Closer and closer to Antarctica

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This last month in New Zealand can be read as a grocery list. A 28-day whirlwind trip to catch the most spectacular attractions of South Island. Visit two glaciers on the same day? CHECK. Kayak in a fjord with rock faces that rise 1,200 m? CHECK. Visit the highest mountain in Australasia? CHECK. But our trip doesn’t boil down to attractions proposed by tourist information centres. We’d rather travel off the beaten paths as much as possible and discover a country through people we meet and their stupid suggestions.

So we met Dave, a Westport coal miner. His contribution to our joy? To borrow 3 bikes in disarray from his neighbour, carry us in his pickup to the peak of the mountain where they dig their tunnels and let us bike down the 9 km almost vertical road on these rusted old bikes. In our defence, we were wearing motorbike helmets and cheap leatherette gloves.

After that, Kate, a primary school teacher in Ahsburton invited us to give a creative movement workshop to her 5th and 6th graders during an afternoon. The dance exercise was followed by a question period to the great travellers that we are. Since we didn’t know exactly how many people live in Canada, we jumped on the opportunity to give them a research assignment, hence avoiding showing our ignorance.

During our visit to Vincent and Christelle, recent New Zealanders by adoption and (very) old friends, we took our spare time to solve a local mystery and find Oska, a lost Siamese cat appearing on overexposed photos put on multiple telephone poles in the municipality of Sumner. One phone call later and local authorities were on the track of the fugitive feline and a family will be reunited with their companion, asking loud and clear like only Siamese cats can do for a little love and a can of Wiskas.

This is a strange way to summarize our trip, the end of an almost one year long expedition. One year on the road, one year homeless, one year unemployed. One year meeting people, discovering a totally different fauna, incredible landscapes, new friends, and revisiting the old ones as often as possible. One year, it goes so fast. Hard to believe we are taking a plane in less than de 24h to go back home. We come back excited, a little bit sad, our batteries recharged, heads full of projects and luggage really too full of souvenirs (Almost 70 kg of souvenirs). For those we leave behind, don’t hesitate to come and see us! For those waiting for us at home, we’ll see you soon! If they let us take the plane will all this luggage.

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Couch surfing

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You do meet a lot of interesting people when you travel like we do. In the last 45 days, we’ve only paid 5 times to sleep anywhere. All the other times, we were either WWOOFing to help out and learn new skills or staying with people we’ve met through the Couchsurfing network.

Couch surfing is not exactly what it sounds like. It involves no particular aquatic balancing skills and up until now, never once a couch either. This worldwide network links a whole lot of people willing to welcome travellers into their homes, not expecting anything in return and no strings attached. They could be a bunch of university students with a spare bed in the living room or an elderly couple with an extra room now that their kid is off to college. Whoever they are, they are a varied bunch and they all have our wellbeing at heart. Some encounters we’ve made this past month are more memorable than others though…

There’s Jason and Emma for example. An English couple that took us into their Motel and gave us a small apartment for a week in exchange for some help around the garden. Not having a Quebec flag around, they chose to fly the colours of Canada and France combined on the front lawn as a send off present on the last day we were there. They also have two Labradoodles, a mix of Labrador and Poodles.

During our stay at a Buddhist centre, we met Mark, an animal behaviour expert who trained hundred of animals for movies and television, ranging from butterflies to elephants. His worldwide claim to fame is training Tom Cruise’s dog in the movie “The Last Samurai” filmed at Mount Taranaki, New Zealand’s answer to Mount Fuji in Japan. The same dog was also used in both “The new adventures of Hercules” and “Xena, Warrior princess”

Then there’s Shane and Bev. When we read their Couchsurfing profile, they mentioned and interest in conspiracy theories. As it turns out, interest is a gross understatement. We’re talking full blown obsession here. They believe in every single crackpot theory in the book. From evolution being a hoax, the moon being a hallow alien made object, the Pope’s hat betraying his ties with Dagon, the Babylonian Fish-God to Tesla and Einstein’s collaboration in the 40’s to make a ship disappear and travel in the future, everything is not mere speculation but proven fact. They also firmly believe in the 2012 Mayan prediction of a paradigm shift in the universe and a global apocalypse followed by a new age of enlightenment. Pretty far out stuff. They even showed us the bunker they have built in the back yard, 500 feet above sea level, stocked up with over a year of food rations and survival gear. When we left, two days later, they seemed genuinely interested in my suggestion that they should incorporate a CCTV network in their backyard in order for them to be able to see the world outside, crumbling in ruin from the comfort of their supped out shipping container.

Whoever they are, we are always very grateful to anyone willing to open up their homes to us for a couple of days. Sometimes it’s a young guy wanting to join the army who watches war DVD’s all night long, sometimes it’s an old couple sending us on our way with a homemade picnic and some chocolate. Every encounter is different, but one thing is certain, it’s never boring.

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Chain of events

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Flash back to the summer of 2006. We are standing on the curb of the road on one of the coldest and windiest Scottish islands, a huge pack sack at the shoulder, and thumb in the air. We’re waiting. Steph is all smiles, because she is sending the request to the Universe for my first hitchhiking experience to be an unforgettable one. Well, she hits the bull’s-eye: a few minutes later, a 1972 convertible Triumph suddenly appears on the horizon. Leon, a wealthy New Zealander tourist stops and picks us up. Finding us friendly, he cancels his golf game and spends the day visiting the dramatic coast of the Isle of Skye with us.

Flash forward to our last week in Australia. As always, so it seems, we are sharing an excellent dinner at Julie and Martin’s. We talk about travels, and random meetings. We’re leaving for New Zealand in three days and suddenly, a flash goes through our minds. LEON! We should contact him and ask him to come have a beer with us during our stay there. Arriving late at Andy and Laurren’s, another random meeting that provided us with excellent friends, I turn on my computer and send a message into the night, not even knowing if I have a valid email address.

The next morning, two days from our departure, I receive an expeditious email from Leon. “I would have loved to see you again, but I am presently in Hong Kong. However, I have a cabin in the North of the island. You can use it as long as you want... A 4x4 vehicle is also waiting for you there. Oh, and don’t hesitate to use my boat if you feel like it. But, since it’s far from Auckland, I arranged for you to use my small car to drive around town. Have fun!”

So here we are, driving an Alfa Romeo, travelling up and down the sinuous roads of New Zealand countryside, picking up the trail of Leon. That car allowed us to reach isolated places, to get to a faraway vineyard and give them a hand, to learn how to pick mandarin oranges, to prune grape vines, where we met a local horticulturist who graciously brought us on a 6 h deep sea fishing trip, where I managed to catch an 8 lb Snapper. That same night, we ate the Snapper the horticulturist’s friendly mate cooked for us at their place. Transported by that small car, we visited affluent falls and found an abandoned gold mine, where glow worms and giant Weta reside. All that, in only 10 days. A chain of events starting more than 4 years ago allowed us to really enjoy a country where people are extremely friendly and the hills remind us every day of the hills of Scotland, where it all began.

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…On a jet plane

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So this is it, our last post in Australia. As I write this, we are leaving the country in exactly 24 hours. It’s pretty exciting. We’ve spent all afternoon yesterday trying to figure out what we should bring with us in New Zealand. As we will only be there for three months, combined with the fact that the nights’ temperature drops down to close to zero in winter, we figured out that it’s just not worth it to buy a car over there. Without Shocker’s kiwi equivalent, backpack weight management becomes a priority.

We haven’t gotten to the point where we start drilling holes in our toothbrush handles to shave a couple of grams off, but we did do something I was not expecting initially. A couple of months ago, we found this old paperback copy of The Lord of the Rings, all six books put into one plus annexes edition that we thought would be appropriate on our journey through the real life Middle Earth. It’s all very cool and all, but it’s also very big and heavy. NOTE TO LIBRARIANS READING THIS: you might want to skip to the next paragraph. In a last ditch attempt to resolve the weight issue and save our backs from utter destruction, we have taken the resolve to cut off the first book from its binding, having both read it already. I know, I know, it’s horrible, but we’re at the other end of the world and there’s nothing you can do about it.

One other thing that weighs a ton is our trusty laptop. During this leg of the trip, I had taken the resolution that my backpack would not in any way exceed 25lb. We always end up carrying way too many things and this time, I was adamant on not repeating that mistake. So it was only after much debate, even at some point considering not bringing extra batteries for my camera that I decided that it was just best to leave my workstation behind. What will that mean? Less frequent, more sporadic blog updates and videos that are more crude and rough or not present at all. To some it will be a dark and sad time, to others a sigh of relief to have us peppered throughout the next months instead of constantly badgering you with our news every week. But at least, you’ll all know that my back will be saved from early age scoliosis.

So with this I bid you farewell and we will send you news of a new and strange land, full of birds that are also people that are also fruit. A land of ice and cold awaits us, but I am sure we will find many safe havens in which opportunities to communicate with you will present themselves. Until then, be safe and ponder on where the bloody hell OLD Zealand might be…

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Winds of change

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So, a few days ago, we arrived in Sydney in order to sell Shocker. Our trip ends here. It’s with mixed emotions that we stroll down the streets of the metropolis for the last time. When we left Sydney, more than 7 months ago, it was at the wheel of a brand new car (for us), driving anxiously on the wrong side of the road (for us). So we come back to town, carried away by our mobile home (which doesn’t have any more secrets for us), with a driving ease we would never have thought possible back in November. Right side parallel parking doesn’t scare us anymore and downtown rush hour either (but we still hate toll bridges).

After seven months on the road and a 20,000 km journey, Sydney appears stuck in time. As if we had left only last week and the feeling is totally daunting. It’s like as if this familiarity had just erased our tour on Australian soil, as if we never lived all these adventures. Only when, with a bottle of wine, we talk about our expedition and show photos and videos, our souvenirs emerge from the fog. What a strange feeling.

But, here we are, having to admit we only have two weeks left on the continent. Initially, we thought we would have to spend all of that time trying to find a prospective buyer for our car, but since the sale was settled in less than two days, we finally have lots of time on our hands. This is an excellent thing. It allowed us to do all sorts of groovy things we missed the first time we were here. Among other things, replacing our diving bag, which was damaged on the inbound flight, courtesy of a billionaire adventurer, eating many excellent meals at ridiculous prices in Chinatown and visiting an operational replica of the HMS Endeavour, loyal ship of Captain Cook, my favourite historic character.

Since we were able to sell Shocker for a good $ 1,000 more than what we had paid for initially, we find ourselves with sufficient funds to continue our journey in New Zealand without too many worries. It’s really when we let go of the idea of settling that things started to fall into place. A voyage implies motion and going back to our nomadic lifestyle gave this adventure the air of freshness it needed. But, at the same time, all this freshness reminds us we must get better gear if we want to survive the maritime winter of our next destination. So it is with great excitement that, for the last few days, we have browsed outdoor equipment stores in order to find the best deals on Merino wool! If this is what sheep wear over there, it should be adequate for us too.

Oh, and if you didn't believe us last week, here is visual proof of our moment of glory.

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My Fair Melbourne

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Seriously, you guys MUST be getting very annoyed at us always talking about Melbourne. But it’s oh so cool! But I promise it’ll be the last time. We’re only spending one more week here and then it’s off to Sydney again to try to sell our car! I must admit that I’ll be a little sad to see Shocker go. I’ve never spent so much time with a car. Every time we see her parked on the side of the street, we get a sigh of relief and feel like we’re home. It’s only a car mate! Yeah, but it’s MY car.

But we must sell her now, and Sydney seems like the best place to do so, being the main port of entry of Australia. We officially have until the 24th of June to get rid of her. Because of Quebec’s national holiday you might presume? No! Because we have already booked tickets to go to New Zealand on that date! Enough of this Island/Country/Continent! It’s time to see new horizons. Actually, with all the mountains over there, we hope to not see ANY horizons at all. Winter is definitely not the best time of year to go there, but what are you gonna do? Such is our plight this year, to boldly go where all the cool things are, at all the wrong times to do so.

But before skipping town, we’re trying to get the most out of the city we’ve grown to love. Why, it’s not even been 3 days since we’ve got back and already Melbourne has provided us with the opportunity to fulfil a lifelong dream. We can say with pride that we can check “Beat a Guinness World Record” off of our to-do list. Last Saturday, we joined 1243 other superhero-clad citizens in Federation Square to be the biggest crowd in the world EVER, united in one spot disguised as their favourite alter-ego do-gooders. Ok, most of those present were aged between 5 and 8, but that doesn’t make this achievement less impressive. Take that London! We beat your feeble attempt to make history and outdid you by more than 150 mask-wearing souls. That being said, wearing tights in the last weeks of autumn in the city is NOT the best of ideas… While you wait for the short film documenting it all, read what the papers have to say about that faithful day. And once you’re done with that, you can also have a look at our BRAND NEW VIDEO about our Outback journey. We’ve heard you guys enjoy those.

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Uluru, Ayers Rock, the huge red rock over there

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After driving for more than 1500 km in the Outback, we finally arrived at the Rock. Three days of driving where the immensity can’t be described and even less be photographed. There are some places you simply have to go to in order to understand their vastness and immensity. Apart from the Great Canadian North and Siberia, I don’t believe there are many other places on the planet so deprived of human beings and their buildings, which they cherish so much. I can understand how this kind of place can seem far from inviting for many (one of the rare places where cellular connection can’t reach! Oh no!), but for us, it’s exactly what we were looking for in Oceania.

Driving for 1500 km in the desert, gives you lots of time to think. To ponder about where you are in the World, where you are in your life, where you fit on this wheel in perpetual motion. So we arrived at Uluru, our hearts filled with the Aboriginal Romance. The one where only native occupants of the Sacred Land can understand the delicate fibre binding every rock together, every bush with the repeated rhythm of Ancestral songs. We knew all about this culture and the importance of forbidding anyone to climb the sacred monument.

When we arrived at the National park, we saw a notice: Park Open; Climbing Open. Hum, are they talking about another mountain? Surely, they must forbid climbing the knoll to all park visitors? We continue towards the native interpretation centre. Over there, we meet two elders, well defrocked. One of them reminds us, slouched on his plastic chair, with a monotone voice and in a slurred speech, how important it is for his People that no one climbs Uluru. The giant snake, which created this place in the beginning of times, has forbidden it. When came time for his companion to enlighten us with her Aboriginal wisdom, she was nowhere to be found. “She’s gone walkabout!” says the park warden, a nervous smile on his face.

So we spent the day on a 10 km hike around the base of Ayers Rock. We can observe it from all angles, but at some places, we see notices forbidding photographs for cultural sensibility reasons. For example, two huge rocks where the magical snake of yesteryears left its eggs a million trillion years ago. I can understand the physical impact of 10,000 visitors walking on a sacred land, but here, it’s censorship, pure and simple.

Hiking for 10 km in the desert, gives you lots of time to think. To ponder about your principles, your own vision of the World. This first real contact with Aborigines was one of censorship and restrictions. But why? Good question, because they too don’t seem to know better than “It’s always been that way, so why change it?”

So I came back from hiking with the firm intention of climbing the Rock on the next day. I believe that mountains are there to be climbed. And if it’s done with respect, it just enhances the spiritual value of the site. Anyway, I seriously doubt that we’ll face the ancient Aboriginal spirits wrath.

We arrive the next morning, eager and ready to climb the Beast. The notice greats us at the front desk: Park Open; Climbing Closed due to high winds at the summit. Damned stubborn Aboriginal spirits…

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