An Imagination Stronger than Reality

Another more than magical experience driving up, from Queenstown, over Haast Pass and to the West Coast. It is only Alice and I now. Erin departed almost 4 days ago, caught a flight out of Queenstown. I talked Alice into keeping the car with me for a few more days so we could bomb over to the west coast and do a big loop around the northern part of the island.

I have to say, the most natural expression that falls from my lips these days is, simply, “Fuck Off.”

I must have told the scenery, the majestic snow-capped peaks and huge translucent and viciously windy lakes, off more than a handful of times on our way up and over Haast Pass. We would drive Gem up and over a hill and there would be some crazy spectacular horizon of scenery like I have never seen before (though parts of
Colorado certainly do come close) and then before I could even comprehend the visual beast before me I would utter, Fuck off. Not in a bad way, but more as “Come on! How much more outrageous could this place get!” NZ really is quite fitting as a postcard country. I highly recommend anyone coming to NZ to drive over this pass. You are just to the south of Mt Cook and some other monster peaks and the road is a winding, stunning, mess that makes you want to vomit (I am so unfortunately prone to road sickness*) and at the same time it makes you want to cry in gratitude that its there at all! (*Note on road sickness: the roads are so windy that I even feel extremely sick while driving!)

Ah, sigh, just the memory of it all makes me want to swoon over my pictures from that day…

On the other side of the pass was another story. Lets play a game! Ready? What falls from the sky in huge pea sized drops, sometimes falls sideways, hits you in the face, falls in a flood down the windshield, gets your ass all wet even with waterproof pants on, and really does its best to muck up your good, sunny mood?

Okay, the answer is obviously rain. Rain my friends. Rain for 2 days straight, all the way up the rugged and tremendous west coast. But, we did have small reprieves. Like when we bumbled around on the Franz Joseph Glacier (I hear the Franz and the Fox glaciers are actually growing? Two of the only glaciers in the world unaffected by global warming. Lets have a big cheer for crazy ancient ice and Mother Nature!)

We also had a splendid reprieve from the rain when we reached Hokitika, a small town famous for its NZ Greenstone, and with the most kick ass beach I have run around on since arriving in the southern hemi. The beach might have been even more kick ass because I was the only one on it as the sun went down. I didn’t have a camera and gladly, because I took great joy in sitting on a rough piece of driftwood and watching the sun fall down below the horizon. No picture, only the little imprint of that on my memory. Nice.

Now we are in Nelson, on the top end of South Island. It is beautiful here, warmer than anywhere else I’ve been in NZ, and sunny with a real nice beach that I plan on sitting on all day tomorrow. The mountains are sparse but the warmth is welcome. I’m tipping over the top of the island in a few days and heading back south to Kaikoura (where whales and seals abound!) for a few days of relaxation and writing and hiking and then, finally, to Christchurch to prepare for my big flight up to Aukland and then to LA.

It’s hard to comprehend the beauty of this country or its people in 3 short weeks, but I’m so grateful to have had such lovely traveling mates (Alice even cramped into the tiny car with me last night to save some cash.) It certainly makes things more entertaining, and less lonely, when there are familiar faces around.

One note on Alice before I forget. First, I have to say it is so wonderfully entertaining to be completely surrounded by people my age from other countries. And now I have a friend in Italy! To sum her up I’ll tell you about the day we passed the sign that read, “penguin crossing.”

Okay, I have never seen a damn penguin in the wild so while I was negotiating the outrageously windy road, in full gusty rain, I begged Alice to keep a close eye on the beach and let me know if she saw a wobbly penguin emerge from the water. Less than a few minutes later she shrieked! Grabbed hold of my arm (as if, for on absurd and terrifying moment, she forgot I was driving) and said, “Oh! Slow! I think I see penguin!”

But I had seen what she saw just a split second earlier: a floppy animal running on the beach, with a stick in its mouth. Damn dog!

I told her this, she laughed, then shook her head, wanting to believe in the penguin sighting: “My imagination is stronger than reality, if I want to see penguin, I see penguin!”

I liked her immensely after that. We used our intense imaginations in the days that followed to convert our meager pasta and cheese dinners into a glorious feast akin to a thanksgiving meal! She is a funny and supportive companion and listens to me ramble on about life and love and everything else that is important to me. Thank you Alice! After more than a week together, tomorrow we both head away from here so that means tonight we drink lots of local beer!

All right! Off to another rice and beans dinner! (In my head I imagine a huge stir fry!) I have simplified myself even more down here. Wear the same thing every day (I have discarded many of my nasty working clothes) and eating pretty meager rations. But I feel FULL, more full, the fullest maybe ever. Does that make sense?

Peace,
laura