|
|
|
Fri, 23 May 2003
Well, I've finally made it back to New York. I'm at my Mom's place
out on Long Island. Tomorrow I get to go see Cirque du Soleil with my
fabulous sister. I'll be in the New York Area until May 30th, when I
fly to Boulder, CO for Craig's and Lysandra's wedding.
The passage from Mazatlan to Hilo was definately a good experience.
There weren't any interesting disasters, so the sailing itself
was just nice. The weather didn't quite cooperate, with the Pacific
High taking a vacation (and squelching the breeze) just when we
were about to latch on to the easterly tradewinds, but you can't
have everything. A week later it came back and we were cooking
along nicely for the last week into Hilo. We did have some minor
trouble with the wind vane self-steering gear in terms of chafe,
but really, who doesn't? All in all, I was VERY impressed with the
Sailomat and would
buy one for my cruising boat, if I had such a boat. The food was
great and Ken is an
exceptionally talented cook. The six bottles of wine we shared along
the way didn't hurt either. We did catch one fish, a small tuna,
on Day 2 when we were both seasick. Ken cleaned it up and we tossed
it in the freezer to be eaten later. One highlight of the trip was
trading limericks with the family on Swallow (one of the boats who
joined the impromptu 5H Net - the Hilo Hoppers Happy Half Hour).
Once we got to Hawai'i, we caught up with John and Mary from Irish Rose. They joined Ken
and myself in exploring Mauna
Kea (where all the way-cool observatories are) and Kilauea (the active volcano).
|
Mon, 12 May 2003
Well, Ken and I have arrived on Wishful Thinking after 23 days at sea.
It was an uneventful passage overall, the biggest problems being related to
the self-steering gear. However, we improvised and what we ended up
doing in the end was better than what we started with in the first place.
Once we tied up and took some hot showers, we snuck off for our first
meal on land. The nice restaurant down the street was booked solid
for the next two hours, so we ended up at Ken's 24 Hour House of Pancakes.
After staring at a menu with a boggling list of hundreds of choices, we
ended up both ordering humongous green salads (Well, Ken got the caesar
salad with chicken, I got the chef's salad). Then back to the boat for
lots and lots of sleep.
I've got a few days here in Hilo and I'm going to try to change my
flights around to allow me a couple of days in Honolulu as well. Then
it is back to the Bay Area for a day, and then two weeks in New York,
followed by a wedding in Boulder, CO. I might be back in the Bay Area
in mid- to late-June. If the job market still looks bleak, I might
do a road trip and try to catch up with many good friends who I haven't
seen in way too long. Places on the itinerary would be: Madison WI,
Buffalo NY, Derry NH, Boston MA, New Haven CT, New York NY, Fords NJ,
Baltimore MD, Washington DC, St Louis MO, and Boynton Beach FL.
|
Sun, 13 Apr 2003
Wow, Mexico is great! We've been putting in a lot of work on the boat and
stocking up on provisions, but I really like the vibe here in Mazatlan.
I could see myself coming back to Mexico, especially if I pick up
some Spanish.
Ken and I should be casting off the docklines tomorrow afternoon.
It will take us about a week to pick up the trade winds, but then we
will be rapidly making for Hilo on the Big Island. You can follow
our progrss (or lack thereof) via the Pacific Seafarers Net at YOTREPS. See you all in
a month!
|
Mon, 07 Apr 2003
|
After a brief stop in the SF Bay Area, I'm heading out again.
Tomorrow I'll be flying to Mazatlan to connect with Ken. Hopefully
within a week we'll be sailing west to Hilo, Hawaii. The passage
should take about a month, so don't be surprised if you don't hear
from me until late May. When I do come back I'll be heading to
Portland, OR to hang with Sarah for a bit, including a trip out to
Colorado for Lysandra's and Craig's wedding.
Anyway, I need to visit West Marine and pick up some gear for the
boat. See you later!
Hal
|
Sat, 29 Mar 2003
Right, so I flew from Christchruch to Auckland, which was quite
uneventful. Upon getting to Auckland I checked in for the last time
to the City YHA. It was Oscar night, so I watched the whole thing on
TV. I was the only guy clapping when Michael Moore spoke out, which
felt a tad weird. The next day I took the InterCity bus down to
Taupo. I checked in to the hostel and went to do some food shopping.
I wanted to try to finish all the staples and stuff I had been
dragging all over the country. Since I had left some jasmine rice,
some dijon mustard and some local mauka honey, clearly I needed to
make chicken in a honeymustard sauce over rice. Nothing could be
easier. I could even make enough to have leftovers so that if I was
too tired to cook after doing the Tongariro Crossing, I'd still have
good food to eat. So I hit the supermarket and picked up some
chicken, some yoghurt for breakfast, a chocolate bar (always a good
idea for hiking), a box of apricot granola bars and a 750ml bottle of
spring water (to augment my own 1 liter water bottle that I always
take with me). I made dinner, ate, and pretty much went straight to
bed. I had to get up at 5:45am to make a 6:20am bus to get to the
Tongariro National Park. There was an even earlier bus, but that one
cost and extra $10.
The morning of the Crossing and I was getting nervous. Every now and
then the NZ TV news does a story on unprepared hikers getting in
trouble over the Crossing. They talk about bad weather and people
without food and people with the wrong shoes, etc. I resisted
overpreparing, which I am prone to do. I started out towards the tail
end of the group, partly because I was almost the last guy off the
bus, but also because I stopped at the first hut 20 minutes into the
walk to apply a thick layer of sunblock. Another half hour took me
through the initial flat section to Soda Springs. hen came the
Devil's Staircase. The bus driver had talked fearfully about this
before letting everyone off the bus. I had looked at the topo map,
and I know it was only 400 meters, which was less than I had done in
Katoomba, and only equivalent to two Rangitotos (I've taken to
comparing all my ascents and descents to the 45 minutes it took me to
do Rangitoto in my first week in Auckland). Still, I tend to find
steep ascents challenging. Sure, I rested a couple of times on the
way up, but I never really felt stressed in the least. I didn't pass
anyone on the climb, but everyone stopped for a long break at the top
and I just walked on through.
Then I turned a corner and saw the first crater, called creatively
enough South Crater. It was stunning. There's this sense that you
are walking in a place you were not meant to walk. And all the rocks,
from large to small to teeny, within inches of the track look
completely untouched, as if they have sat there in the exact same
position for centuries. Very spooky. But tremendously beautiful. It
was so beautiful that I felt myself grinning. That
motocycle-rider-bugs-in-teeth kind of smile. Then as I started
walking up the other side of the crater I could help myself and I
started giggling and chortling to myself. It was a great feeling.
Along the way up I met this couple of the eastern shore of Maryland,
which made for some nice company. At the top of the crater's edge,
you can now look down into the next crater: Red Crater.
From the top of this edge of the crater you start going down, at first
through some very loose volcanic rock, which just rolls right out from
under your feet. This is a little disconcerting at first, but I
quickly foudn that the best way to go down is just to let yourself
slide along and not try to control it too much. It's really just like
ice skating, except you don't need to push with your off-foot to
accelerate, you just let gravity pull you along. Then I was at the
emerald lakes, which reminded me of some of the parts of Rotorua, only
much bigger. A small descent over now-stable rock and then along the
floor of the third crater, whose name I don't recall. Another rise to
get out of this last crater, and then the world goes back to normal.
It was an easy walk to another of the huts. I got there by noon. I
had started at 8:30am, so it took me three and a half hours. I was
running at least an hour ahead of schedule. In hindsight, I wish I
had not been so concerned with how hard the Crossing might be and
slowed down and enjoyed the views more. I did take a lot of pictures,
though. I sat at the hut for an hour and played a riddle game with a
Dane sitting next to me (this guy drives up to a hotel owned by his
son, the guy realizes he is broke, the whole family is happy -
explain!). The weatehr had been gorgeous and sunny before I got to
the hut, but the sky clouded over and it got cold. I decided to walk
down the rest of the way to the car park and catch the early bus which
cost another $5 but otherwise I would have had to wait an extra hour
and I hadn't brought anythnig to read. It was one of the best days I
had on the whole trip and I hope one day I get to do it again.
Things get a lot less interesting now. I took the bus back to
Auckland the next day, and immediately went up to Orewa. Partly this
was to say goodbye to Stephen and Esther and all the people I had
becmoe friendly with there, and partly it was to collect the box of my
stuff they were keeping for me at the hostel. I decided to take a
private room instead of a dorm as a treat at the end of the trip. The
next day I said my farewells and took the bus down to Auckland. Now I
really went upscale and checked into the Rydges Hotel, a 4-star hotel
in downtown Auckland. This was using the money my aunt and uncle had
given me for this purpose before I left.
Today was a busy day. I got up early and went on a souvenir buying
spree. I must have hit every tourist shop on Queen St, trying to find
appropriate things for family and friends. Then back to the hotel to
drop everything off, and down to the Viaduct for a ride on NZL40, an
International America's Cup Class yacht, for a two hour sail on the
Hauraki Gulf. I got to do a lot of grinding, I steered through a
genaker gybe, and also briefly upwind under the #3 jib. Fairly cool.
It was actually easier to sail this boat than some 30-footers I've
raced on. After that I went up to the Sky Tower for a view of the
city at sunset, which wasn't bad at all. Then dinner and this wrap-up
posting to the blog.
Tomorrow I'll head down to the airport, pay my departure tax and fly
to Los Angeles. I'll spend two night there with Mike, a good friend
from my college days. He's got to work on Monday, but I plan on going
to Disneyland. Then on the 2nd I fly to Oakland. But I won't be
in the Bay Area for long. My friend Ken wants to sail his boat from
Mexico to Hawaii and it looks like I'll be going with him. We should
get to Hilo by the end of April. Plans become cloudy at that point,
but my friend Craig is getting married in Colorado at the end of May,
so you know I'll be there.
This has been a great adventure, and a big part of me really doesn't
want to return to the real world. It's hard to explain, but I think
I've learned a lot about myself, rediscovered parts of my personality
I had forgotten or buried, and generally feel proud and happy about
how things went. If anyone reading this gets the hankering to go and
do some traveling, I say "good on ya" and go have a blast. It's one
of the best things I've ever done.
|
|
