Calvino Travels

The resulting damage of the Alpine Gardens Landslide You are a traveller. You are stranded on the side of the road on State Highway 6 somewhere in New Zealand's Southern Alps. Your companions are debating whether to leave your broken-down van and walk. The bearded one decides to run up the road to try and find some phone signal. The curly-haired one stays with the van, relaxing in a fold out chair, munching on a packet of Oreos. As the bearded one walks into the distance a pickup truck pulls in. You are saved. The bearded one runs back and puts on his best burly-man voice, addressing the mechanic. "Thought it might be the coolant, so I chucked some water in there," he squeaks, puffing out his chest. He has no idea what he's talking about. The mechanic is silent. He clearly thinks you are all idiots and you've got yourselves into this situation, but he agrees to tow you back to the shop anyway. The view from State Highway 6 The mechanic takes you ...

Isthmus Peak walk, New Zealand You are a traveller. You are sitting in the middle seat of a 20 year old Nissan Caravan chugging desperately up a mountain tunnel stretching away from Milford Sound, New Zealand. The tunnel looks as if it had been carved out by the dwarves of Middle Earth long, long ago. There are metal reinforcements bolted slap-shod along the walls of the tunnel that seem slightly battered and are dripping with water. You expect the whole thing to collapse at any minute. Your companions are silent. The bearded one is trying to avoid potholes on the darkened road. The curly haired one has the permanent grimace of an oncoming driver moments before a head on collision. At the entrance to Homer Tunnel near Milford Sound You survive the tunnel and drive back along the road away from Milford Sound, then through Queenstown. There is a campsite at Moke Lake that can only be accessed by an 8km dirt road. You stay there for two nights. Without any phone signal, you ...