GeCKo!

...easily amused...

WWOOF...

Before heading out to the Aspiring Hut, we had contacted a WWOOF host near Queenstown who agreed to host us. Not only did his house have a rainbow above it, it had solar panels... and was the first place in NZ to send power back into the grid.

Jon is very successful at running a WWOOF farm, he's been at it for more than 25 years, and I think it's key to be very organized, and very strict... which he was. Anyway, we got to do a lot of jobs that we never got to do, and stay in one place for a while... which was nice.

Kim ready to work.

Cracking nuts

Hazelnuts galore

Jon's got a great home heating system which uses a "wet vac"... aka heat exchanger... he though we were crazy for not knowing what a wet vac was... we though he was crazy... period.

Oh Kevin gave himself another job... fixing his camera... since his LCD screen on his camera broke, he was trying to replace it with my old, old camera.

Shifting soil

One night we went to Arrowtown, an old gold mining town, where his niece works.

Best job goes to Kevin... who had to cut frozen chicken.

Making chicken-sicles...

... and in camoflauge

Oh, Laura also made some cookies...

... and contrary to the title of the cookbook she used, the cookies did not rise.

Kevin... day 3 of fixing the camera...

NZ... Part 3...

On the Central Otago Rail Trail. We rented bikes and did around 140 km in 2 days. Beautiful trail, and don't have to worry about the Death Monsters (aka... cars)


Penguins!!


waddling...




At the WWOOF host's place outside of Dunedin. She has a Teepee. Oh and we shoveled some cow poo.

So... we've settled in the Shevanagan... And we've slowly made our way south. Waay south. And we're headed off to Stewart Island even further south to go hike the Raikura Track with Ksenya...

Update: WWOOFing, koalas, and the heat.

So, we've been volunteering at a WWOOF host in Maffra, Victoria for the last week. It's been quite an enjoyable experience, and I'm sure our bums are not looking forward to getting back on the saddle tomorrow. The couple we have been staying with have an amazing house in the country, and live a very enviable lifestyle. We have had many topics to cover, as they are climbers (they have a cliff like 30 ft from their house they can climb… though the weather hasn't cooperated for me to hop on the rock), telemark skiers, avid cyclists (Jim lived in Belgium for 3 years as a pro), kayakers (there's a few places you can walk to from their house, a creek that I got to kayak down on my second day… for about 10 km or so, and a lake very close by), and travelers (they've been everywhere). It's very interesting actually living with a family as you slowly figure out similarities and differences between cultures. Having this time to relax and talk about culture, environment, wildlife, etc… has been very eye-opening. We've had a lovely stay and hope to do some more WWOOFing in the future… maybe in NZ and Japan?

Before arriving here, we were at Raymond Island for a few days as noted in the previous entry, and we took the 6 am ferry across and rode 100 km here most of it in the morning... then in the evening after we stopped in a pub around 2 pm… haven't rode since.

Gear List... what to take....

I'm a gear head... but need to travel light. Oh the dilemma....

...UPDATED (Mar 7th).

- the top 15 best (i.e. most awesome-est) things so far we've brought/bought on the trip... I'd just read this part and skip the rest if you aren't too interested:

1. Acer Aspire One - This thing rocks. And less than 400$ from Walmart, purchase the day of departure. I guess traveling with a laptop is the way to go. McDonald's has WiFi... got me to go through the Golden Arches for the first time in years. Oh, and it's pink. Nick named "manly"... for obvious reasons.
2. Nokia MD-6 mini speakers - also amazing... works well with above product, or ipod or mp3 player.
3. Keen SPD sandals. Awesome... don't know where we'd be without these. Probably with foot fungus in Sydney still.
4. Z-pack. These bags are unbelievably awesome. Has already come in useful numerous times... kept our gear very light on the Overland Track, which let us enjoy the hike a lot more than the others who were much like mules. I was called "marathon boy" on the trail as I like to run up some of the peaks, but since I was carrying such a light bag, it was very easy to do... one thing I'd change is the breast strap... it's hard to undo... just got an e-mail from Joe Valesko... he said the problems have been fixed... awesome... it's great to be able to contact the person who makes the bag directly and get a response with in the hour... can't say enough good things about this bag... if you do ANY backpacking... this should be high on your X-mas list.
5. IPA stove... I think I blogged about these... but this has been quite handy, and easy to travel with... I think mine is about done... and need to make another one soon...
6. Thermos - Cam & Erika... I think this might be yours (we promise to buy you a new one when we get back...). When I asked Kimbo if the thermos was hers... she says she said "no"... but I heard "yes"... so sorry... but it's awesome. I get up in the morning earlier than Kimbo, boil water... eat breakky, and put the hot water in the thermos, and Kimbo can has hot water waiting for her.
7. North Face Jacket & Sleeping bag... both down of high quality. The down jackets are 900 fill, and I think the sleeping bags are 800. So they pack REALLY small... we have a stuff sack for the sleeping bags, and another for the jackets (thanx Becca!)... both combined are smaller than most people's single sleeping bag. Down is the only way to go, yo!
8. Laser Pointer/Sky Chart... the summers down under are not like the summers in the Sierra... where a clear night is almost expected... But we've had a few nice nights and the Southern Hemisphere sky chart with the laser pointer keeps my ADHD self preoccupied for a few hours when it's clear.
9. Juggling balls... for the ADHD touring cyclist... i.e. me.
10. BIG duffel bag... brought this as an after thought so that the airlines wouldn't charge us to check in multiple bags... but it's come handy in many places so far... it fits all four of our panniers, and when we have LOTs of gear, we put stuff in it and bungee it to the back rack.
11. Salomon Waterproof Running shoes... amazing... but seriously the thing I like the most might be their lace system... which makes it easy to wear as a slipper as well as a shoe...
12. SilNylon Ponchos... purchased from Campmor... these ponchos are amazing... very light, doubles as a tarp, and very waterproof.
13. TarpTent...very light, and waterproof enough. Has come in handy many times on the trail so far.. but it's also very nice for hikes like the overland track where carrying a tent is required, even though you may not use it... (like us)... and end up forgetting it at the last hut... and have to run back 22 km... (like me)
14. Swim goggles. With so many beaches, and so many fish, it'd be nice to bring the whole snorkel and fins, but these work well too.
15. Olympus 1030SW. We've swam everyday so far... and so has the Olympus.(update... this has since broken... as far as cameras go... Canons still rule... as far as waterproofness goes... we'll see)

In broad categories.
General

• Camera (Canon SD870IS... and the Olympus 1030SW?)... actually both of these cameras died... the 870 had a shoddy repair job after I sent it back before the trip, and is being fixed now... and the 1030 also died... so we got the 830? in Melbourne.
• Batteries (2 spare.)
• Charger
• SD card (2 - 8gb SD, 2gb Xd)
• WD Passport (120GB to back up pics, music, movies...)
• Acer One mini laptop (THIS THING IS AWESOME)
• Travel Guidebooks (lonely planet Australia)
• Books for pleasure reading (The road that has no end, a year of living biblically, WWOOF)
• Pack Towel (1/person)
• Headlamp (1/person + spare batteries) + a spare by Petzl
• Sunglasses (1/person)
• flip flops for around town? (buy there if needed...cost 2$ AU)
• Toiletries
• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste
• Floss
• Contacts (4 pairs)
• Sunscreen
• Drugs
• Cipro
• Immodium
• Aleve
• AlkaSeltzer
• Allergy Meds

BackpackingClothes

• Running Shoes (with Gore-Tex... for WWOOF and Backpacking)
• Hat (warm... from Salvo... 2$)
• Socks (2 - 1 ininj, 1 double layer)
• Bandana (2 per person)
• Cut off pants (patagonia... nice doesn't have a waist strap that starts hurting after a while like all the other pants)
• Shirt (one polypro - from Salvo 2$AU)
• Long Sleeve Shirt (wicking - TNF)
• Bike Jacket (just windblock... great for going on trail runs, fits in your pocket)
• Down Jacket (NF 900 fill)
• Z-pack - they seem pretty cool... excited to try it out for this trip...I got the "blast" 26... weighing in at 108 grams!!! holy moly... THESE ARE DA BOMB!!!
• Gonna try out the Ortlieb carry system... it does weigh 2 times as much as my Z-pack at 270 grams... (Warning... consumer, DO NOT BUY...RETURNED... this thing sucks!!! Obviously has never been actually used by anyone with any sense)
• Sleeping Bag (40 deg down)
• Pad (Thermarest UL - Aquaseal for repair)
• Tent (UL 2 person - Tarptent)
• SilNylon Poncho from Campmor

Cooking

• go alcohol stove... see IPA stove blog
• mini-titanium pot... works well enough for 2.
• 2 sporks (bambu... lost one on the Overland :(...)
• foldable plates (Orikaso)
• 1 mug (nope, got a thermos)
• Tiny nalgene container for Olive Oil

Other

• iPod mini
• Sandisk MP3 player (30 $, runs on battery, so good for long hikes, etc... where there is not outlet for the ipod)
• Mini speakers (Nokia MD-6)
• Microphone/headphone for use with Skype...
• Cell Phone... (yup, got one... really nice to have especially if you are meeting up with WWOOF hosts, friends, Warmshowers, etc...)
• StarChart (of the Southern Hemisphere)
• Laser Pointer
• Aussie Wildlife foldout...
• 
  

Cycling

• Shoes (got some Keen Sandals SPDs... review here... I agree too narrow... don't know about durability... these rock...)
• Socks (use one of the two above)
• Cycling Shorts (2 ...one on, one drying after washing...)
• Shirt (1 - a hawiian)
• Legs (we already have...take... Tasmania high in Feb is 61, low is 45...)
• Arms (will get later... if needed)
• Gloves? (light)
• Helmet
• Helmet Cover (4 - Shower caps, 2 for seats, 2 for helmets...nice for seats... never really used for helmets)
• Hat... for when it's raining... a baseball cap is key.
• Poncho (we already have)
• Panniers (Ortlieb - Front Rack?)
• 3 water bottles
• Thermos - Nissan JMW-500 (why?... for coffee of course... kimbo doesn't function with out the black gold (we'll need to get Topeak Modula)
• Bike Parts
• 1 spare foldable tire (purchase there)
• 1 tube, and some patches
• Hand Cleaner?
• Repair tools
• Spoke Wrench
• Chain wrench
• pedal wrench
• Tire Lever
• Hex/multi-tool
• Cone Wrench
• Cables (brake/shifter)
• Spare bolts (film canister)
• Freewheel Tool
• Needle nose (leatherman?)
• Spokes

Links to other lists.

• Bike Fish
• Bitrot
• another
• Tibet