After Kaikoura

I left the beach before the sun came up, and drove north along the southern island’s eastern coast. The clouds were broken by the rising sun and the seals were just starting to stir. I got some great pictures of a flock of noisy seagulls culling me away, I think, from their nest. I was really hoping they wouldn’t attack me.

I talked to a Welsh man on the side of the road who was driving down to Queenstown with his family, anxious to jump off something. I got back in the car and got to Nelson by noon, bought some sunglasses and a Milo bar, which is a little like snickers, and headed into Blenheim and eventually Motueka, right outside of Abel Tasman National Park, where I planned to spend the next few days walking, as they call it here. To Americans, it’s still a hike, no matter what the gradient. I settled in to  a dingy holiday park to set up my tent and met a few Israelis. They were on their post-service world trip (young Israelis all have to serve in the army) and were on their second leg, after Australia. I had been to Israel the December before, so we had some things to talk about.

We joked about fallafel and then watched the tear-jerking Extreme Makeover II: Home Edition, not to be facetious. It is quite a show, for all its glamor and heedless spending, it still manages to help people. According to witnesses, it’s what “makes America great.” It’s not terrible, I guess. After that I watched a bit of Speed with Keanu Reaves and went to sleep, dreaming for good weather on tommorow’s hike.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed! - Joshua Malina, IES Abroad