The Great Escape

Our foray into Abel Tasman marked the beginning of the end. The following days comprised the final pages of our first New Zealand chapter. We visited “Pupu Springs” – the “world’s largest freshwater spring” at sunrise one day. The water appeared to boil up out of the ground into a giant, clear pool — stunning!   It’s against the rules to come into contact with the water in any way, shape or form. “Say No to Didymo” is a phrase every Kiwi must know — a parasite that infects waterways and turns them into slimy, orange-brown messes. We also got as close as possible to Farewell Spit — the arm of land that stretches out into the watery abyss. Wharariki Beach (Far-rah-ree-kee) is infamous for is furious winds, which introduced sand into every crevice of our clothes, ears, shoes, eyes, noses, and mouths that it could find. (For the record, the intensity of a screaming wind tunnel was fun to experience).

The rains did arrive, which became a snow storm as we crested Lewis Pass. One morning, just moments before a downpour, our carton of eggs crashed to the pavement. Dedicated to the religion of ‘waste-not-want-not,’ there was nothing to do but make scrambled eggs in the rain! We did get to see the high-elevation results of all that precipitation bathed in a sunrise one morning. What a way to start a day! We even found a hard-to-come-by side-of-the-road spot to camp one night that didn’t require the usual ritual of vacating before sunrise. What a luxury!

We found creative ways to burn time the last few days before departure. We spent a long afternoon at the Hanmer Springs library getting work done, we tasted at our first-ever distillery, and we played rummy and drank sherry in the van all while unknowingly making the security guards at the earthquake-relief housing across the street very uncomfortable. In preparation for our forty-hour airport travel stint, we stayed at an atypical holiday park. While we enjoyed the usual amenities, we were treated to several characters. Usually holiday parks are full of people on holiday. This place ended up being more like a trailer park full of permanent residents, but with communal facilities like an RV park. After dinner, a man who claimed to be a shaman and a spirit priest told us about his visions. Later that evening, a wild-eyed, wild-haired, rough-neck sort laid claim to the poster on the wall encouraging passersby to order their free copy of a publication that clears up confusion regarding the “Great Conspiracy.” The A-frame check-in lobby had several mounted animal trophies. Of all the dinners being cooked, ours was the only one that contained something green and didn’t involve frying in butter. Among the plethora of jigsaw puzzles, we found a complicated San Fransisco scene that gave us hours of entertainment and something to do while listening to the crazies.

Finally it was time to go to Christchurch, meet Emily’s brother Will, and fly to our families! We had an awesome evening sharing stories with Will and chatting about everything under the sun. I think he forgave us for keeping him up late on a work-night, and we are incredibly thankful to him for sharing his slice of paradise in Diamond Harbour with us. (And for babysitting our van during the New Zealand winter!)

We had to fly to Auckland a day early, since our international flight departed at 7 a.m. To save on an already astronomically expensive trip, we activated ‘Operation Sleep In the Airport.’ I researched it online and found the sweet spot in a few travel forums. The ‘Observation Deck’ wasn’t always quiet, but it was dark and we caught enough Z’s to feel fairly normal in the morning. Twenty-eight hours, five airplane movies, three airports, and one confiscated pair of tiny medical scissors later we greeted my father in the sweltering Arizona heat and began a priceless adventure!

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