Free Internet

What a wonderful thing free internet is. I arrived in Queenstown today and am staying at the hostel ranked #1 in the entire world. Free internet, free international phone calls and I arrived and paid $8 for a BBQ in the hostel kitchen of non-vegan lamb burgers, sausages and hotdogs with all the fixins. Money well spent. Spent the night explaining cricket to 3 Americans I just met, including another one from Wisconsin. I have now met 4 people from the state of Wisconsin on this trip. The odds of that happening are too astronomical to calculate.

Bus rides still look the same and it has been dreary and rainy. I would love to see this country with some sun because lately all I see is half of what I should be seeing. Clouds settle into the valleys and totally cut off the tops of all the mountains. So all you see are the same trees and plants and you miss out on how majestic some of these areas could truly be. Kind of like going to New York City to see the skyline, only to have clouds settle in and every building looking like it is 15 stories tall. I know there are jagged peaks around here somewhere but I have totally missed out on seeing them. 

So I spent the night in Nelson following the ferry ride and then had a 10 hour bus ride down to Franz Josef glacier (glay-see-er, as the locals would pronounce it) the next morning. Met a German girl in the lobby of the hostel that morning and then spent the entire bus ride chatting with her. Always easier to pass the time with attractive and interesting company  The highlight of the bus trip was Punakaiki Pancake rocks. Not coincidentally, it was also the only time the sun shone brightly. There are these rocks that look like they are stacked like pancakes. Over hundreds of thousands of years dead animals and such settled to the bottom of the sea and compacted into rock. Over time, enough stuff collected and rose to the surface as a cliff. Through waves crashing and the elements, the erosion pattern left pancake stacks. Kind of a weird thing considering most erosion just happens leaving sheer cliffs of no particular shape.

Anyway, got to the hostel and crashed. Following day was rain and alot of it. Decided to try all of my rain gear and hike to the glacier. Was in the rain for about 4 hours. Rain gear did what it needed to do and the glacier was totally not worth the time getting there.  Hostel had a nice fireplace which I was feeding wood all afternoon trying to warm up and dry off. The one good thing about rain is that I don't feel guilty about staying in the hostel all day and watching movies. Had an 8 hour bus ride today and chatted with a Dutch guy who had also stayed in my dorm at the hostel. Another good way to pass the time. These travelers are my kind of people. I have enjoyed the sights on this trip, but have enjoyed the social interactions even more.

The thing that I am coming to realize about New Zealand is that this would be an amazing country to visit if you have never done any other traveling. They have gorgeous beaches, giant sand dunes, mountains, volcanoes, hot springs, geysers, glaciers, forests, etc. Kind of one stop shopping for topographical beauty. However, there are many places in the world with more gorgeous examples of almost all of these sights. I have been fortunate to see many of these places and am looking forward to seeing more of them in the coming months.

I have decided to pass on my trip to Tibet and spend those extra 2 weeks just wandering around SE Asia and China. After sitting in rain for the last week, I figured I should allow myself some extra rain days and potential sick days so that I can see what I want to see without being rushed and have time to enjoy hostel life and anywhere that might take me. All that really means is I now have my next trip already planned. A trip to Tibet down into Nepal and India. Feel free to join me. Oh, and my ATM card worked at an ATM machine the other day for those of you keeping track at home.