Time of my life

Cheesy, but true; my 15 day road trip around the south island of New Zealand was the "time of my life". I dont use that phrase lightly. Myself and 3 lovely ladies, Andrea, Courtney and Hollin, flew into Christchurch and rented a Corona. We named our car Dumbledore's beard, DB for short.

We first made our way through Arthur's pass. We stopped at a magnificent boulder field! Finishing that day, we saw a Kea (Bird), which are only seen in parts of the South island, and slept under neath a mountain in the south apls! The next morning, I explored the river that ran beside us and plunged my head into it. It was a refreshing wake-up. The water was so clear, I could see through to the bottom. It was delicious as well and took advantage of the mountain water and filled up my water bottles.

We then made our way along the coast, checking out ocean and mountain views. We drove through Franz Joseph and stopped along at the Fox glacier. I was expecting a large hole in the ground to show how there was once a glacier, like back home. Nope, we hiked along a path and saw a monstrous pile of ice in between two mountains. It was magical!

We were heading out when I asked my geology gal, Courtney, if we should go to the access point. After all, it was her thing, and if we were somehow in a place with a Harry Potter museum, I knew Courtney would ask me if we should make a stop! She said no...but then 22 seconds later turned around. I am glad she did! We thought we would just get a close look at the glacier- We tramped around mountains, amazed by the glacier pools and then almost peed our pants when we saw the glacier close up! It was incredible but sad. We were able to see how large it used to be, and how over the years, especially the last 100 years, how quickly the glacier has melted away.

Next we drove through Mt.Aspiring, and again camped beneath another mountain. The next morning we drove through more gorgeous lands and made our way to Queenstown. We were pretty exhausted but still looked around town, saw a neat sunset, ate some gelato, and did a bit of shopping. (I finished my Christmas Shopping for the entire family).

The next day, Andrea, Hollin and I ventured away to a near mountain range called the Remarkables. There, we sky dived. To be blunt, it was the most fantastic thing I have ever done. I am not one who likes rollercoasters or who normally enjoys putting myself in extreme situations. The entire time of the experience, I was not nervous or felt unsafe. My skymaster was named Scott. He was 38, scruffy, and also had the same hiking shoes as me. With this knowledge, you may understand how I didnt complain and welcomed him as he strapped me close to his hiker body, for protection. We got into a small little plane and made our way up 12,000 ft. It was an incredible ride! I had the one window seat so I was able to see the beautiful mountains around us!

So yes, the actually falling. He set me outside the plane and he held on, so virtually i was hanging out of the plane. I concentrated on my "banana" position and swore to myself that I would keep my eyes open. Scott didnt delay and we somersaulted out of the plane! The feeling in my stomach wasn't as bad as a rollercoaster and lasted only moments. It was incredible as I fell to the ground. I wasn't even thinking I was falling...I just kept looking around at the amazing views that I had. I saw pools of water, lakes, beneath me. Suddenly, the air stopped rushing and I realized my shoot had been pulled. I looked around me and saw that I was parallel to a mountain beside me. "I always wanted to fly" I told my skymaster. (I know, I am ridiculously lame). We para sailed down. The scariest part was landing, as I realized how fast we were coming to the ground.

Apart from feeling hungover and not being able to hear anything for 2 days, the whole experience was wonderful. As Andrea and I sipped on our free coffee and waiting for the rest of the skydivers to finish, I had to hold back some tears! I confessed how up in the sky, jumping out, I felt like I could conquer all of my demons; that all the unfortunate things that occurred in my life, which at times hold me back, I could grasp and become stronger, while they still exist inside me.

SO- We then made our way to the Fiordland National Park. It was the beginning of Avalanche season so many of the treks we were unable to go on. We chose the Greenstone trek, which was supposed to be on an easier level and less hilly. We decided to hike right before the sun was setting, to make it to the first hut which was only a couple hours away. We had a magical moment as we came into a clearing and saw the mountains lit by the moonlight. In the dark, with the help of our head torch, we found our hut. We had a welcoming party of 4 boys from the Christchurch Uni. We later found out that they thought we were rangers and they didn't have a hut pass so were nervous. We played Asshole with them the rest of the night and had a good time.

The next day we awoke to some rain. Hollin was not keen on treking but I wanted to at least try. We hiked for a few hours. Courtney and I got REALLY creative for about 45 minutes, finding ways to cross a marsh/river. We were literally 15 ft away from being clear of river crossings when Courtney fell in. She was a trooper and still keen to tramp but then fell in again. We had around 5 hours a head of us still, so we decided to take the short cut and go to a closer hut, about 2 or 3 hours away. We were welcomed by a group of hunters, on their way out. They had a dear attached to their helicopter, hanging from a rope. It fell, but they came back for their prize later that night. We were exhausted and took a nap, trying to dry out our clothes. We were awakened to a couple who made it to the hut right before dark. They were pretty shy and kept to themselves.

The next day we made our 6/7 hour trek to the next hut. We went through landslides, forests, Meadows, wetlands, wire bridges, hopping along rocks, and anything else you may think of. The trek was covered with green and purple stones! It didn't look real. At one point, I slipped on a rock. I am pretty good at reclaiming my balance but with a heavy pack, there was no hope. I fell (but gracefully) down and could not get back up. I needed at least two of the girls to help me up. That night, we celebrated with splitting two carrots with jam for desert. We were pretty tight with our food, so at that point in time, a half carrot each was heaven. It made up for the detergent flavored oatmeal packs we ate for 2 days.

Two days later, we made it out to civilization. We looked rough. We stripped in the parking lot and found clothes that didn't smell. Through those 4 days, we grew accustomed and desensitized to waterfalls, as well as farting and scratching ourselves. The latter portion became troublesome later that day. We were walking around Milford sound and Andrea laughed. She said she had just itched her crotch for 20 seconds, forgetting about the group of boys passing by. We needed to readjust.

So, a bit crabby, we blasted the heat and took the Milford highway to Milford sound. It was beautiful. We drove higher and higher, and were in areas where it was snowing. We drove through a mountain and then when we existed, we bombarded with the most beautiful sights.

We drove on down to Milford and checked out the views. On the way back, Courtney and I stopped at the Chasm. We were not sure if we wanted to take the 15 minute hike (remember we were just in the woods for 4 days) and Andrea and Hollin were not about to budge from the car. A random man said it was worth it so we made our way.

SO, apart from skydiving, this may have been my favorite thing in the whole trip. I FREAKED out when I saw the chasm, the rushing water and how the rocks looked. Courtney and I were like little girls who are seeing their teeniebopper idol, Aaron Carter..We even took the dodgy unmarked trail down and hung off a tree to getting a better look at the chasm. It was hard not to cry! But Courtney blamed that on my hormones.

Back in the car, we made the trip back to a hostel, washed our clothes and played board games. In the morning we made our way across the coast. We stopped at the Southern most extreme point, a beach with petrified wood, and another beach that had cool kelp and boulders. I was off exploring by myself and scared myself to death when I almost fell on top of a sea lion. He/She was just as scared as I was and we both booked it in opposite directions. I failed to capture the creature and later saw a beware of sea lions sign. Ops.

We finished the day with nugget point, a lighthouse with seals, penguins, beaches, and really neat rocks. We voted, and I lost, so as a team we drove to Dunedin and got a hostel instead of camping out.

Dunedin was a neat town. We woke up and checked out the Uni and ate at the Velvet Burger. The place rocked. We were not used to such large portions! After we then went on a Cadbury Chocolate Factory tour. I ate my included bag of candy all in one day. We then finished off with a Spaights Brewery Tour. That was a GREAT tour and I was able to take advantage of the 30 minute open bar, serve yourself. I was reminded how small the world is when I met a gal my age, who was visiting a friend of mine. She happened to also be from WI and I found out she was in my Dads first class at Whitefish Bay. Pretty crazy.

The next day we were ready to make our way to Mt.Cook, but made a stop on the edge of Dunedin. We climbed the steepest street in the world! Honestly, I expected it to be more steep, but then I remembered that cars actually had to ride up and down this street. I wouldn't want to be the driver of that car! (I actually drove to this street, but refused to drive up it).

We also stopped at a beach with boulders that looked like the top of turtle shells. It was fun seeing some of them split open, and others intact. The boulders reminded me of giant geodes.

We finally made it to Mt.Cook, which was Mt.Doom in LOTR. We took some pictures and set up camp in the middle of the mountains. There was a blanket of moss on the ground which was great padding for our backs. We joked around, told stories and then drifted off to sleep for a few hours. We were then awakened by a huge rain/wind storm. It seriously looked like a hurricane and part of our tent collapsed. We had to stay inside the tent for hours, trying to hold it together. It was hilarious, even though the girls were furious. In the morning we made a run for it and took down the tent with frozen hands. I discovered that my hands can withstand the cold longer than others. Add that to my talents. Well, the rain did not stop so we made our way to a hick diner. After some breakfast, we travelled up the coast, through wine country, rolling hills, and beach coasts. We stopped at one beach and walked around a bit. We spent the night in the car on the ocean towards the top of the south Island. That night we went to a small bar called the strawberry tree. There they had a special on Guinness and also a coin toss for an hour giving away free drinks. I had my Guinness but also won a free drink. It was a good ol time. Our night in the car was interesting. We were near the train tracks. 3 trains passed through that night. 1 was extra loud and I really thought the Hogwarts express was coming for me, and would ram into our car.

We drove on through more rolling hills and made our way to Hamner Springs. We stopped in the little town and played a game of Frisbee. We found a nice little bakery too! I was able to get a 90cent roll with sprinkled cheese on top. I was in heaven! We then continued on down to Christchurch. We stopped at the store and bought some wine and found our way to a museum before finding our host family.

I was as tired as a 5 year old, waiting up Christmas Eve for Santa. I did not want to try to keep my eyes open in a museum. I was surprised and it happened to be the most interesting art museum I have ever encountered. There was 1 exhibit about America, and all the small places and organizations that we like to keep quiet. There was also another exhibit of small paintings related to societal norms. That one was my favorite. I was pleased to find even a kids exhibit that was informative, interactive and intelligent. I really enjoyed myself.

Instead of staying in a hostel in the middle of the CBD of Christchurch, we stay a 20 minute walk away at Courtney's ultimate Frisbee friend's parents house. Her friend wasn't even there, but his family welcomed us warmly! The father was the vice chancellor of the Canterbury Uni, there in Christchurch. He was very interesting to talk to. The mother was a hoot, making us laugh and telling us stories. That night we had a wonderful dinner and talked about society, traditions, and earthquakes. Their niece was living with them and she took us to a inprov that night. It was called scared scriptless. It was like whose line is it anyway. It was really funny. The whole audience got into the programme, offering ideas. It was great fun. That night we all went to sleep.

4:30am that morning I woke up to a sudden shaking. Immediately my thoughts remembered our previous night's talks about earthquakes. Hollin and I were sharing a bed. We grabbed one another and I noticed the huge bookcase beside me. Our conversation between us was short and to the point. me:bookcase (Maneuver out of bed, tripping over things) hollin:doorway (Maneuver again, huddle together and hollin putting a pillow over our heads). A minute later it ended. We later found out that Andrea and Courtney just laid in bed quiet. Afterward Courtney, thinking of our Mt.Cook experience, said to Andrea something about the wind..Andrea had to tell her it was an earthquake! Then Courtney snapped out of it and said that if it happened again, they should probably get out of bed.

I was so lucky to be at the Carr's home. Mr.Carr found all of us and reassured us. The niece brought her laptop in and we started looking at news results. They even found a battery radio so we could listen to what was happening (We had no heat, electricity, or water from then on). In the morning, Mrs. Carr, Jenn, had breakfast ready. We talked, went on a walk through town to see the damage (My group witnessed the mayor state the city was in a state of emergency), we played ultimate frizbee with family friends, they made us lunch, gave us snacks, and we even had a lovely dinner party filled with boardgames and HUGE amounts of candy! I almost vomitted with the amount of food.

It was so incredible having a family, especially in a state of emergency. They were so lovely and gracious. Mr.Carr was in touch with many people, due to the fact he was vice chancellor. That was really helpful. He helped us get in contact with our families too! (Our cell phones didnt work either). Courtney's parents had had our itinerary and knew we were in Christchurch. They were nervous and had called the embassy searching for us!

Everyone was really lucky. If we hadnt stayed with the Carrs, we would have been in the worst damaged areas of Christchurch. We would have been stranded in that city for 2 days. If the earthquake didnt strike at the early hour which it did, we would have been with the thousands, within the CBD of christchurch.

We awoke early, ready to depart for the airport. Jenn, such a kind person, had woken up even earlier so we would have breakfest! We arrived with plenty of time. The airport was more crowded then ususal due to the fact that flights had been canceled from the earthquake. Tremors continued to shake the city, even ten minutes before we got onto our plane. The weather was WINDY. It was so windy that the stewardess couldnt serve us coffee and tea. I literally almost vomitted for more than half the trip. I later found out that our flight was the "test" flight, to see if it was too windy or not.

It was nice to be back in Wellington. I called it home for the first time at the airport. The first thing I did was wash my sleeping bag. I had been sleeping in it since I arrived in Wellington. Now it smelt like mold and sweat. I was not excited about school begining the next day. I felt like I had been gone for longer than 15 days. I had no motivation. I wanted to go on another adventure!