Queenstown

Once we left Makorora that same day we headed for Queenstown, the adventure capital. Before we got to Makorora, though, Gollum stopped at some great lookout points along the way. This area was sooo beautiful it was impossible to capture it in a picture. This is Lake Wanaka and it was absolutly stunning! I just stood there with my mouth open because I had never seen such a site.

A while down the road we came to Lake Hawea which also had crystal clear water and snow caped mountains in the background. Everybody agreed we felt like we were walking on a film set with a painted backdrop behind us.

We arrived in Queenstown late in the evening so after dinner Lisa and I just took a walk around town. This was the view from our hostel's kitchen area:
The next day we woke up early so Lisa could do the AJ Hacket Bungy Jump! It was the first bungy in New Zealand. She jumped off a 40 meter bridge into a river below. I was able to watch from a platform on the side ... and I got queesy just watching! She told them she just wanted a hand dip, but they made her dip in the river all the way to her chest. She screamed the loudest out of all the people who jumped!
Later that day we decided to walk around the town some more. There is only one main street in Queenstown and some side streets going off of it which make up the town. The houses are all built on a hillside and on the other side of town is the lake with the mountains in the background.

We walked up to the harbor area and around Queenstown Gardens. This gave us a really pretty view from the other side:

Queenstown Gardens:

Skydive Lake Wanaka!

I was planning on skydiving in Abel Tasman but decided to wait and do a hike instead. The next place to jump was Franz Josef but the weather was so horrible that no planes were going up. So Wanaka was the next stop for skydiving. It was October 30th. My instructor (the guy attached to my back) was from Quebec. He was pretty cool and kept joking around with me. The first thing he says while he's getting me into the harness was, "don't worry at all, I've done this 4 times already." Later on he says, "I need to tell you that a few weeks ago I got a concussion and sometimes my memory blacks out. So incase I can't remember, to open the parachute just pull this yellow handle." Another instructor was standing next to him listening and he says, "wait, then what's that yellow handle for?" And pointed to the other side of his backpack. It was funny... but not the very best time to mess with someone. For some reason though I wasn't too scared (yet). I don't think it had hit me that I was about to jump 12,000 feet out of a plane!
So once everything was together and I knew everything I had to do we walked to the plane. The airport was in the middle of the valley and the plane itself was absolutely tiny! Here is a picture of us taking off: The cabin just barely fit four skydivers and their instructors and another guy who was jumping by himself at 4,000 feet. Once the door slid open for him to jump out and I saw how far just 4,000 feet was... I started to get a little nervous! We were sitting by a tiny window and my instructor was pointing out different things in our view. Two groups jumped out at 9,000 feet and I knew the plane was going to keep ascending and it was my turn next. I got scared. My instructor was serious in the plane and said he wants to reach the ground alive just as much as I do so not to worry. Then the door slid open and my turn was here. We scooted over to the door and he was sitting at the edge while I just dangled off the plane. This was the scarriest moment. Then I had to smile for the camera on the wing: After that I put my hands on my harness and my feet and head back like we had practiced on the ground and then I closed my eyes. I couldn't help it! I just waited for him to lean forward and let us drop. We went head first and I could just feel us drop off the plane. I screamed!! I never scream and I wailed! I opened my eyes then and just looked down, then I screamed some more. He took his feet and made us spin around and around. After a few seconds he tapped my shoulder and I let go of my harness and let my arms fly by my head. Then I looked up and saw the view around us. We could see Lake Wanaka, another lake, a big river, the Southern Alps and Mt. Aspiring. My freefall was for 45 seconds. After that he remembered what handle opened the parachute and we had a slight jerk upwards. We didn't really go up but it felt like that. Then we glided around for a while and were able to talk. The first thing I said to him was "you have got the BEST job!" He pointed out what all the land marks were and then let me control the parachute. There were handles on both sides and you had to pull on the right one to go right and left to go left. When he took the handles back he made us spin around in circles. It made me kind of sick, but it was fun. Lisa was at the bottom taking pictures of us as we came down.
We made our landing and my feet touched the ground safe and sound. I wanted to get down and kiss the ground but trying to maintain my cool, I didn't. The adrenaline rush lasted just about the whole rest of the day. I would do it again in a second, only next time I'd pay more for 15,000 feet!

Makarora

On the 29th we left for Makarora. We made a few stops along the way, one being at Haast paas. We got off the bus to view a beach and again to do a short hike to a waterfall. Once we reached Makarora there was absolutely nothing for us to do. There was a pub at the hostel so we ate dinner and sat by a fire. They also had karaoke so of course we had to do that as well.
The next morning was beautiful so I took some pictures of the huts we stayed in and the scenery around us:

Franz Josef Glacier

We left Barrytown late (at 10am) on the 28th and drove to Franz Josef. On the way we stopped at a small town called Hokitika which is known for their greenstone. The town of Franz Josef is inbetween the Tasman Sea and the Franz Josef Glacier. We stayed at a lodge in the middle of the rainforest. And rain it did!! It didn't stop for a second. The lodge had a hot tub outside and we got to relax in it for a bit with the rain pouring down. The next morning, still raining, we decided to do a 3/4 day hike up the glacier. It was me, Lisa, Steffi, Megan, and others from Stray. Once we reached the valley the glacier pours into our guide stopped us and told us it was another hour's walk to reach the glacier. It was so enormous that by standing there in the huge valley, the optical allusion was that it seemed only 5 minutes away.

Well, it seemed 5 minutes away for the next hour we walked. We were fully equipped with Gortex jackets and pants, wool hats and gloves and boots. You could tell if the glacier was growing or receding by it's angle. Because this glacier had a steep angle it was growing. You could look at the cliff beside it and tell that it had melted away at one point because all of the foliage on the side was gone and just now growing back. Finally when we reached the glacier we put on our talons and divided ourselves into 2 groups. Group 1 was more physically fit and confident in their ability and Group 2 was less fit. Lisa and I went to Group 1 (because we're pros) and Megan and Steffi went to Group 2 with a different guide. Megan has bad asthma and wasn't even too sure she should do the hike at all. Through the pouring rain and wind we started our climb. The guide had an ice ax and would have to stop every few meters to chop the path that had been covered over. We hiked up, around and back down the glacier for about 4 hours. We walked through tight crevices, up steep inclines, down ledges and into a cave. The cave was by far the coolest! We had to go feet first and take our packs off to fit through and there was a drop of about 2 meters where we had to climb down with a rope.

Once we reached the bottom with the rope there wasa 90 degree turn in the cave and then we had to scoot feet first the rest of the way through a even smaller hole.

On both sides of the glacier were giant cliffs with waterfalls. Once you looked back to the valley behind you could tell how far away it was and how huge the glacier was. Here I am in a crevice we walked through:

Because our guide let us go through this cave we were a bit late on our climb back down. Group 1 started to go and Group 2 took their time behind us. We were making pretty good time and then our guide called the guide from Group 2 on his walky talky to see where they were. It must have just happened a few moments before this because the Group 2 guide told him that someone of their group fell 8 meters (about 20 feet). Our guide told us it only takes a 2 meter fall on ice to die. There was a spot a while back that we had to climb down that was just a straight wall. There were little steps chopped into the side so we had to go down sideways moving our left foot behind our right to step down. This is where she fell. Our guide was talking as softly as he could and tried to step away from the group, but there was really no where for him to go. I could tell by the look of his face he was really worried, but he tried to stay calm. Then he had to call the office and have them call a helicopter to fly the girl out and he told them to have a neck brace along. Then they must have asked how old she was because his answer was 23. Lisa and I looked at each other right then because we knew who it was: Megan. The guide wouldn't tell us her name so we had to just keep walking down. There obviously wasn't anything we could do. The helicopter took less than 5 minutes to get there. When we got back to the office we found out that was Megan, they flew her to the closest emergency room and that she would be okay. Once the rest of Group 2 got back we heard the story first hand from them. She did fall 8 meters, but then slid around a bend after that. Nobody knew what was on the other side of that bend, if it was a drop off or what. They said everybody just froze. Then Megan kept fainting and Steffi was slapping her to stay awake. Megan was released later that day and her and Steffi were able to catch the next bus and caught up with us in Queenstown the day after. She had really bad bruises on her butt, hip and side but that was it. Her neck and head were fine. She was extremely lucky.

The Exciting Town of Barrytown

On the 27th we left Abel Tasman and headed for Barrytown. On the way we made through Punakaiki to see the Pancake rocks. These are limestone rocks along the beach which started forming 30 million years ago. Lime-rich fragments of dead marine creatures were overlaid by layers of mud and clay. The sea, wind and rain have etched out the layers to make the rocks look like pancakes stacked on top of one another. On the way to Barrytown we were informed by our temporary driver, Nemo, that the owner thought today was Halloween so she was planning a costume party that night in her pub. We made a stop at the Warehouse (which is NZ's Wal-Mart) to find cheap costumes. Halloween is growing but is nowhere near as popular as in the States. Limited on ideas, money and costumes, Lisa and I both decided to be pirates. It was a good thing this lady screwed up her dates because there is absolutely nothing in Barrytown except for this pub. If you look hard in this picture I have a big stick attached to my right leg. It was my peg leg. Later on that night one of the locals brought their dog in. Her name was Paris and she was some sort of boxer and was so cute! Then, Paris realized there was a stick in her vicinity and she grabbed it and drug me around the room shaking it in her mouth. I needed my peg leg though so Paris, in the end, was left empty handed.Aaron was a fireman, Steffi was a rugby player and Megan was a nerd. Two guys dressed up as women, one as Superman and another as a witch. There was a really dorky German guy, Sebastian, who dressed as a snorkeler attacked by a shark. He had red face paint and asked Aaron to write "swim between the flags" on his back. Bad idea Sebastian, bad idea. Obviously, being 19, Aaron did not write what he asked of him. What he wrote and the picture of what he wrote is not appropriate for some viewers. This is Sebastian on the left and Aaron on the right:The best costume of all was Gollum! He dressed up as Gollum (from Lord of the Rings) and it was absolutely hilarious, I almost peed my pants. He even would walk around humped over like Gollum and move his head and eyes all freaky like. The first thing he said as he came across a corner and we saw him and started cracking up was, "and ladies, this is why I am still single." Then he scurried off into the pub. I'll post better pictures of Gollum in his costume later (because, yes, he gets back into it), but here is one of Nemo as Spiderman on the left, Gollum in the middle and a local Barryman man on the right (he actually wasn't in costume). At the very end of the night they chose 5 random people to hold a dance off on top of the bar. The winner would get a free bungy jump in Queenstown. Lisa was one of the ones chosen, but she was eliminated and it was Sebastian and a Brazilian girl who were competing for the victory. The Brazilian won.

Abel Tasman National Park

From Picton we drove to Abel Tasman and were there from Oct 25-27th. We had another group dinner and just hung out this night since we would have the whole day to do whatever we wanted the next day. We stayed at a place called Old MacDonalds Farm (e-i-e-i-oh!). And on this farm they had some lamas and some cows and some horses and some ... you guessed it: sheep! We all slept in little huts that looked out onto hillsides and the animals with weeping willow trees! I thought it was so cool. And the weather was absolutely perfect! Everybody slept in little huts which were on a field next to the animals with the hills in the background. When I woke up the first morning I had to take a picture of my view when I opened my eyes. This is what I saw when I walked outside our hut.









On our full day Lisa and I decided to take a boat up to the middle of the coastal walk (to Barks Bay) which is one of New Zealand's Great Walks and then walk the rest of the way down to our camp ground. The whole walk is suggested in 5 days. So we put a 3 day walk into one day which took us about 8 hours! Megan and Steffi took the ferry to the first leg of the walk. We all rode on a tractor to the beach were the boat would pick us up. The boat ride itself was absolutely gorgeous! The water was crystal clear and on one side was the National Park and on the other was snow capped mountains. While looking over the edge on the top deck I saw a blue penguin pop up and then dive back down. It was only for about 2 seconds, but it was so cool to see one in the wild! It was too shallow for the boat to make it to shore so everybody had to ride a little motor boat (driven by a cute kiwi, might I add). The scenery on this hike was awesome! It was so beautiful and I know none of these pictures will capture what it really looked like.

About an hour in the hike we came across the swing bridge: This was a bridge connecting two ledges and, hence the name, it swung back and forth when you walked across it or made any movements on it. It was scary, but one of the coolest parts of the whole hike!
As we made our way along the coast line we decided to take a detour to reach a waterfall. This detour took us an extra hour and a half to complete, but it was worth it! The falls were so pretty and had moss growing all along the bottom and along the stream which made it have a bright green color all around (and extremely slippery). Before the last leg of the trip we came to a beach called Anchorage. This was a really pretty beach with perfectly smooth sand and clear turquoise water. The best part about this beach and most of the hike was that we hardly came across any other hikers. Lisa and I almost had this beach to ourselves! It was a tiring hike, but also calming because of the awesome scenery.

Wellington & the Start of the South!

Just as a side note we left Auckland on Thursday, Oct 19th.
Here is a map of our route:

Coromandel Bay: Oct 19th
Raglan: Oct 20th
Rotorura: Oct 21st
Taupo: Oct 22nd
Tongariro: Oct 23rd
Wellington: Oct 24th
...we're moving fast so I'll continue with dates from here on out.

When we reached Wellington Gollum told us all the ferrys to reach the south island were closed the next day because of the horrible weather. Although we were having to rush through the trip, we allowed ourselves an extra day incase something went wrong like this. Plus, I figured we'd get to spend an extra day in Wellington which wouldn't be a bad thing. It was extremely windy and pouring rain so Lisa and I pretty much hung out in the hostel for the rest of the afternoon expecting to explore the city the following day. That night Craig told us he was able to get a ticket for the ferry the next morning so they actually were running. We got tickets as well which meant we didn't get to see barely anything of the city. On our way back up to Auckland we'll have an other day there, so hopefully the weather will be better and I'll get to see what is supposidly one of the coolest cities in New Zealand.
That night we went out at the Base hostel's bar. Me, Aaron and Craig played exotic photo hunt. For those of you who don't know what this game is ... too bad for you. There were drink specials, couches, a fussball table and a dance floor 2 Brazilian girls created. It was a good night. On my way back up to my room a French guy, Nicolas, on our bus told me the ferry that came in that night from Picton (the port in the south island) took 10 hours instead of the expected 3 because of the weather and people were coming in the hostel still sea sick and throwing up!
On the ferry the next morning the water had calmed down and the day had cleared up. Our ride was slightly more rough than normal, but nothing like the night before. There were tvs on the ferry playing the news and they kept talking about how horrible it was that the ferry went the night before even though the water was that bad. They said people were getting thrown around, chairs and luggage were falling and that it did take 10 hours for the ferry to cross! I'm just glad that wasn't us!!
The ferry was absolutly huge though! I was expecting this tiny little thing, but it looked like a cruise ship. We found chairs that reclined with a big screen tv and there were cafes and big decks to walk out on. This is a shot from the back of the ferry as we were about to pull in to Picton:
This is from Lisa's camera and shows the Picton harbor:

Tongariro National Park

From Rotorura we drove to Tongariro National Park. The famous activity to do here is the Tongariro Crossing which is argued as one of the best tramps in the world. You hike 13km over volcanoes (one still being active), cross lakes (which are actually craters), see boiling mud pools and all that boring stuff. Well, the weather was shitty when we reached the National Park so it was too dangerous for anybody to do the Crossing and it was closed. It sounded stupid anyways though. Riight...
Anyways, through the pouring rain and mud, Lisa and I decide to do a hike anyways through the Eura Forest. At first it was fun tromping through all the mud, and we tried to walk on the edge of the path to not get our shoes so muddy. Half way through the 5 hour hike it didn't matter any more. There was no walking around the mud because it was everywhere. I was soaking wet and not very happy in this picture.My feet were submerged constantly in thick mud making slurping noises when I would pull them out. This picture is of my trail runners just 2 hours into the hike. Double the amount of mud on them all you'll have my shoes at the end. Here is the picture of the path we walked on the whole way.
In the end it was a good hike (though could have been cut in half) with cool trees and pretty foliage.
This was part of the common area in our hostel that we got to relax in that night: