Week 1

Some wise guy once said, "you're not afraid of falling, you're only afraid of jumping... and occasionally getting pushed". I can't think of a more appropriate quote for my first week of traveling. The pushing, jumping and falling started when I went to check in at LAX on Sunday night and the American Airlines lady casually asked me for my exit ticket from New Zealand. Baffled, I responded, "uhhh... exit ticket?". Her demeanor immediately shifted from cordial politeness to oh-shit-another-one-of-these. She explained that I couldn't enter New Zealand without an having already booked a ticket out. After cursing the New Zealand consulate's voice recording, I asked what I could do, how much an exit ticket costs etc. She told me the cheapest ticket out of New Zealand was to Sydney for about 1,000 USD. I was in a hell of a pickle as I had no idea where I wanted to go or when I wanted to leave. I knew I was going to travel around with Mike after New Zealand, but I had no idea when we would leave or where we were going. Eventually I managed to convince the lady to  check me for only my first flight to Sydney and told her that I would book a ticket during the layover. She left me with, "fine, but if you don't get you're ticket booked in Sydney you're on your own".

Once I got to Sydney I found the nearest payphone, called Mike and asked simply, "India or Thailand?". The connection was spotty and he hadn't heard my voice in a couple months, but he got the jist and responded "India". I bid him a sweet farewell, told him I'd see him in a few hours, and hung up. Evidently the connection was crap and he turned to his sister, Miss, and said, "I'm pretty sure Alex just said we're going to India, but I don't know". Fortunately we both found the situation hilarious,  and, after a bit of deliberation, decided it was the only fitting way to make what would have been a terribly difficult decision.

Pit-Stops on the Way Down to Queenstown

Over the ensuing days we took Mike's trusty car "Lulu" from Christchurch to Queenstown and from Queenstown to Wanaka, using skiing to punctuate the picturesque treks. On the first leg of the journey delapidated old Lulu got us halfway up to Roundhill, but we had to hitch and hike the rest of the way to and from the resort. Once there the snow was fine, but the visibility was pretty shotty. Luckily Kiwis are way chiller than Americans and we were able to get a full refund even though we skied for about an hour and a half.



The next day we hit up the Remarkables and Mike hit a 15 foot cliff (Below) and, after some minor coaxing from Mike, I made my way off a slightly less impressive 10 footer (Facebook).

Overall our day at the Remarkables was great. There was about 4 inches of fresh snow, the terrain was fun, the views were stellar and the hikes were awesome. They also have a super playful park called The Stash, the only Burton Snow Park in the Southern Hemisphere.

Playing on the Docks

Since skiing the Remarkables I've been getting my barrings in Wanaka, going for hikes around the area,  playing around with my camera and my new lens, and visiting out the local ski fields.

The house is super cool. I think my favorite part is the rooftop patio with a grill and a great view of the lake.  We have 4 brittish boys, Timbo and Maggie from Berkeley, Maggies friend's Kristen and Mindy, and Michael and myself. Overall its a very chill place and we've had a lot of fun.

Eating Lunch at Beacon Point

My first day in Wanaka we meandered our way down the lake shore stopping to explore  along the way. At the end of the 45 minute walk we reached Beacon Point ate lunch, played Frisbee and rock climbed along Lakeside Boulder.

Over the next couple days I've managed to do a couple more hikes, including a sunrise trek along the lake this morning, while also skiing Treble Cone. At TC the skiing was particularly good after lunch because the sky opened up and burned off the white out, allowing Kristen and me to explore the various gullies and chutes without worrying about spontaneously skiing off cliffs.

Overall the first week has been pretty much a whirlwind. I've only kind of caught my balance here in Wanaka and I'm about to head out on some more adventures next week. We're going back to the Remarkables tomorrow and then camping in Milford Sound for the couple days after that. Come September 1, the girls, Timbo and I will be ski-dadaling off on a road trip around the South Island for two weeks. Hopefully next week's post will be more prompt, more anecdotal, and less skeletal in detail, so stay tuned for another riveting episode of New Zealand Fun Research.

Since graduating in May I've been a (semi)gainfully employed California resident, working three jobs and trying to blaze a path for myself in the so-called "Real World", but today I wrapped up my last gig, said tutalu to The Man, and set my sights on New Zealand. I've spent a lot of the past two and a half months working in law offices and realizing exactly what I don't want to do (be an attorney or anything like being an attorney), so my next step is to go out and find a lot of things I do want to do. Equipped with a one way ticket, a little bit of cash and staggeringly few plans, I'm heading down south and doing some research on fun. I'm not quite sure what that will produce, but I encourage you to follow along on this blog as I do my best to keep you all up to date with pictures, stories, and whatever else I can throw at you along the way.