So I'm here in Reefton with a little time on my hands, and have decided to write a blog update. How did I get here? Guess there are some gaps to fill. Listen - I tell you.

So if we rewind to where we left off - after the Sziget adventure in August. I had a great night out drinking with a last minute Turkish couchsurfer and a local Irish expat in October, did a night hike with the local Couchsurfing group and a wild ride to Oktoberfest (photos will have to wait till I'm back home) in September, knee surgery (sewn meniscus + replaced anterior cruciate = fun fun fun) in October, and I played tour guide and helped my Kiwi cousin Tamar find winter season work in November.

And with that out of the way, I'm at December where the real story begins. Thomas and I met early one Friday morning, boarded an aeroplane and flew to London Heathrow, then to Singapore, then to Sydney, and then at long bloody last after 32 hours of flying with minimal sleep, no shower stops and no luggage we arrived in Christchurch on Christmas day. I had Christmas dinner with both my parents, Rowena, Maik, Thomas, Simon, Olivia and two other Swiss guys and stayed awake until it was over. Max gave me a rowboat for Christmas which he'd built himself earlier - wow. We stayed there a few days and our luggage arrived - broken, but there. I disappeared into town on the 26th to visit the old gamer crew at a lan party somewhere, crashed over at Paullo's current residence and returned on the 27th.

Then began Convergence. How does one explain Convergence to someone who's never been there? The simple fact is that you can't really explain some 300 people living out on a remote farm as a big extended family for a week or so. I did a music writing course, had lots of hugs, lived on a vegan-only diet (except for the one day we escaped to town for steak and beers), played lots of guitar, mantained (and quality-controlled) the sauna, learnt a haka, lost my voice, and came away with several new perspectives. More than that? You'd have to ask me personally and even then it's a tough one to picture. You just had to be there. Sorry.

Sailing came next. Max, Rowena and I caught some wild southerly winds from Lyttelton harbour and sailed in one 30 hour stint to Cape Jackson. We took shifts and came into the shelter of Cape Jackson at around 2am in blustering winds and high seas. The ship got pooped once and we damaged a kayak. We waited out the next day, then proceeded to make a run through Cook Straight starting at 5am and arriving in Ship Cove shortly after lunch. And this is where I must switch perspectives and tell the tale from Maik and Thomas's point of view. You see, we had agreed to meet these unforutnate lads in Ship Cove the day before, however having been loaned a somewhat unreliable cellphone connected to a somewhat unreliable cellular network, they did not get my message about meeting one day later. Oh, bugger. So off they went, paid their NZ$70 water taxi fare and waited patiently in Ship Cove for us one full day before we actually arrived. Did I mention that Ship Cove had no cellphone reception? Superfail. So by the time we arrived, they'd already paid another NZ$70 to head back to Picton to figure out what the hell was going on - only to be greeted by a hail of text messages, emails and facebook messages from me saying "hope you get this message but we're coming tomorrow" as soon as they came into coverage. Switching back to our perspective, we arrived to find the place deserted. I thought they might come a bit later in the afternoon so I brought a book and sat out at Ship Cove for the afternoon. When evening rolled around with nobody having showen up, I determined that something was up. Did I mention there was no cellphone reception? Ho hum. The next morning we sailed out into the middle of the Queen Charlotte Sound where there was reception, only to receive a hail of text messages saying "guys, where the hell were you? We're back in Picton". So 48 hours behind schedule we made first contact. One further surprise for me. Maik made the decision to skip the sailing trip altogether, and followed his lady friend (whom he met at Convergence) to the north island.

We met in Picton. Sean and Tanya were there too. Expecting bad weather, we spent two days on land doing day walks and exploring Nelson. My knee held out pretty well actually - better than expected. Several of the following days were spent cruising the Queen Charlotte Sound. Had a really nice evening with a fire on the beach, and discovered Punga Cove where they serve Monteith's Black on tap. Day walks, swimming, anchor hopping. Great times. We eventually left Sean and Tanya at Punga Cove and embarked on our sailing journey towards D'Urville Island where we caught a Bigeye Tuna and shared it with some local friends of my dad's. Then on across the bay to Abel Tasman, leaving at 2am and arriving to early morning torrential rain and gusting winds. It eventually cleared, and the bay was beautiful again. Turquoise water, golden beaches, native bush. Just paradise. We swam more, walked more, and eventually walked out from Torrent Bay to Marahau for some well earned tucker and a Monteiths. Hitched to Kaiteriteri with a French spear fisherman, bussed to Nelson, hitched on to Picton to pick up the van (we bought our driver Roses chocolates), drove to Christchurch, and that was the end of the salty sea dog story.

 The Crew

 Catch-and-release fishing

 Resolution Bay (Queen Charlotte Sound), Torrent Bay (Abel Tasman)

 

:D

Gone fishing. Blew NZ$500 on fishing licences, reels, lures and other necessities. Got the boat trailer registered, loaded the van and drove south. Fished the Rakaia. Fought through vertical drops, gorse, blackberries, wild roses, swamp and darkness. Caught nothing. Dropped the boat into Lake Clearwater and Thomas caught two Rainbow Trout. I caught nothing. Visited a friend in Ashburton. Ate the fish. Camped beside Lake Tekapo, launched the boat on it and caught nothing. Stopped at several rivers, but caught nothing. Went walking at Mount Cook village. Went out drinking for the weekend in Queenstown, left the boat there. Drove to Te Anau. Fished in Milford Sound, caught nothing. Walked to the Key Summit. Drove back to Queenstown. Launched the boat on Lake Wakitipu, caught nothing. We did eat the best burgers ever at Ferg Burgers though. So much goodness. Picked up the boat, drove to Wanaka and ate the best spare ribs ever at Uncle Mike's BBQ. Drove to the west coast and launched the boat on Lake Moeraki, caught nothing. Tried on the way, caught nothing. Tried in Reefton, caught nothing. Tried, tried, tried. Caught. Nothing.

So much hope

 Not. Fair.

Hooker Valley, Mt. Cook

Key Summit, Fiordland

And that was the end of our fishing trip. Oh! But we did walk up the Copland Valley to Welcome Flat and back. Five hours in torrential rain to get to the hut, spent a day soaking in the hot pools, and walked out in four and a half hours. It was the big test for my knee. I gave the heavy stuff to Thomas, and all was well.Was great to get off the beaten track and into the bush.

 Singing in the rain, and the hot pools