Last days

I hate the saying " all good things must come to an end" but sadly, my time in new Zealand has. The last few days have been a whirlwind of adventure and amazing sights. Top on the list so far are a 45m Bungy jump off a bridge, a hike to view lake Wanaka, kayaking in Doubtful sound, eating the best burger at Fergburger in Queenstown, driving the Milford highway, seeing glacier carved valleys and amazing sunsets, seeing Mt.Cook reflected in lake matheson at sunrise, seeing the most stars I've ever seen, including the southern cross and the milky way! The list could go on. I am just in awe of the west coast and fiordland. I truly lucked out with weather. I'm sitting at the queenstown airport waiting for my flight to Wellington and am looking on with envy at the arriving passengers with their big packs and grins. But I will forever treasure my time here and have memories to keep me happy for a lifetime. I have a little less than 20 hours in Wellington before I begin the journey back to the states. I know some of that will be spent downloading my crazy amounts of pictures to my computer so I have backups, walking the city, and spending time with new friends! I can't wait to share my stories in person with you all, but feel free to tell me to shut up if I can't stop talking about new Zealand as I have a feeling I won't be able to :)

Windy roads and glacier walks

What a time the south island has been so far! I had a fantastic stay with Bonnie in Marahau and we did a great day hike in the Abel Tasman. Crystal blue ocean against golden beaches-can't beat it. Unfortunately the next day was quite rainy, and our excursion to see golden bay and Bonnie's favorite beach turned into a great day in the car! Lots of sheep and fog to be sure. Monday was gorgeous of course, and we got to go up and see a natural spring, as well as the view that I would have seen the previous day. A trip into Nelson had us visiting with her friends and a great pad Thai dish. She dropped me off at my hostel, and we said au revoir for the time being! It was great seeing a friend from the states here! My bus from Nelson to Greymouth was long, but a pretty ride. Saw some great forests, both for commercial logging and the natural bush. There were some windy crazy roads that the bus took at speeds that I would be uncomfortable with in a car! When we hit the west coast it was absolutely stunning. The Tasman sea rolls right onto the beach in ferocious waves. It was a lot more turquoise and blue in color than I thought it would be. My trusty camera snapping away photos, we stopped at punakaiki for the pancake rocks and blowholes which were quite cool. I had planned on going back there that night, but I wound up not wanting to do any more sitting in a vehicle for the day. It was another 30 minutes to Greymouth where I picked up my rental car! It's a silver quirky looking thing, but works just fine! I explored Greymouth for the rest of the afternoon and then went for short drive to get to the queen elizabeth walkway. I sat on some rocks and watched the waves crash for quite a while, before heading up into the bush for some views up and down the coast. The hostel had free soup for dinner, and had a party going on that night. I met some great people from all over, Israel. France, the netherlands, it's neat how traveling brings people together! Tuesday, I was off early to head down to franz Josef glacier/township. A stop off in Hokitita to view the beach some more before heading of to Hokitita gorge which was absolutely stunning. Turquoise waters and white rocks disappearing into the river. A swing bridge was fun and gave views of the farmland as well as the twists and turns of the river. Back in the car again, with a stop off at lake Ianthe for a bite to eat with a view! The day was thankfully gorgeous. Mre windy and misty roads took me further down the coast, with a turnoff to get to okarito which was well worth the extra kilometers. A steep hike up took me to a viewpoint where I could see the lagoon and the Tasman sea. Culd hear the waves crashing even from so high above! Had there not been some low lying clouds I could have seen the southern alps! I pretended. Merge beach time afterwards where the crashing waves were again amazing. Onwards to franz Jozef where I checked into my hostel, the glow worm cottages. In a room with 6 other people. Some free internet was a plus, as well as more free soup! I took a walk that gave me a view of the Glacier that I got on today! Despite the mist, it was quite stunning. Despite a bad sleep due to some loud snoring, I was up and ready to go for my glacier walk at 830. It was still on despite the downpour. Luckily ,they outfit you with good gear, though it was a bit smelly. A 2km walk to the glaciers edge, through rainforest and open valley before we put on our crampons to get on the ice. I was the only American in my group! Everyone else was from Europe! Being on the glacier was so cool. Periodically it would sound like the ocean surf and that was the ice below us melting. At one point you could see the ice falling and crashing down with a big boom, made me feel quite small in the world. We got to go through this really tight cavern, barely wider than your shoulders, and then haul ourselves up the ice wall before crawling through a cave. Quite the adventure. A big bummer was that there were tons of other groups on tours so we had to wait at times. But it did give me time to snap snap awga! Am nos up to 800 photos Over the past 5 days! I wish I could post them but I didn't bring my computer so I can't load then. I got free entry into the glacial hot pools which I took advantage of. A hot soak was definitely in order after the 4 hours hiking in the rain. However, an hour was plenty ,as I was about to turn into a prune! Back on the road to drive the 20km to fox glacier township where im spending the night. I drove up to fox glacier viewpoint but because of the rain I couldn't see much. The hostel im in is super nice. In a 5person room, so hopefully no snoring tonight! I make my way down to Wanaka tomorrow, with stops along the way. It's supposed to be a nice day so im hoping for a sunrise walk around lake Matheson to get some great views and reflections of the southern alps and mt. Cook. Oh, I forgot! Met people from Seattle yesterday. Crazy. They saw my uw sweatshirt and said they had to comment. Small world. Anyway ,that's it for now. Traveling around on my own is quite the adventure. I am so thankful for the experience tho and honestly ,the surrounding sights couldn't be better.

A farewell to Wellington and a hello to the South Island!

 I'm taking a small break from data analysis at my last day of my internship to say a hello to all and a goodbye to Wellington until the 22nd, when I spend a night before getting on a plane back to the States! To say Windy Welly is a great city is an understatement. Ive loved every minute of it, from the quirky Cuba St with it's fun bars and cafes, to the city's green belt, and the fantastic waterfront.



nifty umbrella




my favorite market



Old Wharf Offices



By the harbour



View from a park above the city



beach on my walk from work



the obligatory walking on the beach shot

And I'm off! A ferry ride tomorrow, followed by a bus ride gets me to Marahau/Abel Tasman National Park where I'm visiting with my friend Bonnie for a few days! Then it's off to Greymouth where I pick up my rental car and toodle my way down the west coast, stopping off at Franz Josef Glacier, Fox Glacier, Mt. Aspiring National Park, Wanaka, Queenstown, Doubtful Sound, Te Anau, Milford Road, and then a flight from Queenstown back to Wellington! Time will fly, I know, and I'm planning on using up every megabyte in my camera cards to document it!



my route!



Tongariro Alpine Crossing

This weekend was by far my favorite weekend here as of yet.

It all started on Thursday, when Natalie, Paige, and I picked up our rental car, and headed to Turangi, which is about 4.5 hours from Wellington. I was the driver, and was quite nervous to be driving on the left side of the road! Most nerve-racking were the roundabouts, and the city driving. Once we were on the highway it was ok. It is however, very easy to get distracted by the gorgeous scenery! 

It unfortunately rained for about 80% of the drive, and driving in rain is no fun. It seemed to be truck night, as I got stuck behind quite  a few massive semi's which were intimidating to pass. It got dark pretty quick, so I really had no idea what kind of countryside I was passing through. We arrived to our hostel a little past 11pm and quickly crashed in our bunk beds, with the plan to get up at 730 to drive to our starting point!

At 815 our hostel owner was giving us directions/hints to the trek. He suggested that we drive to the Mangatepopo car park and start the hike from there, which is where most people finish. We liked this idea as it was a shorter drive (it's $2.16 per litre, which is about $8 per gallon!), and the weather was better there to begin with. So off we went, with numbers to call for shuttles to pick us up at the other end to bring us back to our car!

We started first through native forest, and were accompanied by this rather rapid noisy stream. Birds were calling, and it was great to breath fresh non-city air. About an hour in we broke through the trees and got an amazing view of the valley below. At this point we could really feel the wind pick up, as we had previously been sheltered by the trees. 

We continued on up, for another 3 km to the hut, through tussock grass and a great trail. This was probably the hardest part of the trip. We could see the hut from a while away, and it seemed to take forever to get there. The wind was intense, but the view was well worth it all. Note- wearing cotton base layers is not good!. 

                                                      

The hut provided a brief break from the wind and a chance to break into my first PBJ of the day! Some chocolate covered peanuts rounded out the snack and I was raring to go on to the Emerald Lakes! 

The next bit was great. We started to see people coming from the other end, and got the chance to talk to them about the conditions ahead. Some nice Americans said it was quite windy, but not so much so that we would be blown off the mountain. Good to know!! Some women wished us luck- that's always encouraging to hear. The clouds started to move in and we got into this misty/magical scene as we continued on up the side of Mt. Tongariro. Other trampers would appear seemingly out of the mist which was quite cool. At some point, the mist got so thick that we couldn't really see what was ahead- thank goodness for the sign posts! After walking for a bit and wondering what was on either side of us, the clouds cleared briefly and sure enough, Blue Lake was to our left! It was crazy how it appeared out of nowhere.

                                        

                                                 

From here, we descended into Central Crater which had some awesome volcanic rocks. The slope slowly increased and we climbed up through the mist. Again, appearing out of nowhere, one of the Emerald Lakes came into view with a backdrop of some awesome cliffs!      

As we kept on climbing, it got more stunning. We reached the 2 other lakes and had a chance to get lunch by one of them. It was still crazy windy and we didn't want to stop for long and get chilled. 

The next bit after lunch was quite steep. Walking up a 40 degree incline on quite slippery volcanic soil is quite intense. I kept looking back to see the lakes and it was well worth it. At the top, at 1886m above sea level, were were officially on top of Red Crater. It was here that the wind was most intense and we had a narrow ridge to cross, with heart-clenching drops on either side. We all linked arms and headed on across and down. The clouds were still moving in and out and visibility was not the best.  As we started down Devil's Staircase, which was quite slippery due to the mist and rocks, the wind was thankfully at our fronts, and not "helping" us down the slope. 

Ater a bit we reached South Crater. It was like walking on the moon. Remote, flat, sparse, with lots of rocks and some tussock grass. It was eerie and awesome at the same time!  At this point it started raining, which wasn't a surprise, as the weather report had warned us so. A small incline to get out o the crater, before descending into more volcanic terrain. I've never seen anything like it and had just the most wonderful feeling seeing all these new sights.

                           

The saddle between Tongariro and Ngauruhoe was amazing. The contrast between the black vocalic rock and the vegetation was fantastic. Hard and soft at the same time.  The black rocks were from the 1075 pyroclastic low rom Ngauruhoe and it was cool walking on history.  Mangatepopo valley was stunning. Green contrasted with black and red rocks, and the hardy white flowers that were blooming. 

Soda Springs was a gorgeous waterfall that look alike paradise. It ed into the stream that we allowed or the rest o the trek to the Mangatepopo car park. We didn't end up stopping at the hut due to time constraints, so we continued to book it down, with hopes to catch the bus that , according to our hostel host, would take us back to our car, but it was not to be so. We made it in time but no bus showed up. Long story short, and $30 per person later, we had been picked up by a bus and shuttled back to our car. Tired, wet, and hungry, I absolutely felt that I could conquer anything. A tramp that beats all tramps, this is one that i want to do at least one more time, as it would be a completely different experience which is so exciting. I'm proud that we made it in 7 hours, going the 'hard way'. New Zealand continues to amaze me. And honestly, a hot shower has never felt so good!