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Most Popular Posts from 2009 on rcThink

Ross — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 01:43:23 +0000

Plans for 2010

It’s an incredible feeling to have a clear purpose for something. I feel like I know exactly where I want to go with this blog and I’m going to pour everything I’ve got into it and a couple other projects in 2010.

In writing this I’ve tried to experiment and see what the whole blogging thing is about and I’ve done well on some things and sucked on other things. A few things I want to improve on next year:

1. Regular Posting Schedule

I didn’t think this was going to be so hard but posting on a regular schedule ended up being near impossible for me. I’m going to experiment with schedules this year and, who knows, maybe I’ll end up with a schedule of no schedule.

2. Wrap up Challenges

I started some posts, challenges and contests this year that petered out into nothing. I won’t be doing this again. Everything will have a strong start and an even stronger finish.

3. Spend more time on Posts

I’ve never spent much time writing. In elementary school, I breezed through. In high school, it was an afterthought. In university, I always did it the night before it was due. Writing has become much more than an afterthought or lame assignment to me now and I’m going to spend much more time learning and perfecting my skills.

Gimme Your Comments

What was your favorite post you wrote this year? What are you going to do next year to improve? To make it your best yet?

Foto Friday: The Hammerstone Sandblow

Ross — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:18:59 +0000

Foto Friday: Sunset in the Whitsundays

Ross — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:49:36 +0000

Foto Friday: Port Douglas, Australia

Ross — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:00:11 +0000

Dune Boarding near Cape Reinga

Ross — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:02:53 +0000

Duneboarding in New Zealand

Back in Auckland from my whirlwind trip around New Zealand, I was thankful to have a day or 2 rest before hopping on the plane and heading home.

I just had one more trip to do up to Cape Reinga, the top of New Zealand.

Because of the way the bus schedule worked we would head up to Paihia the first day, do a day trip to the cape the second, and then have a day to relax on the third.

I was expecting this part of the trip to be pretty slow and just a scenic drive up to the cape and back. We got to Paihia and went on a cruise out to the “Hole in the Rock”. It’s basically a massive hole in one of the rocks that you can drive through with your boat as long as the water isn’t too high. Unfortunately our boat was a little big and the water too high so we didn’t fit. We did get to see plenty of dolphins playing around the boat along the way.

I didn’t realize that we would be doing some dune boarding on the way up to the cape. I had never even seen it before and was excited to give it a try. I assumed it would be on a fairly small dune and the sleds wouldn’t go very fast.

Just getting to the dunes was a bit of an adventure. Right on 90-mile beach, the dunes rise up off the beach and are bigger than I thought. The road ends abruptly and turns into a stream that heads down to the beach. That didn’t stop the bus driver. He slowed a little to make sure we were in the right gear and then plowed on through the river.

Careful not to stop in the gooey sand he showed us the smaller dunes the “Oldies” would be sliding down. There were a few buses hitting the dunes that day and a couple were primarily an older crowd. He quickly hauled the bus around so were facing a much larger dune with wind whipping up sand over the top. We’d be climbing that.

Our guide and bus driver had an incredible amount of energy and as soon as everyone had a board set about explaining how we were supposed to do this without breaking our necks.

He flops down in the mud by the stream and explains where to put your arms, feet, body and how to stop. Then he hops up and starts to run up the sand dune.

It wasn’t small. And sand is about as hard to hike up as snow, minus the cold. 2 steps up, 1 step back.

Near the top, I couldn’t wait to rest to catch a breath but had to get right to do the top ridge to do it. Stop before and you’ll be assaulted by sand whipping over the top of the dune and down the other side.

Finally we make it to the top. Myself and a Finnish fellow named Antti made it to the top first after the guide and we hurry over to where we’re supposed to slide down.

The first run was fun but I wasn’t sure how fast or far I would go so I dragged my feet a little. Wicked. Now that I know what it’s like time to hurl myself down the hill. I trudge all the way back up to the top of the dune hop in line. Once we’ve gone once and know what to expect we’re allowed to cut the line and go further down the dune. Antti and I rush over past the rest of the wide-eyed first timers and rip down the dune a second time.

I pretty much laughed the whole way down. It’s like sliding down a huge hill on a sled in the snow but nice and warm. Aside from all the sand getting into my ears, eyes, mouth and nose it was a wicked ride.

Antti and I managed to get up the dune 3 more times and got a little further each time. The stream went along the bottom of the dune so if you were going fast enough you’d go right over the stream into the swamp beyond. I didn’t quite make it into the swamp but did get onto a little island in the middle of the stream. The last 2 times we raced a couple other people all the way down.

We hit up a beautiful beach on the way out of the dunes and hopped in the water to get rid of all the sand. Even after the swim and a shower later, I still was finding sand everywhere. It was a small price to pay for an awesome trip to the sand dunes.

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Paying to Climb Into a Washing Machine

Ross — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:08:19 +0000

That’s what it felt like. Like getting into a washing machine.

After leaving Wellington and heading north we had a bit of time to look around in Rotorua. I wanted to try Zorbing.

After watching some videos and hearing everyone talking about it, Zorbing was definitely something on the New Zealand to-do list. I had gone through Rotorua on the way south but the weather was horrible so I decided to wait until I was going north.

Out of a bus load of people, Russell and I wanted to go. I’m not sure if everyone else was scared or were trying to save money. We got our certificates printed up, changed into our swim suits and headed on up the hilll in a ragged old 4×4.

There are 2 runs down that you can choose from. One is straight and wide and the zorb gets moving a faster on the way down this one. The other one that I did zig-zagged down the hill and ended up in the same place as the straight one.

The Zorb guy topped up the ball with some air and then shot a bunch of warm water into it. He turns to me and says run and dive in. Really? Ok! After diving through the small hole in the side and feeling like a fish in a hamster ball, he zipped up the cover and opened the gate.

I heard a tap on the outside of the ball so I was ready to go. Moving the ball is not as easy at it looks. I threw all my weight at the downhill side of the ball and I was off.

My original plan was to try and stay standed up the entire ride. I had heard it was really hard to do and you find yourself on your ass as soon as you start moving. It was damn near impossible! I gave a couple of pushes in the right direction and then I was down. The Zorb gained some speed down the first stretch and then launched up and hit the fence in the corner. Both the water and I were up in the air. I came down first. The water decided to as well but in the general vicinity of my face.

The rest of the way down I felt like I was stuck in a washing machine. I couldn’t tell which way was up. The water was sloshing around like crazy and up and over me. I couldn’t stop laughing the entire way down but in doing so ended up with a bunch of water in my mouth ever corner with all the water flying around.

Coming to a stop at the bottom they unzipped the cover, snapped a couple photos and then I slid out feet first. I was lucky to land on my feet on the way out, most don’t. They come flying out with all the water and land on their ass.

I had no idea what to expect going to Zorb. It ended up being one of the most fun things I’ve done on my trip and I’m definitely glad I went.

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Running in the Windy City

Ross — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 02:31:57 +0000

By that I mean Wellington. Because of it’s position and the weather in the area, Wellington is an incredibly windy city. I got to experience first hand what the wind was like on my last run there.

I was only going to spend one night in Wellington because I wanted to get moving North and have a few extra days in Rotorua. I ended up washing everything in my backpack because of my own stupidity and needed an extra day for things to dry out.

I haven’t run much in New Zealand. Being on the bus almost every day and being sick for a week has taken it’s toll and I feel like I’ve been on a tour, sleeping or on the bus the entire time. I was excited to get out and stretch my legs.

I took to the seawall heading south from the harbour in Wellington and did ran about 4 kilometers down the path. The wind was howling out of the bay and was pushing sea spray up and over the bank and across the path. I missed most of the big waves but I was still almost covered in salt by the time I turned around.

Running with the wind is easy. It wasn’t actually that easy because the wind was pushing hard enough that I had to lean back into it and I battled to keep some sort of pace.

Running against the wind is not easy. The wind was incredibly gusty and I’d be leaning into it for 30 seconds pushing as hard as I could to continue at the same pace and then it would drop off to nothing and I’d nearly fall on my face. Some of the gusts were strong enough to push my feet together, tripping me up, and I almost hit the pavement a few times.

I laughed out loud a few times on the run as I felt ridiculous trying to remain upright and run in the wind. I was happy to be back at the hostel and get out of the gusts afterwards and into a nice hot shower.

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Throwing Myself 134 Meters off the Nevis

Ross — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 23:48:48 +0000

Somewhere along my trip I got the crazy idea to do a bungy jump. I didn’t really want to spend the money to do a skydive so I figured bungy jumping would be the next best thing. Little did I know that everyone thinks bungying is harder. You have to jump yourself.

There are 3 bungies around Queenstown. We saw the first and original bungy at the Kawarau Bridge. It’s 43 meters high. On the way into town on the bus we stopped for a bit to watch a few people jump. Most of the people looked scared to death. A few were able to dive out like they recommend. The others just fell or hop off feet first. I took away a valuable tip though: don’t jump feet first.

I never saw the second bungy but it was on an open ledge at the top of the gondola above Queenstown. The smallest of the bungies, it might be the most interesting because you run and jump and there’s nothing but dirt and rock below you. You can even do it at night.

I figured I’d just throw everything I had at my goal and do the Nevis. I had heard it was the scariest thing ever and at 134 meters I believed it. That’s 3 times the height of the bridge jump was had seen. I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

I have to say, I don’t think I’ve ever been so nervous as the day before and the morning of the bungy. I was trying to think of every possible excuse to get out of it. Talking to a guy from the hostel that had done it the day before, he had mentioned not being able to do it if you were sick… or was that the skydiving? I had a bit of a cold at this point and would be quite disappointed if I couldn’t jump because of it. At the same time, getting out of it for reasons out of my control wasn’t exactly a bad thing.

I arrived at the office to check in and much to my dismay, everything was a go. The weather was good, everything was running, having a bit of a cold couldn’t get me out of it now.

There were videos of the bungy playing at the office and at first I avoided them. I didn’t want to know what I was getting myself into. I found myself drawn to them though and they almost had a calming effect. It didn’t look that bad. It’s only a 8.5 second free fall to a 6 inch deep creek below. I’ll only end up horribly mangled or dead if something goes wrong. No problem.

I was thankful for the 45 minute bus ride out of town to the bungy. Anything to put it off a little bit more. I tried to collect my thoughts but only ended up more nervous. An American guy near the front of the bus wouldn’t stop talking. He sounded nervous but was trying to cover it up. Who was I kidding, I was so nervous I could hardly talk.

At the Nevis, I had given into the fact that I was going to throw myself from a perfect safe platform 134 meters into the canyon below. We got harnessed up and I checked and rechecked that things were buckled and tight enough. Poppping out the other side of the building, the gondola comes into view. I was standing on the view platform when a few other people arrived.

The order of the bungy is always heaviest to lightest and to my surprise, I would be near the end. The surprised fellow that was to be first came up beside me and took one look at the canyon. He muttered, “That’s bullshit”, and quietly wandered away.

6 of us slid over to the main gondola at a time on the small one and got our leg straps done up. I had forgotten about the full body harness I had on but this made it all the more real. It was like having shackles around my ankles. “You’re not going anywhere but down,” they were saying.

The first guy got up to go. He looked scared out of his mind. Standing on the edge and looking down he mumbled something and fell off the edge. Wow. After being hauled up to the Gondola and breathing again, all he could say was how cool that was. I didn’t believe him.

One of the things they repeat over and over before you jump is to make sure you dive out. It makes for a better video and makes for a softer landing at the bottom. Almost everyone just fell off the ledge before I went. A couple of fellows had managed a bit of a jump and that gave me hope. What would happen when I got to the edge?

It was quite windy the day I went so we had to wait for the gusts to die down before jumping. The fellow holding your harness behind you would say “3,2, 1, go” and then you jump, no ifs ands or buts. The American guy that had so much to say on the bus was very quiet just before he went. His first try didn’t result in much and he was still standing on the edge staring down. The bungy guy gave him a little pep talk and then started the countdown again. The second time was met with more hesitation and was going to pull back but he had gone to far. With wild flapping of his arms, he was gone.

My turn. I sat down in the chair, got my feet hooked into the stirrups and was hooked up. No turning back now. Oddly calm, I smiled for the camera and waddled up to the edge. Waiting for the wind to die down I had second to check out the view. It doesn’t look that far down but I know it is.

3…..2…..1…. go.

I think about doing the best swan dive I can muster and leap.

8.5 seconds of screaming toward the ground hardly being able to breathe and it’s over. I’m at the end of the bungy. I’m not dead, I’m not mangled, I’m quite happy actually. Happy that I didn’t freeze. Happy that I jumped well. Happy that it’s over.

On the second bounce I reach up and grab the strap that releases my feet and then I’m hanging out in the sun waiting to be lifted back into the Gondola. A round metal contraption hurtles down the bungy and clips into the attachment above me and starts the slow ascent. I felt like Neo in the Matrix being hauled up into the ship.

For the first time in 2 days I can actually think clearly. I’m not constantly worrying about what the bungy was going to be like. There was still lots of things to do on my trip and they hadn’t even entered my mind after I started thinking about the bungy.

It scared me half to death but it was one of the best things I’ve done on my trip. I’ll definitely be looking for more of those to do!

Check out the video to see what it was like.

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Snowboarding in the Remarkables

Ross — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 03:21:31 +0000

I took a day that I was in Queenstown to head up to one of the local mountains and carve up some snow.

I couldn’t see a thing.

There were three lifts. 2 of them went up a bit higher and the third stayed more central and lower on the mountain. I tried one of the higher lifts first and found that all I could see was white and the odd marker that showed the middle of the run. Just getting to the next marker was a bit of a nightmare and I hit the snow pretty hard a few times sailing over unseen holes in the snow.

The rented boots and board were treating me fine. The combination of wind, snow, fog and old, scratched goggles were frustrating me. I had my sunglasses with me so I tried those out instead. They worked ok but each run I had to dry them out and unstick all the snow from the front of the lenses.

Finally giving up I went in to have something warm to drink and mull over my options. I was very close to throwing in the towel and heading down the mountain. I would have to wait until the next bus just after lunch to do that though. May as well stick it out till then and see what happens.

I was struck with an idea on the way out and found myself in the ski shop trying on goggles with yellow lense. I hadn’t intended on buying any since I couldn’t use them for the rest of the trip and they would just take up space but after spending money to get to the mountain I was determined to make things work. I’ve been looking for some goggles with yellow lenses for dirtbiking at home anyways so I’ll be able to use them again.

By the afternoon it had cleared up a little.

With the fog drifting away and my new goggles I was able to make it down the run without regularly sprawling on my face.

I had no expectations going up to the mountain so I can’t say I was disappointed. I wouldn’t rave about my day at the Remarkables either. Every mountain has its good days and bad though and I’d imagine my day would have been one of the bad ones.

Areas that had regular wind run across it ended up icey and slick. Dips in the sun were reduced to piles of slush that grabbed my board and threatened to throw me over the front. There were too many flat spot for my liking. Skiiers wouldn’t have minded pushing through the little uphill bits to get back to the lodge by I can’t say I was pleased to take off a binding and hike up.

The lifts were all quads but were of the old style so a liftee had to hold the chair every time or your knees were abruptly taken out by the seat.

Not having boarded much last year I was glad to get out on the snow. I will be riding as much as possible this year and hopefully the snow at home will be a fair bit better than what I found at the Remarkables.

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The Most Beautiful Place I’ve Ever Seen: Milford Sound

Ross — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 03:07:40 +0000

We left Franz Josef after a night of the hardest rain I’ve seen on my trip so far. I was desperately hoping that it would move off or abate by the time we got to Queenstown. I had a lot planned for the adrenaline capital of New Zealand and didn’t want it spoiled by too much bad weather.

The first day I headed out to Milford Sound. It’s world famous for its amazing views and incredible walking track. While we didn’t have any time for walking the track we took a full day tour out into the waters of the sound. The 4 hour coach took us from Queenstown around the mountains and down to Milford. Even the views from the coach were stunning.

The drive took us through some gnarly terrain along the Milford Road. The drivers need a special certification to be allowed to drive this road during the winter because it can get really bad. Sometimes there’s snow, sometimes ice, sometimes both. Every few hundred meters there was evidence of avalanches from the last year. Apparently the roads been closed 13 days already this year because of the slides and supposed to get worse.

One section of trees looked completely obliterated. There was no snow to be seen even though they had been tossed around recently. The avalanche had stopped further up the hill but the blast of air that comes down with the snow left the trees uprooted and in various snapped and broken positions.

Finally, our anxious bus ride was over and we were greeted with the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen.

The breeze was calmly blowing through the sound as we boarded the boat and started the 2 hour putter to the Tasman Sea. I lost count the number of times I completely zoned out, dumbstruck by the beauty of the water, mountains, and snow. The past few days had been filled with rain so the waterfalls were moving pretty good and they were all over the place. Small ones, tall ones, wide ones, narrow ones.

The landscape looked prehistoric. I half expected a brontosaurus to raise it’s head out of the misty woods.

On the way out to the sound the driver teased us with the prospect of flying back over the mountains in a helicopter or a plane. Not only would it give us a site of the incredibly picturesque mountains and water, we’d be back in Queenstown in 30 minutes to enjoy the rest of our day. After flying around in the helicopter on the Franz Josef Glacier, I was set on defying gravity again. Once I heard the price of $550 bucks to take the flight back, I had to rethink my choice of travel. Even the flight back was a bit steep at $330. Nearer to the terminal though, the driver announced that we could get a deal for the plane flight at $260(and even less after the exchange). That sealed it. I was going to fly back to Queenstown over the mountains.

I wasn’t disappointed.

35 minutes of absolutely amazing views.

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