Interim Break Fantastic

From Interim Break

So it has been a while since I last posted! And this is even longer than my ridiculously long posts, so I've broken them into chapters haha. If you don't want to sift through all the text- just skype me! and then you can get the stories first hand :)

I just got back this weekend from an amazing road trip that I took to the South Island with two of my roommates, Cait and Geetali, and friends Hector and Eric. We drove all the way from Auckland to Stewart Island and back over 12 days. During our travels we stopped in Picton, Fox Glacier, Franz Joseph, Te Anau and Manapouri, Queenstown, Invercargill, Stewart Island, Dunedin and the Otago Penninsula, and
Christchurch.



THE LONG DRIVE

We headed out on Tuesday February 17th, after Eric finished his summer school exam and drove 9 hours to the ferry in Wellington. We spent the car ride listening to the “sweet as” and “choice” mixes of a vast variety of music that we had each mixed on CDs, 5 each, which lasted most of the trip. On the way down we tried to stop in Wanganui for dinner, but apparently restaurant operating hours of 10am-late means the place closes at 8pm in Wanganui. It is a cute town, but completely dead on a Tuesday night. We finally found a take-away place, and we were content.

On the drive down, I learned how to drive on the left side of the road!! My friends only had to endure a little off-roading and a couple over the curb bumps on the first day, and only a few minor panic attacks through round abouts. However it took me the full two weeks to stop hitting the windshield wipers every time I wanted to signal a turn. The drive down was exhausting. I drove the last 6 of the 9 hours until we finally got on the Ferry at 2:30am. On the ferry, I’m pretty sure I nearly caught hypothermia because I was wearing shorts and it had to be at most 32 degrees on that flippin boat. I’m only slightly bitter; they wouldn’t let me go get my sleeping bag out of the car. So, I slept on the floor curled up in the fetal position attempting to cover my legs with my jacket. Hector laughed at me when he found me. As you can imagine, it was a glamorous site.

When we rolled off the ferry in Picton at about 5:30am, all we wanted to do was sleep, so we pulled into an abandoned parking lot and passed out in the car. When we woke up around 10am, the parking lot was no longer so abandoned. Apparently we had parked right next to the trailer that made all of the tourist bookings in Picton. Buses full of tourists were parting seas around our car. Old ladies did double takes when they caught sight of the steamed up windows, peering closer, they motioned to their husbands and pointed at the five college students piled on top of each other in sleeping bags, all crammed into a tiny Toyota corolla. It was mildly embarrassing, but mostly entertaining.

A GOOD START

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In Picton, we checked into the CUTEST hostle, The Villa Backpackers. It was adorable. They had a hot tub, tree-house, and lots of beautiful shrubbery and flowers. That afternoon, we hiked out along a day trail to a nearby beach and took some wine to chill out. We sat on the shore and shared deep dark secrets. It was nice to get to know some of my friends better. And Eric taught me a few cords on his ukulele!

Later that day, we took out the hostel bikes and taught Hector and G how to ride a bike! It was hilarious, and a good time. Hex caught on really quickly. It took G a bit longer, but she was persistent and got it by night fall. I was proud. It was a day of firsts actually, because I also taught G to skip rocks on the water, and Hex tried his first PB and honey sandwich.

At one point in the afternoon, we ran into some of our friends from Auckland and ran screaming across the street into a giant embrace. We got more stares from the distant café. We will be the talk the town amongst little old ladies for weeks I am sure. It was fun to see Kelly, Susan, Janice, and Becky though, and we all cooked dinner together and hung out in the hot tub that night. It was a great start to the trip.

THE SCENERY…AND GLACIERS!

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A lot of the next day was spent in the car, where we observed the wildlife. There were a ton of magpies that tended to escape the barreling car just seconds before impact. I don’t know what the American magpies look like exactly, but the ones here are like giant crows that flew too close to wet paint, splattering their feathers with white blotches. I also saw a beautiful female peacock perched on a fence, and then a sheep chasing a small ground bird, which looked a bit ridiculous. The afternoon was scattered with cat naps and games of “HORSE” (to be said in slow and low monotone voice). You would have to see the New Zealand film, Shark vs whale, to capture the true beauty of this game. Hector drove on the second day, and that provided a few hours of endless entertainment- especially his square turns.

The mountains were so beautiful, blue like misty coal. There was moss everywhere! Even the mountains themselves looked as if they were moss-covered. Between the dense dark parts, lighter green grass peeped through like emerald gems. The porous spaces between trees looked like brain coral in the ocean, or those rock garden kits I used to grow in an aquarium as a child. I imagined that if a giant were to place his hand into the mountain forest, the soft tree tops would sink in like moss pillows.

As we passed over a particularly long bridge I looked down at the crystal blue river. It was so mesmerizing! I almost missed the snow-capped and jagged mountains that rose high above the clouds in the background. It was all breathtaking. I felt rejuvenated. Finally, I had regained my thirst for knowledge and felt free of the stresses of everyday life. With a clear mind, I felt the energy to discover and learn. It seems weird that I had to leave school, my beloved Carolina, to feel this way.

From Interim Break

We stopped that afternoon at Franz Joseph Glacier. I had never seen a glacier before, and the sight surpassed my wildest imagination. The ice was frozen motion. Deep blues and greens studded the crevices and peaks. Hiking across a ton of cool rocks we took lots of pictures and dipped our toes in the FREEZING cold water. We didn’t get too close to that glacier. There were about 18 signs of different ways we could die, so we didn’t cross over the tiny wire fence. We got a bit closer to Fox Glacier as we got more daring, but then we got yelled out by a tour man and Eric got hit by a large pebble, so we peaced out of there.

From Interim Break

Eric being hit by a rock

That night we didn’t have any accommodation booked so we drove around Fox Glacier looking for a hostel at 9pm. We finally found an awesome cabin that we had all to ourselves in one of the Holiday Parks. There were 2 bunks and one big bed. So, naturally, we had a cuddlefest in the one bed. After a good night of pillow talk and giggling we headed out for another long drive to queenstown.

LITTLE PARADISE

From Interim Break

Again, we had trouble finding accommodation in Queenstown, but happened along this unbelievable place just outside the city, called Little Paradise, which is exactly what it was! The owner, Thomas, decorated the entire place by himself. The Cabin was indescribable- you will have to see the pictures. The place took Thomas 16 years to create. He was from Switzerland and when he first came to New Zealand he traveled on horseback through the islands for 11 months and met locals. He was a really cool guy. Amazingly, his cottage is exactly the same distance to the equator as it is the South Pole. His yard was covered with signs describing the cabins distance and spacial relation to other countries. It was a really neat way to recognize the uniqueness of the location as well as the way new Zealand relates to the rest of the world.

Inside, all the cabinet and door handles were made of driftwood, and our bathroom was stepping into legit nature. Cait came and found me at one point and said “ You have to come look at our toilet,” having seen the rest of the house, I was intrigued. But I didn’t really expect what I found. I walk in to see a normal toilet, but above it is a giant fish aquarium. It was hilarious. In the yard, there were beautiful gardens and lots of birds- peacocks, gees, ducks, turkeys. FYI, don’t get too close to mama turkeys. G broke a flip-flop being chased by the whole flock. And they definitely angrily squawked at Hex and me.

From Interim Break

I THOUGHT I MIGHT DIE

The next day in Queenstown was the day of the BUNGY. I was soooo nervous. There was a 45 min drive up to the mountain from the bungy shop, and they played pump up music the whole way. The bus was filled with nervous laughter and giddiness. And apparently Duke kids stalk me when I go on vacations. Like the zip line in Costa rica, I met a guy that went to Duke in our bungy bus. We also met a cool guy from Isreal. After being pulled over the canyon in a gondola to the launching booth, we all sat/danced nervously together as we watched people in our group plummet into the canyon one by one. I joked saying it was good that it was cold and rainy because it hid the shaking and tears ha ha.

I have a video of the whole ordeal that I will try to post. As the strapped me to the cord, my face is completely white, I was soo nervous and my heart was racing. On the way over to the platform (we had to penguin walk up to it bc our feet were strapped together), I clinged onto the man helping me. I thought I was going to fall for sure. But on the countdown I jumped out- I can’t believe I did. As I flew off the ledge, there was a moment of shear panic before I was like, well, too late to back out now. The rain flew up around me and the first thing I noticed was the silence. After 3 hours of pump up music, nerves, and giggling, there was suddenly nothing but the sound of my jacket rustling in the wind. The first bounce back up was the best part- I just floated in a soundless abyss, surrounded by rain and brown mountains, as if drifting in space. After I released my feet on the second bounce, I just stretched out my arms and legs and screamed. It felt incredible.

Afterwards, we all felt completely drained, but managed to talk about the jump the entire ride back to town. This jump is the 3rd largest one in the world. I def want to do the biggest one in China someday. After lunch at Fergburger in Queenstown we headed back to Little Paradise. There my roomies and I had a fantastic night of girl talk and a second snugglefest.

In Manapouri we unfortunately did not get to go kayaking, but the girls and I went horseback riding in Te Anaue, which was really fun. The guides were really nice and Cait and G even trotted and cantered! It poured and we got soaked, but we all enjoyed it regardless.

COUCH SURFING ADVENTURES

In Invercargill we stayed with some students who were going to school for music. Sarah was studying voice and talked about how she wanted to do her research paper on the benefits of music therapy for individuals with learning disabilities. So cool. Beamer, her flatmate, is from South Africa and playes bass in a band. He wants to do his paper on the impact and betterment that results from the playing of rhythmic drums. He was involved with an awesome non-profit in South Africa called 20,000 drums, where students in “rough” schools would be given drums and would they would all have a giant jam session, just to have fun and encourage betterment and a brighter future. It sounded amazing. There were also two other couch surfers there from Canada who were about to embark on the same 3 day hike that we were going to do on Stewart Island. Then there was the punk kid, Alex, who sat on the couch on his computer for 12 hours a day with his emo hair and listened to his headphones. Lastly, there was Gary, a creepy old man who offered me his jacket when I was discussing the cold weather on Stewart Island. He basically forced me to take it. It is very warm though! I was thankful.

STEWART ISLAND

From Interim Break

The ferry to Stewart Island was ridiculous. It was like riding a frickin rollercoaster! You would look out the window to see ocean and then sky, we had to hold on to our seats to keep from flying out of them. I got some complimentary coffee and didn’t even have to sip it. I would just put my mouth over the lid and the hot liquid would magically levitate into my mouth.

After waterproofing our bags from the pouring rain, we headed out on the first leg of the Rakiura Track. If you want incredible sights, do the Tongariro Hike. If you love to listen to the sounds of nature, feel the brisk air and rain- visit Stewart Island. There were beautiful birds and plants. G even saw a kiwi! We normally made it back to the huts much earlier than at Tongariro, so we had time to nap and eat a leisurely and hot meal (I brought a stove and pot this time).

From Interim Break

The coastal views were beautiful, and there were some really cool swing bridges over some streams. The hikes were- MUDDY, but refreshing. At first we were daunted, but quickly learned to shimmy, hop, jump, slide, and hobble our way through the maze of mud and roots. But after some half a dozen hours or so we moved on to plodding, squishing, and slopping straight through it.

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PARTY AND PENGUINS

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Dunedin was the next stop on our tour of the south island. Some PULSE 90’s roller rink jams got us pumped to go out on the town. The drive there was almost entirely sheep. I knew there were a lot of sheep in New Zealand, but these covered the shoulders of hills like dandruff. There were so many! White sheep, black sheep, wooly sheep, bald sheep, big sheep, little sheep, light bum sheep, dark bum sheep, brave sheep, skittish sheep, EVERYWHERE.

In Dunedin we met a local, James, and he showed us around town. He introduced us to Liggy at Toast, the COOLEST bartender on the planet- for real. He was a one man show. After a few drinks we headed to the Liberty Lounge dance club- which was so cool. There were strobe lights and dance floors and loud music. The black lights were fun and though we were all dead tired we enjoyed a night of dancing, laughs and poster-kicking? Don’t ask ha ha. And then we ran into Jeff and Peter! We surprised some other people in our group with a group breakfast in the morning, which was fun.
We stayed on a farm stay on the Otago Penninsula and saw tons of sheep. I tried to touch one but they ran away from me. We saw some penguins too! It was kinda dark, but we definitely saw them, and heard them too! They kinda bark like puppies. We saw albatrosses too, and some beautiful hawks. We tried to see seals at the kaikora seal colony, but they were the smart ones and stayed out of the freezing cold rain and wind. We did see some sweet Boulders though.

From Interim Break

In Christchurch I met up with Kyle, my tour guide from when Dad and I went to Australia, and I chatted with him for a long evening. And he surprised me with a 7’6” surfboard, which he is lending me for the next few months!

A CRAZY NIGHT DRIVE

The drive back to Auckland was crazy. We took the 6pm ferry and started driving back up the North Island around 9:30pm. Eric and I drove straight through until 7am the next morning. During the drive, we managed to hit one possum, see a decapitated sheep’s head in the road, get nearly get hit by a deer ( I woke up to intensifying profanities erupting from eric as I saw a deer head 3 feet from my window.), and then saw a blazing car on the side of the road. It was like we were straight out of a tv show or movie or something. I was glad to hit the sack as soon as we got home.

We had the car for an extra day after our trip so I got to try out my surfboard Monday morning before class! I drove an hour out to the west coast beaches of Karekare and Piha. The surf was terrible, but the beaches were beautiful and I was just glad to get into the water! And now I can say I have surfed before class!

Okay, if any of you are still reading this, the bottom line is that the trip was awesome and I can’t wait to do some more exploration on my next trip to the south island with Dad and Annie in April!