Free Food Shelf

In many of the hostels, particularly the bigger ones, there is this thing called 'free food shelf'. People who no longer want or need their food leave it on these shelves so as to not waste it as others may make use of them. Often times, there's very little there, but every now and then, you get a hostel where tons of people stay and leave really good stuff behind. The hostel in Blue Mountains was one of them. In the 2 days that I was there, I saw nearly full bags of rice, cereal, flour, bread; milk, butter, sauces; unopenned bag of chips & cashews, can of peas & carrots, and bottle of orange juice. I didn't pick up the concept of free food until New Zealand, when I saw Alan and Mike checking them out and picking stuff out of them. It now dawned on me how much money I could've saved by scrounging as much food off of these free food shelves. I've also figured out that the best way to get quality free food is to notice the days and time that the not-free food shelves are cleaned out. Things not labelled to date are tossed out or put on the free food shelf. Be the first one there when all that food is first put out for the public.

Blue Mountains

I stayed in the Blue Mountains YHA in Katoomba for 3 nights so that I can do some hiking in the area. I hiked around Katoomba one day, and around Blackheath the second. In Katoomba, I started at one end of the Federal Pass and walked along it and up the Furber Steps. Then I went across the Prince Henry Cliff Walk to Echo Point for a closer view of the Three Sisters. Man, I thought New Zealand was touristy, but that was nothing compared to here. Tourists were everywhere. If you are worried about travelling alone around here, you shouldn't, 'cuz you're never really alone. Fortunately there weren't too many people on the Federal Pass since there was a steep decent in ascent out. I spent about 4 hrs walking this day. In Blackheath I did the Grand Canyon walk - lots of lush rainforest and waterfalls. Absolutely beautiful walk. I thought the Blue Mountains had more of a variety in scenery than the typical day hike in New Zealand. I enjoyed it a lot. Also, somehow I managed to end up hiking along with some German speaking dudes Mike, Florian, and Martin. I enjoyed the solitude of walking alone yesterday, so some company was a nice change. Plus, I wouldn't want to be walking alone in some parts of the Grand Canyon track.

Boxing Day

The Australians, like the British, enjoy another day off on the 26th. Someone told me once loooong time ago what this holiday was for, but unlike some people, my brain doesn't seem to be able to hold useless information. These days tho, my brain doesn't hold much at all I think. I do exercise my brain occasionally though through reading lots of books (currently on Stupid White Men by Micheal Moore) and playing Scrabble (I've won all games so far except when I played with a French guy). Btw, apologies for any misspelled word on my website. I can't be bothered to spell check anything when I already have to spend lots of time just putting this site together. Feel free to send me corrections or suggestions for changes.

Anyhow, today I met Richard. He's the guy I found on Lonely Planet's Thorntree looking for a travel partner around OZ. He's from around Sydney, just quit his job, and was looking to travel a bit around his country. He was going to buy a 4WD and since we had the similar plans in mind, we thought we'd give it a go. So today, we met up for the first time. He picked me up in Manly and drove me to a place where we luckily caught the start of the yacht race. Then off to Bondi beach for lunch, and a drive around to a view point and then back to Manly. I think we'll get along fine.

Christmas Australian Style

Christmas just isn't Christmas when it's not cold or snowing outside. That is... until you put on your Santa hats and sit on a beach next to a Christmas tree. I kid you not - a group of Welsh folks brough a Christmas tree onto the beach. Classic. Going to the beach on Christmas is obviously the thing to do here. Many locals and tourists alike flocked to the beach today, enjoying the sun and a few drinks. The only thing missing I think was someone blasting Christmas music on stereo. In the evening, my friends and I made Christmas dinner.

Life on Manly Beach

I could really get into the life of living on the beach. The days would be all about swimming, running on the beach, playing volleyball, or just plain relaxing. Plenty of huge bars nearby for those who prefer that atmosphere. Tess and I got into the routine of doing some sort of exercise each day - usually swimming at the nice Olympic size seawater pool on the beach, and running on the beach on cooler days. It was really nice to be active on a regular basis for a change. Hopefully I can keep up the swimming or running, and maybe hiking, while I travel around OZ.

Sydney - The Arrival

I had a easy 3.5 hr flight from Christchurch. Upon arrival, I think I was the first one through immigration, and then skated through customs. Ben, Chris, and Tess was already there to pick me up in Ben's "Beast" and to take me to our home over the next week or so in Manly. We all stayed in Manly Guesthouse a block from the beach. I shared a room with Ben, his visiting brother Sam, and an Aussie guy. The room was a disaster area. A complete guy's room with shit thrown around everywhere, and floor and sink dirty as hell. I tried my best not to touch too many things. The common area was not the best either. I pretty much washed all dishes before using it. I was quite fortunate to have a bed though, as I did not bother booking anywhere in advance. Plus, it was nice just to be near friends during the holidays.

Flight Info: NZ183 DPT 1600 ARR 1730

New Zealand - Highlights

I enjoyed New Zealand very much. It was nice to be in such a beautiful country full of greenery and stunning scenary, with clean hostels, and friendly people. My stay here wasn't without difficulties, though. I found everything here to be quite expensive and I often had to be very careful of my spending. Also, it had rained more than I liked, preventing me from partaking in some activities that I wanted to do. NZ's similarity to the US also made my travels less exciting and often had me looking forward to my travels in China and Japan.

I found myself very home sick for the first time since I left home while in New Zealand. There was a time when the weather kept me indoors for several days, and I lacked good company to enjoy the time with. It was also Thanksgiving back home to boot, and I had spent just about every Thanksgiving for the last few years at home with my brothers. Fortunately, things got better right away with my arrival in Wellington where I was welcomed by my friend, Mike, that I made while in Africa. I also met 2 other very special guys - Alan & Mikael - while in the South Island. Many people I met while in NZ came and went very fast, but I was fortunate to be able to spend about 2 weeks with them near the end. I enjoyed my time in NZ much more after meeting them.

The highlights of New Zealand would be most of South Island - Glacier hike, Milford Sound, and Mt. Cook. Some of the best sceneries in New Zealand are also on the longer "Great" (3-4 day) walks and I hope to come back and do some of those some day. Another highlight of New Zealand, ofcourse, is the whole Lord of the Rings experience. Just as many others have, I've become a fan of the trilogy. It was great to see some of the film locations, the stars in the movies, the LOTR themes in Wellington, and The Return of the King.

Christchurch

Alan left the following day after we arrived, and Mike left the day after (but not before we got to see The Return of the King. I was quite bummed after they had left, as I was on my own again and I had enjoyed their company a lot. This is also the end of my journey in New Zealand. From here I fly onto Sydney where friends I made while in Africa await. Something new to look forward to again.

Mt. Cook

After we got out of Dunedin, I took over the 5 hr drive to Mt.Cook. Lucky for me, most of the road was sealed and straight. So straight, and so few traffic, that I at times went as fast as 160km/h. It was even better because I didn't really have to worry about a speeding ticket. Even if I got one, I would leave the country in a few days so I would not pay it. Don't worry - I'm a very safe driver though.

There were many mountains and clear blue lakes once we started getting near Mt.Cook. We passed through many small towns on the way, with cheap ice cream, and arrived in Glentanner with a few hours to spare in the evening. From there, we had a great view of Mt.Cook. We couldn't have asked for a better weather either.

The next morning, we got up early to do the 3 hr walk in Hooker Valley for a closer view of Mt.Cook. Then we were on our way to Christchurch.

Southern Scenic Route to Dunedin

Mike picked us up in his rental car in Te Anau and we hit for the road down the Southern Scenic Route. One of the first things we saw was a herd of sheep - many, many, many sheep - in the road. I've seen postcards of it, and I've been wanting to see it all along.

We had a few stops along the way to Invercargill - McCracken's rest, Monkey Island, etc. There wasn't much to see or do in Invercargill so we did our grocery shopping and had lunch there. We were on our way to the Catlins from there, when we got a flat tire!! Lucky for me I was with two boys so all I had to do was watch and make sure they didn't get hit by cars that came by (there was no place to pull over). Fortunately for them it wasn't dark and raining - tho it was very windy and cold.

The roads in Catlins weren't sealed, so we had some windy, gravelly roads. We were already running pretty late in the day, so we didn't make too many stops. We only stopped at Nugget Point. Then we arrived in Dunedin, pretty late & tired. Tonight, Mike cooked the meal. While it was really cool to be travelling with 2 guys who can cook, it was a bit embarassing that I couldn't cook.

The next morning, we spent a few hours walking around Dunedin before heading towards Mt.Cook. We saw Otago University, Knox Church, Octagon, and the Railway Station.

Te Anu

Te Anau was a bit of a chill time. We played cards on the 1st night when Mike was around. The next day, I had a bit of a lie in. Alan and I still managed to squeeze in a 6 hr hike though. 1 hr walk to the Control Gates on the Lakeside Walk, 1-1.5 hr walk to Broad Bay, and another 1-1.5 hr walk up to the Limestone Bluffs towards Mt.Luxmore. Keeping pace with Alan was a bit of a challenge which was fine on the way up, and we practically ran coming down. But I doubly paid for all that pushing the last 2 hrs of the walk - I was in such pain. Luckily, all we did that night was watch the Count of Monte Cristo in the TV lounge.

Milford Sound

My InterCity bus pass didn't cover a ride to Milford, so I managed to catch a ride with couple of Dutch guys, Matt & Stephen, while Alan caught a ride with some English folks. On the way, we ran into a herd of cows which were in the road running toward us. We also got a speeding ticket.... Going 122km/h on 100 (max for the country. A $100 fine for that!! I don't think Matt is going to pay it tho.

Once in Milford, I checked in the Milford Sound Lodge. The only lodge in the area, with extortionate prices. We would call that a monopoly in the States. It had a roomy lounge tho, and scrabble, so Alan and I had a rematch there. As we were playing, Mikael showed up! Turns out he's slightly changed plans so he will be in Milford with us for the night, and in Te Anau for a night. He will kayak while Alan and I do the lazy thing - a boat cruise.

I woke up on the day of our boat cruise and it was pissing rain. I was so annoyed of all the rain in NZ that I thought about rearranging all of my future travels to avoid any rainy season that I might hit. At the moment, I'm due in Japan for the June rain. I'm not sure how I can do that without cutting China short. I'll have to see how I like China first.

The rain died by the time we got on our boat - Friendship. We even got a little bit of blue sky for a few minutes to get some nice photos, and then the clouds rolled back in with occasional rain. The boat ride was about 2.5 hrs from the wharf to Milford Sound on Tasman Sea. The rain made for greater waterfalls, and the cloud cover gave the mountains protruding from the water a misty look, so it turned out to be beautiful despite the weather.

Queenstown

Queenstown is similar to Wanaka, in that it is near a lake, but it is much bigger and touristy. There is a Pizza Hut, KFC, McDonald's, and a Hard Rock Cafe here. Our original plan was to do a half day hike in the area, but I think I caught a cold or something so I had to send Alan up on his own. The rest of the time in Queenstown was spent mostly walking around town.

I used to like the independence of travelling alone, but I think I enjoy travelling more when I have the right company. I felt more comfortable since travelling with Alan (and Mike when he was there). The best part is, that Alan cooks!!! And he cooks good on a very cheap budget.

Wanaka

Again, the three of us had a long bus ride down south. Fortunately, the bus driver stopped occasionally for photo and break. Mike was off to Queenstown to do some jet boating and the Routeburn Track. Alan and I said good-bye to him and made plans to meet up with him again in Te Anau to share a car to Christchurch.

Wanaka was a lovely town by a lake with views of snow capped mountain ranges. Most of the time was spent lazing around, but we actually took to a hike up Mt.Roy one morning with another couple. It was a steep climb up, but when we were just near the top, after about 2.5 hrs of hiking, the sky was covered with clouds and we couldn't get much of a view. We decided to turn around, only to have the sky clear up as we got a good way down. We got some nice views from where we were, but imagine how annoyed we all were. And we were so close to the top....

Fox Glacier Hike

Alan and I decided to go on a full day glacier hike here. The guided hike took us on an hour hike through the rainforest to the Fox Glacier. We were on the ice about 3-4 hrs. Our guide axe picked his way through to create a path for us, and we saw crevices, caves which we could walk through, etc. We had clamp ons on our borrowed boots, and a walking stick, to help us on our way through the slippery, and often narrow, paths. Although it turned out to be another cloudy day, it didn't rain, so I didn't get wet. Hiking the glaciers was definitely a neat experience. When I'm older and rich, though, I am going to do the heli-hike to get to the very top of it where it's supposedly more massive.

Alan, Mike, and I spent the evening playing scrabble. The French guy won. How embarassing is that??

Franz Josef Glacier

Mike and I both headed over to Franz Josef for today, but he went on a full day hike of the glacier. The weather was pretty crap, again, so I thought I'd wait a day or so to see if it got better. I met Alan, an Irish dude, in the morning, and we took for a hike up to a view point. We didn't realize the start of the hike was 6km out of town, so we already walked an hour before we started the 5 hr hike. It drizzled on us here and there in the morning, so I probably got just as wet as I would have been if I had done the glacier hike. But at least I didn't pay $100 for it. The hike had several water crossing, one where I had to take my shoe off to cross since I couldn't jump far enough. Most of it was pretty steep rock scrambling along slippery track, thanks to the rain. The view at the top, once there, was pretty awesome tho. The weather had cleared up by then too, and we had sunshine for rest of the day.

Later in the day, Mike, Alan, and I moved on to Fox Glacier, staying at Ivory Towers. We rented some bicycles and headed over to Lake Matheson to catch the sunset. Luck would have it, the clouds rolled in before we got there and we couldn't get a good reflection of Mt.Cook in the lake like we wanted. After all that I went through - a 6 hr hike earlier in the day, a 20 min bike ride which gave me a sore ass, and an 1.5 hr walk around the lake.... Oh well.

Punakaiki & the Pancake Rocks

I stopped for a night in Punakaiki so I can check out the pancake rocks and the blow hole, as well as do some short hikes. I met a French guy, Mikael, who I ended up hanging out with for the day. We did the Pororai River loop track, which was about a 3 hr walk along the river, through the forest, and across the river (i.e. in the water). The pancake rocks were pretty neat. The tide was low when I went so the blow hole didn't blow much. I couldn't be bothered to go back for the high tide later in the evening but I don't think I missed much. The weather today was fantastic tho!

Nelson

I spent one day in the Abel Tasman National Park on a half-kayak and half-walk day trip. I went with couple of Japanese guys in the hostel. Fortunately, I was in a boat with a trainee guide so he did most of the work while I relaxed and paddled every now and then for the sake of looking like I am doing something. Unfortunately, it was another cloudy day for me so it was not as pretty as the park could be. For anyone planning to travel to NZ, avoid the spring time and go in the summer!!!

Wellington - Home of the Lord of the Rings

Alright! This was what I was waiting for! I suffered through a week of rain, and no Tongariro Crossing, but I was in Wellington for the huge Lord of the Rings celebration this weekend. The world premiere of The Return of the King was here on 12/1, and although I didn't get an invite to it, there were enough LOTR festivities going on for me to enjoy it. The weather was absolutely fantastic for it too!!

The LOTR theme was everywhere, on banners in the street, in the shops, etc. I stayed with a friend I made while in Africa, Mike, and he took me to various film location sites too. One of the places I went to was Upper Hut, where scenes from Rivendell were filmed. Most of Saturday and Sunday were spent checking out the city of Wellington - harbor, Mt.Victoria, Te Papa museum, etc. I even went to see Viggo Moretenson's photo gallery at the Massey Museum.

On Monday, there was a parade of stars. It started at 3:30 from the Parliament building, and went down to the Embassy theatre. I staked out my spot by mid-day, hang out with a few other backpackers until the stars showed up. It was an awesome day. Tons of fans showed up from all around the world. Although I was not obsessed enough to camp out by the red carpet from the night before. I got some pretty good photos of the stars from where I was near the beginning of the parade.

Taupo - Rain that Never Went Away

Same damn thing. Waiting for the weather to clear so I can do the Tongariro. No luck tho. Rained the whole damn week. Probably the most miserable week I've had since I started travelling. Rain rain go away. Got pretty home sick this week too. Missed Thanksgiving with my family :(

Rotorua - Again

I'm not even going to waste too much time writing here since I just came back to kill time before heading to Wellington. I'm still waiting for the weather to clear up so I can head down to Taupo and do the Tongariro Crossing. I did enjoy the Lake Spa Retreat at the Polynesian Spa tho. The most interesting part was chatting with some Japanese guys who gave me lots of tips on how I can try to save money while backpacking around Japan. Lot of the ideas involved bumming off of the nice people in the country tho.

Taupo - World Rugby Cup Final

Our next day was a bit of a wash out. We had initially planned to hike the Tongariro Crossing together, but because of poor weather, the trip was cancelled. We spent a good chunk of time in the morning trying to figure out what to do now. New Zealand, and especially Taupo, was such an outdoor country that you were so limited in indoor activities. Cinema, museum, Honey Bee farm, bowling, reading....

It turns out Claire has some friends in Wellington who were going to come up and hang with us for the weekend. They arrived about 11 ish, and were against the museum idea, and there was nothing good playing in the cinema. We decided on going to a hot pool. The hot pool was pretty nice. We enjoyed ourselves in different pools of varying temperature. There was also a water slide, and although I knew that we weren't supposed to go on it without having paid extra, I pretended to be ignorant and kept my mouth shut when Claire suggested we go up it. Despite being in a proper hot pool 'facility', we had to be careful in some of the pools to not get our head wet because of amoebic meningitis.

The rest of the day was just time killing - driving out of town for a giant cookie, watching people bungy jump and mountain board, etc. It wasn't until end of the day when things got exciting again.

Today was the finals for the World Rugby Cup played in Sydney. Let me just skip all of the boring bits and tell you how sexy Jonny Wilkinson is. Actually, just have a look at these photos. (No, I didn't join the fan club.) It was England v. Australia.

I had never watched a game of rugby before I started travelling. The World Rugby Cup 2003 started in October, and I started catching games here and there while in South Africa. One of the first memorable games was the England vs. South Africa game that we watched in Rafters bar in Swakopmund, Namibia. England won 25-6. I had first noticed flyhalf Wilkinson in this game, but it wasn't until I watched some of the quarterfinal and semifinal games in New Zealand. that I noticed the French flyhalf, Frederik Michalak. The two flyhalfs made the games veeeery exciting. However, Michalak was no match for superstar Jonny in the England v. France semifinals.

We watched the game in Finn MacCuhal's (?? some Irish bar) amongst tons of other Rugby fans. Watching a popular game such as the finals of any 'Cup' is not something to be done when you're short like me. As I bobbed my head up and down, and side to side, I overlooked the effort I had to make to watch this game, for the many close up shots of Jonny made it all worthwhile. Just like most other games, it was Jonny who did most of the scoring. At full-time, the score was 14-14, and it went into overtime with 10 minutes extra time going each way. With 30 seconds left in the game, the score was 17-17 with a threat of going into another overtime (I was getting tired of standing by then), when my Jonny scores a drop goal to put the score 20-17!! Game ended, and cup goes to England for the first time in history (not that it was a long one in rugby).

With Claire and Chrissy at the bar watching the finals.

Taupo - The Geyserland Experience

Claire, Dave, and I left this morning for Taupo in their 4x4 Charlotte the Chariott. Before leaving Rotorua, we stopped at the Kuirau Park. Amazingly, this place was not listed in my Let's Go budget guidebook, or their Lonely Planet. The park was free, full of beautiful landscape and geothermal activities not seen anywhere else but in commercial parks. This park was free tho! Lots of mud pools and dormant looking geysers abound. Definitely worth a mention in guidebooks - it's free, beautiful, and in walking distance of town center.

Our first stop out of town was at Kerosene Creek (probably named for the smell of the place). It was a free thermal river. We stopped there for a quick bath and the only thing that surrounds us was nature, one naked old man swimming, and a few people on a picnic. The water was like perfect bath temperature and had a small little waterfall set in the background. Felt very good in the water, but the nearby sign warning us of amoebic meningitis was a put off. We could not put our heads under water because if the water gets up our nose, we could catch the disease and die (there is no cure apparently).

As we were leaving, we passed bunch of school children. We were grateful for the perfect timing. How traumatic it would have been for these kids to see our naked asses as we stripped to change by our cars in the parking area.

Our next stop was the Hidden Valley Orakei Korako Geyserland. There were lots of neat geysers and colorful mud pools, as well as one of the world's only 2 geothermal caves. This place is a bit far from Rotorua or Taupo (tho it is in between the two), so it is less touristed. The surrounding trees gave a jungle-ish feel to the place, and with the steams coming out from underground here and there, I almost felt like I was in an Indiana Jones movie... only if there weren't these wooden platforms for us to walk on. We walked around the park - cheering as the Diamond Geyser spouted hot water in the air, marvelling at the colorful formations made by the lava flows and stuff, and made a wish as we stuck our left hand into the water in the geothermal cave.

Our unplanned stops for the day was the Huka Falls and Craters of the Moon. The water in the Huka Falls was so clear it was such a pretty blue when the sun reflected off of it. It was also a very powerful fall, tho a short fall, after a very powerful rapids down the river. We wondered how fun it must be to white water raft down that river, only if it weren't for the rocks on either side and the possibility of getting sucked under the falls. Claire and Dave theorized that, perhaps like a James Bond movie, if you went fast enough on the river, you would get shot out and land past the falls instead of falling with the falls. Surely, someone out there is stupid enough to try and find out.

The Craters of the Moon was another geothermal area full of mud pools and such. The landscape was relatively flat, and as you look across the area, you can see steam, lots of steam, coming out of the ground all over the place. The unique thing about this place are the craters that are formed from the geothermal activities. As pressure builds up underneath, the surface is blasted open by steam.

After we turned what's normally a one hour drive to Taupo into an all day drive, we arrived in Rainbow Lodge. We stopped in Woolworths to grab some groceries and made chicken fajitas for dinner. For once I didn't have to eat my 2 minute noodles. I slept well tonight, having had one of the most enjoyable, and productive (got the most for what I spent), days yet in NZ.

Rotorua

Rotorua is the hot spring capital of New Zealand. The town rests on tons of geothermal activity which oozes out into mud pools, geysers, hot springs, etc. My plan was to spend a few days to soak in the hot springs and relax to kill time before I hit Taupo and Wellington. However, after meeting up and talking with Claire and Dave, I decided to leave with them tomorrow to do the Tongariro Crossing with them. Taupo was only an hour away so it will be fairly easy to make my back to Rotorua to spend more time here.

Dave and Claire was going to a Maori cultural dinner and Hangi thing (i.e. local dinner and dance). I spent my evening walking around Rotorua, sniffing the smell of sulfur (you know, the rotten egg smell) in the thermal areas. Not a whole lot to be done here, but it's a small, cozy town perfect for time killing.

Waitomo - Home of the Glowworm Caves

Finally I am leaving Auckland for good, never to return, maybe except to fly out of. I arrived in Juno Hall backpackers of Waitomo by noon, and headed out to explore the area. Waitomo is the home of the glowworm caves. Glowworms are these larvae that are unique to New Zealand. They emit light to attract their food and you can see tons of them in the dark caves. I went on a 30 minute tour of the Waitomo glowworm caves which was a brief walk through the caves with some informative, yet dry, commentary, followed by an even briefer boat ride through the glowworm grotto to view the glowworms. The most interesting part of it all is learning that when these glowworms turn into adult flies, they die of starvation after 2 days because its creator forgot to give them a mouth.

After the glowworm caves, I set out to find the trailhead for the Waitomo walkway. On my way up the road, a car whizzed by me and some lady behind the wheel gave me one of those stick-your-neck-out stares. It didn't occur to me until a second later that it was Claire and Dave!! They recognized me as well and came to a skidding stop. Claire and Dave were 2 English folks on my 3 week Cape to Vic Falls tour with Nomads. We got all excited about bumping into each other like this and chatted a bit, made plans to see each other in Rotorua the next day, and split off. I knew they were in New Zealand, but never thought I'd run it to them like this. What a small world.

The Waitomo walk itself was a short trek through the hillsides where you can see many sheep and cows grazing in the grass. The walk leads you to the Aranui caves, which were closed by then, and onto another walk. The next bush walk took me into a natural underground cave viewing platform. I was inside a cave all to myself, with no other tourists. This is what I liked. Apparently, if you come here at night, there are glowworms in this cave too. I could have seen them for free!!

Auckland - Yet Again

These couple of days were really just a waste of time. I came back here only for my free haircut at Toni & Guy that I booked before I left for Coromandel. These guys gave me something called a 'natural inversion'. Looks alright for the most part, but it's so short at the top and sides that it's hard to keep my hair in a pony tail.

I also had a few other errands to run so I ended up staying here another night. Nothing really worth mentioning except for the fact that I'm starting to get a tad bored of New Zealand. It's like the USA in many ways. It's westernized, it's expensive, and the people here look like Americans and speak English. The country caters well to tourists and they are everywhere. I can't escape them. Everything is too easy - easy to get around, easy to find a place to stay, easy to eat, easy to find an activity. It's not much of an adventure. All of the sudden, I am very much looking forward to China. Ofcourse, the best bits of New Zealand are to come when I get to South Island.

Coromandel - The Hitch Hiking Experience

I had a few days to kill until my haircut on Monday, and I was not about to hang around Auckland much longer. I didn't want to start heading towards Wellington too soon either, as I'm trying to time it so that I will be there for the world premiere of the LOTR III - Return of the King on December 1. So, I decided to go to Coromandel, which is an easy trip there and back, but not part of my NZ bus pass.

Again, I was trying to be cheap. Apparently, it is quite difficult to get around the Coromandel area without a car. I didn't want to go on a tour tho - I am avoiding them like the plague. What I did was buy a one way ticket out to Coromandel town, in hopes of meeting people with cars along the way who will give me lifts around. Or, maybe I will try hitch hiking....

Lucky for me, as soon as I arrived in the Lion's Den hostel, there were a group of people going up to the tip of Coromandel to do the walk up there. I jumped in on the offer to come along right away and I was on my way. After 2 gruesome hours of drive up windy, gravel roads, we came to the start of the walkway and hiked 1.5 hrs to the viewpoint, and another 1.5 hrs back.

On the following morning, I managed to catch a ride to Whitianga with Brendon, a guy who plans to start his own 5 day tour between Auckland and Wellington. He plans to call it Adodgy Tour.
I arrived quite early in Whitianga since Brendon had a long drive today and wanted an early start. As quickly as I checked into On The Beach Hostel, I was out and about. I took the passenger ferry across the bay to the side where all the popular beaches are. However, they are still a good 10+ km or so out of the way so I could not walk it. A bus there and back would cost me $20-$30. Quite overpriced in my opinion. The owner at the hostel seemed to encourage hitch hiking. I've been advised against it, and the smart side of me tells me that I should not do it, but the cheap and adventurous side of me says, "Heck, let's give it a try." I'm sure it was quite stupid for a solo female to hitch hike, but I think the martial arts experience and knife I carry around with me gave me some sort of, perhaps false, confidence.

I did not enjoy hitch hiking. I found it to be quite demoralizing, not to mention I don't have a whole lot of patience for waiting around. About six cars whizzed by me in about 10 minutes time as I held out my thumb. Everyone has told me that hitch hiking in New Zealand was easy. I'm an innocent looking girl at that. Surely I'd get picked up right away. Or so I thought. Everyone just kept going by. I felt rejected. Did I look dodgy or something? What was I doing wrong? I was in the middle of nowhere, far from where I want to be, and I was not about to walk it all. Then I saw a car, with and old, unsuspecting, man inside. He stopped for a view of the beach. Here was my chance. I walked over to the car and as he was about to pull out, I flagged him down and pretty much forced him to give me a ride. "You're going this way right? Can I have a lift?" I was dropped off at about half way point to my destination. Luckily, the next car that came by actually picked me up. She was an English girl here on WHV and was on her way to work. Cool girl. She knows the deal.

The girl dropped me off at Hahei beach, about 30 min scenic walk to the start of the trail to Cathedral Cove. Close enough for me. So I walked couple hours to Cathedral Cove and back, not quite impressed with what I got in return for my efforts. Plus, I still had to find a ride back. I was in the Cathedral Cove parking lot now. Plenty of opportunities. I accosted the first people that came out into the parking lot - an elderly couple. They were on their way to Hot Water Beach, so I decided to check that out.

Hot Water Beach is famous for the geothermal activity that occurs underneath. While the water is cold and not fit for swimming because of the rocks that are around, during the low tide, you can actually take a spade and dig your own hot spring. Any other times tho, like when I went, it's just another beach.

Now I was further away from where I started. Yet again, I had to accost some people for a ride back. I saw two Japanese girls. I usually don't like to begin a conversation with a Japanese stranger in Japanese, as I may come across as being arrogant. (They may think "So you speak Japanese, so what? You're not the only foreigner who does.") This time tho, I kind of wanted to impress these girls and befriend them with out the long, drawn out introduction and conversation that it usually takes before I let on that I speak their language. The girls were Yumiko and Ai. Ai-chan is a senior in high school here, and Yumiko is here on WHV. They were with couple of guys - Gary, Yumiko's fiance from NZ, and Kevin, Gary's friend. They were the nicest people.

They were actually planning to go all the way to the passenger ferry to go to Whitianga - exactly where I needed to go. After couple of scenic detours to Cook's beach and Shakespeare's lookout, we were back at the ferry. They even paid for my $1 ferry across, and bought me a hot chocolate once on the other side. They even offered me a place to stay when I'm in their neighborhood. It's people like this who make travelling enjoyable. Not like the hypocritical owner, Jim, of On The Beach hostel. While he encouraged me to hitch hike, he acted repulsed and said something along the lines of "No way. Not going to happen." when I suggested the possibility that I could catch a ride with his brother who might be going near Thames, where the bus back to Auckland was cheaper. I hate that man. If the hostel itself wasn't actually nice and spotlessly clean, I'd be starting a boycott campaign against them.

Back in Auckland

Back in Auckland for the day while I figure out my next move. I only really have half the day, so not really much time for sightseeing. This time though, I did check in to a hostel in the city centre (Albert Park Backpackers) so I have easy access to shops and stuff. Turns out this place is nicer than the one out in Parnell, which is surprising because hostels in city centres are usually crap.

Anyhow, the big revelation of the day is that there is no way I will stay anywhere near my budget at the pace I am spending money. As of today, I committed myself to self-catering instead of eating out like I used to. This is a challenge for me because I don't cook. Plus, I'll have to schlep some food around with me. Now that I'm determined to self-cater tho, I had to go find a supermarket. The nearest decent place to my hostel was 20-25 f***ing minutes walk away. (I took the bus back). I loaded my grocery basket with all the essentials of cooking - apples, bananas, yogurts, and ofcourse, 2 minute noodles and instant pastas. Little did I know how sad I would be as I sat in the kitchen, picking at my pathetic dinner, while other travellers somehow manage to make 3 course meals. I would recommend to anyone thinking of travelling on a budget to LEARN TO COOK before you go!

It's now been about 2 months since I had my last haircut at the Trenzo in Johannesburg. I feel desparately in need of another one, despite my original plan to go 6 months, if not the year, w/o a haircut. Ofcourse, a decent haircut would set me back another $60 or $80 here. But how lucky am I? The popular Toni & Guy hair salon is looking for hair models. Basically, I can get a free hair cut if I stand as guinea pigs for trainees. I missed my chance to get a cut today, but I booked myself in for Monday's session.

Northland

I finally gave up on trying to do any sightseeing in Auckland and headed out to Northland, the tiny bit at the northern most part of New Zealand. The bus took me up along the west coast and made stops to view the Big Tree in Waipoua Forest, and the Hokianga Bay. I made a stop over in Paihia in the Bay of Islands. Small and nice, but very touristy. Lots of activities, but very expensive. (Btw, NZ is so expensive that they have no dollar store - it's a two dollar store. A McDonald's value menu is $1.95, not $1.) I wasn't ready to blow all my money just yet, so I hot tailed it out of there the next day and headed over to Wharengei. I hiked over to the falls and around. At the end of my hike, I saw some guy setting up abseiling (rapelling). He let me have a go!!! It was not a very high abseil, but as it was my first time and I am not too keen on heights, it was just right for me. I got more than what I'd bargained for in Wharengei.

Auckland - The Arrival

I arrived in a Auckland with no plan and no bookings for a room. The first thing I did was pull NZ dollars from an ATM. Then I bought a $5 phone card and made call to book a room at the Lantana Lodge in Parnell. Then I caught the AirBus into city centre, and the Link bus to Parnell.

Most of my time in Aucland was spent getting over jetlag. I don't usually suffer it much, but either my travels through Africa did me in, or the 2 day flight over did. I spent the first day walking to and around city center, down Queens St. The city of Auckland is very hilly, which is good because I need the exercise. There is also a very large Asian community here, so there's tons of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese restaurants. I can see I am going to like Auckland.

Later the first day, I went up the Sky Tower and caught a nice view of the city and people jumping off. The next day, I slept in until 1430 (mind you, I went to bed at 11 the night before) so the late afternoon and evening was spent checking out Newmarket, a shopping district near Parnell. A repeat of day wasting occurred the next couple of days. I gave up trying to sightsee around Auckland and resorted to hitting the internet cafe to update my websites when I can. There are tons of internet cafes around that have high-speed connections, CD burners, and CF card readers for digital cameras. It's probably just as well tho, since Auckland is very expensive and spending money on the harbor cruises and ferries to go to near by islands would put me way over budget.

The evenings were generally spent reading The Hobbit, or watching the World Rugby Cup games.

Flight to New Zealand

Okay, I'm not quite in NZ at this point, but thought I'd write a little about my flight over. I boarded a Cathay Pacific flight (CX748) at about 1300 on 11/4. It was a 13 hr flight over to Hong Kong, where I had a 7 hr layover until I caugh CX117, another 11 hrs, over to Auckland. I didn't sleep much on the planes, so I spent most of the time watching movies I've already seen American Wedding and Pirates of the Carribean. In Hong Kong, I luckily found a cafe with free, high-speed internet, so I killed my time there. I was supposed to buy coffee or something in the cafe, but I mananaged to stay on most of the day with one drink.

Flight Info:

Depart JNB 1310 on CX748
Arrive Hong Kong at 0700 ish
Depart Hong Kong at 1535 on CX117
Arrive Auckland at 0730ish

Southern Africa Highlights

After the overland trip, I flew back to Johannesburg to catch my flight to New Zealand. Here is a video highlighting my Southern Africa trip:

3 Week Overland Trip through Southern Africa

From Capetown, I took a 3 week overland trip with Nomad's. The tour piled us all into one big truck with our backpacks and tents. We camped almost every night, and ate cucumber-tomato-cheese sandwiches almsot every day. It was a great trip, allowing me to cover a lot of distance and seeing a lot. There were many hours spent in the truck tho. Some times we played games, sometimes we slept. The trip took us through South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe.

Dates: 10/12/03-11/3/03 (Days 42-64)

Highlights:
Truck breakdown ♦ 6 hr canoeing on Orange River ♦ sunrise hike up Dune 45 ♦ Soussuvlei guided desert walk walk walk ♦ Niña ♦ "Hey, Linkie! Put on some music!" ♦ England 25 - South Africa 6 ♦ Rafters ♦ sandboarding ♦ bush, bush, camp ♦ BURRO ♦ lion kill ♦ vultures ♦ Walvis Bay Flamingos ♦ Mokoro race ♦ drinking river water ♦ bye, Jill ♦ shithead ♦ "Where's the toilet paper" ♦ "I have enough photos of elephants." ♦ Dave the spade ♦ bird watchers ♦ cucumber, tomatoe, and cheese sandwhich ♦ hippo chase ♦ Z$4500 to US$1 ♦ Cape Cross Cape Fur Seal Colony ♦ "Doctor" Carlos ♦ "I felt something sleep next to me last night. It wasn't Katharina. It wasn't Sonia..." ♦ Springbok good-byes to Alex ♦ 5 border crossings ♦ Rafting on the Zambezi ♦ Flipping the raft on the Zambezi ♦ no buses or trains out ♦ swimming at camps ♦ sunsets by the waterhole ♦ "Welcome to..." ♦ 4600km &diams 2 extra days in Vic Falls for me

Itinerary: Cedarberg, Namaqualand, Gariep (Orange) River, Fish River Canyon, Sossusvlei, Swakopmund, Spitzkoppe, Etosha NP, Rundu, Okavango Delta, Chobe NP, Victoria Falls

Participants: Bea & Sonia (Spain), Stefanie (Holland), Alex (UK), Dave & Claire (UK); Anna, Rosa, & Carlos (Spain); Mar & Raul (Spain), Tom (US), Beth & Jill (US); Esther (Germany),Chang (S.Korea), Katharina & Roger (Holland); Perveen (US), Diana K. & Liane (Holland); Linda (Holland)

Guides: Johan, Linkie, and Dumi Sani

Capetown

It was good to finally be in one place for a while (8 nights). I now had plenty of time to see Capetown, as well as to run errands and relax. Capetown is a beautiful city, but also dangerous like all other major cities in South Africa. I met several people staying at my hostel, Ashanti's, who were mugged just around the corner, in daylight. Despite having to be on my guard when out and about (and having to take taxis after dark), it was an eventful and week. I also met some really cool people here - Ben, Tess, Chris, Simon. I'm not sure that I would have enjoyed my stay as much had I not met them.

Here were the highlights of the week:

• Hike up the Table Mountain

• Victoria and Alfred Waterfront

• Cape of Good Hope

• Penguin Colony at Boulder Beach

• Robbin Island

• Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens
  

• Nights in the hostel's bar with friends

Hermanus

Ronan, Noel, Garet, and Mark (the Irish boys), were also going to Hermanus and they let me squeeze into their car for a ride down. Saved me a day of waiting around for the BazBus. (Thanks, guys!) We booked into Moby's right in town and another night was spent drinking.

During the day, I walked down to the water and spent about an hour watching the whales. There were few of them here and there, blowing water and flapping their tails. Afterwards, I walked along the beautiful path on the coast and back to the Whale Festival.

Oudtshoorn

Oudtshoorn is the ostrich breeding capital of the world(?) and I went there to ride one. I met an entirely new group of people at the Backpacker's Paradise. 2 Aussies, 2 Kiwis, and 4 Irish guys, as well as the bar man Johan who nearly broke my camera! By end of the night, I had 6 shots in me, 4 of which were free. We played killer pool here as well, and I won the second game, though instead of winning a free night, winner buys everyone a round of shots with the winnngs (R10 per player to play). Most of the night was spent playing pool and Jenga.

The next morning, I was in no kind of condition to do the bike ride from the mountain top through town as planned. Luckily, I was able to hitch a ride with the 4 Irish guys to the Cango Caves, and then to the Ostrich farm where I got my few seconds of thrill riding an ostrich. Btw, ostrich meat is quite tasy....

Nature's Valley

Storms River seemed to be mostly for adrenaline junkies, so I left everyone behind for a quiet night in the Hiker's Haven. The 5km stretch of beach at Nature's Valley is absolutely stunning. There was hardly a soul on the beach. I did some short hikes along the Blue Rocks on the coast to the Salt River mouth and back. Also went up to the view point near the end of the famous Otter Trail.

Storm River

I stayed one night at the Tube 'N' Axe so I can watch Jon, Paul, and Lisa jump from the highest Bungee in the world from the Blouklans River Bridge (216m). I did the bridge walk out there to the jump point and cheered them on. The walk itself was pretty cool. You walked along these grated flooring that you can see right through to where you could plunge to your death should you fall.

Hogsback - East London - Port Elizabeth

Baz stayed in Cintsa to do his own thing, and I went with Jon to Hogsback - the misty mountains said to have inspired the writing of The Lord of the Rings. Same was also said of Drakensburg but no one seems sure. Anyhow, a good day was spent here hiking with Jon through the forest to the five waterfalls - Swallow's Tail, Bridal Falls, Madonna and Child, Kettle Spout, and 39 Steps. We stayed in a hostel called Away with the Fairies. Very charming place, with the 3 Hogsback mountains in the background.

On the last day, we left Hogsback in the morning and arrived in Sugarshack in East London for a pick up by the BazBus in the evening. I spent the day roaming around East London and playing pool in the hostel. In the evening, we were dropped off at Base Camp in Port Elizabeth for the night before we moved on to Storms River.

Cintsa and Transkei Tour

A few of us who met in Coffee Bay - me, Baz, Jon, Yildez, and Belinda - also ended up together in Cintsa. We all stayed at the Buccaneers. The hostel was situated near the beach with a fantastic view of the river and bay. I spent most of the time relaxing on the beach or at the hostel. Also got some canoeing in with some people on the second day up the river. I ended up on a boat with another guy, but neither of us could row properly and we zig zagged up the river. The boat must've been f***ed up. We got a good arm exercise from it anyhow since we probably covered twice the distance of others. There is also a lady who runs a reflexology spa up the hill from the hostel. I booked myself in for an hour of full body massage - ahhhhh.

By the third day there, Baz, Jon, and I were the only ones left from the original group, and we booked ourselves on the one day Transkei tour. The tour took us through remote parts of the Transkei area - waterfalls for cliff diving, Work for Water project, shipwrecked beach, etc. There was a bit of 4x4 experience involved to get to some of the spots too. It was a beautiful tour, tho a bit pricey.

Coffee Bay and Hole in the Wall

Couple nights were spent here in the Coffee Shack. The hostel here had a good vibe at night, with killer pool competition each day. Everyone can play for free, so some nights you get up to 40 people playing. You can have 2 or 3 lives and everyone takes turn trying to pot a ball. If you miss or foul, you lose a life. Last man alive wins a free night of accomodation. Baz (Barrie), won the second night. Beware of the Buffalo Rules in the bar too. Rule #1: You must drink with your left hand. Rule #2: Do not put your drink on the pool table. If you break a rule, you have to down your drink. I'm not very strong with alcohol, but I got caught and had to chug a nearly full bottle of Smirnoff Spin (after I've already had a few) down a tube. I was playing really shitty after that at pool, and almost got 7-balled (losing with 7 balls on the table). The rule there is that you have to run around the pool table with your top off (or pants down for guys) if you get 7 balled. Fortunately I managed to sink a ball before I lost.

Baz, Belinda, and I did the 6 hour hike (there and back) to the Hole in the Wall. The hike took us up and over several hills along the seaside. We passed a variety of scenary - another very beautiful hike.

This is where Baz and I met Jon, from UK. He is also travelling alone, near the end of his year long trip through Australia/NZ and Asia.

Durban

Durban was a mandatory stop over on the BazBus. I didn't particularly care to stay here long but since the BazBus didn't run on Fridays down to Port Elizabeth, I had to stay here a day longer than I wanted.

I met Baz, from UK, here. Baz is travelling alone as well for an undetermined amount of time and just flew into Durban. We stayed at the Traveller's International Lodge which was overrun by local school children on a tour here. We moved onto the Banana Backpackers in the city center the next day. It was close to the beach, but it's still early spring here and not really that warm. We watched the surfers do their things and that's about it. One of the nights we went to a free art show in the City Hall about a 5 minute walk from the hostel. We were told to leave all of our valuables behind because there's a good chance we could get mugged. Nevermind trying to walk back the 5 minutes to the hostel after dark. Even with a group of 10, we had to cab it back (via a pub).

Lesotho

Lesotho is actually not part of South Africa, but a country surrounded entirely by it. It's a non-developed country near Drakensburg. The backpackers I stayed at took me on a one day tour of the country to see local schools, bushman painting, township, Sangoma, volleyball game with the Lesotho Defense Force, and local beer and food tasting.

Drakensburg

This is my first stop on the BazBus and first night in backpackers. Spent couple of days hiking around the Amphitheatre Backpackers, where I stayed, and in Royal Netal. I joined a Dutch couple - Florian and Marieke. The hike in Royal Netal took us to the Gorge (22km/~6hrs). A very beautiful hike, and not too strenuous - a steady climb up and down.

Last day in Johannesburg

Yet another early morning today, since I had plans to go to a Travel Expo with Phillip first thing in the morning. Somehow, I managed to get up, but I dearly wanted to take a nap all day. Never quite managed to tho, and I met up with Gerry again in the evening for a Casino visit. I should've known I wouldn't be so lucky as to win again, but it was quite fun.

Pretoria

The morning was quite an adventure for me. I managed to hop on all kinds of public transport for the first time - on my own. I didn't set my alarm this morning but I still managed to get up about 0730. A good thing because I had a lot to do today. I needed to get to Pretoria by 1230 so that I can get my Tanzania visa. Turns out by the time I got around to calling for bus times to Pretoria, I had missed the last morning one. As I wondered what to do now, Inga arranged for her friend to take me to the outskirts of Pretoria, so we rushed out and I was on my way. I got dropped right off the highway at about 1000. I walked over to the nearby Pick and Pay and hopped on the one minibus taxi there to take me into town. After lots of stops, I had to change over to another minibus taxi to get to Arcadia. I managed to find the second minibus somehow and safely arrived at the Tanzanian Embassy. The visa processing there was quick and painless but I now had to get to the bus station to get back to Jo'burg. Lucky for me, one of the workers decided to take me himself after I asked him the best way for me to get there. As soon as I arrived, the Greyhound bus to Jo'burg was about to leave. It was 1200 exactly, and they let me purchase the ticket on the bus. Had I missed that, I would've had to wait until 1500 for the next one. Once back in Jo'burg, I took a regular taxi back to Melville.

After getting back, I was desperate to get a haircut as I was tired of the look. I initially thought to not bother for the year but I couldn't stand it anymore. Inga knew of a fancy salon, Terenzo, so I went there and got a haircut I was really happy with, as well as a head and foot massage.

In the evening, Gerry and his friend Byon picked me up for a night out. We headed back towards Stanton where Gerry is for dinner at Franz. I had the best fillet of steak ever. We migrated over to Rhapsody's for a few drinks aftewards, and when they closed down, Gerry and I kept on to Suvudada(?) for more drinking and some dancing.

4 Day Safari in Kruger Nat'l Park and Private Reserve

"Who does your laundry Mr.Safari-man?" - redneck American asking as they are approaching the rare black rhinos on a previous tour that Karl guided

I went on a 4 day safari tour with Bundu Safaris. It was 2 nights camping in KNP and 1 night in a private game lodge. Although the KNP bit was not much different from Pilansburg safari (dry, brown terrain), we did see a leopard and lions this time. We even got to see the lions mating - for all of 2 seconds (I guess I can't complain about any 1 minute mans).

The best part of the tour for me was meeting the other backpackers on the tour:

• Joanie and Mark: From Dallas, TX, they are also on an RTW tour. SA is their first stop.
  
• Alison and Chris: From UK (near Wales), they are on a vacation in SA for about a month. Allison goes back to uni afterwards to finish studies in veterinary medicine.
  
• Gerry: From UK, he spent the last year travelling, mostly in Australia working as a semi-pro soccer player. He returns to UK after this trip to start uni. He is also the current "shithead".
  
• David: From US, he is on a 3 week vaca around SA. He will begin his doctoral degree in chiropractic when he returns to Cali.
  
• Carl: Swedish guy living in UK, he is also on a short vacation before returning to graduate school. He sports a posh English accent and cannot play 21 for shit.
  
• Kim and Rose: The anti-socials from SA and OZ respectively. They hid in their tents and lodges the whole time and didn't talk to anyone much.

On the third day of the tour, we arrived in a private game reserve. We had the afternoon free so we played frisbee around the pool. After tea at 1600, we headed out for an afternoon/night drive in an open vehicle with a stop for sundowners. The evening was spent in the bar where some of us played drinking games for most of the night. Gerry and I stayed up a bit later than others and spotted a giraffe (Gerry kept calling it a zebra tho - a little too much to drink, heh?) right inside the lodge complex probably about 15 feet in front of us.

On our last day we had a short bush walk in the morning to learn about the plants and such in the park. The morning started quite early (0515-0530), just like every other day of the tour. After last night's drinking tho, a few people were MIA for the walk. We headed home shortly after the walk and stopped at the Blyde River Canyon.

In the evening, Gerry, Carl, David, and I met up again for dinner and drinks in Melville. We ate at Spiro's on 7th St. and drank at Triple 6's also on 7th.

4 Wheel Drive Park

Phillip took me and his brother Andre to a 4 wheel drive park for the morning in his Land Cruiser. It was my first time 4 wheelin' and it was quite fun. Up and down steep slopes and over obstacles.... There were couple of times when we couldn't get up slopes and started skidding down backwards.

Land Cruisers seem to be big here in SA. Apparently they cost around US$100,000. We seem to be the only ones beating up our car in the park though.

Baz Bus booking from J'burg to Capetown was also made today.

Pilanesburg NP and Sun City

Phillip and Inga took me on a drive through Pilanesburg National Park to see some game. This park has the big 5 and we saw three of them - rhinos, herd of buffalos, and an elephant. I was only able to get a picture of the rhinos tho since the herd and elephant was a distance away.
On the evening of the first night, we also went to Sun City. A multi-million dollar entertainment complex built right in the middle of a volcano. We took a look around the really expensive hotel there - The Palace at the Lost City. Then we went over to Sun City for dinner and a bit of gambling. I played the roulette since I didn't know how to play the other table that was open and I wasn't much into slots. I went in with R100 and came out with R220. I more than doubled my winnings!! But R100 is only about $12.... I guess I have to play big to win big. The minimum bet on the table was like R5 - less than a $1.

On the way back from Pilansburg, we stopped in a market. My intention was to not buy anything on this trip, but things are so cheap I gave in and bought a few things (wall hangings, necklace, gobblets). I'll have to ship them back soon so I don't have to carry them around.

Horseback Riding in Krugersdorp

I got my first horseback riding experience today through a safari in Krugersdorp. The 3 hr journey took Inga and myself on a ride amongst wild animals. We saw white rhinos, zebras, giraffes, sabel, springbok, gemsbok, etc. There was one area of the reserver where many of the animals congregated near the water. We rode right in the middle of it all!