vibrantabyss

Been back in the States for a couple of days, albeit in SF visiting with eccentrific and gorgo in the nice 65 degree weather rather than the snowy mess of home.  A good way to ease back into things from summer.

My last day in NZ started with some lounging around the hostel to say goodbye to folks, then a 450km drive to Christchurch.  Total driving for the trip: 4650 km, which gives me an average self-conducted land speed of about 14kph.  Highlight of the drive back was pulling over and watching a pod of dolphins course back and forth in one small inlet.  Was great to see them as they are not common in the south isle this time of year.

I did not feel like coming home, but everything seemed to just fit.  There is a $25 departure fee to leave New Zealand, which I had forgotten about.  I had $26.30 left in my pockets.  I had requested an aisle seat, confirmed I had ailse all the way through... and when I boarded the long leg in Auckland, found I had been given a center seat.  Ick.  Talked to the concierge, and she changed me to a different, and totally empty row.  So I had choice of widow or ailse at will.  I also had not-quite-enough space to sleep lying down, but better than sitting up.

Of course, when I was transferred from AirNewZealand to their partner United for the leg from LA to SF, they botched the baggage.  The delivery of baggage to my hotel (I flew in on the 14th so was letting my hosts have that night to make special)  was botched.  Eventually I got my stuff tho. 

Dreams have been decidedly vibrant, and weird.  Last night I had three: one which would have to be locked.  The next one, I was fixing up an apartment and seeking five to eight housemates from various ficticious living groups, although the entire cast seemed either suspoid or dslj.  So I seemed to cycle between working on the house, making trips for materials - to something far more amazing than Home Despot, and paying visits to my friends at an old white and green Queen Anne style house with a collapsed second-story porch - tho it had fallen straight down, and folks had just re-seat the plastic furniture on the debris; a four or five story yellowish brick thing that may have been a converted hotel - it certainly had part of one floor that was a restaurant.  I remember remembering the name on the place (which was in blue letters) for about a minute after I woke - then it slid away.

The third was going to a department store to buy an expansion to a video game.  They had two versions, and while I managed to take down the last copy of both basic and deluxe and was pondering which I should get, a stock boy came by and took both of them.  The manager was apologetic, but explained that I took too long to decide.  When I complained, he gave me a "bonus flyer" of completely useless specials.

The prior night's dreaming ended with one about an apartment in a complex which had to be accessed through a set of three hallways at right angles to eachother.  Each with different ceiling heights, and widths, and relative proportions thereof.  The walls were a light bluish grey/  It took me close to two hours after waking up to feel like I was properly parsing space.

Neither night has proven restful, dspite being down close to ten hours each time... *grump*

Yesterday we drove to Monterey and spent the day on Cannery Row and in the Aquarium - best one I've been in ever.  We got to see sea otter both inside and out in the wild, and a bunch of neat displays.  Sadly no sunfish or seaturtles at present - the sunfish keep outgrowing the tank, and then getting refreshed.  The turtles had learned to eat the tank tiling, so are off display until the tank gets renovated this summer so they don't have access to toxic snacks... but it was still well worth the trip.

Today we are heading into the city, with hopes of hitting both the academy (science) museum and managing a walk in Muir Woods.  Then after dinner I get dropped off at the airport to redeye home.

Had a really great morning dive yesterday.  Two immersions, almost 2 hours under the surface.  It has been far too long since I've done that.  Was good to refresh my skills.  My buoyancy control was shit for the first fifteen minutes or so, both because I'm out of shape and I had forgotten how to breath gently at depth.  Dis-aiding this was the fact that this is only the 2nd day I've worn any sort of wetsuit while diving, so I was buoyant in places I don't normally expect to be.  I suspect I could have managed without, but I would not have been happy.  I am not throwning quite enough heat to cope with 60 minutes in 60 degree water - tho I used to be fine with it.  But that is ramping up, and by the second dive I was unzipping and pulling on the suit to flush in cold water.

First half was a wreck dive in 9-14m of water.  Lots of invertebrate life and a number of small fish.  The star of the show was a lone seahorse - the ones here are mostly nocturnal.  With uncurled tail, it must have been over a foot in length.  With tail curled in it was about 8".  Certainly the largest I've ever seen.  Our guide also found a live scallop, and placed it near a starfish.  It took about 2 seconds for the shellfish to react, open up and pump itself away!

The second dive was in a fish sanctuary, 12-16m, and started out with feeding blue cod.  Highlight this time went to what the guide was sure was a brittle star.  It was under a rock in a thin crack, so we only saw three arms waving.  But they were smooth and I thought most stars were.. feathery.  And the arms were surprisingly mobile for a star - ultra-thin tendrils 8"-10" in length - but too slow to be an octopus, which is the only other thing I could conceive it being.  A nice number of brightly colored fish all through the reserve - which is not usual for water this cold.

Amongst other things, I caught our dive master in making an error on the dive charts to determine our safety limits.  And I haven't bothered consulting them in decades.  I guess he usually relies on a wrist computer, or just knowing the limits on the dives (which he must run 3-5 times a week) that he hasn't used the chart in ages.  Good to know that I still recall how they work.

I failed to significantly taunt the rain with that comment in my last post.  It did spatter as I drove down from Picton post-dive, but no substantial rain.  The north and west are closing in on 20 days with no substantial precipitation, and baby kiwis are dying 'cause the ground is too hard-baked in some areas for their little bills to penetrate.

Last night while I was cooking dinner, our host brought in a baby hedgehog from the garden.  About half-sized, I think.  Cute little fella.  Couldn't take the time to play with him around the hot stove, and messy hands, and animals & food prep don't mix.  But cute little guy.  Seems he gets brought in about once a week to be shown to the guests and doesnt object.  There seems to be no adult around...  Sadly camera is not an easy fix, so no shots of the little guy.

Dropped dad off at the airport a hair after midnight. Time to go find trouble!

And these have been getting long so
( more behind the cut )

Yesterday was rafting, and Dad loved it. It was a class 2 to class 3-, nothing hard, but a nice 2 hours on the water. Got tossed about a bit, but the only swims anyone in my boat took were voluntary. Best bit was the end, 170m of tunnel followed by a sharp drop and turn.

In the afternoon, I busted hump driving 160k to a hiketo Rob Roy glacier, 3-4 hours listed. We got there at 6pm. Zoom we went up. Didn't make the trail end before the sun dipped behind the mountains, and allowed common sense to turn us around. Got some damn nice photos on the way tho.

Woke up this morning and had a nice 2 hour hike up one of the ridges overlooking Queenstown, then hustled 50k to a nice ranch and spent the afternoon on a low HP vehicle. Mine was about 10 years old, just under 18 hands, and answered to Jaffa. We were out for a little over two hours, and while most of it was at a walking pace, I did get to try and enjoy second and third gear. (that would be trot and canter...)

Sadly we had a quad from china with us, all women, who knew nothing of horses and little enough English, so we had several spills, one onto a rock riverbed, and a mini-stampede when two let their mounts get up to a gallop. With all that, we didn't up to speed as much as I would have liked, and the little Danish girl (maybe age 6, but already posting quite well) and her mother were rather incensed.

Dad had a blast, as he hadn't been riding in *cough* 50 or 60 years. But he still remembered enough that he handled his skittish ride well, and could read his mount's attitude and body language very well. He saw the ear twitches of his mount and had him reined in hard even before the two gallopers had gotten up to steam.

To keep things easy on the guides, they only referred to us by the horses names, so I was Jaffa for the afternoon :-) The guide I rode with was Jules, but I was reciprocating and calling her Charlie by the end of the ride. I also got to act as hitching post each time she had to dismount and dust off one of our disasters, since Charlie and Jaffa got along well.

Tomorrow we start towards Christchurch to get my dad on a plane. Then I have five days to play around on my own. Do I head back to Nelson in the north, Queenstown in the south, or try for some place new. Very likely that I will drop the car and just travel by bus as that is a lot cheaper for a single...

From a day and a half ago, but I lacked 'net:

And I don't mean the scenery. Two hours of driving on a road so twisty that, to look three seconds ahead of where I am, I am looking out the driver side window, the passenger side window, and back every 15 to 20 seconds. Sometimes I need to be staring through solid rock. Often I am pitched more than 10% one way or the other, and that much roll as well. Which works out to as many as 3 gees - I don't have those formula in my head atm. I guess I don't feel too bad about my state after two hours of that, but likely I'd wash out of fighter pilot school...

Note: I was traveling less than 2/3rd of the rated speed for the road. Even in a performance car, I'm not sure I would drive the limit as line of sigh would be well under 2 seconds in many places, under one in some.

For those that like math: 60 km/hr, 180 degree turns, 10 meter radius

Day 5 in Taiwan, and about time I posted a few short notes.  Spent my first few days in Banciao (or Banqiao, or one of half a dozen spellings) - translate as "Woodbridge" and have done.  Less particle pollution than Taipei, but more wave pollution (sound that is)  Earplugs helped when inside my Dad's 19th floor apartment, and were an absolute must when outside.  Weather was gorgeous - the right sort of 18-20 degrees to have outside.

Took a bullet train (300 kph) to the south of the island, where I now am.  Passing through the Tropic of Cancer, and dodging the three days of rain predicted up north the weather here is great, although the sun is brutal - 60 minutes by the pool, 30 on each side, was enough to give me the beginnings of a burn.  The sonic assault continues - the dinner music is about the right level once earplugs are in.  If I'm in my room, several floors away, with the door closed.

Spent yesterday hiking on ancient coral - now 500-600m above sea level.  I should have numerous pictures to post from that tomorrow.  Great terrain, tons of butterflies, one eagle, and several spiders.  Hiked that from the hotel, so it was about 16km total.  Slept very well after that.

The water is beautiful and clear, but almost devoid of sea life, at least at snorkling depths.  Not going to SCUBA as it's not my Dad's thing, and really this is a trip to visit with him.

Tomorrow taking a bus tour in the morning, to get to some of the less accessible natural wonders - the one I most want to see is a fissure that is billed as "natural fire" - constantly leaking some sort of gas I guess...  And then back north on another bullet.