TWALK

This weekend I competed in TWALK, twenty-four hours of walking. I don't really know where we were, because of the secret location, but it was amazing. We hiked until 1 am and then called it quits, but it was quite an experience. Most teams had a theme and dressed to match it. My team was The Cat in the Hat and the two Things. We had great costumes and had a ton of fun. 

Kepler Track

This past weekend my friends and I did the Kepler with Danie, Pai, Malorie, and Tyler. The weather was absolutely wonderful. This picture is from the second day on top of Mt. Luxmore at 1458 meters. The lake below is Lake Te Anau, the same lake we saw from the Milford Track. The Kepler was long, 67 kilometers and we did the entire track in two and a half days. On the second day we hiked 30 kilometers and all of our feet were hurting at the end. The Kepler was a great track and was unique because we spent so much time above the bushline. Some other notable things were the caves near Luxmore hut, glow worms we saw during the night while we were still hiking in the dark on the second day, and the snow covered track once we got to high elevation. 

The Kingdom of Tonga

For the past 12 days my friends and I were in Tonga. Before we left I pictured endless beautiful beaches surrounding small islands, a typical tropical resort island. Tonga was not at all like this. It is a developing country with 95% of its inhabitants still cooking over open fires. We had time to meet the people of Tonga and share in their way of life. It wasn't a very comfortable twelve days but it was extremely rewarding. Towards the end of the trip we were able to spend some time on the beach and relax at a semi-resort.

Secret Mission Milford Track

This Past weekend, Mike Waters and I undertook an adventure of a lifetime. "In 1908, a British newspaper article named the Milford Track "the finest walk in the world," based on the reports of a poet named Blanche Edith Baughan. Baughan wrote about hundreds of waterfalls crashing down steep-sided valleys and the power of a Fiordland storm. The moniker stuck. " -GORP.com There is nothing else but that this was in fact the best hike I have done thus far in New Zealand. We took a different approach than most people. Instead of taking a ferry to the begining of the track, we crossed Dore's Pass and we were rewarded with some of the most spectacular views that people hiking the Milford Track never get to see. The first picture is from the top of Dore's Pass looking down onto Lake Te Anau on the left, and the Clinton River Valley on the right. Most people ferry across Lake Te Anau and begin the Milford which parallels the Clinton River through the valley.

The hike was incredible and for the most part indescribable. There were hundreds of waterfalls and towering mountains. The track ends in Milford Sound, and is ample reward for the 33 mile hike. In the second picture, I am pointing up at Mitre Peak from the ferry we took over to Milford. I have e-mailed out some of my other pictures, if you would like some more photos feel free to e-mail me.

Rakiura Track and Dunedin

Sorry for the delay over the last few weeks, but I finally have some new pictures and stories for everyone. The weekend of March 25, a group of us went to Stewart Island, the most southern island in New Zealand. I am saving time and agony by pasting a description from http://new-zealand-travel-guide.com.

"One attraction of Stewart Island is that it's about as close to the South Pole as you are ever likely to reach - at that point you are close to Lat. 47 deg S. In the southern tip of South America - Patagonia, Tierra de Fuego, the Falklands etc - there are more southerly habitations, but you have to be a determined and intrepid adventurer to get there.
But apart from that, it's a place with its own special magic. It's one of those tranquil, unspoiled backwaters where time and life move at a more human pace than out here in the global funny-farm.
Back in 1909 an eminent botanist, Leonard Cockayne described it as "an actual piece of the primeval world". And that primevality has been preserved for us to marvel at. Today over 90 per cent of the island is administered by the Department of Conservation which is charged with maintaining its pristine state. Much of the DoC conservation land has been incorporated into Rakiura National Park which was opened in March 2002."

Stewart Island is also the best place in New Zealand to see a Kiwi, the national bird who is extremely endangered. Luckily, four of us managed to see a Kiwi during a nightime Kiwi excursion. They are rather clumsy birds and not that impressive, though every Kiwi (New Zealanders that is) tells me how lucky I am to have seen one.

The picture on the left is on Stewart Island and is of an oppossum attached to a tree. The sign reads: "Help! There's been a hit and run accident!" Kiwis really hate oppossum because of the destruction they cause on bird habitats. The oppossum is not native to New Zealand and was introduced in hopes of establishing a fur trade. Now the oppossum is hated, but is still used to make sweaters and other products.

On the way back from Stewart Island, we stopped in Dunedin and saw Yellow Eyed Penguin, Sea Lions and Seals. The yellow eyed penguin pictured above is one of 3000 yellow eyed penguins alive. They are considered the most rare penguin in the world.

This weekend my friends and I went to the Wildfoods Festival in Hopiteka. It took four hours to get there from Christchurch, but it was well worth the drive. Our campsite was right on the ocean, but it was rainging when we got there. Despite the rain we managed to make a bonfire both friday and saturday night. Saturday was the festival. Food ranged from Huhu grubs (which the pulled right from the rotting logs) to Kangaroo. I wasn't daring enough for the grubs, but everything I tried tasted really good. On the way home on Sunday we stopped at Pancake Rocks, pictured on the right. The layers are limestone, but scientists have no idea why there are so many layers, or why they are so thin.  

Lake Sumner and the Rugby Game

I had an awesome weekend. It started with a birthday party, to hiking Lake Sumner, and ended with a Canterbury Crusaders vs. Auckland Blues rugby game. It was a non-stop weekend and we all had a blast. The hike was exceptionally interesting. We hiked all day looking for a hut that we were supposed to spend the night in, but never found it. We hiked until 10:30pm and decided to camp out for the night, fitting all five of us in a two person tent. The next morning we realized that we had hiked the whole trail and had hiked three hours past the hut. We found this zipline on the way back from Lake Sumner and we had a lot of fun on it. We made it back to Christchurch in time for a pre-game bbq at Jeremy's house. The rugby game was awesome, Canterbury won 32-10. We all went to thrift stores and got red and black apparell (Canterbury's colors) and painted our faces. Now that the weekend is over, I'm going to the beach.