Quiet few days but a big weekend coming up

Just a few pics from Queenstown. Halloween weekend coming up with rugby championship at 5:00 am....Going to be a rough couple of days...

Another adventure ends another begins

Tomorrow I have a nice long ride back to Queenstown. I am looking forward to getting back. In two weeks time I head to Australia for an ACDC concert. I am not sure how the next few weeks will go. I am going to find a job to get a bit of a cash flow come through. I've started looking at my long term travel plans and have a very good idea and am looking forward to them. For now it is cold, windy and raining so I will leave it here.

It is interesting I have seen a lot of new traffic to my blog and am curious what peeks their interest. If you ever have questions or comments please feel free to fire away.

Tuna Tom

Wwoof 1st experience

These are some pictures from my first wwoof (willing workers of organic farms) experience. I was picked up at the ferry terminal at the bluff by one of the people I would be working for. The first night or two I felt very awkward having meals with them and working for them. Every meal I have had here has been fantastic the lady should be a chef. All the meals were restaurant worthy! While here I got to feed a lamb from a bottle, learned a little about sheep and fencing. I also got to spend time playing fetch with their dog and drive around on a 4 wheeler. I have had times being stuck in the rain and wind. The more I do things like this the more I want to present in front of people. I have reminded myself that everyday is temporary and I can do whatever I want to. I have been treated really well here but, I am looking forward to my next adventure back to Queenstown as it is

My life
My choice
My time

Tuna Tom

Leaving Steward Island

In May of this year when I was catching a ferry from Manly beach in Australia a guy told me. "he always loved leaving a place as you don't know what is around the next bend". I was a little sad to be leaving Stewart Island but I had a smile on my face I have some good memories from Stewart Island (even though I got lost in the bus and worked). I understand more what the guy was talking about. Sometimes when you are traveling from point A to point B you are happy to be going to the next spot but a big part of you is happy to be leaving. When you leave a place you can leave everything behind your worries and even who you are. Right now I am waiting for my next journey to start and I can leave this behind but that is for another post. Right now it is important for me to realize that when having a bad day while traveling I can just as easily pick everything up and go to the next spot as it is;

My Life

My Choice

My Time

Tuna Tom

Next blog will be on my first wwoof experience 

Working in the fish co-op - updated

After my first hike on Stewart Island I was informed I could work processing fish. I had very limited information other than lots of heavy lifting. The job indeed was lots of bending over picking up crates, picking up crayfish and placing them into crates a very labour intensive job. The job does not require a lot of thought just a lot of repetitive motions. During this job I thought to myself what am I doing? A lady I was working with asked me about my background which I told her and she told me “to go back to it” I replied “this will drive me back to an office”. I have done various jobs with this company since besides crayfish I have dealt with blue cod and paua doing various task. The money is really good for what I am doing.  It has made me think what am I doing this for, I could be in the office doing work jeeze I have a degree and 2 diplomas all business related. I am a well-educated person with a great personality and I have presented on health and safety, wellness which included discussing depression/social anxiety in a crowd of over 200 including vice presidents and the president of my former employer. I don’t know what it will take but I will make a living being a presenter it is where I truly belong being in front of people. Very few people have the ability to talk in front of everyone and it is something I really truly enjoy. I would love the opportunity talk in front of groups of people again. 3 of my biggest passions traveling, the outdoors and presenting.

Today I worked my last day doing crayfish. This job had me up at times at 3:30 am to do the crayfish pack. During the shift I would be lifting a couple of thousand kilos in a few hours time. I came to Stewart Island in hopes of getting back into shape well after a few hikes and working in the fish factory I am well on my way there. 

The job gave me some new skills, I got to meet  a few new people and was introduced to a new industry. This was the first job I had in a long long time that had me working as part of a small team. This was also the first time I have done any work since I started traveling back in January. 

My next posts will be about saying goodbye to Stewart Island and my first WWOOF experience.  

Tuna Tom 

Back from another hike. I will post details when I am not freezing my butt off. I will always post about working in the seafood industry soon too. For now here are a few pictures.

Getting lost on Stewart Island part 3

Day three was meant to be the last day and the easiest day, it was for everyone else but me. The person I hiked with wanted to go it alone (which is a mistake as far as I am concerned). I quickly noticed a difference in the trail as it seemed less maintained and a lot more difficult. I kept asking myself if this could be the right way. I knew if I didn’t return by a certain time of night the hostel owner would make a call to the police to report me missing. I also knew if I was on the wrong path that sooner or later I would hit another hut where I could spend another night. I hiked for hours and had to make the decision whether to go back or continue on, I decided to continue on. I had extra food with me but started to ration my food. In situations like this you need to ration your food as you can go longer without food than without water. By the time it was official that I made a clear mistake it was a few hours before dark. 

I got in the cabin changed into warm dry clothes and started a fire. I filled out the log book in the cabin so if a rescue party was on the way they could see I was there and my intentions. I had to calculate how long it would take to go back and if it was worth the risk of doing the 23 km hike back into town (after the 11km I did that day). I knew it wouldn’t be until late if I got back. I figured they would not send a search and rescue team until day break. I decided to spend a night at the hut and would leave early in the morning. For years I have carried a deck of cards in my backpack  as I knew if I ever needed to be rescued I could use the cards to help start a fire and, I could plain a mean game of solitaire to help pass the time. That night with nobody to talk to I played several hands of solitaire.  I tried to get as much rest as possible that night for the long journey back.

After waking up and eating I headed back out. I found a stick to use as a walking stick. This trail was muddy and not scenic. I slid in the mud too many times to count. Once I reached a peak I had cell phone coverage and was able to contact the owner of a hostel to let her know I was ok and to call off the search. As I had limited food that day and was exhausted I had to constantly tell myself to keep going and had to keep my thoughts positive. It was a real struggle the first 11 kms my feet were blistered and in real pain my body was aching. Throughout the day the rain drizzled. I reached one hut and knew it was an easy 12 km back to town, a warm bed, a good meal and a shower. Along the route I saw the most beautiful scenery and the most incredible sunset of my life (maybe because I hadn’t seen the sun in a few days). I had just recently put my head lamp on and was standing when I heard a rustling in the bush I look down and see a massive bird. This bird pretty near ran me over and then it dawned on me it was the elusive kiwi bird a rare sight to see! Along the walk I saw another kiwi bird and was quite excited to see them. 

While walking I got cell phone reception again and received a text saying supper was taking care of and there was bbq waiting for me. Believe me when you find out there is food waiting for you it is heaps of motivation to pick up your feet and move.  I arrived back to the hostel and received a great greeting from Vicki the hostel owner and ate like a king she even had a beer there for me! She did tell me I had to talk to the police the next day because they were called. I was also informed of work (stay tuned for that post) if I wanted it. 

In the morning I went to the police station to talk to the officer. I will leave a lot of the details out for confidentiality reasons. The officer was amazing and explained to me the details behind the search and rescue procedure along with what was done to this point. It was really neat to see the process of when a person is missing although I do not want to be in that situation again. We had a good conversation about the outdoors in general and, he could tell I made a mistake but was experienced enough in the outdoors to know the appropriate measures for myself.  He could tell I was quite embarrassed with myself over the situation. In the end there were lessons I learnt from this experience but I was glad to see I am not nearly out of shape as I thought I was. I did get to see 2 kiwis which is quite rare. Any mistake you can walk away from is a good one. On my way out of the police station I told him you will not see me under these conditions again after all it is;

My Life

My Choice

My Time

Tuna Tom