New Zealand, land of the long white cloud.
(extra pics in the New Zealand photo album)

Well clouds it may have, but the real secret to New Zealand is its weather. It helps create so many extremes on such a small island, even though the distances are short, there are endless possibilities on what to do and what you can see along the way.
The snow capped main divide falling into the stunning glaciers of the west coast descending through rain forest to the black sand beach's only kilometers away. Golden sandy beach's and limestone caves of Nelson, to the hard granite peaks and deep majestic valleys of Fiordland in the far south, or fertile plains of the east coast, and the arid desert of the Mackenzie high country surrounded by the southern alps.

New Zealand's south island is well known for its many extremes, its warmth of spirit, and abundant adventures, and of course "The Lord of the Rings"...this is where I have been rediscovering my home.
After spending the last six years exploring other far flung parts of the world, its always been a situation of limited holiday time, and why go home when you can explore somewhere else (a common theme among kiwis I am sure). After a while the memories of home are not as strong, so finally it seemed like a great time to go home, able to spend a bit more time, and really feel the flow of the land again (sounds like a beer commercial I know - but its true, and beer is still beer).

When I was flying into Christchurch from Sydney, actually even before I took off, a little nervous to see if it would still feel like home after six years of change, but still I could feel the excitement bubbling up inside.
The six weeks since that day just before the start of 2005 has been a whirlwind of rediscovery, each place mostly as I remember, some changes, but the biggest change has been me. Instead of driving fast to the destination, confident that because I live here all the side roads can be explored another time, now is the time, and all the side roads have been what is so good about my time here.

Omarama - place of light and flight

The Maroi name Omarama means "place of light", and for years has been one of the gliding meccas of the world, famous for the Southern Alps mountain wave conditions that exist in the prevailinig north west wind..
This town is three hours into a four hour drive from Christchurch to the southern lakes of Wanaka and Queenstown. For this reason it has normally just been a petrol stop along the way, oh and there was always a bunch of gliders parked on the grass runway next to the highway.

Well this time I stopped and went for a one hour scenic flight just to see what all the fuss was about, and ran headlong into a passion that will hopefully be with me for the rest of my life. We took off and after thermalling up to about 8,000ft my pilot Lemmy took us into the Ohau mountain range, running ridges no more than 200ft above the sharp jagged ridge line, turning tight in the core of the thermals we found circling up to the base of the cumulous clouds before gliding on to the next valley, and finally turning for the final glide back to Omarama.

My timing couldnt have been better, as the New Zealand Nationals were just about to start, and the airfield was filled with 40 of the best pilots in the country. Fun and interesting people, they are more than willing to share stories, and encourage others to join their sport. A pilot from the North Island, Peter had a spare seat in his ASH25 glider for one of the competition days, and I became his navigator. For over five hours we flew south across the lakes to the reaches of the Shotover river and our turning point, north up the southern alps, picking up a lee wave in the Hunter Valley that pushed us up to 12,500ft over the top of Mount Cook and to the top end of lake Tekapo before turning for home 80km away.
Five hours of flying over some of the most stunning mountains and valleys, and all without a motor, the only sound is the radio and our own conversation.

Since then I have spent time to become a glider pilot, about a week ago I went solo for the first time. What a glorious feeling, strapping on a set of carbon fiber wings, getting launched into the sky behind a tow plane, and when you release the tow line, an immediate sense of what it is like to be a bird....free to fly.

The West Coast

The west coast has always been a fascinating place, a narrow strip of land between the Tasman sea and the southern alps, enough space for one road that follows the coast, a very different attitude only found on "the coast", that is as wild and rugged countryside. Every year a dozen great friends used to travel this road on motorbikes, and the good times were great, the weather was mostly fine, and this is one of the most enduring memories I have. So I wanted to go and see the view, and of course drive the road, a road with a worldwide reputation as the most beautiful riders road in the world.

The road in between

The road and me have always had a good relationship, from learning to drive fast, to riding real fast on motorbikes, I have really missed the New Zealand roads. The lack of traffic, the fantastic scenery, and the memory of doing it countless times before and finding it still give you a fantastic buzz. This time it is also a little different, I have borrowed Mums MX5 convertible, aka Rob the Roadster, who's parents were go-karts....how much fun is this.

Home
I have almost felt like a celebrity sometimes, the summer BBQ's attracting all the friends that I grew up with, lots of different people wanting to hear where I have been, what I have been up to, and perhaps most difficult what I am doing next. Just hanging out with Mum and Dad at home, helping out, but more often that not messing up the place. Going on a road trip with my sister Holly, a great way to reconnect and have a lot of laughs.

The Adventure continues, and I fly back to North America next week, back to Vancouver where this all started 6 months ago....but this visit is just a pit stop, the adventure is not over yet!