In retrospect, Wanaka was probably one of my favorite places on earth. Like, if heaven exists, I would think that it would look something like those views across the lake *sigh*.
So anyways, caught the atomic shuttle to the west coast, and that in itself was a gorgeous ride, along the shores of Hawea Lake and along the top of Wanaka Lake and then down through the Haast Pass...gah! And all as the early morning clouds and fog were lifting, munching on a cheese scone and being somewhat preoccupied by the state of the digestive system of a hard-partying Australian up front ("I don't know if he'll make it, there's nowhere to stop up along the pass..."). We stopped at a salmon farm once we hit the Tasman, where I discovered that my aquaculture class has ruined any illusions I might have about the sustainability of such a facility and also conveniently discovered that I hate smoked salmon. Anyways, we switched into a tighter ride in a van, and arrived in Franz Josef in the afternoon. Spent the remaining daylight walking to the bridge with the glacier view, running errands and chatting with my Australian roomates, who it turned out were on the same glacier hike as me the following day.
Woke up the next day and the weather was a bit cloudy but definitely dry. We made breakfast and headed over to the guiding place, where, while waiting to get going, I picked up, out of sheer curiosity at the time, a brochure about helicopter rides. On the shuttle to the glacier trailhead, I overheard the guides joking about the guide named Bryce who cost the company thousands of dollars somehow. Of course, after we hiked up to the terminal face, I take one for the team and go into the first (apparently most vigorous) group onto the ice and guess who my guide is: "Thousand dollar Bryce". I was extremely apprehensive about going in the first group b/c my pathetic lung strength, but besides the frst 10 minutes or so, it was actually awesome to be in the group with the freshest ice and the guide making the stairs etc. And the weather was absolutely perfect! Sunny and probably around 60F for most of the hike...gorgeous.
Highlights of the hike:
-ummm standing on a flipping glacier
-discovering crevasses and irises are not made for humans with hips (ie, women)
-talking with a fellow American about MJ's death...and the crazy German girl interjects about spending 900euros for VIP tickets about his show
-"the Franz shuffle"
-taking lame pictures with ice axes
-realizing the australian boy in my group was the same guy puking on the bus the day before, and having a "wow this guy is weird" crush on him
-keas are cheeky bastards
-eating lunch on top of a glacier
-falling on the gravel but not the ice
-knowing i have crampons but still hesitating with every step for the first 2 hours
-getting on the bus, putting on the radio and "Modern Love" is on, and Bryce and everyone complain about thelack of stations on the west coast...while i dance and say "david bowie's the man!"
Anyways, so afterwards, I am exhausted and STARVING, so myself and my two australian roomates and another person from their bus go out to one of 3 restaurants in Franz: the Speight's Ale House. I find my foody soulmate in one of the Aussie girls, as we extoll our love of delectable desserts and order huge pieces of meat to make up for the energy lost on the hike. I think I would've enjoyed travelling alot with those two Aussie girls, they had similar attitudes about travelling around NZ.
Slept well after climbing on ice all day, obv.
The next day I was undecided about what to do, but after consulting my parents, I decided to splurge on a 45 minute heli ride around mt cook and and glaciers, etc. Probably one of the coolest things I have ever done. I'm not even going to attempt to describe how incredibly unreal it was to be face-to-face with the top of mt cook, or looking down on the tinytiny people at the very top of the Fox glacier. But one thing you certainly realize from that height is how small the South Island really is, as we could see both coasts/oceans at one time from up there. We landed just below the top of the Fox and got out for pictures, etc. My favorite thing ever was watching the family of four that went up with me and this other younger girl having the most epic snowball fight on the top of the world...just incredible.
Umm can't really remember what else I did that night, besides probably watch Boston Legal, try to get on a kiwi tour in Okarito (couldn't get there, no ride....lame) and eat pasta. Oh, I did walk to the bridge at sunset, with Sly and the Family Stone's "Time" playing on shuffle...but more about that in my musical memories entry (hypothetically).
Next day got up bright and early for a bus to Greymouth. Stops along the way included the Bushmen Center and Hokitika. The former was like a little piece of Texas, with mounted deer heads, that same backcountry sense of humor, game meat and everything you could possibly think of made of possum...basically dedicated to eradicating those vermin from the area and NZ as a whole. Hokitika was really nice, I had a chance to walk along the beach and find myself a bunch of pieces of unpolished greenstone. In retrospect, I wish I had stayed there one night instead of two nights in Greymouth, since you had easy access to the sea/beach, whereas Greymouth was very industrialized...oh well. Got to Greymouth, and basically walked around with nothing to do all day, since it was one of the ugliest towns I'd ever visited in NZ. As on Stewart Island, I got myself a bottle of Banrock Station white shiraz and some delicious pesto and pasta and watched Boston Legal in Bed once the sun went down. Spent most of that night also listening o the ranting of the crazy German girl from Franz, who was in love with some tour guide who clearly was trying to get rid of her...tragic. Got her whole life story as well...she was a legit nutjob, but at least not boring. Woke up the next day and essentially killed time til my tour to Punakaiki that afternoon. Punakaiki...in retrospect should've stayed up there one night instead of Greymouth as well, as the tranzalpine the next day was late anyways and probably would've waited for the bus anyways. The tour was just me and this Danish woman and her 2 daughters. Kinda...dumb. When I said I was from NY, the first question from the mom was "So the two towers...that must've been hard for you, no?" UGH, really? The tour guide hated me too because I already knew like everything he said. But, it got me to the rocks and the nikau forest so whatever. Rocks were incredible, we even saw a maori dolphin diving in and out of the surf. Went back and drank and ate and Boston Legaled once again, but that night my roomate was an adorable, intelligent marine sciences major from Coastal Carolina. Wish he had been my roomate 2 weeks prior, as I was just too exhausted from travelling and meeting a million new people to be really friendly...lame.
Hung around and read and stuff til the train at 1:30...got a ride to the train station and found out that the train was mega-delayed...great more time in Greymouth! By the time was got on board it was already twilight and raining, so no last views of the Southern Alps for me...but I did get to talking to my seatmate, who was also from Australia (and Tanzania). We ended up meeting up for my last real dinner in NZ in Christchurch and b/c it was a Tuesday night, only a handful of places were even open past 8pm. We ended up at a chain Japanese place that had fascinated me in Wellington called Wagamama; had a deliciously seasoned and semi-raw steak dish (I think it was beef negamaki...?) and what was called plum wine but really seemed to be plum wine and a bit of ginger ale. Afterwards, we both realized we had missed a few people on our souvenir purchases and convinced the only place we saw open to stay open juuuust a few more minutes while we speed-shopped for those remaining. I thought it was so touching and fitting to be spending my last full night in NZ with someone I had just met and enjoyed the company of, she confirmed my feeling that Aussies are some of the friendliest travellers in Kiwiland. That night I stayed in my odd little single room and praaaaayed for good weather at the Christchurch and Auckland airports, as I needed to fly back to Auckland in time to relax and finish packing all my luggage that I had left in my lovely friend Rike's room while I was away
Flights worked out for the most part (although arriving late at LAX was stressful, as I had to get through customs and across the airport in a little over an hour ahhh). It was so odd to be back in Huia, packing my stuff up in another room, knowing that only one of my friends was really left there. I introduced myself to Rike's Italian student neighbor just so she didn't think I was breaking in or something and I was instantly jealous that she had the next 5 months to discover NZ like I had. I found it funny that Rike and I could find almost nowhere to eat lunch OR dinner at 4pm in Auckland (we ended up getting butter chicken and naan at the uni commons...sadly, my first and last time eating that delicious treat)...made me appreciate NY schedules alot more. And then came that last fatal super shuttle ride to Auckland airport, with bags that juuuust made it under the weight limit and in my sweats (how people make that flight in jeans and nice shirts beats me...), did some yoga at the gate to relax my back, etc. Got a bulkhead seat for the AUK-LAX flight, which was unbelievably amazing...and then...home to my very tanned and loving family and a delicious diner meal mmm mmm.
le fin.
