Agile Fashion

The rain just won’t let up in Christchurch and even the locals find it unbelievable for this time of year. We chase the sun over to the west coast. Traveling over Lewis Pass and a night at Hanmer Springs, on in to Punakaiki and the Pancake Rocks and down to Fox glacier we drive before the rain finally finds us. This car handles so well, it is such a pleasure to drive.

At Fox Glacier we stay at a backpacker’s on Christmas eve, and have some very nice conversations with fellow wanderers. There’s a woman who teaches at the community college in Grand Junction, a man who retired from farming in Ohio, another young woman applying for a job with CBS for the Beijing Olympics, and they are all really entertaining people.

There’s also a younger guy from Minnesota who is living in Wellington and down for the holiday. His bus up to Nelson doesn’t leave for another day and he feels “stuck at Fox Glacier” so I offer to take him up north to Greymouth where he feels it will be better to catch a bus that day.

Off we go and what this guy lacks in personality he compliments with sheer dumbness. He decides to just stay the night at Greymouth, which is a small town with nothing going on at all, as opposed to Fox where admittedly there is no town but who cares when you’re surrounded by mountains majesty? It would be like choosing to hang out in Detroit over Aspen. He declined my invitation to head back for Christmas in Christchurch so I leave him at a stinky hostel that he chose, and we go over Arthur’s Pass.

What a lovely area and we stop to hike to a falls. There are Lupin blooming throughout the valley. We pick up a guy who has just done a long back country trip. He’s a teacher in Auckland and very entertaining for conversation. He takes me up on my offer to mail his stove and gas bottle back since he can’t take it on the plane and mentions that he helps to maintain a hut in Tongariro so he would like for us to come up so we can do a hike with him out to it; fantastic.

Hanging out in Christchurch we do some of the cultural things like the Museum and Botanic Gardens. We need to get serious about job finding and I am fired up to go back to school. I want to study science and get a Master’s in Environmental Science. Education is cheap here, and Otago is ranked in the top 100 internationally and has a well-known program. Erica will teach and has her credentials all sorted out.

Our plans are to head south and visit the campus in Dunedin, hike Kepler outside of Te Anau and spend some time in the Queenstown and Wanaka area before we have to really concentrate on finding the place to live and settling. After all our shopping for that place to live, it has found us in regards to my education, more than likely we will be making home in Dunedin.

In to Christchurch we march, hell bent to make it without something else going wrong. Erica’s uncle has a place we hope to stay at to refresh ourselves and use as a base. It’s well worth the effort because this is an incredibly nice house with all the utilities running, waiting for us; or anyone for that matter. We buy some beer and rent a stack of DVDs, going back to the house to play a couple games of pool, watch movies and drink.

After taking it back to Midas I hop online and put ads out on all the sites I can find: Gumtree, TradeMe, Craigslist and more. The dinging was a hub put back on loose, fixed free of charge. Within a couple days people are emailing me about it. A couple more days go by and someone is actually here looking at it. He crawls all around it and makes me nervous that he will see what a piece of crap it really is. We go on a long drive. He makes an offer of $8,000 and I refuse it. After all, we spent $11,500 purchasing it. I tell him I’ll go to ten and he leaves to think about it. I call him back and tell him my financial adviser has authorized nine five. He comes back at $9,250 and it’s over. The Bedford is out of our lives, and we didn’t even have to burn it!

Cash in hand we go out looking for a replacement ride. I’ve done my research on Consumer Reports (New Zealand edition) and Top Gear. I had recently heard about this show from the UK when my mother sent me this video. They are their version of Click and Clack and might even be a little funnier. We wind up with a 1997 Honda Accord wagon and only paid 7 grand for it, with all registration and other licensing included. With the dual cam VTEC in it, we could probably tow the Bedford.

The big kayak shop we start at doesn’t have any kayaks available, and so calls a smaller place. We sort out the campsites we’ll stay at and pay for the whole lot.

Wandering around town we come across a flyer for the kayak place we’ve rented from. He charged us 20 bucks more than the price we were charged. I tell him this when we meet in the morning and he promises to get it to me before we leave, and doesn’t.

After a brief introduction to the wonders of kayaking and how to keep one upright in the water, we’re off to Split Apple Rock. After that we head north, a direction we’ll follow for the next 3 days. We spend the night at Te Puketea with a load of Germans, with the mail boats constantly whizzing in and out, dropping off and picking up day hikers. Around sunset the activity stops and we’re left with breathless views and serene silence.

The rain starts that night and is relentless. The wind is strong enough to flatten our tent upon us. Once again we don’t secure all our food and a possum tries to grab a bag of our stuff. I shake him off and bring it inside. We spend the morning inside the tent waiting for the rain to abate. About half way through the day it breaks and we paddle off.

The next stop is called Mosquito Bay and despite the name is a great place. It turns out to be our favorite of all the places we stay. At high tide there is an island just off the beach. The tide differential is 12 feet so at low tide we’re surrounded by sand and a little creek wandering through the area.

There is a pair of Oystercatchers nesting, and a pair of Herons fishing in the little lagoon. Another little Bellbird doesn’t like the other birds too much and is just raising quite a racket. The napping seal just ignores us all. The only thing that detracts from this little piece of pleasure is Erica’s lip has swollen up so bad she slurs like the retard Jimmy from South Park when she talks. It must’ve been bitten by a sand fly or …something.

The next and third day Erica’s lip looks fine and we make it on to Onetahuti. It’s another big drop off for the boats, it is big and litter is scattered everywhere. We drop our stuff and go out to Tonga Island in the middle of a marine reserve and full of seals. There are babies squeaking loudly. One of them is so small he cannot walk very well and is still nursing, head wobbling as he looks out at the tourists passing by in the boats.

After much oooing and ahhhing we decide to head as far north as we’re allowed to check out Shag Harbor. This is named after a bird, not the action. It’s full of secret little coves and has tree limbs reaching over the water. Following back as far as we can we discover a little trickling stream which has cut out this exceptional place.

On the way back the sea has grown tumultuous and threatens to roll our little kayak over. We keep perpendicular to the waves as trained, cutting away from land and back towards it as we try and head south and back in to our camp spot.

It takes a long time fighting the waves and not being able to paddle direct so when we get back and have some company for the night we’re a little annoyed. This annoyance grows with each repetition of the guides’ tuneless ditty that he whistles. Over and over the same little notes are cast on the air and caught by the hair rising on my neck. I combat it by my own dull whistling to show how annoying it is but this only encourages him. I want to ask if he takes any requests, like SHUT UP but just try and ignore him, like we were in a city trying to pretend we’re the only ones walking down a street populated by the throngs.

The next day has us paddle south passing all the little places we’ve stopped on the way up, and we pull up short of the beginning in Observation Bay. It’s nice enough. We’re sharing the area with a family that is wholly ignoring their kids; who hassle the nesting birds. Flotillas of kayaks advance, it’s the weekend. One of them stops and pulls up their boats right to the nesting oystercatchers. Walking up miffed I point out that the birds are really freaking out by all this activity. I get brushed off with a ‘yep, thanks’ from their guide.

I’m more insistent than with the whistling dope and point to the sign guarding the area. I exclaim loud enough that even the family turns to hear me say that it marks a nesting area and is not to be entered. This is why the birds will not stop their chatter. To my relief this works as the guide has the people move their kayaks and the family yells at their children not to bother the birds.

After some reading and a nap on the sand we decide to paddle out to Adele Island. Not having enough of rough afternoon seas we get tossed about on our excursion that nets us only being soaked and exhaustion from paddling so hard to get back. We walk around our camp, examining the mussels at low tide and finding a plaque commemorating Durville’s exploits in the area; thus the name Observation Bay. This is in the Astrolabe Roadside where he once anchored and charted the area, naming some stuff.

The morning trip is quick, making our way through the Gannets out fishing in the morning. We take showers back at the kayak rental place and I remind the owner of the 20 bucks he owes. The owner gets us a tab at the local café as he’s lost his wallet. It’s a very nice place and we have a good lunch. Afterwards we wander across the street to a gallery to look at the wood carvings and I buy Erica a nice necklace.

Waiting for the food I call Midas and get some bad news. Driving on the broken wheel bearing made the tire grind in to the stub axel. They don’t make them anymore. There’s none in the country, He’s had to have one machined and is waiting for the price of the work. To me, it doesn’t sound cheap. It isn’t.

Our bus driver back is really funny. He’s a bitter old man with his own perspective on the history of the area. The development is ruining the place of his memories, of course. We hear a story about the ferociousness of the Maoris. After hunting the Moa to extinction there really wasn’t that great of a protein source, so they did the only natural thing and started hunting each other. Battles did not result in prisoners of war, but lunch.

Back at the shop David walks me through what he had to do. The brake part came, but when he put it on the truck it was at the wrong angle and wouldn’t allow the brake fluid to flow in to the master cylinder. They must not have marked how it was taken apart and put it back together off by about 45 degrees. He had to take it to a specialist to have it redone.

The stub axel broke from my driving it back to the shop. He called us to get advice, but of course, once again we were out of range so he made the decision to make a new one since they aren’t made and he couldn’t find any in the country. He took off the right stub axel to use as a cast and found it had the same thing happen and was a custom machine part. The bearing on that side was about to fall off so he put a lock-tight in around it.

He checked the back brakes to find a washer rattling around in there. The brake shoes were on backwards. We went to lunch while he machined the scored drum and turned the shoes around. Final damage on this work was $1,500. Adding it up at lunch I think we’ve spent around two to twenty five hundred on this puppy. That’s a lot of necklaces, other gifts, adventure trips or about a month’s budget on the road. It sure makes me feel bad about deciding to buy it. But it is only money. I mean we have our health and all that.

We take off again and make it that night to Kaikoura. This is the place I’ve dreamed about. A picture of it hung on our fridge in Denver as a constant reminder of what we were working so hard to achieve. But there is a dinging now in the left hub, sounding like David has attached a cowbell in there which rings at low speeds and over rough roads. So in the morning we push on, with one look back at the magnificent snow covered range looming over the sea.

We take one of the windiest roads imaginable with our poor brakes into Havelock, where most of the Green Mussels come from. We check in to a nice motel room which is really an apartment and go eat some of the local delicacy at the Mussel Pot. This town really appeals to us. It doesn’t have the sheen of a tourist town, but does have access to some of the deeper sounds. There isn’t much economy and it seems like the whole town is for sale.

It just never ends with the truck. We’re always on edge, jumping up spooked and looking around at every little noise. We’re heading over a big pass and coming in to Nelson when one of these noises has us looking to each other with bewildered expressions. Zud-zud-zud-zud-zud-zud-zud-zud-zud …this is going to be bad; we can see it in each other’s faces… CA-LANG-A-DANG-DANG-A-LANG …and then it’s all quiet as my skin goes prickly and I pull over. Erica goes looking for whatever that might’ve been coming off and I peer under the hood. The fan belt is completely loose like when the alternator was loose before… no it’s still tight but wait, the bottom most pulley is… gone. So that‘s it. I take off the belt and go down the street helping Erica look for it.

We retrieve it out of the middle of the road and climb back in to the van. I squint, take a deep breath, look up and turn the key. As if these body movements will help. It’s like when we’re going down a narrow road and I hold my breath when we pass an oncoming vehicle, like it’ll make us skinnier. The van does turn over. We make it in to Nelson and are directed to the Midas shop. He tells us it’s the harmonic dampener, which takes vibrations out of the engine. It still started because the battery is charged but that will lessen since the alternator isn’t recharging it. I tell him that a new alternator was put in and he tells me that it’s a shame because this broken pulley is probably the reason why we were having the problems starting the van.

I call the guy in Picton with the news and he tells me I must have ‘ghosts in the engine’. He then puts me on the line with his man Patrick who did the repairs, who insists he checked all the pulleys and they were fine. I am also reassured that they sent the alternator to an auto electrician who stated that it was beyond repair and in need of repairing. He has thrown the old one away so I cannot have anyone else inspect it. Relating this back to David, the Midas man, gets a knowing nod. He tells me that mechanics rip off tourists because they think they’re loaded with money. This is not the first time I’ve heard that mechanics are dishonest, from whichever mechanic is currently lying to my face.

The place we find is a stand-alone apartment for 50 bucks a night. It’s so cheap because they are repairing some things that didn’t get done before high season, and are now too busy to finish them. It’s a little dusty, drafty and one of the bathrooms doesn’t work but it’s big, has its own kitchen and another bathroom that does work.

Another bike ride takes us to a little beach and among some nice shops. Nelson has an alternative feel to it, with organic shops, yoga studios, art galleries and microbreweries. We stop in one of the latter and pay enough money to buy a keg for a couple of OK tasting beers. Nelson is considered the sunniest on the south and would be a great place to live.

In the morning we decide to head out to Abel Tasman and go pick up the van. It’s making a funny noise and so I go back to Midas and David tells me not to worry about it. I tell him that I’ll head off and if anything falls off I’ll come right back. He gives me a little exasperated look and I tell him that’s sarcasm, I don’t expect anything to fall off. Nothing better fall of, but it’s happened before so there is precedent, and recent.

Moving down the road the brakes start to smell funny. Pulling over to check the transmission fluid and then let everything cool, we eat a little lunch. All the fluid levels are fine, and a visual inspection doesn’t really show anything wrong so we start off. We head a little further and not only does it sound bad, it’s really pulling to the left. We think it best to turn back. About 2 blocks from Midas there’s a large KA-WHAM; but I am determined to get it back in. David sees us come in and asks what the matter is. I ask him to take a guess and point to the left front wheel, which is at an odd angle.

He takes a quick look and states that the wheel bearing went bad, that must’ve been the noise I was telling him about earlier. Something has fallen off, and it’s the wheel. The only thing holding it on is the disc brake on that side. We leave it with him and hop a bus up to Abel Tasman, enough time has been spent waiting for this thing to be repaired and a little distance from it would be nice and so when we get to Marahau and the beginning of the track, we decide to rent a kayak for 5 days. I’ve also called Collin, who forgot all about our reconditioned part, but he will track it down and sent it on to Nelson. I’ve told David about what’s happened and he’s agreed to put that on, too.

Coming off the ferry the van has changed its mind and is unwilling to start. It’s also shoved against the side of the hull and so we need several people to push this heavy thing out a little so we can open the compartment where the battery is. Of course, the people in their cars are just pouring off the boat until all that is left is one old man waving at me to move my vehicle. I finally get him to come over and he radios for help to get it out.

At the last stop at the Warehouse I’ve also bought booster (jumper) cables so after we get a few more of the staff over to shove it away from the wall I hook it up to an idling truck and it starts, the staff starts to leave, it stalls, I jump out and yell at them to come back, jump it again and finally get off the ferry and checked in to a very nice hotel, perhaps the best in Picton. We deserve it.

Arrangements are made to take a mail boat up to the beginning of the Queen Charolette track and spend two nights out. We take long showers, do laundry and watch DVDs out of the hotel’s extensive collection.

The van won’t start in the morning and I can’t get the manager to give it a jump. Instead he calls the best garage in town to help, or at least so says he. The guys who come out get it running and say the choke is stuck on and that’s why it smokes.

When we go over later the engine is cleaned, and the owner starts going over some things with me. It leaks because a cooling hose to the radiator has come detached. There is silicone caulking around the rocker panel and it needs a new seal. These are made out of cork and are breathable, so the caulking is not stopping a leak, but is not really good for the engine. We leave it with him and go on our walk.

Once again, being in nature resets our attitudes into a pleasantness not encountered in the van nor when surrounded by people in bustling cities. We befriend the boat driver and he starts selling us on the area. He has to cut it short because one of the passengers has fallen gravely ill. After checking her condition and giving her a sickness bag, he turns the craft around. She collapses on the dock and it makes me think it might be much more severe than just sea sickness.

We get going late and with the first day being 27 kilometers long it’s going to be tiring. Not too bad though because we’ve decided to pay the extra ten bucks for pack transport and only have our day packs on us, with yummy food waiting for our arrival and it’s a gorgeous walk.

We do pass out early but wake up in the dark to a possum rustling through our stuff. Unfortunately, a plastic bag has been left out with a tantalizing sent for the possum nose to investigate. I chase him off and bring the bag inside our tent and go back soundly asleep.

The second day is a little shorter than the first and goes up to a ridge line. It overlooks farms and harvested forests and is not quite as nice as the first day. Our bags are at the hostel and we have to hike down the hill to get them.

We meet the mechanic out with his kids at the hostel. When he leaves the manager states he’s the best around. It’s also the second time we hear the story of how he escaped Zimbabwe and by the end, he mentions it, too.

Our bags are late arriving and we sink into the picnic benches on the front porch drinking milkshakes, talking to some fellow hikers. Two women from Sweden are so sunburned it hurts to look at them. Another hiker is a guy called Hallel from Israel, now living in Paris. He works for Johnson & Johnson and came out for a meeting, extending his trip to do most of the Great Walks while he’s down here. It looks like he’s with his girlfriend but he tells us it’s another Israelite who approached him on the boat and they decided to meet up at the end of each day to chat.

Even with the rain the third day is the best. The views are stunning from the ridge. It’s mostly native forest, with many stands of Beech trees. We talk about explorers and what their encounters might have been like with native people. At the end of it all we go to a little café with Hallel. Sitting there are the two Swedish women and it turns out they are doctors. Seems they would’ve taken better care of their skin, then. And they look so young!

We’re chatting about when the boats are due to arrive, theirs earlier than ours. So we’re relaxed when I look over and see their boat come in. The girls don’t move. We wonder aloud what the time is, and if that might be their boat. They hustle off in a hurry, cutting off any goodbyes. We wait for our boat and it’s a little late in arriving.

As soon as we get back I hustle to the auto shop to pick up the van. He tells me the battery wouldn’t stay charged so he checked the alternator. It was bad beyond the ability to rebuild, so he puts in a new one. This is also in the circuit with the choke, so it now does not smoke as a side benefit. He made the decision because it was impossible to reach us on the hike, so I pay for it and take off to pick up Erica who is waiting at the dock with our bags.