Showing posts with label English. Show all posts
Showing posts with label English. Show all posts

Thursday, 8 May 2014

“Live, travel, adventure, bless, and don't be sorry.” (Jack Kerouac)

Yes, it seems to be a long time since I wrote the first post, but it has been a little bit more than a year since then. And as I promise you I am updating the blog with some new stories from then. What a good time to remember New Zealand, just a few days before I depart to Oceania again. This time to finish the big “coutrinent” (country sized continent) of Australia where I want to explore all the places that I could not visit the last time due to the job I had and the studies that I had to do to keep my visa status.
So been a good time to remember, I edited the video called Project NZ that you can see in this post, as an anniversary present, as always a little bit late.



So my phase in France finished satisfactorily as I got two jobs at the end, one in an Irish pub where I really had a good time and learned a lot and of course very nice co-workers and the other one in a supermarket, which was much more serious and mechanically but also rounded by very nice people. Waking up at 5 a.m. to download the trucks coming with the products and renew the stock was a hard job forehand but I got to get used to it quite fast.
Those two jobs and the cheap accommodation I got at my girlfriend’s place gave me some savings to be a little bit more relaxed in Australia although my plan is to busk to move around and hopefully to come back with some pocket money to start up.

I have to say that Bayonne was an impressive little town that astonished me. I could not expect such a combination of nature sports (surf, biking, trekking, climbing...), Landscape (beaches, rivers, mountains, forest...) and culture. Specially this last one, I could not image such a divers and interesting culture that is the Basque culture, and the amount of foreign people that live and enjoy it. And for sure, I had to say that I am so happy to have known all the musicians I have met at Bayonne. That was definitely the key of these two months there that seemed only a few days and make me want to go back there at some point of my life to enjoy it again.

I have to say that the weather was not the best, but apparently summer, it is the season to be especially just before or after. So if you have the chance you should visit it!

Coming back to the anniversary topic, thank all of you which read and watch my videos because that really gives me strength to continue posting. At today’s date there is 3815, almost 4000 visit in a little bit more than a year from 44 different countries.
I hope you are enjoying the stories and the advices I give you as much as I enjoy it when I tell you all that stuff. And feel free to comment and give some feedback if you find it necessary, will be very nice.


So I also take this chance to encourage you all to travel to discover your limits and engage with new cultures, new languages and new people, brake your barriers that hold you to that place and explore the world before it is too late, and I do not mean your age, have some good stories to tell to your kids or friends and grow as a person opening your mind with an intercultural point of view, that I am pretty sure that will be helpful in your lives somehow. Even the bad experiences are experiences. 

So in words of Kerouac: “Live, travel, adventure, bless, and don't be sorry.” 

Friday, 18 April 2014

“There was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling under the stars.” (Jack Kerouac)

I got some fresh news!

Last weekend Fatima and I just decided on Saturday to go somewhere, so on that exact same day we went to buy a tent, some food and left to the east side heading to Toulouse direction.
We decided to go hitchhiking which turned to be not as easy as we thought it was going to be. We thought that it was going to be as easy as in Beçanson northeast part of France that we already travel around the region hitchhiking two years ago and was pretty easy.
That afternoon we got a bad ride which left us in a highway exit with no traffic at all and after one hour and a half we decided to return to Bayonne to start again. This time we stayed at the Toll. This was not a very good option as the police came and after a well deserved speech, drove us to a safest place to hitchhike. It was already late so finally another police car showed up from nowhere and drove us home. So the balance for the day was: a ride to nowhere, a ride from nowhere to the start point, a police car ride to a safe place to hitchhike and another police ride back home.
Probably the fact that we started a little bit late due to all the shopping and the rush decision, with a bad ride on top made us to return home that day to start properly on Sunday morning.

Hitch-hiking in our way to Toulose


Sunday was much better, we started at 8 am and go quite easy until we got stucked in a small town which took us almost 4 hours to get out from, but finally we arrived at Toulouse, our final destination, at 17.30, where we stayed at a Fatima’s friends for the night.

Next day we continued east direction to visit some beautiful towns that Fatima’s friends recommended: Gaillac, Albi, Cordes sur Ciel. Which are truly beautiful.
We stayed that night in Albi where we set up our tent and drunk a bottle of wine that we bought that day in Gaillac (Famous for its wines)

Panormic of Albi from one of its bridges


Next day we went to Cordes sur Ciel which it is a very touristy medieval town, and very beautiful. In the afternoon we came back to Toulouse were we met again our friends and visit a little bit more Toulouse spending some more time with our friends.

Wednesday morning, we decided to return to Bayonne as I had to work on Thursday afternoon in an Irish Pub.

We started a little bit late as we decided to have a nice and quite breakfast with our friend. So with a beautiful and shiny day we came back to Bayonne little by little between the National road, and the Highway. We got lucky as our last ride was just a little bit before camping in the side of the road which allowed us to get back home that night and sleep at home.

Sunset at Toulouse

Now everything seems to be going better as I have some work this weekend in the Irish pub and the weather it is being sunny and quite which also helps!

Wednesday, 9 April 2014

"Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears." (John Lenon)

Well, so I know it has been a long time without writing in English but it is hard to keep it when my entire environment it is in another language. Especially now that I am living in France and I have to think in a different language than Spanish or English that I can handle them quite good.
So I am taking my past birthday as an excuse to post back in English. A quarter of a century it is a remarkable age and that it is why I have some few projects to be finished very soon, so keep an eye on the updates.

Coming back to where I left you, I finished my surf trip with my friend Hiro and I have to say that was pretty amazing, we expended much more money than expected, but the trip in general was incredible.

We spent 42 days around Spain, France, Portugal and Morocco. Here is the draft of what we did.
We started in Malaga, the Headquarters of the trip, as my family lives there. After that, we visit Granada for a couple of days to enjoy that magic atmosphere of culture, music, food and nightlife that it is that maze of streets, bars and monuments.

We did a little detour to Cordoba where we could enjoy the monuments there and some good food as well, but was very express stop. We headed then to Barcelona, our first seaside town in the way, we were very excited to see the sea again and maybe some waves to start with, in our trip but unfortunately we did not find any so we just did sightseeing around and continue to Zaragoza where my good friend Jose Maria hosted us and showed us the town where we had some good moments.

Hiro and me by the "Sagrada Familia" (Barcelona)

 After all that and with a small stop to say hello to a friend in Pamplona, we arrived to Bayonne, our first long stop in the way and where we stayed for 4 days. Unfortunately we could surf only one day in the area due to massive waves provoked by a huge storm which even destroyed some of the seaside buildings. We had some good times there, but there was not much surf so we decided to continue our trip in the west direction.
We were certainly hunting waves but the stormy weather was not helping much so we try to find that spot where we could surf. We a had a bit in Zarautz where we spent one night and also in Santander where we did the same but not much luck in highlighted spots like Mundaka due to the weather.

With this conditions and the amount of gas that we were expending we decided to rush up a little bit in our way down to the south. We stop in Santiago de Compostela for a quick sightseeing and kept going south.
as the bad weather was coming from the west, we did not find much going on at that moment in that part of Portugal so we did a bit of tourism in Porto, and Lisbon and finally arrived to the south part of Portugal, Sagres where we found a very good spot where we decided to stay for 4 days to catch up with the previous bad days.

The south gave us some sun which clearly cheered us up and we also found some good waves in Portugal and in the south Atlantic coast of Spain. We arrived then to Algeciras where we did a bit of a pit stop for another few days, before continuing our adventure in a different continent, Africa.

Morocco was probably the best part of the trip, probably influenced by the good weather and some good waves. But on the other hand all the premonitions and previous tips became true. Good weather, good waves, corrupt police, some annoying vendors, and in general honest people with good heart.
We crossed the strait of Gibraltar from Algeciras to Ceuta, with "viajes trujillo", in local's words "the cheapest travel agency to cross the straight" and so it was when we compared with the other companies at the port.

As soon as we arrived to Morocco we tried to head south as fast as we could, as the majority of spots are around Agadir area. The first night we slept in Rabat the capital, where we did not have much luck as we were kicked out four times from the places where we were sleeping until finally we decided to leave the city. After we went to Casablanca just for the sightseeing, and we continued our way down until we founded a cool place to crash with the car in Souira a bit before Essaouira. In Essaouira we experienced the corruption of the police and we left the town without surfing as that pissed us off.
Finally we arrived to Agadir area where we stayed for one whole week. We established the camp in Banana Beach where we slept all the nights and just move around during the day just to find the best wave around.

Me at our campsite in Banana beach

To make our stay at the beach more comfortable we built with rocks and logs a kitchen, a bench, a personal "clean" beach, and also a nice flag.
About the area I have to say that it is quite cheap if you avoid the big touristic areas and that the best waves you can find them in Killer point if the conditions are good for sure.
In our Way back we decided to go through Marrakech were we did some tourism and chill around before a big trip going back to Spain.
So basically that was our amazing trip which ended with a long wait in the border as they did not want to let Hiro come back to Spain.

Hiro and me Roadtriping somewhere in Morocco


After that our pockets were quite damaged and Hiro returned back to Australia as he had planned and I head my way to France to live in Bayonne where my girlfriend Fatima lives and hoping to find a job in order to save some money before returning to Australia the 20th of May.

I have to say that in the month that I have been in France, I did not work so much as I did only one day but I had such a good time with good friends that I have met here. Most of them remarked musicians which had tour around France and other countries in the world.
I encourage you to check some of their music which you can easily find in YouTube and even in spotify
-Anatole Schoeffler
-Baptiste Daleman
-Tibz
If you cannot find them, I have them added in this Spotify list.

I remind you that soon I will be releasing some new material from NZ and also some planning of my next trip to Australia!!
Until then make sure you keep an eye for new post!!

Tuesday, 17 December 2013

“I can’t afford to hate anyone. I don’t have that kind of time.” (Akira Kurosawa)

As I promise you I am going to keep you more updated and my goal is once a week.

After I left the job I have been more relaxed dedicating myself to Surf, Jacuzzi and sauna in the morning and playing some music in the afternoon or just chilling and playing some sports movies.
But our mainly activity has been to prepare the surf trip that probably will change our lives and I have to say that I feel so happy and looking so forward to it.
If you are interested in the surf trip that we have planned and want to follow our adventures, we have created a Facebook page called Endless Winter.

So today I have already packed my two surfboards that are going to Spain after I bought another board which I founded second hand really cheap. Tomorrow I will have to make a cardboard box and put everything inside so they will not charge me an extra 60$ which will be more expensive than the flight itself. And after 4 days with an old friend in Sydney I will finally take my flight heading to Spain.


In this free time I have some music and video suggestions that I have been checking lately:

Music:

-For the reagge lovers, there is a group from New Zealand that you may want to check it out. It is called Katchafire.


Movies:



-I want to share also a Magnificent movie that Hiro showed me the other day and that I think that in part is how Spain is feeling at the moment and probably what will happen if the situation does not change.


Next week I will be busy travelling and visiting family so I will do my best to post which will be from Spain,  so I want to take the chance to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years!!


P.S: I have added some pictures to some of my old post with some pictures of my last trip in New Zealand so feel free to check them out!

Tuesday, 10 December 2013

"Money won't create succes, the freedom to make it will." (Nelson Mandela)


With every ending there is a new beginning and here is my end in the bike-taxi job that I told you before or at least for a while.
The new plans ahead look much better and exciting and I am really looking forward to start them.
After 4 months working in the bikes and made a little bit of savings it is time to travel and experience the culture of this country.
This time I have a partner in my adventures, Hiro, the Japanese guy from my job it is joining me in this story.
As he is coming to Spain and we have planned a 6000km surf trip around Spain, France, Portugal and Morocco we need to save all the money that we have save in this past months so that is why we are getting into survival mode.
The plan: no plan, no money, just go with the flow. Busking, sleeping in the beach surfing and crushing in friends couches with for sure lots of crazy stories is the prevision for the next 15 days.
At first point we have a place to crash for a week while we finish visiting all the surf spots around before heading to Byron bay where some good vibes and friends are ready to welcome us and share lots of good times.


I will keep you updated more regularly now I have more spare time!!

Saturday, 16 November 2013

“I don't care what you say to me. I care what you share with me.” (Santosh Kalwar)

So now that I am catching up in the blog I'm going to update a little bit with some cool contents from last months:

First of all congratulate my friends at Bigote Films for their amazing last release and their first time appearing in a magazine
So just enjoy the video

I also have another friend who it is starting to spread his work around the world and may need some push. So feel free to check out his stuff and project and support him if you like his work!!

You can also check out what my actual job is and how much fun I am having in the website of the company:
And also if you are around Australia and you need some spot in this job, let me know and I'll get you recommended so you will have preference in the waiting list!

In the music and arts field I have to say that I have not had enough time to explore some new things in deep but I have a couple of names that you should definitely check it out:
-Mongol 800 (Japanese Rock Music)
-Michael Franti & Spearhead
-Muerdo (Paskual Kantero)

In the movies field I have been checking some Japanese stuff and I will recommend you specially the documentary:
-Jiro's Dream (about shushi makers)

As you may notice, now I am focused pretty much in saving some money and going surfing which is my new passion which keep me going, and because of that I have not so much stuff to research but I feel that new projects will come up soon as I am going back to Spain for Christmas and probably I will do some scouting here in OZ before going back!!


Friday, 15 November 2013

“How did it get so late so soon?” (Dr. Seuss)

First of all I think I need to apologise for all this time writing in Spanish. I have been very busy lately and my computer was broken so I did not have enough time to write two posts every time in both languages.

As some of you may know, I am already in Australia. Yeah! It is being a long time since I do not write in English and many things have occurred already.
So I will go a little bit backwards to continue the story where I left it.
I was living in New Zealand, beautiful country and a place to come back for sure (I still have some places that I would love to visit or re-visit) Unfortunately after trying my best to stay in the country my luck did not followed me or maybe it wanted me to go in a different direction. I could not get a working holiday visa after trying many times and my visa was expiring but I had an ace up my sleeve, a secondary plan to postpone my way back to my home country, Spain.

So I decided that before leaving New Zealand, I had to do a good ending trip. So I planned two trips in the time that I had left, one to wilderness and the other to my mind.
The first one was a week of hitch-hiking, with my own food as usual, and no money trough the North Island. My main destinations where the east and the south of the North Island which were the leftovers of all my trips in that Island.
Starting in a dark night in Mangaokewa Gorge Scenic Reserve (just after Te Kuiti), after two intense days of rock climbing, I start hitch-hiking after saying goodbye to the friends I was climbing with and who brought me to this place. Just with the hope of finding a ride to Taupo or somewhere along the way and trying to run away from an expected night storm.
Luckily I got ride in the middle of the night which was going to Bennydale, the next town in the road just a few km from where I was. There, now under the street lights, I start again the long process of showing my thumb and my best smile and wait for some friendly person who goes in my way and have a spare seat.
After a while standing with not much luck two women just come out from the Bennydale Hotel, which in my opinion seems to be the only cultural and social place in that little town. The come up to me and the eldest one star talking with a damage voice almost from beyond: "what are you doing here?"Suddenly we start talking and I explain myself one thing leads to another and I end up in the birthday party which was taking place in the hotel with the owner inviting me to sleep for free in one of their rooms and the people from the party offering me unlimited amounts of food and drinks.


Having some beers and food with some of the Bennydale locals!


Next day I kept travelling to my next destination, Taupo, where I did bungee jumping, which was very exciting. After the experience of the bungee jumping, I sleep in a forest close to Taupo. The next morning I went to the Natural Spa to see the sunrise.



My trip continued to Napier in a nice chat with the phisiotherapist from a football team in Wellington. Hawks bay was beautiful and the weather was very nice. The Art Deco city of Napier it is beautiful and pleasant to walk on and an amazing view can be founded in the top of the mountain by the port.


The port of Napier in a beautifull afternoon


After Napier I kept travelling south direction with the intention of getting to the Tararua ranges. This was the first time I got to jump in a truck while I was hitch hiking and I have to say that I loved it!
In the way to the Tararua got stacked in Palmerston North, a nice little big city, and because of that delay I could not get where I was expecting. After walking in the dark for a few kilometres, one very nice Maori guy who was living in a self constructed house made out of recycling parts invite me to his house, and we shared some good talking with some beers.

The next morning I was going into the wild again leaving the sealed roads and changing them for very small and not transited paths. I had to go through rivers and heavy rain, and very windy and cold conditions but as you may have realized already I love that stuff.
When I got to the hut I meet two hunters who gave me a ride to wellington the next day. With the peculiarity that was off road and the car was a very old off road truck.


This truck had 3 persons on it and did more than 30km off-road in a 3h trip, including flat tire and one of the heaviest rains I have seen in my life

Once in wellington I could sleep in a mattress in a friends place and went out to check the nightlife which turned to be pretty amazing! There is live music everywhere and you do not need to pay to enter in the clubs. You do not even need to pay for pool tables.
Besides the weather (windy wellington), wellington was a pretty good place!
Due to my tight schedule I had to take a 12 hours bus back to Auckland in order to get there on time for my other plan in my last month, the meditation course.
I do not have words to describe the meditation course but I can just say that was one of the best experiences in my life. Of course that was hard to meditate for 10hours a day during 10 days but it was totally worthy. I am pretty sure that I will do more courses or volunteering in the future.
I totally recommend it to everyone, so if you are interested you can find more information in the website Vipassana.
That was the closure of my chapter in New Zealand, country that I love and where I will go back again one day.


Hopefully I can find more time off and keep on updating my adventures in Australia.

Wednesday, 19 June 2013

“A trap is only a trap if you don't know about it. If you know about it, it's a challenge.” (China Miéville, King Rat)

Yes I like challenges so I decided to take two at the time!

I was searching for some things in the web and suddenly I ended up in this website


After reading a couple of posts and found them very interesting I have decided to have two of the challenges proposed.
The first one it is a intermittent fast diet which consist in at least once a week, pick a day were you cannot eat anything in 16h (14h for women) after that you can eat regularly.
Apparently it has a lot of benefit some of them I am quoting from the blog I read. So if you want to know more you should read the post. (I do not want to quote the whole article!)



  • Increased Fatty Acid Oxidation (Body burns more fat as energy, leading to fast weight loss)
  • Increased Cell Resistance (Slowed down ageing process, improved immunity)
  • Increased Insulin Sensitivity (Less fluctuation in blood sugar levels, more constant energy & mood levels)
  • Reduced Cortisol Production (Lower stress levels)
  • Reduced Inflammation (Faster body healing, repair, and recovery)
  • Reduced Cancer Cells Proliferation Rate (Reduced incidence of several types of cancer)
  • Reduced Cognitive Decline for patients with Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease
  • Reduced Incidence of Heart Disease




  • The second challenge I founded in the same website and consist of taking a cold shower every day during 30 days. It also has some benefit that you can check in the article.


    So yes I know it sounds a little bit crazy, but honestly I am curious and I want to experiment and challenge myself in order to prove I can do it!
    I will keep you informed about how everything is going!!

    Monday, 17 June 2013

    “We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.” (Roald Dahl)

    Yes, do not blame on me because I have not write lately but I have not done anything special as I am with exams and it seems that as close the exams are the less you want to study.
    Dammit, leave me alone, procrastination!!
    But in one of my brakes I have been listening some good music that I had been a long time without listening and somehow I got more creative! so yes, I am a music maker and will dream in passing my exam I guess!

    Have a listen, enjoy and get creative!!

    https://soundcloud.com/proleter-beatmaker

    Friday, 31 May 2013

    CLICK TRIP PROJECT SUSPENDED!

    I am sorry to inform you all, but unfortunately Click Trip Project has been cancelled as the Google Ads account has been invalidated for "illegal clicks"
    I am very disappointing and could not do anything. I apply for an appeal but was also denied so the account has been deactivated. As you may see, there is no more advertises in the blog.

    This inconvenience makes my trip impossible, as I do not have any budget for the trip and I need to save some money because as you may know I will be heading to Australia soon and I will need to survive until I find a job there.

    Anyway I want to thank you all for your support, your patience and your enthusiasm in Click Trip Project. It was good while it lasted. Thank you for spreading the world and make this utopia a little bit of real. I hope some day Click Trip Project could become true and share all that experience with you.
    I am already looking for some alternatives to Google Adsense in order to keep with Click Trip Project, some ideas are other publishers providers or direct advertisement. I will keep you informed if there is any change in the status of Click Trip Project.

    In the meanwhile I would like to inform you that my foot it is doing so much better and I have started my active life again. The day before yesterday I had my second paragliding lesson and tomorrow I will go for a little bit of climbing. So I will try to keep you informed if any good plan is coming over.

    Again, thank you so much for all your help with Click Trip Project!


    Thursday, 23 May 2013

    “It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.” (Paulo Coelho)


    Hello again everyone. I know I have been writing in Spanish lately, but I am back into English!!

    As you may have notice CLICK TRIP PROJECT has started already and you are very welcome to help me every day with a little bit of your time!!

    This week I have been a little bit off the blog as I had a sprained ankle and I have been doing recovery and not so much things happened. Fortunately it was not too bad and I can already walk, and probably by the end of next week start the training for the trip. 
    It is very important to be in shape for this kind of survival trips as I will have to carry probably all my food and the backpack will be heavy and there will be lots of km to walk. I will keep also my yoga and climbing training which are always very helpful.
    As you may have noticed too I posted a poll so you can help me decide where I should sleep in my trip. I remind you that we all are participants of Click Trip Project.

    I have been already searching some good routes for my trip and I will post another poll after the one now finish so we can choose where to go!

    Finally let you know that the incomes has been really good in this week and we have collected already 50$ enough for a one way trip to the south island. Now we have to hit at least the next goal 100$ in order to make it possible to go as I need to return!!

    Thank you very much to all of your participation and interest. And keep helping me and spreading the world so we can make Click Trip Project possible.

    Friday, 17 May 2013

    CLICK TRIP PROJECT- English


    First of all I want to thank all the people who read my blog and enjoy my stories, and thank you for your comments and support through different internet platforms.
    I want to introduce you a new project that I have in mind and I want you to participate in it to, because somehow you are also part of my stories.
    After a long time thinking about what to do on the month off I have in July here in New Zealand, a lot of ideas came into my mind. Should I visit the south island, how should I pay the trip or where will I find some extra money to make it possible? I needed a plan to give you more stories but as you know my budget here is kind of short so put all the ideas together and came with this project.
    Click Trip Project consists in a way of subvention, a way of communication and an interaction with the readers of the blog. It is all my adventures in public for you, where you will be able to choose in some ways things of my trip and I will keep you inform at all time about what is going on out there!
    As you may know publicity is one of the most incomes for most of the business nowadays, in fact the major incomes for Google, YouTube and all the internet based companies are the advertisements they have in their websites. Is that big, that any person can make an account and earn some percentage of the publicity.
    Here came the solution for my major problem, the money. I have activated as you will probably realize some time in the next two weeks, Google Ads in the blog. This will be my only income for my trip in July. As a challenge, I have decided to use only the money earned from the advertisement that will appear in the blog. Probably a hard challenge as they only pays a 5 to 20 cents ratio from every click in the advertisement. So if you have some free time in front of your computer just take a visit to the blog and make a click so you can help me somehow with your time. Is not that much but maybe 10 clicks can be a couple of meals or 100 a ticket to the south island. So in some way you are now responsible of my trip. As much money as I have will influence how many places I can go, so as many stories as you will have.
    The other issue I wanted to bring is to reward you for your time expended visiting my blog or any of the commercials that you will click on. So I came out with the idea of making you participants of the project letting you decide some parameters as could be: destinations, food, transport, etc. You will probably apart from now see some polls going on the website with some questions about my trip so you can give your opinion and as a democracy the option with more answers win.
    To sum up, the project consists in:
    -Incomes from advertisement
    -You can have decisions in my trip
    -I will keep you totally updated about the trip

    I hope you like the idea and that you get enrolled, because Click Trip Project it is made thanks to all of you!
    I will keep you informed!!

    Monday, 13 May 2013

    "One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain." (Bob Marley)


    After a While here I have had the pleasure of listen some New Zealand's music, and I have to say that I am surprised with some of the groups and I thought it was good to share so people from other parts of the world can enjoy it. 
    Here I name some of the bands I remember now and the ones I have listened the most:

    -Six60
    -Kora
    -Fat Freddy's Drop
    -Minute
    -Tiny Ruins
    -Katchafire
    -Che Fu
    -Kimbra
    -Ladi6
    -Mt Eden

    There is more I can not remember at this moment but I will try to keep you updated.
    Take your time to research and pick your favorites!

    Spread the music, Spread the world!

    Thursday, 9 May 2013

    PREPARATION- “Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between.” (Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings)


    Preparation
    As the other day we talked about planning, today we will talk about preparation, the carry through the plan outline. We will realize that there is a lot of factors from the plan which will be altering our preparation as could be the way of travelling the weather or the budget, as we talked before.
    We will start from the most general stuff to the most specific one in order to not forget anything.

    THE TRIP: This it is basically the documents we will need:
    §  Personal documents:-Passport
    -Visa (if necessary, check which countries require it)
    -Driver licence (check if need an international one)
    -Credit/debit cards (check they are not expiring and have balance and work in foreign countries)
    -Official documents to do some activities (Scuba, paragliding, etc.)
    §  Travel Documents:   -Tickets (plane, train, etc.)
    -Reservation (numbers, documents)
    -Insurance (medical, travel, etc)
    THE TRANSPORT:
    §  Public transport:       - If you are travelling in public transport
    (Plane, train, etc.) And you have established the days you are travelling, you may want to buy the tickets. Will be cheaper.
    §  Own transport:         -If you are travelling by bike you want to make
    sure that the bike runs well and that you have the proper tools and the knowledge to fix it.
    -If you are walking or hiking, you and your back pack should be in good “shape”
    -If you go in your own car/van make sure that the car has the insurance for the country you are travelling and that it is reliable. You may want to do a checking and fix all the parts.
    §  Alternative transport:-Hitch hiking: nothing is sure when you are
    Hitch hiking but you can check this link for tips in different countries.
    -CarPooling: A good way to travel, but you will normally need time to check and an internet point.
    THE BAGGAGE: Your luggage it is going to be your source for your trip so it is one of the most important things to prepare good when you are going to travelling. It depends in many factors and it is affected by your plan and the points above. Obviously it is not the same to travel in a car than doing it by hitch hiking. The two main elements that you can play with when preparing your luggage are the weight and volume. Depending of the way you are travelling you will have different preferences. In a car maybe the volume will be an important factor. In a hiker the weight it is essential as it is in a biker. So everyone should adapt their luggage to their own conditions, priorities and of course your budget.
    Top five important points when getting your luggage ready:
    o   Sleeping stuff: If we have done a good planning, we will know the conditions that we will have and thus what we need. Depending on our plan we will need:
    §  Shelter(outside layer): Tent, bivouac bag or emergency shelter
    §  Comfortable layer: Mat (inflatable or foam)
    §  Temperature layer: sleeping bag
    o   Clothes: Again determined by your trip. If you are doing a long trip and you are hiking or biking, try to get as less as you can. Try to follow the three layers system in bad conditions will be your life. Try to keep the clothes in a dry bag so they will not get wet (wet clothes weight a lot!)
    With 2 or 3 T-shirts, 1 or 2 warm layers, and the shell for the top and 2 pants and 3 or 4 changing clothes will be enough for long terms trips. A technical towel and a swim coat, and gloves, scarf and winter hut (in case you will need it)
    o   Shoes: We have to take good care of our feet as they are going to be our way of moving. It is important to keep them dry and comfortable. We will need boots especially if we are hiking in High Mountain and in hard routes. We can also use all the new variety of shoes for mountains as the trail shoes, which are a good combination of comfortableness and technical shoe. Would be highly recommended to have waterproof shoes! If we are not doing hard stuff will be enough with this second option. It is important to have a second pair of shoes, hopefully very light and comfortable, just in case the boots causes pain or they get wet.
    o   Utensils and tools: In this category we have to include all we thing it will be necessary and useful for our trip. I recommend the following objects:
    Pot, stove, gas bottle, lighter, pocket knife, big knife (if necessary), cutlery, cap, Flashlight (preferable head lamp), first aid kit, some rope, toiletry bag (soap bar better), pen and paper, solar protection and lip balm, phone and wallet.
    o   Food: Your diet will be linked to your trip conditions, especially to your budget, and the way of transport. Also the distance between shopping points. Always try to have a little bit of extra food in case you have any troubles in your trip.
    It is always important to have a healthy and balanced diet, even when travelling, this will keep us ready for the trip. When the weight it is one of our handicaps, especially for hiking and biking, we want to have dehydrated food, in order to save some weight, such rice, lentils, mashed potatoes, nuts, dehydrated fruit, etc. The cans normally are so heavy and generate lots of waste, not really well for long hikes. Try to carry some snacks on hand when you are hiking or biking, they give you power to keep going in your journey.
    These are briefly the main steeps that you should take into account when preparing your stuff for a trip. I will keep adding more information and going in deep in every aspect in future post!

    Sunday, 5 May 2013

    "It seems to me I spent my life in car pools, but you know, that's how I kept track of what was going on." (Barbara Bush)


    I wrote the Spanish version of my trip and I did not want to be impolite with the English people so I am writing it now in English so you can enjoy it too.
    I just finished one of the best experiences of my life. It begun on 7th of April on the way back from a weekend trip when discussing with my friend possible trips in the south island. I was expecting to do this trip in winter so I would have time to save and the whole month to travel but they showed me that maybe many places would be not accessible or very hard to get because of the weather conditions or the amount of snow in the mountains. So I quickly reconsider the trip and decided to do it taking the advantage of the mid semester break, so I will not miss as much class. I started to plan everything and found a cheap flight from Auckland to Christchurch for 126$ with the luggage included. I did not have a tent or a bivouac bag (bivi bag) to get myself covered from the rain so I went to buy one. Finally I decided to get a bivouac because was less weight and easier to transport and to carry it back home.  After buying the plane ticket and the bivi bag I notice that I had expended all the money I had left till the first of May. So my only option was to go to my trip just with the 40$ in cash I had left in my pocket, walking and Hitch hiking.
    So I had to plan everything and prepare all my stuff in a bit more than one day. The only big problem was that I had to take all my food for the 14 days I was going to be away in my backpack which made things much heavier.
    In order to save weight all my food was dehydrated as rice, mashed potatoes and noodles. I had also cooked 1 egg per day for the whole trip and I had seasoned already the rice so I did not have to bring the spices to the trip. For the breakfast I had oats, tea and lots of sugar. For vitamins I had carrots and apples.

    Day 1- Auckland-Christchurch-Arthur’s Pass
    So there I was, with my big backpack going into the luggage carousel with the tag of “last bag” as I had to run through the airport to catch the plane. With a smile on my face, the backpack on my back and 30$ in my pocket, I exited the airport. The first thing I needed to was to go buying a gas bottle and some food with the little money I had left. After the shopping my budget was reduced to 10$. I was pretty lucky and Maori guy called Manu, which means bird, gave me a ride even if he had to go in the opposite direction to take me out of the city in order to get better rides. I had no problems with the rides till I pass the last town of the east of the Southern Alps, where I walked a lot without a ride. I was already checking the sides of the road to find a place to crash when I got a ride which brought me just to the place I needed to go, a free campsite in the end of the route I was planning to do the next day. I had some special dinner for the first night as I brought some meat and tomatoes which I could mix with the rice. I could not use the egg I had prepared for that night as a New Zealand parrot called Kea stole it when I was looking in my backpack for some water for cooking.



    I got up before the sun and started walking when the sun was burning with its sunshine the marvellous peaks of the Southern Alps. The track was not marked, so it was basically walking up the riverbed which was very rocky. I had to cross the Waimakariri River a couple of times. At this time of the year it is almost dry but still enough water to make it tricky to cross. Probably because I still was a little bit sleepy and I could not think with clarity, I got wet in the first stream I had to cross. I slipped in a rock and my foot went into the water and so I did with the other and I crossed it walking through the water. I kept going and soon I reached the crow river valley where the track was alternating between a wild forest and the rocky riverbed. I was an easy path, sometimes not well marked, that took me to the Crow Hut in about 4 hours, so I was at the hut at roughly 11.30. The only person left in the hut was leaving soon so I will be alone, which was not that bad as I did not had money to pay the hut. Around 12.30 started to pour and it did not stop till the next morning so everything I could do was to light a fire, read some magazines which were in the hut, some yoga, and playing ukulele. Pretty random things! And so I did. The only problem was that the toilet was outside so I had to take a leak from the door of the hut in order to not get wet. Fortunately I had not to go for something bigger.



    This was one of the hardest days in my trip and for sure one of the scariest days in my life. The rain stopped just before the sunshine started to illuminate the sky, so I was lucky enough to continue my tramp.  I was exiting the hut at 8.00am and around 8.20am I was at the bottom of a very big scree slope. It was only 1km of distance but had a gradient of 50% as it goes up more than 500m. The route was clearly made to do it in the opposite direction, but as I had no money to stay close to the other end I did it backwards. I started to climb, everything was falling apart and the weight of the backpack did not help to keep my balance. At the beginning the inclination was kind of ok, but a bit before half way it increased considerably and I had to go all the time helping myself with my hands in order to not be another rolling stone downhill. When I was little 200m from the top, I decided to get close to one of the sides as there was not that much looses rocks. Unconsciously I started to climb in the cliff as I was following the path with fewer rocks in the way. After a while I noticed that I was in the cliff about 6m high of the bottom of a small scree slope which ended in another 20m cliff. I was shocked at that very moment. Only 5 meter laterally there was a “safe place” and after thinking in turning around, I determined that was much more difficult. I tried to move, but a couple of times I got myself almost hanging from the cliff due to the rocks falling from my feet. I did not know what to do I was trapped in the cliff and it did not seem to be a very busy route. I was just expecting to fall in my back so the backpack could stop a little bit my fall. After a while I decided to keep going to the safe place, so I climbed very, very slow to not grab one of the falling rocks. I had been climbing a lot before my trip so I felt strong enough to keep going but the backpack was a handicap that I have never had and was disturbing my balance. Finally I could reach the safe edge and take a deep breath before keep going. When I got to the top of the scree slope my heart was pumping hard and my breathing was irregular, and the stunning views did not produce any effect on me till I calmed down. I did it, I survive! I kept going in the path going through the crest of the mountain, now a little more indicated. Once and for all I got to the Avalanche peak were an amazing view delighted me in exchange of the effort done. The way back was not less hard as I had to hurry to try to get to the road soon enough to get a ride to my next destination, Mt Cook. Unfortunately I was not lucky that afternoon and fact that there are no close towns to the village did not help so after 3 hours in the shoulder of the road without getting a ride, I decided to walk back the 10 km that there was from where I was till the free campsite I stayed the night before. This night I was aware about the Keas so I filled my pockets with rocks and let them know that there was no food for them today. They gave up after a few tries to get close end went to bother other campers, so I was happy. The night came and the impressive view of the stars made me sleep so well after the tough day.



    Day 4- Arthur’s Pass-Lake Pukaki
    I woke up pretty early, so I could walk if I did not get a ride as the day before I was not so lucky. Surprisingly I got a ride with the first car that passed by. The man was a former motorbike gangster who told me some interesting stories about how he could leave the band 30 years ago and not get killed as would have been now a day. He also told me about the jail and gave me some useful tips for life. After a couple of rides from where the gangster a guy who was going from Christchurch to Dunedin for an epic party, apparently 10.000 students in the street. He left me in the shoulder of the junction with the road I had to take to follow my direction with a beer in my hand. I started to walk in my direction in a not very busy road so walked for a while until a man picked me up. He was a dairy farmer, and we had a very nice chat about ourselves. When he dropped me off he told me that apart from dairy farmer he was the Chancellor of the Lincoln University and he offered me money. I refused it as I normally only accept food and drinks but he really insisted so I accepted the 60$ he was giving me (In life you have to be honest but not stupid!). As I knew that I will not have money till first of May and still had to survive in Auckland after I finished my trip I put the money in a “safe pocket” to not expend it. So I thanked him so much and kept going in my way. My plan had changed as in the summit of the Avalanche Peak, a German guy I meet at the top told me to go to a nice spot in Lake Pukaki rather than Lake Tekapo that is the one I had planned. I spend a couple of hours at Lake Tekapo and even if it was a very beautiful place, I decided to keep going to the next one, Lake Pukaki. An old man of 76 years old gave me a ride this time; he was a former climber and guide to go to the top of Mt Cook, the highest peak in New Zealand. He offered me to drive me to my next destination, Mt Cook Village, but I declined it as I was very curious about the very nice spot the German guy told me, and the views were already stunning. The German guy was totally correct, the views from the free campsite were amazing, a beautiful blue lake due to the sediments enclosed in the ice of the glacier which fills the lake, and the highest peak of New Zealand reflecting at the bottom of the lake. All of that was companied with an incredible sunset, and a better star spangled sky!



    Day 5- Lake Pukaki-Mueller’s hut-Queenstown
    As the night before I woke up with an impressive view of the Mt cook. At 7:00am I was already walking in the road heading Mt Cook Village. I was pretty lucky and just arrive to the junction of the road going there I got picked up by one of the pilots of one of those companies that flies to the glacier and land on it. We had a nice chat and he gave me some tips about the weather and explained me that was getting worst that afternoon. He dropped me just at the beginning of my next route the Muller’s hut.  In the car park I found a dollar! So I started to go up through the around 1800 steps that there is to the top. It took me 2.20h again gaining time to the statistics. When I got to the top I could contemplate the marvellous views from the top where you can see the Lake Pukaki valley, some glaciers and of course the impressive Mt Cook, looking after the Southern Alps. Again the Way back was really tough and the weather was changing. It started to get really, really windy. In the way back I met again the man who gave me a ride the night before, The 76 year old guide. He offered me to give me a ride to a small town in my way to Queenstown and also gave me a couple of beers and a bottle of wine, as he had to take all the things left from a birthday party he had been the night before. There I was again, in the shoulder of the road with my thumb up waiting for the next ride. A very kind American guy, who is working in Afghanistan   gave me the ride to Queenstown and in the way we picked up another two hitch hikers one of them invite me diner in exchange of one of the beers, pretty nice deal. Because they were back from the epic party and were so tired did not want to go out for a while so I hid my backpack in a holiday park I had gate-crashed and went to town with the American guy and the bottle of wine that I had left. We hit a couple of bars till we found one we liked and stayed there for a while. The American guy invited me to pitcher of beer, and we were playing some games and dancing with mostly foreign girls. I went back to the place I have spotted to sleep, a little bit of grass between two trees and two apartments buildings. As the place looked very sheltered and the sky was pretty clear, and I was tired and tipsy, I did not use the bivi bag. That night I felt sleep pretty easily.



    Day 6- Queenstown-Routeburn Track
    I did not need an alarm that morning as I woke up with the rain hitting my face and feeling cold and wet. Unfortunately, it rained and my sleeping bag got so wet. It was already 7.30 and there was light enough for people to see me sleeping like a homeless in the holiday park so I packed all my things pretty quick except for the sleeping bag that I needed to dry, so I bought a token for the dryer which cost me 4$ for only 30 min, That left me with “only” 5$. I paid expensively for my mistake. I hit the road again, this time pretty late as I had to wait for the sleeping bag to dry a little bit. In 3 rides and about 10km of walking I got to arrive to the beginning of the Routeburn Track. It was 12.30pm very late to start a tramp but I had no choice so I started the Track. It starts in a jungle forest and follows the river upstream through the whole valley. Nice swinging bridges cross the multiple streams that go into the river. As I was already late for the day and because I had no money to pay the huts or the campsites, I had planned to stay in the middle of the track and either use the Harris saddle hut or look for some bivouac rocks that a woman who picked me up recommended me. When I was leaving Routeburn Falls Hut, a Warden from the DOC (Department of Conservation) stopped me in the track and asked me for the ticket for the hut. As I did not have any and did explain him my situation expecting some understanding, he told me that the next free campsite was in Lake Howden Hut about 20km from where I was and it was already 3.00pm. He alerted me not to sleep in the emergency shelter as he was going to check it and that he was calling the warden in Lake Mackenzie to check if he arrive or not. Such a stupid man! So I had no choice, I had to try to walk all the way to pass Lake Mackenzie Hut. In a little more than 3 hours I was already at around Lake Mackenzie hut where I found a nice bivouac rock to sleep. I was already dark and I could not switch on my head lamp as I did not want to attract attention from the wardens in the hut so I just did everything without light, prepared my food and waited till it got really dark to set up my camp. That night I slept a little bit worried about the wardens checking the place.



    Day 7- Routeburn track- Te Anau- Kepler Track
    Normally I woke up before the sunrise but this day I woke up a little bit earlier just to walk in the dark passing by the hut. I was lucky and nobody saw me so I kept going to the Howden Hut where I stopped to have breakfast and prepare a tea. As it was pretty early and I had time enough I decided to go up to Key Summit where I could contemplate the beautiful landscape of the fjord and some of the Southern Alps Peaks. The Trip to Te Anau was very nice as the man who picked me up was friendly and we had a good chat. I told him about my trip and he told me about how he taught his dog to be a rescue dog. He also gave me a couple of apples! I was expecting to find a free place to sleep in Te Anau but unfortunately when I went to the visitor centre there was no free camping and was prohibited to camp anywhere around the town or the beginning of the track. So again I had no place to sleep. As it was early in the day and I was missing meat so much I decided to go to the supermarket where I bought packed ham and some bread so I could have some proteins. I walked nicely around the lake all the way to the track start. I decided to camp hidden from the track close to the first campsite of the track, about 5 km from the start. I hide between the bushes in the beach in a very nice spot with lake views. When I was just about to start setting up my camp, I saw a DOC boat patrolling the beach so I quickly put everything in my backpack and this on the bushes and taking advantage of my dark clothes I pretend to be a rock so they could not see me. The boat took about 15 min to check the beach and so I was a rock, but the sandflies were biting me all over the uncovered spots of my body, my ankles, my wrist and hands and my face, taking advantage of my rock emulation. Finally they left the beach without knowing that I was there and I could set up my camp and get into the sleeping bag closing it to the top to avoid insect to bite me!


    Day 8- Kepler Track
    No doubt the hardest day physically! After the Routeburn Track I noticed that was not going to be as easy to sleep in the emergency shelters that there where in the track so I decided to go directly from Brod Bay, where I was, till Shallow Bay in the other lake, 42km away. It was going to be a hard day but I will avoid paying in the huts or in the campgrounds and also from getting caught in the emergency shelters. In order to not be suspicious if got too early to the first hut, I calculated the time to be there in a time that seems reasonable to have been done in the day. I left Brod Bay at 6.30am, so if they ask me, I could say I left at 5.30 from the parking. I arrived to the first hut, around 9.30, made a coffee with a lot of sugar in order to have energy and took a good breakfast. After 20 min of rest I kept going uphill as I could not lose much more time if I wanted to arrive in time to Shallow Bay. It was very cloudy and foggy with not much visibility but finally I crossed the clouds limit and the day was very clear, I was above the clouds. It looked like the clouds were the sea and all the peaks and mountains that were breaking through it seemed to be islands. For one moment I felt like one of the Greek gods in Mount Olympus. After a while in the top of Mt Luxmore I had to move due to my lack of time. The rocky landscape converted back again in the jungle after I got lower than 1200m where the tree line is. At 2.00pm I got to hit the second hut, Iris Burn Hut. Everything was going good but I was starting to feel exhausted. The signpost in the hut was indication 6 hours to the next hut that was close to where the free campsite was, but I needed to do it in four as around 6.30pm it gets dark. So I started walking fast in order to achieve the goal, get there by 6.30pm. Around 4.00pm my feet were totally destroyed, a huge pain was invading my body but my mind still had the control of my body so I had to keep going, I was a little depressed because I expected to get to Rocky Point Shelter, which was in the middle of the way by 4.00pm. I took a 20 min rest to grab some food because I had not eaten anything since 12.30pm and I kept going. Surprisingly the Rocky Point Shelter was 300m far from the point where I had stopped. My moral was mended so I restore my fast rhythm to get to Shallow Bay before it got really dark. At 6.05pm I was already at the last hut, Moturau Hut and the hoped signpost was there reminding me that I still needed to keep going for 35 more minutes, but I was so happy that my body did not hurt anymore, I was that happy that in some moment I just wanted to run all the way just to get there and have that moment I had been waiting so bad to happen, the finish of the journey. By the campsite there was also a basic hut. I check if there was anybody sleeping inside and also the visitors book to check how often the warden came to the hut. I was lucky and also was the middle of the week and the warden will not come till Friday so I was able to stay in the hut without paying. I rest sitting for half an hour and when I tried to stand up my feet were not responding, they had too much for the day so I had to move crawling within the room to prepare my dinner and to start a fire, which was nice to finish drying the sleeping bag. That night I sleep so well!



    Day 9- Kepler Track- Invercargill- Fortrose
    That morning I was not in a hurry at all so I woke up late made a fire in the beach and had a nice breakfast. I was by the lake and there was some special soap to stop spreading a kind of bacteria from both Islands, so I used it as a gel and had a bath by the lake. There were also two really big tents in the campsite, the only two in there. I saw them the night before but I did not pay much attention, but now I was rested, my curiosity was bigger too so I asked if there was somebody. Nobody answered and the tent seemed abandoned so I open one to check. In the first one there was nothing inside, in the second one there was a very big kitchen set up and some food left. I looked around and picked some minor stuff as cheese 2 cereal bars and mandarins, just enough to complete my diet a little bit and respect the people food. I walked so quietly that morning, it was the first time in the trip that I spent the same amount of time that the one indicated in the signs, even a little bit more. I had finished all my tracks for the trip, now was mainly road and seaside. I got a ride back to Te Anau and another one from Te Anau directly to Invercargill. The man was a hunter and told me that he had to stop to make a couple of jobs before heading to Invercargill. I was not in a rush so I accepted. We stopped in a diary farm and while he was tinting one window to avoid some kind of light reflecting in a camera, I was outside watching how 1000 cows entered in the installations to get rid of their milk. I was so amazed how much milk they can produce in this kind of farms. The man dropped me at the junction of Fortrose road and gave me some fresh venison from his trophy.  From there I got another ride all the way to Fortrose where I was delighted with a marvelous sunset.



    Day 10 Fortrose- Nugget Point
    Something woke me up, was the raining hitting the bivouac bag. Fortunately I had it this time. I waited a little bit for the rain to easy off in order to pack all my stuff and leave without getting so wet. Luckily it stopped during ten minutes, time enough to get up and pack all my things. It was a very bad day, rainy and cold, but I had to keep going so I started to walk in the shoulder as usual.  I got a ride which took me to the next town in the road where I had breakfast and some tea, covered in a bus stop. I waited a little bit to dry before going again under the rain. In another ride I was in Waikawa the closest town to Curio Bay where I would be able to see penguins and dolphins in the beach. I started to walk the 5km from Waikawa to Curio bay after a while waiting for the rain to easy off. In the middle of the way I met a Japanese girl in her bike. She had been touring with her bike for the last 3 months. She told me that there was nothing at curio bay because of the meteorological conditions so I decided not to go and keep going to the next place where I could see penguins, seals and sea lions. I got a couple of cookies from the Japanese girl, we exchange information because she was coming to Auckland and I followed my way to nugget point. There were not so much cars but I was pretty lucky and I get two rides, the second one took me directly to Nugget point even through the 6 km gravel road which leads you to the lighthouse. Even the weather was not good the landscape was impressive. The wind, which was blowing really fast, making difficult even to stand up, so after a few minutes I went back to the place where you could watch penguins just 5 min walking from the car park close to the lighthouse. There was a shed to watch the penguins as they are very shy which was the perfect shelter for me to stay on that night as the weather was really bad and it is always better to sleep dry. People started to arrive around 4.00pm when the penguins come back from fishing in to the beach to get to their nests. A very friendly young couple from England arrived and we were chatting while observing the penguins jump from rock to rock. After refusing sometimes their invitation to offer me 3 dollars to pick me to a campsite with them and then a ride to Dunedin the next day I accepted as I was not sure if they will check the shelter for observing the penguins. In the campground the owner, which was so kind, let me sleep in a shed that was under construction, so I could sleep dry. I had dinner with the English couple and I shared my venison which led to a delightful food. They had a camper van with a bed inside and a small kitchen in the back so after dinner we went inside to watch a movie. That night I had a really nice rest!



    Day 11- Nugget Point- Dunedin
    The next day they invite us to a wonderful English breakfast and we get on the road. The owner of the campsite also advised us to go to Cannibal Bay, where we will be able to see elephant seals. The weather was still cold, windy and rainy but we arrived to Cannibal Bay where we saw seals and sea lions but not elephant seals. Anyway we kept our way to Dunedin. When we got there we realize that there were not much to do so they ask me to stay with them as they will keep going to Christchurch I did not want to bother them but they insisted so I accepted, I will have company and a ride for the next day. We did some shopping in Dunedin and camp in a campsite outside of the city in the way to Christchurch. It was raining outside and I have already looked for a nice place to sleep under a tree and between the bushes that will cover me so good, but again, so kind of them, they invited me to sleep inside the van, in the front part where the seats are. I did refuse again till they insisted a little. So we had dinner together and watch another movie. That night was not as comfortable as the previous one but at least I was dry.

    Day 12- Dunedin- Winchester
    We were getting along so well and did a good team so now they asked me for my opinion and whether I wanted to stop in a place or not. I did not want to change their plans so I was always up to everything they propose. We went to Timaru, a city half way between Dunedin and Christchurch. There we did some shopping, fixed the fuses of the car that broke due to an overload, and visit the local museum. Also in the visitor centre they advised us to go to a free campsite an hour away from Christchurch. As I did not have anything to do because I had seen everything I planned, I agree to stay with them another night, and I could get a ride for the next day too. The weather was really bad but we decided to make a fire to get ourselves warm. Luckily I had my survival knife so we started to chop some branches. A man who was walking his dog saw us and came back few minutes later with a box full of dry wood so we could start the fire easily. We had a great night, chatting by the fire and again they asked me to sleep in the van. This night I had already the posture pretty much known so I slept so much better.

    Day 13- Winchester- Lake Pukaki
    Apparently they were not in a rush so I was not either. They decided to go to Lake Pukaki as they missed that and they did not want to come back because they were going to Christchurch to work to earn a little bit of money before going to Australia for the ski season. As I did not have a place to stay in Christchurch and people told me that there was not much to see due to the earthquake, I decided to go with them and guide them to the very nice spot that the German guy had told me. We got there pretty soon, around 12.00pm but the day was not so good. Too many clouds to see the beauty of that place. As they had check the weather report and was suppose to be sunny in the next morning, we decided to stay there for the night. We did not have anything to do so we started a fire and sit around even when it was raining for almost 12 hours. We were just waiting for the next day to come with the good weather just to see the stoning views.

    Day 14- Lake Pukaki- Christchurch
    The day woke up still a little bit cloudy but started to clear pretty fast so they could see the wonderful landscape and I could enjoy it one more time. I think I will never get tired of the beauty of that place. So we were heading finally to Christchurch. It took us about 4 hours to get from Lake Pukaki to Christchurch. When we got there we were able to see the truth of all of those scary stories that people told us about the earthquake. You could feel it in the environment, the desolation of the whole city, gravel piles, closed roads, empty buildings cracks in the roads and all kind of damage you can imagine from a very bad and strong earthquake. We went to the information office where we said goodbye and exchange the contact information. There were a very nice couple, so kind and helpful, Thank you! I asked in the information point for all the free activities in the city but as I expected there was not much. Anyway was enough to keep me entertained for the afternoon before going to the airport to expend the night there. I meet a Spanish guy outside the office who was in his honey moon, we chat for a while exchanging our stories and points of view of the country, which were very different.  I went to the museum which was free and surprisingly the building haven’t been damage (or at least apparently). There was a very interesting exhibition of the Antarctic, how was discovered and all the improvement in the techniques. After that I wander around the central mall in the “ground Cero” which was built with shipping containers. Very impressive how the people get so creative to solve problems in hard moments. The wife of the Spanish guy I met in the information point saw me there and offer me money that I refused, but she really insisted to take 5 dollars just to get to the airport, which I finally took. We chat for a while and then she left. I went also to a place which was a bar, exhibition, and concert place at the same which was built with wooden “pallets”. I hanged around the commercial mall which was mostly the only thing around the centre and I had my last dinner there. A mix with all the things left was my menu. I do not know if it was because I was really starving but it tasted really good to me, almost a gourmet meal. With the apple I had left and the flavour of the noodles I did a sauce where I fried the last carrot, and then boiled the rice and the carrot with the sauce, everything together. When the rice was ready I just add the noodles and after these were cooked the mashed potatoes which took the flavour of all the sauce and the spices from the rice. All of this was topped with my last hardboiled egg. Simply delicious!
    I took then the bus to the airport and get off one stop before in order to not pay the special rate they have for it and also to stop at McDonalds where I spend all my coins left in 60cent Ice creams. I walked back to the airport where I camped one last time.




    Day 15- Christchurch- Auckland

    This morning I woke up a little bit rebellious as nobody ask me for my passport or any document in the way there. So I decided to check the security of the airports in New Zealand. I woke up and prepare the stove and start toasting the last 2 bread slices in my pot. Even with the characteristic smell from toast nobody tell me anything about cooking inside the terminal. I was surprised so I decided to go a little bit more in deep in my research and I placed the gas bottle inside the bag in order to see if they will check and remove the dangerous artifact. I leaved it easy to take it so they do not have to mess so much with my stuff. Guess what happened, the gas bottle was intact when I arrived to Auckland. A smile of success and happiness was draw in my face, I had one more very exciting story to tell my future kids, and the most important, I had survived and had a very good time. I have to thank to everyone who helped me to achieve all my goals in this trip and to share your time and stories with me.
    Thank you all from the bottom of my heart!




    Approximate data from the trip
    Total Distance
    2170km (1348 miles)
    Walked Distance
    170km (106 miles)
    Walked in tracks and paths
    127km (79 miles)
    Walked in shoulders
    43km (27 miles)
    Time
    15 days (328 hours)
    Money invested
    43 NZ$