After 11 days of traveling, I am finally sitting in my bed. And of course my first actions were shower, laundry (after my clothes got soaked in rum, but that's a later story), eat, and now sharing all my fabulous stories with you, my loyal readers.
This trip was such a whirlwind that I barely know where to start, so logically I will start from day 1. First I will introduce the participants in the trip: my roommates Gina, Lauren, Laura, and Chelsey, and our neighbor Jackie. Usually I am one to take the reigns on planning things, but because I was so crazy busy with school work the two weeks before we left, I barely contributed to the planning process. So, Chelsey provided us all with DETAILED itineraries before we left. And this is what happened...
30/10/09
We got to the Sydney airport bright and early for our flight to Christchurch, got through security without any issues, then it was DUTY-FREE TIME! Now, most people may not get excited about this, but if you knew how much liquor cost here, you would understand our excitement. But we had an even better surprise. While we were shopping, we realized that there was a woman handing out samples. Samples of liquor! So, naturally, Chelsey, Lauren and I booked it over there. At 8am we were taking shots of Baileys. It did a really good job in knocking me out for the flight.
When we got to the Christchurch airport, we picked up our final participant in the journey, DELICA! (Our rental car. Or should I say "Luxury People Mover," as written on the website.) We went to the rental car desk and the price was higher than what was originally quoted because they didn't include the under-25 surcharge before. Damn fees. But, we sweet talked our way into getting the GPS for the week free.
Our first stop on the journey was Hokitika on the west coast of New Zealand. It was about a 3.5 hour drive from Christchurch. We saw a lot of sheep. And that was really it. Sheep, cows, beautiful snow-topped mountains, fields, and sheep. In Hokitika we stayed at the Birdsong Hostel which was actually really nice. We dropped off our bags and went to "town" but it was pretty much one road and almost nothing was open by the time we got there, which was no later than 7pm. But, we did find this one take-away place and I got a huge portion of some awesome fish and chips for NZ$7 (like US$5.50). We then stopped at a food store to pick up sandwich supplies for the next days adventures and some other snacks. This food store had the greenest bananas that I had ever seen actually being sold. But the woman working there said it was fine and that "they would be yellow by tomorrow in this heat." Heat?? We were walking around in sweatshirts, jackets, and scarves. (Surprisingly, she was right...) When we got back to the hostel we were planning on hunting for glow worms but it wasn't yet dark enough, so we walked over to the beach. It was less than a 5 minute walk, but we had to cross train tracks. I, unlike some other people I know, luckily did not eat it on the train tracks (sorry, too soon? hahah). The sand was so black. And because I always find it necessary to touch the water, I took off my shoes and frolicked in the Tasman Sea. Not to my surprise, it was very VERY cold. But it was beautiful, the scenery and everything. We got there and the sun was setting, there were beautiful mountains, the water, everything was just amazing. There was a huge piece of driftwood on the beach that kind of looked like the piece of coral I made out of Styrofoam. Also, every time I see driftwood I get all sentimental about Picch's class. BFTP. We didn't want to be out there when it was dark so we went back to the hostel. When it got dark enough, we drove down to the dell (about 5 minutes drive) and prepared to search for glow worms. It was so dark. Luckily we grabbed a flashlight before we left. We were all holding onto each other walking down the walkway and we didn't see anything too special and they we realized that the walls all around us were glowing. It was pretty cool. They are actually firefly larvae. These just constantly glow instead of just flashing. It's a reminder that they are bitter (Curious George movie anyone?). There really wasn't much to see, so after that 5 minute mini-adventure we just went back to the hostel. There was a little lounge in the hostel with a small fireplace and some tables so we were sitting in there for a little while. I was working on my paper and everyone else was playing cards. There was another guy who was staying in the hostel who was being really creepy. He just sat there, not doing anything. They asked him if he wanted to play cards but he said he only plays when he drinks, but he still just sat in the room staring. It was a little creepy. Anyway, I finished my paper (wooooo) and went to bed very excited for the next day's adventures...
31/10/09 - HALLOWEEN (not that it mattered...)
We left Birdsong early and headed to Franz Josef to hike a glacier. You know, no big deal. But we got to the check-in office early so we got a chance to shop around in the little town (once again, veryyyy little). Then the people who worked in the glacier hike office briefed us on what to expect from the trip. They told us the equipment that they would be supplying, including a few articles of clothing. They had a mannequin displaying everything. Chelsey got really excited and basically yelled "Is the fanny pack included??" The woman talking to us just looked at us weird than said yes and moved on. Later we were wondering why she gave us a dirty look but it was only until after we stopped thinking about it that we realized that "fanny" here has a much different meaning. So, they are called bum packs. We embarrassed ourselves. Several, several times. So we got all of our equipment and then got on a bus up to the glacier. We had a 4-5 hour hike ahead of us. From the bus to the actual glacier was about 2km. Throughout that walk our guide, Ryan, would stop and give us some geologic history of the area. Naturally I was interested in this. I got into a debate about something with him, and I still think I'm right. He said that the glaciers appear blue because light is refracted, I said it was because light is scattered. According to the USGS, I was right. Yes, I did just look that up to prove that I was right, not that it matters to anyone but myself. I really am a nerd... Anyway, he showed us a fault line that runs through the valley and explained how the area is well overdue for an earthquake. This made Lauren very uncomfortable because she had a dream the night before about earthquakes. Luckily, nothing like that happened. This whole part of the hike was probably the coolest for me because I got to see how everything interacts--the glacier, the mountains, the fault line, the weather. All the stuff that I had been studying for the past few years was now in front of me. I was finally living in the world that I have been studying. When we were hiking on the glacier (like, legitimately digging the crampons on our feet into the ice) I tried to take pictures. But, it just would do no justice. It was so beautiful. The glacier had a blue tint to it, which was the source of the debate between Ryan and me. Going down was so much scarier than going up, I was digging my spikes in as much as possible. When we got to the bottom I was somewhat happy that I made it out alive (I did slip a few times which was kind of scary) but I was also sad because it was so beautiful up there I wanted to stay.
When we got back to the hostel we were all pretty exhausted we just showered and went to bed. Apparently, everyone had stayed up to read and talk for a little while, but I started snoring almost immediately when I climbed into bed. Typical. No complaints though because we had another early morning the next day.
1/11/09
We left bright and early once again for Queenstown, collectively our favorite stop throughout the trip. The drive was absolutely beautiful, but very long. After several trips to and from Charlottesville, I'm used to long car rides. And we had Chelsey's mix CD's getting us through. But the scenery was breathtaking. Once again, I tried to take pictures but it just would not do it justice. I took a few videos of us driving, just because I could. There were more snow-topped mountains, and green mountains, lakes, creeks. There were these one-lane bridges over creeks and Ryan (our glacier guide) told us that they are only one lane because they are regularly washed away. Comforting.
When we finally got to Queenstown, we went directly to our first activity--jetboating over the Shotover River! Basically, you get in a jetboat with about 10 other people and the driver takes you on a thrilling ride through the canyons and gets you soaking wet. But its ok, they give you a raincoat. It was a lot of fun and the canyons were really beautiful. We did 360's, during which we got the most wet, and they were a lot of fun.
After that adventure we went to the hostel and checked in. We walked around the city for a little while (this time it was more than a little town, quite refreshing). We decided to get some dinner at this pizza place Winnie's. We were really hungry but it was actually pretty good. Upon returning to our hostel, we made plans for the night. First we went to this place the Thirsty Ram and I thought of Ms. Shannon Moody, because I feel like a bar with that name should be on her campus. Then when we realized that kind of sucked, we went back to Winnie's and had a really good time. On our way back to the hostel, we stopped at Fergburger, the Queenstown equivalent to the White Spot. But sooooo much better. Mouth watering... Anyway, we got back, went to bed, and not surprisingly, the next day was filled with even more adventures.
But, that's all I'm going to write about for now, I have picture to upload and such. I'm a busy girl, what can I say. Don't worry, I know you are on the edge of your seat. Day 4 of my 11 day journey is on its way...
Until then...
Cheers,
Lara
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment