New Plan. New Adventure. New Zealand: December 2013

Well it has been a rather strange week and a half to say the least. After parting ways with my travel buddy, I realized, once again, that I was absolutely plan-less. When it comes to travel, I have always lived by the philosophy that the best plan is no plan because it leaves you open to any opportunity that may arise. You can leave anywhere, for anywhere on a moments notice and you have no strings attached. What a beautiful thing! Well it's a beautiful thing until you lose momentum, finding yourself stagnant and directionless, aimlessly wandering and spending your money without much of a plan of making any back. That's where I found myself after a week in Nelson. I LOVED the place and the people I met, but I decided it was time for a plan.

The "plan" I conjured up was to make my way south east, back down to Greymouth on the west coast, and catch the famous TransAlpine Train that crosses the country over to Christchurch. I had heard wonders about the scenery and had been told that it was definitely worth the price of admission. So I booked the cheapest ticket I could find and began my two day journey to Greymouth.

Arriving in Greymouth, I managed to find a rather... unique... hostel with animal themed rooms and creaky, narrow wooden staircases... creepy enough, but luckily I was able to camp in the garden behind the building for a discounted price. I wandered around the town and got uncomfortable, creepy vibes for the first time in New Zealand. I went for a walk to watch the sunset one night and managed to find parts of town I didn't want to be in by myself. I did, however, find the longest, most wonderful urban balance beam I have ever seen in my life :) Regardless, I was happy to jump on the train a couple of days later.

The Trans Alpine train was a really cool experience and definitely upheld its reputation as one of the most beautiful train trips in the world. I scheduled a one-night stop over in an amazing little town called Arthur's Pass. It's a very small town nestled in between mountains and full of amazing hikes and waterfalls. Before my train the following day, I was able to do several small hikes, check out some beautiful waterfalls and watch the Kea dive bomb people's lunches.

Kea: the only alpine parrot in the world. They are a decent sized, kind of aggressive bird known for stealing food, unzipping bags even to get to some grub, and picking apart window seals on cars and siding on buildings. They open up their wings revealing brilliant colors and a sassy attitude. I think they are hilarious and I love them (but I suppose I don't have car or house damage resulting from their shennanegans, or it might be a different story).

The rest of the train ride to Christchurch consisted of beautiful rolling hills, extraordinarily blue winding rivers that we crossed on ridiculously tall bridges, lots and lots of sheep and baby lambs (I want one) and expanses of farm land that reminded me of eastern Idaho and made me a bit homesick, to be honest.

In Christchurch, I have been lucky enough to stay with some wonderful family friends of my dear friend Jesse Howe, that live on the outskirts of the city. Charlie, Carol, their two kids Conrad and Catherine, and their greyhound dogs Zeek and Baloo have graciously welcomed me into their home and spoiled me rotten with a guest bedroom, home-cooked meals and the use of one of their road bikes.

I have spent the last week here biking into the city (navigating through city traffic on the left side of the road and signaling with my right hand being an adventure in and of itself), exploring the streets, meandering through the beautiful botanical gardens and witnessing the re-start attempts after the earthquakes that shook the city 3 years ago. The destruction is truly visible all through the city center and it is quite the wake up call to see how slow the recovery has been. Some really cool efforts have been made, however, such as the restart mall. There was a street full of shops and cafes that was completely destroyed in the quake, but they quickly replaced it with a mall built of shipping containers. Each building is artfully constructed out of these containers and it seems to have been a good way to get businesses... back in business quickly. There are also tons of murals that have been painted on the sides of buildings with colorful images and poetic notes that show a beautiful optimism.

I did take one day to go explore the French harbor town of Akaroa about 2 hours from Christchurch. Instead of swimming about with dolphins, taking a cruise or kayaking around the bay like most, I of course found myself up in the hills walking around chairs, chanting and meditating at the Christ college of Trans-Himalayan Wisdom and bush-wacking through bushes full of thorns on a ridiculous, but honestly, beautiful hike (photos below). If you want the full story, you'll have to email me because the story is worth a full blog post in and of itself...

Anyways, after this past week and a half of solo venturing and silly, somewhat awkward situations, I have finally found a place to settle down for the holidays. Tomorrow morning, I'll jump on a bus to Marlborough Sounds where I've found a job working at a lodge in exchange for accommodation for the next 3-4 weeks. It sounds like it's just what I need... nice and remote in a beautiful place, no spending money, some work to keep me busy and somewhere to unpack my back pack for a bit.

I'll keep you posted on the next leg of the adventure. Until then, I hope you all are happy and healthy and thoroughly enjoying life. I miss you all so much it's silly! You are in my heart and on my mind as always and I am sending so much love and all sorts of groovy vibes your way.

To infinity and beyond,

Alex