This might say it all ...

"Certainly travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living." – Miriam Beard

Rugby World Cup 2011

Water & Rocks, New Zealand

Here's a really nice video I came across on Facebook.  The Hot Air Balloon Pilot is Hugh McLellan with Sunrise Balloons in Queenstown.  It's pretty soothing to watch ...

Water & Rocks, New Zealand from Metron on Vimeo.

The Magic of Summer

We're experiencing extraordinary weather in Queenstown. Last weekend, a friend and client visited in Glenorchy. He is a former farmer, who after taking one look at our cabbage trees, said it's going to be a long, hot, dry summer. They know, the farmers. I'd say they're right as its been pretty damn warm since I returned from holiday in California two weeks ago.

Last weekend I escaped to Glenorchy to find that just about everything we had planted at the section had gone off. My partner said it was a jungle when he arrived. Fortunately for me, he had already done quite a bit of work by the time I arrived. Unfortunately, not so much that I didn't have to do any weeding! But that was alright. I like to get my hand's in the dirt.

But I like to harvest even more ... which is what we were able to do. Harvest rocket, otherwise known as arugala, and parsley. And what does one do with enough rocket and parsley to cater an event? One makes pesto. I love pesto, but was only familiar with the basil and pine nuts variety. Turns out, one can make pesto from all kinds of herbs and nuts. We made rocket & walnut pesto as well as parsley & cashew pesto.

Although the plants are loving the heat, we had been wilting. So there was nothing like putting on the new togs (or swimsuits) and jandals, jumping on the bikes, and riding to a new swimming hole for a quick dip. We did that at least three times last weekend.

The swimming hole only saw me once this weekend. Instead of getting in the water, we got on it, in kayaks, and took along fishing poles. The morning was spent in shorts and tshirts paddling Lake Wakatipu from Glenorchy to Kinloch and back. The day yielded three fish, including my first brown trout! Smoked trout & lake salmon on a bed of home-grown lettuce topped with that homemade pesto from last weekend made for a tasty and healthy Summer lunch.

Unfortunately, just after lunch, those infamous Spring winds arrived, along with my hay fever, to remind me that it isn't quite Summer yet. Bugger! Even the hay fever medication I took isn't helping this time around. Curses to you Spring winds! I showed you by picking and relishing those gorgeous bright red and juicy strawberries from the garden.

Slip sliding away ... into the mountainside

I had another first time experience this Winter. One morning while driving to appointments in the towns of Clyde and Alexandra, my car hit black ice on the road going through Kawarau Gorge. I'd never had an experience on black ice. It reminded me of my friend, Steve, who a few years ago had offered to drive as we carpooled to a work event after seeing that I'd walked through black ice while wearing high heeled boots in North Carolina.

I'd often driven in the Sierra Mountains of California during Winter, through snow, sleet, hail. However, I'd never encountered black ice. There really doesn't seem to be much you can do when you start sliding. The conditions that morning didn't look anything like I'd ever seen them before when driving through the Gorge. For that reason, I was driving under the speed limit. And I remember thinking as cars drove past me, "you'd better slow down". Ironically, it was me, not those speeding past me that had the accident.

It was on a curvy part of the road. I remember the back of the car sliding first, but then it seemed to recover. Unfortunately, all was not it seemed. The car began to slide again ... so long in fact, that I had time to think of all the things they say you should and shouldn't do when you hit black ice. I did what I'd always heard was the thing to do ... don't grip the steering wheel hard, don't hit the brakes, and look in the direction you actually want to go. It didn't seem to work. I could feel the car sliding wider and wider across the road into the oncoming traffic lane. I think I was quite fortunate at that time in the way the road curved, because rather than hitting the guard rail and going down the cliff edge into the river, my car slid towards my side of the road and into a ditch before hitting the mountainside. Whew! At that point, I was just happy that my car stopped.

A few hours later, my car was towed and I was home. I have to say that my car insurance was great! And everyone I encountered during the ordeal was really nice. But I have to say that for weeks afterwards, I was driving VERY slow and really paranoid about driving. Oh, and I had a sore neck ... a sort of whiplash I think. Maybe that is part of the reason why I'm kind of over the Winter thing. Bring on the warmer weather!

And thankfully, now Spring has arrived! Bring on the warmer weather! Hopefully no more ice for a while. In the meantime, daffodils are starting to bloom, lambs and baby goats are showing up in paddocks, and I have a new vehicle that has been really fun to drive around. (Well, new to me. I bought it from a friend who was returning home to Scotland.) Here is photo of my new Toyota Rav4 at Lakes Hayes, just outside of Queenstown.

How Similar Are Bucket Lists from Country to Country?

It seems the 2007 release of the movie "Bucket List" with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nichelson got a lot of people thinking about their own lives. I know it did me. I remember watching it and thinking about the '100 things I'd like to do in my lifetime list' that I had made years ago.

So when I was watching 'Breakfast' on TVNZ on Tuesday morning and they ran a story on New Zealander's bucket lists, it got me thinking. Are bucket lists similar from country to country?

Fidelity Life conducted a survey which revealed that if Kiwis had one year left to live and couldn't leave the country, they would choose travel over staying home with their families. Isn't that what the movie showed as well? Apparently 51% of Kiwis want to travel and the South Island of New Zealand is their #1 destination. To be more specific, visiting Stewart Island ranked #1, followed by doing the Milford Track at #2.

When I think of my own '100 things' list, I recall that I had only reached around 40 items at the time I wrote it. I don't remember exactly what is on the list, but I do recall that at least a third of the items included travelling.

What's on your bucket list?

Where has time gone?

I'm working on something that has me communicating with travel companies worldwide and their advertising buyers. This week I engaged a woman from Canada who considers travel a hobby and apparently blogs about it. I had a look at her blog and really enjoyed it. This reminded me that I haven't blogged myself in quite a while.

Two months to be exact, as today is 31st July in New Zealand. Two months. Unbelievable. It isn't like I haven't thought about it. In fact, every single day I have a topic or thought worthy of writing about. But clearly I haven't managed the time to sit down and do it.

Much has happened this Winter and tomorrow starts August, which I suspect is going to be quite a hectic month for me. But I really want to make blogging a part of my every day ... you know, like exercising, eating right, taking some time out for me ... all the things I know that I'm supposed to do and don't do.

Maybe time really does speed up and slow down? Maybe the fact that we have less daylight and more darkness in Winter makes me feel like I have less time. Everyone around me seems to be saying the same thing ... "I can't believe it's already the end of July."