Stranded in Dunedin

Coming off the Queen Charlotte Track and our overnight stay at the Portage Resort Hotel proved once again the kiwis are pride-filled folk. They continued to amaze us with their sheer kindness by literally dropping us off portside with the rental car company having brought our car to us. These people are genuinely passionate about EVERYTHING they do. The Prancers helped the boat driver out a bit as the rain fell by helping him load what seemed to be hundreds of pieces of luggage onto the dock.

We all hopped in the rental van and started our venture to Christchurch, since John and Judy would be flying out 2 days later for a small excursion to Australia before heading back to the States. Our leisurely drive down the east coast of the south island was broken in half as we stopped in Kiakoura, as advised by the National Geographic magazine for lunch at the Hislops Whole Foods Cafe. And boy were we glad we did that!!! We all know that Jill loves healthy wholesome food (and a lot of it) and this was just her style! Organic and fresh, this pitstop on the side of the road filled our bellies with the fresh New Zealand cuisine that will reside in our memory bank forever. After thailand's day after day feasts of fried rice, pineapple, and spicy papaya salads, our bellies had been longing for the cuisine of our choice: fresh organic meats and seafood, wholesome grains, cheese, olives, grapes, veggies, and RED WINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Arriving in Christchurch in the early evening, we had dinner with our friends Nanny, Felice, Bella, and Max. The next couple days were enjoyed with Judy and John wrapping things up and tying up loose ends; our major task being to BUY A CAR for the Prancers!!! New Zealand is the land of backpackers. What draws this crowd here is the endless amount of opportunities to be an adventure sportist. We literally haven't even heard of half of the "sports" people come here to do!! Absailing into caves, river boarding through white water rapids, motor sailing through the sky, bungy jumping, sky diving, etc.......... these people ride on the edge!! And to be able to spend the money on these "thrillrides", you need a reliable ride at a CHEAP price to guide you throughout the nooks and crannies and endless hilly slopes of NZ. "Heaps" of cars are passed from backpacker to backpacker on a daily basis, especially VW vans and station wagons, allowing the travelers to sleep cheapily on the side of the road or in the plentiful campgrounds run by the Department of Conservation. We test drove 3 cars in one day and weighed our options, deciding to buy a 1988 Nissan Sunny California hatchback. "What is that?" you say..... well, a cute little ride that purred like a little kitten and ran like a charm. Ofir (or Benjamin he told us to call him), was the previous owner from Israel, out traveling on his own and heading for Australia next. He was so proud of this little Sunny (that we eventually named "Dagsie", explaination to come later....) and really took care of the little white gem. He showed responsiblity in the fact the car was kept clean and tidy and he had recorded all of his mileage and was up to date on all the legalities of cars in this country. Over "fish and chips", we all chatted in the park about the car and the highlights of his excursion through the islands before we handed over the money and saw Benjamin off to his hostel, us with the car papers in hand. Finally we had our own wheels again, ready to cruise the windy roads, play our own music, and stop off at our leisure to snap pictures!

The next 4 or 5 days were spent in Christchurch; Global Prancers on their own again. And a BIG thanks to Judy and John for all they did for us. WOW! What an experience to have been pampered! They put us up in some wonderful places to stay, fed us well, and allowed us to take part in many adventures with them that were not quite part of the "Prancer Budget". We cannot thank them enough for all they did for us. But the best part of their arrival was being able to spend quality time with our family. It revived our hearts after being on the road for close to 4 months in Asia and emphasized the importance of the presence of our loved ones.

Christchurch and Nanny really treated us well those 4 or 5 days after Judy and John set off. We got to go to our first ever rugby game! And Nanny took us in for a night, feeding us well, and driving us to the sea for more heartstopping views and fresh salty air, stopping to take pictures of surfers riding the waves and coffee at her favorite seaside cafe. We headed out of Christchurch after resituating the many backpacks, sleeping bags, self inflating mattress pads, boxes of dishes and food, hiking poles and boots, and heaps of other backpacker items in 'ole Dagsie....... setting out for a random night's stay in what we thought was a "town" (which we never quite saw) called SeaCliff, in a hostel - "The Asylum Lodge".... dodododo (erie sounding huh?)......

Just to keep you on your toes, wondering about the insanity of The Asylum Lodge....... first we must tell you WHY our car is named "Dagsie". Here in NZ they use a saying - "rattle your dags" - to get people moving. The same as "come on, slowpoke, let's get going..." But the rattle your dags version derives from the 40 million sheep here in the country. When the rainy season starts, the grass the sheep eats is obviously wet. When they eat this grass it gives them diarrehea. This loose dung gets caught in their wooly hind end and dries (similar to the family dog when you feed it too many oats). These lovely strings of dried feces are called "dags". When the sheep run with these, people refer it to "rattling their dags." Hence, the saying. We all took a liking to the saying and now many, many things are called dags --- including our pet sheep that sits on the dashboard AND our car!!

Arriving at the spooky Lodge upon dark in the middle of nowhere over looking the cliffs and ocean was quite a heartpumper for the Prancers. There was a shut gate labeled Asylum Lodge and not a light in sight! Jill hopped out to release the gate and noticed the horses roaming the land and the large mysterious vacant buildings that lay before her eyes. Driving up the pebble road lined with 4 or so deserted boxy buildings with knocked out windows, gave us both thoughts of something we weren't so sure about entering, as we looked at each other with a fright in our eye..... Soon we put two and two together and realized "THIS IS AN OLD INSANE ASYLUM!!!" Soon we found the house we would be staying in, quite pleasantly quaint, and this one actually had windows and lights! The place ended up to be quite a little gem, housing surfers from Germany and a Taiwanese group that cooked for hours in the kitchen, and ran by a friendly kiwi displaying a wealth of knowledge on the local spots significant for surfing and walking within feet of wild yellow eyed penguins, unknown to the average traveler.

The next morning, we said our goodbyes to all and set off for the city of Dunedin, further south along the east coast in "Dagsie", who was still running like the trusty field sheep. We forgot to mention the apparent break-in attempt our last night in Christchurch at the Old Countryhouse Hostel. Someone (on St. Patrick's Day) decided to tackle all the backpacker cars lining the road outside the hostel at 4am for some camping gear or food they desperately wanted. We woke up to dented locks and the inability to get in the front doors. The only way in was to open the hatchback and crawl through to unlock the backdoors then the front doors! Not quite the Toyota 4Runner or Nissan Altima we had back in the states (hee hee). We took Dagsie in to the shop we originally went to for our inspection upon buying the car, to see if we could get a quick hookup on fixing the locks. The dedicated worker (there on a Sunday on his own time) tinkered with them abit and sent us on our way with a wave and the typical "no worries" line to assure us, no big deal. Still having to crawl through the back, we decided it would add to the fun of life as a traveler!

We arrived in Dunedin with the plan of visiting the Dept of Conservation to speak about and plan our hike on the Kepler Track in the Fjordland National Park for 4 days/3 nights. Then to have a big lunch and head back out to the private beach spot to view the penguins in their natural environment. Excitement was really brewing for this opportunity to see some wildlife on our own, without a tour, but totally just freestyle! A couple runs at taking Dagsie up the hills and out of town proved not on par. The clutch began to slip and we could smell 'er burning! Coasting back down to the city and straight to our hostel, climbing up and down the plentiful steep steep hills of the city wore Dagsie out as we decided to park for the night and visit a mechanic the next morning. And when we say steep, we mean it! The steepest street in the world (in the Guniness Book of World Records even!) is located here in Dunedin, so you can only imagine what this poor car was having to endure as it puttered and lagged working only in 3rd gear.

The plans for the rest of the week, before beginning our work at an organic farm, have really been tangled with. Just teaching us more and more about the instability and uncertainness of life and it's circumstances. Being out on the road magnifies the fact that we must be flexible and able to roll with the punches presented on a daily basis. Our plan all along to spend one night in Dunedin, drive the Catlin Coast, head to do the Kepler track (tramping for 4 days), and then going to work were chissled, unfortunately, calling for a reformulation of the plan. Dunedin, the town housing many students at the University of Otago, is bustling with life and a pleasurable amount of activity and things to see, set on a beautiful bay with vast hills and wide open spaces. So, all in all, not a bad place for us to break down and settle in for a few nights.

This morning we dropped Dagsie off at a local mechanic, who is as we write, replacing our clutch pad, changing the oil, and hopefully replacing or fixing the locks. More expense for us, but more reliability before we set off for the next 2 months in adventure land. Spending our day on a great hike overlooking the city, it's hills, and the ocean and bays helped to clear our minds and also gave us time to ponder the future together. AND we just ran into a couple that we met our first week in Thailand!!! Can you believe it?! WOW, the world is SO big but at the same time SO small!!!

We are hoping to pick up Dagsie in the morning with a bill that won't break the coin purse too much as we continue the journey down to the Catlin Coast, the SE coast of the South Island. This will be a leisurely drive along the Southern Scenic Route, looping in and out of the coast, where we will become one with penguins, sea lions, dolphins, caves, and Nugget rocks....... just adding to our compilation of memories of an island so entrenched with magnificient beauty. THEN OFF TO WORK ON THE FARM!!!