During my time here I have had my very first gallery showing of my photography! It was a very positive experience for myself because it truly helped solidify the goals and intent for the next few years of my life...in a way you could say it was the final for my last class of formal education. My trip to N.Z. was considered to me as a course in honestly being a photographer; traveling with lots of heavy, expensive, delicate gear, dealing with weather and illness, losing a camera, experiencing the rush of "getting the shot", and of course being raped by the airport on my way home when I was already exhausted and broke! This reminds me that I never recapped the epic two days before leaving N. Zed!
So my photo journey to the west coast was kind of unsuccessful...actually it was perfect. I got some cool shots, a couple that I like but the weather was overcast and I really just wanted to be riding. I ran into Taylor Seaton in the airport and he said the weather got crappy in Wanaka as well so I guess I wasn't missing much. I enjoyed my time wandering down the coast but had to get one more day of skiing in so I set sail to this little place called Mt. Lyford. Drove all day to get to a beach that was rumored to have jade or green stone on it and met a really cool girl there. We listened to Xiaver Rudd and shared a walk down the beach talking about permaculture, sustainable living, community and music. No luck finding any precious gems but we definitely had a great convergence of similar ideas from different realms of the world.
After that I barged another four hours of driving to get to the ski hill so I could wake up and ride. Having worries of running out of gas and impending tiredness I was searching for a chill place to park and camp...I saw this little dirt road that lead around a turn and looked flat, after the turn was a steep hill that I was not going to make it up! So I started to back down towards the road, I made the turn plus a little extra and caught my back tire in the creak ditch and slid sideways resting not so gently on a group of trees that lined the water below. Adrenaline kicked in instantly...it was 11:45 and I was in the middle of farm land and mountains and two of my vans wheels are off the ground and the other two are deep in the mud. There was a house just down the road that had lights on in it so I put on my headlamp and started walking down there thinking the whole time that this is going to be strange experience. My knock is answered by a thick Kiwi accent asking "who's there" and I explain that I have gotten my van stuck and didn't know what to do. He opens the door in a wife beater and a pair of whitie tighties! I explain my situation and he offers to pull the van out with his truck and tells me to hold on why he puts on some pants. He turns out to be a cool guy who lives in Wellington but owns this douglas fir tree farm here on the south island which he bought from working in Alaska on some oil stuff. He seemed stoked on life and he helped me be stoked as well by tugging my van out of the creek and back onto the road. At my new friends recommendation I then set up camp right there next to a gate and called it a night!
I decided I would wake up early to deal with the rental company about the crunched side of my van, not realizing the ski hill wouldn't have a phone line. But while getting ready to drive up to the mountain I met another friendly neighbor with an Austrian or German accent. Actually she was not that friendly at all...she approached me with the demeanor of a authoritarian implementing some unbreakable law! I was shocked that she was so pissed off at my choice for parking spots and nicely informed her that in my month and a half of wandering in N.Z. she was the first person to have any issues with people camping freely. She informed me that "people like me" disrespect her property and utilize it as a toilet...I laughed and said that sometimes people like me have the utmost of respect for the ownership of property and wouldn't do any harm to it but yes I urinated on the bushes over there snd that is simply available nitrogen and of no serious impact. I apologized for my choice of sleeping there and added that I would see her on the mountain!
It was a funny start to a funny day...the drive up was stressful because I thought I would be running out of gas at any moment! Then I was stuck behind the mountains plow...so nervous about the fuel thing and still laughing about the tree encounter. I finally get to the hill and realize that their description of the park was over exaggerated grossly and the snow was f-ing bullet proof! Luckily they had two real rails for me to dial in my newly learned 270's...so after killing like 10 laps on the rope tow I went in to get some tea and talk to the cute Scottish girls who worked there. A few more laps and I was ready to go chill so I got a few dollars back on the half day ticket and got back to the stress of running out of gas! I coasted with the van off all the way down the mountain and back almost to the flat land, then drove it to the nearest little town and filled up. Now it was time for some rest and relaxation!
An afternoon at Hamner Springs was perfect! I soaked in the touristy hot springs for awhile then had an amazing massage with a really cool healer and back to the hot springs! It was perfect to actually try and literally soak all that had been happening in. I found a beautiful camping spot next to a river and about an hour outside of Christchurch preparing for my departure. Went back to the same little restaurant in the city for breakfast and wandered around trying to find something(not sure what but I remember I didn't find it) but just ended up causing myself extra traveling stress by running late, not being packed and then getting lost!!! But it all worked out and I made it on the plane after $350 in baggage fees! But no fees for the crunched van!!! I'm a big fan of the no worries insurance on rentals! Leaving N.Z. was very difficult but also so perfect in the sense that I was sick of living in that van and my sleeping bag, without heat or a toilet. Well at least I had other peoples property to use for the last one!
Sorry for the extremely drawn out post...I'm working on consistency in my life. I swear!
