Musicians beware of Qantas!

After flying with Qantas this weekend, I feel that I appreciate it a lot more than many of the other budget airlines, like Jetstar Airways and Virgin Blue. Qantas is typically easier to deal with and still provides little 'extras' that the other airlines cut. However, I still can't overlook what they did to Seth's $4300 guitar last year when he flew with them to Australia from the US.

To read the entire saga of Qantas and Seth's damaged guitar

Leeches, Bananas, and Brains: 2008 ASSAB Conference at Coffs Harbour

I spent this weekend at a conference in Coffs Harbour, which is an hour or two's drive south of the Queensland border. It was for the Australasian Society for the Study of Animal Behaviour, and not only did I deliver my first conference paper (the required BoZo graduate student conference doesn’t count), but it was also my first trip, anywhere, by myself. I was the only person from the School of Botany and Zoology to go, so I booked everything myself and put myself up in a hostel ~2k from the resort where the conference was held. There were about 8 people from the Research School of Biological Science (RSBS, a part of the ANU), and I recognised a few of them, so I suppose I wasn’t totally by myself...

It was a bit awkward for me trying to mingle with other conference-goers (I really suck at trying to think up things to say to people, even if I find the person really interesting), but luckily it was really small—only about 90 people—so I was able to meet quite a few people and get to know several of them. Mingling is definitely the hardest part for me, but I suppose I need to get accustomed to this fine skill if I want to continue going to conferences and meeting like-minded peolpe.

I think I was the only person to stay at a hostel (some people stayed at a nearby campervan park, but most seemed to stay at the extremely posh resort where the conference was held—including the RSBS guys, who were set up real nice through their supervisor). The hostel was alright; the best thing being it was really slow so I had an entire 6 bed dorm to myself for both nights. But the worst thing was the walk to the resort, which was along the main highway, and half of it had no walking path so I had to go along the narrow shoulder. The one good thing about this, however, was that it passed the famous Big Banana. Not nearly as big as the Big Merino, but still pretty cool.

Views from the highway: Overlooking Coffs Harbour and the Big Banana

The first night I was there, Thursday, was the film night. They invited the Australian film director Jan Aldenhoven to talk about her work and contributions to many BBC and ABC series, including The Life of Birds, the Life of Mammals, the Private Life of Plants, etc. She began to show her film, Kangaroo; Faces in the Mob, but unfortunately the girl who offered me a ride back to the hostel had to leave early so I missed the second half. Seth and I don’t watch much TV or see many movies, but we love watching BBC documentaries, which made Jan’s talk one of the highlights of the trip.

The beach next to the resort

Friday morning was the ASSAB bird-watching tour which took us through some bushland near the neighbouring town of Sawtell. I didn’t bring my binoculars, which was really annoying, but we had two guides to point all the birds out to us. It felt strange being in a large group, about 15 people, but it was only just for fun--I wasn’t out to hunt for nests!

Birdwatching tour at Sawtell

We returned to the conference, I slept through a bunch of talks, and after lunch in the nearby shopping centre I managed to sneak away for a few hours to go for a walk to the beach. I had wanted to check out the city centre but it would have been too far. I hadn’t gotten much sleep and was going to head back to the hostel for a nap but decided an afternoon run would be a better use of time. At the start of the run I had to dodge lots of traffic and try to navigate poorly marked paths, but eventually found the Coffs Creek Walk, which was surprisingly marshy and wooded for being in the middle of town.

The beach near the hostel

Coffs Creek Walk

After dinner at the hostel I walked back to the resort, but this time I took the much longer, yet much prettier side roads through a residential neighbourhood.

The neighbourhood behind the resort

The evening ASSAB activity was a trip to Muttonbird Island, a small island (probably less than 1k long) right off the coast, accessible via a footpath from the jetty. The island is unique for being a breeding site for wedge-tailed shearwaters. The adults fly out to sea during the day to feed and when they return an hour or two after sunset they find their burrows. The adults and chicks make a ‘haunting’ call back and forth to each other, and when all the birds come in at night the island is full of these strange and spooky sounds. For some reason, it did not happen that night. It was a dud. We only heard one set of birds making this sound, but at least we got an idea of what it was supposed to be like.

Saturday morning I checked out of the hostel and Sam (from RSBS) picked me up so we could go to the nearby Bruxner Park (next to Ulidara National Park) for a run. I first met Sam at the ASSAB conference last year (which was held at the ANU) after recognising him as a Division 1 runner for B&G's IB team. Since then, I bumped into him on numerous occasions around campus.

We drove up a big hill and passed some very cool banana and avocado plantations, parked the car, and ran to a lookout then tried to follow a path through rainforest. It somehow ended so we eventually found ourselves running along the main road back to the car. It was a crappy run, but it went through some pretty cool areas.

From the lookout at Bruxner Park: banana plantations!

Sam trying to find the trail

Vincent tree

We stopped for a stretch and after a minute I heard Sam say ‘hey, I have a leech on my shoe’. I could feel my heart skip a beat, and I quickly looked at my own shoes—sure enough, they were covered in leeches! I could see them sliding through the ventilation in the sides, so I pulled the shoes off, then noticed there were a few on my socks, so I ripped those off, too. How gross! Sam later found one had attached to his ankle, but being a smoker he had a lighter on hand to rid himself of it :P The only thing that made me feel better was stopping on the way back down the hill to pick up a bag of bananas and a bag of avocados, which the farmers sell from the side of the road.

I spent the rest of the afternoon at the conference, trying to set aside my nervousness to listen to talks. One of my favourite presentations was given by the conference organiser, Gisela Kaplan, about her tedious 10 year study on communication in the very shy tawny frogmouth. She is certainly a great example of devotion to research!

My talk was in the afternoon, and went about as well as can be expected—no major mistakes or fumbles, but probably also not extremely elegant. I did, however, answer my questions at the end fairly well, I think.

I only had 20 minutes after my presentation to talk with people before I had to leave for the airport, which was a bit of a shame. I think I was one of the last people to arrive at the conference and one of the first to leave—I missed the big dinner on the jetty and also the Sunday morning talks. I would have liked to stay longer, but the flight scheduling worked best this way.

I got a ride to the airport with some people from RSBS, hopped on the plane to Sydney (the only time they checked my identification was when I got my ticket—talk about security!), took the midnight bus to Canberra, and finally hitched a ride back to my house with a crazy Asian Christian businessman dude from Qeanbeyan that was really nice but totally freaked me out. I am glad to be back.

From this weekend

This is my room (newly improved with a 'desk') and Easter dinner:

Brian, Alex, Jordan and me

Mixed Easter Bag

I had a pretty relaxing Easter, and one of the best parts of the long weekend was that I didn't go in to BoZo for three days in a row! I managed to get a bit of work done from home, as well as usurp just enough wireless internet to check my email a couple times.

Saturday morning Jordan, Alex, Brian and I went down to the farmers market. Because of the stupid national folk festival at Expo (I call it stupid because it is $77 per day to get in, and FOLK festivals are meant to be for poor people) the farmers market was not happening, but we went to the veggie market in North Lyneham instead, then had coffee at the cafe next door. It was our first outing together, which was pretty neat.

I spent Easter going for a long run, then dashed off to one of the two Lutheran churches in all of Canberra. This little church in Turner only has one service a week, and it so happened to be in Finnish. I knew it was a Finnish service before I arrived, but I wasn't sure if it was actually in Finnish (how many Finnish Lutherans can there be in Canberra?), but since things like this tend to happen to me, it was. There were only about 16 congregants, and I am certain that I was the only person under the age of 75. It was a little weird. It wouldn't have bothered me so much if more people said hello or Happy Easter, but maybe since I sat in the back and old eyes are hard of seeing, I was able to keep an especially low profile. Nonetheless, I am glad I went, particularly since I had not been inside a Lutheran church since leaving Raleigh.

I baked bread pudding for brunch (it was a bit dry and crispy and reminded me of eating crunchy cereal) and munched on hot cross buns, then in the evening each of us in the house cooked up a dish to share for dinner. Jordan and Alex didn't go home for the weekend, and Brian--like me-- had no where else to go, so we all hung out together. Jordan and Brian made really awesome curries (green chicken curry and red beef curry), Alex whipped up an apple rhubarb crumble for dessert, and I tried making shepherd's pie for the first time. It was not as impressive as the other dishes, but it did the trick.

It was nice to spend time with the house-mates this weekend, and I feel lucky that 1) I didn't have to be by myself for Easter and 2) we all get along really well. Even though we all have our own schedules and don't really see that much of each other (which can also be good), it is nice knowing there are people around because I think if had to live by myself I would go a bit nutty--and possibly become a crazy cat lady and keep hundreds of animals for company.

I spent yesterday (Monday) working on my presentation, but I took a few minutes off to visit the psychic expo down the road. I had seen advertisements for it and was curious to see what it was like. It was a lot smaller than I expected and really only focused on getting readings done by the psychics, with a take-a-number-and-wait-for-your-favourite-seer approach. Besides that, there weren't many booths and workshops like they advertised, so I left.

Since I had been working from home a bit I decided I should get a desk. The previous residents of the house left tonnes of pieces of old furniture out the back. There are at least three office chairs, two tables, a desk, two wardrobes, several couches, a vacuum, a broken dryer, and many other random pieces of crap. I dragged in a table with lots of funky black marker drawings--as well as a few cob webs--on it to use as a desk. Now I am certain I don't want a bed, just so I can conserve the rest of my floor space for stretching. Besides, I have been sleeping great without one!

Feels like Fall

Today is the first day that officially feels like Autumn--not only is it rather cool, but it is the first time it has been overcast (though not rainy) since we returned, three weeks ago. The deciduous trees are even losing their leaves. It is super dry again, so even though the leaves turn brown and fall, they are not really changing pretty colours like red and orange. However, I suppose it is better than those last few Autumns we had in North Carolina, where it would remain very hot through October and the trees would drop their leaves, bright green, from their branches.

Seth would like this weather, and it is too bad he is missing it--he flew back to New York on Wednesday morning. Nonetheless, I am sure he is loving the snow and having a great time being home with his family, especially for Easter. He hasn't been home for Easter in years!

Today, Good Friday, is a public holiday, as is the Monday after Easter. I suppose it has been almost two full weeks since the last public holiday, so it is nice they are giving the Public Servants a four-day weekend to let them unwind. As for me, I will try to get working on a conference presentation, and if I can get it done by tomorrow night I can enjoy my Easter, too.

Here are a few photos from the past two weeks:

Seth showering at BoZo (we got pretty comfortable there, if you couldn't guess!)...

...but we finally found a place to live! The girls we moved in with, Jordan and Alex, are also in the process of unpacking.

Our first morning in the new house. The tiny bedroom looks a bit less cluttered now, but I still don't have a bed! I am getting used to sleeping on the floor and will probably not get one (even though Julien and Heather offered me one). I like the floorspace that even a twin bed would totally devour.

Artur and Moose during their housewarming party. Moose, who grew up in the US, lived in the Emirates for a while and sometimes wears the traditional clothing. Before I took the photo, Artur (from Russia) advised Moose not to say "bomb".

Jan and Greg's farewell party at El Dorado (Dickson). Alecia and Reggie are presenting Jan with a poster-card, while Greg, not paying any attention, is busy yakking away.

Seth's poor, busted up guitar--the case is destroyed, and the guitar itself is also cracked. Before he left he made sure to make a nice big sign so people at the airport would know who is responsible for the damages: Qantas Airways, the main airline in Australia. (This happened last March when he flew back to Australia from the US. Qantas still refuses to pay for the damages).

Kaima came over for a 'visit' on Wednesday. He actually wanted to use the kitchen to bake ultra-cute Japanese muffins!

The very mini, yet delicious, finished product!

Out with the old

Last night was Jan and Greg's dinner at El Dorado (don't let the name fool you--it wasn't really a Mexican place). Jan and Greg are the owners of Dash and they sold the business about two weeks ago, the same day Seth and I were stuck in the Christchurch airport. I will have my first day back at work tomorrow and I'm not looking forward to it. The new owners seem to be a real pain and I have only heard bad things about them. Almost everyone is quitting. Though I never worked with Jan and Greg much, I did like, and respect, them a lot and really enjoyed working at Dash. I hope it won't be too horrible going in tomorrow. My co-workers assured me I would be able to find another job, but I don't know if I want to spend my final two months getting accustomed to a new one. I will try sticking out two days a week for the next couple weeks so I can at least pay my rent.

After the dinner Seth and I spent the evening going through his luggage (again) for his trip back home. I am determined to get rid of tonnes of my ratty old clothes, some of which I have had since high school. Luckily I found a donation bin in Dickson, though this may actually be unlucky for those who end up wearing it!

It has been weird living so close to Watson again. This is where I had spent so much time those first few months I arrived, and it is a little surreal being back. It isn't weird in the sense of time (only one year has passed), but it is so dream-like because those months were my first impressions and experiences from Australia, and since then it seems like so much has happened and changed. The past few mornings we have been running up in the Mt Majura/Mt Ainsle parks and it really brings back weird memories of late summer days at Oanh and Hawks house--I almost expect to come home to an unruly boxer dog and the smell of Vietnamese food cooking! What's more is that I went to the farmers market and visited the Dickson shops for the first time in over a year and that also added to the strangeness of being back in this part of town.

Our fourth house-mate, Brian, moved in last night. He grew up in CA and actually knows Tatiana, a masters student from Dr. Pfennig's lab whom I worked with the summer before I left. Small world! It is ironic he is just getting settled and trying to figure things out (like finding the best way to call home, getting around the shops, using the internet, etc), just like I had to do when living up in Watson. However, I can look at him from the other end, since now it is finally my turn to be getting ready to head home!

New Home!!

Seth and I finally got to move into a house last night! We are now living in Downer, which is the neighborhood just south of Watson (where we used to live with Oanh). I heard about the spare room through people at BoZo but I didn't want to get my hopes up--but on Monday they wrote back and said I was set to move in this week. I asked Jon (whom we met at Johns last year) to help us, and we piled everything into his big red van (it all just barely fit--there wasn't even enough room for Seth so he had to bike up!). We hadn't seen Jon for several months so it was good to catch up with him--he is probably one of the most intriguing people we met at Johns and I will try to make more of an effort to meet up with him in the future.

I couldn't believe how much crap we had accumulated in the past year and a half. Though a lot of it is kitchen stuff, which will be easy enough to use up or get rid of, there are also just boxes and boxes of other things that we wouldn't notice if we didn't have. Especially after travelling and always being aware of what is necessary and valuable enough to carry wherever you go, it makes me really want to just give everything away (or, in my case, I would probably have to be wasteful and throw it away because no one would want my stuff). For example, in the past six weeks Seth and I have only worn just a few changes of clothes, which we hand-wash every few days, and we never missed our other boxes of clothes we left at BoZo. Particularly when we get ready to head back to the US, I don't think the Australian Postal Service offers very cheap rates for sea mail, so we will have to go through everything we have and just start getting rid of anything we don't really need.

Before we showed up at the house, I had never even spoken with any of the house-mates. I was VERY relieved to see they are very friendly, and based on their DVD/CD collection they seem to have a similar style as me. Jordan, the girl I was in contact with, is a new honours student at BoZo (I think her office is next to mine!). Alex, the other house-mate, is also an ANU student (psychology). Since it is a 4-bedroom house, the fourth person to fill it will arrive on Saturday. He is a new PhD student at BoZo who just arrived from the US.

The house is a bit chaotic at the moment since Jordan and Alex just moved in on Monday--they previously lived a few houses down the street but were 'evicted' (ie. it was being remodeled), so they also have boxes everywhere and are in the process of unpacking.

Good news is that Seth was planning to leave for the US this morning but he found out a couple days ago his flight was rescheduled. I think he was annoyed by that but I don't mind :P It will be nice to have this weekend with him, and it is also great he can see the house and meet the girls before heading home.

It felt great to unpack what we could, but it is a very small house for so many people--at least it will encourage me to get rid of unnecessary things, haha! It is also strange to move out of BoZo--Seth had worked out quite a nice routine of playing guitar in the rock garden (which he will continue doing), lifting weights in my office, etc, and I was getting used to showering, cooking, and doing everything else there. It will also take getting re-used to biking a bit further to Uni (Nick's house in Lyneham was only a 10min ride, Downer is nearly 20min). But Jordan drives in everyday and she offered a ride this morning, so I imagine if I ever don't feel well or if the weather is poor I can bum a ride with her.

Half Marathon and New Wheels

This is a bit random, but I finally ate my Q-Cup (cup-of-noodle soup) I grabbed from the free bin in a hostel in Hobart last April. The little pig faces are pretty funny.

Last night was kinda nice--after spending all day at BoZo we went to Garema Place in Civic to watch Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. During the summer, the city shows films by projecting them onto a large screen in the middle of the town centre for people to watch "under the stars". Despite not being able to hear very well (the direction of the speakers made the sound fluffy and it was impossible to understand conversations in the movie), and not following the plot of Harry Potter (I never read the books), it was still nice to have a night out with Seth.

After the movie we went to stay the night at BoZo. We had always half-joked about sleeping there, but last night we finally decided to do it. The main reason why we wouldn't normally sleep there is that the cleaners come in during the week around 4 or 5am and it would be weird if they came in. Sleeping there went really well--in fact, it was probably the best sleep we had in over a week. We had lots of warm, comfy blankets, and we each had our own full-sized pillow. The only strange thing was that the hall light was on and I woke up at 4:30am thinking it was day-light and thought I had overslept.

Sleeping at BoZo was especially convenient because I woke up early to meet with Kaima across the street at Johns, and we went together to Black Mtn Peninsula for the Weston Creek Half Marathon. I decided not to register because I had only run two road races before (both 5K) so wasn't sure how a half-marathon would go. Also, I am coming down with a cold and felt like I probably wouldn't run my best.

Kaima was great company, except that he thought he dropped my student card a few kilometers into the race and ran all the way back to look for it--when he caught up with me around 8K, he saw that I was actually holding it! He ran just for fun and helped keep my pace up. I first began hanging out with Kaima last year when training for IB with him--he is planning to run again this year and has been running quite long distances three times a week. In fact, he had already run yesterday (about 20K), and will run again tomorrow! To help train for IB, today he even carried a pack with several litres of water (and my camera) during the race!

I finished the 21K in 1:53:58 and based on the race results from last year think I placed about in the middle of female entrants.
This afternoon, I went to Julien and Heather's house. They are ex-Johns ressies and Julien is a good runner-friend of Seth's (and a bike wizard). Julien helped clean up my grimy bike and popped on my new semi-slick tyres I ordered before leaving for NZ. I figured the smooth tyres would be much faster for commuting when I live off campus!

Couch surfing

I still have not had luck finding a place to live. Last week I sent an email around the department asking if anyone had a spare room (or sofa). I got a few responses and two seemed promising--I went to check one house out this morning but I don't think it will work out (they are interviewing a whole bunch of people and I don't think they were really blown away by me), but the other may still work just as long as they don't try to find someone else. If it happens I can stay there, I still won't be able to move in for a few weeks.

I visited the University Accommodation Services and they said the entire campus is booked up, even the short term houses for graduate students. I was told the housing shortage is even worse this year, and that they can't even guarantee first-year undergrads on-campus accommodation.

Seth and I have been continuing to crash at the bachelor pad (Nick, Moose and Artur's place), but since we still haven't worked out how to re-compensate them we haven't been wanting to make ourselves too comfortable by cooking too much or bringing over any suitcases. We would usually just come in around 10 or 11pm, chat with Nick and cook a pot of rice or lentils, then go to "bed" (aka the floor) and leave first thing in the morning for BoZo.

I have been spending all day in my office, with Seth using the ANU computers downstairs. We have been making up breakfast, lunch, and dinner out of any microwaveable foods we have, and every afternoon I have been taking a daily trip to Aldi, in Civic, for groceries *Goodness, I love Aldi (so cheap!)* It has been hard, however, to just get a few cans of food, some produce, and a litre of long-life milk each day (just enough to eat for dinner and lunch), since I don't have anywhere to store the food, and can only carry a few things in my backpack while biking.

This whole ordeal has been very frustrating and tiring, though I suppose one good thing is that I have been able to get quite a bit of work done by spending all day in my office. But still, I really hope I can find somewhere to stay by the time Seth leaves next week :o( I want to have a place to unpack, cook, wash, do a bit of yoga, talk at a normal speaking volume, and not have to sneak around or feel uncomfortable.

Back in Canberra, (finally?)

Seth seemed to have a good time busking during our night in Christchurch. He made friends with two drunken boys who gave him change to sing the blues—then joined in by drumming on his guitar case. He gathered $8, enough to pay for our bus fare and a part of our Japanese take-away dinner, the first and only time we ate out during our month-long trip. He was also given a pack of crackers and offered cheeseburgers.

Our bus to the airport was equally smooth. We were going to get off the bus about 2 stops before the airport ($2.50 each) to avoid the hefty fare they pose to airport travellers ($7 each). The driver was very nice, though, and took us all the way to the airport, right when it began raining pretty hard. In the international arrivals section of Christchurch International Airport (open 24 hours) we joined a small village of a few dozen other travellers and set up camp. I didn’t really notice at first, but I was later told that the Christchurch airport is unique in that it doesn’t mind people sleeping overnight—it even has a free shower. We picked a spot under a Japanese tour desk and ate dinner.

Seth got up a few hours later (3:50am) to go for a very quick run and we dashed over to check our baggage for our 6:35am flight. We were shocked to find the queue winding throughout the terminal. After waiting for a while, Seth ran ahead to ask if we could be checked in. The JetStar attendant told him that it was 55min before the departure time and check-in for our flight had closed 5min ago. We were RIGHT THERE, the plane would not leave for another hour, and the woman refused to help us. In fact, it seemed she actually tried to prevent us from getting on the plane.

We asked around at other airline desks if they would have standby tickets, but none did, so we ended up having to rebook our flight (with a $120 fee) for the next day. Since it was raining and we had lots of luggage, we didn’t feel like lugging it to the city and ended up spending the rest of the day at the airport. That night, we were going to sleep under the information booth, but at 11:45pm it opened for an incoming flight and a woman came to tend the desk until 2am. She didn't seem to mind that we'd set up camp right in front of her desk; but it would have been weird to have groups of people walking right next to us looking through information pamphlets, so we went back to our spot under the Japanese tour desk.

The next morning, after Seth’s 4am run, we made it on our flight (finally!), and even caught an early bus back to Canberra. We didn’t have seats booked since we missed our bus the day before and were afraid there wouldn’t be room for us.

View of New Zealand from airplane window

The bus ride back was really strange. Usually I am excited about coming home after a long trip, and this trip was the longest one I had ever been on. In fact, I was dreading going back to Canberra, knowing we didn’t have any place to go. We arrived at the Jolimont Station and I poked my head into Dash. I was looking forward to working so that I could get back to some sort of normal schedule and see my co-workers. Jan and Greg, the owners, sold the business two days before, and the new owner, Michael, was working. I introduced myself and after talking to him for a moment I was under the impression that he wasn’t planning to schedule me in at all. Weird… He would “call me later”, but I am a little doubtful. For now, although I enjoy working there, I am a bit relieved to not have to worry about going in for a week or two so I can catch up on my thesis.

We grabbed a few groceries in Civic and walked, with all our bags, back to campus and to BoZo (where else could we go?).

Seth got in contact with Nick Love (a good friend from Johns who moved out and got a house with Artur and Moose) and asked if we could crash at his place. I went to the gym for the last time (my membership had expired), unpacked a few things, and made “dinner” in the tea room downstairs. The entire time we had to sneak around and not look suspicious with our armfuls of food. It was all so weird—knowing that just around the corner was Johns, where there was friends, lots of hot food, and once a comfortable flat to ourselves. After a month of wandering around a different country without a home, we were so close to our previous home, but could not go there, and were still homeless.

Finally, we went to Johns to retrieve our bikes from the shed. It was really strange and also depressing being back, and the only people I saw were new first-years. We took off for Nick’s place in Lyneham, about a 15min ride down the road. It was nice to be around somewhat familiar faces: Nick, Moose, Artur, and Matt, who was visiting. Their house is really laid-back and spacious, and we were able to sleep in the study room.

Instead of working on my thesis (like I NEED TO DO), I spent a good portion of today making phone calls and sending emails about accommodation. No luck. I still can’t believe how frustrating it is to not have a place to live, especially after having been moving from place to place (hostels and campsites) nearly every night for the last month. Seth will be leaving soon for his job interview and will probably be away for at least a month. I sure hope I can find someplace to go by then, or else I will probably strongly consider going back to Raleigh.

29.2.08 7:45pm- Christchurch

Making beds at Tailor-Made-Tekapo Backpackers

Morning cleaning

Morning tea with Maryrose and Michael at Tailor-Made-Tekapo

Baby hedgehog in Michael's garden

Our room at Tailor-Made-Tekapo

I don’t know how it happens, but it seems like everything Seth and I do ends up being really sketchy, and this is one of the sketchiest days yet.

We spent our last night in Lake Tekapo trying to repack our bags like crazy, but we did manage to find a few minutes to pick freshly ripened raspberries (a daily ritual), as well as indulge in a game of evening tennis (playing in low light is a bad idea: it is hard to judge where exactly the ball is when trying to hit it).

After a late night, we got up early for a nice long run. Running in Lake Tekapo isn’t all that impressive due to the barren, but hilly, landscape, so I had been saving this one track for the last day. We went up and around the summit of Mt John, near the observatory, then headed back down and along the lake so I could take a close look at the sheepdog statue and church before the crowds arrived. (The church opens at 9am, which is when all the tour buses flock in.) From afar the two icons were fairly quiet, but as we ran down the long peninsula a bus full of Asian tourists turned the corner, and I raced that bus down before the passengers got off. Boy, it was a very close call, but I barely made it and was able to take a few unobstructed pictures.

Mt John Observatory

Church of the Good Shepherd

Church of the Good Shepherd

Sheepdog monument

Like any big trip, we gave ourselves plenty of time but had to pack up and leave Tailor-Made in a whirlwind flurry (just barely getting to say good-bye to Michael), and drove directly to Christchuch in time to return the car by our 4pm deadline. Along the way we ate raspberries, apples, and ice cream that were left over from the past few days, and admired the great fields of fluffy white (and some black) sheep that so characterise Mackenzie Country.

We pulled into Better Rentals in Christchurch around 4:15 (we had to swap driver’s seat and I took the wheel so that Seth wasn’t seen driving when we arrived). Luckily, the car wasn’t damaged in any way and we didn’t have to pay any fines. Even though we take good care of rental cars, damaging them is always a source of anxiety for me. I was a little disappointed, however, that when we first picked up the car, the dealer convinced us (well, me) that we should buy glass insurance for $75, but by the end of the trip we didn’t even chip the glass. Seth was determined to chuck a rock at the windshield if it was not damaged by the end of the trip, but we were running late and I think he forgot to do it.

We asked the rental guy where we could leave our bags for a few hours so we could walk around town. He offered to leave our things (four backpacks, a guitar, a black duffle, and two bags of food) in the back of a large truck, and we could pick it up before the final van arrived, due back by 7pm.

We spent the next two hours wandering around downtown in the drizzling rain (we weren’t wearing our raincoats and didn’t have our umbrellas, but at least it wasn’t very heavy). When we returned to the rental agency at 6:45pm, the van had already arrived and the gate was locked. Seth had to climb the fence and pass our bags over to me, one by one. At least the truck was unlocked so we could get to our bags! At this point, things were starting to become sketchy.

We lugged our eight bags back to the city centre. We will take the bus to the airport tonight and sleep at the international arrivals section, which is open 24hours and also has a shower. Our flight is at 6:35am and it would save lots of time and money to stay at the airport overnight. We could save about $50 in not having to stay at a busy hostel (even though we would only actually sleep there 3-4 hours and it would be really out of the way), and $20 in not having a shuttle pick us up early in the morning (the city buses don’t run before 7:30am on Saturdays). The airport bus is $7 (per person), but if we get off two stops before the airport and walk a kilometre or so, it would only be $2.50. Similar to Canberra, we have this down to an art.

When we got to the town centre I realised that I had spent my remaining NZ cash on petrol and forgot to save $5 for the bus ride. I bought a shirt (the only souvenir I purchased during the entire trip, besides a necklace for Dahlia, and a pin, which I collect) and a discounted Starbucks coffee, but my US check card was unable to let me get cash back. I can get $20 from an ATM but I don’t want to be stuck with an extra $15 in NZ currency. I am in a busy downtown Starbucks right now, watching over our bags, and Seth is practicing his guitar. He just happens to be practicing in the street, with his guitar case open and facing passers-by… I hope he gets at least $5 so we can get some bus tickets. I also hope he doesn’t need a permit to busk, even though he is simply “practicing” guitar!

It is really frustrating how much more difficult things become when you try to save a few dollars while travelling. I am pretty sure that Seth and I resort to doing things that seem “sketchy” because we won’t spend what money we have on silly, frivolous, or overpriced conveniences, just because they are easy. For example, we could lighten our load quite a bit if we chucked our leftover food and went out to eat. Or, we could pay a few dollars to store our luggage somewhere, instead of having to stash it in a cargo truck and needing to jump a fence to retrieve it. I believe that money should be well spent and not wasted, and not put towards arbitrary things such as paying nearly three-times as much to be dropped off in front of the airport, just because it is the airport (which heavily taxes taxies and buses), instead of a nearby stop about a 10-15min walk away. Another example is buying a cup of tea, which runs up to $4. Not only is it silly to pay so much for the 10c tea bag, but it is also silly to pay for hot water. When you earn less than $10,000 a year and have to pay $20,000 a year on tuition and about $150-200 per week on rent (we have been lucky in this area), walking to the airport seems like a pretty good idea.