Katie leaves Kiwiland!

Hey all!

We are down to our last few days here in New Zealand :( I can't believe how fast it has gone!

Update on the past week or so (I got distracted with the bungy jump escapade and didn't post about all the other fun things we did!):

We did get to go see the Franz Joseph Glacier, which was pretty cool but hard to see since it was downpouring with rain. We ended up making the 5.5 hour drive to Queenstown all soaking wet in the car... which started to smell preeetty gross. Luckily we stopped for lunch in a little town (we ate at a cafe called The Sandfly... slightly unappetizing name for all of us) and could change into dry clothes.

I only got one picture of the glacier before a) my camera died and b) it started downpouring.

Queenstown was different than I expected - much smaller and not as busy with tourists. I guess the economic downturn is definitely hitting the adventure travel business. We spent two days and three nights in Queenstown, which was the perfect amount of time. The first night, after a long day in the car, we decided to get pizza and see a movie. We went to this FABULOUS pizza restaurant called Winnie's, which is officially my favorite pizza in the world. Then we went to see Slumdog Millionaire, which we all loved. It felt so weird to sit down in a movie theater, just like I might do at home! It was a nice little outing - different from both our outdoor lifestyle and our hostel make-your-own-fun relaxation.

A little street in Queenstown

We basically spent the next day catching up on email, exploring Queenstown, checking out some shops, etc. It was pretty chilly and overcast, so we spent some much needed time in the lodge's hot tub. Speaking of the lodge - it was LUXURY. This was no backpacker's hostel. It was a total step up - we had full bed linens, a concierge, free breakfast (sausage, eggs, hashbrowns!!). It was wonderful. We cooked our own dinner that night in an attempt to save some money (it sure goes quick when we get into town and start eating out at every meal!), so Piper and I whipped up some totally yummy mac and cheese. We made some awesome bread crumbs and peas and everything. We spent the evening playing card games and went into town for a little bit, but decided to turn in early for a big day of adventure the next day.

View from the lodge's hot tub!

I've already blogged the bungy jump experience to death, so just scroll down to hear about that - it pretty much consumed our second free day in Queenstown. I just spent the afternoon recovering and packing up, etc. We went BACK to Winnie's for dinner that night, and had the same waiter, who laughed when he saw us (especially since me and Audra split the same pizza as before). I was starting to feel a bit under the weather so I hit the hay early and got a solid 9 hours of sleep before hitting the road to Gunns Camp the next day.

We had about a three hour drive to Gunns Camp, and once we dropped our stuff out, set out for a 4 hour hike in this beautiful mountain area called Gertrude's Saddle. We had heard it was the most beautiful day hike in New Zealand, and I could see why right away! It was a pretty hard hike though, very rocky and uphill, and since my cold had heartily progressed to my lungs, I was having a really hard time breathing. It got to the point where I just couldn't go any further, so sadly I had to turn back and head back to the car to wait for the others. It has been my biggest regret so far; the others said the view was AMAZING. But I guess sometimes your body just tells you to stop, and there isn't much you can do! Mom, you would have been proud that I decided to stop and put my health before my adventure! Also I literally couldn't breathe, so I didn't have much of a choice...

I did get this sweet picture though.

Gunns Camp (aka Hollyford Camp) was such a cute, quirky place. It was set up in 1955 by this guy, Murray Gunn, who I guess is quite a local legend. He was this solitary guy and there is all this historical stuff all over the campsite. The water was heated by a woodstove and the electricity turned off at promptly 10pm - lights out! We had two little cabins that were painted bright colors and named Dick and Peter. We were in the middle of nowhere!

This was my cabin, named Dick.

These are the kinds of cute little signs that were all around the camp!

The next morning we got up early and drove an hour to Milford Sound for a kayaking trip, which turned out to be one of my favorite activities of this whole trip to NZ. Milford Sound is just completely stunning, just this huge flat body of water surrounded by mountains. It is a spectacular feeling to just feel so small amidst such powerful, pure nature. We had a really cool guide who showed us how to use the double sea kayaks (which had steering peddles for the back seater, which I loved!) and I really enjoyed paddling around. We were out for about 4 hours, and he told us about the glacial formation of the mountain sides, Maori legends of the area, and the epic tree avalanches that can take place. We also got to paddle right up to some seals, which were just so incredibly cute, posing for us and stretching on the rocks. I just loved the whole day!

Adorable seal showing off for me...

The beautiful view on Milford Sound.
This is officially my favorite place in NZ.
My rowing partner, Dom, stops for a photo op!

When we got back to camp we all just passed out for the rest of the afternoon, had dinner, and then fell asleep early again. All the sleep did great things for my chest cold, it is pretty much gone now! Yesterday we had a looong day in the car. We drove 3 hours from Gunns Camp back to Queenstown, where we stopped for lunch. And yup, Audra and I went to Winnie's. Again. And ordered the same thing. With the same waiter. I think he thought we were totally nuts, especially when we asked him if we could take a picture to commemorate our last time ever. We hopped back in the car for another 4 hours until we reached Mt. Cook. If I thought the mountains around Milford Sound were huge, I had no idea what was in store! Unfortunately, the weather has still been a bit cloudy, but we still got some really fantastic views. We could just see the snow capped summit of Mt. Cook out the hostel windows.

Here is what our amazing view looked like!

Mt. Cook is a tiny little town, basically just a few accomodations and a lot of hiking trails. On Saturday, Scott took us rock climbing, which I loved, but was really scary! He is a really amazing climber, but I had never been before! I went at 8am with him and Bennett, who also had experience rock climbing, so I was nervous to be the newbie who didn't know what to do. We couldn't find the trail to get to the base of the climb, so we had a bit of a bush bash up all these loose rocks and through a bunch of prickly bushes until we found our way.

Basically Scott would climb up first, clipping in to these hooks along the way so that if he fell, he would only fall a little ways, instead of all the way to the bottom. Reassuring, I know. When he got to the top of the pitch, he clipped us in to his belay (I'm still working on the terminology, so sorry if this isn't quite right). Then I climbed up, totally secure with him pulling up my rope as I climbed. Even though I could feel that my rope was taut and if I fell I would be safe, it was still terrifying! Sometimes there wouldn't even be enough of a foothold for my big toe, but I just had to find somewhere to hold and haul myself up a little more. The first pitch, I was so scared my legs were shaking so hard that it made it really hard to climb. We did three pitches in total, and each one I felt better about. When we finally reached the top, we were freezing because we hadn't worn enough warm clothes, so we hurried to secure our ropes to abseil back down the mountain face. Even though it was cloudy, it felt amazing to look out at the views from so high, and know that we got there by just climbing up some totally vertical rockface!

I climbed up the right ridge of this peak!
Not all the way to the top though, just from the treeline up to where the ridge starts getting really steep.

Bennett belaying Scott up to the top of the pitch

When I got back to the hostel, I decided I didn't want to just sit around all day, so after some lunch I headed out on my own little trek, just wandering around some rocks near the hostel for about an hour. I got caught in some rain, so when I got back I took a nice hot shower and went to make dinner - homemade pizza! (Dan, I wish you were here to make yours! I told everyone about Paul Simon Pizza Parties... and then I told them again and they laughed at me because I had already told that story...)

On Sunday we got up early for another longish day in the car, a 4.5 hour ride to Christchurch, where I am writing this post from. Christchurch is our final destination in New Zealand, and such a cute little historical town. We got here early in the day, so I spent the day wandering around the city, taking pictures of the historical statues and buying gifts at the little weekend market. In the afternoon we went to a free concert in the Botanical Gardens across from our hostel. The singer was a woman named Flip Grater, and I LOVED her music. You can check her out on YouTube. We explored the pretty gardens and saw a whole garden of roses and this really really huge tree.

The historical Arts Centre, just across from our hostel!

There is a cute little trolley that runs tours around the city every 15 minutes or so!

Group photo by the big tree!

Flip Grater and her band

Today is officially my last day in New Zealand. Since I already explored the city a bunch yesterday, I will probably take it easy and pack up for our trip to Australia. I think we are going to pack up a picnic and eat our lunch in the gardens, which should be fun! I love this cute little town, and I feel like I could just spend all day wandering around and relaxing.

I can't believe it is already time to leave New Zealand. This part of my adventure is over in just about 2 weeks! I am so glad I chose this particular trip, because I really do feel like I got to see all of NZ. Everytime I look at a map of the country, it is so cool to look at our path and see just how many places we got to go. I am so lucky to have had this experience and I think it has had a life-long impact on me.

We are off for Oz tomorrow at 4:30 in the morning, so I better be sure to get some sleep tonight! Next time I post, I will be in Australia!!


xoxo, Katie