Stewart Island

First off, I'm dedicating this blog entry to Kelli so she will get off my back about my picture choices. Personally, I think she has should take advantage of being my fb friend and look at the albums, but thats just me. Also, this specific entry goes to her, because she definitely could/would never do what I did.


So we awoke on the morning of the 12th to a beautiful double rainbow as we drove out of the Fiordland National park. We stopped to book our tickets for a ferry later that day to Stewart Island. That was also when I checked my email and found that Richard Taylor, of Weta Workshop fame and five time academy award winner(the man that made LOTR seem real) had replied to my email saying that yes, he would be available to give me a tour of the Weta Workshop. Of course, I freaked out just a bit. Then it was on to Invercargill, our stocking up point before catching the ferry.

Once at Invercargill, we loaded up on groceries and drove to Bluff where we had to catch the ferry. We had a ticket for 5 meaning we would arrive at 6. We packed up our bags with our food and clothes and I was really excited to use my backpacking backpack for the first time. Then we hopped aboard. The water between New Zealand and Stewart Island at the southern tip of the south island is notorious for being rough water. I settled down with my complementary tea and prepared for the worse. It wasn't actually that bad at all.

Once we arrived on the island, we went and found the only campground in town, and paid an absurd amount of money to sleep on a lawn. Our tent had to be covered with a tarp due to the fact that it was a 2 person, children's summer tent. Basically the cheapest thing we could find. We then had fantastic fish and chips before hanging out in the lounge and going to bed.

We started out early the next morning by heading to the DOC office to book the huts on the Raikoura Track. This was the southern most Great Walk (easy, beautiful recommended walks) in New Zealand. Stewart Island was known for two things: being super wet (rain 260 days a year) and being extremely beautiful. We were really excited for this hike and started around noon. Once we actually hit the path, we realized it was going to be an adventure. There were puddles and mud everywhere! And guess who didn't have waterproof hiking boots? That's right, me. Fortunately, it wasn't raining very hard and we took a nice easy pace before arriving at the hut at 5. The hike had been through a beautiful forest that reminded me of hawaii a lot, mostly due to the big ferns covering the floor.

Despite the beauty, I was extremely happy to reach the hut. I wanted my wet socks and shoes off and I was starving! We had hot dogs before we did a group massage session in the hut. Then we entertained ourselve with card games, MASH, and sticking various shoes into the fire place to dry them off.

The next morning we woke up to see our worst nightmare; horizontal wind and trees whipping around in the wind. Our original plan to get up early and start on the longest and hardest part of the track was postponed. We considered various options for an hour and in that time, the weather got slightly better. I put on my rain pants, my slightly dried socks and shoes, and headed out. It was worst than the day before on the mud and two minutes in, my feet we drenched and I had mud to my shins.

It got worse as we reached the incline part of the track. All the dirt had been washed away leaving slippery roots as stairs to climb up at a 45 degree angle. I struggled with my giant backpack on as I slipped everywhere, fell into a tree, and banged my knees. I hated my life for the first 4 hours of that part. I either was slipping somewhere, falling into puddles, banging into this and that, overall MISERABLE!

Then we started going downhill, wooden steps appeared, the rain ceased, and the sun came out. Magically it made all the difference. I was by myself at this point; we found that Elyse likes her alone time and goes really fast, while Lannette likes to go slowly and take it all in leaving me in the middle zone. I was singing every musical song I could think of because I think I was losing my mind.

I finally saw a sign saying 30 minutes to our campsite. We had decided that we wanted to do the hut one night and then camp the second night. I emerged from the forest to see a perfect beach and sunshine. I found some perfectly intact spiral shells the size of baseballs and the famous Paua shell of NZ. And of course, Elyse. The first thing I did was get out of my wet clothes and then set up the tent to get in before it started raining again. I had a dinner of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before preparing for bed. This is when things got interesting.

The wind picked up again and we had the tarp on over the tent. We each had our mats, but only 2 sleeping bags for 3 people. We zipped them together before spooning each other for warmth. The wind whipped around, as the tarp made thundering sounds, making each of us jump everytime. I think we said "OMG WE ARE GOING TO DIE!!!" about 20 times that night. The water started to come in and we had to keep rotating to stop our hips from hurting too much on one side. Overall, we got little amounts of sleep but definitely were closer than ever before (literally).

Typical NZ weather, we woke up to perfect blue skies and sun, just in time for the easy 2 hour hike part of the track. This part followed the coast and we could look out and see the pretty ocean. After a short amount of hiking time, we emerged out of the forest once more and onto the street. At this point we had 5k (3 miles or so) on the street back to town...and it was hilly. I wasn't having it, so first chance I got, my thumb went out and we jumped into the back of a construction truck and rode into town.

We walked into the DOC office straight for the bathroom. I was so happy to see a real toilet and to wash my face. Camping makes you appreciate the small things in your life. I changed into dry clothes again and immediately wanted hot food. I found this really cool cafe owned by this awesome American lady and had a chicken pesto panini and a brownie. Then we chilled in the warm DOC office before our ferry back to the mainland.

While the way to Stewart Island had been fairly easy, the way back was awful. I went straight to sleep to avoid getting sick and woke up to find myself back on the mainland. Then it was on to Dunedain.

I took so many pictures from this place. PLEASE GO LOOK AT THEM!!! words cant do them justice. and I'm talking to you kelli!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=173974&id=665896295&l=2bf6c86e68

Also, according to my mother, theres a lot of people out there reading this. I would love to know who my audience is (so I can stop talking about alcohol all the time) so please leave me a comment!

Milford Sound

We arrived around dusk in Milford Sound National Park. We had talked to Sophia who had just come from there and had been told there was somewhere we could sleep for free. The DOC sites were only $5 which was much improved than other campsites we had seen but tried for the Hollyford campsite area instead. We stopped at this museum before the Hollyford hike to get an idea of where we were. The campsites there were $10 bucks and we just wanted to sleep in our car. We found out that at the end of the road there was a carpark where you technically aren't supposed to camp, but really who was going to go out there. While in the museum I saw a kid wearing a University of Hawaii shirt. Being my father's daughter, I started talking to him and found out he had "studied abroad" there for a semester. The group of guys were actually from the east coast and were studying abroad at Victoria University in Wellington. Then we left for the carpark.

I don't think I have ever been somewhere so dark and creepy in my entire life. We drove in passing dead man's creek and hangman's drop and it was so dark I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. I never considered myself scared of the dark but that was really scary. We were also concerned about getting caught sleeping where we weren't supposed to so in the early morning when we saw headlights, I tensed up. But we awoke with no problems and the sun shining. We decided to finally use the stove we bought and made eggs on toast. We then decided to do the short hike to see the waterfalls before doing part of the Hollyford track. Arriving at the waterfall, we saw the same group of guys from the night before and hung out with them a bit before we headed back down.

From there we did 2 hours into the Hollyford Track. It's normally a 6 day in and out track but we didn't have that amount of time. It was a nice easy flat trail following a river with glaciers in site the whole time.

Once back at the car, we drove into Milford Sound to see about kayaking the sound the next day. We signed up for the afternoon kayak trip at the Milford Sound Lodge when they told us there was no where for us to sleep for free or cheap in the area. We then went back out of Milford, through this giant tunnel in the mountain before going to the nearest DOC campsite. While searching for the toilet, guess who we run into? The boys from the hike earlier had set up a campfire. We hung out with them for a while before going to sleep preparing for 4 hours of kayaking the next day.

The morning of the 11th, we drove 45 minutes back into Milford Sound, used the Lodge's kitchen for eggs on toast before finding out they canceled our kayaking trip because of bad weather. Lannette was really upset because this had been the part she was looking forward to the most. We decided to do an afternoon trip on the Ferry showing the Sound. While I think it would have been really cool to see the sound up close from the kayak, it was still amazing from the ferry. We saw the entire sound, all the way to the Tasman Sea and got up close and personal when he backed us into a waterfall. I even got to see dolphins. All the while, the rain was pouring down which meant we got drenched but also that there were trickling waterfalls down the lush mountain sides everywhere.

Once back on land again, we dried off in the only pub around and had a delicious dinner of tortelloni. Then we found the jenga blocks and played multiple rounds while the pub filled with grizzled boating types that looked at us like we were crazy sitting in a corner on the floor playing with blocks.

We then ran into the group of guys from the campsite again! I told them they were stalking us, then we headed for the lodge to use the internet, which convienantly was also where they were staying. Then it was time to find a campsite to sleep at for the night.

Here's a video of the waterfall the boat backed me in to. No zooming required.

The Longest and Craziest Day Ever

So when last I left you, I was about to start the longest and craziest day of my life. We woke up early on the 8th, sometime around 7, which for me, is already not a good start. We then walked to the Shotover Canyon Swing office Dowtown and a bit after 8, they loaded us up in a van and drove us 10 minutes to the canyon. On the way there, we watched a video showing the different jumping styles we could do. Sitting there watching people jump off the ledge was getting me so incredibly nervous, I thought I was going to have a break down and cry. Then when we arrived and walked through the main office I finally looked down at the canyon, which of course was a very bad idea.

I chose to go last and therefore was the last one to get in my harness once we got to the ledge. Elyse went first in our group and just jumped off forward, Lannette did the same next. Then it was my turn. I chose to do the cutaway, which meant they were supposed to cut a string and I fell in a sitting position. They chose to torture me instead and do the 7 string cutaway where they cut each string individually. Let's just say they aren't very nice there. You get a good sense of their personalities by watching the video.

I tried so hard to not focus on what was happening, so when he started pushing down on my shoulder, I freaked out. Then as the rope snapped, I screamed as I dropped from 109 meters high, did a 60 meter freefall, before swinging 200 meters at 150 Kph. To say I was terrified would be an understatement. Once back at the top, I was still uncomfortable and it took me a while to get myself collected again. Elyse chose to do another jump, the Gimp Boy goes to Hollywood, where she hangs upside down and they drop her. Lannette also did another one, which consisted of her sitting in a plastic chair and leaning backwards off the edge and doing flips the whole way down. They tortured her so much that she had a panic attack and cried. Of course once she back up, they were joyous tears.
"Yay I survived!"

In general, it was something I got to say I've done, and will never have to do ever again. I'm not an adrenaline junkie and that was a bit more than I could handle, but I do get to say "yes, I have jumped off a cliff before" which sounds pretty badass if I do say so myself.

Once we were back in town, I found an awesome japanese lunch special and spoiled myself with a great bento box for lunch. Then we did some shopping before the Horseback riding tour. This resulted in me buying my first ever backpacking backpack! I was extremely excited about it, especially since it was on sale. Then it was time to head over to the Dart Stable town office. There we were picked up by a bus that took us an hour along the lake to Glenorchy. We stopped on the way and saw this incredible view.

Once at the Dart Stable, they asked us our experience level. Usually I'm around the middle because of all the horse camps I went to as a kid. This time, Elyse and I were the 2nd and 3rd most experienced. We had a bunch of girls with us who had never ridden. We then climbed back on a bus, drove past a couple of scenes from the movie Wolverine before arriving in Paradise. No really, its called Paradise. I then was given Merlin, described as "moderately ornery." Elyse was given Harry, who really didn't like other horses, but had been one of the opening horses in the beginning of Prince Caspian. Then it was time to hit the trail.

We rode out from the stable, into the forest. Instantly I knew where we were. The lighting and everything was exactly like Amon Hen (the end of the first LOTR). To the left Aragorn was fighting Lurtz, to the right, Merry and Pippin were attempting to flee. A bit further into the forest, the trees became larger, and I was transferred to Lothlorien. Once we rode out of the forest, we overlooked Dart River surrounded in the background by tree covered hills, seen when the Uruks leave for Helms Deep from Isengard. We also saw areas used in Prince Caspian and more sites used for Wolverine.

It was an incredible ride in the most beautiful place on earth. I would love to go again and do their longer advanced ride, including river fording. They were knowledgable and the horses had great personalities. I had a great ride even though Merlin tried to pull me over the top when I tried to stop him from eating. I realized how much I missed horseback riding. Maybe when I get back and I'm not completely and utterly broke, I will go more often.

Once back in town, we made dinner before heading out to do a pub crawl. The pub crawl was an epic fail considering you pay for it, to get "free" drinks at each bar. However, you stay at the bar for 30-45 minutes and then your buzz is gone. We ditched it towards the middle to go meet up with my fellow EAP kid and love Sophia who goes to Canterbury. Then we ended up running into a bunch of Lincoln kids before we called it a night and went back to the hostel.

The following morning we got to a slow start. We packed up the car before getting another Fergburger and heading out for Milford sound.

Heres a link to pictures!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=173718&id=665896295&l=a737a7161e

Queenstown: the Adventure Capital of the World

Queenstown was always a definite in our plans. It's known as the adventure capital of the world because it offers so many extreme sports. It's also where Bungi jumping began. We left Arrowtown on the 6th and arrived in Queenstown late afternoon. We finally found the Black Sheep Lodge to stay at because it would be difficult to find somewhere we wouldn't be fined for sleeping in the car. We jumped right into the craziness of Queenstown.

After talking to our other hostel roommate, an Israeli girl named Segal, she told us about this famous burger place called Fergburger. We decided we wanted to try it before heading to an ice bar. I ordered just a regular burger with Bree cheese not expecting a big deal. OMG it was delicious! They were really big and they had a fantastic sauce. Elyse got a Cajun Chicken that she liked and Lannette was able to finally get American Bacon on her burger (quite an accomplishment). Overall, we were all extremely happy and I've decided they are the BEST burgers in the world.


Then we wandered over to the ice bar. The fact that Lannette and I wanted to go to a bar named Minus 5 blew Elyse's mind (she's from Michigan, she doesn't understand we've never been that cold as Californians). She came nonetheless. We had to wear parkas and only could stay in for 30 minutes or so. We found out it was actually minus 7.7 that night. The bar was ice, the cups were ice, and there were ice sculptures everywhere. We each got a drink and a shot with our entrance fee and they made an incredible mixed passionfruit drink.

The morning of the 7th was the first night we had slept in since leaving for the Road trip. While I was getting ready for the day, Jill in the reception of the Black Sheep had convinced Lannette to do the Shotover Canyon Swing the next day. Then Lannette convinced Elyse, who then decided with Jill that we were all going to do it. Somehow in the 30 minutes I was showering and getting ready, I was going to go on this swing. Jill signed me up without me saying yes and then looked at me and said "cash or credit?" The only way I was going to pay to jump off a cliff, was if someone was going to do a LOTR horseback riding tour with me. Elyse agreed to and so we planned the next day starting with the Shotover Canyon Swing, a LOTR horseback riding tour, and a pub crawl that night. So we decided we should relax today.

We chose to go luging that day. This meant taking the gondola up to the top of a hill overlooking all of Queenstown. From there you could either enjoy an incredible buffet, see a Maori show, paraglide, bungi/swing, or luge. We got our helmets and jumped on the ski lift to take us even higher. We had to go on the scenic easy route first. The luge was basically this big plastic thing that we sat in with our legs in front of us. It had handles that you pulled back to go, and if u pulled all the way, it would stop the luge. Then it was time to go.

We got 5 rounds each and it was so much fun. There were twisting turns and hills and tunnels. I felt like I was a little kid all over again whipping around corners to try to pass Lannette or Elyse. The harder route was even more fun with hills so high I thought I was going get air and sharp turns that may have wiped me out.


Once we caught the gondola back down, we wandered through the Botanical Gardens which had really cool trees and rose gardens.
Then it was time to retire back to the hostel and prepare for the following day. And by prepare, I meant watch the Fellowship of the Ring to know what we were going to be looking at on the horseback riding tour the next day. Also to distract me from the cliff jumping the next day...

Rob Roy Glacier and Arrowtown

The next day we awoke bright and early and drove back into town to stop at the Department of Conservation (DOC) office to find out about this hike we wanted to do. It was listed in the Lonely Planet as being really great because there was a swing bridge, waterfalls, and glaciers; sounded perfect to me. So we picked up a map and found that it was about an hour away on mostly an unpaved road. This was slightly concerning but we decided to not worry about it.

The drive towards the Rob Roy Valley was beautiful as we drove out of Wanaka and along a wandering river. Up ahead we could see the glacier and along us were heaps (kiwi slang for a lot) of sheep and cows. We were admiring the waterfalls on our left while yelling "SHEEP!" at the sheep on our right when all of a sudden, we heard a pop and the sound of gurgling. Mind you, at this point we were about 40 minutes in with nothing in site for miles. Turns out Bluebird had overheated and her coolant had exploded. We were helped by a couple of men who told us to fill her back up and take her slow until we could get her looked at. I've learned on this trip, no matter how little a man knows about cars, he will undoubtably stop and pretend to know about them for a group of girls.
Us above the Rob Roy Valley

We continued on to the car park for the hike where we had lunch before hitting the trail. There was indeed a pretty fun swing bridge and the hike led upward towards the Rob Roy glacier. We were above the river almost all of the way up and continued to follow it to the lookout point for the glaciers and waterfalls. It was extremely green and reminded me a lot of what its like to hike in hawaii. We finally got to the top which consisted of a valley with a bunch of giant rocks where everyone was enjoying food and the view. It was gorgeous because there was a glacier about 1/3 of the way around the top and everywhere tiny waterfalls from the melting ice.
That white part towards the top is the glacier.

Once we got down we attempted to drive back to Wanaka. Of course Bluebird had other plans and we once again had to stop so she wouldn't overheat. And on cue, two men came over to check her out, but we already had the situation under control. This situation repeated multiple times on the way to Arrowtown and we considered turning around and waiting in Wanaka. Fortunately, the way to Arrowtown was mostly downhill so we finally made it to the mining town of New Zealand. Arrowtown reminded me instantly of Knott's Berry Farm with its store fronts resembling frontier stores. We found the New Orleans Hotel with hot fires and the kitchen still running (despite it being 9:30 pm). I warmed up by the fire with a ham and cheese and enjoyed their comfy couches. Then as the bar closed, we went to find a place off the highway to sleep.

The following morning we had a delicious breakfast at their amazing bakery. I had french toast with berries and enjoyed having a legit breakfast again. Then we dropped Bluebird off at a mechanic. This meant we had the whole day to explore the town. Turns out they had two scenes for LOTR shot here and Lannette wanted to mine for gold. It was convienantly a beautiful day so we spent it relaxing by the river.
We found the exact spot where Isildur is killed and kinda maybe found the spot the black riders ride towards Arwen in the first movie. In general it was nice just to relax and enjoy the beautiful fall trees and the trickling river.
This is exactly where Isildur is attacked in the Prologue.


Heres a link to the trip from the start to Arrowtown! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=173183&id=665896295&l=c875d7d7cf

Let the Road Trip Begin

Alright, I know you have all been waiting for it, and it's finally here! I've been back for a week now, but because Elyse wanted to photoshop my pictures, I put off doing an entry. But seeing as its now 2:30 in the morning, I figured what better time to begin writing about the awesomeness that was my mid semester break. You will notice one of the themes of this trip is LOTR.

So we began our road trip on Saturday the 3rd, later than originally expected (I really hate packing). Our original plan was to drive all the way to Wanaka as a stopping point before Queenstown. However, with our late start and a few stops here and there, we arrived at Lake Tekapo around 6ish and figured it was a good first stop. Lake Tekapo was carved out by a glacier and because of the sediments, has a milky color, which is reflected by the sky and creates the most beautiful shade of turquoise. Can you tell I'm smitten with the lake? So we had a lovely dinner of cheese, salami, bread, and cucumber, which would later become the usual, before we went to the only bar in town. Turns out, we were practically the only young people there. Most people were over 50 but they had incredible live 80s music. Pretty entertaining.

Meet Bluebird, our beloved car


That night we slept in our car (Bluebird) right on the lake and we were so lucky to have it instead of a tent. It poured and hailed that night and I had an irrational fear that the lake was going to overflow. However, we awoke Easter morning to a fairly nice day and started off with a delicious breakfast of eggs on toast with bacon. Then we stopped off at the tiny stone church to barely look inside and "go to church for easter". After more gawking at the lake, we hit the road.

Pretty blue water makes me happy!


It didn't take long for our second stop. I saw a sign that said free food- 1 meter. Free and Food may be my favorite words as a college student. Turns out because so many people drive long distances in New Zealand, they have driver revivers. This one was by the State Insurance and we got free Coffee, Sausages, Cookies, Water, and an Apple. It was fairly exciting. Elyse also was super stoked because the Burt Munroe Motorcycle was parked behind someones car and she got to sit in it. Apparently it's a really famous story, I think the movie is called the Fastest Indian.

I swear I spend half of this blog talking about food.


After that short stop, we made one more in Twizel. We didn't really get out of the car, but we did look out over Pelenor fields (the battle in the 3rd LOTR outside of Gondor). We then came into Wanaka just before sunset. Wanaka is also incredibly gorgeous as a lake town. We enjoyed wandering around the craft fair before snacking on the beach watching the sun set behind the mountains. Wanaka was also used in LOTR for when Gandalf is riding the Eagle away from Orthanc. Overall, a perfect way to end the day. Then we found a "gourmet burger" place for our easter dinner. I originally thought it was pretty good, but that was before Fergburger (more to come on that). We planned out a general idea for the rest of our trip before retiring to the car.

However, our night's sleep got cut short. I heard Elyse say "Oh no" as I rolled over to see a light shine into our car. Turns out the parking lot that said no camping had slowly emptied throughout the night. We were now the only car and the bright light was the security guard saying the cops were right behind him and we should leave before we got fined. I drove at 4 in the morning out of town to sleep on the highway area and will from now on have a big fear about being woken up while sleeping in cars.

Beautiful Wanaka

The Magic of Mid Semester Break

Normally around this time of year, everyone is leaving college to head home or somewhere exotic for Easter/Spring Break. Since home is not an option, and I'm already somewhere exotic, I guess that means a road trip! Another magical thing is that it's not Spring here, it's Autumn, so instead of a short week before starting another quarter, I get a whole two weeks. And you can bet I'm going to make the most of it.

We don't have much of a plan, it's more like general areas we would like to see. We are planning on heading South to hit up Queenstown, Stewart Island, Milford Sound and the Fiordlands. We plan to leave tomorrow morning to arrive later in Wanaka, just outside of Queenstown. It's less touristy and is supposed to be pretty amazing.

After that we will go to Queenstown which is known as the extreme sports capital of New Zealand. While I most likely wont be doing any skydiving or bungy jumping, there might be a possibility of Zorbing in my future. It's basically a giant hamster ball for people to roll down hills. Pretty much as extreme as I'm planning. Queenstown also provides another thing that makes me happy; Lord of the Rings locations! Hopefully my LOTR location guidebook will make itself useful.

Next would most likely be Stewart Island, but due to the expensive ferry ticket, it will most likely be the thing that we cut. It's known for having many a kiwi (the birds) and beautiful tropical tracks. It's also really close to Antartica. If we don't end up there, it will most likely be the Fiordlands or Milford Sound for some really great tramping (hiking). I'm still on a search for a great backpacking backpack, hopefully I will find one in Queenstown. Apparently they are practically a requirement for New Zealand and not having one makes it very difficult.


So basically this is extremely unplanned. We will probably sleep a large amount of time in the car, a Nissan named Bluebird. I can't really say what to expect besides seeing the beauty known as the South Island, but I can tell you it will be an adventure. I look forward to sharing with you all the tales of my travels in two weeks when I return!

"The road goes ever on and on"
-Bilbo Baggins

Queenstown


Milford Sound