New Zealand adventures in February 2001 -Part One-
Wednesday the 7th of February I arrived in Christchurch. After walking around for a hour I finally found a hostel with an available bed. That night crashed out at the YMCA at 2 am. Next day arranged my 2 weeks all around NZ trip. Decided to go with another bus tour than the Kiwi Experience, called Magik Experience. Because my budget did not really allow the drinking and partying the Kiwi Exp offers.
A got a good deal 460$ all around the North and South starting in Christchurch and ending in Auckland. First day went to Greymouth with the Tranz scenic railway. Good scenic outlooks of the mountains and the Waimakariri Gorge during the trip.
The trip continued the following day with a trip to Franz Josef, where I walked through the glaciers. Pretty cool (cold) experience. Also visited a gold mine before we came there in Ross, did some gold panning there with really small pieces of gold as
result.
Saturday cruised to Makarora, a small mountain settlement. With our visit the population became twice as high. During the trip stopped to get some good views of Mt Cook and Lake Matheson. Had a good kiwi bbq that night with plenty of beer. Talking about beer, another good place where you could get drunk is Queenstown. Here I did my 134 meter bungee jump with AJ Hackett (see photo below). In the 8 seconds freefall I saw my life pass me by. Actually that only took 1 second, the remaining seconds I was scared as hell!
-7/13 February Queenstown New Zealand-
This is the photo of me doing my Bungee Jump in Queenstown on the 13th of February 2001. Definitely one of the highlights of my NZ travels!
New Zealand adventures in February 2001 -Part Two-
The day after leaving Queenstown I still felt a bit dizzy of the jump. Too much blood went to my brains. Decided to keep a low profile and relax for the rest of the jouney in the south. There were 4 cities I visited after Queenstown. Dunedin was the first one, walked up & down the steepest road in the world, Baldwin Street. Secondly Christchurch, another one of those "english" lookalike cities with a lot of churches. Thirdly Kaikoura, the home of the dusky dolphins. The was too cold for me, no swimming with those dolphins! But I did go out there to watch the dolpins. Rather funny and lively animals, jumping up & down in near the boat. Then Saturday I arrived in Picton, to catch my ferry to the Northern Island. I arrived late in Wellington that day. I had a look and saw a lot of sailing boats and coffee shops, 2 things they are proud of in the capital of New Zealand. Taupo was my destination the following day. It is known to be the action capital of the North. It has a scenic lake and its famous skydive supposed to give a good view of it. I had to do a skydive! the number 2 one my list of things to do in New Zealand. Booked it the same day, but unfortunately monday the weather sucked, too many clouds. Off to Rotorua that day, the thermal centre, where I tried again but still the weather was no good. In Rotorua I went to visit the Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve and Maori Arts and Crafts Institute. A lot of boiling mud pools, geysers and even boiling surface water. The Maori Arts were also pretty cool, they could give the Aboriginals some lessons in art. The next day I went to Mt Manganui late in the afternoon. Here they have the best beaches some Maori guy told me. But still rain and no sunshine, damn. The following day was my last chance to do a skydive, the weather better be good! Well booked in on Tuesday night and when I woke up on Wednesday the 20th of February, the sun was shining and the sky was deep blue. Ready to rumble. My skydive master was a female, sort of a mistress. She had jumped more than 3000 times so I had no doubts. It was a tandem skydive from 12000 feet, which equals around 3500 meters. She did all the work while she was on top of me. Strange position by the way?! Got the best views of Mt Manganui, the beaches and the harbour that day. The 60 seconds of free falling where like flying, no fear just fun this time. That day also went for a free freefall in the Karangahake Gorge near Paerora. This time not 12000 feet but 60 feet with a big splash in the end. Way better than a shower in the morning!
These jumps were some of the best things I have done in New Zealand besides the bungee jump, zorb and swoop. I never say no to a good adreline buzz! Well after 2 weeks of travelling it is time to go again,
taking the memories of 15 cities, plenty of lakes, thermal & mud pools, mountains, wildlife (kiwi bird ofcourse) and a parachute & bungee jump with me.
Now LA, glamour capital of the States, is waiting for my new adventures.
-14/22 February Auckland New Zealand 2001-
The states, 12 days of sight seeing.
Thursday the second I arrived in LA after flying 11 hours. Leaving Auckland
at 1900 that day and flew 9 hours back into the future.
This was definitely the longest day of my life. Went for a long walk on Venice Beach, to avoid a jetleg. My hostel was right in the centre of it. Walking a long the beach I noticed many dodgy people and lots of tattoo and piercings shops on every corner. The were lots of skaters and cool graffitis as well. Then strolled all the way to Santa Monica, saw the pier some shops and walked back again. Exhausted. Next day went to Vegas, a 9 hour ride to Nevada's capital of gambling. It was busy, lots of expensive cars, neon lights and big big hotel casinos. Had an all you can eat buffet and saw some shows. These shows are free and are really cool, all the hotels try to be the best to attract more customers. I saw pirates blow up a ship at Treasure Island, 1000s of fountains dancing on music at Bellagio, Vulcanos and a copy of Venice with river on the second floor of the Venetian. Some other amazing buildings: Eiffeltower, Arc de Triomphe, Brooklyn Bridge and a copy of new york down town with a rollercoaster on top of it. Excellent ride! After all those lights and shows really tired and next day went to the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Another bus ride.
Enough english for me, gotta go back to dutch. A few more days and back home again.
Na de las vegas avond weer vroeg op om naar Arizona te reizen. Onderweg de Hooverdam gezien die 200 meter breed is en het water van Lake Mead tegen houd. De kosten voor de dam waren hoog, 80 man stierf tijdens de bouw. Na de korte stop verder door de woestijn van Arizona, uitgestrekte vlaktes met weinig begroeing. Passeerde kleine dorpjes met vage namen en bedoelingen, je kon er zelfs aliens adopteren. Awell , na wat uurtjes rijden kwamen we in de Joshua tree national park. Vele cactussen over 100 den kilometers weer wat mooie panorama fotos gemaakt. Toen uiteindelijk de grand canyon. We hadden het uitzicht op de noorderhelft. We stonden op de west kant. De canyon was diep, zo'n
3000 meter en 500km lang. Moeilijk te verwoorden zie fotos. Toen na lunch weer terug naar Vegas. Nog wat gekeken naar shows en the Fremont Downtown street experience. Het plafond in die straat is geheel bedekt met een scherm met een lichtshow. Weer genoeg gezien, back to Hollywood. Hier viel het wat tegen, niet zo glamoures, veel drifters en veel regen. Damn, de zon is er weer vandoor. Hollywood sign gezien, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive en Universal Studios. Grappig was ook de tv opname van een show van CBS. Er werden gratis kaarten uit gedeeld om bij de live opnames te zijn. Gratis, kan ik geen nee tegen zeggen. De show heette "Politically Incorrect" naam zegt al genoeg. We moesten veel klappen en lachen, topic was "more guns less crime". Merendeel van het publiek was het er zelfs mee eens?! Laatste avond in LA was er vermaak in het hostel. Stand up comedians. Ging er grof aan toe toen een komiek, Spooch, reageerde op iemand die buiten op de begane grond stond te schreeuwen. Hij diste hem wat voor de gein. Opeens vliegt er iets door het raam, een grote fles bier. Gelukkig geen ernstige schade wel flink geschrokken. Ja het is hier niet zo glamoures als je denkt. De volgende dag, donderdag de 1ste, met de Hop on/off bus naar San Francisco. Genoeg van LA gezien en nu een andere gigantische stad in California bezoeken, tevens m'n laatste bestemming
-22 februari tot 1 maart 2001, Venice Beach, Vegas, Grand Canyon, Hollywood-
San Francisco, de stad met vele heuvels en de ouderwetse cable trams. Veel hiken en veel gezien. De dag dat ik aankwam bek af van de lange busreis. De dag erna Alcatraz bezocht. Heftige gevangenis met veel geschiedenis zoals ontsnappingen en bezettingen. Vanaf het eiland nog een mooi uitzicht op de Golden Gate Bridge. De Backstreet Boys waren trouwens ook op het eiland. Helaas zijn de isoleercellen niet meer in gebruik.
Zaterdagmorgen weer vroeg op. Met de bus naar de Muir Woods, dit keer geen toer maar gewoon zelf geregeld. Ik ging samen met m'n 2 ozie roommates. Gigantische bomen in de redwoods, zo'n 250 feet lang (80meter) en 800 jaar oud. Flink gehiked door het park. De weg terug kregen we een lift van een aardige vrouw. Ze zette ons af in Sausalito, een klein pittoresk havenstadje aan de andere kant van de Golden Gate Bridge. Zondag was het te regenachtig om iets te ondernemen, wel een rare en groffe film gezien: Requiem for a dream. Maandag m'n laatste dag in San Fran, de stijle straten beklommen. Lombard street was verdomd stijl. Daarna via Haight Street na het Golden Gate Park geweest, kunnen ze beter Drifters Gate Park noemen. By the way Haight Street is de hippie vage lui buurt van San Fran, een soort Venice Beach maar dan anders!?
Nu voor de laatste keer wachten op de bus en de vlucht naar huis.
-5 Maart San Fran Pacific Tradewinds Hostel 2001-
