Les Aventures d'une Baroudeuse en carton // Tales of a Novice Adventurer.
December 18th 2015. I wake up this morning with another year in my bloody face. The dreaded 29 years. Before leaving for New Zealand, I was bragging here and there that this year I would celebrate my birthday on the beach because it would be summer, that I would go to the movies to see the last Star Wars and that I would have a funky barbecue.
The only limits are the ones you decide for yourself: between now and tomorrow morning, there’s enough time and space for life to happen and take me by surprise.
Dunedin est une ville à part en Nouvelle Zélande. Une ville étudiante avec une grosse université et un héritage écossais. D’Oamaru à Dunedin, je serais prise en stop par une jeune enseignante de Timaru, en route pour Dunedin pour y passer le week end avec une amie. Dans sa voiture, pour mon plus grand plaisir (et étonnement aussi), elle écoute les Spice Girls. Elle m’explique qu’elle a retrouvé le CD y’a pas longtemps.
Arrivées à Dunedin, elle me dépose devant mon backpacker, que j’ai aussi choisi pour son nom : Hogwartz.
After my big 4 days journey of crossing the South Island from Motueka to Oamaru by hitchhiking and by train, I finally arrived in Oamaru in time for the Victorian Heritage Festival, a 5 days festival which is this year placed under the sign of Alice in Wonderland! Oamaru is a beautiful coastal town in the south of New Zealand’s South Island, in the Otago region. I’m very curious about this town because it’s well known for its Victorian Heritage, its Steampunk museum, its nice climate and weather, but also because it’s possible to see some penguins in their natural habitat!
Souvent listé dans les plus belles routes de train du monde, le TranzAlpine traverse l’île du Sud de la Nouvelle-Zélande de Greymouth à Christchurch, sur plus de 220 km. En Nouvelle-Zélande, il n’y a pas à proprement parler de réseau ferroviaire pour le public (hormis quelques lignes suburbaines autour de Auckland, Wellington et Dunedin). Il existe cependant trois lignes de train grande distance : le Northern Explorer entre Auckland et Wellington, le Coastal Pacific entre Picton et Christchurch, et le TranzAlpine, qui, mises bout à bout, avec la traversée en ferry de Wellington à Picton permettent de relier Auckland à Greymouth.
It’s a sunny Sunday and after hiking the Abel Tasman Track, I’m leaving Motueka in the North-West of the South Island to get to Greymouth, further south, hitchhiking. Why Greymouth? Well, as I was taking a short break from my road trip in Nelson, I decided to do some HelpX work (volunteering work) in Oamaru during the Victorian Heritage Festival. This year, the festival will be about Alice in Wonderland. After looking up a bit into it at the I-Site and discovering that you can also see some penguins in Oamaru, I was settled to go.
However, Oamaru is on the other side of the island, and I had to figure out a way to get there on time for the festival. I found out there’s a renowned scenic train, the TranzAlpine Train going from Greymouth on the West Coast to Christchurch on the East Coast. From Christchurch, Oamaru is still about 250 km away, so this journey is going to be quite a long ride. Anyways, I need to get to Greymouth first, and I decided to hitch a ride…
All alone this time.
Ex-libraire, boulimique d’images et de rêveries en papier. Reconvertie en agent de voyages adepte de nouveaux horizons. Reconvertie en apprentie baroudeuse. Baroudeuse en carton depuis 2015 en Nouvelle-Zélande, au Japon, à Bali, à Singapour, à Taïwan, à Hong-Kong, en Equateur et au Mexique. J’ai chopé la bougeotte et je compte bien ne pas m’arrêter là.
A former bookseller, who couldn’t get enough of pictures and paper dreams. Retrained as a Travel Agent, who couldn’t get enough of new travel inspirations. Retrained as a novice adventurer. Novice Adventurer since 2015 in New Zealand, Japan, Bali, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong-Kong, Ecuador and Mexico. I caught the travel bug and I won’t stop anytime soon.
Let’s take a walk with me!