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.
Click here for photos from this day. End of first long day in Argentina. It’s been an interesting one, culminating in me sitting in a bean-bag chair working on my 3.40 peso beer – A delicious 1 liter bottle Quilmes Cristal. That works out to about $1.25 CDN. That’s more like it! In the room, a german, couple Scots, and a Dutch guy, all enjoying a couple bottles of red wine. Flashback to arrival in BsAs. No problem getting through customs. Off to baggage claim. World’s slowest conveyor belt. Time passes. I finally get my backpack. Wait another eternity, no 2nd backpack! Oh shit. Yup, somehow, Jody’s bag never made it. Bad news. Sadly, not a hell of a lot we can do. Report is filed, but I’m not holding my breath.
Well, the bags have been packed, re-packed, weighed, and re-weighed. I’m now at my maximum allowable size and weight for pretty much everything. It’s after 11pm the night before I fly out for Fiji, and it still hasn’t sunk in. What am I embarking on? What will I discover? How will this change me? How will this bring me closer to my own realities? I have no idea, but I also have absolutely no fear. My life thus far has been as rewarding as anyone could possibly hope for. You could say that I have everything I need right here. And yet, this idea to get away and undertake an adventure on my own has been germinating within me for as long as I can remember. I already wish that I was going for longer, even though this is the longest trip I’ve ever taken, and I will be doing it all on my own, while Jody minds the ranch.
10/02/08
Hi gang. Well, here I am, about to tell you about my day off in Wanaka. Not exactly a true day off, as I decided to tackle the Skyline Track, a hike that takes you up two mountains to some great 360 degree views of the whole area, and is supposed to take 10-11 hours. Well, I don’t know what the people that take that long are doing, as it took me less than 4 and a half hours. Of course, that is moving time, as my total time was more like 5.5 to 6 hours, with my snack and picture breaks. Still, as you can imagine, I was going a bit fast on my way up. I can’t help it. My biking legs just want to climb mountains faster these days I guess. Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself as usual. Feel free to check out the map, and the pictures, as well as read on to hear a bit more about my day in the hills.
Hi Folks. I’m a post behind, so the next two posts might be slightly shorter than what I usually write. It isn’t that I don’t love you all, it’s just that biking all day is hard work people 🙂 Yesterday was sort of a long day due to not just the biking, but the activities and excitement that followed the push to Whangarei. There were some interesting attempts at getting lodging, and some impromptu hill-climbing feats that I hadn’t inteded in order to finally secure a place to lay my head for the evening. However, as always, everything worked out for the best for me, in spite of extra physical effort. You’ll read all about that in a few paragraphs. As usual, I’ve put together a little map with some pictures that you should probably check out, and after that, come on back for the stories of the day.
