i figured it out. i think. the reason that the balinese only smile at each other and just throw trash everywhere. and why i am not totally comfortable in this country. and why i all of a sudden became happier everytime i rode my motorbike through the poorest areas of the countryside. this comes as a revelation after chitchatting with an english expat over too much bali coffee and not enough sleep because of too much bali coffee last night so forgive my shaky hands that arent typing properly right now.
they are angry. angry as fuck. angry at the tourists who have possessions and money that they never even dreamed of. angry that the tourists fuck up their way of life. angry that they will probably never have those kinds of opportunities. angry at the corrupt government and its officials that are inept and totally ridiculous. angry that there is no free, clean water. no medical care. no public transport. not enough educational institutions. HUGE class differences that are now extremely visible because of the unbelievably exponential grow of the tourist market in the last 10 years. angry that they have so few options to make a living.
id be angry too.
so they throw trash on the ground because they hate the land that their government officials cant seem to take care of, even though they love their people and their customs and culture. they hate the tourists that dont seem to care or see whats happening and yet they are forced to cater to their whims in order to survive. they go about their lives with angry or utterly bored looks on their faces and drive like fucking maniacs to release some kind of stress due to their frustrations. you cannot tell me that people who drive like they do and look bored as often as they do are actually happy. you cannot tell me that people who push the personal boundaries and try to cheat people as often as they do are actually happy people.
the reason i felt differently almost immediately after driving into the countryside is because it is the poorest part of bali. these people live their lives almost completely without tourist interaction, and almost exclusively within their tiny, tiny towns. they never travel anywhere or go anywhere and are more content to live their lives as they have for decades, even a century. they do not have to face the complications of living in a larger city and thus are able to maintain a more pleasant existence. now, you may not believe in the ability to feel energies, but as a therapist and just a generally intuitive person, i believe that i can. i swear i felt the air change in these areas. the roads were cleaner. the smiles were genuine. the children were excited to see blonde hair coming out from under the helmet, like it was a kind of new experience.
all this makes me very sad.
but i have to go run around now before my heart palpitations make my body explode. too. much. coffee. good lord i must bring some of this back for the doc program. oo maybe ill start taking orders and charging for this shit! market to my gf's in the program... haha jk girls. love you.
Monday, January 30, 2012
The tour in Ubud was quite the shitshow. totally hilarious on a number of levels due to the elderly man and his penchant for saying things to incite our driver who did not speak english very well, but knew enough that he should be getting pissed. well at least it was funny from the backseat with the two finnish girls. we saw rice paddies, kintamani, coffee plantations, a major water temple where a huge ceremony was taking place, the mother temple which was absolutely beautiful, and then we stopped at a cockfight on the way home. and the weather was perfect. such a fab day. then the girls and i went out for drinks and super cheap, best meal that ive had in bali. super simple tofu curry with potatoes, carrots, and ginger that i had to wait an hour for, but totally worth it.
oh right, the cockfight. it was the kind with chickens, not the fun kind you see at a gay bar. as it turns out, tis the season for cockfighting in bali and all the men of the local areas bring their cocks out, tie blades to their legs, pull feathers out of their faces to make them angry, and then pit them against one another while betting. needless to say, this was deeply, deeply disturbing, and the girls and i left right after the first blood was drawn.
another disturbing part of the experience was that i was among the only white or female faces in the bunch, and this kept drawing stares from the circle of about 200 dark men around me. i started to think about what it must be like to live as a racial minority, and i did not like the now personal conclusions that i came to.
side question: why is it that here in bali many strangers come up to me and ask to take their picture with me? is it because i am a tall white woman with curly hair? it cant be because im american because most times people dont even ask where im from. is it because- unbeknownst to me- there is some international scavenger hunt and somehow i fit the bill for one of the items?! if so, i want in!! i think i should start charging money for pictures...
anywho, the balinese people are an interesting bunch. they seem to only smile when looking at another person, and if not they appear to be intensely miserable. its quite drastic to witness. they also have perfected the ability to make and use leisure time by constructing raised structures on every corner and at every home for people who suddenly feel the need for a nap or simply get too hot. as a person, i totally admire this, but as an american, i dont understand the siesta mentality. they also wear thick sweatshirts when riding motorbikes. wtf?? how is that possible?? its hot as balls out here and im sweating just from typing at 8pm. the balinese are also extremely proud to be balinese. like intensely. they talk about it all the time and often engage me in welcome conversations about their religious ceremonies, people, families, lives, etc. this being said, why do i constantly witness people throwing their trash in the streets and rivers and peeing all over the sidewalk? why do they allow dogs to run around with mange so terrible they cant even open their eyes? why is there garbage everywhere? why?
i realize that much of the trash situation has to do with the lack of education, people doing what has been done by their parents, and the necessity of using ephemeral methods to honor their gods and statues twice a day. still though... at least there is a huge effort to recycle plastic bottles and glass. it seems to be rather recent but is making huge progress with at least part of the trash.
well, i am currently in sanur and feeling mucho better, but i think this town is a little too commercial (read: expensive) for me, and tomorrow i might either stay another night or head to nusa dua via motorbike for a couple of days so that i can see the sights on the bukit peninsula and whatnot. then hopefully ill head up the west cost to tanah lot if i have time.
just 8 more days left in this trip and im rather excited to go home. i feel that restless american urge to achieve/accomplish/further my career/start my life/train for the LifeCycle again. i have so much to do and its all i can do to keep my brain from spinning when i think about it. when i am not though, i find myself conversely at almost a complete standstill. i simply sit for minutes and stare at nothing, not moving, just thinking about whatever. its rather pleasant, mostly. i mean its pleasant until i hear my mother's voice in my head saying something like "what are you doing?! go out and see some shit! youre in bali for gosh sakes!" i love you mom, but im ignoring your voice haha. i like not doing anything here. i think thats really what bali is for: following your passion and right now mine is turning the brain off.
well its been 2 hours playing on the internet. i think ill go have a beer to calm the caffeine shakes and maybe swim in my hotel pool. maybe ill even shower! i already did my laundry with shampoo in the sink yesterday when i was sick because i pleasantly had nothing else better to do, and nothing better to wash my clothes with. incidentally, im going to have to go through all the clothes i brought on this trip and either rewash them or just throw them away. yeesh.
oh right, the cockfight. it was the kind with chickens, not the fun kind you see at a gay bar. as it turns out, tis the season for cockfighting in bali and all the men of the local areas bring their cocks out, tie blades to their legs, pull feathers out of their faces to make them angry, and then pit them against one another while betting. needless to say, this was deeply, deeply disturbing, and the girls and i left right after the first blood was drawn.
another disturbing part of the experience was that i was among the only white or female faces in the bunch, and this kept drawing stares from the circle of about 200 dark men around me. i started to think about what it must be like to live as a racial minority, and i did not like the now personal conclusions that i came to.
side question: why is it that here in bali many strangers come up to me and ask to take their picture with me? is it because i am a tall white woman with curly hair? it cant be because im american because most times people dont even ask where im from. is it because- unbeknownst to me- there is some international scavenger hunt and somehow i fit the bill for one of the items?! if so, i want in!! i think i should start charging money for pictures...
anywho, the balinese people are an interesting bunch. they seem to only smile when looking at another person, and if not they appear to be intensely miserable. its quite drastic to witness. they also have perfected the ability to make and use leisure time by constructing raised structures on every corner and at every home for people who suddenly feel the need for a nap or simply get too hot. as a person, i totally admire this, but as an american, i dont understand the siesta mentality. they also wear thick sweatshirts when riding motorbikes. wtf?? how is that possible?? its hot as balls out here and im sweating just from typing at 8pm. the balinese are also extremely proud to be balinese. like intensely. they talk about it all the time and often engage me in welcome conversations about their religious ceremonies, people, families, lives, etc. this being said, why do i constantly witness people throwing their trash in the streets and rivers and peeing all over the sidewalk? why do they allow dogs to run around with mange so terrible they cant even open their eyes? why is there garbage everywhere? why?
i realize that much of the trash situation has to do with the lack of education, people doing what has been done by their parents, and the necessity of using ephemeral methods to honor their gods and statues twice a day. still though... at least there is a huge effort to recycle plastic bottles and glass. it seems to be rather recent but is making huge progress with at least part of the trash.
well, i am currently in sanur and feeling mucho better, but i think this town is a little too commercial (read: expensive) for me, and tomorrow i might either stay another night or head to nusa dua via motorbike for a couple of days so that i can see the sights on the bukit peninsula and whatnot. then hopefully ill head up the west cost to tanah lot if i have time.
just 8 more days left in this trip and im rather excited to go home. i feel that restless american urge to achieve/accomplish/further my career/start my life/train for the LifeCycle again. i have so much to do and its all i can do to keep my brain from spinning when i think about it. when i am not though, i find myself conversely at almost a complete standstill. i simply sit for minutes and stare at nothing, not moving, just thinking about whatever. its rather pleasant, mostly. i mean its pleasant until i hear my mother's voice in my head saying something like "what are you doing?! go out and see some shit! youre in bali for gosh sakes!" i love you mom, but im ignoring your voice haha. i like not doing anything here. i think thats really what bali is for: following your passion and right now mine is turning the brain off.
well its been 2 hours playing on the internet. i think ill go have a beer to calm the caffeine shakes and maybe swim in my hotel pool. maybe ill even shower! i already did my laundry with shampoo in the sink yesterday when i was sick because i pleasantly had nothing else better to do, and nothing better to wash my clothes with. incidentally, im going to have to go through all the clothes i brought on this trip and either rewash them or just throw them away. yeesh.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
so. i was in ubud. stayed there for a couple of days and just wandered around the city and surrounding areas via motorbike by myself. heavenly. saw many, many temples and took ridic amounts of photos. had lunch in random places and totally made an ass out of myself repeatedly. quite a good time.
but i felt like i needed some sun and beach time because im in bali dammit! so i hi-tailed it over to padangbai where i knew i could find a whole lot of nothing but sun and sand. i was correct.
after being harassed repeatedly by the locals who wanted to give me a ride somewhere, i finally found a shabby but exceptionally quaint place to stay at the end of a beach that looked like it had been fairly abandoned. Topi Inn. it was perfect. it has a restaurant on the first floor frequented by tourists and their local guides alike, as well as single rooms and dorm mattresses on the floor overlooking the bay. i was lucky enough to get a room to "myself" with a couple of fans and a mattress that smelled of sweat. i say "myself" because the walls were just sticks of bamboo and at one point i thought the girl who sneezed in the room nextdoor was in bed with me. no matter. i was about 10 yards from the beach at any given point in the establishment and i travel with my own sheets.
i may come off sounding elitist and like a shitty american tourist, but i really dont mean to sound that way. i loved that little hotel and made it my home for 4 days and 3 nights. i spent those days in PB sitting in the shade of the hotel and watching the waves, reading, hiking over the cliff to the next bay over for more sheltered swimming. actually, the water currents were quite interesting to watch because even though they were calm for about 200 yards out, they proceeded to become incredibly choppy and tumultuous just past that point. i had no need for that business so i settled myself into some snorkeling in bloo lagoon.
the topi inn was a funny place. the staff seemed to both hate and love their job, and really dislike the people who stayed there. fair enough. tourists can be quite demanding, im sure. nevertheless, i found some lovely people who turned out to be mostly scandinavian. couple of swedes and couple of finnish. even one croatian.
i spent one of those days riding all over the east coast of the island. i even found myself a little beach and posted up for a couple of hours. that would be where i caught a really nasty sunburn. whatev. i rode of and got myself again pleasantly lost in the hilly valley between two volcanoes. pictures abound. it has to be one of the most beautiful scenes ive ever seen. i had to pull over and withstand being honked and hollered at to take some amazing pics. it was on this ride that i did some off-roading on the shitty rental bike and and got a dragonfly stuck in my helmet as i was riding. totally didnt freak out and managed to get it out of my hat and hair without crashing. bravo!
decided to forego the gili islands and lombok because the ferry had been put out of order indefinitely- causing a traffic jam of semitrucks for literally 5+ miles- due to bad weather which makes tourists throw up on the boat and just a general mishandling of everything, as far as i could tell.
that being decided, i made my way back to ubud because i felt like i hadnt yet experienced all it had to show me. this bus ride was of course taken after a night of drinking local arak with some scandinavian misfits and promising some balinese man that i would attend a cockfight with him the next day.
needless to say, the cockfight didnt happen and the bus was late and our busdriver was sideswiped by a truck which caused him to jump out and punchthe offending driver. making us later into ubud. and i still needed to find a room. and i needed to eat. i ambled across the street from the bus "depot" and had an interesting lunch which proceeded to make my stomach unhappy.
this unhappiness made me snap and yell at some guy who accosted me asking if i could come with him to his homestay, but finally settle for a room in a house with a gorgeous temple.
stomach unhappiness continues today, but yesterday was a fun tour with some other people from my hotel. it included two finnish women and an elderly kiwi who thinks he knows more than god. either way, i had a blast and made a couple new girlfriends in the process.
i must go. toilet calls... again. shitballs.
but i felt like i needed some sun and beach time because im in bali dammit! so i hi-tailed it over to padangbai where i knew i could find a whole lot of nothing but sun and sand. i was correct.
after being harassed repeatedly by the locals who wanted to give me a ride somewhere, i finally found a shabby but exceptionally quaint place to stay at the end of a beach that looked like it had been fairly abandoned. Topi Inn. it was perfect. it has a restaurant on the first floor frequented by tourists and their local guides alike, as well as single rooms and dorm mattresses on the floor overlooking the bay. i was lucky enough to get a room to "myself" with a couple of fans and a mattress that smelled of sweat. i say "myself" because the walls were just sticks of bamboo and at one point i thought the girl who sneezed in the room nextdoor was in bed with me. no matter. i was about 10 yards from the beach at any given point in the establishment and i travel with my own sheets.
i may come off sounding elitist and like a shitty american tourist, but i really dont mean to sound that way. i loved that little hotel and made it my home for 4 days and 3 nights. i spent those days in PB sitting in the shade of the hotel and watching the waves, reading, hiking over the cliff to the next bay over for more sheltered swimming. actually, the water currents were quite interesting to watch because even though they were calm for about 200 yards out, they proceeded to become incredibly choppy and tumultuous just past that point. i had no need for that business so i settled myself into some snorkeling in bloo lagoon.
the topi inn was a funny place. the staff seemed to both hate and love their job, and really dislike the people who stayed there. fair enough. tourists can be quite demanding, im sure. nevertheless, i found some lovely people who turned out to be mostly scandinavian. couple of swedes and couple of finnish. even one croatian.
i spent one of those days riding all over the east coast of the island. i even found myself a little beach and posted up for a couple of hours. that would be where i caught a really nasty sunburn. whatev. i rode of and got myself again pleasantly lost in the hilly valley between two volcanoes. pictures abound. it has to be one of the most beautiful scenes ive ever seen. i had to pull over and withstand being honked and hollered at to take some amazing pics. it was on this ride that i did some off-roading on the shitty rental bike and and got a dragonfly stuck in my helmet as i was riding. totally didnt freak out and managed to get it out of my hat and hair without crashing. bravo!
decided to forego the gili islands and lombok because the ferry had been put out of order indefinitely- causing a traffic jam of semitrucks for literally 5+ miles- due to bad weather which makes tourists throw up on the boat and just a general mishandling of everything, as far as i could tell.
that being decided, i made my way back to ubud because i felt like i hadnt yet experienced all it had to show me. this bus ride was of course taken after a night of drinking local arak with some scandinavian misfits and promising some balinese man that i would attend a cockfight with him the next day.
needless to say, the cockfight didnt happen and the bus was late and our busdriver was sideswiped by a truck which caused him to jump out and punchthe offending driver. making us later into ubud. and i still needed to find a room. and i needed to eat. i ambled across the street from the bus "depot" and had an interesting lunch which proceeded to make my stomach unhappy.
this unhappiness made me snap and yell at some guy who accosted me asking if i could come with him to his homestay, but finally settle for a room in a house with a gorgeous temple.
stomach unhappiness continues today, but yesterday was a fun tour with some other people from my hotel. it included two finnish women and an elderly kiwi who thinks he knows more than god. either way, i had a blast and made a couple new girlfriends in the process.
i must go. toilet calls... again. shitballs.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Indo is so different than I thought it would be. I mean I guess i thought it would be somehow be different than I had experienced but not quite like this.
At the airport they just asked for $25US and then sent me on through security. Nevermind that I brought what could be deemed as weapons into the country. Then I got gouged on a 10 min taxi ride to a hotel that I'm sure was in cahoots with my taxi driver so I went next door. Had a fab two days there and stumbled around kuta just enjoying the hell out of the madness and trying to get drunk before I ate so that I didn't freak out. It must be working because I'm not dead or starving yet. I didn't even freak out when I started crunching on chicken bones in my soup last night. Rock on, me. After dinner I went wandering the long way home but was stopped on the street by two men my own age looking for adventure and asked if I knew of any. I did not have any places up to their standards of partying so we meandered in the pouring rain for either loud music or a bottle shop hat sold whiskey.
Turns out these guys were not meatheads after all as I had judged at first by their muscles. One guy (who was ethnically chinese but born and raised in France and went to school in Boston for 5 years)worked for the Malaysian government. He got his degree in political science and his masters in modern warfare. No lie. The other guy was Malaysian and also went to school in the US for many years. Apparently Indonesians and Malaysians speak the same language so this was incredibly convenient and got us cheaper drinks. Perf. Between the 3 of us we spoke 7 languages.
We had a ridiculous time clubbing! They took turns peeling the aussies stoned on mushrooms and ecstacy off of me and carrying my purse around while we danced our faces off. Things were going swimmingly until they had some awkward argument about who would take me home right in front of me. Needless to say I had none of those same intentions and proceeded to run away from the Malaysian guy who keeps grabbing my arm a little too hard. I literally ran into a cab after threatening to palm strike his nose. A sorry end to an amazing night.
I seem to be meeting so many people who are highly intelligent and extremely well-educated. It feels good when no one looks at me strangely for going to grad school. It's so different from Newport in that way. I like it. Ah the well-traveled, educated elite. I love how they make me feel even if it isn't the real world.
I seem to be meeting so many people who are highly intelligent and extremely well-educated. It feels good when no one looks at me strangely for going to grad school. It's so different from Newport in that way. I like it. Ah the well-traveled, educated elite. I love how they make me feel even if it isn't the real world.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
I went from chasin the sunset in my car in auckland a couple of days ago to sittin beachside in kuta at some mildly-posh Italian restaurant. Hilarious. And still I can't stop thinking about whether or not I'll get sick. I haven't eaten (until just now) in 12 hours and have slept about 3 hours in he last 36. I was feeling a little loopy after one beer and decided I was just drunk enough to pay $10 for a meal in Bali if it made me feel a little more safe.
I think I'll feel better when I get out of kuta. It's a wild town just on the brink of utter chaos all the time. I also didn't think my first marriage proposal would have been a woman squatting on the sand selling shitty leather brace lets, but life is all about the journey I suppose. I observed my first temple ceremony, almost got run over like 4 times, and waded through what I'm pretty sure is sewage seeping up from the middle of the streets. I'm adventurous in most ways...!
Now drinking beers with the owners of my hotel. I'm gonna let them tell me where to go.
Oh god I need sleep.
Taryn
Monday, January 16, 2012
Going to be a day of assholes tomorrow, but getting excited.
Moved out of my car this morning and back into a backpack. Took me all of an hour to do so and I filled up an entire trash can when I was done. Ok maybe not an entire trash can but you know what I mean. Makes me miss traveling with kaleb because he was definitely the more organized one.
Was thinking about all the people I've met in this country and how they are all special and different and taught me different things. Kaleb is this totally amazing man with a lovely intelligence that he keeps secret from most other people. I was lucky enough to be deemed worthy to see it. We had these unexpected and deep conversations a out everything and nothing at all and I don't think we stopped talking for the first few days we were together. It immediately felt like we had been together for ages in a really nice kind of way.
There were the ubiquitous friends that you make in the hostel dorms of course, but some especially fun and forgiving ones were in Byron bay. Super warm and welcoming people from literally all over the world. No one was from the same place.
Then there were the kiwis, some local and some who lived abroad, but all were quick to include me in their conversations and circles. I love that openness.
Then there were the Americans. An immediate connection was there because of the mutual language and culture stuff, but Ryan and of couse kaleb were especially cool.
Ah, the Aussies and Germans. Some traveling together and some alone, but whether I met them in Australia or NZ, they were just fabulous. Sebastian and John whom I know I will never see again, I genuinely wish I didn't lose your emails because it would have been great to have some penpals.
Ah well I must find something to do with my last day here since its cold and rainy and I have al my gear. I think I might hang with the "occupy Auckland" crowd. I have to get rid of my chair and the rest of my food anyways. Gday > bintang?
Taryn
Sunday, January 15, 2012
im not gonna lie, ive gotten really comfortable with the small town, idyllic, sometimes downright pastoral vibe of NZ. it is comfortable and not altogether unforeign, but still exciting and different. and this place is so small its fairly difficult to get extremely lost without some government signpost or a nearly unintelligible local to to guide you back the right way.
auckland is a whole other story, but thats because it qualifies as the largest city in NZ with the largest population of pacific islander peoples in the world (learned that at the auckland wartime museum today- which is awesome btw). its got millions of people and its fairly overwhelming to someone who has spent pretty much the last 6 weeks in towns with no more than 2000 people.
and having said that, im really nervous about going to bali. of course i am a giant pansy when it comes to my throat phobias. im worried that the food isnt going to sit well with me; that ill get sick. im worried about having panic attacks more than usual even though ive had them here and it hasnt really been an issue. im not going to dwell on this thing too much because ive got to find a place to stay tonight, a place to keep my car for the night, and a place to have a beer in the next 15 minutes.
meh, ive done more with less.
the last few days have been just spectacular. i went from camping in the tongariro national park (but didnt do any walking for days because of the multi-day heavy rains) at a ski resort-type town, to taupo where i promptly took the advice of some natives and located a natural (free!!) hot spring and played around for a bit.
after feeling totally refreshed and ready for some sightseeing, i did what i usually do and drove around town a bit before finding a good spot to do some walking and get to know the layout of the town. coincidentally, one of the bikers i met in tekapo was heading down my way and we decided to meet and catch up with beers.
we had a fabulous evening filled with live bands and a wayward attempt to go back to the hot spring after the park had closed. it was such a good time, we decided to hang out there for another day. we toured around the lake on his motorcycle, and he definitely tried to scare me more than once. i totally appreciated the gesture because as you probably know, im a bit self-destructive and love me some speed demons. i think we topped out at 150-180kph? i have no idea because the wind coming through my too-large helmet was making my eyes water.
such a friggin blast. i must get me one of those contraptions.
then it was naptime induced by large lunch and hangover, before doing it all over again. we stayed up all night drinking wine, playing on the camp's trampoline, him trying to describe why cricket is awesome, and generally having the time of my life.
i really hope that the universe lines up and i get to see that wonderful man again. he has to be one of the most gentle and introspective people that i have ever met, and i greatly respect him for those qualities. plus hes super hot! omg those eyes... haha.
i set off from taupo for the coromandel peninsula where i stopped at hot water beach and took the time to pick up a grip of 17 year old hitchikers. they were distracted by the fact that i had forgotten to put on pants after the beach and things were slightly awkward until i began to understand their thick accents. i pulled over in coromandel town and stayed at a hostel that looked like it had been plucked out of santa cruz in the 1970s. it was plush, comfortable, and for universe saw fit to give me a room of my own. i was grateful for the personal space even though the room was clearly haunted.
dont look at me like that, i swear it was haunted!
this morning i stopped a few times on the way here to take photos, but generally stayed on track and went to the tallest mountain in the city and perused the wartime museum. now its beer o'clock.
well on that note ive been sitting here for way too long and its gonna cost a pantload for the internet and i still have to book a ticket home from bali. wish me luck!
taryn.
auckland is a whole other story, but thats because it qualifies as the largest city in NZ with the largest population of pacific islander peoples in the world (learned that at the auckland wartime museum today- which is awesome btw). its got millions of people and its fairly overwhelming to someone who has spent pretty much the last 6 weeks in towns with no more than 2000 people.
and having said that, im really nervous about going to bali. of course i am a giant pansy when it comes to my throat phobias. im worried that the food isnt going to sit well with me; that ill get sick. im worried about having panic attacks more than usual even though ive had them here and it hasnt really been an issue. im not going to dwell on this thing too much because ive got to find a place to stay tonight, a place to keep my car for the night, and a place to have a beer in the next 15 minutes.
meh, ive done more with less.
the last few days have been just spectacular. i went from camping in the tongariro national park (but didnt do any walking for days because of the multi-day heavy rains) at a ski resort-type town, to taupo where i promptly took the advice of some natives and located a natural (free!!) hot spring and played around for a bit.
after feeling totally refreshed and ready for some sightseeing, i did what i usually do and drove around town a bit before finding a good spot to do some walking and get to know the layout of the town. coincidentally, one of the bikers i met in tekapo was heading down my way and we decided to meet and catch up with beers.
we had a fabulous evening filled with live bands and a wayward attempt to go back to the hot spring after the park had closed. it was such a good time, we decided to hang out there for another day. we toured around the lake on his motorcycle, and he definitely tried to scare me more than once. i totally appreciated the gesture because as you probably know, im a bit self-destructive and love me some speed demons. i think we topped out at 150-180kph? i have no idea because the wind coming through my too-large helmet was making my eyes water.
such a friggin blast. i must get me one of those contraptions.
then it was naptime induced by large lunch and hangover, before doing it all over again. we stayed up all night drinking wine, playing on the camp's trampoline, him trying to describe why cricket is awesome, and generally having the time of my life.
i really hope that the universe lines up and i get to see that wonderful man again. he has to be one of the most gentle and introspective people that i have ever met, and i greatly respect him for those qualities. plus hes super hot! omg those eyes... haha.
i set off from taupo for the coromandel peninsula where i stopped at hot water beach and took the time to pick up a grip of 17 year old hitchikers. they were distracted by the fact that i had forgotten to put on pants after the beach and things were slightly awkward until i began to understand their thick accents. i pulled over in coromandel town and stayed at a hostel that looked like it had been plucked out of santa cruz in the 1970s. it was plush, comfortable, and for universe saw fit to give me a room of my own. i was grateful for the personal space even though the room was clearly haunted.
dont look at me like that, i swear it was haunted!
this morning i stopped a few times on the way here to take photos, but generally stayed on track and went to the tallest mountain in the city and perused the wartime museum. now its beer o'clock.
well on that note ive been sitting here for way too long and its gonna cost a pantload for the internet and i still have to book a ticket home from bali. wish me luck!
taryn.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
so kaleb and i parted ways in wanaka. he went on to do
what i can only guess is probably a shitload of mountainbiking. i
continued to winetaste and drive up the west coast then went for a hike
after running out of gas. all in all it was a pretty good day.
i got to the fox glacier and it was truly beautiful but i was tired as shit and unable to admire it properly. so i found a campsite, made a bed and had the best nights sleep i had in a while. then it was back to the glacier to see it like i should have the first time, but i was too distracted by the fact that i lost my car key somewhere among the slate-grey rocks. perfect place for my key to hide. bastard.
true to form, i depended on the kindness of strangers who found my key and then i set off for the Franz Josef glacier. hiked around there for a few hours and even got to walk right up to the glacier itself. kinda disappointing due to th amount of tourists and the fact that the glacier is the color of dirt. haha
when it came time to find a campsite there, i realized that there is absolutely nothing to do in that town but drink. alone. just you and the bartender, if they have one. lame. so i drove up the coast for a few hours and landed at this DOC campsite right on a lake in hokitika. and they have this truly amazing dive bar that even surpassed the Balboa Saloon and Class of '47 in sleaziness. amazeballs. turns out they have been a destination on the Kiwi Experience route for about 20 years and the walls are just coated with the lost dignity and old booze. needless to say, i felt right at home.
so i showed up there at about 5pm and see these two really, really old men at the bar sharing a pitcher of beer and chatting with a bartender in her 50s. they turn out to be lifetime locals and one of the owners! perfect. they gave me the best scoop on where to go and hike in the area.
the next day was made for more driving along what is claimed to be the most beautiful drive in NZ. did some touristy things and bought a necklace from an aritsts' co-op in punikariki (sp?). i finally pulled over in motueka with the intention of spending the next day in the able tasman national park.
the coast tramp there is just spectaular and i spent a good 4 hours there and stumbled across a nude beach. ill let you decide whether or not i took part in the activity. afterwards i made my way across the top of the island by winetasting all the way to Nelson.
i was feeling really out of sorts by the time i got there because i had been on the move every day for what seemed like forever, and no one had said anything in particular about nelson, and i had no idea about where to go or spend the night. that was when i heard some street music. they were playing american oldies and it was calling my name. then i was drawn over to a table with some other travelers who could tell i was alone. we all spent the rest of the day together, ending with a really fab meal and cocktails with alcohols that i coud not name.
the next few days were pretty mild: hiking and camping on beautiful beaches and a lot of driving.
i left picton a couple of days ago on the ferry after spending a couple of great days hiking and lying on the beach getting a tan. beautiful pics to come when i can find a proper portal.
then onto wellington where i spent i beautiful day and had a really great meal again at one of the sport recommended by my guide. i think thats the first time ive ever done that intentionally. funny...
last night i again camped right on the beach in opunake, and i tell you i had a really great night's sleep. even on the ground while it was raining. perhaps it was the wine and huge dinner i made myself, but i woke up happy and satisfied. now i must decide if i want to drive out of my way to see new plymouth before some hiking around the truly stunning mt. taranaki. (seriously it seemed like it just arose out of nowhere when i was driving here.)
hm, i think ill just head straight for the mountain/volcano and then make my way to the tongariro national park, spend a day or so there before heading to taupo. im really gonna try hard to do some bungy jumping there and not be a total wimp.
oh man that was a big update. sorry about that.
i got to the fox glacier and it was truly beautiful but i was tired as shit and unable to admire it properly. so i found a campsite, made a bed and had the best nights sleep i had in a while. then it was back to the glacier to see it like i should have the first time, but i was too distracted by the fact that i lost my car key somewhere among the slate-grey rocks. perfect place for my key to hide. bastard.
true to form, i depended on the kindness of strangers who found my key and then i set off for the Franz Josef glacier. hiked around there for a few hours and even got to walk right up to the glacier itself. kinda disappointing due to th amount of tourists and the fact that the glacier is the color of dirt. haha
when it came time to find a campsite there, i realized that there is absolutely nothing to do in that town but drink. alone. just you and the bartender, if they have one. lame. so i drove up the coast for a few hours and landed at this DOC campsite right on a lake in hokitika. and they have this truly amazing dive bar that even surpassed the Balboa Saloon and Class of '47 in sleaziness. amazeballs. turns out they have been a destination on the Kiwi Experience route for about 20 years and the walls are just coated with the lost dignity and old booze. needless to say, i felt right at home.
so i showed up there at about 5pm and see these two really, really old men at the bar sharing a pitcher of beer and chatting with a bartender in her 50s. they turn out to be lifetime locals and one of the owners! perfect. they gave me the best scoop on where to go and hike in the area.
the next day was made for more driving along what is claimed to be the most beautiful drive in NZ. did some touristy things and bought a necklace from an aritsts' co-op in punikariki (sp?). i finally pulled over in motueka with the intention of spending the next day in the able tasman national park.
the coast tramp there is just spectaular and i spent a good 4 hours there and stumbled across a nude beach. ill let you decide whether or not i took part in the activity. afterwards i made my way across the top of the island by winetasting all the way to Nelson.
i was feeling really out of sorts by the time i got there because i had been on the move every day for what seemed like forever, and no one had said anything in particular about nelson, and i had no idea about where to go or spend the night. that was when i heard some street music. they were playing american oldies and it was calling my name. then i was drawn over to a table with some other travelers who could tell i was alone. we all spent the rest of the day together, ending with a really fab meal and cocktails with alcohols that i coud not name.
the next few days were pretty mild: hiking and camping on beautiful beaches and a lot of driving.
i left picton a couple of days ago on the ferry after spending a couple of great days hiking and lying on the beach getting a tan. beautiful pics to come when i can find a proper portal.
then onto wellington where i spent i beautiful day and had a really great meal again at one of the sport recommended by my guide. i think thats the first time ive ever done that intentionally. funny...
last night i again camped right on the beach in opunake, and i tell you i had a really great night's sleep. even on the ground while it was raining. perhaps it was the wine and huge dinner i made myself, but i woke up happy and satisfied. now i must decide if i want to drive out of my way to see new plymouth before some hiking around the truly stunning mt. taranaki. (seriously it seemed like it just arose out of nowhere when i was driving here.)
hm, i think ill just head straight for the mountain/volcano and then make my way to the tongariro national park, spend a day or so there before heading to taupo. im really gonna try hard to do some bungy jumping there and not be a total wimp.
oh man that was a big update. sorry about that.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
musings from En-Zed:
hahhahHAHHAHA (please read as evil laugh).
welcome to the inner sanctum of my brain. ive been driving pretty much every day for at least 5 hours for about a week and these are some of the things ive been thinking about.
-when they are far away in the fields, sheep look like lice. from personal experience: yeesh.
-sometimes, you just have to stop taking photos because youre going to miss what youre trying to capture.
-all of the cars that ive rented seem to be ultimate POSs. this one has taught itself to whistle quite loudly whenever you drive it longer than it likes. it def causes some stares in these small towns with like 2 people on the streets.
- the clouds in this country defy words. they seem to always be forming multiple layers of beauty; coming from everywhere and delineating the pattern of the wind like something ive never seen before.
-i still hate other people's children. especially at campsites where the walls are actually just tent flaps. their only redeeming quality is the fact that they cant drink yet and i can. its tenuous i know, but whatever.
-vegetarian diet seems to be agreeing with me. probably because i sleep in a tent by myself and can allow myself to do all the things that veggies do to you.
-there are idiots in every country.
-def going to have to come back here. theres too much to see and 6 weeks was not enough.
-people here have no idea what salsa is.
-i seem to be continuously and comfortably redefining myself.
-living out of a car is fairly comfortable as long as you shower regularly as have money for gas and booze. coincidentally, i do.
-the best meal i have yet had in NZ was some take-away fish and chips from a seafood market in a port called Mapua that was accompanied by some locally brewed (like, right next door) beer. that, and wandering through a swap-meet-type market in nelson constituted the best day that ive had in a couple of weeks.
-if he doesnt interest me to the nth degree, its really not worth it. there are a million of him.
-OH MY GOD I HAVE SO MUCH SHTI TO DO WHEN I GET HOME.
-i really must do more camping back in the states.
-i almost said "sweet as" today. kinda cool.
-omg. SANDFLIES. omg. MOSQUITOS.
-i miss you. you know who you are... and to the other ones: just email me crazypants!
-i cant wait for bali!!
-so glad i took some time off from the DocProg.
-i should really think about starting a restaurant around granny's recipes. maybe supported with some serbian cuisine as well. could be pretty awesome.
thats all i can think of for now.
love you,
Taryn
welcome to the inner sanctum of my brain. ive been driving pretty much every day for at least 5 hours for about a week and these are some of the things ive been thinking about.
-when they are far away in the fields, sheep look like lice. from personal experience: yeesh.
-sometimes, you just have to stop taking photos because youre going to miss what youre trying to capture.
-all of the cars that ive rented seem to be ultimate POSs. this one has taught itself to whistle quite loudly whenever you drive it longer than it likes. it def causes some stares in these small towns with like 2 people on the streets.
- the clouds in this country defy words. they seem to always be forming multiple layers of beauty; coming from everywhere and delineating the pattern of the wind like something ive never seen before.
-i still hate other people's children. especially at campsites where the walls are actually just tent flaps. their only redeeming quality is the fact that they cant drink yet and i can. its tenuous i know, but whatever.
-vegetarian diet seems to be agreeing with me. probably because i sleep in a tent by myself and can allow myself to do all the things that veggies do to you.
-there are idiots in every country.
-def going to have to come back here. theres too much to see and 6 weeks was not enough.
-people here have no idea what salsa is.
-i seem to be continuously and comfortably redefining myself.
-living out of a car is fairly comfortable as long as you shower regularly as have money for gas and booze. coincidentally, i do.
-the best meal i have yet had in NZ was some take-away fish and chips from a seafood market in a port called Mapua that was accompanied by some locally brewed (like, right next door) beer. that, and wandering through a swap-meet-type market in nelson constituted the best day that ive had in a couple of weeks.
-if he doesnt interest me to the nth degree, its really not worth it. there are a million of him.
-OH MY GOD I HAVE SO MUCH SHTI TO DO WHEN I GET HOME.
-i really must do more camping back in the states.
-i almost said "sweet as" today. kinda cool.
-omg. SANDFLIES. omg. MOSQUITOS.
-i miss you. you know who you are... and to the other ones: just email me crazypants!
-i cant wait for bali!!
-so glad i took some time off from the DocProg.
-i should really think about starting a restaurant around granny's recipes. maybe supported with some serbian cuisine as well. could be pretty awesome.
thats all i can think of for now.
love you,
Taryn
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