Day 58 - Travelling Halfway Across the Country
So, on Monday, the 22nd of August, I was informed that there was a meeting this Thursday in Wellington (over 8 hours away) to go over the strategic plan that I have been contracted to create and that I could attend to present my findings and the survey I created, but because of the short notice, it wasn't mandatory. However, according to the principle of ata, fostering nurturing relationships is the healthiest way of doing research in New Zealand.
For this reason I decided to go.
I looked at flights and the cheapest I could get would leave early and then I would be paying over three times as much for the flight home. A decent flight would have cost me over $400. I decided, to save some money and not necessarily time, to rent a vehicle. The vehicle was relatively inexpensive, as it was a manual, so I got a GPS and all of the insurance, and I was still saving money, even with gas.
The weather was nice within the last week, but of course, the next three days (my planned length of the trip) it would be raining on and off. Normally it would not matter that it was raining because I am used to driving in snow storms where you cannot see the lines, but driving in New Zealand is different.
They drive on the opposite side of the road. Just getting over the fact the right and left hand turns are opposite is difficult enough, everything in the vehicle was backwards. The gear shift was on my left side and the turn signals were on the other side of the wheel, with the signals being opposite then. There were different signs to contend with, but I felt as though I could handle them with my GPS, even in the rain.
I started off on Wednesday afternoon and after I avoided my first near accident, I was on the motorway following my GPS into the sunlight (not literally as I was travelling south). I had a timeline and thought that because the roads are not as good as they are in Alberta, with almost non-existent shoulders, I should stop off during the evening and sleep somewhere. Well, as it conveniently turned out, I believed my GPS was taking me on a route that was a lot longer than needed to be. Oh how correct I was.
I was on a tight timeline, I didn't exactly know what roads to take, and it was raining out, but I knew that my GPS would get me to where I needed to go, eventually. I did look at a map a couple of times beforehand, so I knew that I shouldn't be on these tertiary (or what they seemed to be) highways. This became oh so apparent when I was driving around around some country road. Or was this how highways were in New Zealand normally? Oh, did I mention it is winter, so it got dark around 6:00, right when I was going around some large hills? That's all fine and dandy, though, until someone wanted to pass you on the narrow roads and felt like tailgating you would somehow allow them to get ahead of you.
Now, don't let the nerve wracking drive make you think I did not notice how beautiful the New Zealand countryside was. Naturally, being a tourist, I stopped to take a picture. That's when I noticed I lost my camera. I could not find it in my backpack where I put it. So I was not able to take pictures of my trip, but I hope this Google Maps screen capture will show the tiny road, the beauty of seeing mountains and all the green.
I stopped off for the night in a little place called Taumarunui, a population of 4,500, and not surprisingly, the "king of adventure." I ended up staying in a motel and the ladies were great when I got in. I got up early and left towards my meeting in Wellington. Predictably the GPS tried leading me to some random direction, but I learned my lesson and looked at the map beforehand to follow the correct motorway towards my destination. This was not perfect, but I made it there.
When I arrived I had my meeting and met all of the wonderful ladies and discussed my project. I only rented the car until the next afternoon, so I had to leave right after the meeting to start driving home.
This time I knew which highway to take. It was raining again (oddly enough not during my meeting...) and the main motorway took me through a national park through Tongariro Park along the Desert Road. Contradictory to the name, it was raining and wet. This is a lovely area and I wish I had time to drive slowly around it to see the sites, as it encircles some active volcanoes. It was dark at this time, so pictures would not be able to do it justice.
I ended up staying in a motel because I had to do a telephone interview in the morning (my first one) and needed internet for it. After my interview I left and drove back to Auckland to drop off the vehicle, ignoring my GPS.
All in all it was a good trip, but I wish it did not rain, didn't get dark so fast, and I was not in such a rush. If I was going to spend that kind of money, I should have planned it better. I would have stayed longer. Alas, I was in much of a rush to get out there I was not thinking clearly, because, as you may have noticed, I never calculated for staying in motels for two nights, and the total cost equalled to a more than flying.
Perhaps instead of saving money, I should take another trip out that way. This time I will make sure I have my camera (which was in my backpack the entire time).
