Akaroa, 30.11.08

After we returned Rebecca - and indeed as Ophir well expressed, it took us some time to recover - we changed the style of the trip. We needed a holiday from the holiday, thus we chose 2 places to stay at each few days. Just relaxing and not doing much…
But first we stayed few days in Christchurch with Averil, our fourth Servas host in New Zealand. It was quite an experience because Averil is different! She’s interested in issues such as anarchism, socialism, & feminism. She is a taxi driver and lives in an old house in a poor neighborhood. It was amazing that although her financial state is bad, she treated us so generously.
We didn’t like Christchurch itself. We had a bad image of it before we came (we heard about the prevalent car theft), and we heard more about theft, vandalism and crime from Averil. We just didn’t find the city as pleasant and charming as we were told for they call it the garden city.
After two nights in Christchurch we drove about 200km north. We rented a holiday home about 20 minutes south to Kaikoura for 4 days. It was a pretty old house but it was fun to stay at it. We didn’t do much – just as we planned! We walked on the beach (30 seconds from the house), visited a nearby winery and wondered around at the town center of Kaikoura. Amit & Ido were less lazy and went on a sea kayaking trip around the peninsula to see seals, while the girls strolled around town (one street).

3 days ago we drove back toward Christchurch, crossed it and drove more south to Akaroa. Akaroa is the biggest town in the Banks Peninsula and we loooovvvvvvvve peninsulas!!! It was the first French settlement in NZ - you can still feel it in this very lovely place surrounded by French flags and gardens in many houses.
Again we’re staying in a holiday home. We’ve been driving a lot in the peninsula, especially up the hills, preferably on unsealed roads… The sceneries are amazing and you just don’t get tired of it. We also play at nights a complicated monopoly but this financial game seems to destroy the good relationship among the family members. It is much safer to play Pi-Ko-Lo Pi-Ko-Lo Pi-Ko-Lo… We are all excited and a bit restless due to the fact that in 2 days we’re leaving NZ!!!

Ophir's Farewell to Rebecca (Kaikoura) 26.11.08

Hello.
I am here, just for a little short post about, *sob* are one and only loyal Motorhome: Rebecca. (Becky) she was more then a house to me, she was a car too. And even more then that, she, was a friend. She would listen to me when never I needed her, and she would never ever talk back. Ahh.
I am here in a holiday home in Kaikoura, wishing I was back with Becky. I just cant explain it, but I’ll try, we all feel very different, we feel like the trip is over, but it isn’t. Its just not the same without her. I am not being over-re-acting (or how ever you spell it) but I’m not. I am sooo upset that we have given her back, that I just sortta wanna go home. Not only that, also after being in Christchurch (which feels like it isn’t in NZ) also after that coming back (even if we didn’t leave) to the real NZ, we are just too sad not to be with her anymore. So this post is dedicated to Becky, our one true home/car/friend.

Shira is telling her point of view - Humpridge track

"In the beginning we parked somewhere so we could choose if we wanted to walk there or to take a ride but someone gave us a ride. On the whole track I did not whine and it was 10 hours. we could get a shortcut but the person who gave us a ride told us it’s dangerous for the kids. There were another friend of ours we were meeting them, one was called Mandy, that’s the big one, and one was called Max.
Every once in a while we stopped to have Oreo or little chocolate because we were walking so nicely. Ido and I fell in the mud mud mud because he was carrying me from one side of the mud to the other because daddy wasn’t here, because he was going to the other Hut. It was so muddy. I was carrying all the dolls and some things for us.
We had some whistling kind of candy, it was a shape of a star and it was two stars and it had a hole for the whistle. We put it between our teeth and we blow like huuuuuurrrrr. We got to the place and we went in the school Hut but the school Hut wasn’t ours. So a guy was coming with us and we thought it was this one but there was a little track just a stony one, count until one or something and there you’re. Just in the beginning of it I fell on rocks, lots of rocks. I got something that hurts me more than a broose so mom carried me on her back.
Then we got there and we met Mandy and Max. Mandy and Max were taking the shortcut. They did it before. We ate dinner and then I was still hungry but really tired so mum put me to sleep and she sang to me songs.
On the next day we created dad’s birthday even though it was the next day but we still did it. He was so surprised because we bought balloons and the happy birthday thingy that we hanged from a bed to another bed. And for lunch we ate noodles. And we went on the beach. We found some place that hunters live in winter there cause they don’t like sleeping with others. And the school Hut was also for hunters. They hunt pigs. Ophir saw a pig. She didn’t fully see it.
On the last day I woke up and mom asked me if I want to go on a helicopter on my first time. I said yes. I thought it was a joke because we never went on a helicopter before. And the helicopter took us to the car. We saw the car and we passed a bit the car and then there was a really fun turn. There was headphones that you can talk through them and you can hear each other like in stuff like that thingies that goes to your mouth but you can hear people louder with it, but just it was only some people and mom couldn’t hear us casue she didn’t have any. It was really loud if we didn’t have headphones. The helicopter was 10 minutes only and we asked if we can go to Auckland and come back to the car but it was too expensive. In the end we didn’t. It was really really fun that I wanted to stay but I couldn’t.
I only enjoyed part of the track, only like in the end where we could see the Hut and be in the Hut. Bye"

The HUMPRIDGE track & Amit’s Birthday, 9.11.08

The highlight of our visit in Southland was the Humpridge track. As it is nearly a 60km track (3 days), we decided to split. Amit walked the whole track, and we – Kids and I - walked just part of it. We started the trail together until the point where Amit turned to his trail and we walked to the other direction of the track, straight to the second Hut. Amit was going to meet us there on the second night.
Due to the cold weather in the previous days the trail was all puddles and mud (That was in our part - Amit didn’t know that in addition to the mud and puddles, he was going to walk in nearly one meter snow…)
At the first few hours we spent a lot of time trying to cross the puddles safely without getting too wet. Realizing that it is pointless we then changed to walk straight in… It didn’t matter as we were all wet anyway. It was way too tough than I expected and I couldn’t believe that the kids were so cooperative. We carried very heavy bags, were exhausted and had no idea when we’d get to the Hut but we kept our good spirit. I was soooooo proud of my kids. Eventually we walked from 8:30 in the morning till 6:30 in the evening – 17km!!! It was such a relief to reach the Hut. We were the only guests there. Mandy, the lodge manager was waiting for us. After the basic Hut in the Routeburn, the kids called this Hut “A 5 star Hut”…We were too tired to do anything but to prepare dinner for ourselves and go to sleep.
The next morning was a sunny day. We went down to the beach with Mandy and Max, her 10 years old boy guest. We spent there few hours, watching the Hectors dolphins (the smallest and rarest type) playing in the sea, and exploring the area.
Amit was supposed to arrive later on. As it was his birthday we planned to surprise him. We sneaked balloons and decorations into our bags and then decorated the room. We were so excited when he arrived – we missed him a lot as if we didn’t see him for ages! He had a very tiring walk (especially due to the deep snow) and was very exhausted.
The next day we were supposed to walk back. The weather forecast was pretty scary – very rainy and strong winds. An Australian couple who was walking the track with Amit decided to quit… They were walking about 14 hours each section of the track (on the night before they had to be rescued by the lodge manager as they didn’t arrive until 9pm). The weather forecast didn’t improve the situation, thus they decided to take a helicopter in the last part. Kids and I were offered to take the helicopter with them and we agreed… That was, of course, awesome!!!
No doubt that the Humpridge track was one of our strongest adventures in NZ.

Southland – Catlins, 6.11.08

After we left Dunedin & Otago Peninsula, we drove to Southland. It couldn’t be more south in the south Island… Indeed Amit and Ido went to the place that is officially recognized as the southern most point in the South Island. We, the girls, remained in the car because it was rainy and deadly cold and we were not in a mood to be brave…
The weather that was pretty beautiful in the last few weeks became really nasty; it even snowed when we reached Invercargill!!! We couldn’t really do much in this weather so we drove straight to Tuatapere, where the track that we were supposed to do starts. We found a very cozy backpacker place that takes motorhomes as well. We enjoyed the fireplace and the atmosphere of the place and just relaxed (as by now we’re used to do). You can see in the photos…

Central and Coastal Otago, 2.11.08

Ido:

Hello there. If you don’t know where ‘Otago’ is, it’s the southeastern part of the south island. We left Queenstown & we drove east to a place called Alexandra to stay the night there and on the way we all shared huge fish and chips in Clyde. The next day we drove back to Clyde to hire bicycles and we cycled for 25.5km. In the afternoon we drove to a tiny town called Ophir! (Pronounced o-f-E-r!) Dad started taking pictures of Ophir next to the Ophir post office and Ophir church. We free camped that day and then drove north to Oamaru. (Pronounced o-m-E-r-u!) There we went to see the Yellow-Eyed Penguins. They’re cute and we came almost half a meter away from one. The guide said if we be quiet he won’t take us in notice and will come as close as he wants.
The next day we walked around the city looking around (Mainly for book shops and libraries.) Then we drove south to Dunedin, the fourth biggest city in NZ. We free camped in the suburbs and then went to a camp. We settled in, relaxed and then decided to clean our car like we did in Wanaka. I had to clean the beds and scrub the floor like Cinderella! The next day we walked around the city centre and then we went to Cadbury world! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! I’m shouting YAY because it’s a chocolate factory! It’s the only one in New Zealand. They gave us a tour and once in a while they gave us a different chocolate bar! The next day we went to the market. We had gourmet barbeque lamb for breakfast. (Soon I’ll say some facts about New Zealand and you’ll see why its gourmet.) So that was Otago.

Queenstown (3) BUNGI!!!, 25.10.08

Hey again the other thing we did is, well, me & dad did, was probably the scariest thing I ever did in my life, (maybe his, too.) And that thing was….BUNGY!!!!!

This is how it goes. We went to SEE people jump, this was the first bungy in the whole world. So it was pretty busy. Mom & Dad kept on making jokes like “are you ready to do the bungy, Ophir?” and dad even said “you know what, if you do, so will I!” and so we went to see them, they (who ever does it) does it above the river. It looked soo spooky to do. We were there for about 7 minutes and then Mom said, “okay, lets go.” And then I was just like whispering “I wanna do it.” Dad wasn’t really surprised but Mom sure was. After talking about it we, I, decided to do it. And Dad had to, too (remember what he said in the beginning.) When we were about to pay, I asked if we (dad and I) can do it together. The woman in the counter said that we can – only if we have 30kg difference. Dad was ONLY 69 and I *sob* am (don’t laugh) 41kg. Did you laugh?? Never mind. So we said we’ll do it together. We went up to the bridge, and saw a man jumping; I could feel my hair standing up. I was soo nervous. It was a 43m jump from the bridge. I guess there are higher ones, but lets see you jump of a 34m bridge and then we’ll talk. We went on a little platform next to the bungy.(It was raining which added to the moment and explains mom's pic's.) They put towels on our legs (so our legs won’t hurt cuz’ that’s were they tie us.) Picture this: me and Dad, Dad and I. At the edge of a bridge only our legs tied, nothing else. Ready to commit a suicide. All the men in charge told us was to look at the camera, say bye to Mom, Ido and Shira and jump. “1”.. he counted “2..3”! And we jumped off.
I cannot explain how scary it was, after 2 seconds (Which felt like 20min) the rope stops and we turn up-side-down still falling. And then still bouncing up and down still in shock above the river, you see a little rubber boat coming handing my Dad to pull a stick. Slowly we get closer and closer to the boat still up-side-down and then BOOM! We fall on the boat. On the way back to shore, we took off all our thingy-mubluber, and started walking up to Mom. When we got there Mom got hold of me and hugged me and didn’t let go, she started saying “Moms should not see her little girl fall off a bridge.” We had a big family moment and then, we went to the counter. They gave us free T-shirts and a DVD of our fall. WOW.

And that was it.

The-End.

LOL.<3
See ya’z later;-))

Oh, and mom apologizes for the horrible quality of the photos. (mothers this day..)

Queenstown (2), 24.10.08

I hate to repeat myself but Queenstown is awesome :-) And actually I didn’t expect it to be. I knew that it is a favorite city of many people, but because it is known mainly for its extreme activities, I imagined it to have vibes that I don’t like, however it turned out to be a lovely lovely lovely town. Ophir said she wants to live here. It is a bit similar to Wanaka but even nicer. Just as in Wanaka we decided to stay here four nights. Ophir is writing about two of the highlights we have had here.

Anyways, it has been quite a while that we’ve been thinking of taking a track the whole family and staying the night in a hut. We chose the Routeburn track because the first part is relatively easy for kids and a beautiful walk. We organized 4 bags (Shira couldn’t carry one) with 5 sleeping bags, stove, food, water, books and few games. We climbed up the hill a couple of hours. It wasn’t easy for the kids to carry heavy bags, but we were all in a good mood and were pretty excited. The hut was very basic – 2 rooms with 10 bank beds in each, a bigger room that serves as a living room with huge tables, benches and a fire place, and a small kitchen. No electricity, no stove, only running water. This hut belongs to the DOC (Department of Conservation) and the season has not started yet, thus it was not fully working. The location however seemed to be taken from a movie - a flat field, a river crossing 20 meters in front, all surrounded by mountains covered with snow.
As we arrived early we had plenty of time to walk around, play games, take a nap, read books and enjoy the place. Many people visited the hut during daytime, but apart from one who stayed the night, they all went back or continued to the next hut. Luckily the guy who did stay the night at the hut was once a fire fighter and managed to lit the fire place (It was damned hard as the woods were all wet.) I said luckily because the place was freezing at night and it could keep us warm for few hours. We actually pulled the mattresses from the room and fixed them right next to the fire place to warm ourselves up. It didn’t help for too long and I was freezing all night (as well as Ido & Amit). The girls for some unknown reasons remained warm. In the morning the whole field outside was filled with a layer of frost. It was that cold at night :-(

We were all very proud that we managed to have such an adventure, and after walking back to Rebecca, the rest of the day we were just relaxing and doing nothing. On the way back to Queenstown, we found a beautiful spot to picnic for lunch and just to lie in the sun and read. In the town itself we spoilt ourselves again with ice cream, coffees and even hamburgers. We deserved it!!!

Queenstown (2) Continued..., 25.10.08

After the Routeburn track...

Queenstown (1), 20.10.08

Hello. Long time no chat, I've been sortta busy and had no time to write. But I missed you all soo much, so, here I am! I'm gonna tell you of what MY main "highlight" of the past week is, the first thing is .. JET BOATING!! for those of you that don't know what it is exactly, here it is: Jet Boating is .. well .. a boat ((duh..) and well, Lets just say it's fast. About 85 Km/hour and all it needs is 4cm length and 4inches deep to be able to drive. And that's pretty damn fast for a boat and any thing else too. And it's in a canyon, (in the river between a canyon) we've been on the boat for 40 min approx. And believe me, that was more than enough. This is why…
1. It was a VERY cold day.
2. The water were even colder then the air..(duh!)
3. I sat at the side which means I got wet.
4. The boat is soo fast that you're face gets numb.
5. You have to hold the metal bar in front of you.
6. The metal bar is even colder then the water.
7. You have to hold soo hard not to fall, that when you get off, you're hands are numb too. Don't get me wrong, it was SOO much fun. You go in amazing places and for who ever saw the first movie of "Lord of The Rings" the part where Frodo is on the horse with the elvish girl (after his has been stabbed) and when they pass through the river and she says something weird and a HUGE wave comes and washes all the "bad guys" away. It's that part. :-))) And that was really nice. It took 3 hours because getting there was cool too, Cuz' you take a 4WD bus on a very very scary cliffs (I was sure I was gonna die.)
That's it for now!

Ophir