Friday, May 30, 2008
After a grueling yet satisfying 3 and half months, I have finally made my way back to my long missed bed and bolster. The long WorkHol trip has given me an interesting insight of life. Travelling around NZ is a cool experience literally, and it has definitely trained me to be a more independent man.
Friends are an immense important part of travelling. I couldn’t imagine myself doing it alone so I’m really glad that Jiahua is with me. I won’t deny it’s not easy for 2 people to live, eat and sleep together as there are bound to be differences and conflicts. However I’m proud that we did not let those small things ruin our friendship and importantly the trip. The working part was tough. Sometimes we worked till midnight and the next day wake up at 7 to start work again. But such hard times were short lived.
I also met and made friends along the way in NZ. These are the people who will make your day and make my trip in NZ a more fulfilling one. One such guy is JON. He’s a Brazilian whom we met when we were picking apples. During that part which was our lowest point in NZ, he helped us a lot like giving us advices in work. When we went Auckland, he was there to help us all the way, selling our car and bringing us explore Auckland. Too bad he could not extend his stay in NZ if not we could have more fun.
After friends, the experience is the second most important thing I felt. This is sort of the longest time I have been away from home. This is the time which my true independence and self-survival skills are tested. After this trip, I sort of felt the last time when I came to NZ with the tour was a waste of time. It was so rushed through and I didn’t learn much of the culture here. So, it’s a point to try backpacking and exploring the country rather than going on a tour package. Europe is definitely a must-go destination.
Of course not to mention is the adventures that I have “risked” through. The highlights will be the skydive, bungy.
SKYDIVE - It was like dangling my life on the cord of a parachute.Tandem skydiving is easy, you’re just strapped to the instructor and being told to bend like a banana (head up, hips forward, legs back).While the plane was taxiing to the start of runway, it felt almost like a normal plane ride. There was no sense of queasy or nervous. But when the plane reached the altitude, butterflies seemed to start occupying my stomach. It was too scary to sit out of the plane and looked down at the clouds not stepping onto anything. The best moment was tumbling out of the plane feeling completely befuddled. Not knowing up from down is priceless. At 12,000 feet, you get a 45s of freefall which was without doubt the shortest 45s of my life. The rush that you get is difficult to explain.Luckily I did buy the DVD which cost a lot more, cause I get to convince my unborn children that I kicked some ass back in the day.
BUNGY – It is a different ball game from skydive. You sit down and a towel is placed in between your ankles. A tight Velcro binds it and with some tying, a karabiner connected to the Bungy cord is attached to you at the ankles. The whole trick about Bungy is DO NOT look down before you jump. You will just be scared off your balls/whatever and knees will start buckling. I looked down, I got scared, my balls dropped, and the countdown from the back says “YIDA, don’t be a loser and not jump!” Hopping onto the platform and after a 3-2-1, I took the leapt of faith. The bungy cord went taut and snapped me back upwards. On my face was a ridiculous half fear half euphoria look.
The ground rush you get from a bungy is something you don’t get from skydiving, accelerating towards nature at a pace only matched by your heart rate.
The journey down was crazy, with my arms flailed about and irrational thoughts raced through my mind. But saving my life, my freefall slowed as the cord became taut and sprung back upwards for the second part of my ride.
Whao, it’s a long entry, a short summary of over the 3 plus months. Time to feast on some kiwis and chocolates. That’s what NZ is full of too other than sheep and cows.
I miss the turquoise blue lakes, the lushy green hills, the snow-capped mountains, the noisy sheep bahs and cow moos, and the warmth of Kiwis. But there’s one thing I hate here and in every cold country, a cold toilet seat. It will just kill your urge to shit.
oh ya, i lost of mighty pink ipod in NZ. for now i will survive on my tough V3i for music entertainment until the ultra cool iphone is in singapore.
my silver V3i is playing, "I'm yours - Jason Mraz (We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things)"
Jim popped a can of Jolly Shandy @ 12:16 PM
1 Comments:
At 1:56 PM,
Scott said…
Haha.. sounds like you had a ball of a time at NZ. Glad you grew and enjoyed yourself at the same time!
Welcome home!
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