My first post from New Zealand! I've only been in the country for eight days and already it seems like longer. When we first arrived, my boyfriend Cory and I rented a stationwagon in Auckland and took to the highway headed north, destination, well, north. Driving on the left side of the road took a little getting used to, but we managed for five days unscathed - except that every time we wanted to turn, we turned on the windshield wipers instead of the blinker; the levers are reversed from the way they are in US cars.
Armed with Cory's GPS and some excellent road signs, we followed the Twin Coast Discovery scenic route upwards along Northland's eastern coast, marveling at the green countryside and lack of interesting radio. On a whim, we stopped at some hot springs I'd heard about and decided a dip in the warm water was a good way to wash off the seventeen-hour flight. Clean and relaxed, we pulled over in a parking lot before a toll road for some sandwich dinners and some zzz's. We awoke early in the morning to some flashing lights outside our car, and since neither of us can see past the point of our noses without glasses or contacts, we spent a few frenzied seconds of thinking we were in police trouble until we found our glasses and realized it was the lead car for a caravan of overloaded semis driving the windy road in the wee hours of the morning to avoid traffic. A couple hours later, we hit the road again, as the sun rose to our right, and on another whim (are we noticing a pattern yet?) found this lovely beach, which we had all to ourselves for a yummy breakfast.
Scenery along the road.
Still undecided about our destination, we stopped at a coffee shop and did some research - we had two days before our return to Auckland and too many sights to be able to catch them all. We decided to head as far north as we could, so that we could start recovering ground on the way back to the city. This choice took us up to Rarawa Bay and a long, windy white sand beach which we once again had to ourselves. Tired of being cooped up in the car for most of the day, we went for a nice stroll, and found some incredible shells - up to the point of there being all shells and no sand in some alcoves between the big rocks on the beach. I've never seen so many in one place before. As Cory put it, this was a beach waiting to happen.
The next day took us to the western coast along fun windy roads until we reached this lookout point over Hokainga Harbour, where we wandered along the coastal walkway for a good few hours.
We walked down to that beach.
The little sea lion friend I made in a sea cave. She actually hissed at Cory when we first walked in and then I just sat looking at her for a while and realized that she was pretty young and probably injured, because all she moved was her head. Her eyes told me she was in pain. It took all I had to walk away without helping her, but there was nothing I could've done. :(
Little mussels the size of my fingernails growing on the rocks.
Next, our road turned south to the Waipoua Forest, with a beautiful lush environment and the largest Kauri trees around.
The largest Kauri tree in the world.
The Cathedral Grove.
The following day on our way back to Auckland, we stopped for a hike at the Dome Forest lookout, a steep set of stairs leading to a viewpoint over the valley to the south. A tougher muddier trail continued on from the lookout, down the Dome Hill and up and over the next one too. It ended in another grove of giant Kauri trees, though not nearly as large as the ones we saw the day before.
Climbing on a fallen Kauri.
Refreshed from a dirty forest adventure, we made our way back to the city (ah, the traffic!), returned the car, and checked into a budget hotel near the airport. Our way of splurging. The next morning meant our flight to Queenstown, the adventure capital city of the South Island. It was wonderful to see mountains again, even with a good bit of snow on them, and the young active vibe of the town was fun. We spent the day exploring the area in the rain until Sunday, when I hopped on a bus down to Te Anau, my new home away from home until the end of April. Here are some shots from the drive down:
The Remarkables over the Kawarau River.
The Remarkables are truly remarkable.
Some of the Fiordland mountains.
Since arriving in Te Anau, I've started working for the Department of Conservation (DOC, said like dock) in the Fiordland National Park Visitor Centre (VC) and fallen in love with the area. Everyone that I've met thus far has been really nice, and actually quite international - in the VC alone, we have Kiwis, Brits, Swiss, Dutch, Germans, Japanese, and one US-ian. In that sense it's far more diverse than I would've hoped for, and I don't feel as strange about being a foreigner working for the NZ government. I've got a steep learning curve since I don't know much about the area, but my boss Megan has planned a long training for us (myself and two other new girls) so that we all have time to let things sink in before we start actually helping people in the VC. I've not been here that long, but I feel I'm settling in nicely and I see a lot of possibility for it to be a very good summer indeed.
Love, yours truly.
P.S. A picture of me and Cory in Salida, for those of you who are curious. He's had a haircut since then, I promise.
Over the weekend, while visiting family in La Junta, my uncle Paul told us about a book he's reading that's changing his life. See, he's a high school principal, one that cares about helping kids learn, succeed, and straighten out their issues - so reading the book called Disconnected Kids is changing the way he looks at his job.
I haven't read it yet, but is sounds like the author, Dr. Robert Melillo, has figured out that a lot of neurological problems (ADD, autism, etc) may actually develop because certain parts of a child's brain were understimulated as they grew up (read: they sat in front of the TV all day instead of going outside to play). So they don't need to be drugged into a stupor to fix the problem - their brain just needs the stimulus they missed out on as little ones. He's been working on this for a while, written other books too, and now he's started Brain Balance Achievement Centers, which put his theories into action. Really cool idea, don't ya think?
Fall. It's fall here. No more shorts and tank tops. The sun's not that strong any more. Fall means time to get things done. Fall means time to get ready for winter. Fall means time to leave the country again. I am, after all, chasing summer.
This time my chase takes me to the other side of the planet, quite literally. I'm trading Colorado for New Zealand in twenty days. My friends tell me I'm going to Rohan, or Gondor. Poor New Zealand. No one will ever think of it without thinking of that too. But it's a worthy distinction. I confess, I have been rewatching the Lord of the Rings - completely ignoring the storyline, just taking in the scenery. That beautiful scenery I will soon get to call home.
I'll actually be living closest to the Dead Marshes (check out this nifty map to see what I mean), but Rohan's not too far away. And I'm surrounded by Elven lands and the Misty Mountains. Go ahead, feel bad for me.
Really, actually, though, don't. Here's why: I'll be arriving on the South Island just in time for spring to kick in, and I'll be living in Te Anau, a little town that serves as the gateway to Fiordland National Park, which is where I'll be working in the visitor center. I'll get to explore the area until the end of April, as fall sets in. There it is again, fall. Fall, fall, fall.
About a week ago, my mama and I got back from a wonderful little vacay...to Costa Rica! We went to visit my dear friend Riley, who I've known since high school and who's currently volunteering as an English teacher with the Peace Corps in a little Caribbean banana town called La Guaria, in Valle La Estrella. Most people have never heard of it before, but you will no longer be one of them - here it is:
Yes, it's in a far corner of the country, so yes, it took us a little while to get there. Although, for how far it looks to be on the map, the 4-hour bus ride from San Jose wasn't too bad. We got there on a Thursday evening, pretty tired from traveling all the way from Salida in one day. That evening, consequently, we didn't do much besides meet Riley's host family, eat a little food, realize we were a long ways from home (it was hot and super humid), and go to sleep.
Friday, however, had quite a bit more in store. Riley's host mom, Yajaira, took us on a drive around the countless banana plantations in the area, explaining the basic banana growing process and the history of the area. She even told us about how she used to live in a little town amongst the banana trees but was forced to move when Dole (the owner of the plantations and the town) decided to kick everyone out to knock the town down to make room for more trees. The big banana corporations seem to be outstanding citizens, let me tell ya.
Muchos bananos!
Yup, guess who.
Processing plant.
Riley with some top notch bananas destined for Norway.
Río La Estrella, which gives Riley's valley its name. Fun fact - a few weeks ago when it rained here the river rose enough to reach the bottom the bridge. Woah!
The afternoon was dedicated to running with Riley and her high school students with the Costa Rican torch and flag as part of the country's Independence Day celebrations. It was a pretty cool experience, something I never would've gotten to do but for the chance connection that Riley has as an English teacher at the local high school. The torch run is a long-standing tradition that comes from the old days when most of the Central American countries worked together to gain their independence from Spain - so the torch used to come all the way from Guatemala, but no longer. Now, it is run from Guatemala and into various parts of Costa Rica in time for it to spread everywhere by September 15th, Independence Day. Even as Riley and I were running with the torch, a couple groups from nearby towns met us along the road to light their own torches and carry the symbol of liberty into their own communities.
Sounds cool, but what this meant for us was hours on a hot school bus crawling along behind the 3-man running teams on the highway from Puerto Limon to La Guaria. It made for a long day, especially for my mom, who came along with us on the bus (and she was a trooper, because half the time I wasn't with her and all the time people were speaking Spanish around her - thanks for hanging in there mama!).
Riley and her friend David on the bus on the way to Limon.
Love this girl.
Mama! In Limon waiting for the run to start.
Pre-run stretch in Limon Centro with the high school kiddos.
Lined up and waiting.
Ready....set......wait.
Hard to tell, but there we are (Riley, David, and me) running!
We ended up at the high school at dark, where there was an assembly and torch-lighting ceremony.
High school president lighting the torch.
Assembly in the school gym.
After the assembly, in the rain, we returned to Riley's house for a well-deserved shower (well, every day one deserves a shower there...) and some yummy green banana pudding-type thing made by Riley's host grandma (or second host mom, more like), Vilma. She made it from the bananas we'd been gifted at the banana plantation earlier - it was a sweet dish, with cinnamon and sugar and other delicious spices in it. Mmm.
Saturday (September 15th, Independence Day) dawned hot and humid and sunny, and with a cute little puppy scratching at the door. His name is Oso, which is Spanish for bear, and that's really what he is - a little monster bear cute rascal. He's only two and a half months old, so we'll chalk his mischeviousness up to his age (or lack thereof)...
Looks cute....
....until he bites.
After breakfast, we headed down to the high school for the start of the Independence Day parade, which we followed down the one road in town for a few hours in the hot hot sun (and in case you were wondering, yes we got a bit burnt...).
Riley's host brother Jonathan in the middle school marching band.
Cool traditional dance group.
High school band.
Excited about yummy ice cream!
Hot and worn out from parading for a few hours, we headed back to Riley's house to relax a bit, and were treated to some pipas, fresh coconut water.
Yajaira and Riley waiting for Javier to cut a coconut.
Serious machete skills, Javier!
Yajaira and Jonathan.
Riley!
Yum yum.
For a while in the afternoon we kicked back, reading on the porch, until Yajaira asked us if we wanted to go on a drive with them to Javier's mom's house in a nearby indigenous area. Figuring we'd get some good sightseeing and relaxing in, we decided to go along. What we were actually for was quite different - bouncing all over rough dirt roads through what seriously could've been Jurassic Park. If a dinosaur had popped its head out from behind a tree I would not have been at all surprised. Unfortunately bumpy dusty truck rides don't make for the best pictures, but here are a couple to give you an idea:
I spy...Panama! From Javier's mom's house.
Welcome to Jurassic Park. Can you spot the dinosaur head?
We ended up on middle-of-nowhere dirt roads that made us rethink the word remote. And then, of course, we'd come across banana plantations and people walking on the road and we'd realize that remote doesn't have to mean empty. Truly, in Costa Rica, it means anything but empty. As we drove, Javier and Yajaira would mention the names of several little towns in one direction or another, which for us meant nothing - but to Riley, they were places were her fellow volunteers were posted, and suddenly she understood their lives that much better. As she said herself, it was like their world was coming alive.
On the drive home, it started raining fiercely. But that didn't mean that we should drive any slower than normal, did it? In fact, it may have been a cue to drive even crazier than usual, passing car after car after car. Thank goodness we were in a truck with people who knew the road, but still...we had to keep ourselves talking in the backseat to not get too scared. Typical tico driving style, it seems.
Anyway, the rain meant that our waterfall hiking plans for Sunday were probably off, so we decided to take an easier lazy day. After all, we hadn't really stopped moving since we'd arrived. It was a much-needed day to take care of laundry and plans for the week, which took us to...la playa!
Mi madre, Playa Negra, Cahuita.
We ventured to Cahuita and Puerto Viejo for the majority of the week, relaxing and falling into a more true vacation pattern. We got up when we felt like it, ate slow yummy breakfasts, walked or biked to a beach, and stayed until it was almost dark. Not much happened, which is part of what made it so wonderful. See for yourself.
Playa Chiquita, Puerto Viejo - our favorite beach.
As sad as we were to leave the beach, on Friday we packed up and headed back inland to Cartago, to visit my host family there. Riley came with us for a day, before heading to Heredia to visit another of her host families for a surprise birthday party. We spent a couple days playing games, eating delicious food (I know I say that a lot but this really was the most delicious of the delicious), checking out a local craft brewery, and basking in the love my host family doles out every time we visit. They truly are wonderful people and I'm glad to have them in my life. That goes for the two ladies I was traveling with too - Mom, Riley, love you both a lot. Thank you for everything.
Cristina, yours truly, Marco, Riley, and Mama at the brewery trying the best stout ever. Brought out special just for us because Mom happened to mention liking stouts. Nice job.
Cristina, Diego, Mom, Marta (aka Mami), Edgar (aka Papi), Laura, Doki, yo, and Marco at the house in Cartago. Thank you all for such a great time!
