Shades of Grey

One thing that I love about world travel is that people are more open to meeting, striking up conversations, and getting to know one another. Perhaps there is a reduced risk given that the relationship must end after a finite period of time. One does not need to be concerned about starting a friendship and then regret such a choice. When traveling, I find it much easier to sit with complete strangers, strike up conversations, and easily form friendships. I have made life long friendships with travel mates every time I have visited a far country. For example, the last time I visited New Zealand, I made eye contact with Ian Ginzberg (from Sydney Australia) across a street at a bus stop in Pahia. Neither of us can really explain why we decided to approach one another and strike up conversation, but we are glad that we did. Another friendship started during a hike on the South Island with a German girl named Parvin Siebel. We have been in constant contact since, have traveled together to other countries, and I have witnessed her marriage to Peter Freischlad (twice – once in Germany and once in Canada). On this trip, we have connected with Stefan and Heike. The fact that these friendships develop so easily when in a foreign place makes me wonder why we are so hesitant to do the same thing in our own country. Why is it odd to walk up to a complete stranger and converse in the same way that we do when we travel?

Another thing that I love about world travel is that there is time to reflect on life and gain a true perspective about those values that are most important. The day to day routines can occupy territory in our mind that otherwise may be used to really think about what matters the most. During past trips I have realized the necessity for balance and learned that happiness comes from fulfillment rather than material possessions. These lessons have made me a better person and therefore it is no surprise that I promote world travel to everyone who can afford it. On this trip I have gained an appreciation for the importance of connecting with my son and partner. Fenton is a blessing and Heather is without a doubt the best mother he could have ever hoped for. Having this time away from the various distractions in Edmonton has helped me to learn how to make those important connections that strengthen us as a family.

This morning we woke up in the beautiful Abel Tasman National Park to make some gluten free pancakes and make our way to Nelson Lakes. Nelson Lakes are exquisite, but few tourists make it there. In my opinion, a beautiful place that lacks crowds is ideal. We drove there via a secondary road with plenty of the twists and turns that have been described in past posts. The environment of New Zealand really changes as you move from one area to another. The Nelson Lakes area is extremely lush with every plant emitting a neon green glow. Unfortunately being a rain forest can mean that it will rain a lot. We decided to have lunch at a nice restaurant that overlooked the beautiful parks and make our way to Greymouth for the night.

Greymouth may be the most appropriately named city in the world. The Grey River empties into the ocean at Greymouth, hence it’s name. The Grey River is rich in sediment, and therefore looks like mud flowing through lush rainforest. The rocks in Greymouth are beautiful in that they have specks with thousands of shades of grey. The grey rocks are eroded by the ocean constantly crashing into it and blowholes can be seen along the coast where water shoots up into the air every time a wave hits. To top it off, the west side of New Zealand tends to get more rain, so the skies are often overcast, and a mist hangs over the city. I wonder if depression is more frequent here. One upside to the town is the local brewery known as Monteith’s. They make a variety of ales and lagers (though all beers are made with the same lager yeast) as well as some exceptional apple cider.

We are hoping for improved weather as we make our way to the beautiful town of Wanaka.

!

Our first experience meeting a sign with an exclamation point on it was on the North Island when we drove from Auckland to the Coromandel Peninsula. We were driving on an extremely steep winding road and the fastest that we could go without tipping over was 25km/h (speed limit was 100km/h!). When we saw the “!” sign, we both said “I wonder what that means!” Next thing we saw was a big drop off in the road and the front of the camper van slammed down with all of the contents thudding, clinking, and clanking. Our question was answered… or so we thought. We have since encountered many of these signs and have discovered that the “!” sign means that there is something ahead that we cannot yet see, the nature of the warning is a surprise, and it could be very dangerous or it may be nothing at all.

The ferry ride to the South Island may be one of my favorite parts of the New Zealand experience. The views of Marlborough Sound are beautiful. Sometimes dolphins and whales can be seen, although this trip we did not get so lucky. It was a beautiful sunny day and we were able to spend much of the journey out on the top deck until Fenton became difficult. A 17 month old boy cannot walk around wherever he wants to on a ferry.

By serendipity, we met a German couple that we spent some time with in Rarotonga. Stefan and Heike have been fabulous company and we will travel together for most if not all of our travels in New Zealand. This, of course, means that blogging is much more difficult as the nights are spent visiting rather than typing on a laptop.

Our fist night on the South Island was in Blenheim, a fruit and wine producing area. This would be a great place to live. It is sunny, beautiful, and the wine is excellent. Unfortunately, our time is limited, so we left to see the infamous Abel Tasman National Park. 12 years ago, I walked and kayaked the Tasman trail. This time, however, we cannot do this as a 17 month old boy will not do well with such long periods of sea travel in a long thin sea kayak confined to the small opening which he would have to share with his dad. No… instead we stopped at a very crowded campsite near a remarkably beautiful beach and played all day. Yeah… life is rough. Fenton learned how to walk on the beach and even waded into the shallow (but wavy) water himself. He would yell “weeeee!” every time a wave hit him.

Having the time to play together as a family has been fantastic for all of us. It will be so sad for this vacation to end. But then we think about how our winter will have an average temperature of 20C (yes… above zero) and we realize that we have nothing to complain about. The only exception would be the price of gasoline here. It is double that of Edmonton.

Today we will head out to Nelson Lakes and attempt to take Fenton on a short hike.

One last comment I wanted to make was a big thank you to everyone who has read the blog. The comments on the blog and on Facebook are very appreciated because we would never know if anyone was reading it otherwise. Maria, a grade 7 student of mine, commented that the whole class of 701 was following our every move. I want to take them with me here on a field trip – especially to the volcanic areas – but I am sure that the school would not be able to cover the cost. I’m also sure that they would not appreciate being woken by Fenton at 5:00AM every morning. Anyhow, it is good to feel the connection to home!

King Tut

Upon leaving Rotorua we drove along another twisty highway on the way to New Zealand’s greatest lake, Lake Taupo. On the way to Taupo is Wai-O-Tapu, one of the most amazing parks dedicated to showcasing just how thin the continental crust is in this area of New Zealand. The geothermal activity is impressive, with colorful lakes of boiling water and more bubbling muddy hot springs than one can imagine. By colourful, I mean red, yellow, and green due to the oxidized metals. Most of the trails are wide and accessible by the Chariot, however, some required a rather impressive elevation change by going up or down several stairs. We therefore elected to bring the baby back pack in order to carry Fenton. It was extremely hot, which combined with the heat from the boiling water everywhere, made it even less comfortable for our young boy. He showed considerable resistance to the heat though. Fenton enjoyed being carried by buggy and backpack as long as we didn’t stop and pause to … say take a picture or something. We have realized that we are spoiling our son. We cater to his every need and carry him everywhere – so his new nickname has become King Tut. One Australian man asked if we would be willing to carry him up the steep set of stairs and I quickly responded – “one case of beer”. Funny that he didn’t take me up on it.

We stopped shortly after leaving Wai-O-Tapu to visit Haku Falls. While I can’t remember the specifics, Haku Falls drop an impressive amount of water over a distance of 9m from Taupo Lake – enough water that could fill an Olympic sized pool 8 times over a second. We showed up, looked at the pretty falls, then went on our way.

We drove through some less curvy highway to a town called Palmerston North. We went there because it was close to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand and the location of the ferry that would take us across the Cook Straight to the South Island. Palmerston North has very little tourism and the campsite was full of permanent tenants. Anyone who has stayed at a campsite like this knows how creepy it is. One person had a sign on his trailer that said “24 hour video surveillance”. Needless to say, we locked everything up before going to sleep. Palmerston North is a very pretty town though. There are beautiful parks with lovely trails that take you through flower gardens. Fenton played in his first puddle here. It was impressive how fundamental his was for him to enjoy the sea – which he now thinks of as a very big puddle.

Only a short drive from PN is Windy Wellington. As the name suggests Wellington is extremely windy. We took in the Te Papa, New Zealand’s most famous museum, and the Wellington Botanical Gardens. Fenton seemed to enjot Te Papa – he was even able to light an incandescent bulb and an LED bulb by using  a hand crank dynamo. At the botanical gardens we carried King Tut around with the hope that he would enjoy the fragrant reproductive structures of various seed plants and possibly even take part in play when exposed to other children actively enjoying the playground there. What we didn’t realize was that we were expected at the ferry terminal 1 to 2 hours prior to departure. We arrived 20 minutes “early”. By the time we appeared at the ferry terminal every other passenger was on board waiting for us. We boarded minutes before the ferry left the dock. Whew!

 

The Batmobile

“Would you be Ok with the Batmobile?” he asked. Looking up, I couldn’t conceal the big goofy grin that had sprawled across my face and responded “Absolutely”.

My good friend Tim Oborn just wrote an incredible post on his blog as he and his family of four travel the world. On this last blog he wrote about many of the things that he has learned during his travels. World travel certainly brings with it lessons that cannot be taught any other way. One of the things he learned was that it is always best to book things last minute.

We wanted to have a camper van to tour NZ, but realized that by booking only 6 months in advance, we could not get a van that could be picked up in Aukland (North Island) and dropped off in Christchurch (South Island). We had to drive out and back, which reduced the amount of NZ that could be traveled significantly. After reading Tim’s blog, we decided to see what we could do about changing things last minute. We were able to drop it off in Christchurch, could get an extra two days, and they waived the one way fee of $300. OK, I am now a fan of last minute booking!

New Zealand drivers are crazy. The highways are quite curved and narrow. Speed limits of 100km make you laugh because you think speeds like that could only be possible in high performance cars by professional drivers who know how to drift around corners. New Zealanders seem to have no issue meeting the speed limits on these highways while we chug along at an average speed of 60 km/h hoping not to turn the camper van onto one side or the other. Our campervan is very special because it has a graphic on the drivers side (the right side) of the Batman driving the Batmobile, with Robin hanging on for dear life onto the rear spoiler. As car after car passes us (likely cursing) they must have a good laugh at the irony. (Incidentally, the left side is a picture of the Batman kapowing some sort of bad guy. Heather has nicknamed the Batmobile the Un-hippy van. Nevertheless, she now refers to Fenton as Robin and can often be heard crying out to him, “to the Batmobile, Robin.”)

Day 1 of 15 in the Batmobile was spent driving a little North of Auckland to Coroglen’s Hot Beach. Only it wasn’t hot. It was windy. Very windy. So windy that the sand felt like glass cutting your skin. So we ventured on to Mount Montganui where it was also windy. Very windy. Apparently we were experiencing the tail winds of a cyclone. Nevertheless we managed to find a campsite to park the Batmobile in, a playground to let little Robin run around in, and enough shelter to make supper.

The next morning we decided to head straight to the home of volcanic activity - Rotorua. The highways were much less curved and it was a relief to be free of the gale force winds that threatened to tip our van over or push us into oncoming traffic. Rotorua is beautiful. It has been 12 years since I have been here and so much has changed. The hostel that I stayed in no longer exists. Pam’s Muesli is no longer sold. However, the Kuirau park with all of the boiling mud pools are still here. As well, there is still the Polynesian Spa with their choice of many natural hot springs to sit in and watch your jewelry oxidize before your eyes. Only Reykovic’s hot springs compare to this one in my experience.

Tomorrow we plan to head to one of the greatest volcanic parks in the world, Wai-O-Tapu. After that we will continue south as far as we can towards Wellington.

Ahhhh Aukland

I know that there has been a fair bit written about Fenton’s bowel movements on airplanes, but he just keeps getting so much more impressive at it that it continues to merit mention. Before Fenton we used to marvel at how obsessed parents became over the feces of their children. It is now clear why this is. Only minutes before boarding the airplane to Aukland, Fenton did what had never happened to us before. He had an enormous number two that covered all of his clothing and body parts. Heather was able to clean him up, change his clothes, and have him flight ready in a bathroom rather than a cramped airplane as is typical. We were laughing and high fiving onto the plane. For how could such a small person hold any more? After takeoff Fenton did it again. There was poop oozing out of his diaper, allover the seat, and the flight attendant was in the process of serving us our meals. It’s hard to describe the feeling of not knowing what to do when every tray table is occupied, the diapers, wipes, and Vaseline are under the seat, you have shit on your hands, and the flight attendant is asking if you would like red or white wine with your meal. We simply looked up and said in unison “red please”.

After a 5 hour flight, 2 very poopy diapers and 4 bottles of red wine (187 mL), we arrived in Auckland late January 4. (We lost a day crossing the International Date Line.) Our accommodations in Auckland were excellent. They even included in suite laundry – much needed after the flight from Raro!

We spent the first morning in Auckland doing a few chores – laundry, getting groceries, and finding a new computer adapter. The afternoon was spent exploring the city. We did a walking tour recommended in the Lonely Planet. It was actually quite good! We walked from our hotel up Queen street, away from the harbour to the trendy Chancery district. We climbed an extremely steep sidewalk to the university area. We had to laugh about how the sidewalk seemed to be completely vertical at one point for about a half meter. Pushing Fenton in the Chariot was good exercise. Aukland clearly does not have to worry about ice in the winter! Aukland University is beautiful with large trees and old buildings. The days have been warm but not unbearable and no bugs. At one point we referred to this area as heaven. The Aukland University has a beautiful park called Albert Park. We walked through it and then headed towards Myers Park only a few blocks away. Fenton woke up by then and played at the playground. When we returned to our hotel, we hit the pool where Fenton and Greg played. We finished the evening with an evening harborside walk. As with Edmonton summers, Aukland has long days.

For day 2 (today), we spent the morning at the harbour playground, played in the pool, and did some Skyping with the Turners. Seeing the Turners with several layers of clothing, sitting in our house cuddled by the fireplace was both amusing and heart wrenching. We missed home for the first time. It was wonderful to see that the Turners had made our home theirs. They seemed so comfortable.

Tomorrow we go to Escape Rentals to pick up our campervan and set off for 13 days exploring the North and South island!

Rarotonga Cook Islands

What can we say about Rarotonga… Well, it’s hot. The people are very friendly. They take 2 days holidays for New Years. As one local put it – 1 to recover and another to clean up the mess. That appeared to be true. While we did have a fabulous meal at The Flame Tree, we weren’t able to join in any other festivities though they sounded fun. Having just arrived on a 10 hour sleepless flight from LA (and flights from Calgary and Edmonton before that) and having a toddler to care for we were all in bed by 7! We did wake up momentarily to the sound of a few fireworks. And for the first time in our lives we were wishing the firework show to be shorter rather than longer so that it didn’t wake Fenton up. We were lucky – he slept right through them.

Why Rarotonga? There is absolutely nothing to do there except lounge around and… do nothing. We spent the entire time playing with Fenton. He was naked for the majority of the time and was the happiest we have ever seen him. I recall my colleague Gord Thorpe speaking about how spending time outdoors is necessary for mental health. After watching Fenton grow up as much as he did in only a few days, we are inclined to agree. Although there were significant issues with our accommodations, we did manage to wind down, get some great photos of Fenton playing in the sand and ocean, and met a great couple from Germany who we are hoping to pass in our campervan in New Zealand.

High Fives and Airplane Rides

The night of December 29^th was spent executing the final tasks on the “to do” list. We did not complete everything that we wanted. By 12:30AM that night we didn’t care to do any more work. When we woke at 6:00 AM (thanks Fenton!), we proceeded to complete the last bits of laundry, cleaning, and vacuuming. Kirsten showed up at 9:00AM to take us to the airport and we were still adding more items (including another carry on piece). Surely, we must have appeared rather stressed. Fitting the immense amount of luggage in the SUV was difficult and made us nervous about how transport would go once in Rarotonga.

By 9:24AM Kirsten had us on route to YEG and managed to get us there before 10:00AM. Impressive. It was during this drive that Heather and I had our first high five… Actually, I offered up the high five and Heather denied me, saying that too many obstacles were in our way to be celebrating just yet. Heather is all “work first and fun later”.

At the Air Canada kiosk, we were unsure if we should keep the baby backpack and check the Chariot baby carrier or vice versa. After speaking with the clerk, it became clear that he had no idea if the Chariot was allowable based on its size. Rather than check with someone who knew the answer, he said “ah… go ahead. I’m sure it’s fine.” And off we went with most of our carry on bags in the Chariot and Fenton in my arms.

Going through security in Edmonton was certainly a blur. The security person detected explosives on the Chariot and all of the bags had to be searched. This was a good thing because we needed to repack all of our carry on bags anyways. We packed them in a panic that morning and really had no idea where anything was. When a half consumed bottle of Pepsi was pulled out, both Heather and I laughed because this is not a mistake we would ever make under normal circumstances. By the time we were through security, all of our carry on bags were well organized, Heather had been through a body scan while I held Fenton and we had confirmation that there were in fact no dangerous explosives with us. This was when we had our first high five.

Fenton was a dream on the flight to Calgary. He was obviously saving something special for the flight to Los Angeles. 

In Calgary we had to pick up all of our bags to clear customs. The customs official went into great detail how poor his luck was. He was excited to see a beautiful woman in line (Heather) but when she approached his desk, he realized that his luck was over when she was followed by a young man with a baby boy. Heather responded by saying that she thought he had a very nice wedding ring. Awkward.

Security in Calgary was another adventure except that we knew where the liquids and gels were. I held Fenton because he behaved best with his dad for some reason. While in line, I reached into my pocket to get my phone and it was wet. The sound of urine hitting the ground seemed to get the attention of many in line as the wet spot on my shirt became larger by Fenton. At the X ray a security guard barked out orders at Heather, rushing her through the process. Heather replied that she was still trying to satisfy the first request before getting the fifth one done. She ordered me to pull a bottle out of Fenton’s mouth so that it could be X-rayed (this did not go well) and Heather had to complete yet another body scan. Another gong show completed earned us another high five.

The flight to LA was 5 hours. Fenton was awake the entire flight and had not napped all day. Needless to say, he was a bit of a handful. Speaking of handfuls, Fenton has a habit of larger than normal bowel movements during flights and this was true to form. When Fenton did his business, I made my way to the restroom with a bag of diapers, wipes and Vaseline. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring a garbage bag. The change table in Air Canada planes are horribly small. I was lucky to get Fenton’s head and bum on the table. When Fenton’s pants came off poop was oozing out of the diaper, all over the pants, his legs, and feet. That was when the turbulence began. I used paper towels to scoop as much of the awful smelling feces before removing the diaper. Without getting into any more detail, Fenton and Greg made it unscathed.

In LA we had a wonderful break as Fenton had a nap in the Chariot and Heather slept. It was a 7 hour wait until out flight. The issue of course was that Fenton had had so much sleep that he was up until 2:30AM before he went back down. During the 10 hour flight to Rarotonga we were lucky to get two hours of sleep. Adventures go this way sometimes.