Would you believe that my recent lack of posts has been caused by me going on a few courses and have now become a competent mountaineer?

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You’d be forgiven if you were under the impression that I’d become a giant

this is a lookout near Canaans Downs and I’m guessing that it’s been fast eroded by ice or something like that. Like many of the tramping tracks in NZ there were points along the way when the path was less than obvious

and on one occasion I actually got lost and was scrambling around on a hillside for a few minutes before retracing my steps and finding the correct way. So I got to the top and started climbing across this crazy mini mountain-scape, you can forgive me I hope if I tell you that I assumed that once again I’d taken a wrong turn. I hadn’t. And this mountain-scape was next to a very tall and steep drop, AND it had large cracks in it which also got quite deep. Seeing as I didn’t have a more experienced expert strapped to me (although I think in this case it wouldn’t have helped much) I took things very very cautiously. I think I probably looked a little like a geriatric golumn. When I got as close to the edge as I dared (which wasn’t very close) I sat and took a lot of pictures. I wasn’t going to go through all that fear without having something to show for it! Even safely back from the edge I still had waves of vertigo, hopefully that gives you an idea of how high and dodgy my position felt.


My previous vague plan of returning closer to sunset to get some spectacular shots was swiftly abandoned and I drove off when I got back to my van.

As I left Wellington on the ferry to the south island the weather was rubbish, lots of wind. Initially I was worried that this would give me a rough ride. I had seriously underestimated the size of the ferry, it was a very smooth ride – and they had some films on a big screen in the passenger lounge so I was at least slightly entertained.
Strangely the crossing left me feeling a lot more isolated and alone than any other stage of my travelling. I have several possible explanations for this, firstly I had a pretty sociable time in Wellington, meeting up with Olivia again along with some of the people on her bus. It left me thinking that I’ll definitely get a bus of some kind in Australia.
Secondly it was a period of travelling, giving that feeling of distance but with no plans on arrival. No hostel booking, no WWOOF’ing farms (Willing Workers On Organic Farms), nothing.
Third possible is that I’d just reached that stage of travelling where one tends to feel a bit homesick – apparently it happens about 3 months in, on average.

I’ve jumped out of the timeline for my last few posts, but I’m sure you can keep up 🙂
I’m sure that you can imagine that travelling alone over the Christmas period is a very lonely experience. However it’s not quite as bad as you may think, before you get offended let me explain. Firstly it doesn’t feel like Christmas, it’s hot and bright, the sun sets late and rises early. Secondly I’ve stoically refused to fully acknowledge that it’s Christmas/New Year. My reasoning being that Christmas is a time to be with family and New Year is a time to be with friends. Seeing that family and friends are pretty much as far away as they can get without leaving the planet (other than the new friends here in NZ of course, but they’re all on the other island).
So, what did I do on Christmas? I went on a boat trip around Milford Sound and got an early night – essentially no change to my travelling. Unfortunately this did put me out of mobile range so I couldn’t talk to home.
On new years I had some sausages – proper meat is a rarity because I don’t have a fridge in the van. I did stay up until about 10:30 but that was it (second New Years in a row when I didn’t to anything, last year I had the flu!) As luck would have it I was in a skiing town and therefore was completely dead in summer. This meant that there was only myself and some guys in a tent at the campsite. Nice and quiet – just what I wanted.

When you find yourself thinking ‘I can’t drink any more water today, it’s too expensive’ you know that you’ve been too restrictive with you budget. Running out of money I’d decided that I should be able to live on about $100 a week (roughly 40 pounds a day). So I stopped driving around so much (diesel is expensive!) and tried to live in my van as much as possible. However I had to go to campsites every few days for a shower, to do laundry and to refil my drinking water bottles. Although this travel-less travel plan did result in some more photography action –



-it quickly became obvious that it was an unworkable plan. Initially I changed plan completely, travel a lot and get a job when the money runs out. This seemed like a good idea until it came to getting a job – I had no luck finding picking jobs for only two weeks (not too keen on other temp type jobs). Fortunately for me my Grandads unexpected Christmas generosity means that I don’t have to worry about money so much anymore. I still plan to try and get a picking job when I return to the north island. Either that or spend a few weeks working on a farm, it doesn’t pay but it doesn’t cost either 🙂

The day after falling from the sky (which is much better than having the sky fall on your head) I went to walk the Tongariro Alpine Crossing (to give it it’s full and proper name). This is a seven hour hike up and across the volcanic peaks just south of lake Taupo. I was prepared for this mission, I had a proper English lunch box with enough food for at least the entire day if not possibly some of the following day too. I intended to take a picture to share with you this great traditional symbol – but I forgot.
I also had the following: An extra jumper, a long sleave t-shirt, a tripod, poncho, first aid kit, biscuits, chocolate and a silver emergency heat blanket. I was taking the warnings that weather can change quickly quite seriously.
I had to get up at some ludicrous hour in the morning to catch a bus at 6:30 to get to the start of the walk. I was rather dismayed to find that even super early in the morning the sun was already in the sky. However when we arrived at the start point for the track the weather was not looking good.

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It is a generally acknowledged fact that facing your fears is a good thing to do, it can help you grow and become a better person. The same could be said for travelling, and in some cases travelling and facing your fears are one and the same thing. When facing your fears however it must be pointed out that some fears should not be faced these are rational fears and as long as they aren’t so extreme as to influence normal life then leave them well alone – for example falling from a great height. If this is a fear of yours then don’t go and jump off a cliff, it may cure your fear but it will also cure you of breathing and food addition.
Other fears are irrational fears, for example public speaking or cotton wool. Some people are afraid of public speaking (like me) but have no reason or desire to face that fear. You could say that in many ways there is no problem with this as you can leave a perfect normal life without ever having to get up and speak in public. I’m not afraid of cotton wool but I’d suggest that if you are you should try and sort it out.
Having said all this I have yet to drop in on a toastmasters meeting. Read the rest of this entry »