Dec. 30, 2008
Invercargill (the "arsehole of NZ", according to Mick Jagger)
Well, I woke up at the southernmost point in NZ's So. Island this morning 1 day ahead of schedule: I was shooting for NYE.
It wasn't quite clear whether I was camped on public land or not, so I was a little wary when I heard an ATV driving around the bluff in the middle of the night. I looked over and he was sweeping through the fields with a spotlight, clearly looking for something. Then, I heard the gunfire:
KRAK! KRAK! KRAK!
in rapid succession, and very close. I was frozen. Not much I could do, really. Leaving the tent, I could be mistaken for whatever he was hunting. So I staid put.
When he drove around to my side of the bluff, he flashed his spotlight on my tent three times in succession. This is it, I thought, this guys gonna fuck with me. But then he took off.
I realized today that he probably didn't intentionally flick his light on my tent 3 times; he was probably sweeping over the landscape back-and-forth with the light. And what the hell was he hunting? I thought maybe some pest species that was affecting his cattle ranch...?
To be honest, I felt less in danger here than I would have in the US. I figured that at most, the guy would buzz me...but it wasn't clear to me that he even intended to do that. He did leave after he spotted me.
Invercargill (the "arsehole of NZ", according to Mick Jagger)
Well, I woke up at the southernmost point in NZ's So. Island this morning 1 day ahead of schedule: I was shooting for NYE.
It wasn't quite clear whether I was camped on public land or not, so I was a little wary when I heard an ATV driving around the bluff in the middle of the night. I looked over and he was sweeping through the fields with a spotlight, clearly looking for something. Then, I heard the gunfire:
KRAK! KRAK! KRAK!
in rapid succession, and very close. I was frozen. Not much I could do, really. Leaving the tent, I could be mistaken for whatever he was hunting. So I staid put.
When he drove around to my side of the bluff, he flashed his spotlight on my tent three times in succession. This is it, I thought, this guys gonna fuck with me. But then he took off.
I realized today that he probably didn't intentionally flick his light on my tent 3 times; he was probably sweeping over the landscape back-and-forth with the light. And what the hell was he hunting? I thought maybe some pest species that was affecting his cattle ranch...?
To be honest, I felt less in danger here than I would have in the US. I figured that at most, the guy would buzz me...but it wasn't clear to me that he even intended to do that. He did leave after he spotted me.
1 comment:
Ithought NZ was the safest place on earth?
MAM
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