One last post from home...

New Zealand taught Liz and I a lot: how to travel with non-vegetarian, whiskey drinking Scotsmen (a HUGE lesson in itself!), how to drive on the left side of the road, how to properly buy a car….

We learned a lot of valuable lessons. Earlier today, I was going through some old word documents that I had written while I was in New Zealand but never posted on the blog. One entry in particular was entitled, “Lessons”. Here is a small selection from this document:

When you go out backpacking, go into the wild, leave for an epic trip, you often hope that it will bring some sort of order, some sort of inner peace and understanding to your life.

Especially if you’re 22 and trying to figure out your life.

However, this rarely happens. (Well, at least for me.)  Life’s ponderings are rarely solved by a 15 mile hike or 3 day road trip. Sometimes I come home more at peace, but still with the same problems, the same questions.

This trip was different.

It might have been because we weren’t able to be home for Christmas.

It might have been because we haven’t been able to keep in contact as much as we’ve wanted with our family and friends.

It might have been for lack of a proper measuring cup.

WHO KNOWS.

Anyways. This is a list of what I have learned:

1.)   I don’t want to go to PA school any more. I want to go back to school and get a Masters in Public Health.

2.)   I want to get back together with Colin when I get home. I love him. From our first date when he showed up with a bleach stain on his shirt and we listened to live bluegrass music while drinking cheap beer out of cans and rode our bikes and sat in trees in the dark to the day he left for Mississippi, I was happier than I’ve ever been. It’s been five months to the day that he left and I still think about him at least thirty times a day.

3.)   Even though my job will hopefully involve traveling, I will always be home for Christmas. Always.

4.)   That’s it.

5.)   I thought this list would have been bigger.

6.)   [sigh]

I never posted this entry because I found it pretty lame. It wasn’t an amusing anecdote; it wasn’t full of lessons others could apply to their own lives. How many people who read this blog would really care that much that I had switched my studies? Or care that I had decided that I for sure wanted to get back together with Colin? Adults are always thinking, “Oh. A boyfriend.” You hear all the time from people, “Yea – guys come and go. You need to think about yourself and what you want in life.” This entry just seemed…well. I don’t know. Kind of little.

But that’s wrong. There’s a lesson that I learned that can be shared. A lesson that people CAN apply to their own lives.

And it has to deal with lesson no. 2.

I almost lost someone when I got home from NZ.  While in NZ, I had let someone get away, someone who had earlier become my best friend, someone I had said made me feel “beautifully happy”, someone who was a truly good person, someone who had been there for me the entire time.

I’ve learned that you can’t just give up on something because it’s hard or because it’s easier and less painful and less scary to just try and forget.  It might be hard, SO hard, but if deep down you know it’s truly right – you can’t be scared and you’ve just got to stick with it and make it work.

Before Colin and I broke up when he moved to Mississippi and I traveled to NZ, we would read together a chapter of the children’s book, “The Little Prince” every day.  Below is an excerpt that I think sums up what I’m trying to say:

The little prince went away, to look again at the roses.

"You are not at all like my rose," he said. "As yet you are nothing. No one has tamed you, and you have tamed no one. You are like my fox when I first knew him. He was only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But I have made him my friend, and now he is unique in all the world."

And the roses were very much humbled.

"You are beautiful, but you are empty," he went on. "One could not die for you. To be sure, an ordinary passerby would think that my rose looked just like you--the rose that belongs to me. But in herself alone she is more important than all the hundreds of you other roses: because it is she that I have watered; because it is she that I have put under the glass globe; because it is she that I have sheltered behind the screen; because it is for her that I have killed the caterpillars (except the two or three that we saved to become butterflies); because it is she that I have listened to, when she grumbled, or boasted, or ever sometimes when she said nothing. Because she is my rose.”

And he went back to meet the fox.

"Goodbye," he said.

"Goodbye," said the fox. "And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."

"What is essential is invisible to the eye," the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember.

"It is the time you have spent on your rose that makes your rose so important."

"It is the time I have spent on my rose--" said the little prince, so that he would be sure to remember.

"Men have forgotten this truth," said the fox. "But you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose . . ."

"I am responsible for my rose," the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember.

And THAT is the lesson that New Zealand really taught me: to recognize when relationships with others are truly good, when things are right, and then to work hard to keep them that way.

Back in the U.S.A.

Liz here:

Most of you know this by now, but Jen and I are back in Michigan. We got back about a week ago, after a two-hour flight from Queenstown to Auckland, a night spent sprawled on benches in the Auckland airport, a four hour flight to Melbourne (in Australia), a four-hour layover in the Melbourne airport, a fourteen hour flight to Los Angeles, a long layover in L.A., and then a five hour flight to Detroit. Whew. It takes DAYS to travel around the world.

We were supposed to come home April 5th, originally, but our money was steadily disappearing, and when good ol' Achilles' brakes spectacularly caught fire driving down the mountain into Queenstown's valley, we decided to make an end with NZ before we were entirely broke. We spent a few days exploring Queenstown (which is gorgeous), making our travel plans, searching out Mexican food, and watching some seriously top-notch street performance. And then we came home.

I gained a lot of insights from my time in New Zealand. I learned more about how other people work - and about my own mind, and desires, and needs. (I also learned how to make the shit out of a bed and carry a full tray of wineglasses.) There were some depressing, miserable lows. There were some long days where we didn't think about anything but work. There were some long days cooped up in a miniature, loud, smoking car with four other (usually gassy) people. And then there were those exuberant, joyful, perfectly beautiful highs.

I'm working on writing some essays about some experiences in NZ; I might post them here when I'm finished, so keep checking back in the next few weeks. In the meantime, I hope to see all of you and do some story-sharing in PERSON, for the first time in months.

Much love, and thanks for reading -
Liz Dengate

Hello from Windy Wellington

Liz here:

Sitting in NZ’s capital city of Wellington, at a café called Kapai on Courtenay Pl., around the corner from our hostel. We’re actually staying in a hotel, not a hostel – quite a nice place, the Cambridge Hotel, with a posh lobby and extremely high, beamed wooden ceilings – but it does have a backpackers’ wing. We’re in a six-bed dorm, so don’t think we’re forgetting our budget now.

The hotel has a pub attached: a place you might call your “local,” with thick, wooden tables, lots of old men drinking, and rugby on the television. Although when we arrived for an afternoon pint earlier, they were showing U of M vs. State basketball! I went crazy, shrieking “That’s my school!” while the guys looked on bemusedly (and a little bit impressed, I dare say.) I forgot it was March Madness time.

We’ve been camping, mostly. In the two weeks and a day since we left Paihia, tonight’s just our fifth night in a hostel. The last two nights, however, were freezing (almost literally), very wet, and almost comically windy. The guys kind of revolted (with Jen temporarily gone, the ratio of non-campers to campers has risen to 3:1) and here we are, booked into the Cambridge Hotel, with our soggy tents forgotten in the car’s boot. Anyway, it is Lewis’ 21st birthday, and I don’t think Lewis gets any happier than when he has not only a bed, but one in a building that is half pub.

I like this city. I left the guys in the aforementioned pub and have been exploring for the last two hours, wandering the streets and perusing a used bookstore. Since we never really spent any time in Auckland (NZ’s biggest city) Wellington feels huge. It’s the most culture and the most people I’ve experienced since September, basically. From my perch here, I can see two Chinese, an Irish, an Argentinian, a Jamaican, a Moroccan, and three Indian restaurants. Awesome. There are tons of people walking around, theaters, an opera house, a yacht-studded harbor, parks and statues everywhere.

The only drawback is that it’s windy as Chicago and cold. People are literally walking around in winter coats. After months of Paihia summer, this feels “Baltic,” as the guys would say.

The last few days have been a whirlwind of travel. We bop around in the tiny car (three packs securely strapped to the top), stopping occasionally for coffees, toasted sandwiches, or curry takeaways. We cook a lot of instant noodles, oatmeal, and pasta on my little stove, and the guys have gotten quite good at setting up the tents. The roads are a blur of sheep-y farmland and rolling hills, and tiny towns with the requisite bakeries selling mince pies, and fish & chip shops, and dingy gas stations. Everywhere begins to look the same, driving down the middle of the country, and that’s why I’m glad for a couple days in Wellington, which is definitely its own distinct place.

Photo update soon – stay tuned!
Liz x

Pictures - jen

The silver fern: one of the national symbols of New Zealand. The new, curling fern is a symbol of new beginnings and growth.

Waitangi Day - annual celebration of the Maori and British treaty signed February 6, 1840

 The haka - a traditional Maori dance that was originally used to intimidate the enemy before battle

Last night at Swiss. Kelly, our awesome boss.

Peini and Julian

 Liz, the best waitress

 The Swiss crew: myself, Liz, Julian (Germany), Mani (Maori), Stephan (Germany), Jana (Germany), Stephanie (Uruguay), Kelly (Kiwi), and Peini (Maori)

Our traveling companion, Steven

While eating one of the Valentine’s Peeps my mom sent, Steven gave a gangster shoutout to all his “peeps”

 Sand dunes at Cape Reinga

The Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean colliding….cool. In Maori tradition, the colliding of the seas represents the coming together of male and female and the creation of life.

Te Reinga – the leaving place for all Maori souls to the next world. Souls would climb down the roots of the kahika tree, named Te Aroha, where they would continue on to Hawaiki

 National Geographic moment as the emus started fighting over the bread Liz and I were giving them

 Liz and Jamie standing on the side of the road after the car broke down

 Emus.....scary shit.

Getting towed by Brett, our new Kaitaia friend who saved us from being ripped off by a car mechanic

The black swans of Rotorua

Maori cemetery in Rotorua

 Rotorua meeting house, the official Maori meeting house of the entire central/eastern North Island region. All of the carvings on the meeting house represent famous Maoris and Maori traditions and legends.

 Lake Taupo

Lewis, another of our traveling mates

 NZ wine collection

 King Country

It's too early.

Good morning, San Francisco!

I don’t really know why I’m saying this. I think I saw someone say it on a tv show once, or in a movie.  You know what I mean though? Gooooood morning, San Francisco! I don’t even know why that pops to mind. I don’t even think we have followers in San Francisco. If we do though, that is awesome. I think it’s just too early.

It is currently 7:00 a.m. here at the airport in Napier.  I’ve been so nervous and only slept about 2 hours last night. For today ----- my parents arrive. I have NO idea why I’m this nervous. Normally, I’m just like, “Oh yes. Parents.” I mean, I love my parents. Love them. But normally, I can sleep just fine before seeing them.

I think I’m just worried that they won’t have a good time here. Or that the weather will be horrible. Or that the airlines will lose their bags.

Here at the Napier airport, there are two gates. The “Phantom of the Opera” music is playing over the loudspeaker. There is one check in counter. There is no x-ray/security to go through. I’m all alone save one rather obese woman sitting next to me who for some reason decided that today would be an excellent day to wear her tight, obviously fake, leopard print dress.

Yes.

I fly north to Auckland and then south to Queenstown, located almost at the very south of New Zealand. My flight arrives in Queenstown at 11:30 and then my parents’ flight arrives at 2:30. Hopefully we will rendezvous at the baggage pick up.

Liz, Jamie, Lewis, and Steven plan on continuing driving south from Napier to Wellington. They’ll then take the ferry across from the North Island to the South Island. My parents and I will meet up with them in roughly about a week as we head north and they head south.

** Note: At this point, I feel as if I should apologize for the lack of recent blog posts. Liz and I have been staying at Department of Conservation campsites every night, which is AWESOME, but….there’s never cell phone service and there is obviously no wireless internet. Often, when we do get to a town or a village, we’re just passing through on our way to another National Park.

Enjoy the pictures. I’m going to go get a coffee.

Miss you all,

Jen x

From a Soft Bed...

Liz here:

I write to you all at the moment from a very soft, cozy bed, with a real pillow and a real blanket - kind of a shock to the system after our last week of camping. It's pretty nice. WE were all a shock to the system, I'm sure - the olfactory system - until yesterday afternoon, when we got our first shower, after seven days of hiking and kayaking.


I bring you a quick recap of the road trip so far. Above is a picture of New Zealand's north island. We began at the big blob north of Whangerei, near the top: Paihia, in the Bay of Island. From there we zoomed up to beautiful Cape Reinga, where we spent a couple of days.

On our way back south, the car pooped out and we were stuck in boooring Kaitaia for a day and a half - but we quickly recovered and raced down the island, for a brief stop in Auckland to pick up Lewis, and then on to smelly Rotorua, of the sulfur springs.

After Rotorua it was Taupo, for sailing, excellent espresso, morning swims in rivers, and cider drinking. Around the lake to Taumarunui, a little town lost in nowhere, where we rented five kayaks from a kind family and paddled twenty km down the gorgeous Wanganui, camping beside the same river.

After Taumarunui, we entered the expansive, haunting, and mountainous Tongariro National Park, with its simple, minimalistic beauty, for two nights more camping and some epic day hikes.

And here we are now on the East Coast, in the Hawke's Bay wine region, in the art deco city of Napier.

Jen, sadly, left us this morning - but she's off to meet her parents in Queenstown, which is pretty awesome. She flew down, and we'll meet her and her parents in the top of the south island in about a week. I wish her a very happy early birthday - it's tomorrow!!! Jen is an amazing friend, a trustworthy confidante, a cool and collected traveling companion, a funny and entertaining mate in adventure, and I want her to have the absolute best birthday she's ever had.

More details coming soon; in the meantime, I am going to enjoy the heck out of this bed.

North of the Quake

To ease our readers’ minds, we are not and have not been in Christchurch. The earthquake there was horrible; the papers are full of shocking photos and it seems like the number of fatalities just keeps rising as the days go on. This one was much closer to the surface (just 5 km below as opposed to 33) than the one right before we came to NZ, in September. The destruction has been horrible. We’re tremendously lucky, really; in two or three weeks we’d probably have been in Christchurch.

Instead, here we are in the middle of the North Island; our thoughts are with the Christchurchians (or whatever they might be called), but our bodies are far away. I’m currently sitting on the comfiest couch EVER in the Rainbow Lodge in the city of Taupo, on Lake Taupo, New Zealand’s largest lake. Last night we camped a few km outside of town at a free campground on the river, but we moved into the city today so that we can have a couple drinks tonight (we hear of a pub with Bulmer’s cider on tap!) and not have to drive anywhere.

Our tents are outside on a wee strip of grass along the fence outside the hostel itself. In here, it reminds me of a small, hippie university: lots of bright colors and wind chimes, big shade trees, the smells of incense and coffee and cooking food, chipped ceramic mugs in solid colors lining the white shelves in the big kitchen, girls walking around barefoot in embroidered dresses.

This morning Jen and I hiked to the impressively blue Huka Falls and back; then we had a chilly swim in the wide, gorgeous river and drove into town. I finally got my chance to SAIL! We rented little 16’ boats on the lake and sailed around for an hour and a half; Jen and I in one boat, Jamie and Lewis in another, and Steven trying his hand at windsurfing (they only had one windsurfer.)

I gave Jen a proper lesson (she’s a sailing expert now) while Jamie and Lewis perfected their 360’s and tried to capsize the boat. : ) It was warm and sunny, there was a decent breeze, and the mountains of Tongariro National Park are just there in the background. When we brought the boats in, we dived cheerfully off the pier.

In short, our road trip (Achilles now running smoothly) continues to be awesome. We’ve just come from Rotorua, which is a thermal hotspot and smells like sulfur – we hiked there in an actual REDWOOD forest. Apparently kiwis brought over a bunch of Seqouia sempirvirens back in the late 1800’s and started a proper forest. It was gorgeous. We also took baths in hot mineral water, visited a giant Maori meeting house, and spent our nights plaqued by exceedingly noisy pukako birds. (Like small, shiny, black and blue chickens. The babies are goofy.)

Tomorrow we head to Tongariro to check out the mountains firsthand…