Seatbelts and Jesus on the Naked Bus?

As the sunset was approaching I hopped on a bus headed North to a town called Taupo. I took a taxi to a McDonald's across town from my hostel and in front I was picked up by a cheap as hell bus called The Naked Bus (if you go online at the right time you can buy tickets to so many places for around $20- similar to Mega Bus in Canada)

I had to wonder, what was with the name? The Naked Bus? Was the driver going to be some greasy, middle-aged naked dude encouraging everyone to take it off? Was I hopping onto a bus of fornication? It wasn't exactly what I had imagined. Just in time to beat a gust of rain, I hopped onto the bus as a fully-clothed middle aged dude threw my bags into the cargo space, got behind the wheel, told everyone to put their seatbelts (?) on and said a prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. That was a first! Seatbelts and Jesus on The Naked Bus? Alright! Ill take it! Its better than some drunk guy crapping his pants behind me and a delinquent mother who cant be bothered to soothe her baby's shrill cries for the entire ride...like on every single Greyhound bus ride Ive ever taken back home!

As we departed Wellington and hit the highway I watched the rolling green mountains go by, and thought about how lovely it was that even the suburbs haven't completely taken over nature. Dont get me wrong, there is plenty of development in the area, but still compared to most cities Ive visited you can see that nature is still King. Instead of a sprawling suburbia dotted with a tree here and there, there was a refreshing blanket of green for as far as I could see, and stunning mountains and coastal views with neighborhoods scattered here and there- mixing in, not parasitically reigning like other places Id been recently. The more I traveled New Zealand the more I noticed this reoccurring theme- Nature First. Thanks New Zealand, one more reason to love ya!

I was a little regretful I couldn't spend more time in the quaint, inviting, artistic and colorful city of Wellington but nevertheless, one must push onward. I could feel a great adventure coming my way, and so I told myself "I'll be back" (and I did return). Trying to cheer myself up I turned my focus to the reason I came to New Zealand: The Tongariro Alpine Crossing, imagining it in all it's glory. At 3 a.m. those pesky fluorescent lights glared down on me. The Naked Bus had stopped.. Destination Taupo, check point!

Waking Up in New Zealand, Day 1

On the first of my 8 days in New Zealand I woke up at Base-X Wellington Hostel. It's quite a strange feeling to wake up and have to remember where you are, but after almost a year on the road I am getting used to it. As the night before came back to my memory, I remembered I was in New Zealand! YAY! A huge smile crept across my face. It feels amazing to be somewhere that you have imagined for so long.

 ~ I wish everyone could have the chance to experience this feeling.~

It was exactly 9:55 a.m. and check-out was 10:00 a.m. I knew this meant I had to get all my gear together and to the lobby in under 5 minutes but I cheerfully hopped down the stairs with all kilos in hand (after realizing this old hostel's elevators weren't exactly in tip-top shape.) But nooooo worries- I was in such a great mood nothing could get me down! 

I managed to check out at exactly 10:00 a.m.- muahaha....victory was mine! I grabbed a table in the lobby where a yummy breakfast greeted me.  Fresh orange juice after travel=revival of life! Hells yes! While I had a light brekkie, I opened up my daily calendar book, which is where I usually record all of my travel plans. I scribbled in some details over two cups of tea, O.J. and some jam and toast. I decided to spend the day sightseeing around the city of Wellington (which I had heard was awesome) and buy myself some extra travel time by taking a bus up the North Island that night.

My plan was to head North to Taupo (A), the volcanic area of NZ's North Island

Photo Credit: static.stuff.co.nz

But for now, Day 1 in New Zealand was all about discovering "Wellywood." After brekkie I re-arranged my gear so it would all fit in one of the lockers in the hostel's kitchen. While I was wrestling my tent onto my backpack, I struck up a conversation with this friendly fellow named Wallie. He was a middle-aged Lebanese guy who was in NZ on business, but it turned he was very interested in the whole backpacker lifestyle and also had a long history of travel. He had already traveled through many African countries which intrigued me and after a good 20 minutes chatting he asked if he could join me. I thought sure, why not?  We stepped outside into the crisp, clean air. It was a magnificent sunny day in downtown Wellington and the very best weather for a morning stroll around town! The breeze was cool, salty and delicious. After taking a quick inventory of the CBD we headed straight for the water.

Colorful Kayaks at the City Harbour

Sailboats on glistening waters

After strolling around the harbour and stopping for a quick lunch at an Indian restaurant we continued walking towards wherever looked interesting or beautiful (which was everywhere!).

Eventually we decided it would be great to see a view of the harbour from Mount Victoria. I didn't know the way, but Wallie said he did. As we hiked up the dirt and rock path he struggled a lot and had to take several breaks. I was in flip-flops and had no problems with the hike but stopped with him and caught glimpses of the water through the trees. But the further we walked, the dirt path got smaller and less distinct and I was afraid we might have taken a wrong turn. Wallie kept saying he was sure this was the right path, but I wasn't convinced. Looking off the cliff to the road I could see where many cars were lined up and I think the actual path was somewhere around those cars. I calculated the possibilities. 

Either A) Wallie had made an honest mistake and we were rambling up this hill for nothing, unknowingly, B) We were on the right path (but that seemed unlikely because of the lack of wear on the path, or C) We were going the wrong way and he knew it.

I knew what I had to do. Upfront and honest I just said "I dont think this is the right path and I dont want to go any further. Im leaving the track."  I made my way down towards the lines and colored streaks of cars down below. He tried to sway my decision to continue on the path, but I just knew it was a waste of time, and in fact, it could be dangerous. I didnt have proper footwear and more importantly, I really didn't know him at all. Wallie reluctantly agreed, and he too came down to what appeared to be the main route up the mountainside. It was bustling with people and cars and that gave me a feeling of relief. I was finally back in my comfort zone. 

As we climbed up to Mount Victoria, here is the view of Oriental Bay

Looking down on the harbour

 
After walking back into the city, we went down to the New Zealand's best and biggest museum the Te Papa Museum,which in the Maori language means "container of treasures".
I really wanted to learn about the indigenous of New Zealand and this seemed like the place to go and so we did.

Inside, was a massive, interactive museum with several floors and divisions of native Maori installations, as well as many, many geological exhibits. We walked through the maze of history for hours!

After filling our heads with as much information as humanly possible, we walked back to the hostel where went our separate ways. I never saw Wallie again.

Thanks for reading! 



 

A few things I highly recommend in Wellington, New Zealand:
 
Base Backpackers Hostel 
Te Papa Museum
Masala Indian Restaurant

Flying Solo

To all my beautiful and loyal blog-readers,
You may be asking if I have fallen off the face of the earth- I know, it's been awhile.
The answer is, YES, I have fallen off the face of the earth because I feel like Ive been living in the sky! The last 3 months have been insanely fun and filled with more flights to various destinations than I can count. Since leaving Australia I have been on the go- constantly! In exhausting times I found myself thinking of one of my favourite quotes:

The good news is I have so much to share with you- and I am going to do my best to catch you up on what's been happening to me and My Roaming Backpack as we've been checkin out the world in all it's amazingness.

As you know, Australia was a rough go for me (I can post about that later- but let's just say financially, physically, mentally, the gamble didn't really pay off and the WHV wasn't all it was cracked up to be.) However! The stellar backpacker friends I made in Chinchilla (in the middle of nowhere) were my favourite part of my whole experience and Im glad I met them- otherwise I would have left Australia with a chip on my shoulder, remember all the bad experiences I had there. Saying goodbye to those amazing people on my last days was so hard but it left me departing Australia on a happy note and with good memories. 

*Shout outs to Lydia, Marie, Julia, Elaine, Dori, Dickson, Jack, Sam, Felix and Im sure Im forgetting some people, but you know who you are!*

Now, you may know that I originally flew to Australia with my friend Scott. We had backpacked across Thailand for 9 weeks earlier in 2012 and he proved to be an excellent travel companion, however- when traveling with someone for along time "break-outs" can occur. Scott and I had a pretty massive "falling-out" (of which I won't bother getting into the dirty details) and after this argument I was very, very upset and didn't know where to go, or what to do. All I knew was that it was time for me to get back on the road- and this time, alone. 

Brisbane is beautiful in the summer. Flowers, street music, walking trails...

After we split ways I traveled Australia alone for a month and a half (which is how I ended up in Chinchilla of all places-aka- the sticks, and found my way into a great circle of new found friends in the outback), but after working out in the hot, dusty Australian nowhere I had yet another feeling it was time to get going, again. After awhile you just have a knack for these things- if you pay attention and listen closely to the signs you will know when to stay and when to go.  But then I found myself in a pre-dicament...