KiwiLand!

It's been quite a while since the last entry. I am try to catch up with some quickies and get back to real-time. Traveling in New Zealand was amazing. The country is unlike any other I have been to. The people are friendly and the cities are clean with lots of green spaces and smiling faces. I basically did a month long loop around the South Island. I rented a car for about $450 for 25 days and hit the road! My main plan was to get off the beaten path and although NZ does have some incredible spaces, often times they are crowded with like-minded travelers and hordes of Euro-backpackers. I purchased a 'pack' raft to get me a little further into the backcountry and it turned out to be a blast. The basic routine was this: Drive the car to a river, park near it somewhere towards the bottom, pack up and walk/hitchhike to the upper reaches, and float back to the car. Sounds simple, and for the most part it was, but not excluding some general logistical challenges. Hitching is always an adventure. Most people in NZ are super nice and accomodating. I got rides from all types. RV'ers, hippies, backpackers in vans, locals, work crews, and even mothers w/ kids in car seats! Luckily for all them, I'm a nice guy who just wanted to head up the road a ways. My 1st trip with the pack raft got my attention right out of the gates. I got a ride w/ some Euros up to Lake Coldridge....not really where i had planned to go, but i went w/ them anyway, I then had to get to the other end of the lake to access the river. It was a howling wind out on the lake and i figured it would blow me right across without much trouble. I was right, I made it just before dark, but with some scary waves on the lake. The next day i walked a mile to the Wilberforce river and rigged up my boat and away I went. A nice mellow river, good for the first trip. Crystal clear water and lots of warm sunshine left me a happy camper. Out there with nobody else around, i had found exactly what I was looking for and the cold windy memories of Antarctica began to melt into the back of my mind. I camped another night on the river and then went on down to the car, drove to the next river, and did it again. These packrafting trips became very appealing to me as a way to use the rivers as scenic hwy's. No tolls, no fees, no traffic, and lots of scenery to soak up! I also just drove to places and did the regular tourist type stuff, Mt. Cook, Queenstown, Glaciers, blah, blah, blah.....but I was really diggin' on the remote places that I saw there. The world could learn alot from the things that the Kiwi's have done in their country. They respect the land and each other and have left me with a lasting impression.
More on the way soon, as for now... That's all Folks!