Packed In and Packed Up

At the end of April, Olivia Clement flew over to New Zealand for her 10 day vacation from studying abroad in Perth, Australia. She rented a car and met Sawyer and I in Wanaka, where we'd been since leaving Fox Glacier. We had a roughly 9 day road trip planned, a whirlwind of activities to accomplish on the lower half of the South Island. It's helpful that there is really only one main road to most common tourist stops, because the other 95% of the country is covered in vast mountains, lakes, and tussocked hills that would just require way too much time and too many resources to build on/over/through.

The moment we started driving through the mountains surrounding Wanaka, I finally felt like I was seeing what New Zealand is really about. Before then, I hadn't come very close to landscapes [in NZ] that demanded attention quite like these, landscapes that humble you, scare you yet calm you. The fall foliage in the town made me feel like I belonged there even more, the smell of crisp mornings and decaying plant matter. A welcome feeling, having missed a true [Vermont] autumn while in Europe.

Sawyer and I went skydiving in Wanaka the next day, an adrenaline boost that put Soy out for almost the rest of the day if you can imagine that ;). We headed to Queenstown a day after, where Sawyer and I got a double boost of adrenaline through the Nevis bungy, deciding to go again after hearing that the price for a second jump was only 25% of the first one. We simply couldn't pass up a deal like that, and I'm so glad for it because I was able to enjoy the second time much more, knowing what to expect (the fear never goes away though... they say "if you aren't at least a little scared, there's something wrong with you"). More on this experience in the random section.

Afterward, we wandered in and out of the perfectly aesthetic tourist shops with ridiculous prices, hitting up Fergburger for dinner, a famous burger restaurant with unique flavor and ingredient combinations, making for a juicy burger almost impossible to close your mouth around.

We really could've spent more time in Queenstown; named the adventure capital of the world, there is so much to do there. However, he's a sorry soul who's enchanted by what the town has to offer, and leaves after too long with an empty bank account. Unless that's what you're after of course... go for it, it's too easy to do.

Anyway, the horse ride we had planned through LOTR country in Glenorchy was rained out, so we spent a low key day in the tiny town before Sawyer and Olivia dropped me off at the Routeburn track trailhead in the morning for a 32k day traverse I'd been dreaming of for months. There are nine "Great Walks" in New Zealand, this being one of them, supposed to take between 2-4 days. Every Great Walk track has fabulously maintained trails and huts, in the main season costing $56 a night. I went in the first day of the off season, so very few people, meaning I had the striking landscapes and views all to myself for most of the day. With a super light pack, I felt bad passing hikers weighed down with overnight gear. One might argue, why rush through such a famously beautiful hike in one day, but the weight I carried (or lack of) made it much more enjoyable and worth it for me.

Finishing in 7 hours at 3 o'clock, Soy and Olivia had driven all day to get to the other trailhead because of an enormously roundabout road system. They miraculously made it within 10 minutes of my arrival, despite the fact that there was absolutely no cell reception from the moment we parted and no way for me to tell them I'd finished an hour and a half ahead of when I told them I thought I'd be done.

We took a quick peak at the well known Milford Sound and spent the night in Te Anau, center for any hiker extraordinaire.

We drove to Dunedin the next day, stopping at Nugget Point in the Catlins, a national park with a rocky coast similar to Maine's, accompanied by classically NZ rolling green hills. Nick Donaldson, studying at Otago University, graciously put us up in his flat for two nights and gave us some tips on touring Dunedin. The student populated city was a nice change from tiny, repetitive rural towns. We took in another coastal marvel at Tunnel Beach, a site of beautifully sculpted rock formations. Headed north again, we hit up the Moeraki Boulders and the steam punk town of Oamaru, a strong deja vue from 9 years ago with my family. You might imagine our joy at finding a second farmers market in Oamaru after touring one in Dunedin the previous morning, suckers for these little snippets of home (not to mention a cheese tasting as well at the local Whitestone Cheese factory).

We couldn't let Olivia go back to AUS without a dinner of fish n chips, so she had the highly regarded blue cod. Right across from the shop was a hostel my family had WWOOFed at 9 years ago, and it was fun to see that the work we did in the backyard was still holding up :))

We drove further north, spent the night in Twizel, did a picturesque two hour horse trek around Lake Tekapo the next morning, then headed to Christchurch to see Olivia off to the airport for her flight home.

Below is a really rough drawing of our route, which might be helpful in understanding where and how far we went. The first pinpoint in the very center of the picture is Wanaka, where we first met up. Christchurch is northeast, not in the picture.

Soy and I are happy to lay low at this historic-jail-turned-hostel giving our bank accounts a rest.. we're proud of how much of New Zealand we managed to experience in the short time we had access to transportation because of Olivia's willingness to journey with us. I take off for Vermont on Tuesday, excited to spend the summer at home but not quite welcoming the idea yet of the responsibilities I'm about to face for at least the next four years..

See you all soon :))