In Which The Long Awaited Update About Break Occurs...Mostly

Kia ora!

So I’ve been a bit remiss in writing in this blog, but before you cast stones and judgment or yank me off the stage with a cane, let me attest that, to quote a Calvin and Hobbes anthology, “The Days Are Just Packed”! But unlike Calvin and Hobbes, I’ve been spending my days productively.

In order to prove that I have indeed been busy, I’m going to have to go back a few weeks. Pull up your armchairs and get ready for an extremely long post, boys and girls. And make your own popcorn, because the stuff in the tins is never the same.

So April 6th was the beginning of the infamous road trip. Amy, Olivia, Caitlin, and I started off in Izzy, our faithful, rental, silver Toyota Spacio. The fact that the car could fit four girls and all four of our packs was a feat that earned Izzy our admiration and sympathy. Starting off Monday morning, our first stop was Lake Tekapo. It was windy when we arrived, but it was worth it for the turquoise water that we witnessed and the brilliance of the water against the sky and mountains. The water was blue because Lake Tekapo is fed into by the glaciers near Mount Cook, and the beauty of the place was profound enough to build a church by it. Naturally, this church became one of the most photographed places in New Zealand, and with two avid photographers in our group, we naturally had to stop and check it out. The stop was one of the best on the trip – but then again, the entire trip was amazing!

One side story from Lake Tekapo: Caitlin and I were sitting in Izzy, waiting for Olivia and Amy, and a brightly painted campervan caught our eye. We were trying to read what was on the back of the van and thought it said “Expression is anger without enthusiasm”. It didn’t make any sense to us, so I volunteered to zip out of the car and take a look at the rear mirror to see if that’s really what the expression was. Ignoring the fact that someone was sitting in the in passenger seat, I looked at the expression and realized it said “Depression is anger without enthusiasm”. Caitlin and I laughed, realizing how idiotic it must look at my mad dart to and from Izzy to look at the back of this van!

Next on the agenda was Mount Cook. It was dark when we pulled into the YHA, and because there is no grocery store in the small, three building village of Mount Cook Village, we ate at an over priced but tasty café, and then headed to bed. The next day, we were awarded with no spectacular view of Mount Cook, but a cold, rainy, wet day. We were determined to tramp Hooker Trail either way. Heng, the Tawainese guy sharing our room at the hostel, asked for a ride to Lake Tekapo. We agreed to take him to Queenstown instead, but we were going to go on this three hour trail first. Heng agreed to come with us, and little did we realize that the poor guy would go on the three hour hike in the rain, wind, and cold, in nothing but crocs and a thin rain jacket! It was a good hike, with crossings over two suspension bridges and ending with a view of a lake with actual icebergs! Yet we were all glad to be back in the warm car.

I drove from the YHA to Queenstown, and driving on the left is easier than it seems. Even though New Zealand isn’t that large, the roads are deceptive. They wind and twist with the road, and take at least twice as long as you think they will to drive. On the plus side, however, the drives are gorgeous, and let you see a good portion of New Zealand without having to walk everywhere. And now I can say that I’ve drive over 100 (kilometres an hour that is!).

Queenstown was much smaller than I believed it would be. Yet the town’s location, on the lake, surrounded by snow capped mountains, was priceless. We stayed at a cute hostel locally owned, and spent the first day shopping – something I don’t normally do! It started to rain a bit, but we didn’t let that stop us. To escape for a bit from the wet, we stopped into a chocolatier shop, Patagonia, and I had some of the best gelato I’ve ever had, and probably ever will have. We spent the night on the town, and came back satisfied with our purchases (a new jacket for me). The next day, Caitlin and I went bungee jumping off the Nevis, the highest bungee jump in New Zealand and third highest in the world at 134 meters!

To get to the bungee platform, we had to go on a half hour bus drive, then out on a cable car to a wire suspended platform. Did I mention the cable car could only hold six people, who had to hold still or the platform would tip over? It was intense. And that wasn’t even the jump! We were put into queue to jump according to our weight, as different weight categories determine which bungee cord was used. When you jump, you’re supposed to pull a cord on your leg after the second bounce so that you flip from head first to feet first. That way, when you are pulled up, you are able to go up head first. When my turn finally came around, I was nervous as heck, and wasn’t the most confident when I was lead out to the platform! Yet I swan dived off, and what a RUSH. Seriously, it was the most amazing thing I’ve ever done, besides being born! I didn’t manage to pull the cord, so I came up feet first, but what a trip! The thing that always put me off from bungee jumping was the fear of recoil from coming back up after jumping. When I came up after the initial rush of dropping 134 meters in under 9 seconds, I didn’t even feel recoil or my stomach drop. It was easier than I imagined. And I survived!

After Queenstown came Milford Sound. It was a long and winding road to Milford, and we had to fill up in Te Anu because there is no gas station in Milford or on the road there. We nearly hit a possum on the road. We were told later that we should have swerved at it, not away from it, as possums are evidently a threat and a nuisance to the local bird population. Milford Sound was amazingly beautiful. We took a boat cruise early in the morning out into the sound, and traversed around the underwater aquarium. While we didn’t see dolphins, we did get to see black coral, a very rare kind of coral that is white underwater and black only when it’s dead and above water. The aquarium guide was named Igor and was from Brazil, where he was going back soon to finish his PhD in biology so he could continue to study amphibians, mainly bull frogs. Weirdest thing found in a bullfrog stomach: an entire duckling. Interesting times!

Now why did I tell the campervan story earlier? Because who did we meet again in Milford? Mike and Bryan, the two drivers of the van! We were amazed to have found each other again, and ended up hanging out. We explored The Chasm, a small walk that was supposed to last 25 minutes and dragged on to over an hour. The Chasm was basically a waterfall in a beautiful, fairytale-like scenery of greenery. I was enchanted. And I can’t wait to show you all pictures!

After Milford Sound, we made a frantic drive back to Queenstown to see if Olivia could bungee jump, as bad weather had prevented her earlier in the week from doing so. We discovered that there was bad weather in Queenstown, but she could jump in Fox Glacier, our next to last stop on our road trip. The only problem was that Fox Glacier was over 5 hours away, and was a hectic drive. We were determined to get Olivia there in time to jump, though, so we stopped in Queenstown to restock on food and made the frantic drive to Fox Glacier. I did the drive, and while we couldn’t stop in Mount Aspiring, the West Coast drive is gorgeous, especially through Haast, and the rainforest and beach environment is truly unique! Only in New Zealand can you see rainforest, beaches, and glaciers in the same place.

We did indeed get to Fox Glacier in time for Olivia to jump, after a car ride that made everyone sick with the fast turns. But seeing Olivia’s face after jumping was worth it! The next day, we took a hike on Fox Glacier, and for two hours we got to stand on ice, taste said ice, explore with crampons on, and stick our poles into newly made ice steps, made right in front of us by our guide with a pick axe. I absolutely hate being cold, but it was worth it to stand over the valley floor, on an ice shelf, and witness the sun setting on God’s beautiful creation.

Also at Fox Glacier we hiked around Lake Matheson, hoping to see a spectacular sunrise. Unfortunately, the day was cloudy and rainy, and Lake Matheson didn’t yield the spectacular views that the postcards afford. The hike was a nice one though, and we did get to see spectacular views of Mount Cook when we found a small looking area off the side of the road. The clouds lifted just in time for us to see Mount Cook – perfect timing God! After getting our fix of mountains, we headed off to Gillispie Beach, a black sand beach, and spent some time reflecting or journaling.

After Fox Glacier came our trip to Punakaiki. We got to roam around the Pancake Rocks, a geological phenomenon that has yet to be explained by scientists today. While we didn’t get to the rocks at high tide, we were thrilled to be able to see the ocean crash into the rocks! After that, we drove back to Christchurch to return the car. We were glad to have paid for extra insurance on the car, because in Fox Glacier the window shield got a crack in it from a rock. We owed nothing on the car!

I then spent the next five days bumming around with Dhruv, Doug, and Dave in Christchurch. We watched movies, went tramping pack shopping for Dhruv, and I also got to spend time with other friends and relax! I also spent the days getting ready for Abel Tasman, which leads me to the next part of the narrative…tomorrow.

This blog post is already long enough! And since I’m not one to overload with detail in one sitting, I shall leave you here to process the details of this amazing time, and also extol the virtues of New Zealand. You should all visit!

I hope that all of you are well and ready for summer. It is winter here now, and I’m in need of yet another jacket! Especially after this weekend! School is starting to put on a bit of pressure here, so wish me luck, and good luck to everyone on their finals!


Cheers,
Nicole

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

In Which I Post Part of an E-Mail

Kia ora!

This is part of an e-mail I sent to my mom concerning the roadtrip I am currently on. My Internet time is limited right now, so I will expand on it later, but enjoy!

"Driving on the wrong side was very interesting - I only had one mistake, and that was pulling out of the parking lot of the YHA hostel. Other than that, it just takes getting used to, and there's good motivation not to screw up on the main roads! Unfortunately, the car we have is not that great. It doesn't go above 65 km/h on hills, and the brake and gas are not sensitive at all - you have to pound on both. You'd easily get sick with your motion sickness!

Gas is $1.61 a litre, I think. So it's expensive to fill up here! Our car cost aroud $60 to fill up on an almost empty tank. We have a silver Toyota Spacio (we named her Izzy), and it's pretty roomy and fits all our stuff, which we're pleased about! It even has enough room to fit a fifth person and their stuff, hence why we were able to give a Tawainese guy at the hostel in Mt. Cook a ride to Queenstown so he could catch a bus.

I'm jealous of the warm weather! I just bought a light fleece jacket here that is easily layered with because I know I'm going to get cold. I'm wondering if I'll need another one... Right now we're in Queenstown, and it was cold enough to hail yesterday! It was bad weather for bungy jumping, so I'm off to do that today, when the weather is only overcast and cold instead of overcast, rainy, and cold. :) The weather is good enough for the paragliders to be out over Queenstown, and Olivia is going sky diving from 15,000ft, and as I type this the sun peeked out, so I'm hoping the weather holds as we drive to Milford Sound along the mountain roads today!

I do wish you could have seen Lake Tekapo though. It was the most blue-green I've ever seen water, and that kind of colour is only seen on lakes that have deposits from glaciers! And would you believe I saw said glaciers??? I stood not even fifty feet away from them as they floated on Hooker Lake at Mt. Cook! We had to cross two large swing bridges to see said glaciers. It was truly an awe-inspiring sight, and despite the three hour return on Hooker Trail, through cold, wind, and rain, to see Hooker Lake, it was absolutely worth it. I was disappointed that we couldn't see Mt. Cook through the fog, but we did see some beautiful waterfalls because of the rain run-off, and that in itself is something just as special.

Today is our last day in Queenstown, as we all do our "extreme activity" before piling in the car off to Milford Sound, a solid five hour drive. We will have to fill up, as there is no gas station between Te Anu and Milford Sound, and the road is said to be on cliff edges at point, so wish us all luck! We're all pretty good drivers, so I'm confident we'll be fine.

The road trip has been action packed, and I'm thankful for the people I'm getting to know better! I've had some good talks with some of the girls, and I'm inspired to be more like one of them, as she's always bright, cheerful, and praising/thanking God for everything that comes our way, good or bad. She's truly an inspiration, and I'm pleased to be able to travel with her and learn from her!"

Hope you are all well, and I will post again soon!


Cheers,
Nicole

Psalm 118:22-24