There's a lot to say about New Zealanders, and I'll probably just have to create a series talking about the different amazing personalities that we meet. As a general rule, New Zealanders are the friendliest, most generous, welcoming, and do-it-yourself people in the world. However, right now, we're meeting a lot of really interesting people at hostels, only a few of whom are Kiwis. As we go further South on the South Island, we're starting to meet some really intense backpackers.
I started thinking about writing this post because of a few conversations with travelers today that made me very thoughtful. Kara and I rolled into Bluff Lodge around 11AM and we had the hostel to ourselves for a few hours, to the point where we weren't sure if anyone else was coming. Around 5 though, we had a few folks show up. The people we met at Bluff were pretty different to the people we've met at hostels before!
We met Ron and Gabriella, who had just come on the ferry from Stewart Island. They had (separately) spent the past 10/12 days hiking on the more rugged parts of the island! Then Stanley and Wendy and Bethany came from the North, like us.
Ron is older and from British Columbia. He sold his house, and was traveling with a bike and a canoe. He traveled thousands of kilometers north in Canada, to about 100k south of the the polar lakes. I think he might be just walking in New Zealand though... He's buried some food stores in five places higher on the island, and is going to walk from Bluff all the way to the highest north point, at Cape Reigna.
Gabriella is a New Yorker, and she used to be a really intense ballerina. After Sandy, she started to work like crazy and save her money. She also got really into rock climbing. She sold everything she owns and has been traveling the past 8 months, through Southeast Asia and New Zealand, and I think next she's going next to the Himalayas and after that to walk the El Camino from Austria to Spain. She isn't planning to return to the US any time soon!
Stanley and Wendy, from Hong Kong, just finished doing the opposite of what Ron is going to do. It's called the Te Araroa trail, and it goes from Cape Reigna to Bluff. It takes like four months. You walk it!!!
Bethany is from New Hampshire, but has been living in NZ for four years as a zookeeper. She primarily works with kiwis.
We've also met Lex, who is older and who runs the backpackers. He was a teacher, from what I understand, and I'm not sure how he got into running the hostel. He said that at first he was quite shy and hermity, a lot like me, but that this job has opened him up a lot. He enjoys taking travelers to a big world map he keeps on the wall and having them point out where they're from- he's learning quite a bit about geography!
We've met travelers similar to this all along, but the ones from Bluff seem a bit more all-out. Kara and I are traveling with big suitcases and a car, and of course we're both very new to tramping. I keep putting myself in their position and wondering what it would be like to do something like what they've done. To Ron and Gabriella, it's completely normal (and perhaps weird that we don't?). Could I just pick up and completely leave my life, selling everything and just going, like Ron and Gabriella? Could I permanently move to another country, like Bethany? I think I could but I don't think I'd end up liking it. Gabriella said that she's never felt more free. She can carry everything she owns on her back. It must be amazing to experience that kind of freedom, but I think that I'm the type of person that likes being a little tied down... I think I'm finding that about myself. Well, I think I already knew. What's strange is that I'm jealous of her, even as at the same time I know I could never enjoy it the way she does. Maybe I'm jealous of her for being the type of person who CAN enjoy it. Isn't it funny? Back home, I always used to be jealous of people who traveled, and now I'm jealous of people who travel more. Oh, self. But in the end, I think what Lex has done is more my style. I think that it must get very lonely, doing what Gabriella and Ron have done.
But what's important is something that Gabriella pointed out. You might think there are things you can't do, but that's not really true. You can do anything, if you just actually do it. A point upon which to muse. But I knew it already- after all, I'm here!