On Wednesday, August 20th Cheeseman held the "Accountants vs Lawyers" race and from there we continued into the next week. On Sunday the 31st, my last day in New Zealand, I spent the morning shoveling snow and went for one last ski before heading to the airport. After arriving I had my first experience of mistaken identity as I was sent aside. As it turned out another Travis Clark was on the "no fly" list! Apparently I have an evil alter ego. Later that evening I arrived in Melbourne, Australia and spent the night hanging out with my friend Robbie. He came to pick me up at the airport and, after driving around a bit in Melbourne, we launched it back to Geelong for the night and watched some dinkum Aussie stuff on the tele.
On Monday, August 18th I went to town and sold my motorcycle. The next night I was back up on the mountain in time for the ski weekers' activity night. First, Erin started things out by putting on everyone's clothing and, a little later, people began skits that they had prepared. Some were funny and other just plain silly. At the end of the night everyone tried climbing under a table without touching the floor - a challenge more difficult than it would seem!
For two days following Wednesday, August 13th I did my duties, including my weekly drive to town, and did as much skiing as I had time for. Finally, on Saturday, I was sent back down to Forest Lodge for one night to look after the Polish Society. That evening the Polish group brought out the booze as they do every year and it wasn't long before I was climbing a wall for $50. Of course, I would of done it for free but, seeing as none of us had any idea how I would accomplish this, I took the bet just for laughs. The wall was not an easy climb at first but, using some ledges that I hadn't previously noticed, I progressed towards the top. Surrounded by a chanting crowd of very merry individuals, I soon found myself at the top of the wall and a nifty $50 richer.
For the first few days in August I camped out at Chamberlains Ford and used the nearby library in Lincoln to kill some time writing. On Monday, August 4th I woke up with everything covered in ice and so I decided to go back to staying with friends. For the next four days I stayed at Henry's and then went to the Marsh's for two nights before learning that the mountain was finally back open.
On Saturday, July 26th I took off on a two to three hour road trip to Sylvia Flats Hot Pools in Lewis Pass. Unfortunately, I got such a late start that I only made it to a rest stop 50km past Hanmer. The next day I got going early and was sitting in hot pools by about 9:30am.
After a good three hour soak in the second-best hot pool I'd ever been in (followed closely by a hot river in Rotarua), I set up camp and made a fire. While I was cooking up my dinner I got a visitor, an old guy named Bill. Bill comes to the pools every night to soak and then jumps in the ice cold river when he's done! I made a point to try that the next day.
On Tuesday the 29th I rode back to Christchurch and set up camp at a place outside of town called Chamberlains Ford.
On Thursday, July 10th I returned to Christchurch and found that Arthur was on holiday. So we decided to go mountain biking at Bottle Lake.
The next day we went riding down the Waimakariri River and into Kaiapoi.
On the 12th Arthur took me to Glentui/Mt Richardson for the Waterfall Walk.
Finally, the next day we went up to Sign of the Kiwi for some more technical tracks.
Two days later I found some different accommodation with some members of the ski club: Jenny, Daniel, Otis and Baxter. I spent three days there then another three days at club member Ana's and another five days at Henry's.
On July 25th, after over two weeks of staying with friends and clubbies I finally got my bike off the mountain.
On Saturday, July 5th one of our ski patrol had an accident and had to be flown out. Two days later we were told to leave the mountain until conditions improved. So, we went on a tramp on the Cass-Lagoon Track.
The first day we hiked all day till we arrived at Hamilton Hut where some sneaky Keas got a hold of my shoes and took off... fortunately, I found one right away and the other one later down by the river.
The next day we hiked to the next hut which was so small that I had to set up camp outside. Apparently, while I was sound asleep cozy in my tent the others were squished together like a bunch of sardines and yet surprisingly still struggling to stay warm.
The next day we hiked out and headed back to the mountain. On the way we caught quite a show put on by some routy Keas on the ridge.
On Friday, June 20th I moved on from Dunners to Christchurch - about a seven hour ride! After essentially spending the whole day in a wind tunnel I finally arrived at the Marshs for the night. The next day I had a perfect ride up to the mountain... well, aside from the death winds tossin' me about all over the road!
The next day we got started with training and over the next couple weeks we didn't do much else... without snow we were bored senseless. I managed to sign up for a TESL course but, with the long registration period, I was still in the same boat as everyone else - useless.
Finally, on Wednesday the 2nd of July we caught a break. Just for the day we were given a ride up to the top of Cockayne on back of the Caterpillar for one perfect run of preseason skiing.
On Saturday, May 10th I met up with Aaron from Waikanei, got pizza and went up Mt Victoria.For the next week and a bit I got back to working for Raj and stayed in his spare flat that he was working on renting out.
On May 20th I flew back to Christchurch and the next day I caught a ride with couchsurfer Lea to Queenstown. On the way we saw a car accident and not long after almost had one of our own. As Lea swerved left to right I managed to coach her back into control but only after we skidded back and forth about five times!
For the next five days I stayed in a hostel off and on until I was confident in my freedom camping spot outside of town. On the 25th I finally found something that would change my situation - another motorbike. I was walking along when I saw this bike with a gigantic storage container on the back.
As I stopped and admired this utilitarian masterpiece the owner came up to me. Kamal was a bit of a tinkerer and turns out he had bid on my bike that I was selling back in Milford. As we continued talking it turned out he had a bike he was trying to sell for $600. I couldn't wait. Four days later I bought the bike - a 2007 Zongshen ZS 200 GY-A Honda copy.
The next day I worked on the bike all day and then attended a gathering at the house of yet another friend named Aaron - this one from Milford. After finding out that I was camping out in the cold (even though it was actually not that cold for me) he insisted that I stay at his place. So, for the next two weeks, I had a warm bed, place to store food and a gaming buddy.
On Friday, June 13th Aaron and I went looking for possums and instead we found a car. At first Aaron was afraid to look inside so I went over and got Aaron thinking that there was a dead body inside. Of course, the shinanigans continued and I soon had everyone on facebook convinced that I had crashed that car after a "big night out."
Finally, on the 18th it was time to head out. I rode all the way to Roxburgh after getting my exhaust fixed up for $100. As I arrived I found that I couldn't turn right without the engine shutting off! Fortunately, the next morning I discovered that it was a fuel line getting bumped about when I turned so I strapped that away real neat and continued on. The rest of the ride was not fun. As the wind picked up I found myself leaning hard into gusts of wind similar to ones during a stormy ride I had one day going into Milford as well as the following days on my way up to the ski resort. I managed to make Dunedin and it wasn't long before I was on my way up to the top of Mt Cargill... during the peak of the wind storm.
On Tuesday, April 22nd my group won the final quiz night and came in second overall. On Saturday we all had a going away potluck and, finally, on Wednesday we all said our final goodbyes.
On Thursday, May 1st I took a flight to Queenstown and met up with John Paul for a road trip around the South Island. After leaving town in our rental "BB" (named for the loud unnecessary BEEP every time we reversed) our first stop was the Clay Cliffs - sharp pinnacles of clay carved out by rivers over the millennium.
After that we headed to Lake Benmore for our first night of camping and sorted out "cardis" - our car version of the food store "Tardis" in Milford Sound. The next day we headed off past Lake Pukaki to Mt Cook where JP decided to wade into a lake with actual glaciers in it.
We headed back out from there to Lake Tekapo and waded out into the water there as well before camping out for another night.
The next morning we went to Mt John then stopped in Geraldine for some cheese on the way into Christchurch.
After a day resting in Christchurch at our friend Henry's place we headed for Akaroa to swim with the dolphins.
Tuesday we stopped at Castle hill on our way back over to the West Coast.
On Wednesday we went to the Punakaiki Pancake rocks and then continued all the way up to Nelson.
Late that evening we finally made our way into Kahurangi National Park and camped out in Cobb Valley.
On Thursday we ran into Adam and Sarah (Milford Sound) who joined us to Golden Bay and Wharerangi Beach.
That night we all camped out and stopped in at Mussel Inn for quiz night. This quiz night was a bit different because you could get points for getting the wrong answer if it was funny or different. We got the funniest answer for the first heart transplant by putting Frankenstein.
On Friday we went for lunch at the Moutere Inn - New Zealand's oldest pub. That night I parted ways with the crew and caught the interislander to Wellington.
On Thursday, April 17 I went to shoot some pool at the pub with Sheldon, Triston and Adrian. Afterward we found that the wind had done some interesting things.
A few days later I had an Easter roast chicken dinner with Ang, Ben, Meg and others. The next day, after a couple weeks of talking about it, Dean and I finally went shooting.
Dean showed me a few of his guns and let me fire a few rounds with his TIG22.
On Tuesday, April 8th we had another quiz night and, a few days later, I visited Stu and Mariska (friends from Cheeseman) in Te Anau. The next two nights we ate smoked trout that Stu caught during fishing trips each day.
On Monday the 14th we were hanging out with John Paul for his last day and Maksim got a little carried away with his electric shaver...
On Monday, March 31st I went to Doubtful Sound again. This time I went with Megan and Angela for a day cruise with Go Orange. We saw penguins, dolphins and even the power station.
On Monday, March 17th I returned to Milford for the Bridge to Bar run - an event put on for St Patties. After running at an uneven pace I managed to come in second and won a free cruise with Go Orange in Doubtful Sound.
Over the next week and a bit we had another quiz night and on a Saturday we all went to the End of Season Ball. It was a Grease theme so we all dressed up in old school greaser gear and, well, had a ball.
On Friday, March 7th we had another movie night with a Mexican theme. A week later, I flew into Queenstown and spent a couple days hanging out with some of the Jucy crew during which time Frank, and a guy who sat with us, decided to do the Haka. The Haka is a traditional Maori war dance meant to intimidate foes and project strength and, judging by the outcome of this particular performance, I'd say it does just that!
The next day I went out on the Earnslaw again and enjoyed another fine dining experience thanks to my status as a Real Journeys employee.
On Monday, January 20th I went out on a pilot boat for a cruise ship transfer. Milford Sound is often visited by large ocean liners coming in for a look.
Around February the end of the season started closing in and many staff began to leave Milford for the next thing. January 26th Sam, having been accepted for a job at another company in Milford, decided to take off anyways. Upon hearing this, one of the Chinese guides quit without notice and left with Sam. Only a couple days later the operations manager left - he, of course, had given notice.
A few other interesting things happened in February. On the 8th we saw dolphins and a couple days later we saw a Buller's Mollymawk during a fishing trip on the Haven.
The next day I bottled my second batch of home brew - a delicious and very popular ginger beer. About a week later we were having a barbecue and some fishermen randomly showed up gave us a whole Tuna.
A couple days after that a bunch of guys dressed up in women's clothing for Lady of the Sound and competed on stage... one of a few very strange events that take place in Milford. Yet another week passed and I got a chance to go fishing on a sailboat.
Our skipper was a fishing and outdoors enthusiast from South Africa and a bit eccentric about shark fishing. After he chummed the waters a bit we soon had not one, but two seven gill sharks swimming under the boat. At probably over 2 meters in length, these sharks were serious killing machines and looked the part. A few lines were easily bitten off so we gave it a try using what he called a "chain gang" - a bunch of hooks connected creating a long, metal chain lead. This worked and we soon had a shark in the boat but now had the problem of removing the hook from its mouth. Our skipper decided it best to stick his hand in the sharks mouth which, of course, resulted in him getting bitten. Given that sharks have an anticoagulant in their saliva this meant that our friend was now bleeding uncontrollably through the small incision on his finger.
In the end we managed to get back and patch the wound having gained new wisdom about shark safety - if it goes in the sharks mouth, you're probably not getting it back in one piece...
On March 1st we had a potluck for Jong and Ellen's going away and the next day I hopped on the bus with them on the way to Te Anau.
Finally, on March 6th I a few of us went on a Jucy cruise for Triston's leaving party during which many jumped off the boat into the icy waters of the Tasman Sea.
On Sunday, January 19th I went out on the Pride (Southern Discoveries) for a cruise and to try their buffet. At one point a lady took a wrong step and fell down some stairs so I ended up helping out with that a bit. Of course, we had to go straight back but I was able to go back out on another boat to see the Discovery Centre - a place I'd been meaning to visit since arriving in Milford.
The centre had a bunch of information on the ecosystem in Milford such as how the freshwater layer actually prevents sunlight from penetrating below a few meters. This actually enables deep water life to exist in ashallower habitat and therefore the Discovery Centre offers a unique opportunity to view such species as Black Coral (actually white) via a glass underwater chamber which essentially acts as a reverse fish tank.
On Wednesday, January 8th I was returning from a camping trip and my sump/oil plug fell out. All my oil drained from my bike and I ended up at Knobs Flat. Fortunately, one of our Real Journeys buses showed up and I was able to catch a ride back into town where one of our engineers sorted me out with a new plug. My boss was there and he gave me a ride back to Knobs Flat where, after struggling with my inadequate tools for a bit, we managed to get it sorted out. Unfortunately, my bike had incurred some internal damage from the oil loss and would only be good for little rides around Milford until I sold it - my "big end" was done.
Over the next week the consistent gatherings in Milford continued. We had a barbecue in the garage, at Shaun's, a home brew fest at the kayakers' (Paddle On Inn), and a couple birthdays - one glow stick "rave" and one bonfire on the foreshore.
On Thursday, December 28th a Penguin wandered onto the wharf and on the 29th Will showed us how to butcher deer.
That night Adrian threw a "Hiphop2NuYear" party where everyone had to dress hiphop.
The next day I woke up late and found a note from JP. I had shown him how to set a possum trap and it had been successful.
Finally, on the 31st we all went fishing on the Haven for New Years before heading to the pub for the countdown. At one point a bunch of staff were "accidentally" locked out front as we went under Sterling Falls.
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