Queenstown

Queenstown is in an amazing area of the South Island. It sits at the base of many jagged peaks next to a decent sized lakes. The town is billed as the "Adventure Capital of the World," and it has been the only place I have visited here that really seemed like a tourist town. I guess it's not a horrible thing; most countries have at least one I imagine. The biggest thrill attractions are the various bungy jumps run by AJ Hackett, the innovator of commercial bungy. I never thought I would be interested in something like this. I remember sitting on our orientation bus listening to people talk about wanting to bungy jump and thinking they were crazy. So the day we arrived we booked the bungy for the next day. The next day we realized making the booking is easy when you are standing in an inviting little store in the middle of town, but a little nauseating when you arrive at the large gorge you have paid to plummet down.

Forcing a smile before

This is the gondola that takes people out to the jumping platform.

We jumped from heaviest to lightest, so I thought I was up first. Luckily there was a college football player with us who had me beat by a slim margin. When he came back up, my legs really started shaking, partly from the cold temperature with my rugby shorts on, and mainly from anticipation. A Western European girl I had difficulty understanding strapped a rope around my ankles as a safety precaution and then led me to the edge of the platform. If you watch the video, you can see she really has to prod me to move forward. When I got the countdown, I surprised myself and jumped. The first few seconds I couldn't feel the rope pulling at me yet, and it was the most unique sensation of my life. An amazing experience for sure.

Hopefully this video works...


A good thing about Queenstown's large tourism industry was the presence of a Mexican restauraunt. I had a craving for it, and the food was excellent. They also had a map of the US where various visitors had placed a dollar over their hometown. I had to do some cheap advertising for Pana.We also did a jetboat ride that seemed tame after our rubber band jump. There are many hiking opportunities around, and we went to the top of Queenstown hill where we got some good views over the town and experienced the first snow of the season.

As you can see, the town isn't very big. About the size of Pana probably. I have been told it was a bizarre scene when President Clinton came to visit years ago.

Fast Forward

I apologize for the break in updates. Tomorrow is my last test until my first final (June 15), so I will get back to posting pictures and storytelling soon. I just wanted to comment on today. This evening was our study abroad program's farewell dinner. The meal was at an incredible Thai restaurant, and I always have a good time when everyone gets together. However, I think the term 'farewell dinner' made all of us realize we will be leaving in just over a month. The semester has rushed on through, but I have few regrets, which is always a good thing. Our program coordinator Kate wanted to see our Pacific dances since she can't make our final performance. So we danced and sang in the middle of the restaurant. The workers seemed amused/confused.

Semester Break 2

I could talk a little more about our three days in Wellington. At our hostel, we met Adam. We met Adam due to our lack of skill at pool. Neither of us could make a shot, and he began to give us pointers. It did little good, but he was a friendly guy and we continued talking to him after we gave up on pool. Adam was born near Wellington, but had just returned from England where he had taught kindergarten. Now he was working in a vineyard, but it seemed he wanted to get back to traveling after a few months back home. Here is a photo of Adam and Kim.

The next day, Adam offered to take us on a mini-tour of Wellington. We stopped at a cafe on the beach for coffee (cola for me), drove to a lookout over Wellington, and visited an awesome yard of scrap metal sculptures. These were big pieces of junk-art. A VW Beetle had been used as the body for a giant spider overlooking the property. Spiders seemed to be one of the man's favorites, and I was able to get some decent photos.

One of our days in Wellington was spent almost entirely inside of Te Papa, the premier museum in New Zealand. There were floors and floors of Maori artifacts, nature exhibits, and art. I was surprised to see a picture of The Beatles wearing huge Maori necklaces in a parade presumably in NZ. They really were everywhere. Te Papa's main claim to fame is the giant squid exhibit. It is the only one of its kind on display, and the video chronicling the discovery and preservation of the squid was interesting. Below is the front of the squid.

From Wellington it was a short flight to Christchurch. From what I saw of Christchurch, I was sad I didn't have more time to spend there. The city has a nice central square and some neat old architecture. The rental car experience was a different story, but everything was smoothed out somewhat shortly.

Ryan with the Bridge of Remembrance

We met Ryan, Andrew, and Sam in Christchurch and departed for Mt. Cook the next morning. The weather was fantastic, and I wanted to climb a short way up the mountain and back for a nice day hike. As we closed in on the mountains, we drove past the bluest lakes I have ever seen. I had read the color was due to minerals glaciers had crushed in the lake. The minerals reflect a high amount of light, so on clear days, the lakes are as blue as the sky.

Lake Tekapo

The weather seems nice in this picture right? Well, after driving little more than an hour from the lake to the base of Mt. Cook, we were in heavy rain. A park ranger told me the rain was expected to hang around for a few days, so I wasn't able to get a look at the highest peak in NZ. While that was a bummer, it gave us more time to spend in Queenstown, where I jumped off a bridge. (Cliffhanger)

Semester Break 1

I had two weeks for fall (spring) break and all I did was travel, so I will split the trip into a few sections.

I had been stuck on the North Island all semester and wanted to see the South Island during break. Everyone told me the scenery was amazing compared to up north, which I had no complaints about. I left in a rental car after class on Friday. Kim traveled with me for the first week of the trip. We have almost nothing in common and I think we knew that going into the trip, but we traveled together with no issues. Taupo was our stop the first night. Lake Taupo is the largest in New Zealand, and the city is close to the Mt. Rupehu aka Mt. Doom from Lord of the Rings fame. I wouldn't mind going back to Taupo for a weekend if I get the chance. From Taupo we drove south to Wellington. Many of the small towns in NZ have an odd attraction similar to the giant ball of yarn in the US. We decided to get our picture taken at every large tank, fish, boot, and bull we passed.

The computer is working a bit slow right now, so I'll cut the post short. I leave you with.......

The Cookie Time Plane- This creepy red Muppet outcast appears outside of every gas station in NZ.

The Bulls Bull- The town of Bulls really went overboard. Outside of a real estate office a sign reading "Live-a-Bull." Other stores with "Afford-a-Bull" or "Comfort-a-Bull." It was a "Remark-a-Bull" sight.


Wellington Beehive- This one is a bit more functional. The Beehive is the legislative building of the NZ government, and has a resemblence to a hive. The columned capitol building in the corner was also good to explore.
That's all for now folks. Much, much more to come when the computer feels like carrying more of a load. For the first time this semester I believe the weather is better in Illinois than in Auckland. I wore a hoodie and jeans to keep warm today, and the rain was relentless.

Cape Reinga Coastal Walk

This was a three day two night hike at the top of the north island. The five of us (Joe, Ayelet, Maura, Kevin, and I) packed up Thursday evening to put some of the driving behind us. We woke early on Friday and made it to Te Paki a little low on fuel. There had been signs for a gas station there, but we ran into trouble when we found the gas station was out of gas. The owner told us they would have gas for us when we were done with the hike on Sunday, so I was relieved. The trail wasn't a loop, so we arranged for transportation to and from the trail. Our driver had just moved to New Zealand from South Africa, and he told us a few stories during the ride. The South African accent is fascinating. There is a definite British influence with some thick German tendencies.

The walk really surprised me. I didn't think it would have so much variety in the scenery.
The beginning of the track followed the coast along tall grass and sand.Looking back from where we came. We followed the high tide track along cliffs after being unsure how far we could go along the beach.


More sand. I think everyone was relieved to get off the beach from time to time and get better footing.The group descending a particuarly steep section of the trail. Many rounds of 'The Name Game' were played during this section.Beginning of Saturday's hiking. The grassy area is where we camped the night before, and the sleeping wasn't great. We rented a 4 person tent from an outdoors club at school, but had 5 people.
Saturday afternoon arriving at the Cape Reinga lighthouse.
Looking out from the lighthouse I could see the seas colliding. The Tasman Sea and The Pacific Ocean meet here, and the white in the water are the colliding points. The whole cape area has spiritual significance to the Maori. The seas meeting represents the creation of life, and the area around the cape is where souls are said to travel to after death.

This is a great example of the sudden changes of landscape. A lush beach scenery gives way to sand and red rock. The array of colors was amazing.



Near our camping spot for the second night as we prepare dinner. There was some debate as to weather we had found the camp grounds or not, as there was only a small, bumpy clearing on a hill. The sleeping was even worse. I think Maura was the only one unbothered by the cramped quarters. No complaints about the view however.The third day was largely on the beach. Towards the end, we headed inland by some large sand dunes. The size of the dunes really exceeded what I had imagined New Zealand sand dunes to be. As seems to happen toward the end of every hike, everyone was ready to finish at this point. Several had blisters and other nagging pains. We were picked up while walking through a cow pasture, and one startled me when it jogged up from behind.

The gas situation took another turn. The power was out there and in many surrounding towns. We were able to buy a 10 liter jug of gas, but we still were cutting it close by the time we found the next open station. Just as with the Taranaki hike, the weather had cooperated fully and provided another great weekend.

Bay of Islands

The next adventure was north of Auckland to the Bay of Islands area. Jane, one of the program managers, brought all 16 students in my program to the bay to stay the weekend at her parent's(Kieth and Aylsa) house. The house is right on the water and fairly secluded.
I wondered where they were going to put 16 college students for two nights, but they had it covered. Their backyard was dotted with campers that reminded me slightly of the one down by the Kaskaskia river back home. These were of course in better repair, but the beds inside were about a foot too short for me, so I had to use some inventive sleeping techniques. The chickens that roamed the yard also reminded me a bit of home, and it was fun seeing how the east coast city dwellers handled the birds. For example, Ben, who looks scared of the little hen.The first evening and next day could be spent as we liked. We layed around on the beach, swam in the cold, clear water, and went cayaking around the bay while others went on a fishing trip. This was the first time everyone had been together since school started, and it was nice sharing stories. Saturday evening we held a boche ball tourny, and I was part of the winning duo. Our prizes were stuffed animals, but I'm sure I can find someone who will want it.
Sunday was more structured, but not in a bad way. We caught an early cruise around the bays. During the trip we saw dolphins and awesome scenery. There is a large hole in one of the rocks in the bay and the boats drive through it sometimes. Our driver wouldn't do it though, and said the water was too rough. I think we needed a better captain.

Before returning to Auckland, we stopped the site of a historic treaty signing between the native Maori and the Pahkia (Europeans). It was an interesting walk through the grounds, but it seemed like the treaty itself had many unkept promises similar to the U.S and the Native American tribes.
The weekend was great, and the only thing we had to pay for was lunch on Sunday! That was very helpful at the rate I had been going through money.

Now I still need to post about Cape Reinga, all of semester break, and Raglan, so expect more soon.

Mt. Taranaki

Once again, I am about two weeks late with my updates. I'll try to catch up this week.

This weekends adventure was a two day one night tramp near Mt. Taranaki. I picked up the rental and the employee asked if a manual transmission would be OK, but asked in a tone making it clear this was my only option. When the rest of the group (Joe, Maura, and Margaux) arrived, we found I was the only one who had any experience driving a manual. The drive was a little over 4 hours each way, and I had the privilege of driving it all. Leaving in congested Friday evening traffic was frustrating, but the road soon cleared and it wasn't a bad drive at all. Stopping and starting on hills was my only issue.

We stopped short of the mountain that night in a little seaside town (on Friday the 13th, haha), and stayed in a backpackers ran by a little old lady and her husband. We wanted to take a walk down to the beach, but it was dark and we didn't find any accessible points. There were a few people on a front porch singing kareoke, so Joe asked them for help finding the beach. They said it would be a long walk at night and we should just go in the morning with our car. Then we were invited to join them in some kareoke, and ended up having a very enjoyable night. It was the man's 40th birthday the next day and he was "testing the equipment." The quality of singing was hit and miss, but I believe Paul Simon's "You Can Call Me Al" performed by Margaux and myself was a big hit.

We did go down to the black sand beach the next morning and could see Mt Taranaki off in the distance.

The hike the next morning started out with a bang. It seemed the first mile was nothing but stairs as we climbed towards the summit of Mt. Taranaki. The view below from the carpark at the beginning of the trail.



Then we emerged from the shrubs onto some more rocky walking along the ridges. This is Joe, who attends Georgetown back in the states. He appears in many of my picture because he was always in the way. Kidding, it was usually either him or myself leading the group, so many of the pictures either have Joe or no one in them. There are a few of myself taken by others that I may be able to find.

After a little more climbing, the trail began to even out and start to circle the mountain. There were great views everywhere, but sometimes you had to keep your eye on the trail.

Then the trail dropped down into a valley between Taranaki and some of the smaller peaks. We took a side hike to Holly Falls, which was a great spot to rest and eat some lunch, or climb around on the boulders like I did.

After getting back on the main trail, we walked through a marshy plain surrounded by mountains on all sides. The views were tremendous.


The final push to the hut was intense. These stairs were steep and I took a few breaks on the way up to turn around and see how far we had climbed, and to look ahead and see how far we still had to go.

The night at the hut was nice. The hut itself was nothing special, but from the windows you could see the seaside city of New Plymouth and tons of stars. A Kiwi family was also there and they nearly fed us a complete meal. They kept shoving food at us they didn't want, and we happily kept eating everything they offered. We woke up for the sunrise the next morning and it was well worth it. Walking around the top of the ridge nearby just before sunrise was amazing. I can't say much more about it, so here are some pictures.



Then the sun started to rise over some distant mountains.


After admiring the sunrise, we wandered down to a few small pools on the rise. One of the park rangers had told us to make sure and see the reflection of the mountain in the pools. We all agreed after looking at the pools that Mother Nature had intended New Zealand to be a tourist destination.


Next up was Henry Peak, and I recited a story of my ancestor being the first to climb Henry Peak: The Deadliest Mountain in New Zealand. I think everyone bought it. In all seriousness it was a difficult climb with steep steps and even ladders.



Some clouds were coming in behind us and obscured some views, but were fun to take pictures of anyway.



The ending of the hike was through dense forest, so there were few spectacular views. This section of the hike was still worthwhile, and consisted of many decents into streams and climbs back out of them. Many times the roots of trees had been made into elaborate stairs and ladders.

After some tricky climbing we were back to the road, and we all wanted some serious food. A common problem on the end of our trips has been the lack of open eateries in NZ on Sunday. Every town seems absolutely empty. We finally found a little burger joint and rewarded ourselves with some greasy sandwiches and chips (fries).