Before I came here, I planned to book for a dorm bed in a hostel in the town centre of Akaroa, as they have free mountain bike for hire and I thought that: "Hey maybe I can go around the town, cycling up and down the mountain trails and pass my time!" But then I found this hostel, it do not offer free mountain bike hire but the only thing that attracted me is that this hostel is not that near to the town centre, kinda more remote place, so there is no light pollution here and you can actually see the entire Milky Way here! This hostel is Onuku Farm Hostel.
I do have a camp, but I do not have a sleeping bag. I should've bought one at The Warehouse back in Motueka when there is 50% off on it. Damn. I tried to ask all the shops in Akaroa but nobody sells them, like seriously? So I booked a dorm bed instead.
The people here are pretty friendly, I made some new friends even before we get to the hostels, when we were on the pickup van from the hostel. The facilities here are pretty good that it does seemed to be like a farm at all, at least like the farm I thought it should be. Lol. I went to hiking with my friend from Germany after we checked in and had lunch, for like 3 hours or 4 hours, I couldn't remember. She was a really friendly woman, and the topics just never run out, we talked about everything haha. What's amazing about the trails here are the scenery, from the hill to the Akaroa harbor, it is just amazing view, stunning. Just couldn't stop taking photos.
When we went back from there I talked to a guy from Switzerland, you can know that he is an easygoing and friendly guy just by looking at his face Lol. And also, a French at his forties. I was told that there is three main languages in Switzerland, which is why the Switzerland guy can speak French, so it's a little hard to join in at first as I can't understand anything haha. It seemed like both of them got tired of their own life in their home, doing 9-5, resting only on Sundays, doing the exact same things every day. I kind of admire them for making such decision to quit their jobs and pursue their dream of freedom and go travelling alone. It is never an Asian thing to do.
It is really interesting to listen to their stories because I never really have the chance to listen to that kind of stories back in home. Besides, I love listening to the stories of others' life especially those from different countries, you can really learn a lot from them. It's really amazing when you get to know that a lot of people especially from the Europe made such a brave decision to quit their boring life and hop onto a journey, seeking freedom and happiness in their very own way. Most of the time, we are trying to get used to the way of life that we thought we should be getting used to, it is like a tradition, and most of the time, we never actually try to break the so-called tradition. Maybe we do not have the courage to do so, or maybe we think that we should not do so because the others never do that too or more likely, we do not know what to do next if we made the decision to hop off the track, The track called 'tradition'.
At 10pm here, you can already see the entire Milky Way just outside the doorstep. This is my first time seeing something like that, I never thought it would be that clear. I tried to take some good photos of it for the next two hours with the two guys I met earlier, it was really fun experience haha. I didn't have a tripod so I was using a wooden block to hold the position of the camera. I managed to take some decent photos, a lot better than I took long ago, but still, I tried my best, it's not good enough. I'm not sure whether it is my lens or my skill though haha.
Most of the backpackers I met are from Germany and France. There are really a lot of backpackers from these two countries. You can actually meet them in any of the hostels in New Zealand haha.
The next day, which is today, I went to a morning hike with Lionel, the French guy to a place called the Lookout Rock, a really cool spot for the view (I attached a photo down there), but honestly it is kind of dangerous, it seemed like it's gonna fall anytime. I don't have the courage like Lionel do to sit on the edge of the rock, besides, I'm afraid of height. It's a short hike though, a little more than an hour, since he had to be back here for the check-out before 12am. Right after that I went to the Lookout Rock again with another German woman, Conny. But this time we proceed further and eventually we hiked all the way up to the summit where you can stand on the rock and see the whole Akaroa harbor from that point, pretty cool right? The trail is called the Ridge Walk, it was supposed to take 2.5 hours but we took a lot of breaks for some chats, snacks and lunch. Again, can't stop taking photos, the view from up there is like a dream, especially today when it's cloudy, the hills on the opposite site looks cloudy, it's just like a dream. Paradise.
The people I met here had been travelling for quite sometime, and they too, quit their jobs at their home before embarking on this journey. And the amazing part is that they really enjoyed the lifestyle now and never a second regretted the decision they made. I'm not sure whether I had the courage to do that in the future, I'm the kind of people who loves freedom but courage is the thing I lack. I do hope that by talking to more people, knowing more about their stories and their adventures, I will be able to decide what's best for myself in the future.
A friend of mine told me that a lot of people envy the life I have right now. Honestly, there is nothing to be envy of, you too can apply for the working holiday visa and you too have the equal opportunity to embark on the same road as I do. All it takes is a little more courage to make a decision that will change the way of your current life, walking off the main track where all your friends are following. You will never make it if you just think about it or dreamed about it and never consider to actually trying it or attempting it. There is a big leap between thinking and considering, and there is a bigger leap from considering to attempting. It's not an easy thing to make such a decision, your parents may object it, your friends may tell you it's impossible and your teachers may laugh at you. It's really up to yourself whether to make that decision, to take the leap, to change your lifestyle and to pursue freedom. It's your life, live it in your very own way! Yes, applying for the working holiday visa needs a lot of luck, and I do appreciate it that I am lucky enough to be granted this visa. I was never a lucky guy to be honest, but I truly believed that there would be a slot for me in the application, and I got it. Maybe this is the law of attraction? I have no idea. But if people like me can be lucky enough to get the visa, I'm sure those who truly wants to be here will be granted the opportunity too in the future. Don't stop believing.
Even if you found that you do not have the luck after applying, you too can travel after you started working. Life is never too short, it's just about how you utilize them. Sometimes, you just have to step out from the comfort zone, let your dream flies, and see how far it can go. Cheers!
I'm not sure which one to upload, so I uploaded every processed one haha.
This one is unprocessed, with a little shooting star, one of my first shots. =)
The Lookout Rock
This is monster. It's like 1.5x the size of the cricket back in Malaysia.
The end of Ridge Walk, really windy up here. And amazing view!
Beyond that, it's the south pole.
Lionel and me. =)
Posted this to show the height of this rock haha, it's so steep from down there to here, it's almost vertical.
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