Dead Turtles

Current Location: Motueka, NZ

Abel Tasman = fantastic!

At a computer with a broken card reader. So sorry there are no new pictures. I have many to share. 

I will try again later. Promise.

Here's an old one:
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9/26/10 

Queenstown. 

Last night, another motor camp. We really lucked out though. Because it was raining, we got to park in the mud. Tramping through thick brown sludge to get to the bathroom is great fun. 

The first thing we do in the morning is trade in the van for a car. Damn right. After purging a couple of tons, I felt crazy tired but at least I looked good in my new red Mitsubishi. 

I have to admit -- I wasn't that excited about ziplining. We took the gondola to the top of the mountain in Queenstown City Centre and walked over the Luge to the Ziptrek meeting place. I figured right about now was a good time to ask Denise what is ziplining. I know the premise ... flying ... but ...

It was a small group: two guides + four of us normal folk. Denise + me and a mother + ten year old son. Ahh, if a kid can do it, I can do it. After getting geared up, we push the kid off the ledge first. I so got this. 

Soaring through the vast forest of Fir trees ended up being super awesome. The Ecotrek company is all about sustainability. As we went through the course, our guides told us about saving the world and the consequences of being homesick. In New Zealand, for instance, those intrepid early settlers planted non-native species like Fir trees to remind them of the motherland. Nostalgia kills plants and animals. 

Oh, and I flipped upside down and let go of the rope like a big kid. I wasn't a Dead Flat Turtle, or whatever they call the zipping equivalent of a weak handshake. Having fun AND saving the world! 

Staying at a place called Reavers Lodge. Um. Um. Aren't Reavers those cannibalistic scary evil horrific monsters in Firefly?