Road Ink

Hampton Beach Sand Sculptures!

gemma — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 23:32:05 +0000

There was a sand sculpture contest last weekend, and today we went to see the results before they tore them all down. It’s amazing how much detail people can get into the sand, and even more amazing that they’ve held up so well under all the rain. They coat them with a mixture of water and paste to hold them, but still.

And the one that took home 1st prize:

Yeah, I don’t know why either.

New England!

gemma — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:03:37 +0000

I’m in New Hampshire right now, enjoying SUMMER. I thought I wouldn’t miss summer too much while I was in New Zealand, but man alive it is difficult to have nothing but cold all the time.

SUMMER!!

Our garden snails are much smaller than the ones in Vancouver, which I kind of miss.

SNOW!

gemma — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:36:30 +0000

On Tuesday I was supposed to catch the bus from Invercargill up to Christchurch. This is a long way – I caught the bus at 8:45am, and was not supposed to be in Christchurch until 6:55pm, so almost 12 hours later. The snow started falling almost immediately after the bus left Invercargill, and by the time we hit Clinton it was a blizzard.

This is what I get for coming to NZ in the winter, I guess – but usually, as people have told me for the past 48 hours, low altitudes don’t get much snow. No one owns a shovel, and cities don’t have snow plows roaming the streets…it’s a lot like Vancouver in winter, actually. Anyway, since there were no plows to clear the roads, the roads were closing, one after another. The bus driver didn’t think we’d be able to get to Dunedin, and he was right – in Clinton we hit the backup. The road in front of us was closed. Within five minutes the road behind us to Gore was closed as well – we were well and truly stuck, along with 20 or 30 other people passing through town. So we all went to the pub. I was one of the nine people on the Intercity bus the article mentions.

It was pretty awesome, actually – they opened just for all the stuck people on the road, gave us as much free coffee and tea as we could drink, and kept the fire going so we could all huddle around it. There were kids running around, people playing cards, knitting, reading, gambling on the machines (one lady won $100), and chatting. Every hour or so the sun would sneak out from behind a cloud and we thought the storm was over, only for the snow to start falling harder than ever a second later. We were there for over four hours before the road out of town finally opened up again. Unfortunately, it had gotten too late for the bus to take us all the way to Christchurch, so instead everyone who was heading north of Dunedin (five of us) was put up in a hotel in Dunedin by Intercity, and we continued up to Christchurch this morning. It’s a big pain, of course, since I had planned to go out to Akaroa today on a wildlife cruise, but it could’ve been much worse. It was actually a lot of fun, and I spent hours and hours chatting yesterday with people on the bus who I never would’ve gotten to talk to otherwise.

Tomorrow I take the train and the ferry up to Wellington. Assuming it doesn’t snow again, of course.

Invercargill: Day 1

gemma — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 04:04:59 +0000

I went to the gardens this morning and had a pretty amazing walk. I had been warned from numerous sources that Invercargill was bleak and empty, especially in the winter, but I haven’t found that to be true at all.

I went to the Aviary this afternoon.

Otago Penninsula wildlife tour picspam

gemma — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 08:26:39 +0000

I went with Elm Wildlife tours. The guide was great and extremely knowledgeable, and the whole experience was excellent.

Baby fur seals!

Yellow-Eyed Penguins! They are forest penguins, who spend the day in the ocean and come back to the beach at sunset (the sea lions go out to hunt from the same beach just after sunset, and if they see a penguin they may kill and eat it, so this timing is not accidental.) They walk past the beach to the pasture, and up the hill to their nests in the bushes at the top.

Sea Lions!

Dunedin: Day 1

gemma — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 22:19:52 +0000

I spent this morning at Cadbury World, which is sort of like a Hershey Park for Cadbury. There was even a chocolate river a la Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and lots and lots of Cadbury products to sample (the best part, of course).

Dunedin has gone All Blacks crazy. The game is here on Saturday against France, and I think the entire city must have tickets. Jerseys and flags are hanging in every window, and there is “Go Blacks!” graffited on every street. I bought myself an All Blacks keychain and got a 20 minute lecture about why the injury-prone team would still win against the French side.

I’m supposed to go on a wilderness tour later today, but as I haven’t heard anything from the company yet I’m a little skeptical. Either way I have to leave tomorrow for Invercargill.

Christchurch: Day 2

gemma — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 03:27:58 +0000

I promised loads and loads of pictures, so here goes.

This is the Tram Station by the Cathedral. It reminds me a lot of the Central Branch of VPL.

This is a fairly famous sculpture of Scott, leader of the doomed Antarctic Exploration/South Pole mission. I was feeling a definite kinship with him yesterday, it being so cold…

The Avon River.

The Christchurch Art Gallery.

I really liked Christchurch a lot, actually. When I first hatched this crazy idea of coming to New Zealand I planned to live in Christchurch for a year or so, with a proper job and everything. I kind of wish I had done that. I think I would have loved Christchurch, and I would definitely have gotten more of a feel for New Zealand’s culture than I do tramping about.

I’m in Dunedin for a couple of days. I had planned to stay through the weekend but there’s a rugby test on Saturday, and not a hostel or hotel room to be had in the entire city. So like it or not I’ll be heading south the day after tomorrow.

Christchurch: Day 1 & random scenery

gemma — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 20:50:59 +0000

I left Wellington early yesterday morning, and watched the sun come up from the ferry.

The ferry ride from the North to the South Island is about 3 hours long, and it’s a very windy and cold enterprise. But eventually we arrived, chugging through the islandy bits of the Queen Charlotte Sound.

Then it was onto the bus from Picton to Christchuch, stopping at Kaikoura for a dinner break.

On the beaches on both sides of Kaikoura were fur seals, loads and loads of them, right next to the road. We didn’t slow down long enough for me to get any pictures of them, though.

Anyway, I’m in Christchurch tonight and will post loads and loads of pictures tomorrow.

Engagement Ring Treasure Hunt

gemma — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 22:10:17 +0000

I don’t know how widely this has been reported in the international press, but today is kind of a big day in Wellington. A man bought an expensive engagement ring only to be turned down, and now doesn’t want the ring (understandably). So he’s hidden the ring somewhere in Wellington, and is holding a sort of treasure hunt for it – with clues coming out every hour or so on his Twitter account. It’s been all over the news here for the past few days, and as far as I know there are a lot of people who plan on looking.

The clues are found here: http://twitter.com/donoogle-com.

Luckily, it’s a beautiful day and not even that windy. A perfect day for a treasure hunt.

Wellington: Day 6

gemma — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 01:32:33 +0000

Well, it was only a matter of time. I’m sick. I tend to get sick when I travel, since I don’t sleep very much and eat whatever I feel like, which is never anything very healthy. I felt it coming on yesterday, but today it’s hit full force. The timing could be worse, since I am going to be in Wellington for days and days yet, so at least I don’t have to worry about lugging my stuff to the bus or anything fun like that. I’m free to do exactly what I need and want to do: hole up in my hotel room with the space heater blasting, Sky Movie on the in background, a pile of books to read and a long afternoon of napping.

Like I said, it could definitely be worse.