On my way to Stewart island

Tomorrow early in the morning I'll try to hitchhike to Bluff and from there take a ferry to Stewart island. Should things go right I'll immediately disappear into the subantartic jungle and this will be the last time anyone saw me for this year. So no early happy new year message from me. I'll be gone for a while.

I spent my last day in Invercargill buying some gear for the track. I am still lacking some things.. but oh well. And the rest of the day in the park. The aviary already gave me an idea of what to expect, but they had other birds as well. The African lovebirds are awesome always cuddling with another bird.

I also marveled at the icon of the city. A giant umbrella. Yes, because it rains so much and the rain could really become a problem in the island as well.
This will be the most difficult thing so far. I hope there will be some edible vegetation and that there is drinking water.

Oh well I'll see

Christmas, sandals and rain

I have been staying in Dunedin for a few days now and the city deserves it's reputation for the terrible weather from what I can tell. I think it rained every day so far. The one day it only rained in the evening we drove to the tip of the peninsula where the only albatross colony that is not located on an island can be found.

Of course there everything was fenced and a overly expensive tour was available, even to just enter the information center cost 5$. Of course we didn't want to pay all that money, and so just walked around watching seagulls and sea lions. After a while we started on our way back but stopped for Larnach castle, the only castle of the country.. which actually is not a castle. Anyway we walked there and when we arrived at the gate we saw the entry fee.. and decided to not pay that fee so instead we turned around and walked back, then drove back to the hostel.

The next day was rainy but it was the last day before Christmas, so we bought food because the hostel held a potluck dinner. Of course since almost everyone was German this wasn't very interesting and meant there wouldn't be anything to eat for me, but oh well. Also since it was Christmas in Europe the others were complaining about not being in Christmas mood/not being at home. We walked around and then walked into the first church of Dunedin. I never expected this. The three are total nerds playing games on their mobiles all day and then they went to sit in a church for half an hour at least. The church smelled of pee and the person playing the organ wasn't hitting the right notes too often. Also even though I am not well versed in churches, I have to say churches here are not impressive. Then we headed back to the hostel to end another rainy day.

The next day was Christmas day in NZ, so everything was closed I expected another horrible day. We went to the steepest street of the world, the Baldwin street. Well steepest street in a residential area or something like that. And that turned out to be the best thing in a while. It was dry when we left the hostel, so I left in my typical attire - sandals, shorts and t-shirt. Then it started to rain, first just a little then it started to pour and so finally after a long time I felt alive again. The street was steep but yeah it's just a street. Then in the evening the potluck was as expected practically devoid of edible food and I was wondering whether I am too old for this since almost everyone I met is younger than 20 and contemplating what to study or how to get drunk. One would think people who come here, come to enjoy the outdoors however party tourism is at least starting to take a hold of nz.

I didn't have conversations options left and so watched whatever was on TV and everyone else was watching. The next morning we left for Invercargill.

Going south

I didn't find a travel partner but I found three German guys (or maybe I should say boys) who also wanted to go to lake tekapo and in general seemed to have a nice route and who had a free spot in their car, so I decided to go with them.

The hostel where we wanted to go didn't have room for all of us so they went to a different hostel. I didn't have any food so I tried my luck with my other bank card to see if it had been unlocked already - I was in luck, although things were super pricey in that village.

Then I met up with the others who wanted to stay in and pay cards however and later watch a movie. So I went out alone for a longer walk around the lake with turquoise water and then through a pine first. Later in the evening I fended off a horny German girl in the hostel who was kind of racist and made me wonder how someone like that could travel around. German travelers are of the highest frequency among the travelers and so far she seems to have been the exception to the rule.

The next day we went up mount John together although I walked the extension of the track alone and found sheep who really flocked together very closely and barely moved. At first I thought they were weird statues, but at some point outer sheep started to fight.. a little.. for better spots.

In the evening I was amazed by the cooking skills of Asian girls one of which prepared an awesome looking meal in 10 minutes. All in all this was a nice stay with people from many countries.

The next day I accompanied the three to mount cook/aoraki. Where we went for a short walk and saw a kea in the distance and had a look at the glacier lake, then we headed back to the car, running from the train and just made it before it caught up with us. We then headed to oamaru where we found a steam punk museum and which in general seemed a steam punk place. At night we kind of illegally watched blue penguins and sea lions as a bonus. We didn't want to pay the ridiculous fee to be allowed to enter the colony, so we jumped down to the beach near a cafe which otherwise blocked the only other entry and was fenced everywhere else. Than we walked down a pier and were able to see everything and the sea lions at the far end of the pier. The thing seemed a sham really there were signs saying to be quiet near the penguins but they had loudspeaker announcements. Then we left and saw yellow eyed penguins in the harbour. It was funny while everyone ess staring at the penguins far away I saw a little fella peeking out beneath the platform everyone was standing on.
Unfortunately it was too dark for decent pictures. We then went back to eat steaks.

The next day we drove to Dunedin and that is where I am currently. The weather here is really effective at preventing me from feeling like going out. Apparently Dunedin is known for for its bad weather and there are newspapers saying it's really not that bad here. The hostel is easy overcrowded with Germans again.

Christchurch is really not a nice place

I teamed up with a polish and an Israeli guy to finally leave Christchurch for a bit, even if only for a day. (The day before I showed them around in Christchurch and in the evening went for a hike with the Israeli guy which was nice to but very short and we found a way blocked by stones from a past earthquake). We went for a hike in the Hinewai reserve and planned to go to one of the bays, however in the end we spent all afternoon walking in the reserve and then returned to make it back to the car before it was dark. We then went to the aoraki village to find something to eat however since it was late we ended up only finding something in a bar. We all ended up eating a seafood bucket each. Then after spending forever there we went for one of the bays even though it was dark already. We then went to the beach not really seeing much in the dark and after some philosophical discussions and failed attempts at taking pictures, we returned to the car, to return to Christchurch. All in all it was a nice change.

The next morning was the beginning of the last workday before my birthday so I decided to call immigration new Zealand again to ask if I should/could do anything to make things go faster with the visa. The answer was that the fact that my x Ray still didn't arrive was going to be problem and it had to arrive on that day, so the only chance I had was to get a new x Ray done and have it arrive in Auckland that same day. In short I thought it was a pointless effort and a waste of a lot more money.. But I tried.
I went to the atm to get money for another night at the hostel cuz I didn't want to worry about that too. Then I wanted to print the accompanying documents for the xray, but met the Israeli guy who was about to leave and said goodbye. Then I rushed off to get to the nearest approved radiologist. I then realized I had forgotten to get the printed documents from reception but tried the medical center and luckily they had the forms although they were not too happy about giving them to me.

I got the xray done and then headed to the airport because that's the pace they told me to go to at radiology(there was an office much closer). They scanned everything and sent it by mail, but told me they didn't know whether they would accept that, so I should also send it by mail. So I located a post shop at the airport and sent it from there. Then I decided to walk back...

I walked and walked and walked. The sun was very strong that day and I was getting thirsty, after walking for a long time I came to fendalton mall, I bought a few things to eat and way more to drink and then feasted at the back of the mall. A security guy left the back door at some point...

I made my way back to the hostel and there after a while of more eating and drinking I wanted to book a bus to another place and more or less randomly had picked lake tekapo. Then I noticed I didn't have my wallet anymore. So I blocked my debit card, then called the mall where I last used it, but upon here the list of extension numbers I decided to call the police instead. Then I left my mobile with a Scottish girl in case the police would call and then walked back the whole way to the mall asking passersby if they had seen something. At the supermarket nobody had handed in the wallet and the spot where I ate didn't harbor my wallet either. So I went back. Everybody told me I had lost it in a good area so it would surely show up and people told me that their wallet had showed up again when they had lost it and the Scottish girl told me that she knew how I felt. So I decided to stay 2 more days in case it would show up and also hoping to maybe find a travel partner and I thought maybe the wallet would show up on my birthday because the finder thought it would be funny. It didn't show up of course.

In short, Christchurch doesn't really offer anything to do, there is a funny connection between cathedrals and prostitution it seems(both the destroyed and the new cathedral have  unmistakable establishments close by), I got money milked by the hostel I was at making me pay for their mistakes and then I lost my wallet.

Visas, people and problems

People in visa limbo don't seem to be that uncommon around here.

There is Matthew an event organizer from Wales who thought he was here for only one day, as he is planning to live permanently in Australia and had been living there for 2 1/2 years already. However the next step of his permanent visa is taking unexpectedly long and now he's been here for almost a week and is running out of money. Yesterday he had 10$ left and you could see his growing anxiety while he was chain smoking his last pack of cigarettes away.

Then there was this Italian/German guy who wanted to buy a car with me because I am 'chill', but he doesn't have a driving licence which is also why he didn't get the whv visa yet, he will have to do an interview on the 16th and is stuck here until then.

Not everyone has visa issues though, some people have more mundane issues. There was a Brazilian girl who was left behind by her friends who didn't show up when they were supposed to, so I left her my phone for the day, so that she could contact her friends.

A Texan project manager told me he didn't think the job situation in the states was bad, however with almost everything he said it was evident that he was worried about losing his job and he mostly talked about job security related issues.

A German politician from Munich pissed off other Germans by talking to them about politics and was worried that there would be re-elections in Germany.

I also had the short opportunity to practice some Spanish with a girl from Chile and a Mexican couple.

As for me I am waiting, still no news on the xray I found out the post office screwed me over though. I had told them I need to send the fastest way possible they just decided to send it by regular mail. So because of some clerk I'm sitting here and waiting and losing money on that and might possibly end up not getting the visa. Further of course the hostel didn't pay up for the cost they caused me. They basically admitted it was their fault but yeah.. then this morning when I had to change rooms they had forgotten to note that I had paid. At least they didn't try to charge me again...they just wanted to investigate.
I booked another night, but it really is time to leave Christchurch.

Hostel horrors

Yesterday morning I left my hostel on a not so long trip to...the next hostel. When I finally arrived I was told that my booking had been cancelled because they couldn't charge my card and that I had received a mail which said I should have contacted them. Now of course the already expensive dorm room wasn't available anymore and my only option was to book a private room... which I did since at that point I had no internet connection to check for something else. So now I had to pay almost twice as much of what was already insanely expensive for a hostel. 

The room wasn't ready yet, so I went for the mall to buy a SIM card. I also used the opportunity to eat kebab(and was seriously disappointed). I got lucky  in a place called warehouse after being sent there by a cashier in a supermarket which heavily advertised that I could buy the SIM there but which didn't actually sell it anymore...

Finally I had internet access. I returned to the hostel, went to the room and checked my mails(first trying WiFi but that just didn't work at all and the quota is ridiculous being just a fourth of what I had in the haka lodge and more data would be way more expensive than on the phone...). The mail said that my booking shouldn't have been cancelled before 6pm on the day of arrival...  So I went to the reception and the receptionist said after some discussion that she would talk to her boss. 

Today I'll find out what the result of that was I presume. They should refund me, because this was completely not an error on my side, the account is fine and they shouldn't have cancelled the booking. It's also quite unfair that they didn't even bother to call and just immediately cancelled the booking. So from this experience I'd warn people to stay away from "The old country backpackers" in Christchurch. They have a very customer unfriendly attitude  and WiFi is unusable. 

After all that mess, i called immigration for news, but again nothing, i was told to ask the officer who worked directly on my case which i did only to get an automated reply saying that he was on holidays until the 16th. Great, time to book another hostel and wait.

I think I will probably buy a cheap car. That way I will have a cheap place to sleep and a means to get around. That would be much nicer if i wasn't traveling around alone, but oh well better than going broke.

Sunburn in Christchurch

When I entered the plane in Dubai yesterday, I expected the take off wouldn't be something I'd have to wait for all that much. However after waiting forever the captain informed that there would be delay of another hour or so, due to the fog. Now since the flight is super long without that additional sitting and waiting already this sure was not nice. Arse torture to the max.

Finally the flight commenced and like for the first flight I was lucky in that in the three seat column we were only two and so didn't have a middle man. On the other hand I had a guy in front of me who constantly managed to things more complicated for me, by adjusting his seat dropping his pillow and keeping lights on when everyone else was sleeping. So I didn't manage to sleep during the flight. If my memory doesn't betray me here, I think that klm wins in terms off comfort and somehow I could sleep without any problem.
Luckily I had checked in for my last flight in Dubai, and so didn't lose time for that in Sydney but how else could it be. Again the flight was delayed. When I boarded I was asked to provide a valid return ticket, which I did. This time I was surrounded families with children. The flight was much shorter and I had to fill out an arrival form which I was unsure about because of the visa thing. When I arrived I checked mails, because I sent a mail in Sydney, but there was no answer except from the nz post, saying they believed the parcel arrived. So I sent another mail to immigration saying I'd wait at the airport till I'd hear from them. However the area before customs didn't even have toilets so I waited until everyone else was done and then asked a customs officer. She looked at my papers asked someone and then asked me to walk through control and wait on a bench. A while later another officer showed up and told me he'd give me a regular visitor's visa and I should check back with immigration the next day how things stand. Since I didn't want to do the checkup again as the immigration officer I had mail contact with told me I'd have to, I told the officer that. He then said he didn't believe that was the case, checked back with immigration and then gave me the visitor's visa.Then I booked the cheapest hostel I could find, going by the name of haka lodge. Looked for a bus to the center and then walked for another eternity to the hostel which turned out to be really nice with a garden and generally nice atmosphere.
I also had a nice slightly quirky roommate. I then went to the next supermarket and decided that I was lazy so bought chips, fruits and 'scorched almonds' simply because that sounded awesome.
She wanted to sleep early and I was tired as well, so that's what we did.
I woke up at 6 am but thought hey if the supermarket here opens at 7 am that's not such a bad time to get up. I said goodbye to my quirky roommate and planned to go to an electronics store to buy a usb power supply since I forgot a part of my charger for the phone. However my Spanish/Madrid heuristic (just keep walking at some point you'll find what you need) didn't work out. My day netted me the power supply and a sunburn, but no SIM card. I wanted to extend my stay at the hostel, but too late - booked out. So tomorrow I'll switch to twice the price for less quality according to reviews. Still no news about the visa.

Walking through Christchurch I learned two things, first people here actually give proper directions (unlike in Spain, where people send you to random directions) and second that Christchurch is still considerably damaged from the earthquake and very much in progress, oh and yeah there really are loads of churches here.

In Transit

Waiting to board at Dubai airport. Free WiFi here doesn't work. So far not many things worked out.

First yesterday there was a traffic congestion. That wasn't much of a problem as the driver took an alternate route and we were like 2 minutes late. I was in luck since the bus stop was at the right terminal. Everything went smooth until I was at the point of baggage drop off. I was told I'd already need to have my visa. Oops. The clerk said she couldn't let me fly without one and wondered why immigration didn't tell people because she had a similar case recently already. After some discussion and calls I bought a ticket so that I could enter on a regular tourist visa. I guess this means I'll have to redo the x-Ray and additional medical checkups. Great. The 100 or so euros for the x Ray wasted. They tried to talk me into a cheap ticket, but I bought a full price one so that I simply can cancel it without incurring a financial loss one I have my wh visa. So finally I could move on to security. Apparently one of the guards had been eyeing me from afar, because as soon as I came closer she started to ask me about my vibram five fingers and was rather flirty. I already had forgotten that people do that and while I answered the five finger questions the rest of the security joined in. At some point after jumping around a bit and answering most of their burning questions. I suddenly realized that I was spending an awful lot of time there and moved to the gate. I was still earlier than the personnel for the boarding though.

Then I waited. We started late because of a shift change in the fueling company.. um yeah. The flight was uneventful I ate salmon and watched movies. Then we arrived late in Dubai and after going through immigration and waiting for the bus I was in my room at 1:xx am local time. Little time for sleep got up at 6:30 am had a super short breakfast, showered and then proceeded to the airport in order to wait. Finally the WiFi sort of works... a little. It is 9:44 the (again) delayed boarding should commence soon. I wanted to book a place to sleep from here but WiFi doesn't work for that. Oh well stopping to write now.