A Tale of Two Hitch-hikers

The problem with buses is that they only go where all the people go. So, if you're looking to say travel along the Southern Scenic route of New Zealand... total population circa 1,000. You're out of luck.

I don't fully endorse hitch-hiking, but as an environmentally friendly way to travel places that don't have public bus service, it has its perks (If you're with a strong man who will protect you from getting kidnapped and murdered of course... or if you can just run faster than whoever you're travelling with).

So thumbs it was. We stuck ours out on the outskirts of Balclutha and got a ride within 15 minutes to Surat Bay, where we camped overnight at this awesome little campground. I was admiring some fine-looking home-made veggie burgers being cooked by a nice Irish lass and we got to talking. Turns out her and her fiance had a campervan and were travelling along the Southern Scenic route as well. They had some spare seats. We had some spare wine. It all worked out.

Travelling with them was like being in a coach bus that stopped at all of the sites we wanted to see anyway. Those stops mostly included beautiful sea-side vistas and short hikes to waterfalls. (Pictures to follow at some point). We all decided to camp at Curio Bay, another gorgeous sea-side campground that we shared with a few aggressive sea lions. So agressive that after dinner we were all trapped in the campervan. (Video to follow). Then this morning they drove us to Invercargill where we are treating ourselves with a night in a hostel. Woo hoo!

Best part is that we convinced them to go down to Stewart Island, so they'll be dropping us off at the ferry tomorrow morning. Sweet. Can you call it hitch-hiking when you end up getting door to door service to all of the best sights along your route?

So, tomorrow us and the irishmen will take a ferry ride across the tumultuos sound to Halfmoon Bay where we will spend three days tramping through native bush and searching for kiwi birds. So far South Island = Fabulous.

Otago Peninsula

A bit windy, but sunny. Here are some pics from our first two days in the South Island.

It wouldn't fit in a backpack

Two days into our south island holiday and things are going grandly. Yesterday we went on a wildlife tour and got up close and personal with fur seals, sea lions, albatrosses, and penguins. Penguins were not afraid of us at all. I can now assert that it may in fact be plausible to pick on of the cute little guys up, but they are bigger than you think. And way noisier.

Pictures once we get on a computer that doesn't cost us $2/ 15 min.

Headin' down south to the land of the pines.

Heading to the Fiordlands for three weeks of penguin-spotting, kiwi-hunting, tramping, and cuddling. Yes, those last two are separate and distinct activities. Will keep you updated as best we can.

Put your money where your mouth is.

Tonight Nelson competes in the final round of The University of Waikato's Three Minute Thesis Competition. He is one of eight finalists out of a field of 60. The prize? $5,000 towards research-related expenses. (A wedding is research related, right?) I would say "break a leg", but he already has a possible broken rib after a rough surf session two days ago, so I'll just say "Wish him luck!".

350 dancers

Hooray for 350 actions all over the world! Hooray for 350 people getting together and choreographing a dance! Hooray for that being 10% of our town's total population! Hooray for living in a town with all of these zany fantastic people!

Want to know what I'm talking about? Check it out!
Raglan (Whaingaroa)'s 350 Action organizaed by the Whaingaroa youth movement.

By the way: Two of the main dancers- Connor, the boy in the blue shirt, and Molly, the dark-haired girl in the white shirt- are part of our Solscape family. Hooray for them!

350

Today is the International day of Action for Climate Change sponsored by 350.org. (Well at least it is here already, those of you in other time zones still have a few hours left to prepare your action). Actions will be going on all over the world to let politicians and big business know that we are serious in our demands for action regarding climate change. I hope that everyone has a fantastic 350 day. We certainly did here in Raglan. If you don't have plans yet, don't worry there is still time. And, likely there is an action going on right in your neighborhood. Go to the 350.org website to check it out.

Here's how we spent our day:
Of course we rode down.... And got dressed up for the occasion.

Hooray for the market... No pesto though, boo.Hmmm... lots of people around. Must be the start of summer. But it kind of looks like they're all waiting for something. What's going to happen? ... Stay tuned.