New Zealand & U.S. Arrival (or a lesson in backpacking)

Before I left the United States, I found myself anticipating New Zealand, mostly because of its natural beauty. Clearly, I was not disappointed when I arrived. I did, however, have quite an interesting ten days traveling primarily 'alone.' It's odd because even when backpacking alone, you end up meeting people so that you don't feel lonely. I shall elaborate as I go along here.

I took everyone's advice and stayed in Auckland as briefly as possible (only because there is so much more to see in New Zealand other than Auckland). Unfortunately, I never did get to explore the city though and there were a few things I wanted to do. I caught up on the sleep that I was clearly lacking and the next morning I flew to Christchurch, on the south island. On my way to the YHA on the city bus, I saw a guy from my flight (also with a backpacking sort of backpack) and you know when you just get the feeling someone is going to talk to you? Well, I got that feeling. Within a few minutes he came and sat down next to me. It turned out he was from Paraguay, studying English in Auckland, and traveling around the rest of NZ for a while. He ended up staying at the same YHA as me, so we walked around the city for a while - visiting the church in Cathedral Square and then a museum, with a pretty even collection of older and more modern artwork. Eventually, we met up with my friend Matthijs (from the Netherlands) and who I met in Melbourne and who I intended on meeting in Christchurch.

The next part of my day marked a bit of a stressful turning point in my trip. It shouldn't have been that stressful, but I got sidetracked, distracted, and overwhelmed all at once. My friend (see, technically stranger-friend, this is where everything about backpacking gets complicated, friend for two hours?), Mauri, from Paraguay, and I discussed how we both wanted to get ourselves to Queenstown (a 6 hour drive south of Christchurch) in about three days (which is when my Dutch friend was also leaving). While booking my next two nights at the hostel and being persuaded to sign up for an international YHA card, some guy next to me at the counter overheard me ask about buses to Queenstown and then showed me his piece of paper advertising a ride to Queenstown and a free ukulele lesson for $20. Now, I have met some people along my travels that I have known briefly, but immediately identified as what I consider good people, and something about this guy kind of irritated me. Perhaps it was his immediate suggestion that we go grab coffee and after I politely said no, he suggested the next day. This was the only person I met who I felt immediately threatened (or mostly unsettled) by in one way or another, but in the brief instance that I realized it was a decent offer and Mauri was interested I told him I'd consider going. He then suggested we leave the next day and I did not like that idea since I wanted to travel with my friend Matthijs. We decided on the day after, but then I decided not to go at all, which I felt a bit bad about, but it was a lesson in being assertive, making my own decisions, being an Ubermensch to say the least (Nietzsche would be proud). After I made that decision, it was much easier to proceed with enjoying New Zealand.

I spent the next day exploring the Botanic Gardens even though it was quite overcast, rainy, and cold. It was a relaxing day and I didn't mind the general lack of activity. The following day was a bit more interesting: Matthijs and I took the TranzAlpine train from Christchurch to Greymouth, which was about a 10 hour journey in total. It's one of the top train rides in the world apparently. It was quite beautiful - we saw lots of mountains, braided rivers, and stretches of land. I really love train rides. There's something incredibly exciting about them. It was a really nice day and we spent lots of time on the platform looking out and feeling the wind rush around us. It was rather chilly, but incredibly exhilarating at times. I'm glad I chose to spend the time with Matthijs instead of traveling with strangers to Queenstown. We had a nice time and it was nice to catch up with someone I met in Melbourne.

I left Christchurch quite early the next morning on a bus that cost only $30 to get to Queenstown. Upon arriving, I realized it was quite a beautiful place - basically a ski-resort kind of town, surrounded by snow-covered mountains, plenty of lush trees, and a sparkling lake. Quite amazing. I settled myself into my hostel and then booked my skydive. I started to feel a bit lonely and bored and wanted to go to bed early, but I met a girl from NY who suggested we go out, so we did. We talked for a while and then headed back to the hostel. I woke up quite early to go skydiving. I was slightly terrified, but mostly excited.

I boarded a shuttle with about five other people and we set off for the private airfield. On the way, I talked to a guy named Marcus, from Germany, about our shared anticipation, which was oddly calming. Within moments, I was suited up and listening to a brief orientation speech. A few moments later, I found myself in a plane, ascending, and soon dangling out over the edge. It was an incredibly unreal experience. I was the last to jump, so I watched the two girls in front of me essentially fall out of the plane and then I found myself on the edge, surrounded by mountains, blue sky, and clouds. Then, I was falling. And it was the oddest thing. It wasn't scary in a traditional sense, it was just breathtaking. Usually, when you fall, you find yourself grabbing onto something to stop yourself or hold yourself up, but in this situation I was only falling with nothing in my way. I jumped from 12,000 ft so I was able to free-fall for 45 seconds. Once the parachute opened, the experience completely transformed into something very calming and my partner pointed out Mt. Remarkables and various lakes. It was an amazing experience, kind of a parallel to scuba diving, except the very opposite. After the skydive, I grabbed coffee with the aforementioned Marcus and also went to this restaurant called Fergburger, known for its giant burgers. I found a falafel burger and it was delicious. Marcus made a good point, he just wanted to be with someone who shared the same experience, and it's true, it's kind of the only thing you want to talk about after you do it. So we talked about it, for a while, and then parted ways.

That night was another weird one. I met up with some Floridians (I have never met so many fellow Americans in my travels). We played Jenga for a while and then explored the nightlife, but not for long. The following day I explored by myself. I walked around the park, wrote for a bit, and eventually went to the Queenstown winter festival in the evening to watch the fireworks. I changed hostels that evening and found myself in a room with two guys I roomed with in Christchurch. Strange how that happens. There was also a guy from Canada in our room. We all got in bed early and watched some strange ghost-hunting show. I felt like I was at a sleepover. Everyone in NZ is sort of on the same page though because it's such an adventure town, everyone is incredibly active during the day, and most people go to bed early at night (even though there is a happening night-life). My days in Queenstown were the days on which I did question traveling alone. Although liberating, I would have enjoyed to have company. Perhaps the next time I explore NZ I will see it with a few others by car or hop on a bus tour.

I woke up early the next morning and felt the very cold wintry weather at 6am. I found myself at the airport, drinking coffee, and writing, awaiting my flight. While purchasing coffee, a girl overheard me mention that I was returning to the States. Whilst backpacking it is completely helpful to keep your ears and eyes opened at all times. Her name is Pooja. She came up to me and told me what she heard and we spent the next few hours chatting. It's quite fortunate that we met. Little did we know that we would become the best of friends in the following hours. She had an international flight home to Chicago two hours after our plane was expected to land in Auckland; however, our flight first got delayed and then altogether cancelled due to fog. Jetstar's solution was to bus us up to Christchurch. Granted, if you are forced to take a bus in any country, NZ is one of the top choices. While we found out this sad news, I noticed two girls (Allison and Kristin) from my hostel in Queenstown. We eventually got to Christchurch, anticipating our flight to Auckland; however, it was also cancelled. Kristin, had an international flight out the next day (the same one that Pooja rescheduled herself onto) so some degree of panic/worry ensued. Jetstar gave us free accommodation that night and Pooja and Kristin found themselves on the earliest flights to Auckland. Allison and I spent the day meandering around Christchurch, finding ourselves quite ill from the airport and bus travel. At 10 o'clock at night we returned to the airport to find our flight delayed! We half-jokingly asked the man at the information desk how far Auckland (in hours) was from Christchurch and how much it cost to put a car on the ferry from the south island to north island. We were partially seriously curious. Fortunately, our plane departed, just a little later than anticipated and we found ourselves in Auckland that night! Allison had an apartment in Auckland, so I stayed with her for the night, and then the next day organized my hostel for my last night, did my laundry, and packed one last time.

There was some relief associated with getting myself on that plane home. After all of that traveling, I developed a general sickness: cough, aches, etc. and I was quite terrified of being quarantined for suspected swine flu, which they were doing semi-often in NZ. I heard a few stories of bus tours being quarantined and such. So, once I was on the plane, luggage checked-in, I was quite pleased. I was sad to leave the southern hemisphere, but at that point, I had my fill of traveling and was truly anticipating the United States. When I was on the line, entering customs, I noticed a girl behind my crying a bit. I wondered if she were leaving home or heading home. It's hard to tell, ya know. You end up so attached to a new place that you find yourself crying coming and going.

The flight went by relatively quickly, but was much more sleepless than the flight to Australia because we left at 2pm and flew into darkness so I think I slept for an hour. I did watch the movies Synedoche, New York and Milk, and a few episodes of How I Met Your Mother. A very entertaining trip. Oddly enough, I also met someone who was studying at Macquarie with one of my friends from Marist. At that point, it wasn't too surprising, but neat nonetheless. Also, to more fully colour my trip home, I consumed food with pine nuts and convinced myself I was having an allergic reaction for the first two hours of the plane ride. I was fine. Apparently, in that situation, had I been having an allergic reaction, they ask for a medical volunteer, who proceeds to perform an examination, and then (and only then) can they prescribe some sort of medicine. My one question is what if there are no medical volunteers? I am grateful that I was fine and I managed to land (in one piece, yet very sleepy) on U.S. soil.

Los Angeles was hot and muggy. The people were rude. I politely asked for the lift and was directed to the 'elevator.' I wanted to get out of L.A. as soon as possible. (Sorry to complain for a minute here). It immediately paled in comparison and I was upset about it. I found myself at the counter un-packing and re-packing my bags in an attempt to avoid luggage fees and once I succeeded I headed through security, where I encountered a very perturbed security officer, who gave me an attitude for having a very heavy backpack and when I told her there were books in my bag and then quietly asked if there was anything wrong, received an 'I was just asking' and a dirty look. Immediately after, I heard her state that she needed a break immediately because she was hungry. I can understand the need for a break. Maybe all airport staff members are incredibly over-worked. Perhaps, they all need more breaks.

I spent the next few hours calling everyone I could think of. It felt so good to have my cell phone back in service and to hear so many voices I went months without hearing at all! Abstaining from such simple things leads to immense appreciation. I waited a bit and soon found myself asleep in my seat on my way to San Francisco.