My travelling story
In February this year I embarked on my first international trip…solo…half way across the world to NEW ZEALAND. Although I was nervous at first as I had never been outside North America before the experience was thrilling and empowering.
I stayed in New Zealand for about 5 months in Canterbury (the south island) on exchange through university. However it wasn’t all work and no play. Over Easter break I rented a car with a friend and travelled the south island for two weeks. I was blown away by the breath taking landscapes. Words cannot describe which is why I made a slideshow of my pictures.
After I finished my term there I had the opportunity to go to Australia for just over two weeks and travel from Sydney to Cairns. In spite of my lacking funds I made the most of my trip by immersing myself in every town I visited. Talking to the locals allowed me to find out the best hiking trails and beach areas and I got to experience AUSTRALIA...not just the flash touristic attractions.
It is strange to be home in Canada and have all this inside knowledge…the short cuts, secrete hidden places only locals know of, the lingo or slang of distant countries.
I hope to be able to travel again soon… the exhilaration of the uncertainty of stepping into unfamiliar territory… I await the day.
SHORT STORY OF MY FIRST NEW ZEALAND ESCAPADE
Before I even arrived in New Zealand I had decided I wanted to invest in buying a bike. By my third day in NZ I was mapping out the directions to buy my FIRST bike. I had bought it on an NZ online auction. After a 30 minute bus ride and a TWO hour walk I got to the house. Finally…and THE BIKE WAS MISSING A PEDAL!!!!
I walked the bike across the city. About 26 kilometers, in a foreign country for another 4 hours to a small town which had a tiny second hand bike store. I had stopped in other bike stores along the way and they could not help me. One guy said “don’t bring THAT in here… its not worth fixing”!!! Apparently the front forks were on backwards! So at this secondhand bike store I was able to trade in my acquired piece of junk for 20$ and buy a functional bike! Mind you I did pay an extra hefty sum. But in the end it was worth it.
After that I was so excited to have a bike that I wanted to try it out!! Despite the fact that it was 5:00pm and would soon enough get dark and had not eaten lunch yet! I had a map…or well more like a part of one. It did not show the whole area of where I was so some of the roads would go off the page and then loop back on further up the sheet. Sketchy.
My plan way to bike over the port “hills” (coming from relatively flat Ontario I would classify them as mountains) and head back to my flat. By 9:30 it was dark, I was tired and had no idea how much further I had to go thanks to my useless map. I had been biking UPHILL for the past HOUR. I stopped and had my last sip of water – my bottle was EMPTY. At this point I was considering sleeping in the bushes and continuing in the morning. I let out a cry to God…Help me. No lie…right then I saw headlights. A man and a women pulled over and said “where are you headed…we will give you a ride”. Hallelujah! The ride took 40 minutes – there is no way I would have made it on my bike with no water or food. They were so nice they went completely out of their way to make sure I got home safely.
From this trip alone I have gained a new understanding of what look for when buying a bike and buying a map. Every adventure can be learned from so get out there and explore wherever you are!!!
Peace
Sharon
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Thanks everyone for your support!!! Its been fun.
i love the story! that's amazing haha
Good luck with this contest and the Sony one should you choose to enter! (I think you have until December sometime. I'm still trying to pick the pics.)
Thanks!! I had not heard about that I will check into it.
Nice! For my trip I bought an Olympus Stylus myself but I got the 850 SW instead of the 1030 SW. By the by, have you heard of the Sony World Photography Awards? They have an amateur division and it's free to enter. http://www.worldphotographyawards.org/default.aspx Check it out!
I used the olympus stylus 1030 SW...I would reconmend it for travelling. Its very durable and takes great pictures!
Amazing pictures! What kind of camera did you use?
Thanks Everyone!!
hi sharon! i'll keep giving you all my hoosts!! best of luck!
you're pretty awesome - the pics are great!
wowza, please beome a photographer, those pics are amazing! France here we come!
Woooow... I want to go THERE!!
Nice pictures. Good luck.
Your pictures are suuupperbe