Elisabeth Easther talks to Ryan O'Connell of Switched On Bikes New Zealand.
I grew up in Dunedin and family holidays involved filling the car and trailer with toys and bikes, renting a crib and exploring Central Otago. And because we all liked being outdoors, the South Island really suited us. After university I worked for my brother, saving money to travel. I went to Australia first, to learn how to travel and also how to grow food. I did a lot of wwoofing, [Willing Workers On Organic Farms]. Knowing how to grow food will always be of benefit, and it provided a really good reason for travelling. I think it's important not just to travel for travel's sake, but to travel with a purpose.
It turns out I'm pretty good at picking oranges, and if you picked fast you'd make good money. Once I'd picked enough to hitchhike to Adelaide, I met some Germans who were heading up the middle of the country in a beat-up old van. I travelled with them from Adelaide to Alice Springs, past Uluru and up to Darwin. I loved Darwin, the heat, the national parks. I wwoofed up there and, after I'd finished, to say thank you, the family I worked with took me on a crocodile boat ride. Big chunks of meat were hung off the side of the boat and the crocodiles jumped out of the water and tore it off. And I got to hold a big snake. That was cool.
From Australia, I spent a month in Thailand. In Chiang Mai, I saw a handwritten note on a noticeboard inviting people to stay on an organic farm in exchange for meditation lessons. I called the number and spoke to the monk and he told me what bus to catch and asked me to bring some bread for the cat. I managed to find the bus and there were chickens and bags of rice. No one speaks English and I had no idea where I was going. I spent two weeks on this Zen Buddhist monk's farm. There were some sitting meditations, but mostly we'd do active practical things, building a mud-brick house or gardening, but in a mindful way. That experience was very important to me.
Returning to Chiang Mai, I took a really long train ride down south to go rock climbing at Phi Phi Island. Between north and south, I couldn't believe the difference in terms of the impact tourists make. In the north, you'd always wear long sleeves; in the south people wandered around in just their swimsuits. There was a totally different respect for local culture and the environment from north to south.
