"I'm Australian, and don't know what Thanksgiving is, but I'm very thankful," says an Australian backpacker. We made our own Thanksgiving dinner here in Nelson, NZ. Couldn't get a turkey, apparently we would've had to special order it ahead of time. So we had kingfisher fish from the fish shop a hasher friend works at, and got plenty of beer from the brewery another hasher friend works at, and made do with what else we could find. There were so many American backpackers here, we had dinner for 10! Bob made FOUR apple pies and we ate them all. I made those sweet potatoes with the marshmellows on top. Alison made the mash potatoes, and Gary made the fish. Neill cleaned up, as he states he's best at that.
Everyone loved my sweet potatoe dish and wanted to know what it was called. I said, "sweet potatoes with marshmellows on top." The day got even better when we went to see Harry Potter (opening night here) after dinner. Brenda, I hope you have seen it too, it really rocks! Other stuff we've done here, glaciar hiking (I haven't worn cramp-ons in years!), mountain biking up to the center of New Zealand, and sea kayaking in Cable Bay.
We're off to learn how to carve bone today, they have classes for everything out here! I hopefully will be making some lovely trinkets for you all at Christmas time...
Car is still holding up, even with me driving it. Hopfully I can keep it in one piece by the time we make it up to Auckland to sell it. ha ha
Met up with the Nelson hash, as I referenced earlier with the beer and fish connctions. They were a really friendly, welcoming bunch, and there was a total of 8 visitors at the run. One of them, Crystal Tits, was visiting from Montreal, and Alison knew her already! They met at a hash in Ottowa one weekend last April. Talk about random meetings! Another couple I had met already at the interhash in India. They were touring around still just like us.
Well, I am thinking of you all, my friends and family, especially during the holiday season. I hope you are all well and had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Love, Carla
Thursday, November 28, 2002
Wednesday, November 20, 2002
Driving the Moon Unit around Kiwiland
We had to leave wonderful Tasmania sometime to get our butts to New Zealand! I've always wanted to go ever since my friend Kaliko showed me her photos from her trip there 2 years ago.
We flew into Dunedin and met up with our British hasher friend Neill (Wet Nurse) who was in great need of a holiday and wanted to tour with the ever-popular crazyhappenings duo for a month. After enduring a very critical search by customs (they went through our bags, inspected our anti-maliaria medications, and asked us questions like, "Do you smoke cannabis?" Alison responds, "No, why? Do our bags smell like it?") We got a cab into the city by a very chatty southern NZ cabbie who kept interupting our conversations to tell us random facts about his country.
WE BOUGHT A CAR!!!! Alison and I now have something in our possession other than our backpacks. It's a 1987 Ford Lazer, in decent condition, and a manual. Andy K., are you scared for me to be driving a stick again??? Alison christened it The Moon Unit, and covered the stained shag pile (floor carpets) with piles of stones from the riverbed. It also has a Kiwi Crossing sticker on the backend. A Kiwi at the backpackers, Gary, helped us buy the car. It was heaps cheaper than renting something and we should have no problem selling it in Auckland before we fly out. Neill knows a thing or two about cars, like changing spark plugs and brake pads, so it's been great having him along.
We're in Queenstown now, home to the extreme sports. I'm not planning on bungee jumping or anything though, so no worries, Mom. The town itself is a trip and a half. Very tall, snow covered mountains right next to beautiful lakes and rivers. Have you all seen Lord of the Rings? I'm in the heart of Middle Earth. We're off to "czech" out the glaciars tomorrow and then on to Christchurch. Just letting you all know I'm fine and dandy out here! Off to meet friends at the bar, Winnie Baegos, now!
Love, Carla
We flew into Dunedin and met up with our British hasher friend Neill (Wet Nurse) who was in great need of a holiday and wanted to tour with the ever-popular crazyhappenings duo for a month. After enduring a very critical search by customs (they went through our bags, inspected our anti-maliaria medications, and asked us questions like, "Do you smoke cannabis?" Alison responds, "No, why? Do our bags smell like it?") We got a cab into the city by a very chatty southern NZ cabbie who kept interupting our conversations to tell us random facts about his country.
WE BOUGHT A CAR!!!! Alison and I now have something in our possession other than our backpacks. It's a 1987 Ford Lazer, in decent condition, and a manual. Andy K., are you scared for me to be driving a stick again??? Alison christened it The Moon Unit, and covered the stained shag pile (floor carpets) with piles of stones from the riverbed. It also has a Kiwi Crossing sticker on the backend. A Kiwi at the backpackers, Gary, helped us buy the car. It was heaps cheaper than renting something and we should have no problem selling it in Auckland before we fly out. Neill knows a thing or two about cars, like changing spark plugs and brake pads, so it's been great having him along.
We're in Queenstown now, home to the extreme sports. I'm not planning on bungee jumping or anything though, so no worries, Mom. The town itself is a trip and a half. Very tall, snow covered mountains right next to beautiful lakes and rivers. Have you all seen Lord of the Rings? I'm in the heart of Middle Earth. We're off to "czech" out the glaciars tomorrow and then on to Christchurch. Just letting you all know I'm fine and dandy out here! Off to meet friends at the bar, Winnie Baegos, now!
Love, Carla
Thursday, November 14, 2002
Ten Days in Tassie!
Ten days in Tazmania tearing around on the left side of the road in a copper colored Toyota was quite the experience! Thankfully, Alison did most of the driving, as I was more comfortable ordering her around as my title "Navigator" allowed. We traveled 2500 kms total, and saw the whole state of Tazmania. We hashed with 4 different clubs and were thrilled that every local we encountered knew of the hash ever since the interhash in Hobart in 2000 happened.
Highlights:
Getting crash space with hasher, Paul(Jerk Off), and him loaning us a key to his house and a spare mobile phone! Hiking in Frencynet National Park and seeing whales in Wineglass Bay. Alison puttig a rude Norwegian in his place in the kitchen of the youth hostel. Me locking the keys in the car. Having to drink my Chardonnay down-down tea bagged with my tacky Tazmanian tiger souvenir socks at the Chardonnay Hash in Hobart. Paul telling us to make sure we czech out Queenstown and call in on Phil, no, wait, Tim...the guy who runs the power plant there. He would show us around. Going to the movies TWICE in Hobart. We yearn for non-travel activities more lately. Hanging out with Juan and Sean, our army hash buddies that made the trip to Bernie with us and made me sound like my mother as they fought in the backseat of the car. "Don't make me come back there!" Grizzly taking the morning off from work to cook us breakfast the morning after the Bernie hash run. He knew all our new friends from Ragistahan! Going to the historic town of Ross, and getting heaps of Ross souvenirs for our friend Ross in Melbourne. "My friends went to Ross and all they got me was this lousy t-shirt..." Hashing with the Hobart Hash Harem, the first female only hash we attended. Their hash shirts are PURPLE! Alison says we should start one in Boston, but our shirts will be pink. Going to the Mayfield, (a uni bar) with Brigid's brother, Mark. We went dressed in our hash clothing and the bouncer commented, "Girls, try not to dress up so much next time, ok?" Sticky floors, 10 girls dressed in half shirts waiting in line for the toilet, shooters, and crowds of students packed shoulder to shoulder made us feel 10 years younger. ha. Talking about the meaning of life, love, and happiness with Alison and Juan in a bar until 4 am. A sign blows off a building and scratches the car 10 minutes before we return it to the Hertz rental office.
Highlights:
Getting crash space with hasher, Paul(Jerk Off), and him loaning us a key to his house and a spare mobile phone! Hiking in Frencynet National Park and seeing whales in Wineglass Bay. Alison puttig a rude Norwegian in his place in the kitchen of the youth hostel. Me locking the keys in the car. Having to drink my Chardonnay down-down tea bagged with my tacky Tazmanian tiger souvenir socks at the Chardonnay Hash in Hobart. Paul telling us to make sure we czech out Queenstown and call in on Phil, no, wait, Tim...the guy who runs the power plant there. He would show us around. Going to the movies TWICE in Hobart. We yearn for non-travel activities more lately. Hanging out with Juan and Sean, our army hash buddies that made the trip to Bernie with us and made me sound like my mother as they fought in the backseat of the car. "Don't make me come back there!" Grizzly taking the morning off from work to cook us breakfast the morning after the Bernie hash run. He knew all our new friends from Ragistahan! Going to the historic town of Ross, and getting heaps of Ross souvenirs for our friend Ross in Melbourne. "My friends went to Ross and all they got me was this lousy t-shirt..." Hashing with the Hobart Hash Harem, the first female only hash we attended. Their hash shirts are PURPLE! Alison says we should start one in Boston, but our shirts will be pink. Going to the Mayfield, (a uni bar) with Brigid's brother, Mark. We went dressed in our hash clothing and the bouncer commented, "Girls, try not to dress up so much next time, ok?" Sticky floors, 10 girls dressed in half shirts waiting in line for the toilet, shooters, and crowds of students packed shoulder to shoulder made us feel 10 years younger. ha. Talking about the meaning of life, love, and happiness with Alison and Juan in a bar until 4 am. A sign blows off a building and scratches the car 10 minutes before we return it to the Hertz rental office.
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