On the other side of the four-person bunk, I slept a solid, slightly intoxicated sleep. The night before introduced me to three of the finest beers I've tasted so far in New Zealand: the Moa Harvest (a.k.a. "Breakfast Beer"), the Moa Belgian Trippel, and the Green Man Limited Release Whisky Bock.
As Jude left for paragliding, I enjoyed a nice relaxing morning at the Absoloot Hostel. I had a nice breakfast chat with Linda over Gmail, only to find pictures of our house after Roxy and Otto TP'd the place. It looked like the aftermath from a big fraternity party for dogs.
Later, I went out to the streets to go shopping for myself and Linda. Since we would be leaving for our 8-day campervanning trip, it seemed wise to do the shopping in the slightly larger town. On the list was: 1) A greenstone necklace for myself - to keep the memories from the Routeburn Track always in front of me, 2) Wool for Linda, and maybe something pretty.
I was surprised to find much of the Merino wool in New Zealand was coming from China. Any that was not had a price tag that would make you gasp. Soon I found my necklace - cheap, simple, and greenstone - exactly what I had wanted.
My first purchase for Linda was a beautiful blue/grey wool scarf. I was immediately drawn to it - it has beautiful color and is one of the softest things I have ever touched. The only hesitation was the word 'possum' on the tag. "Who wants to wear something that reminds them of a filthy animal?" At least...I imagine...that will be the second thought that crosses her mind.
The night before, Jude and I ran across our first New Zealand possum. They are a lot different than back in the states. Linda would be happy to know they're quite cute actually - almost like little kangaroos. The other benefit to the scarf is that the possum is an unwelcome pest in New Zealand. It is foriegn, and a predator to several endangered native species. Anyhow, it's a cool scarf.
I also wanted to get her some kind of jewelry. She seems to really enjoy the jewelry I buy her. And not just opening it, or the thought. She wears them proudly. I pretty much never tell her that I notice, but it's a little reminder to me everytime of how much she loves me. I figured that greenstone would be the obvious choice. After all...it's green, it's here in Kiwi land, there's a wide selection that's decently priced, and it's green (the important thing). For whatever reason, I just couldn't find one that said "I am special." When I found myself hesitating, I left the jewelry shop.
At some point I entered 'The Design Shop.' I found this pair of totally unique, silver earrings that were just plain koo. I thought "Will she think they're weird? Would they get tangled in her hair?" But I finally decided to listen to my first impression.
Along the way, in my string of purchases, my debit card kept getting declined. Luckily, I still had cash and a backup credit card, but I knew I needed to check it before I left Queenstown.
On the back of my debit card is a line that reads 'If outside the U.S. call collect at [XXX.XXXX.XXXX]'. When I spoke to the operator, she told me "this number has a restriction against collect calls." "Excellent!" I thought "Now what?" Another collect number was provided on my credit card (of the same company), but when I gave that a try, I found it was also restricted. Luckily, I had purchased a $5 calling card in Milford to call the bus company (which I didn't end up using). You want to know how far that $5 calling card will take you in New Zealand calling the states? 29 seconds. I called that "restricted" number on the back of the card and had enough time to collect a legitimate collect call # from the bank.
I called the new collect number, and was then transferred to Debit Card Services. From there, I was transferred to a California-specific department (maybe they thought we spoke a different language), then was transferred to the Fraud department. After the fourth episode of providing my name, card number, and driver's license number, a guy - pretending to act like a human being - went on to tell me that there was nothing wrong with my debit card. "Sure, I guess if you don't want to buy anything, it is just as good as any other piece of multi-purpose, rectangular plastic in my wallet. This one even happens to be a vibrant shade of red, which might remind me to stop trying to use it. Maybe he's right." I thought "There's nothing wrong with the card."
I was eventually able to help the fraud expert navigate his computer and find my account. He said "Oh, your card was subject to a mass compromise. We closed that account, but don't worry, we'll have another out to you in 2-3 days." I should have just played along, and tried to pull the old pizza delivery guy trick. "Well, it wasn't here in 2-3 days as you promised, which obviously means that you guys will have to forgive any debt I owe you." When I reminded him of my location, he put on his superman uniform and told me he could do it. "Okay, I need to be straight with you," I said. "I'm in South Island, New Zealand. We're going to be in the woods in 2-3 days, far away from anyone with a cell phone or postal box. Unless you guys plan to fly in on a small plane and parachute down to hand me the card, I ain't getting it in 2-3 days."
He finally did me the favor of recognizing that he couldn't help me, and transferred me to Member Services, who transferred me to the elite Emergency Situations department. You would think from listening to the guy that transferred me that I was getting ready to enter the Four Seasons of telephonic customer service.
At the Four Seasons, the young man told me he could have a wire transfer setup to me in 1-2 hours. When I said "Okay, if you can get me my money in 1-2 hours, I'll sit around here and wait for you." He retracted, "Well, we can have it setup in 1-2 hours, but I have no idea how long it will take to get it to you once it is setup." I said, "Okay, I'm done now. I am going to cut my losses in time speaking with your many departments and hope that my credit card will get me through this mess." I told him "You know, you guys are telling me that you identified the issue and blocked my card on the 8th of April. On the 11th, I called you guys to put a travel alert on the very same card. No one bothered to tell me it wouldn't do me any good since the card was not going to continue working." I decided "Some companies are just too big to WORK."
Well, it's getting late now. Jude is finally nearing sleep, which is good. Today was the first time I've ever seen him truly cranky. The small cabin in the back of the campervan has no room for cranky.
Good night
Ryan
