"Go for it or don't"

(or, how to fix a car over the holidays in a country where Christmas is a week-long holiday)

Some of you have heard that we had an issue last week with our car (now named "Trusty" the Nissan Sunny). It's an interesting story, if a bit long, so I'll try to put it in blog form.

Well, last Friday (that's Boxing Day for Kiwis) we left Wanaka and made a stop at "the Blue Pools" to stretch our legs before going over Haast pass. We had just had a great Christmas with Chrissy and were headed to a rather remote section of New Zealand called the West Coast.

We enjoyed our hike and I got into take over driving duties when we we backed out... SCREEETCH!!!! (Huh, that didn't sound good).

We tried forward: SCCRAAAATCH!!! (Hmmm, forward doesn't work either.)

We tried for 1/2 an hour in the parking lot. Forward (Screetch), Backward (Whine), Breakes (Scratch), Gas (Yelp). Nothing was changing and we were really freaking out the other bemused tourists who were having a smoke after their hike (none of whom lent a hand, thanks, but I won't chalk that up to their being tourists). And to top it off, it was beginning to rain.

So we had a decision to make: head back to Makarora (20 km in the wrong direction, 300 people on a National Holiday) or head to Haast (60 km in the right direction, 1,000 people who are still on holiday. We took the latter.

We headed on our drive, and for 2 kms, had the worst screeching I've ever heard from a car. My God, we're going to blow this thing up! Then, as we tested it out at a campground, it faded away.

Fine, we thought, and then we proceeded to drive the 200 kms straight to Fox Glacier without stopping for fear of the noise coming back. That night, we interupted the Toy Christmas to get a diagnosis from family friend Derek Kroes, a bit of a car expert. Thus creating a rare phenomenon which was a first for us and probably for Derek as well: a 10,000 km car diagnosis.

"Hmmm, he pondered, I'd guess at CV joint or Wheel Bearing. You could probably smear it with grease to keep you going for a few days."

That sounded accurate to me, we've broken a few CV joints on both the Honda and Mazda back home and would guess Trusty wouldn't be any different. I did tell Derek that we'd have to drive another 154 kms to get to a town of at least 10,000, but I didn't share the detail of the 8 FORDS that we drove the Sunny through a week earlier. (by ford, we're referring to an open stream crossing, not an automobile from Detroit. And yes Andy, we will post pictures of that!) Again, another reason I didn't doubt we doomed a CV joint to repair.

The next morning as we saddled up, I questioned a mechanic on my choice of grease. When he heard what I was attempting he said, "I wouldn't go that way, try wrapping the CV in siran wrap to keep in clean and then have it checked out as soon as you can. Sounded good to me, but we're now treating our car like Christmas leftovers. A bit odd.

We'll we made it to Hokitika without further incident, but we still had three days before a mechanic shop opened. When it did on Monday, 29 Dec., I ran into Hokitika Auto Works to get a diagnosis. The mechanic simply looked at me and said, "Well, bad news on that mate. It'll only take two hours to look at it, but we can't fit you in until the fifth." (Like I said, Kiwi's guard their holidays very seriously). I said some choice words (at the situation, not at the friendly mechanic!) and my intention to go over Arthur's Pass to Christchurch later that day (another 182 kms). He smiled and directed me to another shop a few kms down the road who might have a bit more time for me. Thanks, I said, and we were on our way.

When we arrived at the next shop, my wife kindly reminded me to "be assertive." I did just that. Before I knew it, I was in a test drive with the mechanic trying to duplicate the noise we had (which at this point hadn't occurred for 4 days and 358 kms). I expressed my doubt.

"Well, does it make the clicking when you turn hard that a CV joint would make?" He asked me.
Duh, I thought, that tell-tale noise hadn't occurred!

"Let me drive!" the mechanic said.

After 2 more tests and some hairpin turns he declared us fit for the pass.

"You probably had some dirt or a rock in your brakepad. It probably ground itself away or fell out." Arg, we just spent 4 days worrying about this and it was probably already fixed for us. We were relieved, but I was again humbled about how something as simple as an automobile can stress us out so much. We're definitely on the paranoid side when it comes to this car! And again, it's likely that or fording with the car would've caused our screeching.

So, that's the story of our near Holiday Car disaster. I can only hope that this was somewhat amusing and if you've gotten this far in the story, you're name is either "Andy", "Gene", or "Jim". Let me know if I'm close to right!

Best quote of the week

Janwyn (eye-ing up the windy switchbacks we're about to drive over): "Honey, on the way back from Akaroa, can we take the Highway?"

Corey (driving): "Uh, honey, believe it or not, this is the Highway."

To Akaroa

From the land where Santa wears swimtrunks

Wow, it feels like quite a while since I've written down thoughts on the blog. A lot of pictures and quotes over the past few weeks.

Well to catch everyone up to date, it's the day before Christmas Eve, and we've settled in on our second WWOOF here in Wanaka. (We had Skyped with our families yesterday and plans were up in the air. Pleasantly, we found a place right here in town.) Our previous WWOOF host Graham was kind enough to put in a good word for us with Chrissy, who in turn gave us a place to stay over the holidays. We'll be here through Boxing Day (Friday).

When we arrived yesterday, we busied ourselves with weeding and then today continued with the landscaping by putting in a few raised garden beds. We added in some black soil and gravel walkway to make a very appealing presentation and hopefully can wrap up the work tomorrow. It's been fun, but physically exhausting work.

After Friday, we've discussed a bit where we want to go, but haven't settled on plans. We're evaluating a few WWOOFS further North which will help us get on our way. We'll have to see what comes up.

As for the Kiwi Christmas, it's a pretty interesting time. Any representation of Santa tends to have him on the beach sunbathing, out swimming, or other summer activities. Which is a mirror of how many people here spend the day. They'll typically stay with family and enjoy a BBQ on the beach. And why not, it's above 23 Celsius here (above 80 F)o getting outside is definitely a great plan.

But it's certainly different holiday plans than we're used to!

Funny quote from this week...

"Yo Americans, would you like some Sashimi?"

- Some nice English bloke while we relaxed in our tent in Arrowtown.

Images from the Routeburn Track!

Just to the East of the Milford Track, the Routeburn nearly matches it in natural beauty. Some say it's even better, citing the full day hike above the treeline. The Routeburn Track is also another New Zealand Great Walk, which means it has to be booked ahead of time. Thankfully there were still openings a couple weeks ago when we decided we wanted to tramp it.

We found the tramp to be a bit more physically challenging than the Milford, but for vistas, an entirely different experience. We were rather lucky with the weather, only getting damp on a few occasions.

Take a look at a few of our pics here or view the slideshow below. We're glad we went for it and glad to be resting comfortably now that we made it through!

Patagonia Chocolates

one more quick post. Thanks to a little direction from our friends Bettina and Daniel (thanks for the tip!), we had the best ice cream we've ever had....at Patagonia Chocolates.

Corey had banana split and cookies and cream. I had dark chocolate and macadamia + white chocolate and hazelnuts. yum!!! We went back for hot chocolate and a shake today! We'll have something to look forward to while we're on the Routeburn this week.

Doubtful Sound Cruise

At the last minute we decided to take an overnight cruise on the Doubtful Sound with Real Journey's. It involved a boat ride across Lake Manapouri, a bus ride over Wilmot Pass, and then we boarded The Navigator, which cruised the Doubtful Sound all the way to the Tasman Sea. It was a wonderful experience and we highly recommend it. We saw bottle nosed dolphins, Fiordland crested penguins, and southern fur seals.

Click here to link to the online web album, or view the slideshow below.

Milford Sound pictures

Embedded slide show below, or click this here to link to the online album.

Hanging in Queenstown

Hi all,

It's Monday here, Sunday back home, and a bit anxious to actually watch a Vikes game... there's a sportsbar about two blocks from our campground here in Queenstown, it's called the "Ministry of Sport" which appears to have a reasonable chance of playing NFL Football games. However they don't open for another hour. I've got the game on my computer and it appears that the Vikes are up 21-0 already ... awh crud, C. Taylor just fumbled. Figures.

In other news, we made it successfully from our wwoof in Gore up to Queenstown, about an 3 hour drive. Queenstown is a Breckenridge, CO type of place, skiing and adventure sports are "the things to do" here, and paragliders coming off the nearby peak were an interesting sight while coming into town!

Of course, our adventure begins tomorrow, The Routeburn Track, and we'll have to catch our bus at 7 am to get over to our hike. It's a three day tramp (the Milford was four) but features a full day of Alpine climbing which will be a great feature. The weather report looks, frankly, horrible. It's raining now and destined to be constant for the week. Lighter on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday when we're hiking, but still wet. Of course, as they say, you actually want rain, as the waterfalls will be flowing, but still three days of dampness is too much for anybody!

On the way to Queenstown we worked on our "back up" plan for Christmas, should we need to turn to that. (Queenstown, being a resort town, is quite hopping during the Holidays, being the height of Summer and all). Our first option is to stay on a wwoof in nearby Wanaka, helped along by a connection through Graham at Marama farm, our first wwoof. But as a secondary plan, we may head back over the "Gorge Pass" to Alexandra and Cromwell where the picking of Cherries is in full swing. This would be paid work and might help us in evaluating some of our activities in the next couple of months.

Well, that's plenty of news for now. I'm going to go brave the downpour to see if I can go have some "Speights in a Handle" and enjoy some American Football!

Our next adventure...the Routeburn Track

It's time to leave the farm. Corey is baking chocolate muffins downstairs and my mouth is watering from the heavenly smell! We are stocking up on homemade muffins and banana bread for our next tramp...the Routeburn Track. Tomorrow we'll make our way to Queenstown, where we'll stay for 2 nights before embarking on a 3 hour bus ride to the start of the track.

Unlike the Milford Track, which can only be walked in 1 direction during the peak season, you can start the Routeburn at Queenstown and walk to The Divide (which is what most people do), or as we are planning....bus to The Divide and hike back to Queenstown, where we're leaving our car.

Click here for the day-to-day description of the track.

Hope all is going well for those back home. I hear the folks in Minnesota have an inch of snow on the ground and Portland might see some white already this early in the winter!

Marama Farm

Hi all,
Marama Farm has been hosting us well. So far this week we've:

• Been learning about soil chemistry
• Met some of the Southern Otago farmers in the area over a delicious bbq of local meats
  
• Understanding some of the affects of organic farming vs. traditional farming
• Eating lots of lamb sausages (bbq-ed, boiled, fried)
  
• Spring cleaning in the main house
• Done a couple loads of laundry
  
• Got Marama Organics setup with a Salesforce account (yes, sort of doing a little work!)
  
• Got up at 6:00 AM this morning to observe Graham and Rose (the herding dog) shift sheep (aka move to a new paddock)
• Watched a movie about Joel Salatin's Polyface Farm. Interestingly enough, I had read up on this subject in my book, The Omnivore's Dilemma.
• Think I might subscribe to Acre's USA magazine when I get home
• Packed frozen lamb sausages in 1 kg packages this afternoon at Churchy's butchery
  
• Took Corey's picture next to what we think is the largest Brown Trout (another one of his "The World's Largest.... photos"\
• Build a compost bin!
• Made banana loaves -- yum!
• Took down some fencing
• Chopped firewood (ick -- blisters)
  
• Enjoyed the fine company of Graham, Mitch, Walter, and Lolita!
  

Wwoofing in Gore...

Hey all,

It's Monday here and I wanted to shoot a quick note that we've started our first Wwoofing experience in Gore, South Otago Region. WWOOF is the acronym for Willing Workers On Organic Farms and we're on a 3000 acre sheep and cattle farm named Marama Organics (www.maramaorganics.co.nz) with Graham Clarke. We arrived on Saturday and were surprised to find Graham out in Dunedin watching his son play in a cricket match for the day. Luckily, farm-hand Walter, a nice guy who started as a Wwoofer from Austria, showed us around and got us settled.

So far, we're diving into work here, a combination of our feeling the need to do work and the fact that there's plenty to do here! I've put my quasi-carpentry skills to work and Janwyn was pleased to find a vacuum and has thus far very much enjoyed the opportunity to make things sparkle and shine (surprise, right!). We'll turn our attention to the vegitable garden, Graham's admitted non-interest leaves lot's to do there. However, the region's getting some much needed rain, so we're focussing today on things to do in the dry indoors. Graham's also asked us to provide some much-needed Marketing and Business knowledge, which we're beginning to dole out, including an intriguing Japanese "Adopt a sheep" program. Definately an interesting consideration!

We'll be here for the balance of the week and it's very nice to both be relaxed regarding our travel and dig into some genuine work for a change of pace.

Google map -- see below

Hi there, just wanted to let everyone know that I updated our map to show where we've been over the last month. Click here or scroll down and click on the map at the bottom of the page.

Another great quote from the trip thus far...

From our friend Eric, while on the Milford Track...

"When it comes to the time that you pass on from this world, you're not going to think back and say, 'Gee, I wish I got in four more months of work'."

Some general pics from Fiordland.

Here are some more recent pictures from Fiordland (and one from Southland) in general...

This Janwyn after day 1 of our "Catlin Top Track" experience. We were pretty excited to see our accommodations for the evening. To her right is a former bus from the Dunedin Transportation Authority, hauled up there and converted to a camper. It came complete with mosquito nets which were much used and appreciated!

This is the view on a clear day from McKinnon Pass towards Milford Sound while on the Milford Track. I'm attempting to upload a panoramic video I shot from this point as well. I hope it works!

Jim Brant, this one's for you! This campervan rental company, Escape, rents well painted vans in all sorts of designs. We've seen the Far Side cartoon van, a Pulp Fiction movie van, miscellaneous wildlife vans ... and this of course is the Korn van. On the right side is the design "Freak on a Leash". Classy.

Here's a picture of Janwyn from yesterday on our overnight Doubtful Sound cruise. We had the opportunity to kayak for about an hour, which we jumped at, and the chance to actually jump in 10-degree Celsius water. Well, Corey was the only one to jump at that one and injured my shoulder in the process. Hopefully it will be back in shape by the time we hike the Routeburn.

A bit about the "Fiordlands". There are 14 in Southwest South Island, New Zealand, and first explored by the English and Spanish and then settled by English and Scots. Those from the United Kingdom named them "Sounds" as being more familiar with that geological feature in their native lands. The difference between a sound and a true fjord is simple: "Sounds" are carved by rivers, are shallower, and feature a "V" shaped bottom. "Fjords" are carved by progressing Glaciers, are deep, and feature a "U" shaped bottom. Fjords are found in only two places in the world, Norway and New Zealand.

Unfortunately, those in New Zealand seem to be destined to stay in name Sounds, despite their true creation. Interestingly the bays of nearby Lake Te Anau (which I can see from where I'm sitting) are named "North Fiord", "West Fiord", and "South Fiord" despite the fact that they aren't fjords either ... they're not connected to the ocean. Still, when naming the National Park, and now World Heritage Area, the government of New Zealand settled on "Fiordland" using a correct nomenclature, yet still getting the name misspelled! Man, how many times could they get that wrong?

The Maori have yet another legend about how the Fjords were formed, but I've rattled on long enough and will keep that for another time!


And finally, here I am at McKinnon pass. The sign next to me says "Danger, steep cliffs, stay at a safe distance". And they weren't kidding. It's 300 meters (1000 feet) straight down. They call it a 12 second drop. Whoa. In the states, this would've been "Lawyered Up" with a fence, ruining the view for everybody. Glad we were able to enjoy it without that distraction.

We hiked up the next day to the pass with our packs, but the weather had changed, it was rainy and windy, and the clouds obscured the view. I'm glad I took the chance the day before to get to the top!

That's all for now ... Talk to everyone soon!

A video from McKinnon Pass!

Did this load? I hope so! This is the best view from the Milford Track!

We survived the Milford Track

Hiking the Milford Track is a very regulated activity. Only 40 people are allowed to start the track each day, it’s only hiked in one direction (during the peak season), and water transport must be arranged to get to and from the track. All part of the allure of hiking “the finest walk in the world”.


While we were preparing for the Milford Track, we repeatedly ran into people asking us the question, “Do you have good wet weather gear?”.


We definitely found out why by day three!


Now, to set the record straight, you actually want it to rain while you’re out tramping, it makes the waterfalls and scenery more dramatic. However it doesn’t help out much with the hiking.


Corey’s favorite part of the tramp was summiting McKinnon Pass after a long hike on Day 2. The walk on Day 2 ends at Mintaro Hut, just before the pass … but providing it’s fair weather and you have the energy, it’s suggested one might hike the next two hours to the pass as you’re not guaranteed a view in worse weather. From there we spent an hour looking back towards Lake Te Anau, forward to Milford Sound, and straight down 300 meters to the hut we’d be spending the next night in.


Janwyn’s favorite part of the tramp was the descent on Day 3. After reaching McKinnon Pass, we descended among many cascading waterfalls and had to cross streams as we continued to try and keep dry. With the rain pouring down it was absolutely beautiful. After a lengthy descent, the sight of Quentin Hut and the side trip to Sutherland Falls was a welcoming break. We enjoyed a hot cup of tea before trekking on to see New Zealand’s highest waterfall, and then onto Dumpling Hut for our last night of the tramp.


Due to the remote nature of the Fiordland National Park, it has the luxury of protecting some of the most rare animals to be found in New Zealand. Among those that we came across were the Kaka, who soared over us on both the first and fourth days, the flightless Weka, who curiously eyed us up on our way to Sutherland Falls, and the Kea (also known as the South Island Parrot) who attempted to steal Janwyn’s camera out of her hands at Dumpling Hut. We felt very lucky to have the close contact with such rare birds as we did.


Even though we came out of “the bush” soaked, sore, and more than a little tired, we’re gearing up for our next tramp. After our first WWOOF experience, which we’ll begin the end of this week, we’re signed up hike the Routeburn track, a three day, two night Alpine track before we head into Queenstown.


Cheers! Corey and Janwyn

About the Milford Track

Here's as little information about the Milford Track that we're walking starting Saturday, November 29. We are walking the track independantly (no guides).

Time:

4 days

Distance:

53.5 km

The Milford Track (53.5 kilometres) is in the heart of spectacular Fiordland National Park, part of the Te Wāhipounamu – South West New Zealand World Heritage Area and is administered by DOC on behalf of the New Zealand public. Located in the southwest of the South Island, the track starts at the head of Lake Te Anau and finishes at Milford Sound.

For a day-by-day description of the track, click here.

This was the tramp that we had to book ahead of time, since it is very popular and only so many people can start per day. We are looking forward to the adventure!

Updated Google Map

If you scoll below all the blog entries on this page, there is a google map that I've updated with most of the places we've stayed. Click on any of the tents to see where we stayed at least one night. Or, visit the map here. I'm trying to get pictures associated to the places, but it takes forever to upload the pictures. Slow going on the picture front.

enjoy!

My Pretty Amazing Day...

I thought Janwyn's post regarding her favorite day, last Wednesday, was a good idea. I'm going to go ahead and steal it.

Thus far on the trip, this past Friday had to be my favorite. Why? Well I'll tell ya...

We had a few hours to hang out in Dunedin before our Cadbury World factory tour, so we opted for a beach walk which our guidebook recommended. Unfortunately, it didn't tell us precisely how to get there, so we ended up hopelessly lost in a suburb called St. Kildes (sp?) near a beach. It didn't look good for the home team!

But, I took another look at the map, thought it was worth a try and drove off, staying on the left side of the road of course. And we're glad we did, because we found the beach, called Tunnels, about 15 minutes from where we were. It was a 30 minute hike to the shore, but there we found natural, wave-carved tunnels as well as a man-made tunnel, dug through sandstone down to a private beach. How great!

A note to my Dad- Hey Dad, do you remember seeing that posting on a road trip we took once that said, "Once the wind stopped blowing in Nebraska, and everyone fell over?" Dunedin, and the entire South of the South Island for that matter, it exactly the same way. Needless to say, going Uphill against the wind from the beach was not as fun as going Downhill with the wind to the beach. Oh well, we made it.

Than it was off to Cadbury World where we were plied with plenty of free samples and learned all about what makes Cadbury the best chocolate maker. Of course, Janwyn and I being Americans, when asked what our favorite Cadbury product was, just had blank stares. Uh, Snickers? (wrong) Kit-Kat? (wrong) M&M's? (really, really wrong!). A correct answer is Morro Bar or Perfect Nana for future reference! (We'd never heard of either of those).

And a note for everyone at home ... when we're uncovered as Americans, as we were on this tour, the strong majority of foreign nationals want to express they're vast excitement for our in-coming president. They are SOOOOOO excited, they can hardly contain themselves and wish to share their joy with us. So I'm passing it on to you. Enjoy.

And back to the story, after being filled with chocolate and then a quick dinner, we headed to a nearby glowworm grotto, a stream-carved valley where the same glowworms made famous at the Waitomo caves in the North Island light up at night. It was a similar cool experience as the North Island, without the cliff-jumping or cool head gear.

And the icing on the cake was possibly the best geocache we've ever done! (are you listening Grandpa Jack?). On the trail back from the glowworms, someone had set up a geocache where you tracked small, reflective triangles through the bush (American: Forest) for 500 metres (American: 1/4 mile) to the final cache. It was a really great way to tie geocaching in with the glowworms we just saw. We both felt lucky that was our first NZ geocache for this trip!

All-in-all, it was a pretty impressive day. I hope for similar days to come!

The quote of the trip thus far...

"You're here for four months!?! And you're Americans? Well, good on ya,* I've never heard of Americans staying in New Zealand that long!"

- Kim at the Olive Grove in Oamaru, when told how long we're spending in New Zealand.

* "Good on ya" is a Kiwi expression, used nearly as frequently as 'Sweet As' and 'No Worries'. It generally means "way to go" or "good for you".

At long last ... some pics!

It's been a challenge to get these to you, so here you are...

I'd like to dedicate this moment to all my engineering teachers, and all those hours I spent playing Tetris!

Here I am at the end of the Speight's Brewery Tour in Dunedin (pronounced Spayk's). For note, Speights on the South Island tastes better than it does on the North Island.

After six hours of hiking, this is NOT the "Top Bus" that we would be spending the night. That was yet another 1/2 hour further.

I'll try to get some more up here in a second.

My great day

I meant to post this a couple days ago, but I didn't have the chance.



Wednesday was my best day in New Zealand so far. I'm sure you're wondering what made it such a great day so I'll tell you about it.



After spending a cold night in a little cabin at Dansey's Pass Holiday Park, about 30 minutes outside of Oamaru, we quickly got up, showered, had breakfast, bid our American hosts (who had only been there 4 months!) good-bye and headed back towards Oamaru. On the way we stopped off to see the amazing geological formation of Elephant Rocks. The Chronicles of Narnia was filmed here...this was the site of Aslan's camp (if anyone remembers that part of the movie -- I had to look it up). There is currently another movie set onsite here, perhaps another Narnia installment?



Back in town we mulled around a bit admiring the beautiful limestone buildings while we had the car brakes checked out and we secured insurance. Thankfully everything checked out well and the car got a clean bill of health. I even got to sneek in a quick chat with a good friend from home which lifted my spirits (thanks Holly!).



So we were off to see the Little Blue Penguin colony, but apparently you can only see them in the evenings and it costs $20 to see them waddle up the beach. Instead, we just enjoyed the scenery and the information about the penguins. Not the best investment of our funds or time, so we headed out to find a bed for the night.



We decided to try our luck out at Olive Grove Lodge & Holiday Park. It turned out to be my favorite hostel/lodging place. What a lovely place! If this place was closer to a larger city, it would be my ideal home. When you walk through the gates you are greated by Lyn's organic garden. Pockets of flowers, plants, and vegetables growing everywhere. And everything about this place has a creative touch, but in a sophisticated, not over-done way. There are shells and colorful stones pressed into the concrete paths that swirl throughout the garden moving people to either the lodge rooms, or the main house, or up to the inviting cozy porch where you can choose from any number of couches, tables or even a hammock to rest in.

We made up some dinner and tried a new vegetable, silver beet -- not too bad! Kinda like swiss chard or bok choy but not bitter. And then we quickly headed off to see the Moeraki Boulders. They are great round and smooth boulders, the largest of which is 2 meters or 6.5 feet, that have been entrapped in the earth's sediment and released by the crashing waves and wind. About 20 of them now sit on the beach. I think Corey will be posting some pictures soon.

Then we quickly headed off to the Lighthouse so we wouldn't miss the Yellow-Eyed Penguins coming onshore, which they do for about about 2 hours before dusk. Even the drive there was amazing! As we climbed the steep hills, it looked like we were launching into the sky, and then we'd crest the top and slowly tip the car back down, like we were on a roller coaster or something. The penguins are much smaller than you'd think (I think I've seen March of the Penguins too many times), but it was fun to spot them in their native habitat. We actually got within 5 feet of one who was exhibiting itself just on the other side of the fence.

Anyways, back to the Olive Grove Lodge for the best night of sleep so far. And to top it all off, I'm feeling much better. A resident cough still haunts me, but thank goodness for Robitoussen. (sp?)

Headed (further) South

Hi All,

Just a quick update as I sit at my terminal at the Internet Cafe (not so much a cafe) in Christchurch.

We've come up with a rough gameplan for the next couple of days, though we've vowed to stay flexible. I ran back into town to recharge the AC in our new Nissan (pics to come soon, Andy) while Janwyn stayed in camp at Purau Bay on the Banks Peninsula.

We had hoped to come into town together, but last night Janwyn's fever peaked and she hardly got any rest. Thank goodness the campground host was attuned to her condition and gave us a caravan (mobile home to you Americans!) for no extra charge. Staying in a tent would not have been the best remedy. It really appears that she's back on the mend, but we're going to stay an extra day in Purau to be sure she's better before spending the better part of the day in a car.

If all goes well, we'll head out from there early tomorrow to Oamaru on the East Coast. There they have two colonies of Penguins, the little blue and the yellow-eyed. From there we head inland and may spend Wednesday night in Queenstown. Of course, this is all if Janwyn is feeling better!

After just over a week in, we're about headed into a more remote part of our trip. We'll be camping a large part of it and by Early December should have our first Wwoof experiences. Hopefully in there we'll have the chance to post some pictures ... We'd really like for everyone to see some of the sights we're seeing!

Take care and we miss everybody!

Thoughts of the day...

• We've met less than 10 Americans on our trip so far. It makes it easy to tell an American if they're wearing a baseball cap, order a Domino's pizza for dinner, or can't name a player on the All Blacks. Oddly....if they are wearing a shirt boasting the name of an American city (Detoit 76 for example)....they are NOT American.
  
• Thin walls and heavy doors at the Old Countryhouse do not make for restful nights.
• Fish n' Chips are great for 3 meals ... then the novelty wears off and you're longing for a strenuous hike
  
• The wind breeze here in Christchurch makes 20 degrees Celsius feel like 20 degrees Fahrenheit...well maybe more like 40F.
• Go USA U-17 Women's soccer!! We saw them comeback to beat Germany in the World Cup semi-finals 2-1. They go onto the finals in Auckland on 11/16 against the People's Republic of Korea.
  
• We don't "miss" Target yet, but do appreciate how convenient they really are.
• Next time you're checking out at the Fred, Cub, or Safeway, appreciate how efficient they are at scanning your items and getting you out the door. Believe us, that's not a universal phenomenon.
• We hope Megan and Jon (and Wendy and Jim for that matter) are getting some sleep.
  

Auckand Quick Pics

A few shots from us from New Zealand...

Christchurch City Crest

That's the view we came back for (Waiheke)

The walk UP to our place with Helga and Moana

Yes, Jeannine, this one's for you ... Neenish Tarts! Apparently they're popular, we've also seen them in Christchurch. Pricey [but you wouldn't expect less, would you?: =)]

Does anyone really use those Best Buy airport kiosks? Yes: when you forget your iPod in Fremont!

An update from the Old Countryhouse - Christchurch

Hi All,

I feel we’ve been a bit neglectful of the blog, now that we’re in NZ and at the “exciting” part. Do know that that’s not due to our lack of effort, but a lack of abilities. Apparently “free wi-fi” is a pretty foreign concept to the Kiwis. However, we’ve buckled down and bought some time (Megabytes actually) at our Hostel.

So, as an update, we’ve made it to Christchurch on the South Island! We’ve settled into our hostel, The Old Country Inn, and figured out the bus system to get into town (for note, get off at the bus exchange!). From here we’ll get settled in the city and buy a car over the next couple of days. That feat may take some wrangling, but it appears that the city’s pretty well equipped for that kind of request. There are a few car auctions per week and a backpacker’s car lot. Should be a good opportunity to test out my new negotiation skills per Tom Tripp!

Also going on this week is the U-17 Women’s World Cup. We’re not sure yet who’s playing, but the semi-finals are here in Christchurch tomorrow night. Tickets seemed reasonable, so I think we’re going to take the opportunity to check that out. Our Hostel owner hadn’t heard anything about it, so that should bode well for actually getting tickets.

Christchurch was founded by the Anglican Church to be a community in their ideals, so it still retains that fell of true English charm. It’s set close to some very nice beaches, so in-between car shopping, We’re hoping to take some advantage of that proximity!

So far we’ve learned a few things:
A. They DO have Heinz catchup, though a bottle goes for around NZD $6.95 (USD $5.00).
B. The kiwi’s “bristling” feelings about Aussies surpasses those of the Vikings-Packers rivalry. I know see the Vikes-Pack dispute as sibling rivalry. Which is funny, because it seems that most Aussie/Kiwis are actually cousins.
C. And we’ve invented a new game as we watch folks check into the hostel. It’s called: “Are they Americans?” And it helps after a bottle of wine. Probably not in good taste, but it is entertaining!

Cheers from Down Under,
Corey & Janwyn

At the airport ... again

We've had a pretty swift and busy first few days in the country. To catch everyone up to speed:

• Got into Auckland, stayed two nights at City Garden Lodge in Parnell. Rode the Link bus (which uses Adblue!) to our content.
• Caught the ferry to Waiheke Island, a 8,000 pop. community in the harbor. There we stayed with Mercedes' (our friends' in Portland) godmother Helga and daughter Moana. We enjoyed an Olive Festival and a few tramps around the island, including one to a place called 'Stoney Batter'.
• Headed back to Auckland yesterday to stay at the City Garden again. Had a nice dinner at Queen's Ferry Inn with a few Monteiths and Tuis to compliment.

And now we're at the domestic terminal about to board for Christchurch on the South Island. Hopefully we'll have better ability to post pics and videos from there.

A note of congrats to Megan and Jon on the birth of Samantha Jean on Sunday! Everyone is happy and healthy. Yes, Janwyn and I are officially and Auntie and Uncle now!

Made it through customs...

And then realized it was 6 in the morning and there was no sense in trying to check into our hostel yet.

So, we found our way to the food court and found some wifi.

I attempted to shoot a short intro video, but really ... it looks like every other airport.

Customs were better this time than last. No problems on our "Working Holiday Visa" and a few questions on our foods we were carrying in.

They also needed to inspect our hiking boots and tent. Gene and Kathie, you'll be glad to know they could see through the plastic bags that our boots were clean enough to enter the country! I think that's a credit to your daughter high aptitude for cleanliness, especially in a country with as high-standards as this.

Hazy and cloudy out today, but it's only 7:30 am ... more later

41 hours till take off.....

Accomplishments so far:

• Completed our first round of packing....need to unload, ditch half the stuff, and repack
• Skype has been setup and tested, web cam has been purchased!
• Had our last In-N-Out burger and shake
• Had lunch and said good-bye to both grandmas
• Went to REI for the last time...hopefully ??
• Enjoyed a great open house with family and friends this past weekend

We are looking forward to:

• The latest movies for free (on the airplane)
• Starting this great adventure!
• Leaving the country after election votes are in (depending on who wins)
• Hearing about our new niece

We are NOT looking forward to:

• The LAX international terminal
• 15 hour flight
• Saying goodbye to Yin
• Leaving the country after election votes are in (depending on who wins)

The Adventure Begins...

just like Remo Williams!

Well we're on our way! After four days of packing, we headed out of Portland early on Wednesday morning. We shot this short video to mark the occasion...

We're spending the week in Fremont seeing friends and family and will fly out of San Francisco next Wednesday, November 5. Yes, the day after election day, giving us one more piece of rationale to spend a few months abroad.

For those of you who are short on memory, check out: Remo Williams on IMBD.

Thank You

Just wanted to say thanks to all our friends and colleagues at both Centerstance and Micropump/IDEX for having a drink (in some cases a couple drinks) with us last week to send us off on our big NZ adventure.

We are really fortunate to work with great people and have lots of amazing friends. Without you all, it would be hard to call Portland home (yes....sorry a little sap, but it's true).

Click here to see some pictures from Bridgeport Brewery.

other blogs we follow...

I've added a new section to the Post and Bugle blog's sidebar called "My Blog List". Recently I have added links to 2 blogs that some friends of mine keep updated.

Trek Life is authored by Seth Haber who has a company called Trek Light Gear. For those of you who have taken a siesta in our hammock, you know how wonderful it is. The hammock was purchased from Trek Light Gear, which also sells reusable bags and apparel. BTW, we are planning to take our double hammock to NZ....find a great spot along the beach to chill and relax.

Subcompact Culture is authored by our good friend AndyLilienthal who is a self-proclaimed "subcompact car enthusiast". Even though his blog may focus around smaller cars, he is an all-around car geek (sorry Andy). If Corey or I have any questions about cars...he's the guy we turn too. He has been helping Corey think through what kind of car we want to buy when we get to Christchurch, NZ.

Don't forget to check out the sidebar.....

Who do you think will be president?

Our neighbors are apparently voting for Obama.

Key West Snapshots - October 9-14

I wanted to get a few snapshots posted of our recent cross-country jaunt in support of Dustin & Stacie's wedding:

This is our plane we flew from Fort Myers to Key West. That's 8 seats including the pilot! Yes, that nose cone is painted like a shark and the door opens in front of Ernest Hemingway's floating head.

No kidding, this was the view from Corey's seat as we came into Key West. Our "carry on" luggage was securely stored in the wings for this flight.


The Cemetery was very interesting, due to lack of space they've come to resemble the crypts and catacombs in New Orleans. This is a memorial set up to the veterans of the 1868 Cuban revolution. (Key West is closer to Havana than it is to Miami.)

A good, healthy breakfast at the Southernmost Bar before the beach wedding ceremony. (From L) Corey, Ryan, Kenny, and groom Dustin.

While we were tooling around the island on a borrowed moped on Monday night (after we missed our return flight [that's another story!]) Janwyn and I found this Conch Shell outside of the Key West High School. And yes, it's listed as the World's Largest: http://www.wlra.us/. Another one to cross off my list!

Congratulations Dustin and Stacie

Married in Key West on October 11, 2008.

Friends of Friends (of Friends) Camping Trip

Hey again everyone, I just wanted to share some candid pictures from our last weekend, our second annual "Friends of Friends" camping trip at Milo McIver state park. In total, we had 11 adults, 4 dogs (Pinot, Loki, Sadie & Bo) and of course Chae and Collin for the picnic on Saturday. 8 of us went so far as to brave the near-freezing nights to camp.













Of those, who camped, we were lucky enough to hear 4 1/2 year-old Chae's passionate speech on our activities the next day ... (We're going to build a robot, and it's going to be hard work, but if we work as a team, we can do it!)













I hope everyone had as good a time as Janwyn and I did. Next year we'll have to try and get a group campsite.



















And for those of you who are confused by the poles in the first three pics, I can only assume you've never been camping with Janwyn before. Those are doughie sticks. I'd explain further, but I dont' have enough space on this blog!

Baby Youngs

Baby Youngs is on her way...we celebrated her anticipated arrival and pampered her and her mommy, Megan (Corey's sister, my sister-in-law), with a fabulous Baby Shower thrown by aunts Sue and Connie.

We wish Megan, Jon, and little Jon all the best as they prepare for the new addition to their family.....Samantha Jean.

Corey and I will make our way back to Minnesota once we're back from New Zealand to fulfill our duties as godparents. We look forward to playing an active role as Samantha grows, achieves milestones, and develops her faith.

To see pictures of the shower: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=1CZt3LVwyYvjA

Good friends are hard to find, hard to lose, and impossible to forget.

During our trip back to Minnesota this fall we made our way down to Mankato to visit many friends, of which included the members of the BMFC. The BMFC (Barry Manilow Fan Club) started back when Corey and I lived in Mankato, MN. Really, the name of the group has nothing to do with what we do as a group at all. It just so happens that on our first outing (planned by Leo) we had a strange conversation about the nose of one such Barry Manilow...and when we decided to continue getting together one of the members jokingly came up with the acronym and it stuck. Thus the BMFC started as a group of a friends gathering once a month on outings planned secretively by one member of the club. The outing usually included an event for the day and a meal. We've had some good times at dinners in the Twin Cities, a baseball game, ice skating, and just hanging out wherever.

Over the years we have had many exciting life changes....new jobs, moving to a new city, new houses, kids, adventures, but during this time we have remained good friends. It was great to see everyone! Miss you guys.

Here's a link to some of the pictures I took:


share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=1CZt3LVwyYvYg

ANZ Bank

Another step in getting established in NZ, we set up banking yesterday. if feels a bit odd going outside of Wells Fargo, but I suppose as their closest branch is in San Diego, CA, we'd better try elsewhere.

ANZ (Aussie and NZ Banking Group) is the Fourth largest bank in Australia and the largest in New Zealand. They're headquartered in Melbourne and have branches in virtually every town over 5,000 on the North and South Islands. It appears that banks operate similarly in perspective to US banks, with a high relience on debit cards (EFTPOS cards in NZ) and a wide network of ATMs.

As a bonus, the US Dollar is on a rebound and yesterday passed 150% the value of the Kiwi! (That's a 30 cent swing since our visit in March!) For an interesting graph, check out Google Finance: USDNZD.

Booked on the Milford Track!

We are booked for one of the Great Walks of New Zealand...the Milford Track. Unfortunately since we are booking so late, all start dates for this track were booked for the December - February season. So we've changed plans and are heading down to the south island a little earlier than previously planned.

The Milford Track is the best-known track in NZ (and the most expensive! and the hardest to book if you don't book early!), with rainforests, alpine meadows, and waterfalls. It's located in the Fiordland National Park and it will take 4 days to hike the 53.5 km ("that's 33.2 miles for you Americans"), starting November 29th.

YAY!!! I can't wait. This is one of the tramps that I didn't want to miss. Thanks to Corey for being flexible with our travel plans.

To learn more about the Milford Track: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milford_Sound

Camping in Puget Sound

On last weekend we decided to to make the long weekend into a long camping trip. Friday found us staying over at Melbourne Lake, a truly beautiful spot but some very loud neighbors.

On Saturday morning we moved further north to Seal Rock, a 40 site camp right on Hood Canal near Brinnon, WA. That's where we took these pictures. While paddling we saw these starfish, some spiny crabs, and plenty of seals. In fact, our lunch spot must have been the seals high tide hideout. They swam around us until we got out of their way and could finally come ashore.

On Sunday we traveled a bit further yet and spent the day in Port Townsend, a city that reminded us of Astoria in several ways. While we found that the paddling wasn't as scenic there, we did enjoy the good weather and a nice picnic in a community park overlooking the Straits of Juan de Fuca.

On Monday we were happy to make the trip home to enjoy a nice warm shower!

Breaking news! Yin Jumps in Box!

This just in ... Yin, in some amazing desire to investigate every nook in cranny, jumped into a standard cardboard box. CK and JT we're stunned at the development, stating, "I never thought we'd get her out. That little Pungalo." Yin, a native of Nicollet, Minnesota and family pet for 6 years simply stated, "purrrrr". We'll keep you abreast of any new developments in this truly amazing revelation.

New Blog Layout

I decided to try a new blog template today since I wasn't happy with the "old paper" look and feel. Still not ecstatic about this template, but it's a fresh change. I have yet to find something or create something that I really like. But we're new to the blogging endeavor...so this is just the start.

Books are heavy!

So, I see that Janwyn turned her book post into an advert for Orson Scott Card! =). I'm sure no one is interested in what I thought to pick up...

As some of you know, I've been slogging (the only way to describe it) through Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand for too long now. So, in order to encourage me to finish it before we leave, I bought Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer, who also authored Into the Wild. I liked Into the Wild so I thought that this would give me enough incentive.

I also picked up Undaunted Courage by Strephen Ambrose about Lewis and Clark. Ambrose might be best known for writing Band of Brothers regarding E Company, 506 Regiment in WWII. For those who haven't seen the HBO mini-series, put it on your NetFlix queue! It's a must!

But first, I have to finish 100 pages of Rand. Remember, Who is John Galt and A is A!

the girl effect

Please take a moment to view this video. It reminds me of the work portrayed in the book, Three Cups of Tea. Greg Mortenson works to improve the lives of girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan, which in turn improve their communities.

The Nike Foundation is also on a mission to create opportunities for girls, and thus the world.

Reading Material for the trip

This weekend Cor and I decided to take a trip to Powell's Bookstore to find some good reads to keep us entertained during our "OE", as Cor calls it. Altogether we ended up buying 7 books, which we'll add to our already growing pile destined for NZ. Maybe we'll have to a designate a whole bag for books?

Anyways, part of my repertoire of books is Shadow of the Hegemon, the second novel in the Ender's Shadow series. It's been a long time since I've read Orson Scott Card, but I'm excited to learn what happens next in the world of Bean.

For those of you who don't know, I was introduced to Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card by my 6th grade teacher, Mr. Fickes. It is a science fiction story about an extraordinary child, Ender Wiggin, who is sent to Battle School to become the greatest commander of the International Fleet. The IF is preparing for another invasion from the Buggers, an insectoid alien race.....Yeah, I know what you're all thinking....it's the same thing Corey thought when I bought Shadow of the Hegemon yesterday. What? You read sci-fi?

Well, I read Orson Scott Card and that's about where it ends! Just thought I'd let you all know how excited I was get back into the series...some of you who will read this remember listening to Mr. Fickes reading Ender's Game....and some of you have even named your cat after one of the book's characters! (Dink Meeker)

If you have any other suggestions on books, feel free to recommend!

A Kiwi Address? Weird!

So, one of the requirements for working in New Zealand is setting up an address. Through a firm in London, we were able to do that this week. Not only does this give us the ability to set up banking, but our friends and family can keep in touch via post while we're there. Our Kiwi address will be:

Corey Klein
#5154
Nomads Fat Camel Travel Desk
38 Fort Street
Auckland City
New Zealand

This is set to start on 5 November 2008. Right now, I'm trying to confirm that Janwyn is on the address list as well, but it appears that the Kiwi's have a lax schedule in replying to e-mails. I'll update as I find out more info.

Planning progress thus far...

...So where were we? Oh yeah, planning for New Zealand. Well, the biggest change thus far was selling our condo. We were fortunate considering the market, as it sold in 6 weeks. However, we do miss our "nob hill" neighborhood.

That set us up for renting for a bit. In that we were lucky as well, finding a rental agency that would rent month-to-month. We were even able to find a place in a trendy neighborhood, two blocks North of Hawthorne, Portland's answer to Haight-Ashbury. (Yeah, I'm not digging the "vibe" here to say the least.) But parking is easier!

We've also had to update our passports, which were due to expire in 2009 (NZ requires passports to be valid 6 months past your expected departure date). Additionally, we had to have our passports updated in order to apply for a Working Holiday Visa. Having the Visa gives us two key advantages: the ability to stay up to one year and the ability to work legally. One significant hurdle is you can only apply if you're 30 years or younger. (I [Corey] turn 31 in September!) Fortunately we've received word that we've both been approved.

We also joined WWOOF, a fantastic organization which allows you to trade daily work for room and food. Their focus is on Organic and Sustainable farming and gardening practices, so we're looking forward to adding to our skill level.

And then there is that other detail, we went ahead and bought our tickets this week. We're on Air New Zealand again. They had fantastic service the first time and will be direct on our return to SFO. It's nice to have that detail out of the way.

So what's next for us? We'll we have a laundy list of things to work through. Including:

• Selling quite a few items we don't need to store (anyone want an awesome Kenwood stereo?)
• Set up a New Zealand Bank account (Bank of New Zealand being the top candidate)
• Find a place to store my car
• Arrange Medical Insurance
• Arrange for phones while in NZ
• Register so we can vote prior to our departure.

And that's all before we consider packing! Should be exciting!

What's in a name? or How I learned to stop worrying and love the blog

"Post and Bugle"? Who came up with this crazy idea?

...well that was some of both of us. We had the concept of a blog for a while now, but it had to have a name. JT was pretty ecstatic that the blog should be more encompassing than just our Kiwi trip, so no "Southern Hemisphere Blog" would do.

I thought that as this would be somewhat of a newspaper-style posting, why not go with a newspaper-sounding name? Together we thought that "Post and Bugle", kinda typical of how amalgamated newspapers retained their former names (think St. Paul Pioneer-Press and Dispatch), had a good quality ring to it. Almost Mullet-style (you know, business in the front, party in the back). But now I'm getting a bit far fetched.

Now we just needed a family identifier. After considering every permutation on Toy-Klein there is (Kloy, Tlein, Lenoykit anyone? We thought, "Lefties, we're both lefties, that's specialized and unique enough!" Hence our new blog.

(And yes ladies, before he was the best Batman ever, Mr. Bale was a "Newsie".)

Whoo hoo...we bought tickets!

Last night Corey found a great deal on tickets to New Zealand. He agreed to stop checking flight prices if we bought our tickets last night...we'll see if he can resist! =)

Well, it feels good to have purchased the tickets...now we have a target date for leaving. Backing up from that date, we'll be able to figure out when we need to start driving down to CA and when our last days at work will be. And it gives us a timeframe so we can plan on things happening after we get back. YAY! It feels good to have some structure to the trip, even if we end up changing it later.

Another one of my accomplishments this weekend was getting 3 posters on the wall to track all the details of our preparation and the things we look forward to doing while in NZ. So much to think about! But it's coming together and we are very excited.

Hot off the Presses! ... Welcome to The Lefties' Post and Bugle!

Hola all, welcome to Janwyn and Corey's fantastic blogging endeavor!

We've been ruminating for a bit how to best keep in contact as we embark on our OE (Overseas Experience) and dreamed up the concept of this blog. Currently, we give thanks to the Alameda Brewhouse for hosting us while we get things set up.

Well, more planning news to come shortly, peppered along with Kiwi-educational tidbits. Hopefully this should prove to be a great tool used by all.