When the much talked about movie “Blue Lagoon” featuring a very young Brooke Shields came out, I was on the verge of adulthood. I was in university and travelled in a pack of fellow res rats. One night a group of us decided to go see the movie. I was transfixed. Although I was unsettled by the plot, I was drawn to the natural beauty of that film. What really transfixed me was the concept of a tropical paradise. The scenery was like nothing I had ever paid attention to before. I’m sure I had seen travel documentaries, movies set in the tropics, and so on, but this was the first time I paid attention to the natural beauty of a tropical paradise. It was also the first time in my life I was thinking about taking a different path in life. I was unsettled about my major and didn’t know what I wanted to do next. So, I found a friend and we decided we would go travelling – you know, do the whole long-term backpacking thing.
First, we would go to New Zealand, and experience the tropical wonders like I saw in Blue Lagoon. Then I would go visit my sister in Australia and travel some more.
A few months later we were set. I packed a light sleeping bag, some light clothes and a new bathing suit. I was all set for a tropical blue-lagoonish adventure. But when we arrived – Surprise! New Zealand is not like the Blue Lagoon. It is not so warm everywhere that you can jump into warm bath-like waterfalls and lagoons. Instead, when we arrived at our first stop, a host farm family my friend knew through her past agie -exchange programs, I was in for a weather shock. Their farm near Rotura was 30 minutes from the ski hill that had just closed the day before we arrived. The mountain tops were still rimmed with snowy remnants of the winter that just ended. They had lots of green pastures and sheep, a small house with a cookstove in the kitchen, and no central heating. I have never been so cold in my life, even for a Canadian. The damp cold really is different from a dry cold. I tried to stay warm in my $19 junior sleeping bag and light pyjamas but I couldn’t. There was frost on the floor when we got up. Note to self, I said, research a country before you go. In my youthful naivety, I hadn’t even considered that New Zealand would be anything but the Blue Lagoon. Fortunately, the hosts had tons of warm quilts and booties for us to borrow. I soon was warm and quickly fell in love with the country and had an amazing youthful adventure, despite my ill-fated beginning.
Tales From the Crossing 