down though and take caution as I drove around the curves and hoped no one else was coming from the opposite direction. At one point however another vehicle came and I was forced to back up into a wider spot back so he could pass by and then I went on my way????..what next?

It happened all the time in South America, numerous times some days as I seemed to be a magnet with my long hair, but it took nearly two months for someone to approach me wanting to sell. The Maori guy was hard to understand and basically had to spell it out of me only to make me laugh when he spitted it out of his mouth full of food. He carried on and I went on about my business.

I spent some time in Queenstown which reminded me much of the resort towns off of I-70 back home like Keystone, Winter Park, and so forth apart from the lake which it cradled next to. I did about the first day and a half of a hike called the Routeburn. It?s one of the more popular multi-day hikes that takes most 3-days to accomplish the non-circular hike that ends near Milford Sound. I went as far as a place called Harris Saddle before turning back that is suppose to have spectacular views, but I saw little more clouds clinging to the peaks. I may try it again from the opposite direction now that I?m in Te Anau and plan to head to Milford Sound next. Apart from that I have been taking it easy since my right calf muscle has been giving me some grief recently, and plan to stay off it for at least a few days.

Somehow in Queenstown I put myself 12 miles out of way on a hike one day by missing a turn somewhere. Luckily I met some peeps on another trail who offered a ride to me back to town. Normally I wouldn?t hitch, don?t want to take the risk, but she seemed nice enough and appeared to be showing her parents around. Turns out she and her husband have been coming to NZ for the past 8 years following the ski season and working as instructors, and then returning to Switzerland where she and the parents were from to do the same there. Her husband was actually from South Africa. What interesting world we live in, and it?s great to see how some go about their lives in it.

My parents come in little more than a week! I am looking forward to that as well as my super-hot girlfriend visiting me shortly after! Rachel has just finished her first project with Americorps. She spent four weeks in Mississippi helping clean up the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, and now looks to head to the Smokey Mountains of North Carolina before Christmas break.
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I lost my big toenial today, finally! And yes, it is a normal thing?
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Wow! Today was awesome. I went out to the Mount Aspiring National Park and don?t know if I had more fun on the trail or just getting there. It?s about 50K outside of town to get there. The first 30K is on paved roads with two-lane bridges, the next 15K is on gravel roads with one-lane bridges, and the final 15K is on a one-lane gravel road with no bridges. So I got to drive the Toyota through 8-10 fords of various sizes! It was soo fun! Glad I didn?t get stuck either. Heck, if I would have known the Corolla could drive through small streams I would?ve paid the man I bought it from full asking price. It?ll definitely be a selling feature I?ll point out when I get rid of it later on.

The hike was great as well. There was a swing bridge suspended 50 feet up over a river, and boy did it swing! The trail followed a well sized glacial stream from which you could see snowfields, sheer rock cliffs, waterfalls, nice alpine scenery, and Rob Roy Glacier at the end. Very nice and easy trail that was popular today and I even met a woman from Telluride, CO. A few of us sat up there underneath the glacier having lunch, chasing off the pesky Kea birds, and watched probably 2 dozen small waterfalls spout off the glacier’s side, and at times here it creek, crack, and drop chunks of ice off the cliff it hugged to the rocks below. But I have to admit part of me just wanted to drive through the fords again! Here?s one of the pictures I took along the way.

The pics didn’t all turn out so hot because the snow was so bright I think. Anyway, this is me in front of Rob Roy’s Glacier.
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Long Time Coming
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Whew~ It?s been a while since I?ve written on here. Lately I?ve been grappling with the decision of work. The questions of course entailing: ?Do I want to work??, ?If so, where do I want to work??, and ?What do I want to do??. And after tossing it back and forth for a while traveling about I?ve decided that I actually don?t want to work here. I mean I do have a Working Holiday Visa that allows me to live and work here for up to a year, but now after seeing a large bulk of New Zealand there hasn?t been a place that I want to call home, or that I feel like I could call home. Don?t get me wrong, most the cities I?ve been to have been great and make traveling within New Zealand very easy. Unfortunately none of them aspire to more than a visit. Plus even if I were to work in my field I?d prolly have to go to one of the big cities, which haven?t suited me at all. Even Christchurch that I thought would be comparable to Fort Collins was too much. So at this point that?s where my decision is and plan to continue traveling on and see and do everything to my hearts content that I could ever want here in
New Zealand. After that??.who knows? I?m still waiting to see where the pieces fall?.maybe travel on to Australia, New Guinea, Thailand, etc?etc?, come home and work, plan for an Around the World trip later on, buy a small house with a white picket fence, propose to Rachel, and settle down while starting a family (Heehee, that one?s for the parents!), or go back to school in Arizona??..like I said who knows! It?s anyone?s guess at this point!

After Arthur?s Pass I moved on to a little town on the west coast called Hokitika for a night. There I saw locals fishing or rather netting with large poles a local delicacy called ?white bait.? It was a small little, clear fish with big, googly eyes that catches a whopping price of $50 bucks/kilo. Next I stopped in Franz Josef Glacier where I saw??wait for it??a glacier! Very impressive I might add. I had never seen one before and was in awe by the shear mass of it.

There I also ventured into the Tatare Tunnels. TUNNELS mind you, not CAVES. Big difference there! But not really??..It was fun though and reminded me of my childhood when my friends and I would try to muster up the courage to walk through a large storm sewer near the neighborhood. I used to be scared then and I still do today apparently. Granted it could have been because of the Piri Piri Caves incident, but let?s not talk about that. Anyway, I ventured into the tunnel with torch in hand. The tunnel was around four feet wide and ranged in 5-6 feet high, and at any given time there was 1-4 inches of water on the floor flowing in my direction. I took my time entering watching my foot placement as not to slip and periodically looked back to see light peering through the entrance. After a while though the tunnel shifted enough to where no light could be seen behind or in front of me. This is when I started to freak myself out because as that happened I began to hear a low rumbling sound. I paused?..thought?hmmm, what could that be?……perhaps a helicopter giving a tour of the nearby glacier??and walked on?..but the sound persisted and made me reconsider my decision as I advanced on??.doing so made the rumbling grow louder??..huh??I thought that was interesting??and then somehow formulated an impossible scenario in my head that consisted of a large tropical storm forming high above the mountain range, dumping thousands of gallons on the surrounding area, and having all that water pool in one central location before plummeting down the mountain and into the tunnel shaft that I had entered?..impossible I knew, especially since they allow people to enter daily?..but I kept thinking of it????and the rumbling increased??.I paused?..bent down and tightened the straps on my sandals just in case I had to make it run for it?.and went on??????????????..And then?????..I saw light! Nothing of course happened; it was all in my imagination??I came out into a large trough that extended
out 20-30 feet before attaching to another tunnel. Laid above and over part of the trough was a large metal sheet which was being punished either by a small stream or run-off from the night before, and that?s what had been causing the rumbling the entire time! I glanced into the next tunnel, but noticed it was blocked off by a gate, and then turned back and out of the area.

Next I traveled to Wanaka stopping off in Fox Glacier along the way where I saw??..wait for it??a glacier! Still impressive, but not as good the second time around. The drive over Haast pass was beautiful and I stopped several times along with everyone else to snap a few photos and take and in the views. Wanaka is
nice as well and I have spent the last few days exploring the area, but plan to move on to Queenstown either tomorrow or the day after.

On top of Roy’s Peak overlooking Lake Wanaka, Lake Hawea, the town, and so forth.
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4 Hikes, 3 Nights In The Car, 2 Sore Legs, 1 Tired Andy
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Avalanche Peak (a.k.a. The coolest peak name in existence) was very difficult to say to least. Sitting in the Southern Alps, just outside a little town called Arthur?s Pass; where the mountains create their own weather and make it rain 175 days a year on the village. The peak is reachable via two routes, Avalanche Peak Trail and Scott?s Track. They recommend ascending Avalanche Peak Trail and descending Scott?s Track since it?s not as steep and rigorous, or Scott?s Track both ways to make it even easier. The two tracks meet up for the last few hundred meters before the summit.

The pouring rain made me wake up several times as I was sleeping in my car, but to my surprise all had cleared by morning. There were blue skies all around and high winds everywhere. Not knowing what the afternoon would bring I hurried up and began climbing the track located right next to the visitors center. Within minutes I was scrambling up rock walls on the Avalanche Peak Trail and in no time at all I could look down on Arthur?s Pass. The buildings, cars, and train all looked like little toys. I only paused briefly and continued on the flooded trail. When the wind ceased you could hear it trickling down the mountain and in between the rocks.

The scrambling finally stops once you reach the bush-line and levels out more as high alpine grass sweep across in front of you hiding the path. Large, yellow poles dot the landscape now and help you keep in route to the top as the trail will disappear on and off again. The next big climb makes you scuttle up a ridge with a descent drop-off to your left. Nothing much to worry about unless the winds are treacherous like they were for me. I did my best to stay to the far right of the track and get on all fours if necessary. This is also where I passed a group of three on their up, but I never saw them again as I came down and can only assume they turned back due to the weather. Next you must cross a small saddle fully exposed to the elements. I got knocked and pushed around by the wind and seriously considered turning back at this point. Being advised not to descend Avalanche Peak Trail though I didn?t know what to do and decided to go on. Next the trail disappears and lets you choose a path of your liking as you go up a boulder field, which at times might be covered by snowfields. I did my best to avoid them by taking a longer way around, but did end up passing over two smaller fields. Once the top is reached the path is joined by Scott?s Track. And from this vantage point I could see a storm coming in from the west, but knowing the two trails only joined for the last stretch I risked it once again and aimed for the top. The last leg is along a rocky and crumbly ridge drop-offs on both sides. I tried to stick to the eastern side of the ridge as much as possible to avoid the gusts of wind coming in from the west. Some spots were openly exposed and there was no way around it. So I would sit tight, wait for the wind to die momentarily, and then figuring it was smart to stay low I would dart across on all fours to another sheltered area. And then I was finally there! I didn?t stay long however, just enough to snap a few photos, get pestered by some local Kea birds interested in my shiny camera, and get the heck out of there and back into the bush. I took Scott?s Track down and ran into some others attempting to the peak, but they all turned back due to the storm rolling in. All in all a very exciting and scary hike at times, this would prolly be more enjoyable on a calmer day if they get them around here.

I also did a few other hikes, Bealey Spur Track, Devil?s Punchbowl Falls, and Bridal Veil Falls. These were descent hikes and only made my sore muscles ache more having climbed Avalanche Peak first. From here I plan to move on to Greymouth located on the West Coast and maybe take it easy for a bit before heading further south to catch up with some glaciers.
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Akaroa Akaroa Akaroa
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Mount Fyffe proved to be much more than I thought it would be. Just outside of Kaikoura lays the parking lot to the base of this peak. I don?t know how I pick all these steep uphill hikes, but this was by far the most challenging one I?ve done yet. Starting out at sea level this hike gives you no time to warm up what-so-ever, and takes you up 5,000 feet in a matter of 3-4 hours if your pace holds strong, and coming back down isn?t much faster.

I took a chance on this one because the weather wasn?t clear when I embarked on this journey, but the clouds looked to be hanging rather low and figured I might be able to hike through them and meet the sun on the other side. So starting out was of course wet and drizzly and rather nice. The clouds kept me cool by depositing a thin layer of water across my arms and face. I could even see the rain build up on my arm hair and slowly drip off only to be replaced by another. At one point it became so thick I could see only 10-15 feet in front and back of me. The trail slopped off at both sides and I couldn?t see past its edge. For all I knew I was walking next to either a pretty meadow or a cliff that dropped straight off. I envisioned the meadow. But eventually as I climbed further and further up the mountain I could see the suns bright orb shining through and within an hour or so I broke out to see snowcapped mountains to the north. I snapped a few photos and while I did the clouds rose to engulf me once again. I hurried along and left them behind for good. Next I came across a flat ridge where a hut stood for people wanting to stay longer. Seemed very nice and cozy inside with bunks and a wood burning stove, however not planning on staying there I took in the view. I could now see the snow covered peaks, a blanket of clouds covering the land to the south and west, and the blue, blue Pacific to the east. And it only got better once I reached the top. Having a bite to eat I watched the clouds slowly burn off to reveal the land below and the small peninsula that Kaikoura seemed to cling to.

The next day I continued on South passing through Christchurch on the way to Akaroa where I?ve been for the past couple nights. Akaroa is a very pretty place with a small bay and large hills that seem to circle around the French settled town. It has some descent walks to do if you can follow or find the signs. I got lost on several occasions. The highlight though was seeing a peacock on one of them. It must have measured six feet in length from head to its bottom feathers, and let out the most awful screech when I got to close. The kind that makes a person jump back when they?re not expecting something so dramatic.

From here I plan to head to the west coast and stop off in Arthur?s Pass along the way. (Sweet~I just fixed the guys internet connection that he was having problems with here at the camp place. Said he had a computer guy coming out tomorrow to look at it, but said he wasn’t like me. Those comments always make ya feel good. And the crazy thing was he was just in the States traveling for 5 months. He was even in Estes! Stayed at Mary’s Lake Campground and absolutely loved it.)
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South Island Baby
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I took off?..a while ago from Taupo and decided to head to Wellington, which ended up being my longest travel day thus far. Most the towns are nice and close and travel days have not been more than two hours in the car. It?s nice because it doesn?t take up a day, you can arrive somewhere and still have the afternoon to explore. The drive from Taupo to Wellington cut through some military training grounds where signs were posted saying to keep moving and that live ammo and explosions could occur at anytime. Made me kind of nervous, but at the time I was hoping I?d see a cadet lob a grenade into a vacant building and watch the thing torch down.

Wellington proved to be another big city to me, and I got to experience all those nice flavors that come with it. I got caught up in rush hour traffic, got lost, and even got a parking ticket. I tried to meet up with Ash?s Mom and Sis (a friend of mine that I worked with back at the YMCA from NZ), but when that didn?t work out I decided to get out as fast I could. This meant taking a ferry at 3:00 in the morning to the South Island, and only catching a couple hours sleep on a sofa half my size onboard.

Picton is the small gateway town the ferry drops you off at. It?s pretty with the Sounds being the main attraction. Apart from that though I felt the scenery was much the same of that in the North Island and only spent a couple days there anxious to see something new. So yesterday I headed further south and watched
the crowded hillsides become more populated by trees, less by thick bushes and shrubs, and at one point nothing at all until reaching a small town called Kaikoura. Kaikoura is where the ocean meets the mountains. Who knew you could have the best of both worlds in such close proximity to one another. Like I did a hike around a peninsula where I encountered a fur seal colony and at the same time was able to turn around and see and snowcapped mountains. Pretty incredible. I plan to summit one of the mountains before moving on assuming, as always, the weather clears since the rain decided to rear its ugly head once more today.

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E-Mail Message
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October 26, 2005

Hi Everybody,

Just wanted to write a quick note and let everyone know how I?m doing.

It?s been nearly a month since I left the States and came to New Zealand. So much has happened between now and then I don?t know where to begin really??

Then I first arrived in the country I was greeted by a New Zealand family (Kerry, Darrell, and daughter Paige) that I was put in contact with from a friend back home. They were great by taking me and giving a very warm welcome to this great country of theirs. They helped me setup a bank account, get my Visa paperwork situated, showed me around, taught me about their culture and country, and even helped me buy a car.

That?s right; I am also the proud owner of two vehicles now. I purchased a 1991 Toyota Corolla to travel around in while I?m here. It has fewer miles on it than my car back home. Before I purchased the car I traveled around up North a bit by bus. It helped me decide if I wanted to buy one or not. By the end of it I knew it would make all the difference because it allows you to have so much more freedom and capability to do more. Once the bus dropped you off you were on your, and although I don?t mind walking places it was a bit excessive. I remember walking to a 10K hike, which took me an additional 10K or more just to get to it by foot. And then you have to walk to the store, the post office, the backpackers, blah, blah, blah?

I?ve traveled a descent amount around the North Island and at the moment am waiting for the 3:00a.m. ferry to arrive in Wellington to take me to the South Island. On the North Island I?ve stopped in towns starting from the top Paihia, Orewa, Auckland, Waitomo Caves, Rotorua, Taupo, and Wellington. I won?t go into detail on all them, but have kept busy by doing numerous hikes in and around all the areas, visiting cultural hot spots, viewing thermal activity, learning about the history and environment, and mingling both with local ?kiwis? and other travels passing through New Zealand all the while trying to drive on the left side of the road. A few of my favorite things included exploring the caves of Waitomo, hiking the Tongariro Crossing around two active volcanoes south of Taupo, chasing Wallaby?s in Rotorua with a local couple named Simon and Ralene, and just viewing the natural beauty all around.

There are definitely pros and cons to traveling alone. It?s hard at times for sure, especially when you?re sick, but you meet so many people along the way. Some I?ve came to know over the course of a few days and others just over dinner. Some of them are locals to New Zealand and others are traveling abroad just as I am from all over the world like the UK, Australia, France, and Sweden. A few are even traveling around the world and make me extremely jealous. I?ve only met one other American. She was selling snacks out of her van at the end of the Tongariro Crossing and had ?Go Sox? written on the bottom of her sign. I knew right away she had to be from Chicago. Most others seem to be from Germany. People running the backpackers and campsites here say it?s the year of the German. At other times it?s been the year of the Australians, the Brits, the Americans, etc?etc?.

I don?t have any plans for the South Island as of yet. My routine so far has included doing all I find of interest in a town and then moving on to the next. From what people have said I have a feeling I?ll find a lot of interest in the South Island. That?s why I?ve kind of skipped over part of the North Island to have a full month there by myself until my parents and Rachel arrive later on. There?s still things I hope to do in the North, like zorbing, bungy jumping, etc?, that?ll probably be better with them. It?ll be nice to see my family and girlfriend again, and it will hopefully create a whole new type of experience in New Zealand by traveling with them.

Some of you might be wondering what my lifestyle is like. Occasionally I sleep in my car when I?m feeling extra cheap, but for the most part I live out of a tent. The campsites are pretty nice and include amenities such as a communal kitchen, bathroom/showers, and at times a pool and hot pool. My diet consists largely of Wheet-bix for breakfast (a local wheat cereal in biscuit form), peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (sometimes toasted and dipped in milk =)), noodles (much like the Ramen noodles found back home), and water and juice to drink. It?s not the most healthy and I try to throw in some bananas, kiwis, potatoes, and carrots when I think of it. And meat is a luxury I haven?t splurged on yet. Who knows, maybe I?ll come back a vegetarian! But then again, prolly not, I like meat too much. I miss it.

Anyway, hope everyone is doing well back home! I should get going as I can barely keep my eyes open and need to load my car up on the ferry here pretty quickly. If anyone is interested in more details on what I?ve done or seen be sure to check out my Blog and Pics sections on my website www.andyjcollins.com. And be sure to sign the guest book if you get a chance, I enjoy hearing from people back home!

Take Care and Miss You All, Andy
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Tongariro Crossing
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I?m feeling better and have been in Taupo for nearly a week. I?m getting caught up on a few things and figuring out where I?m headed next. It looks to be Wellington at this point where I will crossover on a ferry to the South Island. I hope to have about a month down there with good weather (fingers crossed) before my parents come at the end of next month with Rachel following shortly behind. Despite being sick I still managed to get out and do a few things, including the Tongariro Crossing(!), all of which can be found below. Oh yes, and I took some nice 360?s while on the Tongariro Crossing so check those out!

Tongariro Crossing ? With the weather clear, the sun shining, and my cold almost gone I was able to hike on this magnificent trail. The crossing is just south of Taupo in NZ?s oldest national park and is easily accessed by bus. Since the trail is 17km (6-7 hours) one way it?s really the only thing you can do. The trail starts off easy with little uphill and plenty of boardwalks over rougher terrain, which was nice because all I did for the first half hour was stare aimlessly at Mount Ngauruhoe, an active volcano to the south with a near perfect cone. After an hour passed we reached the first rest area with a side track to Soda Springs. I chose to do the sidetrack while everyone else began the rigorous, steep climb up to the first saddle. The ascent is difficult and taunting. You look up to the next ridge, think you are there, and pull yourself up and over it only to find another ridge in your way over and over again. The pain in your legs subsides though once you reach the first saddle that crosses between two active volcanoes, Mount Tongariro and Mount Ngauruhoe, and through the South Crater. It also gives you a chance to take in the scenery and catch your breath until the next, but much smaller, ascent is reached stretching up to Red Crater. Although, the second ascent was less strenuous it did prove too much, or perhaps it was the altitude, for an older gentlemen who decided to project food from his mouth onto a neighboring boulder. From there you reach the highest point on the track, 1886m and have nothing but downhill ahead of you. The view from the top is spectacular as you can clearly see both volcanoes, the deep red in Red Crater with steam rising around its rim, emerald lakes below you, Blue Lake to the north, and Lake Taupo in the distant horizon. And was a nice place to have lunch and snap some photos. On the descent you practically fall over yourself on the lose ground and skid into the 3 emerald lakes below that are actually a group of water filled explosion craters. Once past these you walk through the snow covered Central Crater to Blue Lake where you can look back on the best part of the trail before it fades into the background as you slide around the North Crater, pass by an over night hut, and walk through alpine grass overflowing on to the path before plunging into the native forest and eventually reaching the end of the trail. The Tongariro Crossing was great in that it showed you a little bit of everything New Zealand has to offer. I don?t know if its New Zealand?s ?Best One Day Hike? but is definitely one not to be missed.

Cheers to Yen, a German Chinese girl that I met on the trail, who took photos of me! Good luck to you on the rest of your around the world travels and I hope you enjoy South America as much as I did.

Craters of the Moon ? A nice, short loop around a very active thermal area with plenty of steam rising up everywhere and that foul sulfur smell in the air.

Huka Falls ? A good walk around the teal colored river taking you past a hot river that anyone can freely enter, through native forest, and ending at the falls. The falls were impressive because the river which normally runs 70-100 meters wide is forced into about a 10 meter wide rock channel. The force you feel by standing over the falls on the bridge is incredible and makes for a nice waterfall as it shoots out into a wider body of water.

Aratiatia ? Taking off where the Huka Huka Falls trail ended the Aratiatia Trail begins. It doesn?t take you through anything epic or unique not found anywhere else in the northland besides what I call ?dead forest?. But according to a couple I met coming back on the trail they said it was living and the trees were purposely planted too close to each other. This made them grow straighter and faster by reaching up for the sun and of course easier to cut down when the time was right. Anyway, the trail lead to a hydroelectric dam. Normally the water is diverted elsewhere, but four times a day is allowed to freely run its natural course. So from a few vantage points you can watch the dam gates rise to the fall of water which quickly pools up and cascades down the mountainside.
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To Taupo From Rotorua
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Red Woods ? This was a descent hike with the highlight being able to view the Whakawhara thermal park from above. It also takes you through a large forest of California Redwood Trees, which were introduced nearly a hundred years ago, but don?t grow to their enormous size as they do back in the States. I was also
able to see NZ?s timber mills hard at work as they cleared mountain sides and feverously replanted trees back again into nice neat rows so they can come back and do it all over again.

Wallaby Spotting ? I came to know a local couple staying where I was until they got their own place named Simon and Ralene. They were curious of all the different animals from back home and took a liking to squirrels, bears, and chipmunks. Plus they told me of all theirs here. They mentioned a wallaby and I thought they were joking and were only made up animals that only existed in children?s books. I was wrong as they took me out one night to spot them. Wallabies are nocturnal animals and come out into grassy fields to feed at night. So we went to a small airstrip on the outside of town with a high power ?torch? in hand. We went in on foot stopping periodically to spot the area around us. But nothing was found?..we continued on?..with the same result?but then wait! It was a wallaby!….No, no it was only a couple of possums. With a full moon in front of us, large clouds hanging still in the sky, and only the brightest stars shining through we moved closer to the edge of the field?..Spotted again?and Yes! Ha Ha! A real wallaby! We thought it was another possum at first but as soon as it started hopping away like a little, tiny kangaroo we knew it wasn?t. Simon and I darted after it getting nowhere except scaring it off into the bush lining the outskirts. Spotlighted again and saw another and several more hiding in trees and bushes. We didn?t chase this one, just watched it hop along and
eventually go out of site. Simon then took us to one other spot. It was a little dirt road leading down to a nearby lake. Nothing was seen?..until we reached the end of the trail. It was a lone wallaby. I ran after this one hoping to get a single photo of it, but the little buggers are much quicker than they appear as it easily escaped away. We returned back to the motor lodge chasing possums along the way in the car. They really spazz out when you honk at them. You?d think they?d be smart and quickly hide in the nearby shrubs, but no?..No, no, no??They jump into the middle of the road jumping and skipping from side to side in the most peculiar manner for a good 20-30 yards before taking to safety. It was a fun night and I returned back to my tent having seen my first wallaby.

Before hand Simon also took me to his Dad?s house to get the torch, but to show me all the pigs they had hunted in the past. Apparently, his Dad has gone out nearly every weekend since he was 15 to catch them. There were photo albums stock full of all their catches with the date and poundage of each pig. Simon seemed to be able to recall a storey for nearly every photo. He then took me into the garage where the ceiling was lined with the jaws of all the pigs they caught. It was kind of creepy at first and reminded me of the movie Predator.

Rainbow Mountain ? Was a relentless uphill battle up until the very end. The trail keeps you mesmerized though as it shifts in a mixture of colors varying from reds, whites, browns, yellows, and blacks and takes you by numerous steam updrafts and two emerald crater lakes. It left me winded and quite sweaty after reaching the summit, but the view more than made up for it. Next time though, I might drive up the service road on the backside of the mountain.

I left Rotorua yesterday in hopes of hiking the Tangariro Crossing while the weather was holding. But as soon as I arrived here the weather went south as did my health. Hopefully it will all clear up by this weekend as well as my cold so I can make the trek across NZ?s acclaimed ?best day walk.?
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YMCA - Incase You?re Having Trouble, Try This?.
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I recieved this email recently and thought I’d share incase anyone was having problems….

“So, funny story for you. You know how we would always joke that stuff didn?t work and then just having you walk into the office would miraculously fix everything. Well, I?ve got one better than that. Our printer has been on the fritz. So we are in the middle of printing stuff off and it had JUST been working perfectly fine, and then all of a sudden it freaks out and stops working. Like, the green light wouldn?t blink and it was just dead. So the person I was printing stuff for was like, should I come back? And I was like, well, I wish it was the easy because now that Andy took off to NZ, and yadi yada yada…….. Ok, so here it comes. The SECOND I said your name, the printer kicked into gear and started printing. I mean, are you freaking kidding me? It was really weird, but really funny too. So our new policy is to just yell your name at the computers and printers when they stop working. So, you still have some freakish connection with these machines even half-way around the world.”
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From the Caves of Waitomo to the Volcanic Plateau of Rotorua
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October 16, 2005

In my new set of wheels I set off again from Orewa this time heading South to a little village called Waitomo where I spent a few days. For being so little it had a lot to offer and see. I was a bit of an idiot in the Peri Peri Caves, but other than that had a great time there. Listed below is what I did.

Ruakuri Trail ? This trail was a definite highlight. It can be completed in as little as 30 minutes, but has so much to offer it takes much more than that. There are caves/tunnels throughout the trail to explore, and even one that is off the trail that you have to climb up into. Don?t know if I was allowed to go in it or not, but did anyway. The trail is even better at night as it lights up with glowworms along the face of the rock walls and along the rivers edge. It was a great experience as I found a little rock to climb out on the bend of the river, turn off my flashlight, and watch the glowworms light up the river as they clung to rock face hanging over. Then it was back to the car for a good nights rest. =)

Piri Piri Caves ? These were the biggest of the caves that I explored, and may be the last as well. They were located on the outside of town about 30k and only a short jaunt up the mountainside brought you to the entrance. No one else was in the area judging by the lack of other cars in the pull off. I was amazed by the caves sized when I reached the entrance. These made the caves I explored previously look like mere tunnels. With a headlamp on and flashlight in hand I began my descent into the cave. Being by myself I knew I shouldn?t go in so far incase something should happen. But I once I went in a little ways, I went a little further, and then a little further?.and soon came to a crossing between one cavern and another. To my luck it was the lowest point of the cave and all water seemed to run to it willingly making for a very muddy and slippery spot. Nonetheless, I decided to carry on and clinched the sides of the walls to keep balance as I maneuvered through. Halfway across I slipped, tried to catch my balance, but ended up catching a stalactite to the head instead. I dropped the f-bomb as I grabbed my head to try and control the pain, and at the same time keep from losing my headlamp. It was awful. I recovered though and of course ontinued on like a complete idiot into a few more caverns. Luckily nothing particular happened in these and made my way out. I hiked back down to my car and began driving to the next destination. As I was doing so I reached up to scratch my head and ended up with a palm full of blood?..Great?..I think I scraped my head more than I bumped it and didn?t know what else to do besides let it bleed and clean itself. Plus I didn?t want to go back to town and have to drive all the way back to see the falls and natural land bridge. So I carried on to those two destinations before checking into a local campsite where I could get a hot shower. There?s only one word that comes to mind when thinking of my actions, and that word is dumbass.

Marakopa Falls and Mangapohue Natural Bridge ? Both nice short hikes that are worthwhile. Marakopa Falls are supposed to be some of the nicest in New Zealand. The natural bridge trail was well done with numerous boardwalks following the river that passed underneath the bridge, and looped around into the
countryside so you didn?t have to back track. And if willing you could climb to the top of the bridge as well. It?s fenced off, but a step helping you over it more or less encourages it as long as you pretend you don?t see the ?Danger ? 24 Meter Drop? sign.

Waitomo Walkway - The trail starts out on the edge of town and is within walking distance of most all accommodations. After passing a heavily forested area you reach a stream that joins the trail on and off again the whole of the walk. The beauty of this tramp though, and my personal favorite, is that it is cut through reserve and private cattle and sheep farms. The landscape is largely green, rolling hills with fortress like limestone formations dotting their sides. The path is that of the cows, making for an extra muddy experience apart from the gaze of the livestock watching your every step until the next bend is reached. Both going and returning on the trail I was able to observe the farmers round up their herds and move them to another location. One man did it with him on his ATV and three dogs running alongside the cows nipping and barking at their heels until the desired direction was reached. The cows mooed feverishly, but in the end succumbed to their demands. Another group of men took to horseback to move their herd in a much similar fashion as before. The trek ultimately ends at the car park for the cave/glowworm trail I did two days prior. I watched tourists in wetsuits guided by a local company fit their rears to an appropriately sized tube before splashing into the river and off on an adventure. I quickly looped the Ruakauri Trail once more before heading back when it began to rain and eventually pour. This left me to seek shelter in the bush until it subsided so I could get back to my campsite 20 minutes away. The Waitomo Walkway was unique and had a certain flare that would bring me back to it. Only of course after a heavy rain that is. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention a duck hissed at me several times. Yeah, a duck. The tongue came out and everything. I don?t know if it was hurt or guarding eggs since it wouldn’t stand up, but one thing is for sure. It’s
lucky it didn’t attack because I would’ve had to pull out my 9mm and bust a camp in it.

Yesterday I headed out of Waitomo and took my time getting to the next stop of Rotorua. I was such the typical tourist along the way as I stopped to take photos here and there. But in the end made it and spent the day today exploring the California Redwoods forest and volcanic activity in the area, and trying to get caught up on all my emails as well. I?ll hopefully post more pictures in the next day or two.
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Updates
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I’ve managed to get some of my pictures uploaded into the gallery. So be sure to check out that and the 360 gallery as well because there’s some nice virutal tours of Harurua Falls trail and the Bay of Islands. Cheers!
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Nothing Better?
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…than cruising down Highway 1 listening to TLC in a new set of wheels…Life is good. =) Especially when you got a ‘91 Toyota Corolla to roll in.
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Coming Full Circle
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Back in the greater Auckland area again. Had a nice trip up North to the Bay of Islands where the weather was a bit nice.

I came to know quite a few other travelers passing through the area, but as all things come to an end we went our separate ways. I might meet up again with a kid named Alex from the UK later in Queenstown though.

Also did a few hikes up there which included the Paihia(Pie-here) lookout that takes you to an aerial view of the bay, the Haruru Falls trail which went through a great mangrove forest where the trail turned into an escalated boardwalk through the mangrove trees that are constantly in 1-2 feet of water, and checked out the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. The Treaty Grounds is where modern New Zealand was essentially born. There was s native Maori meeting house that decorated stunningly, a native Maori war canoe (the biggest one ever built supposedly), and great views of the area. I didn’t exactly plan on going to the Treaty grounds…just came upon it on the way back from the Haruru Falls trail trying to take a shortcut and ended up in the middle of it all, and some how bypassed the $12 dollar admission fee. =/

Now I’m back in Orewa looking for car at the moment. Decided I do want the freedom and flexibility that would come with it rather than sticking to a bus system. Stayed a backpackers called Pillows last night, but checked out this morning cuz it was kinda shady….and a man prolly in his 40’s looked to be living in the dorm I was in….and the other guy in there I never really met…he showed up sometime in the middle of the night mysteriously…I dunno, maybe it was the gloomy weather and the rain that put a damper on the place, but either way I didn’t feel comfortable staying around….and think we may have been treated pretty well at the backpackers in Paihia. So I’m back at Kerry’s house for the moment until I get a car and can continue on with the travels. They’re prolly regretting ever treating me so well since I showed up at their house again! =)

The magnificent view from the top of the Paihia Lookout trail on to the town and bay below.
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Things Forgotten?.
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…..A towel. Of all the things to forget I guess a towel isn’t all that bad. And since the hostel has a surplus of paper towels it’s not that big of deal. =)
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Moving On?
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First off, thanks to Heather and Ken who hosted me for a night last night up at their place in Bayly’s Beach, just outside of Dargaville. I came to know them through Kerry and Darrell and was invited to stop by for a night on my way up North.

Plans changed, and I decided to skip over Opononi and the sand boarding since the wind won’t cease on the West coast, and prolly wouldn’t have made for an enjoyable experience. And just came straight to Paihia. Staying in Bay Adverturers Backpackers at the moment. A backpackers is where you buy a bed for the night that is often times in a shared room with 3-5 others, and then there’s a shared kitchen, living area, and other amenities. There are peeps from all over here. I’ve met people from Taiwan, Austrailia, Germany, England, and Argentina.

It’s a bit daunting being completely on my own now. I’ll have to break my shy-shell and become a bit more outgoing to meet people.

Paihia is in the Bay of Islands, which is exactly as it sounds, a bay filled with islands. It’s quite beautiful too, still cloudy, but warm and no wind. Looks to be a few easy hiking trails in the area that I’ll hit up in the next couple days before I start heading back down the coast.

Here’s a picture of Helen and Ken from Bayly’s Beach.
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Thank You, Thank You, Thank You
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I’d like to send a BIG THANKS to Kerry, Darrell, and Paige for being great hosts and providing a very warm welcome into this beautiful country of theirs, New Zealand. So thank you guys for all that you did to help me get situated and adjusted to life in another country!
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Rain, Rain, Go Away??.
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October 2, 2005

And Come Back Another Day!……..

This is the most water I have ever seen fall out of the sky. For the last two days there has been a constant flow of rain with light letups at times. The winter can’t seem decide if it wants to turn its job over to Spring quite yet. It’s all right though, I’ve still been getting out on walks with the host family even though we come back absolutely soaked.

I’ll be heading up North soon. I booked a ticket today with a company called Magic Bus (www.magicbus.co.nz) that provides transport throughout the whole of New Zealand. The route I booked runs from Auckland to Paihai/Bay of Islands and back. The nice thing about it all is you can get on and off as much as you’d like
along the way, where you like. So I’m looking at stopping off in Opononi on the West coast to do a bit of tramping in the woods there and perhaps boogy-board on nearby sand dunes. Then head over to the East coast where the Bay of Islands are to see that and Haruru Falls.
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I?m All In, Lets Do It! NZ Style
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October 1, 2005

Ahhhh!….I’m finally here in New Zealand. It was a long trip over, but well worth it. I flew out of Denver at six o’clock at night on Sept.28, had a couple hour layover in LAX, and had a direct flight to Auckland from there (12.5 hours) arriving at six o’clock in the morning two days later.

Immigration went rather well, only had two minor holdups with the customs man. First he wanted to confiscate my beer, but I wouldn’t let him. Not that he had any place too, he was just thirsty is all. I refused to give it because I would have hated to brought it so far only to have it taken away. It was a six pack of Fat Tire for my host Mom, Kerry, because she missed having it from when she was out here. Next he was upset because I didn’t have an address of where I was staying my first night. He was like, “well, would you let me into America if I didn’t know where I was going?” I responded, “Perhaps, I didn’t think much of it. I mean I know the name of the town I’m going too, Orewa, and didn’t think of it since I’m being picked up here at the airport.” So as he stamped my passport, he looked at me all seriously like and said, “next time do your homework mate.” I said, “will do” and went on my way.

I had a warm welcoming as I walked out into the greeting area by Kerry and Paige. Paige was real cute and had made a ‘welcome to New Zealand Andy’ sign all done up and waved it around. They’re both very pleasant and nice as is the rest of the family who I met later on. They showed me around and took me to downtown Auckland to get my work permit/immigration papers situated, try marmite (awful by the way…quite salty…similar to vegimite they say…), see the wharf, get a bite to eat, and then they took me up north to show where they live in Orewa and surrounding areas. The land is lovely and seems to be surrounded by water no matter which way you turn or go. The home is nice as well, actually really nice. I’d say I’m staying in the best room in the house. It sits atop the house with it’s own private bath and balcony which overlooks the city and a nearby bay (I’ll have to post some pics as soon as I get to a faster Internet connection that isn’t dial-up.).

I’ve also been staying busy by getting setup with a bank account that has a ‘cashflow’ card(like a debit card I’d say, but with more fees), IRD number (like our SSN), meeting the rest of Kerry’s family, Pen(25) her daughter, Derrell her husband, and Glen(22) her son, and looking into buying a car. I think it’ll be best to buy an older vehicle to beat around since I’ll be here a while traveling around rather than dealing with buses and other means of transportation. I’ll prolly be able to sell it for close to what I bought it for when I leave too. All in all, sounds like the way to go. Best get going now as I can smell supper cooking upstairs.

Oh yes, I think I’m adjusting quite nicely to the time change. NZ is about six hours behind Colorado and a day ahead.

Take care everyone!

P.S. - Paige says, “It’s been great having Andy here, and I hope he stays here a long time cause he’s a good friend. Oh! And hi to everybody out there!”
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Last Day and The Night Out
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Well, the final day of work finally came and went. It was hard during the last week or two for sure. A month notice was a nice gesture and gave the Y more time to find somebody to replace me, but I would recommend the two week notice for anyone else. It’s just so hard to keep the motivation alive for that long.

Anyway, the last day was great. Had a nice lunch followed by a desert extravaganza party back at the office. Thanks to everyone who came by! It was nice to be able to say goodbye and felt good to be moving on at the same time. The Y will definitely be missed! (Bye to all of those who couldn’t make it, and sorry to anyone who’s computer I didn’t get to.).

After work some friends and I headed down to Boulder to hit up the Rio, drink some margaritas, and play in the Pearl Street fountain one last time. It was a fun night!

Okay, so maybe I was the only one who played in the fountain, or the only one not quick enough to dodge the random up spurts.
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NZ Family
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Many of you might be wondering if I am going into this little adventure blind or not. Yes, I am going by myself, but I do have a couple contacts in New Zealand.

One of which will even be picking me up from the airport. I told them I could take a bus to where they live since the flight arrives at 5:00 in the morning, but she insisted upon picking me up. Which will a great help I’m sure, and she said I could stay with them as long as I need until I get my bearings straight. She just emailed me again today since I’ll be leaving, or rather arriving soon and attached a picture of her and one of her daughters so I’ll know who to look for in the airport.

It should be nice to know someone from the area for many reasons. I know it was in Peru even though our host family there spoke no English at all. And this family seems very nice and giving too.

The picture above on the left is of Kerry and to the right is her daughter Paige.
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Jozlyn
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I take it all back! Jocelyn will not be missed. Nope, not one bit. Not after the prank she played on me today that ended up with me having magic marker scribbled all over my right arm. To be honest, I could never see nor talk to her again and feel good about it.

On another subject, Rachel (The GF), recieved word last week that she and everyone else will for sure be helping out in the cleanup of Hurricane Katrina that left most of New Orleans in shambles.

Just when you think you have everything you need for a trip something else comes up……….then another……….and another…………..
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Y Goodbye Party
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September 23, 2005

Today in my office building we had a going party. Granted I’m not officially done with work until the 23rd, but we had to have it early so my boss would be able to attend since he’ll be gone the rest of week and all of next. It was nice, everyone brought dishes from home to share which were really good…maybe to good even because the big joke of the day was “Andy, hate to say it, but maybe you should leave more often so we can have food like this all the time.” I don’t know what they’re talking about though, I mean the food up at the Ruesch is delicious! And we get that all the time. I also received gummy worms from Meg! I’ll for sure be taking them with me on the long plane ride over.

Gordon and I had our goodbye as well. It was very simple, he basically said thanks for working for me, shook my hand, and walked out.

Next will be a desert extravaganza held on my last day of work that everyone will be invited to.
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South America
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September 10, 2005

Two years ago today I was flying to Peru…….Man how time goes by so quickly, and can change so many things in a short amount of time……

South America is really the reason why I want to continue traveling today. (Corny joke coming up) I don’t know if I got bit by the travel bug down there or what. It was just such an awesome and memorable experience that I hope to keep doing it for years to come, and encourage everyone else to see the world as well! There’s no better time then the present, so get out there and just go for it!

If anyone would like to check out my scrap book from Peru go to the Pics page and click on the album labeled ‘South America - Scrap Book’ to see it.
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Address and Phone Number
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Picked up my New Zealand address and Skype phone number today.

My New Zealand address is as follows:

Andy Collins
#3136
Travellers Contact Point
87 Queen Street
Auckland
New Zealand

Purchased from the BackpackerBoard at http://www.backpackerboard.co.nz/index.php that will allow me to recieve mail anywhere in NZ using one postal address.

My phone is as follows:

970-372-2741

It is local to Estes Park and can be called for free by anyone in the 970 area code. It will even ring down under if I’m online so I can answer it, or you can leave up to a ten minute message. If anyone else is interested in using something like this I used a company called Skype, http://www.skype.com/. It’s fairly simple and cheap, it will only cost 2.5 cents to call back home from down there.
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The Girlfriend (GF)
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Well I took the GF to the airport this morning. She will be spending the next ten months on the East Coast in Charleston, SC with Americorps. It was definitely an emotional goodbye and hard to see her go, but I am happy for her as well because this is something she’s wanted to do for a long time now. The timing really
works out well too with me going to NZ and all, part of me wishes I was leaving sooner now…….

We’ll be meeting up in New Zealand later on at the end of the year though, which’ll be great to see her again. She has time off for Christmas break and will be spending it with me! We hope to do a couple tramps (Get your mind out of the gutter! - trekking + camping = tramping) while we’re there like the Queen Charlotte Track (recommended by Susan Stalfort back at the Y), bungy jump (even though Rachel is against it =D), possibly zorb, see some glow worms, of course catchup(!), and whatever else comes along. We’ll just have to see!
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Jocelyn
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I sadly realized today (or rather after talking to Jozlyn) that I will no longer have the pleasure of enjoying lunch breaks filled with deep laughter and enriching conversation with her……. =(……….she will be missed………
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Countdown
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August 28, 2005

The one month countdown begins, and I’ve already gathered everything I need for the trip……..it’s possible I’m a bit anxious…….

I finished getting everything today on the list actually. My final items included a sleeping pad, sleeping bag, cooking/drinkig cup, and few other things….the rest of the stuff I was missing, rain pack cover, stove, etc… will be borrowed from my awesome girlfriend! Yer the best Rach! =)

Now the waiting game begins………did I rush things?…..
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Longs Peak
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The parents, girlfriend, and I decided to give Long Peaks a run for its money today. We successfully summited the 14er by 11:00 in the morning after leaving a little later than anticipated from the trail head around 4:30am. The hike was great and weather fair apart from the wind being exceptionally strong from the keyhole on through the trough and narrows.

I was especially excited to do it because it gave me a chance to test out the backpack I’ll be taking to NZ. The pack worked out very well and felt like it rode on my waist for the most part and stayed off my shoulders. I gotta give credit to my Mom and Dad as well for making it to the top. There’s many people their age who wouldn’t be able to conquer the mountain, but they did, and I’m impressed.

Here we are on top of the mountain at 14,256 feet! Check the Photo Gallery for pics from this trip.
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Job - YMCA of the Rockies
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August 25, 2005

I informed my boss today, Gordon, that I will be leaving the YMCA of the Rockies to pursue new opportunities that have been presented to me after receiving a work visa to live and work in New Zealand for up to one year.

Resigning from my job was quite hard to do as it was first job I ever resigned from, one that I procrastinated with over and over again, but knew it had to be done and couldn’t be delayed any longer as I wanted to give a month’s notice before my final leave date of Septemeber 24th, 2005.

The Y was my first ‘real’ job out of college. I will miss it and the people I came to know during my time there. It was a great place to work and gain experience, and I hope to carry that all on with me. And who knows maybe it’ll even be a place I came back to down the road like so many other people have done.
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Blog
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I will continuously be updating this page throughout my travels to keep everyone posted on all the happenings and everything spectacular going on in New Zealand. The most recent events will be listed first and the rest will follow on down the page. So be sure to check back!
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Website
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Began construction of the website.
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