Bored. Snapped a few pics in the airport. 3 hour layovers in terminal 1 are toooo looong. Happily the Red Rocket supplies us with beer. 2 pints of Rickards – an outlandish $19 after tax and hefty tip (hey, I’m on vacation and happy). Looking forward to $3 bottles of Argentine Red!! Next up, the hung for Chester Cheetah’s Cheese Corn! Rumour has it that Nacho Libre is slotted for the next flight. THe Notebook is also on tap, but luckily, it’s later on so I won’t have to stay up.
So, just how does one celebrate the return of a prized possession when floating around in the South Pacific on a boat anchored off shore? Well, apart from doing high jumps off the third deck, there were other options. I could of course drink my face off, but that leaves one feeling a little under the weater, and since I had already decided to do a scuba dive the next morning, that was out of the question. However, a German and Italian fellow each had a great solution. We decided we should try to source some authentic Fijian Kava. For more info on this, I would implore you to do a Google search on it. There is quite a bit of history and lore to Kava, and I had to try it, and the only way is for a Fijian to prepare it for you. Read on for more about this exciting tale of narcotics on the high seas, complete with the stealthy delivery.
05/01/08
Greetings from a well-rested and soaked PassiveSteve. Yes, today has certainly been one of my most inactive days of this trip thus far. However, it has been far from a boring day, and I’m definitely glad to finally take a ‘personal day’ to recharge mind, body and spirit! So just what makes this day so passive? Well, for starters, I only biked 30km, and I only left Rotorua around 10:30am. The late start was not only due to my short riding distance, but also my late night listening to live music. I’ve only headed a bit south of Rotorua to an area known as Waikite, where the Te Manaroa Spring is located. This is the largest single source of boiling water, which puts out about 40-50L of 98 degree water per second. Even though it was a short day, I’ve still put together a little map for you to look over, with some pictures of the thermal pools at my campground. Read on for more on this quiet day.
EXTRA
Breaking news story just in this morning of March 5th, 2008. With great crowds of cheering supporters, ActiveSteve climbed the world’s steepest street, Baldwin Street, in Dunedin, atop his trusty bicycle, Epicus, while the Burley Kid watched from below in admiration. This feat caused burning lungs and the taste of blood rising in the throat with the pounding heartrate, but the feat was over almost as quickly as it began. Onlookers were most impressed with this achievement, proclaiming aloud their respect for the task. Several keen eyes were even more impressed by the fact that ActiveSteve remained seated for the duration of the entire climb, and choose to attack almost the entire climb straight on rather than weave. However, in the steepest sections, the traditional alpine style of climbing was adopted for a short section, by weaving left and right to ease the slope. To mark the achievement, a certificate was acquired proclaiming the feat. The onlookers, so impressed, were clamouring to become signed witnesses to the act, even though there was no such place on the certificate. A quick addition to the scroll by ActiveSteve made a fellow from Pensacola, Florida most proud to sign his name proclaiming the validity of the climb. With great smiles and satisfaction, ActiveSteve, Epicus, and the Burley Kid continued back on the road, ready to tackle more hills for the day, albeit at much lesser grades!
05/02/08
Chilly hello to all you folks out there! Well, once again I find myself knackered as I write to you. Yup, that’s right, it was another busy day for ActiveSteve here at the Fox Glacier village. My feet and legs are sore today not from biking, but from all the gear I had to wear today while I was out on the dangerous ices of the Fox Glacier. I spent the whole day on the ice, and learned to ice climb. Well, in truth, there really wasn’t all that much to learn, as Ice Climbing is pretty much exactly like rock climging only you’re on ice instead of rock. So, as a result, I already knew how to tie on and off, belay, and all those sorts of things. However, I had to get the hang of using Ice Axes and Crampons, which was a hoot. Read on for a bit more about my exciting day on the glacier. There’s a map too, but I have a feeling it’ll be pretty meaningless, as it was in my pack hidden away most of the day, so I don’t think locations are correct. Sorry!
