An Epic Adventure

Well, as many of you know, or should know because I told you I was leaving, I just returned from a pretty awesome adveture. You guys can have a gander at a conversation I had with my friend John about it, it pretty much describes it in full. If you would like to see pictures click the photo on the top left of the screen and check out my Picasa Web Album. They are pretty awesome, just a heads up ;). 

John: tell me all about your trip

  what was awesome, what was a little substandard

  who'd you meet, what did you do?

 me: haha

 John: that sort of stuff

2:14 PM me: Well I went up to the Bay of Plenty area with a group of friends to stay with another friend in his house. That was awesome, he lives on this little strip of land so that a minute walk to your left you have the harbor and a minute walk to your right you have the ocean, or bay really.

2:15 PM We went sailing, his dad taught us all how to do everything around the boat, so that WE were litterally sailing, not just along for the ride.

  his dad is pretty awesome, he's a pharmacist too... and now I'm pretty sure I'm going to become a pharmacist. But anyway

 John: ay aye maty

2:16 PM me: we went to a few surrounding towns. Went on this huge sky swing thing, went luging all in Rotorua

 John: oh, well, less physics involved in that one anyways ;)

 me: very true :)

 John: I think I did that same sky swing thing!

 me: still going to be an engineering major though... but I'm done with physics so it's all good

  really?

 John: was it at a place that had a ropes course and a trapeze jump?

2:17 PM or am i crazy

  well, i mean more than usual

 me: hehe, it was at the place with the Luge. And it was on a mountain so when you swung out you were freakishly high in the air

2:18 PM John: opa, I was wrong

  continue though

2:20 PM me: heh alright. And then we went to Tauranga and I bought all my backpacking stuff. And then my friend Jillian and I flew down to Queenstown to meet up with Max and Jack, and we staying in the Black sheep hostel for 4 days whilst we were waiting for Brian to fly in. We just did a few walks around there, ate the best burger ever - a fergburger - and met lots of cool people. Jillian and I were staying in a room with this guy from London and there were actually a lot of english people there

2:21 PM John: jealous

 me: but anyway, then Brian showed up and we got a rental car and went on our way down to Te Anau. And then we decided to spend the night at Lake Manapouri instead so we drove there. And then we woke up in front of the lake in a very illegal camping location, but we didn't get caught, and then we bought cruise tickets to go around doubtful sound.

 John: not so much of britishness, I've met them too, but the burger and walking yes

 me: for the next day

2:22 PM a fergburger? have you had one?

 John: no no, im jealous of that

 me: yeah, you should have one. They are amazing

  they are the biggest burgers in the world

  and you know how I never finish my food?

2:23 PM well, you can't not eat all of that burger, it's that good

 John: goodness

  thats hard to imagine

  but yes, kudos on illegal camping, I think I may have done that once too, but oh well, was the lake side view impressive?

2:24 PM me: so then we were in Lake Manapouri and we had a whole 24 hours before the cruise. So we drove up to Milford Rd and we drove up to Gertrudes saddle and decided to climb it.

  the lake was amazing, one of the best things to wake up to

  it was the most amazing thing I had seen up until that point

  up until with climbed Mt. Gertrude

  and at the peak, looking out over the other side, you could see Milford Sound

2:25 PM it was incredible

  that's what my profile picture is on Facebook, and it doesn't do it justice at all

 John: and people don't understand why I bushwalk, I'm glad someone understands

 me: yes, it's incredible

2:26 PM John: wow, that is really cool

 me: so then we climbed back down the mountain, half way in the dark, and camped out that night along Milford Rd, where we ended up hitting a stump trying to find a camp site

 John: and I understand what you mean when you say pictures don't do it justice as well

 me: they for sure don't

 John: did you have a rental car?

 me: I just hope my memory doesn't fade

2:27 PM yes, we had a rental car

  we hit this stump going like 20 K too, not fast

  but our car like jumped up in the air and slammed back down. It shook us a bit, but nothing was wrong so it was mostly funny

  so then we camped out and the next day drove back to Lake Manapouri and rode the cruise around Doubtful Sound

 John: thats probably for the best

2:28 PM me: that.... that was the most spectacular thing I have ever seen in my life

 John: the doubtful sound?

 me: and the cruise had Kayak you could take out, so we Kayaked around the sound. Went out to the edge of the ocean and saw an island full of fur seals

2:29 PM John: awesome

 me: it is the less famous but by far the most beautiful of the sounds in the Fiordlands

  it was incredible

  and this whole time, it hasn't rained yet

 John: wow, lucky you!

2:30 PM me: there are only 50 days out of every year that it doesn't rain in the Fiordlands. Yeah, it was amazingly fortunate

  so the next day we were driving back and about 18 dolphins start playing around in our wake

  doing flips, showing off, it was awesome.

2:32 PM and then after the cruise we drove back to Queenstown on our way to Mt. Cook because Jillian bought a plane ticket to go home. She wasn't feeling well. But along the way we decided to check our oil because the little warning light was flashing

 John: sweetas

 me: or rather flickering on sometimes

  so we stop, turns out it is completely empty

 John: uh ohs

 me: dry

 John: that isn't very healthy for a car

 me: so the guy at the shop pours a liter in, and it all spills on to the ground

  yeah... it was pretty amazing we didn't blow up considering how far we drove

2:33 PM so they look and there is this hole in the tank... that may have been caused by, I dunno... a stump for instance

  so they take it up and weld it and it didn't really cost that much, but Jillian was pretty nervous about her flight

  but it was really just hilarious looking back on it

2:34 PM John: thats really funny

  I mean, after it all works out at least

 me: so then we get on our way again and we drop jillian off on the airport to board her plane and we continue on our way to Mt. Cook, the tallest Mountain in New Zealand though I'm pretty sure you knew that

2:35 PM hah, I was laughing before it worked out. It was funny, Jillian was pretty not amused though

 John: nice

2:36 PM me: so when we arrived at Mt. Cook it was dark, so we camped out and the next day woke up near the base of it, which was awesome because we had no idea how close we were. So we watched the sunrise and then walked around the base of it and some trails for the rest of the morning, saw the Tasman Glacier

  it was pretty cool, after the Fiordlands though, not as amazing as it could have been

 John: woot tasman

 me: haha

  yes

  Tasman

 John: sorry, couldn't resist

 me: hehe

  no worries

2:37 PM And then we were on our way again to try to make it to Franz Josef glacier again by nightfall, and we had to drive back down almost to queenstown and then back around to the west coast and then north.

 John: busy day

2:38 PM me: But we made it and the next morning we walked out to see Franz Josef, which was cool just because of how clean it was, and then we continued driving north to Fox Glacier and saw that too. We didn't go on them or anything because we didn't have the time or resources, but they were cool to see.

 John: yeah, I'm told they're still pretty massive

2:39 PM despite some climate changes best efforts

 me: yeah, they are. They are resisting. Fox is actually growing a little bit

  and it is one of the fastest moving glaciers too, pretty nifty

2:40 PM And then we headed out again that same day to go as far north as we could and ended up staying the night in Nelson. Where we hung out in a burger king and played cards for most of the night and then camped out again.

  And when I say camping out, I mean sleeping in a car

  all of these times I've said camping out, I mean our car.

 John: I've also done that

  .....when I had a car that is

 me: yeah... they are useful things

 John: do you guys have a tent?

 me: I'm glad ours didn't die

2:41 PM the guys brought a tent, but they were two two person tents and three guys to one girl, I just decided I'd sleep in the car the whole time

 John: despite some of your best efforts, and that of a lonely stump

 me: exactly

  olga was a beast

 John: I can see why you did it that way

2:42 PM was taht your car's name?

  or that of the stump?

 me: car

  hehe, we didn't name the stump... probably Goliath though. That'd be fitting

 John: well, maybe david is better, it was smaller than you, and I think it won

2:43 PM me: no, we won. Olga didn't die, and she definitely should have

  heh

2:44 PM but yeah, then we drove to Picton the next day after cleaning our car to the best of our efforts and we dropped Olga off at the rental car place and dropped our bags off at the ferry... which was scheduled to be taken the next morning at 6 am

  so we had another night to stay in Picton, without a car or any tents or anything

  so we stayed in Cafes and Bars until 1 am when everything closed and then slept in bubbles that were part of the local parks playground

2:45 PM John: thats awesome!

  I'm so impressed

 me: haha agreed. We were such bums, I was proud really

  I think everyone needs to be a bum at some point in there life

 John: were there no hostels or were you just cheap?

 me: cheap

  and it's more awesome this way

2:47 PM So after the bubbles became too wet and cold and wind filled to deal with anymore, because this is the only day in our entire journey it decides to rain and be really windy

 John: agreed, being a bum is character building ;)

 me: we went to sit on the floor of a womans restroom for another hour

  and then we boarded our ferry.

 John: I don't know, this is starting to lean toward sad

  just saying

2:48 PM me: yeah... that last part was a little bit. But it's all part of the bum lifestyle... and it made me appreciate my bed so much more

  and that's pretty much the end.

  I had showered once that entire time, btw. On the cruise ship. So you can imagine how long of a shower I took when I came back

2:49 PM John: that is an excellent adventure

  3 minutes?

 me: a little longer than that...

The Beach and Bree

Kia ora!

I know it's been a very long time, school has been beginning to take it's toll on my adventures and free time. However! I do have something new to share with you. I went to visit the Bree, which if you are not an LoTR fan you would be interested to know is the village that Frodo, Samwise, Merry and Pippin ran through on their way to the Prancing Pony in the Fellowship of the Ring. But anywho :). I have many many pictures on my Picasa page.

In addition to visiting Bree, we spent the morning and afternoon on Foxton Beach. One of my friend's Philosophy professors has a beach house right on the coast, the cutest little cottage. One thing that is completely true of most Kiwis is that they are the most hospitable people you will ever meet. Jillian's professor Adrian happily drove us to her beach house, showed us around, fed us a fantastic lunch, and drove us back. It was unbelievably nice.

The dog you can see in the picture is one of the two beautiful Bernice mountain dogs that came along with us on the trip. So much fun! As we walked along the beach you could vaguely see the islands out in the distance, and there were all kinds of whole shells washed up on the shore. In addition to the array of decaying fish and sharks, which was just kind of interesting.

After we said goodbye to the beach and Adrian and the dogs, we went to a traditional Maori Hangi. It's a ceremonial welcoming tradition that the Maori people have upheld to this day. There was a specific way we needed to enter the ground, announce our presence, and then we were ceremonially welcomed after singing songs from our home country and hearing a speech in Maori. We then did the "Hangi" which is the same name as the ceremony, but it is the act of touching noses as a sign of friendship in the Maori culture. Which was extremely awkward, because not everyone touches noses, especially if you are a girl. To girls, they sometime kiss cheeks. Which is something that you never knew because they don't always kiss cheeks, sometimes the bump noses. So you might go in for the nose, but they are going for the kiss, so it's awkward because then it's almost like you were about to kiss your professor on the nose... But after that confusion was over, we were treated to some traditional Maori song and dance. Of course including the Haka, which is the most intense chant you'll ever see. It's most widely known as the tradition that the All-Blacks (New Zealand's National Rugby Team) upholds before every game, they go on the field and perform this to intimidate the other team. You'll see why...

After that they felt the need to do a chant with audience participation... and I was pulled up to do a dance with poi, with is just to balls connected with rope, that you need to twirl around in certain ways and is surprisingly difficult to do... luckily (for me) I do not have any pictures of that at this time :). We then were pointed in the direction of dinner, which was being cooked in the ground, the traditional method of cooking food at a function such as this. 

Unfortunately, I didn't find the meal to be as satisfying as it was intended to be. The method of cooking I'm pretty sure the made everything a bit squishy and taste like fire. None the less, it was a very awesome experience that I'm glad I had the opportunity to partake in. Well, that's all I have for now. 

Or wait, one last thing. I have been making plans for this mid-semester holiday, and they are going to be quite amazing.... stay tuned :)!