Part of this large collection includes plenty of video. Some good, some bad, but enough to put together a nice little montage of some good shots.

First off, I need to figure out flow in a confined space. I think I could have a final “film” thats 5 to 15 minutes long. It’s not a lot of time to work with. At the same time though, a lot can happen in just one minute. And while I’m sifting through all these videos, trying to identify whats good, what meshes well together, I’m thinking of the sound track I want to write for this.

Is this really the workflow of film production? I guess it’s time I learn the art of the storyboard so I can visually see the bigger picture.

So while keeping in mind that scene of the bus drivng slowly over a narrow bridge will flow well into a scene that is actually over looking a cliff, to the sound of some kind of dramatic progressive ambient music, I’m also looking at how I can enhance what I’ve got.

About 40 seconds into the above video, a transition happens between the original video and the “mastered” video.

I’m not sure if mastering is the term, but if I was doing this to a song, that’s what I would be doing. Instead of EQs, I have highlights, midtones, and shadows. Instead of compressors, I have contrast.

So in this nice shot of a waterfall, I tried to bring more definition to the water falling, and bring out the real greenness of the scenery that original film didn’t have. All the tweaking was done in After Effects using the Colour Finesse 3 plugin that comes with it. I also added top and bottom bars for a more cinematic look, but I’m not convinced I want to do this.

I didn’t have to think long and hard about this video and what I thought needed improving. But other videos where I did capture something interesting, simply lack something and I can’t quite figure out what it is. I have to stare at the video, watch it over and over again, and then experiment.

It’s taking longer than I expected but at least it takes only one hand most of the time (writing this with my ipad’s blue tooth keyboard isn’t that hard for a hand with very limietd mobility).

So stay tuned, eventually I will get all these photos and videos out the door.

Nikon D7000 w/ Nikor 18-105mm

My flight from Aucland to LA is delayed, on the tarmac, for emergency maintenance on an engine. Not exactly assuring. It caused a two hour delay. I only had 1h30m lay over in Los Angelas.

Damn…

We finally took off and after a few bumps the flight was fairly smooth. Amazingly, there was a concierge on board to anwser any tourist questions about LA. Pretty neat. She also handed out rebookings for people who were going to miss their connecting flights.

I was originally supposed to get to Montreal for 8pm. The rebooking has me getting back at 2am, with a 4 hour layover in Toronto. I was not happy about this. But, the plane did make it to LA earlier than expected. I had 30 minutes or so till my flight!

Level 1: US Customs
Despite the connecting flight to Canada, I still had to legally enter the US as if I was staying, which meant going through US Customs. The line up was long, our Boeing 747 was full, and Im sure there were many other planes as well.

So the strategy to get through that long horrible S like queue, was to simply state my case. I have a chance to catch a connecting flight, can I crawl through? I managed to make it straight down the middle of the S like a noclip cheat. I got through customs pretty quickly.

Level 2: Baggage
I had to collect my luggage (which was now too heavy for carry on). I was feeling confident now that I breezed through Level 1. This game isn’t so hard.

My bag was the last one out onto the carrousel. Why this level even exists I don’t know. I had to grab my luggage and then re check it in. It seemed like a completely pointless step.

And now that my bag was last, I had almost no time left. I ran to the place to drop off my luggage, then I had to run and check in with my flight.

Level 3: The Check In
I win! As I got up to the check in counter floor, I passed by a screen showing departures and noticed that my connecting flight was late! It bought me an extra hour of time. I managed to catch the flight, and still have time for the duty free.

–

I got back to Montreal around 9pm-ish. After calling people to say I’m home, I grabbed a taxi and dropped off my bags. I craved a poutine. A La Banquise poutine. I craved it enough to head right back out into the heart of winter before doing anything else. I took the 11 to the plateau and started walking towards the restaurant, crossing through the dark icy alley ways.

A patch of ice and I had a disagreement. The ice won…

Snap!

I took off my coat and my hoodie to look at my elbow, and I noticed that my elbow was not where it was supposed to be. Definitely a centimeter or so away from where I expected it to be. I decided it was time to call 911.

Long story short, five days in the hospital, surgery to put in a metal plate in my arm, six weeks off work, two of those weeks on morphine, and now, on my last two weeks, it’s time for proper physiotherapy and learning how to type again.

To think, if I didn’t make my connecting flight, I never would have attempted to get food in the plateau, and this would never have happened.

Feb 20th I should be back at work…

It was New Zealand that I ultimately wanted for the main course however, and I do not regret a thing.

This country really is amazing. And while it has its bad spots (like Greymouth), it also has some of the most stunning natural environments anyone could ever hope to see, all in a very confined space. The ocean brushes up against the alps, which brushes up against bushland, which brushes up against rain forests. Scenery changes in the blink of an eye.

I didn’t do everything I wanted to do, and I did a lot of things I never thought I’d ever do. I challenged myself in different ways whether it’s white water rafting, or dancing up a storm to bad club music, it has been an experience for sure.

My favourite nature-based place was Blue Duck. A truly remote location surrounded by fluffy mountains. My favourite urban centre was Wellington. A city with a soul. I’m sure Auckland had a soul, but they just drank it all away.

The Stray bus was also a great choice. My goal wasn’t just to go out and party every night, and while drinking quickly turned into a nightly ritual, it was almost always done under the context of conversation, not a “let’s see how drunk we can get tonight!” attitude. And as the group on the bus got smaller, things got more intimate, and there was less cliques. Some people I felt had the wrong idea behind traveling with a tour group. They went with friends, and just stuck with their friends and not really interacting with the group on the whole. But most people were like me, by themselves, on their own, and we had no choice but to bond. It’s too bad that by the end of it everyone was different with little to no time to really form a friendship.

Getting sick was unfortunate, but not a deal breaker since it was just a 24 hour thing. I’m sure doing a work out trying to dance the Haka helped a lot.

I also listened to a LOT of reggae music. It’s quite popular in New Zealand. And it’s not a bad genre of music either. Relaxing but groovy. Good stuff to play on the bus when we all just want to catch a few extra hours of sleep.

New Zealand does a lot of things right too. Cities and towns have most of their sidewalks covered by awnings. While Montreal may have the largest underground network in the world, it doesn’t help much when you have to walk around areas not covered by the network. I’m sure snow is a factor in not doing this because of the weight, not to mention the danger of icicles and larger chunks of ice falling down onto parked cars. Also, in most places, every garbage can has an ashtray. When the snow melts in Montreal, it gets pretty nasty with the cigarette butts all over the place. But in New Zealand, things are pretty clean.

The biggest regret was not being able to do ariel activities, and realizing that unless I become unhealthily thin, I will never be able to do them. But now that I have had a taste of white water rafting, I’m looking forward to trying out the Lachine Rapids right in my own city. I’ve learned they are in fact Grade 3 and 4 rapids, so not the weakest by far. Having floated through a grade 5, I’m sure I can handle it.

I have 128gb of photos, video, and timelapse experiments to sift through across 8 SD cards. The cards were probably my biggest expense of my trip, costing $100 a piece. I am very very happy I bought myself a dSLR camera. But, next time I travel, I absolutely need to buy a wide angle lens to get a wider shot of everything around me. The Nikkor 18-105mm kit lens just doesn’t capture everything you want to capture. Not only that, but I really need to bring a lens hood for it. Rain sucks, and while my camera (Nikon D7000) is pretty good at handling weather, getting rain drops on your lens is just annoying.

There is probably so much more I could say, so many things I’ve learned about life, myself, other people and other cultures. One thing’s for certain, I’m really torn between country and city life. There are only four major cities in New Zealand. Everything in between is country or town life. Auckland I could pass on, but Wellington has a place in my heart. However, getting to Wellington after days and days of small towns and country side, it felt awkward in a way.

Another thing I learned, is that I need my drivers license. It will be my birthday gift to myself. I’ll be turning 29 so it’s about time to do so. If and when I go back to New Zealand, I want to do it by camper van. These camper vans that you can rent are really cool, and having the freedom of movement that it offers is great. Granted, Stray is a hop on/hop off service, but you still have to follow its path. I want to blaze my own trail.

I have one weekend left before headed back to work. I will be spending it in front of Photoshop, eating salad and drinking tea. I will have one last unhealthy meal though, POUTINE. Poutine and lebanese kebabs are two things I really miss. Most kebab shops in New Zealand are turkish, and no one seems to know how to make good humus.

I do miss my friends, what little family I have, and my city. But I don’t miss winter in the slightest. I’m not looking forward to the pathetically short days, the cabin fever, the arctic winds and noreaster snow storms. Getting back into routine will be strange.

I guess the thing I hated the most about New Zealand, ironically, is the sun. There is apparently very little ozone around this area. So while you can sit outside on a terrace, in the park, on a bright sunny day back home and barely get a tan, you will burn to a crisp in just 10 minutes in NZ on a cloudy day. Sun screen is NOT optional here, and you better get a billion SPF lotion if you hope to survive. I also hate the fact that this country doesn’t believe in screens or nets for windows. It’s hard to leave a window open when bugs that will nibble on any exposed skin you’ve got fly into your place.

All in all, best vacation ever. I leave in 30 minutes to the airport. 18 hours to get home, 12 of which on one flight. Ugh…

We got to Auckland for lunchtime. I booked a room at the Mercure Windsor hotel again while others went to Nomads Auckland and other various hostels.

I spent the afternoon eating cheap sushi and filling out a grand total of 17 postcards. I’m really bad at writing postcards, and with 17 to fill out, I wish I just had a stamp that said “Having a great time!” and that’s that.

Besides, it’s really not the message the counts right? It’s the picture, and that foreign stamp that counts. If it was the message, then I could have just sent emails. I also threw out a lot of stuff that I had collected but didn’t need back home. Toothpaste, a large towel, febreeze, etc. My bags didn’t feel that much lighter mind you, but hopefully with some careful packaging, I can get everything as carry on again.

For dinner I went to the International Food Court where there is a chinese noodle place that makes really good fried noodles, with lots of vegetables and meat and very little grease, as well as a bowl of broth.

The plan was to meet up at Nomads Fat Camel bar for one last party night before Tavis and I went home. I also had a chance to say good bye to some of the folks I met from my first week in Auckland. This bar is really cheap too. $5 NZD pints of beer, about $3 canadian.

Most of my group decided to stay indoors because “it’s cold” but I scoffed at them. This time tomorrow I’ll be back home. The low is -10c, with windchills reaching -20c, and snowing. Being outdoors will soon be a thing of the past. We stayed there a few hours before heading to another place on Fort St. called Union.

Union had $5 pint specials for people who were staying at Nomads. Luckily, Tavis had a spare key he gave me so I just claimed I was from Nomads. A british fellow, I don’t remember his name now, brought out a pack of cards and taught us what is probably the best card game I’ve ever seen.

He called it Horseracing. The idea is, you bet on which of the four aces will make it ten steps first. To make it more interesting, you put a column of ten cards to represent each step. When the last ace hits a step, you flip the card, and the suit of the card will send the matching ace back one step. Then you just use the remaining cards to move the aces. Draw a heart, move the ace of hearts one step, so one and so forth.

But to make it even MORE interesting, the bets turned into Truth or Dare. Bet a truth or a dare. If your ace wins, you get to decide the dare and/or question for the other three aces. Suffice it to say, what happens in Auckland, stays in Auckland… until you need to blackmail someone.

Many drinks flowed that night. By midnight though, we decided to change places. Bad idea. The only spots open had long line ups of people far too young, so I grabbed some Burger King and called it a night.

It was… an enlightening way to end my vacation I suppose.

It’s thursday now, my flight is at 7pm. I’m hopping on the 3pm shuttle bus, and that is that.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much to do, and the place really does stink, though it was windy today so unlike last time I went through the area, it didn’t smell nearly as bad.

After checking into our dorms, we decided to get some last minute ingredients to finish off my rum in the form of…. MOJITOS. I still had two mint plants left, almost a full liter of Bacardi White, but no more soda water, and no ice. Three canadians were with me now, a girl from Nova Scotia, a guy from Edmonton and a guy from Calgary. With a few brits we marched over to the local Pak n Save grocery store and got everything we needed.

We headed back to the hostel and enjoyed our drinks while at the same time lessening my load. It’s amazing how fast a liter of rum goes when 8/9 people are partaking in it. We were just passing time for our free BBQ dinner at the hostel bar. At 7pm we went to the bar, stuffed ourselves on free patties, sausages (bangers on the barbie, mate!) and well, some slices of white bread. So it wasn’t an elegant BBQ, but it was free.

A few drinks to wash it down, and we decided to check out the hostel pool. It was nice and warm. I doubt it was natural heat from the hot springs all around us, but it was nice. Someone found a small foam rugby ball and we played monkey in the middle until the pool closed. Got dressed again and headed back to the bar.

Met some other interesting backpackers including two vietnamese folks, one of which could speak a bit of french. I called it a night around 10/11pm. The bus was leaving only at 9am so a few extra hours of sleep seemed like a nice deal.

Reality is creeping up faster and faster…

No one really had plans. The weather was again miserable, canceling the fireworks and outdoor stuff on the waterfront. I was with Sam, Ken (the torontonian) and a few others.

With the weather so bad, I spent my afternoon at the hostel bar, meeting a bunch of interesting brits, germans, americans, and swedes. Lots of good conversation about music and life and whatnot. Ken and Sam and some other people I didn’t really know went back to JJ Murphy’s Irish Pub and I met up with them there. They insisted on checking out the non existent fireworks but I insisted we shouldn’t.

So now we find ourselves on the street, with 5 minutes left until midnight.

We quickly run to the Nomads hostel bar, do the countdown, shared a bottle of champagne, and that was that. Sam went to bed shortly after. I followed Ken and the people he was with, but I soon lost them in the crowds of Cuba St, so I grabbed a kebab and headed back to my hostel.

It wasn’t the greatest new years eve, it wasn’t the worst new years eve.

I slept in on the 1st, then watched the rest of the world as they started their new years eve celebrations. Watching London live, they know how to put on a fireworks show.

It’s now dawning on me how little time I have left. It’s the first of January and I leave on the 5th. Everything seems slower now. No more rushing. No more activities. I did try to book a seal tour that I missed out on last year because I was only one who showed up, but I couldn’t do it this time because too many people showed up.

So, since I didn’t really party that much, and slept a good long while, only crawling out of my room at 1:30pm, I went to see if anyone else had a slow, passive new years eve.

They didn’t.

Most of the people I met yesterday afternoon were all lounging about, sort of struggling to come to terms with the night before. I went for a stroll around town, but almost everything was closed. Nevertheless, there was some activity going on. People wandering around, enjoying a day without rain, but no one seemed to have much purpose, just wandering. So I wandered as well.

Came back with some subways, and when I was done eating the hostel bar was open, and the rest needed some hair of the dog remedies to their heads. Not much to say… just sat around or played pool till midnight. Some people were going off on their travels on the 3rd so said goodbye, grabbed some McDonalds and headed to bed.

I did meet a retired couple however. An old rocker from the middle of Michigan, proud to say that he was listening to Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison when they were still alive. He and his wife sold all their possessions and are now traveling the world, telling amazing stories to us young folk. If this is what retirement is like, I’m up for that.

Their blog is at http://liz-and.blogspot.com

Cuba Street

This is New Zealand’s bohemian district. It’s the Plateau in Montreal or Williamsberg in Brooklyn. Good looking people wearing a patchwork of vintage clothing make their way through the soundwaves of talented buskers, all wrapped up in the warm scent of good food and overpriced coffee, checking out vinyl stores, classic clothing stores, headshops, and brew pubs full of pretentious beer snobs.

It’s my favourite urban centre in all of New Zealand. Already Wellington is a better town than Auckland, looking and feeling a lot like Vancouver, BC. But Cuba St and to a lesser extent Courtney Place is far more cool the rest of an already great city.

January 2nd, I pretty much spent soaking in the vibe of Cuba St. I walked up and down the length of the street slowly, giving my eyes, ears, and nose a chance to enjoy it.

I also spent over an hour at the waterfront, doing some timelapse photography of large grey clouds sweeping across the city and the hills and mountains behind it.

At some point though, it started to mist heavily, so I headed back to the hostel. Grabbed a few drinks with the only person I knew there and then called it a night. Headed back to my room around 10pm. Bus was set to pick me up at sometime between 6:40am and 7am.

I really do enjoy Wellington as a city. But the hostel I stayed at, while very nice and charming, was poorly located. I ate more McDonalds in the past three days than I have in all of 2011, and probably 2010 combined. It’s the closest restaurant there is. Cuba St and Courtney Place, for all it’s fine gastronomic adventures, is too far away for take out.

I also have to accept now, that my trip is effectively over. The bus to Rotoroua is going to be express. 8 hours long. No stopping for pictures on this trip. Then it’s off to Auckland for what I presume will be one last big party night, then it’s back home.

Wellington was a good place to slow it down, take it easy, sleep in and not feel pressured to do anything at all.

So it’s 7:45am, January 3rd now, the long drive to Rotorua. I recognize two people on the bus, two canadians, one of which is on my flight home. The driver is different, everyone else is different. And with only one night left, no time to really remember anyone’s name.

Back to sleep I guess…

We packed up and drove off to Pincton to grab the 2pm ferry. Not ideal weather to be taking a boat ride but at least then it’ll be somewhat exciting.

I decided weather or no weather, I wanted to do a timelapse video of the boat leaving the south island. I setup my tripod, wrapped the camera in a towel, and as soon as the boat blew its horn, the camera started. One photo every 10 seconds (which gives me just enough time to wipe off the lens when necessary). I started at the front of the ship, but as it gained speed, it simply became too windy to keep the camera steady. So I moved to the side of the ship which was better. It took a little over an hour before we hit open seas, and it’s amazing how quickly the violence of the water increases. Wet and cold, I snapped a few hundred photos that for the most part, turned out pretty well.

Unfortunately, because of the wind and rain and all around bad weather, the scenery doesn’t really shine through, but it should still turn out pretty well.

I got back to a small group of stray folks where we looked at photos from our white water rafting/swimming experience, and Chippy performed some magic card tricks. But not just any kind of tricks. These tricks he pulled off, he says he has been practicing since he was 16. Not sure how old he is, but this guy is a professional. I have some stuff filmed. He never repeated a trick twice and pretty much had us all in disbelief, and managed to hustle me out of a beer too With a very dirty trick. Basically pretending to swap two cards from top to bottom then you bet on which card is which. There was a queen of spades and a queen of clubs, that Noodles held.

I said clubs on top spades on bottom, figuring it’s a 50/50 chance.

It was a 0% chance, as he magically replaced the black queens with the red ones. He earned that beer.

The trip was long, longer than usual because of the rough waters and weather. Apparently this 3 hour trip can take 9 hours if things are really bad. Thankfully for us, they weren’t.

It did take about 4 hours mind you.

So we got off the boat but different people were in different hostels, so made plans to meet up at Nomads where the majority was going for 7:30pm while Sam, myself, and a torontonian whose name I can’t remember now, we went to Downtown Backpackers.

I have a few nights in Wellington. Gives me a chance to relax, do my postcards, souvenir shopping, laundry, and sleep in. Unfortunately, the weather will be quite bad for NYE. 15-20mm of rain, lasting all day.

So, meeting up at Nomads, I had a chance to say goodbye to Trouble. Noodles, Chippy, his girlfriend, Sam, and the torontonian and I went off for a curry. We ordered heaps of indian food, shared it all, but the brits and I were very disappointed by their definition of “hot”. My vindaloo didn’t even make me sweat. This wasn’t the best indian food I have ever eaten, but it was the best meal I’ve had since our mexican night. We got stuffed at $40 a person. Probably the best value for the money.

Afterwards, we went to an irish pub on Cuba Street. Too full for beer, so I just sipped whisky. It was Noodles’ last night, as he was off on the 6:40am Stray bus tomorrow hoping to get to Tongoriro (how ever you spell it) and do the crossing before he has to leave New Zealand. Chippy performed even more magic card tricks for us, including using some kind of transparent card holder that morphed a bad card into the card we picked.

Leaving around midnight, we walked back to Nomads, said our good byes to Noodles and Chippy and his gf, both of whom are going to Toronto in March and I insisted they come crash at my place for a weekend in Montreal. Torontonian, Sam and myself walked back to Downtown, and I’m sure, after all that indian food, we all slept well.

It was a very relaxing morning. I tidied up a bit around the kitchen, enjoyed a few cups of tea, listened to the enormous amount of sound coming from the forests. So many birds.

I was up before the cows were as they only started mooing a few hours later.

Eventually everyone started dragging their hungover selves out of bed, but no one could take a shower. The bathrooms were filled with dead bugs of all kinds. So we were all a bunch of smelly backpackers on the bus. No amount of AC could fix this.

On our way to Kaikoura we stopped off at Christchurch to let some people off. We didn’t go into the city centre or anywhere near the red zone, just the main airport. So I didn’t see any of the damage from the earthquakes of 2011. It was a tearful goodbye to Radical Rosh, long hugs and all that, but to my surprise there was Bridgette. So everyone who made good friends said good bye to those getting off at Christchurch. We spent about half an hour or maybe a bit longer. It’s too bad Rosh, my mojito saviour is departing. There’s no one left to push the buttons of our bus drivers.

We start our drive to Kaikoura, making a few stops along the way for coffee, groceries, and as the driver likes to call them, splash and dashes; aka toilet stops.

I began to realize that I’ve already been to Kaikoura. As the scenery changed and turned from the flat boring areas of Christchurch to more fluffy mountains I remembered that this is where the train between Christchurch and Pincton goes. When the highway got to the pacific coast, there was the train tracks I was on last year.

Sweet, I’ve already seen all this, time to goto sleep then. I got maybe an hour of napping but still felt exhausted. Oh well, first stop: whale watching. A few of us got off the bus before checking into the hostel. The weather has become miserable again. It’s raining, not terribly warm, but the waters are pretty bumpy.

We get onto what was more of a very fast ferry type boat and sped off several miles off shore to find whales. Not even 15 minutes into the trip we come across a large pod of dolphins! They were being playful, jumping up swimming about, almost seeming to want to entertain us. I got some great photos and even a bit of video. The dolphins were very fast moving creatures, jumping up several meters into the air.

We enjoyed their presence for a bit of time then set off to where sperm whales were last sighted by other groups. They hunt around an underwater canyon system, diving deep into the ocean then coming back up 40/50 minutes later to get more oxygen. Underwater mammals are a peculiar trick of evolution I think. Some people think intelligent design is the way life came about on the planet, but I offer whales as exhibit a to counter that argument. I struggle to understand how a creature evolves into a whale, but forgetting the ability to breathe underwater. Instead, it evolves AROUND it’s need to surface and breathe.

But I wouldn’t personally tell a whale this. The sperm whales we saw were about as big as the boat we were on. Not really an animal you want to insult.

On average, one can expect to see 2 to 3 whales on the tour, we saw six. Their top bits of their bodies are visible as they breathe, then their backs arch and you see their huge tail fin. The creatures are huge, but move so slowly and with elegance. I got two whales on video, many pictures, then for the last two, I just kept the camera my bag and watched them with my own two eyes.

The boat ride was fun in the choppy waters. I purposefully sat in front of the bus just to get the most effect out of it. Swells weren’t very large, but enough that a few people got sea sick. It was remarkably fast as well. This tour was very much worth the money, with lots of photos and videos to bring back. We sped off back to the harbor and Sam and I made our way back to the hostel.

I was craving seafood pasta again for dinner and went to a restaurant that seemed overly proud that they offered take out… er take away, for all their meals. I settled on a pasta dish with squid, shrimps, and muscles for $19. It was tasty, but one of the muscles wasn’t even open, and the serving size seemed small for the price.

When I got back, Noodles was preparing a cray fish he caught during a fishing trip he did. I had a few pieces and it was quite good. He was fairly proud of his meal. I guess it’s not often that someone from the city gets to eat food they actually went out and caught. I also found out that I might have a buddy on the plane ride back to LA from Auckland. A Calgarian named Tavis is on the same 7pm flight I’m on.

So a bunch of the stray folks decided to goto a quiz night at one of the local pubs, but I passed, and instead sat back in front of the communal TV and watched movies until about midnight. I slept pretty well, the sound of constant rain helped.

Tomorrow it’s back to wellington, where I will be taking a break from all this traveling. My trip is coming to an end, and reality is creeping up faster and faster as time goes on. Temperature in Montreal feels like -20c.

Sucks…

I’ve been searching for mint for two days now. None of the grocery stores we stopped off at had any mint at all. In fact, none of them really had any fresh herbs to speak of. I had all the ingredients, just missing the mint.

We drove out of the alps into slightly less stunning landscape. Things turned into farmland, became more flat, and the mountains were all off in the distance. Today’s big deal was white water rafting through two Grade 5 rapids, supposedly these are some of the most intense rapids around, and one of the better rafting experiences in all of New Zealand.

For most of the morning though, I wasn’t very enthusiastic. I was quite tired from my horrible night’s sleep last night. But I eventually found myself with a cup of coffee in my hand and my whole outlook on life became more positive.

And scary…

I won’t lie, I was intimidated to do these rapids. What happens if I fall off? I’m not the strongest swimmer around. What if I collide into a rock? Bad enough Rita kept teasing me saying I’ll fall off and the raft will flip upside down and everything.

Trouble (the driver) dropped off the rafters in town. I left $60 with Radical Rosh to find me another bottle of rum and more importantly, lots of mint, so everyone can enjoy a mojito if I survive my rafting experience. We rafters hopped into van next and drove up to the rafting / hostel place (same place). We got fitted with wet suits, shirts, jackets, helmets, life jackets and boots. I was impressed that everything fit, they even had size 16 boots for my feet.

Once equipped, we all got into another van and drove down to the river. Noodles and I ensured that TEAM CARGO would once again flaunt our maritime skills. We teamed up with a bunch of others from the Stray bus, people I didn’t really know. Noodles and I welcomed them into TEAM CARGO.

For about 30/40 minutes, we learned what to expect. What commands to expect and how to react to them, how to paddle properly, how to hold on for dear life properly. How to rescue and get rescued, and most importantly, what to do if you can’t get back to a raft. It all seemed like scary stuff. Before hitting any real rapids, we individually jumped out of the boat so that we could know what it’s like. As well, and I thought this was smart, if you’re not already wet and you fall in, the coldness could bring about shock, causing you to panic. Panicking is what will do you in. So being wet already will help out incase of trouble.

After we practiced pulling people in and grabbing onto a raft to get in, we started our fun. So we hit some rapids and already it was pretty intense. Our guide keeps telling us to paddle forward while all I want to do is hang on. The water moves fast over rocks, causing large flowing bumps and crests that the raft somewhat curves on. And as the raft falls down while moving foward, it does so faster than you do. So it becomes a tricky balancing act while you’re trying to paddle through this chaos.

This was only a grade 2 rapid. We had two Grade 5s to get through (I have no idea what kind of metric this is). So we crossed through pockets of white water, increasing in intensity every time. Sometimes we would go backwards, sometimes sideways, sometimes forward. You can only fight the water so much. No one fell out, but we were all wet now, hearts racing, adrenalin flowing. We paddled into a calm spot where we beached ourselves and got up a cliff to look at the first grade 5 rapid we were going to cross.

It roared at you…

The crests of the white water were very tall, the crevices were very deep. Water flowed in every direction possible. So we had to decide whether to go forward or not, and we did.

FORWARD FORWARD FORWARD! I was sitting in the middle but I saw everything. We crashed straight down a meter of roaring water. Paddling. No one really wanted to paddle, but we did. The raft dropped fast, only to bend upwards just as fast. Then it bumped up and down violently and relentlessly. There was no escape, you’re committed. We paddled and paddled while trying to keep our balance. It seemed to last forever at the time, but once we were through, you realize it’s less than a minute long.

We made it!

Back to a calmer spot, we beached again and climbed up another cliff to see the second grade 5 rapid. This one was far more complicated, and much longer. We were given another opportunity to back out, now that we had a taste of what was to come.

Surviving the first one emboldened us to push further. Here, 14 tonnes of water are being pushed forward every second. Here, things get tricky.

So we wait for 4 other rafts to go. They passed back the rock and dropped downwards never to be seen again. That’s just how deep it was. We never heard them scream, because that’s just how loud it was.

My heart was pumping now. We reminded ourselves about what to do if it all goes to hell, then we were explained what the first maneuver is. A rock was sticking out of the fast moving water. We had to get right beside it. The rest of the plan was never explained to avoid confusion. Just listen to the guide’s instructions. We paddled forward, getting closer and closer, moving faster and faster. Guide’s orders were getting louder, sterner. We paddled hard.

We fell off the edge of the water and what happened next wasn’t entirely clear. Everything turned black.

It took me a few seconds to realize that instead of being on top of the boat, the boat was on top of me. I threw my hands around the raft trying to find the side rope to grab onto. I pulled myself from underneath the boat and got my head above water. This process did feel like an eternity even though it just a matter of seconds.

The raft was upside down, one of my raftmates was floating down the river, oars were floating by me. I held tightly to the boat and tried to turn myself around to look forward so I can see where the rocks are. I was moving fast and as far as I could tell, I was the only one gripping onto the boat. I tried to position myself on my back as instructed. The idea is to use your legs and feet as shock absorbers if you go crashing into a rock, as well as keeping your face above water.

You quickly begin to realize that you aren’t so out of control of your situation. The life jacket is keeping you up, and when you get your bearings straight, you can cruise the rapids to an extent. You can’t really control your direction, but as long as you can bounce off the rocks with your feet you’ll be ok.

I heard calls out from the other rafts “RESCUE RESCUE RESCUE!”. I found another raft with oars extended and I quickly grabbed one and pulled myself to the boat. Still in the rapids, I struggled to get on board and the people on the boat struggled to lift my 120kg body. I shimmied up on the side and eventually made it in, three other raft mates were there and we were quite crowded on the raft.

I was going to live!

I have no idea what happened to Noodles, but Chippy (he works as a chippy so…) who was in the front with Noodles was with me. His girlfriend was not.

We got through the worst of the rapids now, alive and wet. We got to calmer waters and waited a while to make sure everyone was accounted for from our raft. Eventually everyone was accounted for, including our guide.

PHEW!

My heart was racing now. And in the tight wet suit I could feel the blood pressure. So, that was an intense experience. So after this bit of chaos, we were offered the choice to float part way down the river now, after jumping about meter off of a cliff. So I did.

I was bit hesitant at first, mostly because no one told me how deep the river was. After my crazy experience and my new understanding of how well the life jacket worked, floating down the river seemed pretty fun actually. So, I took a leap of faith and jumped off the cliff. I plunged into the cool refreshing water and as fast as I went in, I popped right back out, and went for a relaxing float for a hundred feet or so.

Some bumpy water but nothing terrible. Then again, after what I just went through, everything else seemed boring.

We floated down to a point where we could do more cliff jumping. Starting this time at 4 meters. The height of 4 meters wasn’t clear until you’re standing on the edge of it. I jumped off, plunged in deep and floated right back to the top. There was a ten meter jump as well, but for some reason, that 4 meter one actually hurt my stomach. I decided to opt of the 10 meter one. Not sure what I did wrong with the 4 meter jump.

After everyone was done jumping, we got back into the rafts, went through one more series of rapids. One person did fall off but we very quickly pulled her back onto the raft. She wasn’t scared though, how can you be after what you just went through?

We cruised gently down the river yapping away about our maritime adventure. TEAM CARGO strikes again. We got to our final destination, a small beach where the vans were waiting to take us and our rafts home. We loaded the rafts onto the trailer and drove back slowly to the hostel, where a giant bbq was awaiting us.

When we arrived, I was treated to a beautiful sight. A bottle of Bacardi white rum, and not one, not two, but THREE mint plants in pots. Radical Rosh did it, she found the mint. She said she found a garden/plant nursery and this is where she found the mint. Her mission was a smashing success. Trouble made sure there were bags of ice too. Amazing. Sausages, potatoes, coleslaw, mojitos, and a lot of fun. We partied it up. For some, this was their last night with us, so we made the most of it. TEAM CARGO members had to replay the events of the day over and over again to captivated listeners. Eventually the photos came up on the TV screen (copies of which I most certainly purchased).

Bus was leaving 7am, so I called it a night around 10pm. Rita went mountain biking while I was gone and had a serious wipe out, badly cut up, and in a miserable mood. She ended up crashing in the spare single bed in my room. I slept well, but going to bed so early I ended up waking up before 5am. It was still dark outside. I quietly fixed myself a cup of tea and listened to the immense wall of sound from what seemed like thousands of birds in the forest.

It was going to be a sad day, Radical Rosh is gone. The last of the originals.

Next place: brief stop in Christchurch then on to Kaikora.