Long title, yes. Let's get right on it...
6/11/09
My roommates were heading back to Sydney today but I had plans to stick around for a few more days. Their flight was in the early afternoon so I decided to take an early (7am) bus to Kaikoura, about 2 and a half hours north of Christchurch. I fell asleep for most of the bus ride which I Was happy about because I was exhausted but sad because I missed the scenery. I figured I would get to see it on the way back to Christchurch. I got to the hostel a little before 10am and my room wasn't ready so I locked up my stuff and meandered into town. I fell in love immediately. The hostel was right on the Pacific Ocean and I could smell the salt. You know, that ocean smell. It reminded me of home. But it's so much stronger here. I was able to hear the wakes breaking, but there were small, none more than a foot. The beach isn't exactly one there you would want to go swimming. First of all, the water was freezing and the beach was rocky. Town was about 2km for the hostel, about a 20 minute walk. It was small, just a strip of stores really. So I just went to the grocery store and came back tot he hostel. I had lunch ans tried to figure out what I was going to do. I decided to just grab a book for the book exchange shelf. Most hostels have these and I think it's a really good idea. Backpackers spend so much time actually traveling from one place to another and reading is a way to pass the time but you wouldn't want to carry around so many cooks. So you have one or two and at each hostel you drop off those and take new ones. So, I took a short book with plans to finish it that day. I read outside then it got a little too cold so I moved inside and just sat on the couch with a view of the ocean and the snow topped mountains and finished the book. I felt quite accomplished. I went to bed early because I knew the next day was going to be one of the best days of my life.
7/11/09
People may think that I am exaggerating that I think this could rank up there with one of the best days of my life, but it was absolutely incredible. I got up early with plans to rent a bike and ride down to the seal colony on the Kaikoura peninsula, about a mile away. However, I knew I was going to be rushed because I had something special scheduled at 10:30. I had initially planned to leave Kaikoura in the later afternoon and stay two more days in Christchurch but after seeing how little there was to do there, I decided to extend my stay in Kaikoura another day. So the seal colony would wait until tomorrow. I sat outside in the warm sun, once again looking at the beautiful blue water at high tide and the snow topped mountains. At 10:30, Adam the pilot picked me up. I was off to the Kaikoura airstrip to FLY A PLANE. And by fly a plane I mean actually take control and fly. When we got to the airstrip Adam briefed me on what we were going to do and basically told me how a plane worked. It was pretty cool that I really knew what he was talking about. He was throwing in some fluid dynamics/mechanics terms and I was wondering if most people actually understand him. We were flying a little two seater Cessna plane. The seats were side-by-sde. I got to see all of the controls and monitors and everything. I even got one of those cool headsets. I knew it was going to be awesome. So we taxied up to the runway, he told me how to take off, and then I did. I pushed and controlled the throttle and pitch of the airplane! It was so cool. I did not think I was actually going to be doing that much. He controlled the rudder at the beginning (kind of the stability mechanism, it's a flap at the back of the plane) but I got to turn it. We got up to 2,000ft and stayed at about 80-100 knots. It was funny because we were talking about altitude and I told him that this was nothing because I jumped out of a plane 14,000ft in altitude. I'm just that badass. I got an amazing view of the mountains and the coat. I was able to take a few pictures and a quick video but I wanted to get back to controlling the plane; that's what I was up there for. He took over the controls and showed me how 2-G feel and how negative-G feel. Both were very weird, especially in such a little plane. Then he did a roll, which was awesome. I couldn't even explain it. It was definitely the coolest thing I did during the entire trip. I mean, how many people can say they have flown a plane and gotten to do a roll in it. I had a 20 minute flight and it went by so fast. I felt like I was up there for no time. He even taught me how to land. Keep 60 knots and then lift the nose of the plane slightly with the throttle right before you touch down. It was amazing. I didn't say anything about not having a drivers license. Adam just said, "If you can drive a car, you can fly a plane." I just of giggled to myself. I guess I technically can drive a car, I'm just not allowed to. The peddles to control the rudder were in the same place as the gas and brake peddles. Basically, when you turn left, you push the left peddle and the rudder turns left. If you don't turn the rudder, the nose of the aircraft will swing right before it turns left. It's all technical, and you know I'm clearly a pro now... But I wish I could go take some more flying lessons but a. I don't think they would let me and b. I looked it up and they are only out of Macarthur Airport, too far away. I called my parents after I flew and told them about the next crazy thing I did and surprisingly my mom wasn't nervous at all, but in fact jealous. I expected the same reaction I got when I went skydiving. The entire day, I could not stop smiling. I was so happy.
It was also nice being alone for a little while, being on my own schedule, not having to compromise with other people for a few days. Traveling with 5 other people can be difficult so the time to myself was relaxing. After I talked to my parents I walked back into town, got some coffee and cake, went back to the grocery store where the kid doing checkout was no older than 15, and they found myself in this recycled fashion store. For the most part it was a museum of costumes made from random collected material--bottle tops, old jeans, the stuff you make casts with, ties, plastic bags, mirrors, etc. They were incredible and quite absurd. There was also some clothing on sale, but none of it was exactly my style, and I have to say some of it was pretty ugly. They also had a bunch of artwork and I did end up getting one thing because I thought it was absolutely beautiful and hand made by the people who own the museum. I think it was worth it. So I went back to the hostel, cooked some dinner, then started on a new book that I actually picked up from the Birdsong Hostel a few days back.
When I decided to go to bed, I went to my room and there were two French girls in there speaking very fast. I could pick up a few words here and there but I definitely could not understand what they were saying. They the fourth person came in. She was in her 60's and immediately started talking about her life. She was from Toronto and has literally traveled all over the world. She has traveled all over Australia and all throughout Europe. She said she hitchhiked through some places and such. It was absolutely crazy. I could never imagine doing that now. I was happy when she stopped talking though, because she was going for a while... I fell asleep once again to the waves breaking on the rocks. I could definitely get used to that.
8/11/09
I'm getting lazy so I'm going to sum the end of this trip up real quick. I woke up and checked out of the Kiakoura hostel. Then I walked over to the Kaikoura peninsula and checked out the seal colony and climbed up the hill to get an awesome panoramic view of the area. It was beautiful. But I took some pictures and headed back. I got a bus to Christchurch at 4pm and by the time I arrived I basically just ate and went to bed. My flight was too early to stay awake.
9/11/09
I woke up at like 3:30am to get on a 4am shuttle to the airport. Exhausting. It was an interesting travel day, filled with adventure and exploding bottles of rum, but that story is just way too long to be fully told. I got back to Sydney around 6pm and started the end of my adventures down under...
Ok, finally done.
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