Nairobi - What now?

Sorry, no pictures for this post for two reasons. One, I haven't been here long enough to get any worth posting, and two the Internet Cafe I'm at doesn't have USB ports. So, oh well.

I'm here in Nairobi right now, and things are very exciting! Almost too exciting for my own likes! Actually, the reason things are exciting are because of the potential scam that I'm on right now. There are countless stories headed my way from the states about how terrible safari dreamers is, and considering Eli was supposed to meet me here today, but is not flying any more due to "mistakes" that safari dreamers has made, it doesn't make me feel any better about my trip. Luckilly I have a friend here named Gilles, that will give me a place to stay at least until the 8th. Hopefully things will be figured out by then. But as of right now, it seems to me that Kilimanjaro and my safari are possibly a lost cause. But once again, I don't know yet. Things are weird here.

So, enough of that, and a little about Africa! Kenya is a fascinating place so far, but wow, do I stick out like a sore thumb! It's a little unnerving too. But I'm sure things will go fine. They speak two languages here, English and Swahili, with English being prevelent. So that makes it nice too. And of course I'm starting to learn a little swahili already! For example, did you know that "Simba" means "Lion?" (For those of you that have seen the Lion King know why this is significant to me. . .)

So, besideds the fact that I haven't heard word from the Safari Dreamers people since I've arrived here, things have been pretty straight forward. I got off the plane and had no problems with Visa's or luggage. As soon as I got out of the Airport proper I was bombarded with people trying to give me taxi rides. Luckily Gilles warned me about this, and I was able to get a reasonably good deal from a drive to Gilles place. Once I arrived at Gilles place, everything about where I was sunk in. Gilles place has about 10 security guards that are constantly watching it. The whole place is surrounded by 8-foot walls, lined with razor wire on the top. The house has barred windows and doors. A.K.A, I'm not in Kansas anymore (or NZ for that matter ;) ).

So after gettting to the place and taking a well needed shower, Gilles and I headed to a meeting of the Mountain Club of Kenya. This was a great little place that was packed with people that have similar interests to me. For that reason, it may be O.K. that this Safari thing doesn't go though, because if that is the case I have now met some people that may be able to take me out clilmbing or Mountaineering without the guides. I met someone that may be climbing Mt. Kenya next week, and so If the safari falls through, I may join him to the peak of the Second highest mountain in Africa. But that is all going to be decided in the next few days.

So, with that said, I'm going to go and explore Nairobi a little more, and I'm looking forward to keeping you all updated!

Castle Hill - A Boulderer's paradise

So, yesterday, I went to Castle Hill, and I just wanted to post some pictures of this wonderful place! And tell you all about it, of course.

Castle hill is about a one hour drive from Christchurch and it is located in the shadow of Arthur's Pass. Arthur's pass is an area that Linnea has been telling me for ages that I MUST visit, and although I didn't actually make it to the pass itself, I have a great reason to go now! This is because of taking a look at Castle Hill.

Castle Hill is a HUGE boulder field. It has boulders the size of my head to the size where you'd need a full 60 meter rope to reach the top. Most of the climbing we did this day didn't warrant having to rope up though. We only climbed generally about 3 meters above the ground. Plus we were able to borrow a crash pad, so if we fell, we wouldn't get hurt. (Just putting that in there for you worry warts out there. ;) )

On this day we just climbed and climbed and climbed. We got there about 11 in the morning and climbed straight till 8 at night! It was a grand time! The best climb by far was this one pictured on the bottom left that we had to rope up for. As you can see, it is the most beautiful crack climb one could lay eyes on. (Actually this isn't entirely true, because there are better crack climbs in Indian Creek, in the States, but it IS the best crack climb I've personally done) To get into the crack one had to get what is called a mattevator. This tricky move is when Matt (the redhead) kneeled down on all fours. The climber would then carefully place his foot on Matt's hip. From there matt would slowly lift up so that the climber could actually reach the first hold! It was a riot!

Besides that, nothing spectacular has happened over here lately. I did a quick post yesterday to tell you all that I am flying out tomorrow. I fly out at 10 in the morning, and have found someone to take care of Larry for me while I am gone. So, I assume, that the next post will be from Africa! I'm looking forward to telling you all about it!










And Finally, for Eric, a picture of me "playing." You know what I'm talking about, right?

Celebrate good times!

I'm Flying out on the 26th!!! Yay! Your vibes (with A LOT of hard work from my home base team (my mother)) worked! It's official, I'm going to Tanzania!

Christchurch

Hello all! I have to admit, it has been a little while since my last post, but I feel that is for a good reason. More or less, I'm stuck here in Christchurch just waiting and trying my hardest to figure out if I'm actually going to fly on the 27th even! I'm having a hell of a time staying in contact with Tom (the person that is in charge of buying my ticket) and he is beating around the bush every chance he gets! Every time I call him, he says he'll have my ticket purchased tomorrow! This has been happening since Wednesday and it is Friday right now. So needless to say I haven't been the happiest camper for the past couple days.

With all that said, and considering I've been hanging out in Christchurch for the last little bit, I don't have a lot of exciting news to post. However, a few good things have happened to me in the past few days that I'd like to tell you all about.

First of all, last I told you I was going to stay at Steve's house, a friend of Dominic's. I didn't think that I knew this Steve person, but it turns out he was my Lab partner in several classes in College! So it was quite exciting showing up to this random persons house and actually knowing the person I would be staying with for the next week or so. Steve is also into climbing, so for the past few days I have been able to get out on the rock again.
First Steve and I went to Castle Rock and dinked around a little. The next day, I was able to meet up with Matt (the redhead from Thailand. . .Don't know if I've written about him yet, but regardless I met this kid climbing in Thailand, and he came down to NZ, I passed him in Hokitika, and was able to meet up with him for longer in Christchurch. . .) So Matt and I climbed the gym in the YMCA in Christchurch the next day, and after that, we climbed at a crag called Repaki. So that's three days straight climbing. Makes me smile! We wanted to go surfing today, but it has been raining all day long so far, and it has no sign of letting up. So today is reserved for sitting around and being lazy.

On another plus note, it looks as if Larry isn't going to have to be left alone for the next month! As I was talking with Matt in his hostel, I met this other chap called Nick. He was looking for a car for the next month, and offered to rent Larry from me for about two weeks of that month! So things are turning out. However, I won't consider them turned out until I'm actually on a plane flying away from this place! At the rate things are going, that could be months from now!

So, all things considered, that's why I haven't posted in a fair amount of time. Not a lot to talk about. And not many pictures to show what I've been doing really. (It's hard to get good postable climbing shots! But on the right is a photo of Matt and me so you know who I'm talking about in future posts. Doesn't he look an awful lot like Sean, when Sean was younger?)

Anyway I expect everyone back home to cross their fingers and "will" me out of here! Maybe some strange psycho kinetic powers will reach Tom and he'll actually purchase the ticket! Till next time!

Christchurch - One lap completed!

Well, here I am back in Christchurch. Just two weeks after I was here last. It was supposed to be that I flew out of here on the 19th of February, and for that reason, that is why we have been cruising so fast around the south island. For anyone that has been here, you'll know that 2 weeks is not nearly enough time to see the south in any detail. It's JUST enough to see the big spots with a lot of driving in between. So we took a lap around the south, and just as the lap was finishing up, I found out that I actually am not flying till the 27th now! This is good and bad. It's bad due to the fact that I now have a week to spend in Christchurch. One week isn't quite enough time to head places, but is just long enough to get boring. . .We'll see how it goes! The good though is that I may now actually get an extra week in Africa, which just MAY give me enough time to climb Mt. Kenya as well as Kilimanjaro! Plus it now makes it over lap with Brooke's stay in Tanzania, so I may get to see her on the other side of the globe! I hope so!

So now, I need to figure where I last left you all. I believe it was just after the Abel Tasman Hike. From there we headed to Nelson, and I finally got to meet up with Kris and Bruce, who I've been looking forward to seeing ever since I decided to come to New Zealand. Unfortunately, at that time we still had to be in Christchurch by the 19th, so I didn't get to spend nearly enough time with them. Just one night really. So hopefully, after I'm done with Africa, I can go back and actually sit down with them and take a breather and get a chance to say a proper "hi."

From Nelson, we went to a place where Linnea stayed at three years ago. This is a WWOOFing farm. (Willing Workers On Organic Farms.) These are farms where backpackers can go and work on farms for food and lodging. It sounds like a fun place to stay for a week or so, and once again, I may go back there and try my hand at organic farming. The people that run this farm are incredibly nice too, so it'd be a blast to get to know them better. They even had names for every one of their cows, and the cows would come up to you to lick you. I can't say I've ever been licked by a cow before. It's kinda weird. . .All slobbery and stuff.

After the farm, we got to have a taste of home. Literally. One of the most drank (drunk, drinked :) ) wines in NZ is a wine called Montana. We actually have this same wine in Montana, however due to confusion it is bottled under a different label. But the wine is delicious, and we were able to stop at the Winery if for nothing else then get some Montana/New Zealand Souvenirs. And of course some pictures of the area.

But then we had to get on the road again. We drove on to Kaikoura to spend a night. Kaikoura is more or less the Crayfish (lobster) capital of New Zealand. So of course, with the help of my mom, we were able to purchase a lobster and eat it on the beach! This was the first lobster I've ever eaten, and unfortunately for my pocket book, I LOVED it! The legs are a little tough to eat though. You should've seen it, cracking the legs open with the rocks we found on the beach. It was quite amusing! Oh, yeah, we also got the Lobster out of the refrigerator you see in this picture. (Hehe, just kidding. . .)

So, as I wrap this post up, I am pretty sad. My Mom and Linnea are both leaving today, and seeing them it has made me miss home more than ever. Before they came, I though they'd be able to help, but I think my plan backfired on me. So after my mom takes off at 9:00 tonight, I'm back on my own. . .for the most part.

In fact, I have one last story for you all before I sign off. Back when I was still in College (cause that was SOO long ago!) I was taking a physics class with this kid called Dominic. Well, Dominic is an amazing rock climber, and every time I went to the climbing gym, I'd run into him there. We more or less just talked, but a climbing relationship never ensued. Well, that year we went to Red Rocks outside of Las Vegas for spring break, and lo and behold, who is in the same campground as us? It's Dominic. Well, no big deal. That year he graduated while I still had a year to go, so I didn't see him at the climbing gym again, but the next spring break we ran into each other again at Red rocks. This time though we were both 300 ft. in the air on the same climb, and we ended up climbing together, albeit in seperate groups. After that encounter it seemed that I'd probably never see him again, but as they say, never say never! On the first day of the Abel Tasman hike, as I was walking head down, passing countless people, I hear my name being called from one of them! "Is that Trevor???" I turn and look, and sure enough, it is Dominic! Yep, Bozeman is the center of the universe! You can't go ANYWHERE with out running into people from Bozeman! Anyway, we swapped numbers this time, and it looks as if we are going to hook up later and travel/climb a little with each other in the future. Plus, he has a friend in Christchurch who I'm meeting tonight that is going to put me up for the week that I'm waiting for my plane to fly! And to make it even better, they are going to watch over Larry while I'm gone! Things just seem to work out!

Well, that's all for now! And for a parting shot. . .A butterfly stopping to smell the flower! Enjoy!

Nelson - A little like Bozeman

Hey there all! It's been a little while since the last post. I've been burning the candle on both ends lately, and trying to find Internet is not as easy on the South Island as it was on the north. However things are still grand down here. So, last I left you, we were leaving Wanaka. From Wanaka, we drove to the Fox and Franz Joseph Glaciers. We didn't really get to see a great look at the Fox Glacier, however we walked onto the Franz Joseph Glacier. And on the way to the glacier they had signs like these! What a riot! "Beware the falling ice/flash flood/tsunami wave etc etc. . ." But the glaciers are incredible! More or less, they move up to 8 meters a day! Walking up to them you could almost hear them moving forward! Ice was constantly falling however, and you did have to watch yourself. Also, they had carved some steps into the glacier, so if one had crampons, one could walk onto the glacier. Luckily there was a bucket of loaner crampons that I was able to roughly fit to my boot so that I could play on the Glacier Briefly. We didn't have a lot of time there however, so I'm looking forward to going back someday and spending a full day playing on this glacier with the appropriate equipment. Ropes, Harnesses, Helmets, etc.

From the Glacier we drove North to a very fun Hostel Called the Old Slaughterhouse. This place required a ten minute bush walk to get to it. But it's the best place I've stayed in yet. They had two dogs, a wonderful view of the Tasman Sea, and the owner even made us some Tea as we showed up! So for anyone travelling in NZ, I HIGHLY suggest the Old Slaughterhouse. And I almost forgot, on the way up to the Old Slaugterhouse, we were able to stop at the Pancake rocks. These are a major tourist attraction, however I don't necessarily see why. They are cool, but it seems that you get the same type of Rock formation at places in Red Rocks in Las Vegas. (given, that is a tourist destination too. . .) The formation of the rocks is a layering that is about the thickness of a pancake. And you just get stacks and stacks of these rocks. Then, the coolest part, if the tide is high and the winds are right, the waves come in from the ocean and hit airpockets inside the pancake rocks. This causes a little "spurt" of water to shoot way up in a geyser type fashion. Apparently though, when we were there the wind was going the wrong direction, so we didn't get huge geyser's. But we did get to see a few small splashes. Nothing nearly as cool as the geysers in Yellowstone. Of course, we all knew that nothing can ever be as cool as Yellowstone. :)

In fact, an even better part about the Pancake rocks was the cave we found 200 meters down the road from it. No tourists were in here due to the requirement of a headlamp. But since I had pulled mine out, I was able to explore this cave completely on my own a little. The cave went a good 200 meters deep, and coming out I got to see where a scene from Indiana Jones was filmed. (Or could've been at least. . .) The light was streaming through the mouth of the cave in the coolest way, so needless to say, a picture HAD to be taken. And that's the one on the left.

Then, the main reason why it's been a while since my last post, is I've been stuck in the "wilderness" over the past 3 days. We decided to to the Abel Tasman coastal walk which is one of NZ's Great Walks. A synonem for great walk is a crowded walk. Just like the tongariro crossing, this walk had no shortage of people. We even saw one guy coming the other way with a baby stroller! The path was that well graded and taken care of. Just a little worse than fully paved. :) But sure enough, the views were gorgeous, and since the walking wasn't all that intense, we were able to get some good quality beach time. But due to the crowds, and as a veteran NZ traveller now, I would suggest to anyone wanting to do a coastel walk to do the one at Cape Reinga instead of this one. You may even get a feeling of being in the true wilderness at Cape Reinga! (For those of you just catching up with the blog, read about Cape Reinga near the beginining of the blog. . .) But then again, if you don't mind people, and you want the white sandy beaches, warm weather all the time, and turquoise water, then Abel Tasman is the place to be. But remember, the whole place is serviced by something called a water taxi. They constantly are shuttling people to and fro into these beaches, so you don't even have to walk to get to them. Hence the crowds.

From The Abel Tasman walk we have headed a short drive over to Nelson. As I write this I have not met up with my friends Kris and Bruce yet, but that comes after I get off of the Internet. With that said, Nelson is a wonderful town, big enough where you can actually find things to do, however still has that small NZ town feeling to it.

I guess that about wraps it up for today. I'm leaving to Africa in three days, and so things are starting to get really hectic about that. I've just found out that the guy that is supposed to buy my ticket hasn't actually sent it to me yet, and it may not be an e-ticket. So who knows. . .I might not be flying on the 19th after all! But I promise, I'll keep you all updated on that as the time approaches. Miss you all! Till Next time!

Wanaka - Is this where I'll be living?

Hey all! The last few days have been phenomenol! After leaving Lake Tekapo, we drove really far south to Te Anau to explore the Milford Sound area. This area is so incredibly gorgeous, you couldn't imagine it. It rains there a lot though! And rains, and rains and rains. But it is worth it. Because the more it rains, the more waterfalls appear. This area really reminds me of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. About 6 of New Zealands 10 "great walks" are in this area. And I can see why. Big mountains that just jut out of the ocean. Just do a photo search for "mitre peak" and you'll see what I mean. When we saw Mitre peak though, the peak itself was shrouded in clouds.

From there, we stayed one more night in Te Anau, and then started driving back north to do what I have been dreaming of doing since I was like 10. We drove through Queenstown and stopped at the AJ Hackett bungy jump site. I did buy the pictures of my bungy jump, and they say they'll be online in a few days. I was hoping they'd be up by now so I could just post them to the blog, but since they aren't up yet, (try it as you read this, they may be up by then. . .) I'll just give you directions to see them. Go to www.ajhackett.com Click on "Daily Photos." Then Click on the Kawarau Jump link. Under search for photos section, type in these codes. . .

AJHK702097661264
AJHK702097661265
AJHK702097661266

And trust me, it is worth a gander. When everyone else was frightened to jump, I just more or less strolled out there and did a cool trick of the jump. It was a blast, and I suggest that people do it! I was on an adreniline high for the next 3 hours! (My mom was frightened by my fast driving afterwards. . .)

From there we headed up to Wanaka, and my debt was paid off. Five months ago, while Linnea and I were driving home from Townsend's Corn Maze, we had a bet on which direction West was. Yes, I lost. And the bet was for a cookie in Wanaka. Not just any cookie though. Here in Wanaka, they have a movie theater, much like Colter and I wanted to put into Gibson's. This Movie theater has couches for seating, and during the movie, they cook everything from Pizza to pasta to cookies to beer and wine! The movie then has an intermission and you can go out and buy the food you want, bring it in, and watch the rest of your movie while you eat and drink. It is a great place with a lot of character. Anyway, the bet was for a cookie from this movie theater and so, the debt was paid off. Plus they only have one screen so we didn't get a choice in the movie that we went to. So we saw "The Departed." Violent but good. You've all probably seen it about 3 months ago!

So that brings me up till now. Today we are driving out to the Franz Joseph Glacier 300 km up the road! So I should probably hit the road! Till next time!

Queenstown - En Route to Te Anau

Here we are, in the Jackson Hole of New Zealand. And it is everybit true! First thing that happened as we were driving into town, we were trying to pass up some bicyclists, and considering there is no such thing as a shoulder on the roads here in New Zealand, we were waiting for a good straight section of road to pass them on. Well, sure enough, right behind us came a rich fool in his big subarban type car, and started honking at us cause we didn't pass the bicyclists on the blind corner! Yeah, you can tell it is rich ski town area here. But the skiing does look phenomenol! And to top it off, there is a lot of the adreniline junky things to do here. I've decided to do a Bungy Jump when we drive back through on Friday. I'm excited to tell you all about it!

So, I can't post pictures at this Internet Cafe, however, I've gotten some gorgeous ones that I am excited to share with all of you! We stayed last night at a friendly Backpacker called "Tailor-Made." It was situated in the small town (514 people small. . .) of lake Tekapo. (I like to pronounce that "Take a poo", but that is probably not the correct pronunciation.) The Mountain Lakes up here are the most beautiful teal color you could imagine. Visibility is terrible, but it makes for good pictures. We stopped at one lake that was situated right across from Mt. Cook, the tallest mountain in New Zealand. At this lake we took in the views, skipped rocks, and oh yeah, I sneezed a lot. That's right. My allergies have come back to try and ruin the trip! But I won't let them! I'll fight! With Drugs! :) So, that's why I love winter so much. Allergies.

For the last few days though, we have been driving. Driving driving and driving. The distances in the south Island are very long, and with my Mom, Linnea, and I all leaving on the 19th, we wanted to take in the best of the best of the south island. So this involves a lot of driving. We'll get there though. Tonight we are going to the town of Te Anau. It apparently has caves that you can explore completely on your own, and it is the gateway to the ever famous Milford Sound. I've heard lots about this area, so I am looking forward to taking a look for myself!

Then there is Larry. He is doing fine so far. He may need an oil change, and we had to replace a tire on him already, but all in all he is doing well. I have to admit, he isn't anywhere near as cool as Rove. Hopefully Rove is doing well under the tarp in the horse pasture right now. Larry is a little fidgety going up the hills, and today we had to stop to let him cool off a bit. Didn't take long though. It was a good stop with a beautiful view of Double Cone Mountain, which I think was the Mines of Moria in LOTR. However it may have been where the lighting of the beacons were done too. I'd have to watch the movie again.

So, that about does it for this post. Hope all is going well back home! Looking forward to telling you about more adventures!

Christchurch - The City of constant Sweet Peadness

Hey all. I have a new friend that I'd like you all to meet. This is Larry. And the man I'm handing the money too, is Phillip. Phillip could've been a good friend, as he was interested in Mountaineering, and climbing and hiking, but he was leaving New Zealand the next day. But Phillip did introduce me to Larry for a mere sum of cash. Larry is my "new" 1986 Subaru Station wagon, and he is going to help me get around the south island. Larry is nice. He has fold down seats so that one can sleep inside him, he starts up just fine, and he has decent petrol consumption! Hopefully, If I apply the golden rule and I am good to him, he'll be good back to me! So from this point on, Larry will be part of my stories!

Now that you've met Larry, he came to the Airport with Linnea and I to pick up my Mom, who is now travelling with us. The three of us have more or less been getting our bearings straight for the past day or so, but in the meantime we've seen some good sites around the Christchurch area.

First of all, the Center of Christchurch is around this Cathedral, and the square that surrounds it. Aptly named, Cathedral square. Cathedral square is where the tourists combine with the locals in one place. They have everything here, and one could more or less hang out here for days on end. This is where "Sweet Pea in Christchurch" happens. You constantly have vendors, bands, shows, and street performers here. The street performers though, aren't necessarily the best. They more or less make you feel guilty for not giving them money. The one we watched today took an hour to build up a crowd so that he could perform an escape from 20 meters of chain. It was a good escape, but not worth an hour of him attempting to get the crowd he had to cheer so that more people would come.

Another thing they have in Cathedral Square is this Chess Board. It is entirely free to use, and the only cost is you know that about 15 people will be watching your game. So you better play well if you play on this board. But, I really think we should get Bozeman to add this type of board in a park somewhere. It is really fun to play on! In fact, the first game that I played, I (luckily) won! The second game I got slaughtered though.

Well, from there, my mom, Linnea, and I went to the botanical gardens in Christchurch. Something I've noticed about NZ is that all the large cities have the most beautiful Botanical Gardens with Hamiltons being the best still though. But the ones in Christchurch were not lacking at all!

Oh yeah, and how could I forget! With the help from Larry, and the coolerbox that came with him, we were able to shop for food! (Or should I say my Mom and Linnea) And when I say shop, that's what I mean! We went wild! We are going to be able to eat like kings for the next two weeks, and I'm NOT complaining one bit! I mean, look at the picture on the left! I would never contemplate what type of cheese to buy! Except if I was looking at Kraft Macaroni and Cheese! Hmm, do I want spirals, or the family box? ;) So, yeah, I'm looking forward to the next two weeks! And, on the left you can see what will be on the menu for the next two weeks!

Miss you All! (Except My Mom and Linnea of course, considering they are both sitting about 2 feet away from me right now. . . .) Keep on keepin' on!