So, we spent our two weeks in Vancouver and had a great time - I saw the biggest trees that I had ever seen in my life! Not to mention how big the leaves were :-) Went rollerblading around Stanley Park and managed to wipe out while fooling around and rip my jeans within about five minutes of starting out - not that big a deal unless you're living out of a backpack and those are your only pants - after throwing a minor temper tantrum, I vowed to sew them as soon as possible but that was now over 4 weeks ago - oh well, it's no surprise that I'm not much of a seamstress.
We went sea kayaking in Tofino - at first, the place wouldn't rent us the kayaks because none of us had taken a sea kayak rescue course - so Laurent, our gracious host and fearless friend, donned a short sleeve wetsuit and braved the cold waters of the Pacific on a cold rainy day in the middle of October for two hours to learn how to avoid spending too much time in the cold waters of the Pacific in the middle of October ;-> - it was lucky for me though, because the next day I did manage to dump - luckily Laurent had been an excellent student and rescued me quite expertly :-) Overall, an amusing experience (in retrospect) but with one casualty - our 'water-resistant' camera which confirmed that resistant doesn't mean waterproof. Oh well.
Fiji was great! As soon as we arrived, we concluded that Nadi, the city with the international airport was little more than a city like any other. We had read about Taveuni, the "garden island" of Fiji, known for diving and ecotourism so we bought a ticket with Air Fiji and off we went. It was beautiful! We stayed in a tent on the beach so that we looked out our door and there was about 20 feet of white sand then ocean - it was sunny the whole time - incredible! We did a bunch of hikes, saw incredible waterfalls (one of which you had to hike and then swim to, featured in the Hollywood film Blue Lagoon).
... we spent a few days at this hostel on the beach where the days were great - snorkelling (oh yeah, in Taveuni we went snorkelling and saw not only incredible coral and fish but a shark!), coconut leaf weaving (we made fans, baskets, toys - how talented we felt :-), reef exploring... but at night it was this incredibly amusing pick-up bar scene - everybody got all dressed up and then bought unimaginable quantities of Fiji Bitter beer on their tabs - all night long girls would come back to our dorm giggling about boys - it was kind of amusing - at first! :-)
Ok, only one more important thing about Fiji - the fauna of Fiji mounted a coordinated offensive against poor tourist Adina Kaufman. The mosquitoes were unlike any I have encountered at home (and trust me, I have spent many days and nights in the woods with lots of mosquitoes!) - they were especially fond of my feet and Amanda got quite frustrated when I started doing nothing but scratching my feet raw, losing all interest in such things as food consumption and normal human conversation and interaction. The many land crabs in Fiji were also involved in the offensive - especially these baseball sized purple ones that worked as a team to block our path on one of our forest hikes...
One day Amanda and I did a hike and stayed overnight in a loft above the park reception desk. About half an hour into sleep, I woke up to find some rodent burrowing into my backpack where Amanda and I had stored some bread. I scared it off, threw a temper tantrum about the holes now in my bag, and hung the bag off the wall to thwart further attacks. About 5 minutes after I turned off the flashlight I heard noises and by the time I found my flashlight in the dark the rodent was gone, but my bag was swinging suspiciously back and forth off the nail I had hung it on. I tried to enlist Amanda's help - she grunted and turned over. So, I stored the bag downstairs in a cupboard and went back to bed. I awoke about an hour later to a strange sound of something rolling - once again I found the flashlight and saw the weasel scamper off. Again, back to sleep I went only to wake up with a scream when I felt the rodent by my head and in my hair - I guess my scream scared him because next I felt him on my leg running off. Now, don't get me wrong, I love animals, but not in my hair while I sleep. Anyhow, needless to say I got very little sleep and Amanda had fun telling the village kids about my nightime adventures when they came by the next morning. I did survive the fauna's attacks though, and on a happier note the gekkos were very kind and friendly :-)
We bought a car. For NZ$550 (about CDN$450) ... and on our way to process the ownership, the rear power window refused to close. An omen? Naah, thought we. So, we declared it a minor albeit annoying electrical issue, knocked $50 off the price, and Doris (a beauty of a '79 Datsun with cow and lamb seat covers) was ours.
We nervously set out on the streets of Auckland - driving through NZ's busiest city, trying to drive on the left side of the road. On the way, Amanda and I both suspected something was amiss. Not only did Doris prove reluctant to start on a hill, she was prone to exhibit this tendency on flat land as well, claimed Amanda. ... We bought the insurance, then went to move Doris, who was parallel parked on a hill. Amanda put her in reverse and Doris obligingly moved forward. There was no doubt in our minds that the one thing that the AA inspector really should have pointed out to us but didn't was that "The car may be automatic in theory, but it does have a tendency to stall and engage the wrong gear (such as forward instead of reverse) in a way that some drivers, yourselves included, may find disturbing." The next morning, we sold our car at a car fair. Signs such as "Take Doris home today - cow seat covers included" proved to be the ticket.
At our next stop, Rotorua, we discovered the geothermal wonderland of New Zealand. The smell of sulphur pervades the whole region and boiling mud abounds. People regularly use the earth's heat to heat their houses, their pools - every single motel/hotel/backpackers has at least one hot spa! We saw steaming pools of water and mud and even soaked our feet in a relaxing pool at a local park. Not to mention that there was this house doing renovations and their front yard was constantly steaming from the hole in the front lawn! Craziness.
From Rotorua, we were off to Waitomo. Waitomo means (roughly translated) water and holes. This place is known for its many limestone caves and the blue glowworms that live in them. I did an incredibly fun trip called Haggas Honking Holes (Haggas since the caves are located on Farmer Haggas' property, Holes for obvious reasons, Honking for alliteration - I assume) Anyhow, it involved a lot of fun included 3 rappels (they call it abseiling here) including the first one 100 feet into the ground, then a lot of crawling, climbing and general claustrophobia inducing activity if you are prone to such a feeling. Despite my headlamp's propensity for intermittent behaviour, I had tons of fun.
... Anyhow, from Ohakune we got picked up by Penny who was to be our host for the next week or so at her place in Raetihi - a much smaller town, with not even a big vegetable statue to assert its grandeur. We had arranged to stay with her through an organization called W.W.O.O.F. - Willing Workers on Organic Farms - the idea is that you stay at an organic farm and work part-time sharing a belief in organic practices and sharing the work of the farm in exchange for room and board. Well, Penny had a bunch of horses, a couple kids, a couple dogs, a cat, and a husband who worked in the logging industry and was only home on weekends. Anyhow, we helped with the horses, stayed in the glass walled garage that faced the road but I would have to admit that my greatest contribution to the farm was weeding the driveway. Yup. Glamorous, I know. It seemed a pointless task, it still seems that it was, but Penny wanted it done, what could I say?
We had booked a plane from Wellington to Christchurch. Smart idea, right? Well, we thought so. We arrived at the airport to check in and the usual questions ensued, including "Do you have any flammable items in your luggage?" Well, by this point in our travels and multiple plane flights, I was bored of saying "Yes, I have a camping stove" to which the check-in airline rep says "Has it been drained of fuel?" to which I reply "Yes, it has all been burned off thoroughly" to which the airline type says "Great, no problem." So, I said, "Nope, nothing flammable" Well, Amanda wasn't quite so tired of the aforementioned dialogue and so she added "We do have a camping stove but it has no fuel." This comment seemed to shock our young clerk who appeared to be starting his 'thank-goodness-for-nepotism' summer job while on summer holiday from high school. Quickly, he scurried off for his supervisor (his father, I presume ;-) The supervisor told me of the heinous crime I would be committing by taking my stove onboard and risking the lives of all people aboard the 737. I calmly explained how we had called Air New Zealand prior to leaving Canada and been assured that we could bring a 'fuel-less' camping stove. He then explained to me that he had just finished a "hazardous substances" training course and he would not risk hundreds of lives for my stove. Ok, now I was annoyed. Very annoyed. I explained again that the gas was gone - G-O-N-E - gone! He asked me if I had a letter from the gas company to prove it. I imagined myself walking into the Consumers Gas equivalent and asking for an inspection of my camping stove - I got more annoyed. I asked him if we could talk to his supervisor - he said no. I asked if there was a post shop in the airport so I could mail it - he said no. Well, suffice it to say that I did not make a friend, Amanda took over negotiations from the increasingly agitated Adina, and eventually we did discover a post shop in the airport and I mailed it to myself in Christchurch, Poste Restante. And I was grumpy, and very angry.
So, time to get back to Christchurch and return our rental car ... we decided on the scenic route....we kept our fingers crossed that we would find another pick your own place. And, of course, we did :-) But, the boysenberries were smaller, and less juicy, and less plentiful :-( But, the strawberries were great! And, we found blueberries! :-) We picked blueberries, more than I could ever imagine us eating (of course, they were gone within two days!) Anyhow, who knows how the job hunt will go in Australia, but I can guarantee you that if somebody needs a berry picker I have a range of quality experience!
Well, upon arrival in Christchurch we returned our car and the 'good life' was over. We had a week to spend here so we arranged to work in exchange for our accommodation. Amanda is in charge of the daily cleaning of the hostel and I have been stripping wallpaper - my resume is ever expanding here is NZ! The highlight of this week has been though - get ready for it - I saw the penguins! ... They arrived on shore in big groups right on schedule once it was dark. They would ride the waves in, then land on the back, waddle up the cliff and across to their little burrows - they were so small, so shy, and cute! It was really interesting, they really are quite cowardly - they would get to the top of the cliff but then form these big groups waiting for one of them in the group to muster the courage to lead the way across the clearing. Eventually, one would (this could take up to 1/2 hour!) and then they would waddle across single file, going so quickly they would knock themselves over onto their bellies and then bounce back up and keep waddling - it was quite a sight! And I saw it! :-) And on that happy note I am off to pack my things as we are flying tomorrow morning to Sydney!
The flight from New Zealand to Australia took us a long long time. Much longer than it should have. Let me explain. We had a flight at 7:55 am ... After about 3 hours the flight is approaching Sydney, on schedule, when we start circling. The pilot announces a "problem on the flight deck" and says we will be diverting to Brisbane, an hour away. Amanda asks me what is a 'problem on the flight deck' ? I jokingly say "Well, it's hard to land without landing gear" Just when we thought we'd never know, a flight attendant comes over to explain to the guy beside me, "Just in case you're wondering what is going on around you, Mr. Morris, we're having some problems with the landing gear and will be diverting to Brisbane." Oh well, I think, at least this flight attendant was more informative. I tell Amanda that I must be psychic and I read the pilot's mind. She contends it was a lucky guess. Mr. Morris had no opinion. So, we divert to Brisbane, and enroute the pilot announces that the flight deck difficulty is resolved, but now. to be safe, we'll continue to Brisbane to refuel. Then we spend an hour on the ground in Brisbane. Ok, so we finally got out of the Sydney airport over 7 hours after we had boarded the plane for a 3 hour flight!
Even if the month of February still promised more fun.. perhaps it was time to move on. So, thoughts of doing some work outside the city started to materialize and soon we were to discover the world of grape picking. And so, we saw the last sights we had wanted to see in Sydney and prepared to head towards the great Mildura Grape Harvest Adventure.
So, you wanna talk grapes? Well, if not, stop reading, because once we boarded the bus to Mildura, that was my life. We arrived at the farm and settled into our free on-site accommodation. We chose two beds, strategically avoiding the one top bunk that was soaked from a leak in the roof that had developed during the recent 24 hours of rain. We met our roommates, Jay from Korea and Chieko from Japan. We learned that our other roommate was to be Sabine, from Germany.
Ok, so here's a typical day - around 6 am I hear rustling in the room. Sabine is hopping down from her bunk above me, rushing to eat breakfast in the kitchen before the other 15 or so people who share it are out of bed. I hear Chieko and Jay getting ready for the day - there is hair to be brushed, skin to be moisturized, and eye shadow to be applied - that's right, Chieko put on eye shadow every day in order to pick grapes. Amanda and I would squirm under our covers, trying for the extra few minutes of sleep (after the first couple days, the others learned that we weren't accidentally oversleeping, but that we truly only needed ten minutes to crawl out of bed, put our dirty clothes back on, brush teeth, and grab toast for breakfast. And so, at 7 am, the day would begin. We would either walk to the vines or cram into the back of a pick-up truck (old, small, and definitely not the kind I had hoped for) if the block was further away. We would work until about 7 pm, with one hour for lunch and a 15 minute "tea" break in the morning and afternoon - very civilized.
... And so, we picked all day, slicing at the bunches with our knives. Those of us with gloves (such as me) were thankful for our good fortune each time those of us without gloves (such as Amanda) cried out as the knife missed its mark and found skin. We filled the buckets, blew away the vinegar flies that filled the fermenting bunches, and crawled under the vines, our knees caked in mud and sticky grape juice, and filled more buckets. And so, the first night after our picking had begun, Kevin decided to leave. The next to go were the three women in our room - Chieko went to Sydney to see the Mardi Gras parade, and Sabine and Chieko got hired to pack grapes in a factory for $11/hr by a man who picked them up hitchhiking into town. Amanda and I had decided to stick it out for a week.
And so, after six long days of work, Amanda and I took our paycheques of about $250 each to the bank (we were in the top 1/3 of earners, and probably the highest earning of those who regularly took breaks!)and bid adieu to the town of Mildura and its grapes. We said goodbye to all, including Krystyna (who gave us hats as parting gifts) and Jesse, their 11 yr-old son who Amanda had befriended, who waved goodbye from his 4-wheel ATV that he and Amanda had raced through the vineyards on all the time (without safety helmets, I might add! tsk tsk!). Upon our departure (only one week of regular picking into the season), there were only 4 pickers left of the original group of almost 20. Two new pickers arrived that morning, we all wondered how long they would stay. Soon we were off, with only a little cash, a lot of scratches and many interesting experiences to remember.