South Island Road Trip Day 5-8

Day 5-8: Te Anau and Fiordland National Park

For this part of the trip we pretty much backpacked for three days straight. Our first night we heard it was supposed to rain so we hiked up the mountain in the dark to the first hut. It was really cool and when we got to the top we were surrounded by the moonlit mountains. We had a special moment where we all just stopped hugged eachother and got all girlie and excited. When we got to the hut we discovered it full of australearn boys from Canterbury which was pretty cool because we all played cards and had a nice time.

The next day we had planned to go to the the Upper Caples path that looped around to the Greenstone path, but as it was, there was a turential downpour and we had major problems trying to cross an unbridged swamp land. We sure did give it a go until Courtney fell in the water (full body) twice and it was suggested that it might not be fun to hike 5 more hours in the pouring cold rain. We made our way a few more hours to the Howden hut and decided to just do the Greenstone track there and back. When we arrived there was a helicopter of guys working on the bridge. They had decided to take advantage of the area and had hunted a deer, which we coincidentally got full view of as they were leaving with it in a cart below the helicopter. There was also a hilarious moment when I thought that could chop some wood for the fire, which was miserably unsuccessful. Can someone in my life please teach me? This is a survival skill I need. The next two days we hiked a 6 hour track to and from the Mckeller hut. It was pretty flat, but with all the rain there were some challenging obsticles along the way. We also got to cross a wire bridge, where I constantly reminded myself I could do because I had just jumped out of a plane. Ha. Anyway, it was a really great trip and we saw so much raw natural beauty alone in the wilderness. Because it was cold there was pretty much no one else there and we really got to experience it alone, which is really cool given the popularity of the tracks in Fiordland. This was definitely more of a challenging trip than a relaxing tramp through the woods, but we all worked together and had a really sweet time.

In the parking lot before the big tramp!

Dusk taking over the mountains

Helicopter outside the Howden Hut

Once we stripped out of our wet clothes, we felt pretty good.

Howden Hut

View at the start of the 6 hour hike...we basically walked straight to those mountains and then along in the woods a bit too... really cool and totally swampy

Wire bridge with one at a time warning! A tad dodgy

Lord of the rings like swamp area

Stretchin/collapse time was a must.

Right outside the McKeller Hut! Home at last!

We played a lot of cards in the candlelight! Also, did I mention that we had to ration our food to the point where a carrot for dessert was a luxury and peanut butter was in short supply? We definitely did not have enough food but we managed and made up for it in the days to come.

Aortearoa, land of the long white cloud

Almost got everyone!

Beautiful lake outside the hut on the first night!

View from the top of the Mountain on our way back to our car. Beautiful!

South Island Road Trip Day 9

Day 9: Milford Sound

On the last day of our Fiordland trip we hiked out in three hours and drove to Milford Sound! Once you are going down the mountain, the scenery is just breathtaking. Probably the most overwhelming sense of smallness I have had since being here. We were all a little loopy with lack of sleep, exhaustion, and especially HUNGER so when we got here we went right to the cafe and got snacks. It was wonderful to enjoy such a beautiful sight. This is one of the most popular destinations for tourists in New Zealand, so it was nice to see what it was all about.

The snow we encountered before going through the tunnel!

The peak in Milford Sound

Yay! I made it to Milford!

Awesome view from the drive

South Island Road Trip Day 10

Day 10: Travel day through the Southern Tip

This was a pretty cool day because we were able to drive through the Southern part of the South Island. Originally we were just going to go straight to Dunedin, but decided to take a little detour on the way. We drove for most of the day just looking out the window and enjoying the rainy (yet mysterious) views, but also had two main stops. We first stopped at the petrified forest at Curio Bay which is about 170 million years old. After reading some of the signs it said that the forest had been turned into stone in just a matter of months after being impregnated with a massive amount of silica. Courtney is a geology major so she was in rock heaven and got wicked excited when she found a leaf fossil. They say this forest of rocks was proof that New Zealand was once part of Gondwanaland, which is crazy! A funny moment was when we totally thought we saw a penguin and then as we were taking pictures it flew away..haha not a penguin at all. Unfortunately we were never in the right place to really see them and once in Dunedin all the beaches where they nested cost a ton of money and you could only see them on a tour. Totally silly in my opinion, but they gotta make money i suppose. Our next stop was at the Nugget Point Light House. It is funny how the lonely planet and others only mention this place in passing, because it was very awesome. It was cold and windy as we made our way along this winding path to the edge of the steepest cliff where this tiny little light house rested. At onoe point we were able to look down on the path and see a bunch of fur seals playing at the bottom. They were really cool, but only specks to our eyes. Once we got to the edge of the cliff, the view was amazing with jutted rocks coming out of the water and seaweed swaying lazily in the waves surrounding each formation. Birds were abundant and flying between them as some waves crashed and sprayed fountains. It reminded me a little of our three sisters expedition only we were so high up looking down over them all. My camera died on this day, so I will have to use a few pictures that some friends took!

South Island Road Trip Day 11-12

Day 11-13: Dunedin, Mt. Cook, Kaikoura

We arrived in Dunedin pretty late and stayed at the central backpackers hostel after deiciding we didn't want to sleep in the car. It was pretty swanky and even had a animal fur rug. I was diggin it. We were pretty touristy in Dunedin and ate at Velvet burger which had the most delicious food ever: I got a venison burger with pineapple and special "velvet sauce" and wedges and kumara fries with aoli sauce mmmm... definitely had a food baby after that. Then to top off the awkward fullness feeling we went to the Cadbury chocolate factory where we wore goofy shower caps and ate entirely too much chocolate. Towards the end of the tour there was a huge chocolate waterfall that held two tons of liquid chocolate and was inspired by the Willy Wonka movie. Sweet as. We also saw the uneventful campus (glad I chose Wellington) and made our way to the YHA hostel where we met up with a bunch of friends from our Welly home. I spent the rest of the night getting to know some really cool peoplefrom Sweden, Quebec and Belgium.

The next day we walked up Baldwin street which is the steepest street in the world and then had a travel day to Mt. Cook. This was a beautiful drive because it was a bright blue sky and we had a bunch of cool stops. We pulled over for lunch at Te Kaihinaki boulders in Moeraki Otago which were really cool. We then made our way curving this way and that until we reached Lake Putaki which had the most brilliant turquise water (totally looked fake...but I kid you not!). We probably stopped every few minutes to stare at it and take pictures. As we approached Mt. Cook we just saw more and more mountains until we were completely surrounded. It was beginning to be evening so we decided (much to our dismay and hilarity looking back) to camp in the state park in the flat area between the mountains and a huge lake. Everything was fine until in the middle of the night it started to pour and the wind became an absolute rediculous freak of nature. We were all sleeping with our heads facing the wind and gradually the tent began to engulf our bodies and we heard the pings of the stakes tearing out of the ground. By this time it was about 4 or 5 in the morning so we decided to just stick it out, but it was probably the most hilarious situation ever and at one point all we could do was laugh at our misery. When it was finally light out (for some reason we thought the light would bring an end to the crazy weather) we hurredly packed up the tent until our fingers were frozen and didn't work any longer. To ease some of the pain of this un-tame night we decided to treat ourselves with a huge breakfast and hot chocolate at the local diner. It was wonderful. After this we drove for hours until we reached Kaikoura and spent the night in the car on the beach after having a few drinks at the Strawberry bar.

Dunedin

Yumm!

Double Yumm!

The view of Dunedin from the lookout

Bouldon Street, the steepest street in the world

T e Kaihinaki boulders

On the way to Mt. Cook

Beautiful waters!

This was the coolest lake I've ever seen!

Under Mt. Cook, it looked tame then...

Bright eyed morning, happy as can be=)

Some others weren't so bright eyed ;)

South Island Road Trip Day 13-15

Day 13-15: Christchurch and 7.1 Earthquake

We arrived in Christchurch at around 2 pm and went to the art gallery. It was really cool and had a really interesting exhibit by Taryn Simon called: American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar. It was a series of pictures that showed a really interesting (and dark) side of the states. After this we were all getting a little slap happy from the lack of sleep and made our way to the Carr's house (Courtney's friend's parents home where we were invited to stay for two nights) where we were greeted and treated with the most hospitality I have ever experienced. We had such a nice time and were fed beyond our bellies capacity (this was a first, seeing as we rationed our carrots and apples on a daily basis..ha!). After our delicous dinner, Sara (the cousin) booked us all tickets for Scared Scriptless which is basically a New Zealand version of Who's Line is it Anyway? It was SO hilarious and really entertaining (also my first comedy show I've ever seen...thinkin it should happen more considering how fun this was!). We then came home and nestled into the warmest beds.

At 4:35 we were shakened up with a start as the house rolled around on what felt like marbles. Immediately my friend Hannah and I looked at each other and as we each exchanged words:
"The bookcase" and "Get to the door way" we were scurrying out of bed trying to keep our footing. With shaking hands and on the verge of crying we crouched holding onto eachother in the doorway with a pillow over our heads. Once the earthquake was over and I realized the house wasn't going to collapse we settled down a bit and found the others in the house. Everyone was okay and in awe at how huge the quake was (the biggest anyone who lived there had every felt). At this point I was so excited to call Kim and tell her that I felt an earthquake! Pretty crazy end to a rockin road trip.

A little foreshadowing had occured earlier that night when at dinner Mr. Carr was explaining to us how New Zealand was right on a fault line and how small earth quakes happen all the time. Little did we know that the biggest one since 1931 was about to happen over night. We continued to feel the aftershocks into the night (every one of them waking me up tensely). The next day proved to be absolutely gorgeous and with blue skies and a spring-like feel. After watching the news and seeing all the damage that had happened in the city center (we were just West of the city about 5 or 10 minutes) we decided to see what we could see. As we walked we saw a lot of silt that had come up through cracks in the ground and sidewalks and as we got closer to the city we started seeing parts of buildings crumbled on the ground. We also passed the art gallery again and heard the mayor of the city address that the city was in a state of emergency. Pretty crazy that only two people were seriously injured and no one died. Had it been during the day I think this statistic would have been very different. We did not make it any further into the city because the police had people evacuated and areas completely blocked off, but from the pictures I saw from my friends who had been in an old hostel (and they woke to falling bricks and a shaking ceiling), there was some major damage to some of the older buildings.

It was almost surreal how calm and beautiful the day was. After a wonderful lunch we went and played frisbe for about two hours in the picture perfect park a few minutes from the house...by this point the Carr's were gathering more people in the house because some of their friends were kicked out of their flat because the building next door way laying in the street and others were home alone and scared. When we came home from the game there were about 12 people in the house and Jenny was making us a massive, wonderful meal. It may have been the most at home I have felt since I have been in New Zealand and I hope some day my house can be just as bountiful and welcoming to all who walk through the door. I felt an immense amount of warmth from all the little lost boys (and girls) gathered around the table enjoying food, fun stories, and awe at the day behind us. What a whirlwind of a ending to a rediculously fun and challenging trip!

Hilarious improv show we saw on Friday night!

Addressing to the people of Christchurch that a state of emergency is in order.

Crumbling building pieces.

Warm room, warm friends, warm food

Tauranga/Bay of Plenty/Taupo Road Trip

Another great weekend in Aotearoa!

We woke up really early on Friday morning and drove in Baby (Anais and Lena's new van, their baby) and got to the airport to catch our 8 o'clock flight into Tauranga. It was rainy and the forecast read: Rainy (crap weather or the weather's crap, as the Kiwi's like to call it). This time the weathermen were right. It pretty much rained the whole time, but we made the best of it and had a pretty wicked time. When we got to Tauranga we picked up our rental which was an advanced version of my cranberry toyota. We drove into town and decided to climb Mt. Manganui first. It was a little cloudy out, but the views were awesome and there was wind that really made you feel like the earth has all the power. It was pretty cool, but a little bit scary around the cliff areas. There was one steep part we actually tried to climb up, but we all got blown over with the first minute and turned around to the road most travelled by.

After this (it was still really early) we drove further North along the Bay of Plenty, headed towards Hot Water Beach. This was by far one of the coolest things I've ever done. We get there and are all totally skeptacle about getting into our togs (suits) because it is just freezing and windy, but then once we saw a girl running by in her bikini and stuck our toesies into the melting hot water, we ran back and changed immediately. I don't know if there are other beaches like this in the world, but I've never heard of one. Under the sand is a lot of geothermal activity that heats up the water that runs beneith the surface, creating steaming hot natural hot tubs on the beach. There were a few other people there and the cutest little family with two naked little babies playing in the water happily. We lounged around for what turned out to be about two hours. It was the most perfect thing: an un-developed hot tub in the sand looking towards the ocean and beautiful islands. We just loved it and couldn't stop raving about it.

After this we drove back through the winding hills towards Tauranga and stayed at a pretty cool lodge. We were all exhausted and made the best tacos ever. Mmmm. We woke up early the next day to pretty much a downpour. A little downtrodden, we decided we wanted to hike to the Wharere falls anyway. Once we got there, there were all these signs saying take all your belongings with you because there were a lot of robbers who stole things out of cars. A little upset by the prospect, we got out of the car and there was a truck with the license plate "BRGLAR" right across from us. We got a pretty good laugh out of that and then stuffed our pockets with everything we held dear. Through the downpour we met up with the raging river and traveled through the thick forest. About ten minutes from the falls, the trail was under water. We tried to climb up around it, getting totally muddy, but we all felt a little unsafe about the rising water levels and decided it wasn't our day for it. Maybe I'll get back there, but it was definitely a fun hike to see the water so turbulent!

We made our way down South hitting Rotorua again and checking out some of the hot springs. We then ate at the Fat Dog Cafe which was really cute (Emma you would have loved this place, I wish I had gotten a picture...there were dog poems and quotes everywhere and just really witty stuff!). We then drove down to Taupo where we crossed our fingers we would be able to enjoy the next day. We spent the evening in this awesome hostel called the Rainbow lodge. It was the most fun one I've been in so far because there were just so many young travelers eating and reading and talking together. We met a few funny characters (a hilarious scottish lad) and enjoyed our breakfast for dinner cooking time! The next morning we woke up and had planned to go skydiving, but the weather was too bad and the company didn't even call us to confirm the cancellation it was so cruddy. We made our way through Taupo and had a really nice breakfast and then went to a bay that would have been gorgeous if we could see into the fog. We also drove to Huka Falls which were crystal blue even in the rainy weather and Craters of the Moon which was just an area with really high amounts of geothermal activity. It was really cool and the colors of the clay there was pretty intense. I loved that (even though we got soaked again!).

We finally admitted defeat with the weather and made our way back to Wellington. As we were approaching home the sun started to grace us with it's presence and decided to shine, shine, shine! We knew that we were right by the water by that point and desperately searched for the closest beach so that we could watch this incredible sunset! Once we found one, we were like bats out of hell (as Grandpa might say). We ran as fast as we could out of the car flinging off our shoes into the sunset. It was absolutely breathtaking, stunning, incredible, magnificent...all those words combined! It was the perfect, non-planned icing on the salty cake (because there was so much rain...and i think rain would taste salty?)!

Turns out that no matter the weather, you can still have an amazing time being with wonderful people and exploring wonderful places. I loved this trip=)

Now for some pictures...

Bottom of Mt. Manganui with heaps of sheep!

Documenting the wind up there... we almost blew over several times

Crystal Clear

Little town of Tauranga

Coolest shells ever, ready to make some jewelry!

Hot water beach: Yup- we dug our own hot tubs in the sand

Doodle castles, mom used to make these =)

The raging river on our way to the Wharere Falls

The path was flooded out because of the rain, so this is as close to the biggest falls on the North Island as we could get

Rainbow lodge: hostel where we stayed on Saturday night which was SO awesome

Huka Falls or Hukanui (Maori for Great Body of Spray)

Craters of the Moon! Kim you would love all this geothermal activity

Boiling Mud

Lake Taupo through the rain

The sun came out on our ride home (three days later..ha!)

Mmm we missed you sun

Take me away!

All the best moments are never planned..

Perfect.

Oh and this is where I live!:

My work out buddy Lindsey and I like to make it fun and run up mountains... just a normal Tuesday in Wellington

Hi ya!