A great day climbing

Well, I finally got use of my climbing gear and it was worth it. Melanie, Nick and I headed off to Hospital Flats to climb. It was such a beautiful day. Bright blue sky and sun...fabulous. It was Melanie's first time climbing outside. We stuck to pretty easy stuff. Our first climb was a 5.7 approximately called Wasted on the Wing. It was a nice first climb...up a crack line. I went up a face instead, I think a 5.9. Then we climbed another 5.7 face climb and finished off with an amazing corner climb (5.8). As some of you know, corners are always my favourite. Melanie had quite a time. I taught her how to belay, which will be good on the rest of the trip. She also is having trouble overcoming the fear at the top of the climb. She doesn't really want to let go of the rock. I know that feeling. I remember my first outdoor climb (Slow Poke) and down climbing the entire thing, much to the annoyance of Mike, Evan and Kyle. Anyways, at the crag we met a very nice couple from the UK who gave us a ride back into Wanaka. Nicki was super nice. We were talking about food and the subject of Tim Tams came up (a type of cookie). Nicki told us about this way to eat them with Milo (kinda like hot chocolate). It's excellent, the cookie turns momentarily into a straw before it melts from the inside out, so you have to shove it into your mouth really fast. It is amazing. As Nick says 'it's like having a little heater inside your cookie'. Oh, I also forgot, two nights ago Mel and I started teaching people to play spoons. We had quite a game going. I won the first game, Nick won the second. At one point one spoon got bent right in half because of a fight. Mel also ended up on the floor chasing after a spoon. We are trying to spread the game around the world, one hostel at a time. Anyways, today is really rainy in Wanaka, so we are doing a lot of catching up on things and head to Queenstown tomorrow which should be good. Take care everybody!

Enough Rain to Necessitate an Arc

So we arrived in Wanaka yesterday. It's a whole lot like Waterton, even the wind. We just hung out for a bit then headed out for drinks with people from the hostel. We are staying at the Purple Cow, I was expecting a big purple building, but no, it's just brown. Anyways, there was Nick from Toronto (who was living in Calgary), Sam from Toronto (a very cool climbing girl), Dale from England, Layla from Israel, and two others who I can't remember their names (I'm really bad at names, especially if the people have accents). Anyways, today, me, Melanie, Nick, Dale, and another guy (again the name thing) decided to go for a hike. We went up to the Rob Roy Glacier. It was spitting a bit when we got out of the car and quite windy. Well, I was not prepared for what we ended up in. Actually, I was probably most prepared, but still. About 3/4 of the way up, it really started to rain. So fine, on goes the gore-tex. By the time we reached the top it was a downpour. Melanie and I hid under a big boulder for awhile. The view of the glacier and all the waterfalls was amazing, but it was too rainy to get any pictures. By the time we got down, my boots had soaked through, although my jacket was keeping my body dry. My shorts felt like I had jumped in a lake and gotten out. Melanie and the boys were all soaked right through their jackets. Thumbs up for Arcteryx, although I may have spotted some seam leaking (a warranty maybe?). Anyways, we then had to drive an hour back to Wanaka and let me tell you, a car full of 3 boys and 2 girls, all of whom are soaking wet, is not a pretty smell. We were all very glad to get back to the Purple Cow and have hot showers. Our room, it was a bit of a fight, Mel got hers first, then me, then Dale. Thank goodness we weren't all in the same room. Tomorrow, if it dries out a lot, Mel, Nick and I are going climbing. I am so stoked. Finally get to use that beast of a rope. Anyways, hope all is well with everybody. And Mom or Robin, I want a picture of Peggy and Ginny...no more excuses.

The Glaciers

So Mel and I made it to the Franz Joseph Glacier a couple days ago. Our first day there, we hiked up to the glacier, which was quite impressive. It's surrounded by rainforest, which is quite different from our glaciers at home. We decided not to pay for a walk on the glacier, as it is very expensive and really, we can do that at home. We did stop at a pond called Peter's Pool, which was pretty cute and showed a perfect reflection of the glacier. That night, we went out to a bar called Blue Ice with two guys from Israel. They were really nice and totally made me think of Naama and our time in Italy. Anyways, the next day we hiked up to the Tatare Tunnels. We were quite proud of ourselves for facing the dark and venturing in till we couldn't see the exit (I had my head lamp). Then late yesterday afternoon we caught the bus to the Fox glacier. We were pretty stoked for some hikes around here, but the weather is pretty gross. We are tenting though, which is actually working out quite well. We were supposed to start an overnight tramp tomorrow, but the track is closed because of high water levels and two bridges being washed out. Ah well, so off to Wanaka tomorrow. As you can probably tell from my description of recent activities, my ankle is doing much better. My new nemesis is the bugs. I must have very sweet blood cause I have 15 bites on one foot and ankle alone; Mel has none. So I bought some bug spray today. Anyways, I should be off. Talk to you all soon

Our trip down the West Coast

After our day of recovery, we headed for a day at the beach. Simon and Casey (the guys from the bar), met us there. We had a great day. Mel and Simon had quite a match of soccer, where Mel showed him a thing or two. Quite impressive. That night we crashed at Simon and Paul's house which had turned into a bit of a hostel. There was Mel and I, a girl from Quebec and a girl from Chile. Paul was quite excited to find out that Mel was from Nelson and that he could come stay with her on his trip to Canada next year. Anyways, we had a very kiwi dinner of lamb and sausages. It was good (especially having somebody else cook). The next day, Simon drove us down the coast on his way to work. We stopped at a swinging bridge where I was attacked by sandflies (my toes got the brunt of it). That night we stayed in Westport (I don't recommend it). My mom had a pretty good description, a lot like Sparwood. We did laundry which was definately needed. Yesterday we headed further down the coast to Hokitika. On the way we stopped at Punikaki where there are the coolest rock formations. They call it the pancake rocks. Mel decided to work on her lifelong goal of becoming a punga person (people who live in the flax). Anyways, Hokitika is about as eventful at Westport, although last night we walked up to the glow worm dell which was pretty cool. We had to overcome a slight fear of the dark and the fact that at home, we would have been in prime cougar habitat. Today is a bit of a write-off as it is raining like crazy. We are waiting for our bus and heading off to the Franz Joseph Glacier. Should be good.

The best day ever

Ok, so I am a little behind. On Tuesday Melanie and I headed up to Moteuka with a guy from our hostel. We hung out there for the day and organised our next adventure. On Wednesday I had what ranks up there as one of the best days of my life. A shuttle picked us up at our hostel (where we had been given fresh baked muffins). We drove to the town of Kaiteriteri and got ready for our adventure of kayaking along the Abel Tasman Track. Our plan had been to hike it, but considering my ankle was still very much a cankle (calf-ankle), there would be no hiking. So we got organized with our group. Our guide was Imo, we were in one boat. Stephan and Stephan from Germany in another boat and Phil from England and Andre from Holland in the third. We started at a place called Bark Bay and kayaked out to a seal colony. They were so cute playing in the water. There was also a seal pup up on the rocks, very cute. Then we kayaked for awhile, had some lunch and headed off to Adele Island. We saw two sting rays. Then there were a bunch of birds sitting on a tree in the water. We asked Imo what they were and she said penquins. Mel and I got so excited, we were taking all these pictures and we crashed into a rock cause we weren't paying attention. Then they flew away. Now I may not know everything about penquins, but I know they don't fly. They were actually cormerants. I know, so gullible. Anyways, we then made a raft with the kayaks and put up a sail and sailed to split apple rock. While we were there, Phil was like "hey, there's a penquin!" Ok, I wasn't going to be that gullible twice, but then Imo was like "no, for real, that's a blue penquin, the smallest of all penguins" Well you can imagine, I was so excited. He was swimming under our kayaks and then hopped out onto the rocks and waddled for a bit. It was amazing! Anyways, we had to get back to Kaiteriteri, so we paddled the rest of the way. When we got there, two girls from our hostel, Stephanie from Halifax and Janey from Sydney, said that their guide offered to water taxi them back to a place called Marahau, the beginning of the Abel Tasman. So we joined them. When we got there, we got pulled out of the water by a tractor and then it drove us (we were still in the boat) to their main office. Then a guy got us into a van and drove us to find a place to stay. We stayed in the tent at 'Old MacDonalds Farm' which had a lot of cows and llamas. Steph, Janey, Mel and I went out for dinner at the Park Cafe which was amazing. So yeah, it was an amazing day. The next day we lazed at the beach and just hung out. Then on Friday we walked a little bit of the Abel Tasman before catching the bus back to Nelson. It was beautiful and we are hoping to come back when my ankle is healed to do the whole thing. When we got back to Nelson, I stopped in at a few outdoors stores. At one, when we went in, this guy was like "Hey did you used to work in Fernie?" Anyways, it was Andrew, a guy who worked maintenence at the hill. Small world. Then on Friday night we went out with Steph and Janey and a guy from Germany (Topher). We were at the Grumpy Mole again. Oddly enough Mel ran into a guy from Nelson BC. Weird day. Anyways, it was an awesome night. Stephanie and I played pool with two Kiwis (Simon and Paul) and an American (Casey). It was awesome. Yesterday we pretty much recovered from the night before. It was a lazy day. We said good bye to Steph and Janey. Shopped around the local market for a bit. Nothing exciting. Today we walked up to the 'centre of New Zealand' and plan on heading to the beach this afternoon. Our last day in Nelson. It has been so much fun. I can definately see myself coming back. Anyways, I will put up pictures soon.

Happy Birthday to Me!

So it's my birthday today, but rather uneventful, although it is so nice out and hot. I'm used to skiing on my birthday rather than going to the beach. So Melanie and I had a night in Picton which is a beautiful little town where the ferry arrives when you cross from Wellington. It was rainy there, but still really beautiful, right at the end of Marlborough sounds. Then we bused to Nelson a couple days ago and have been chillin here for a couple days, letting my ankle heal. We haven't done anything super exciting here. Two nights ago we went to a bar called the 'Grumpy Mole Saloon'. There was a buffalo on the wall which made me laugh. We danced a little. There was a very nice guy who would take care of my crutches as I hobbled around on my gimped foot. It was a pretty good night. Yesterday we headed to the beach for a couple hours. We had a great time in the ocean. Because it's inland a little, there isn't a rip tide which is nice, easier to swim in. We went into the library there to ask when the bus was coming and the lady (Gail) was so nice, she offered to take us into town with her (she was closing up the library in ten minutes). So we had a good chat with her on the ride back to town. She told us about her son who is in England right now. Last year he spent the ski season in Whistler (worst season ever). So he's used up his one-year visa in Canada, but wants to go back. So Gail decided that he and I could get married so I could have Kiwi and British citizenship and he could have Canadian citizenship (don't worry Dad, I never met the guy). Anyways, today we switched to a new hostel that's pretty good with a pool and free breakfast. Oh, I also got to have gelato today (chocolate of course) which always makes for a good birthday. Tomorrow we are going to find a campsite hopefully (save some money). We are trying to figure out a way to see parts of the Abel Tasman National Park while not risking hiking too much with my gimped foot. So hopefully some adventures in the next couple days. Out for a night on the town tonight to celebrate being 23 (sounds so old). Miss you all!

Just me being me

So yesterday was quite a day. Melanie Waterer (Ben's little sister) met up with me at the hostel. We've been emailing for a couple months now, but just met yesterday. We decided on a trip to the Wellington zoo. I was pretty excited to get to see a kiwi. Nicole decided to come with us too. So at about noon we headed up to the zoo. When we got there, Nicole had a phone call on her cell from home, so Melanie and I went in and started exploring. We went into the nocturnal house to see the kiwi's but after 10 minutes, we still couldn't pick one out, so we gave up. But fortunately, there was a giant kiwi right outside the house. They are very rare; it was being really still so I got a picture of Melanie with it (I will put that up when I can). Anyways, then Nicole met up with us, apparently she had befriended a zoo keeper because she was afraid of the zoo and what wild animals might be lurking around the corner, so Dion, a nice kiwi guy, helped her find us. Then we headed off the the African animals. The ostrich and zebras were in the same pen and running around in circles chasing each other. Ostriches running are pretty funny. We ended up at the kangaroos where we noticed that one had a joey in her pouch, which we decided to confirm with the guy cleaning the cage. Then Nicole had all kinds of questions about kangaroo mating patterns and was quite concerned that this girl in particular was too young to have a baby. After that educational experience, there was a show about baboons behind us. Wow did we have questions about the baboons (or in Melanie's words, the bamboos). Basically we learned that spousal abuse is the norm with baboons and if a lady isn't getting beaten enough she should divorce her husband and find a new more violent mate. We also realized that baboons also have a problem with over eating (one had her cheeks so stuffed full that you could see the outline of pieces of melon). And lastly, baboons are not modest creatures, they have no shame in displaying their 'love' to everyone. Nicole (the good southern girl), was somewhat appalled which got me and Melanie laughing pretty hard. After that we headed down to the chimps where one apparently had an issue with one of the guests and was through things over the top of the cage at him. The Dion (Nicole's zoo keeper) asked the man to leave the area to let the chimp calm down. Dion was giving a show on meer cats, so we headed over there. Not all the interesting, but it was cute watching Dion hit on Nicole. Then he took us down to show us the red panda, which was a disappointment for Melanie and Nicole as they were expecting a giant panda, but red (they are actually more like a red raccoon). So we were heading out after a great day at the zoo and of course, me being me, I decide to fall and hurt myself. I rolled my ankle of the edge of the path. At first I was like, oh no big deal, oh no wait, it's twice it's normal size. So Melanie and Nicole got me to the entrance of the zoo and then we called a cab and went to the hospital. What trip would be complete without a trip to the hospital? Long story-short, I have a very bad sprain and am supposed to be on crutches for a week (hopefully less). I must say, very impressed with the NZ medical system, everyone was so nice. So we returned to the hostel with crutches. Nicole and I went out for dinner to a place called Nicolini's. It was amazing. Gave Coco's and Pag's a run for their money as the best Italian restaurant. Anyways, this morning, Melanie met me at the hostel and helped me get all my stuff to the ferry and we sailed across to Picton on the South Island. It is pouring rain, so we are going to skip the wine festival (bought our own bottle for tonight instead) and we are headed to Nelson tomorrow. I am very lucky to have met the people I have here. Everybody has been so nice and so helpful. Getting around on crutches sucks with luggage, but I'm managing. Anyways, Nelson should be good. Rest there for awhile and hopefully heal a little. Talk to you all soon. I will put pictures up soon including my trip to the hospital. Cheers

A very rainy day

I said goodbye to Taupo yesterday, but I will be back. It is such a beautiful place and with so much to do outside. Anyways, I had a very long bus ride. There was a big accident that closed the highway for a couple hours. We were 2 hours late getting into Wellington (8 hours on the bus). Anyways, one I got to Wellington, I took the cable car up to the top of the Botanical Gardens and had a lovely walk down. The cable car is apparently one of the 'must-do' activities, but I just don't get it. Anyways, back at the hostel I ran into Fia once again (three hostels in a row now). She is going to settle a bit in Wellington, hopefully get a job. Today when I got up, I was not impressed. It was raining. So I headed out to go check out the Parliament buildings (I know, Poli Sci geek). I put on my soft shell, but it has now soaked through, I will be returning to find my gore-tex. Anyways, the tour of the parliament buildings were pretty interesting. NZ has such a similar history to us, and yet there government is now so different. They only have a single house now, and have been on a proportional electoral system for almost ten years (therefore, minority governments and eight political parties in the house). Interestingly enough though, both their speaker and the PM are women. The real reason I went to Parliament was to see what may be the ugliest public building ever. There Parliament is pretty traditional, a lot like our legislatures and such (although no green roof). But the building next door where all the cabinet ministers' offices and such are is called the beehive. A fine example of ugly, ugly 70s architecture. It looks just like a beehive (which I must say is not a good look for a building). Unfortunately no pictures as it is raining beyond belief. Wellington is a lot like Victoria though, just better shopping. This afternoon I am going to Te Papa (the national museum) with some girls from the hostel and then tomorrow or Friday I am heading down to the south island and hopefully off to climb. Talk to you all soon. Happy Birthdays Amanda and Halina!

A relaxing day after quite a night

So last night Francis (my roommate) and I went out to play pool again. We headed down to Mulligan's where there was great live music. They played Four Non Blondes which reminded me a lot of home. So we were playing pool and these guys asked if we wanted to play doubles, so we did. James, Mark and Lione were from Auckland, but just heading back from the Wellington 7's tournament (big rugby tourny). So we played three games. Mark and I won the second, but only thanks to him. But during the games, there was cricket on tv. I finally had the rules explained to me and it makes so much more sense how a game can last multiple days. I still think it's kinda dumb, but I understand now. After pool we headed up to 'Holy Cow' for a bit of dancing. It was quite an experience, I mean at this place the norm is dancing on these huge almost picnic-like tables. And yes Jen, you will be proud to know that Francis, Lione and I danced on the tables (a once in a life-time experience). I met three girls from Grande Prairie which was funny. It turned out to be an awesome night, definitely unforgettable. When we got back to the hostel, Francis and I quietly went into our room, but apparently we scared one of the other girls in our room and she woke up screaming. Well, as Francis and I had had a little to drink, we thought this was hilarious. It was pretty funny, things calmed down and off to bed. Today I hiked up to Huka Falls which was brilliant. There is so much water flowing out of Lake Taupo, the dam is actually responsible for 15% of the North Islands electricity. Then I went to the hot springs on the way back, the one pool was actually too hot to spend any time in. When I stepped in, I got out real fast with bright red feet. Tonight I'm going to take it easy and then off to Wellington tomorrow. I'm probably going to come back here on my way around the North Island next month, there is a great hike I want to do called Tongariro crossing, up in the volcanoes. But off to Wellington tomorrow, then down to the south island. Cheers!

The New Zealand I was expecting

OK, so I am a little behind. Two days ago I escaped Auckland for the day and headed out to Piha, a little surfing community on the west coast. It is where the film 'The Piano' was filmed. I caught a shuttle out with two others, both from England. Liz was heading out to hike and Adam was going to surf. Anyways, our driver was super nice and drove Liz and I around to show us where to take some short hikes. We did one up to a look out over the beach (which has black sand) and we did another up to a waterfall that we could go swimming at the bottom. It was gorgeous! Anyways, we hung out at the beach for awhile and overall I had a wonderful day. The surroundings were beautiful. It reminded me a lot of the rainforest at the aquarium, but it was wonderful to know that there was no possibility of running into a snake, looked like prime snake habitat, but nope, NZ has no snakes! Anyways, then yesterday I got out of Auckland officially (thank goodness). I arrived in Taupo around 3. Lake Taupo is NZ's largest lake. It is actually the crater of a volcano (thought to be the largest eruption the earth has witnessed, which is pretty cool. It is surrounded by lots of other volcanoes including the mountain from Lord of the Rings. Anyways, not much got done yesterday, we (Francis, Nicole and Fia) went out to an Irish Pub and Francis and I beat some Kiwi's at pool, which was pretty amazing (Mark and Marissa - I sunk the last 3 balls in a row, it was amazing, you would have been impressed). Today was another great NZ day. I went kayaking with a couple from Sydney and our guide who was from DC. We kayaked out to some Maori carvings in the stone on Lake Taupo. My upper body is already feeling it. Anyways, I have to find a place that I can actually get my pictures off my camera and then I will put some up. Talk to you all soon

One Burnt Girl

So yesterday it was pretty cloudy, so I went to Kelly Tarlton's, which is Auckland's aquarium. I got to see lots of sharks and such, but more importantly they have an area called "Antarctic Experience", which has, you guessed it, penguins! Lots of penguins, and 2 babies! Unfortunately my pictures are blurry cause we were in a moving 'snowcat'. Then in the afternoon I headed up to Auckland's Mt. Doug, actually Mt. Eden but it is a lot like Mt. Doug, only a volcano. The crater was slightly disappointing. 50m deep, cool, covered in grass and no steam or rocks in the bottom, not so cool. Then last night I headed out with some people from the hostel to watch the fireworks celebrating the Skytower's 10 anniversary. I was a little concerned with the fact that the fireworks were coming off the top of the Skytower and falling towards other buildings. Anyways, today I headed off to Waiheke Island which is just to the east of Auckland. The ferry ride over was beautiful. Once on the island I got on the bus, possibly a big mistake. I am more convinced then ever that New Zealanders can't drive. That ride ranks in my top ten scariest moments of my life. Anyways, I spent the day at Onetangi beach. Believe it or not, I am actually starting to be able to pronounce these names. It was wonderful there, although the sun was stronger then the cloudy day appeared and I returned to Auckland with a nice pinky tinge. I thought I would pass on three things I have realised so far on this trip...1) I have found my fashion home. Halina, you would be disappointed to know that my favourite cords (minus the hole) would fit in here. The standard dress is flip-flops or birks, board shorts and a plain tank. Excellent. 2) I know why it is important to have a travel companion. It is much easier to ask a stranger to take your photo than to ask them to sunscreen your back. This can be demonstrated by the fact that the parts of my back that I can't reach are bright red and a little tender, but I have pictures of myself at the beach. 3) New Zealanders have some of the dumbest driving rules ever, particularly regarding who yields to who. Anyways, off for dinner!