RTW ’24: Traveling Through Time

Though traveling is, quite often, enjoyable… and the idea of seeing so much of the world in a single year is glamorous, the not-so-wonderful aspects of life still pop up from time to time. During the beginning of the week, I nursed a cold that lingered around for a few days. Surely, I reasoned, the aftermath of the strenuous hike just a few days prior. Sure enough, the cold dissipated, and just when I thought I was in the clear, I started having UTI symptoms. I decided to visit a doctor just to err on the side of caution. Navigating healthcare in a foreign country can be tricky, but thankfully, this was a relatively easy experience. The doctor listened to my concerns about my UTI and gave me a prescription to take care of it, then gave me a good check up and listened to my chest and lungs. She ruled out anything serious in my chest and sent me on my way. After the “all clear”, I was ready for another day of driving and adventure, so I hopped into my trusty campervan and headed towards Queenstown. The drive there was so beautiful! I kept stopping to see the view and take pictures, though the images acquired weren’t able to capture the real-life grandeur of the mountains and lakes. Once I arrived in Queenstown, I walked around town. It’s a very cute mountain town with many tour operators. Queenstown is known as the adventure capital of NZ! Anything you could possibly want– from bungee jumping to helicopter skiing to skydiving to jet boats– are all there! As I was walking around town, I saw a light show entrance. As I was contemplating whether it was worth the $30 NZD or not, a woman walked up and handed me her ticket. I was shocked! I asked her if she was sure, and she simply replied “yes!”, and then walked away. I looked at the paper ticket and figured it was worth a try. Sure enough, the code scanned, and I got in! I walked around and soaked in the lights, music, and festive family atmosphere. Kids and adults alike wore glow sticks and light-up clothing. Even the huge trees were lit up! It was such a neat experience! As I was leaving later in the evening, I saw a sign that said re-entry on the same night was allowed. I’m not sure if she gave me her once used ticket, or if she never used it at all, but it was such a kind gesture nonetheless. I’ve met so many genuinely nice kiwi’s during my time in NZ, and this was just one more example of how wonderfully kind the people really are.

My weekend began with an incredible drive on Friday through one mountain range after another. In between twisty roads and hairpin turns, I kept stopping to savor the majesty of the mountains. It reminded me of being in several different places in the USA– the Rocky Mountains, Colorado, Utah, Montana and even the Great Plains– all in one day! I found myself really impressed that New Zealand preserved these lands with so many names and signage references to the Maori origins. At that point, I was still on the South Island, with temperatures reaching below freezing at night, so I decided to stay at hostels instead of my caravan in an attempt to protect my body from lingering illness. Logically, I understand a cold draft doesn’t make you sick… but sleeping in a warm bed certainly didn’t hurt! Aside from the natural beauty and pioneer towns, I found one quirky roadside attraction: the BraDrona Fence, a great story and Breast Cancer fundraiser. I took a selfie and made a donation, but because I only traveled with essentials, I couldn’t part with the bra I had on. It was such a great reminder about how grateful I am to be a survivor, alive and well, enjoying each and every day on my RTW adventure!

On Saturday I went around exploring Lake Tekapo. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but after scoping out some things to do, I realized that I’d need a few days to get it all in (star gazing, bike riding, and hiking, to name a few). One of the activities I found was a free start talk that highlights June’s star gazing in the area. The speaker was American, in NZ on a work visa, like so many of the young people I’ve met along the way. In her talk she included the upcoming Maori holiday, Matariki. This holiday is centered around a star constellation, Pleiades, when it first appears in the night sky signifying the new lunar year. She also pointed out Scorpio and mentioned that it’s not called that in NZ because there are no scorpions in NZ! Instead, it’s called a fish hook. It was thought provoking to realize that ancient people all over the world have been looking up at the stars for millenia, telling stories relevant to their culture and using the movement of the stars and planets for everything from agriculture to navigation to calendars. All of the stars, plenty, constellations, and galaxies that we know are from a western/latin perspective. The stars themselves don’t need a name… rather, we assign them names based on our own point of view. Truly paradigm shifting! During the star talk I also got re-energized that I’m actually seeing the southern cross and stars that I never got to see at home– a very special treat! The speaker gave some tips on how to find the southern cross and two galaxies only seen from the southern hemisphere, and even an app for stargazing.

I rounded out the weekend with a hike along the peninsula end trail and a beautiful church service. The hike was so quiet and peaceful, and easy in comparison to some of the behemoths I’ve taken on over the past few months. I strolled along rolling hills, stopping about halfway through to just soak in the wonder of it all and bathe in the silence, majesty and grandeur. I only passed a few people sporadically on the trail, saw a few hares running about and heard a few birds chirping. It was so quiet that my footsteps on the dirt made the most noise! Total serenity! After the hike, I found a church service at the Church of The Good Shepherd. It was the perfect compliment to my peaceful hike. It was an informal non-denominational service led by two secular women with about twenty people in attendance. We passed a blow-up globe around the room to introduce ourselves– half of the congregation lived in NZ, and the others were from the Philippines, the UK and Fiji. The gospel reading was the story of the ten lepers healed by Jesus, and the one Samaritan who returned to give thanks. The message was about gratitude, which really resonated with me. We finished by singing Amazing Grace, which has always given me the chills and a few soulful tears.

Monday, June 3rd, was World Bicycle Day! To celebrate the occasion, I found a place to rent a bike to participate in the day. Although it’s technically winter in NZ, the weather was sunny and not too windy, which made cycling through picturesque landscape a real treat, even though I only saw two other cyclists the whole day. The peaceful silence along the canal and plains was so omnipresent. I kept thinking that it must always be like that, even long after I’m gone and on to another part of the world that’s chaotic and busy. I can always return to that moment in my mind to find peace! I’ve cycled along many canals in my day, but this was the first time I was next to a glacier canal. The water color was the same as Lake Tekapo, which made perfect sense, but it was so striking to see the same light blue green water as I rode along. The current was fairly swift and I saw a few fishermen along the way, eager to get a bite. Overall, it was a beautiful ride and I’m so grateful that everything worked so that I could participate in World Bicycle Day! Last year, I remember riding with Missy and participating with JNJ Pebble to Empower events. And this year, I found myself riding on the other side of the world– WORLD Bicycle Day, how fitting! WBR (World Bicycle Relief) was also on my mind as I rode along. I thought of the family I met in Zambia who had a buffalo bike and how it changed their lives. “When we ride, she rides” was my mantra, especially through the windy canyon section of the day!

In the evening, I decided to go to a summit experience with Dark Sky. We were blessed with a clear, moonless night, which are perfect star gazing conditions. It was beyond the beyond! I, quite literally, wept a few tears of awe when I got off the bus that drove us to the observatory at Mt. John. I’ve been to a handful of super dark skies in my life, but this was the first darkest sky in the southern hemisphere. There were twenty two of us earthlings on the bus, and as the driver called us, we were all lent Canada goose jackets and lanyards with a red torch. We spent about 30 minutes observing the night sky with our guide, then observed nebulas and distant galaxies through telescopes. It’s so mind blowing to realize the light from the stars we were seeing has been traveling for years– some even thousands of years– in order to reach our eyes. It’s a kind of time travel that always fills me with wonder, connection to the eternal, and to spirit. Seeing the large and small magellan clouds– galaxies only seen in the southern hemisphere– was so cool! Thanks to my star gaze talk, I can easily find the southern cross each time I look up at the stars. Stars always bring me connection, peace and childlike wonder, and viewing them from a totally different hemisphere only amplified those feelings!

After a few magical days in Lake Tekapo, it was time to head on to new adventures. I departed in the late morning and made my way to Arthur’s Pass. Once I left town, I was driving through the wild for most of the day, and once I hit a gravel road, there was no sign of civilization aside from a sturdy but solitaire electric pole every 100 yards or so. Besides those poles, it easily could have been thousands of years ago! The gravel road was windy and full of s-curves with no guard rails. It lasted for about 30 miles at the top of the mountain pass, and I found myself worried about my van tires as flashbacks from the very first day of my trip came crawling back. But, I had no choice. I had set my course for the day, and turning back would mean a much longer drive far past sunset, with no guarantee of tarred roads on an alternate route. So, onwards I went, through unknown territory, praying my tires would hold up as I slowly trudged along. I looked back at the electric poles, allowing my mind to travel back in time, contemplating time travel in light years. Perhaps my head was still in the stars at Mount John. Just then, I heard a car behind me, but not just any ordinary car. It was an antique convertible from the 1920’s, and it passed me, scarf blowing in the breeze! Well, I thought to myself, if they can drive on this road, surely my mom van can make it! I continued slowly, but felt more confident that I wouldn’t get stranded in the middle of nowhere. I stopped to take a photo of the mountains when another antique car passed me by. As I continued my drive, I saw two more antique cars driving along. I was behind one of them and noticed it was a Ford with US antique plates and a canvas roof. I was so curious where all of the antique cars were going that I considered driving past my accommodations just to follow them, but I didn’t. It remained an unfinished tale of the day, adding to the adventure of driving in the wide open spaces of Arthur’s Pass.

The following day, I left Arthur’s Pass and set my sights on Nelson, thankful for paved roads and small towns between pasture drives. Around 4 pm, I stopped for gas in a small town and, two blocks later, I noticed a police car behind me with its lights on! I looked for a place to pull over to let it go by, which is exactly the point in time where I realized the police car was stopping ME. I got really nervous, wracking my brain for what I could have possibly done to get pulled over. I don’t know how all of the laws work in NZ, but I’ve always been a safe driver– I was obeying all of the traffic laws I could think of. The officer came up to my drivers side window, so I pushed down the window button in an attempt to ask what the issue was. He instructed me to back into a driveway so he wasn’t standing in the street, and I panicked even further. What was going on? What had I done? I very cautiously backed into the driveway, put the car in park, and tried my hardest to remember where all of the documentation for the van was. He came back over and that’s when I asked what I had done wrong. He asked me if I had seen a school bus. I replied that I was so sorry, but I hadn’t seen it. He told me that I wasn’t the only one who drove by it without slowing down and then asked if I was a tourist. Again, I apologized. He was tall, bald headed, with reflective sunglasses. He definitely emitted an authoritative presence. He told me to watch out for school children in the morning and afternoon, and said that the buses are very clearly marked with “SCHOOL”. He explained that the rule is to slow down when you see a bus on either side of the street, and then come to a stop if children are getting on or off. I explained that the rule is very similar to back home, and apologized again. After a short while, I could tell that he wasn’t going to ticket me,–just let me off with a warning– so I started to calm down, albeit still shaken. At the end of the conversation, he told me that he’d drive away first and then I was free to go. I watched him get in his car and drive off, then I sat for a few minutes. I cautiously pulled back into traffic and was much more alert for buses, speed limits, and using my turn signal. Back to driving 101! I was so grateful that he was nice about it and didn’t ask for my ID or give me a ticket, but a run-in with the law was not something I imagined happening on RTW ’24!

My time in Nelson was short-lived, but it was a great town to pass through. After a good night’s sleep, I walked around the town to do some exploring. Initially, I was looking for a hair salon to get a much-needed haircut, but I didn’t find any that I really liked, so I continued walking to see what other gems I could find. One of the coolest things I found was a walk up to the top of the town’s hill that is also the geographical center of NZ. It was a steep walk up, but it had a rewarding view of the harbor and city laid out in the distance. It felt like a small city when I was walking around, but the visa view showed just how expansive it really was. I also stumbled upon a vintage clothing store and spent a lot of time browsing. The sandals and summer accessories caught my eye, knowing full well I’d need those items soon at my next stop on RTW. They accepted clothes in exchange for store credit, so I knew this place was a win-win. I won’t be needing any winter stuff in (spoiler alert!) Tahiti or South Africa, so I returned to the shop with gloves, thermals, hats, and a few items from Sri Lanka that didn’t fit perfectly. In exchange, I got a few summer blouses. It was so much fun! THe store wonder wouldn’t take a dress from Tanzania that had a “rust” stain on it, but other than that, mission accomplished! My transition plan to get ready to leave NZ started. Although I’m sad to go, I’m so excited for the next chapter.

By Saturday, after a ferry ride the prior day, I was back In Wellington. I had a few necessary errands that I had to run, so I made my way around town. The first thing I had to do was find a pharmacy. The doctor I had seen last week gave me a script for additional antibiotics in case the first one didn’t work, as well as one for pain relief from the UTI. I was feeling good, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to get them filled before leaving the country. If it did pop back up, I wouldn’t have to find a new doctor and start the process all over again for the same issue. So, I dropped off the script, without being questioned or even asked for an ID, and got the meds for free! Afterwards, I walked around trying to find a women’s hair salon. It was the only practical day to get a haircut before leaving since most shops are closed on Sundays and hair salons are closed on Monday’s. The women’s only places were extremely expensive, so I found a walk-in barber with a sign for women’s cuts at 65NZD (or 40 USD). It still seemed expensive, but I had shopped around and this was the cheapest deal. The barber was from Chile and did a quick, decent cut. I spent the rest of the afternoon just wandering around in outdoor gear shops, book shops, record shops, vintage clothing shop, and even an army navy store where I found a 5NZD bracelet. Each shop had its own signature smell and feeling. There was a wide range of street musicians and performing throughout the day from a young boy, who looked to be barely 13, playing a ukulele to a grunge female soloist to an older guy playing folk. The restaurants and cafes ranged form Sal’s NY pizza to a variety of Asian options to Brazilian BBQ and Irish Pubs. It was a really cool vibe– super eclectic and welcoming. It was a lovely afternoon in the capital city!

The following day I drove downtown and found a farmers market. I got lucky and found a parking spot, and the rain stopped for an hour or so, so I wandered around the produce stalls. There was so much fresh produce and food trucks everywhere, and I had a really wonderful time walking around town and connecting with a microgreens vendor. The food trucks were a really cool find and they had food from around the world. I found myself reminiscing about my precious travels! Dutch pancakes, Roti, even American BBQ. I settled on a Malaysian truck selling potato chips swirls on a stick, and it hit the spot. Welly, as the locals call it, really is a melting pot! Afterwards, I found the national museum, which had free entry, so I spent the afternoon there. It had four floors including natural history, Maori culture, earth science and climate change. I thoroughly enjoyed each area and visiting the museum towards the end of my time here was a nice way to reflect on everything I’ve experienced in NZ. Spending the day at the museum certainly reinforced those feelings! In the evening, I went to a night nature walk in Zealandia, an eco sanctuary within the city limits. I booked it a few days prior, and the reviews were really great, but I was a little skeptical. It was, however, my best shot at seeing a kiwi bird, so I went for it. It rained the whole time, but the guide was super knowledgeable on everything within the sanctuary. We saw many endemic species, such as the Tuatara (small dragon) and Takahe (flightless bird), and even spotted a kiwi bird! I learned how flightless birds evolved on NZ: The continent of Zealandia separated from supercontinent Gondwana 80 million years ago and did not have any mammals. Birds arrived there and had no mammal predators, so they eventually stopped flying because there was no need to escape! It was really awesome to see the different wildlife, and I’ll always take the opportunity learn something new about where I am!

The entire time I camped in my van, I felt very comfortable. It got cold on occasion, but other than that, it was a really great setup and I slept really well. Monday night, however, was a whole new experience. The wind and rain were so strong and I kept waking up, feeling the van shifting. A few times I looked out of my window just to make sure all of the other vans were in the same spot! It was unsettling, but noone was moving their van, so I stayed put. The car park was a the marina right at the water’s edge. I thought driving farther away in the middle of the night wouldn’t be a wise choice, either. Needles to say, when I woke up after on and off sleep all night, I didn’t feel very well rested. Since it was still raining, I decided to just start driving north to Cambridge. Instead of taking the same scenic route that I took at the start of the trip, I decided to drive up the middle of the island through ranches and farms. I recalled what I had learned the day prior about both islands being 85% forests before humans arrived 800 years (Maori) and 300 years (European) ago. Along the way, I saw horse farms, cattle ranches and many sheep farms. After all of the weeks I’d spent in NZ, I could finally spot who kinds of sheep: skinny ones that had been recently sheared, and the puffy ones that were due to be sheared soon. As I drove along, the rain continued on and off all day, sometimes with sun at the same time which meant I saw about five rainbows of various lengths and colors along the way. They would come and go, and although I stopped a few times, I wasn’t able to catch a picture of a single one. It was a lot of fun seeing the country from a different perspective, though, knowing how differently she looked just a few miles away on an alternate route. The landscape variety in New Zealand truly is unparalleled!

I spent my last few days in Cambridge, soaking up my final moments in NZ. It was really nice to be in one place for a few days to make the transition from van life back to being a backpacker. I needed the time to reorganize my belongings and get rid of the comforts that I Treated myself to while I was in the van. It was harder to let go of my pink cozy hoodie than I had anticipated. I donated it, along with my slippers and puffy jacket, to the local Hospice shop. These shops are in most towns, similar in nature to the Salvation Army in the US. They’re run by very well organized women– it took two minutes to drop my items off! Afterwards, I took the rest of the day to do some self-care things, stock up on toiletries, and even get my eyebrows trimmed. Making appointments like that is always a leap of faith in a foreign country. It really could go either way! The stylist was nice, though, and asked if I wanted a trim and shape. I said yes, but not too thin. I misheard one word of her Kiwi accent and ended up getting my brows tinted! It turned out okay, but afterwards, I decided to go all out and purchased a hair color to try and get everything to match. I’m mostly happy with how it turned out– all part of life on the road! Somehow, going to a French country in the South Pacific prompted me to look in the mirror differently. I hadn’t worn makeup or jewelry or perfume in months, and it just became normal. Freeing, really. On a whim, I decided to do one more tourist attraction before leaving. I settled on visiting the Hobbiton Movie set since it was about a 20 minute car ride from Cambridge. Once I arrived, it was like stepping into a fairy tale! The Alexander family runs the attraction, and it’s where Lord of The Ring and Hobbit were filmed. I was so impressed with all of the details at the movie set and had some nice chats with other tourists from France, USA, and Brazil. It was truly a storybook ending to my magical month in Aotearoa!

Wednesday was my last full day in New Zealand, and I felt a little sad to leave. Yes, I had some challenges, but overall, it was an amazingly beautiful, soul-enriching few weeks. My batteries felt recharged, my spirits were high and optimistic, and I felt ready to take on whatever world travel would send my way. To lessen the feeling of saying goodbye to NZ, I’d been thinking about how I’ll return one day in summertime to see her in her summer best. Before I came to NZ, everyone I knew who had traveled there wished they had more time. I’d been in NZ for about a month, and found myself feeling the same way. How much time is enough time? I left so many things unseen and undone. I barely touched all the hiking trails due to weather and winter conditions, and because it was winter, I didn’t get to kayak or swim or sail. The list goes on and on. So, I told myself that it wasn’t a “goodbye forever”, but rather an “I’ll see you later”! Until next time, dear friends: stay safe, stay healthy, and always remember to make space for what brings you joy.

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch,
a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment
or the smallest acts of caring,
all of which
have the potential to turn a life around.
-Leo Buscaglia