greeting from the Southern Alps!
So all my airplanes did what they were supposed to do and got me back to the real world without too much event. I even got to ride with a helicopter - sitting beside me. That was definitely a new experience in an airplane.
Christchurch was a great re-introduction to the world, it's botanical gardens in full swing with a rose garden you could smell from over a wall and several meters away. Ducks and dogs, other birds, and the hostel cat were all something of novelty as was something they call beer that isn't 7 years old... We tried to remain restrained but that is an awful lot of wonderful stimuli and it was easy enough to get carried away! We helped one of the local pubs achieve their best day ever!
So out of CHC and into the wonderful wilds or semi-wilds of New Zealand. I write from Wanaka, but have also been spending time on the Banks Peninsula. Sheep. Sheep Sheep. everywhere. It's not an exaggeration. But also lots of cows! A pebble beach which aside from being too dangerous to enter (rips) is quite possibly my favorite to date. It's light outisde still , so I will end this blog entry there and with a few pictures as I must go hike around and up a peak and possibly throw a fly line in the water with my buddy I'm traveling with... Till then - (An update on why American kids are so unruly coming soon.) Travis
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
On my way back into rotation.
Here I go again - landed in McMurdo yesterday and am heading out of here in a matter of hours for Christchurch. My plane is allready in the air on it's way here. I stopped here for the night to... interview for next year! I guess this place is kind of addicting.
My flight in was a thrilling ride with a great crew of guardsmen in a LC-130, the skiing transport. We did a little whale watching on the way, as we could see the space where the ice had been broken up by the ships brining supplies to Mactown. They also let me ride on the flight deck all the way through landing! A pretty great way to say goodbye for the year.
Now I will be met by hordes of polies making there way in today, only to be whisked off again all the way to NZ without a break. Oi. Glad I opted out of that plan! I also got to run into a few friends I was surprised to see were still here, and do some country and swing dancing with them in the first bar I've been to in months.
It's been a great experience, and I'm ready to get out of here for the time being. Leaving a pile of great folks behind to winter in isolation is a really interesting feeling. I hope to keep up with them, though currently am not in envy of their position. I'm in for forests, beaches and the night sky, but only in so much as the sun comes up every day still.
I'll try to keep up with some of my travels from here, but will not have a computer or regular access. See you east coasters in a few months - West coasters a bit sooner I think!
OOps - McMurdo won't let me put pics on - coming soon!
My flight in was a thrilling ride with a great crew of guardsmen in a LC-130, the skiing transport. We did a little whale watching on the way, as we could see the space where the ice had been broken up by the ships brining supplies to Mactown. They also let me ride on the flight deck all the way through landing! A pretty great way to say goodbye for the year.
Now I will be met by hordes of polies making there way in today, only to be whisked off again all the way to NZ without a break. Oi. Glad I opted out of that plan! I also got to run into a few friends I was surprised to see were still here, and do some country and swing dancing with them in the first bar I've been to in months.
It's been a great experience, and I'm ready to get out of here for the time being. Leaving a pile of great folks behind to winter in isolation is a really interesting feeling. I hope to keep up with them, though currently am not in envy of their position. I'm in for forests, beaches and the night sky, but only in so much as the sun comes up every day still.
I'll try to keep up with some of my travels from here, but will not have a computer or regular access. See you east coasters in a few months - West coasters a bit sooner I think!
OOps - McMurdo won't let me put pics on - coming soon!
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