The NZ news. Miss everyone back home! :)

Hello all! 

Today is Saturday, February 11th, and I just can’t believe how fast time is going by. Every time I look up, another week, if not another month, has already passed along. The days since Otaki and Wellington in early September seem so far away, along w/ the great times had in Hastings. 

However, Michael and I agree, that at this point in our travels the initial craziness and adrenaline of being in a new place is gone. The first few months were filled with nothing but excitement, new places, new people, and new everything. That is why Hastings was so amazing, and we all got to be so close b/c we stayed so long. Then everyone left, and from there we would never stay in a place for longer than 2 nights mostly, and with only a night or two under your belt it is hard to get to know someone and make a good friend. That is why I am happy w/ this part of the trip...knowing there is someone there for you that you know, can count on, talk to, trust, and just enjoy the time you have left with. 

As for the update: Michael and I completed Abel Tasman w/ beautiful pictures to show for it. We also consumed two gigantic burgers w/ chips from, “The Fat Tui” before and after the 5 day hike, and after that had to leave b/c “The Fat Tui” does have its charm. 

From there we made our way to Westport, which was where Michael would be receiving mail from his family. His packages were sent to Auckland and arrived around Christmas time, but there were holidays (even longer in NZ b/c of summer time), and then we began to move. So, his mom’s Christmas cookies had to keep waiting, and were now about a month old, but he still wanted to get the packages. We got to Westport thinking we would camp 3 days at most. A week or more later we finally got the packages. The ground under our tent had had no sunlight and even began to rot. It smelled so horrible, and it did not help the first half week or more we were there it simply poured rain. The ground was wet, making our tent wet, and with the rain not stopping there was no way to dry/air things out. 

When we finally got the packages we were so happy, mostly because we wanted to get out of Westport (although we did see a seal and penguin colony there amongst other things, such as their old mines etc). We ate the Christmas cookies, homemade from Germany, and old as they were...they were delicious. There was even my favorite kind w/ jam in the middle, and the strawberry jam was homemade by his mom. 

Then we headed for the glaciers. First we stopped at the Franz Josef glacier. Michael and I both agreed we thought we had never seen glaciers before. We could not afford the scenic helicopter flights or the special glacier hikes, so we just decided to walk as far as we could get. We walked through unbelievable scenery that had once been the glacier itself before it melted away, and even had to hop and jump over some streams and rivers. The water was so strange because it was clear and yet white, and just pure water coming from the melting ice. The cool thing was you could really get pretty far without spending any money, and it wasn’t even very cold at all. As we walked back we decided the next glacier, Fox Glacier, wasn’t very far...and we could just see both in one day. 

We even drove to the Fox Glacier town, set up our tent, and still had time to get to the glacier. Fox Glacier is supposed to be smaller than Franz Josef, but we happened to have much better weather the second time around, making Fox Glacier seem much more stunning w/ the sun reflecting and clouds hanging low over the mountains. It was a sight to see, different than anything I’ve seen in NZ so far, and later we went back to our home, the tent. The campsite was comfortable, and of course we made some pancakes, because that has become a regular meal. 

After that we continued south, and after a long drive made it to Wanaka. I was not sure what Wanaka was, but Michael said a woman in Hastings said it was beautiful. Well, she certainly was right. I was not expecting to be too surprised anymore in NZ, but this place surprised me. The mountains were just enormous, and this golden color no matter where the sun hit. We camped right by the mountains, and by the big lake there. The town was very lovely of course, because there is no luckier place to have a cafe than right there...but mostly we stayed at the campsite and just sat and walked by the lake and looked at the mountains. When the sun went down there was gold and red, and everything seemed to glow. There was definitely something special there. Michael tried to teach me how to skim stones across the water, but considering there were continuous small waves, we weren’t having much luck. However, he could still make the stones skip, and said he had lots of practice on lakes in Germany. He is pretty good. 

Now the two of us are in Queenstown, still surrounded by these crazy mountains, but the campsite does not have the same feeling as the last. Queenstown is a good size, not too big and not too small, it’s active, and of course there are of backpackers around here. We have walked the city, enjoyed the water, drank some hot chocolate, and today Michael decided to go bungy jumping. Bungy jumping actually was originated here on a bridge in Queenstown right above the bluest water, and that is the bridge Michael jumped off of. We got to watch a few people go before, so I knew what it looked like...but I was sad not to really see Michael b/c I was concentrating on my flip camera to film his jump. He wanted to hit the water, but apparently is not heavy enough, so he just had to make the jump without that excitement involved...which I’m sure was still pretty darn exciting. 

He loved it, but had a headache later. He said it was too much money for just a few seconds of the craziness, but he said it was still totally worth it. It was $180 to jump. and if you just jumped you could jump again for $60, but he decided to buy his pictures instead which are SO COOL! He even got postcards with him flying through the air, and I was tempted to turn around and go jump off the bridge just so I could send postcards of me jumping off a bridge, and looking like that! But...I didn’t. 

The best jumps were...Michael of course, and then two others. I saw many, but only 3 stuck in my mind. One was a girl who had absolutely gorgeous long hair. She was young and pretty, and when she jumped her head almost touched the water, and although her head missed, all her grazed the water, and went in. They had not made her tie her hair back, and so when she came flying back up and swinging around 3 more times or so, he hair flew with her making water fly and sparkle in the sun all over the place. Everyone was cheering, and she and her hair continued to whip around making a trail of water follow her as she flew, it was so cool. 

So far all the jumpers had been young...from 18-25 or so I suppose. All in this backpacker age range I would guess. Then out of nowhere this old man stands up on the platform. He had white hair, and a crazy white beard. I could see the white hair shining in the sun from where I was standing, and as he inched forward he seemed slow, but committed. Your legs are tied so tightly you can’t really walk well no matter who you are, so he hobbled along to the edge as best he could. Briefly people were surprised by this old man standing there above us, and there were some statements made about him being so old, and if he’d be okay, or how old you had to be and so on. There wasn’t much time to chatter though because he gave us all a huge grin and a thumbs up, and then there he went, taking a dive towards the water. He leaped off just like he was 20, and was flying through the air. He got more of a cheer than the young people, and everyone was yelling. It was so great. When they hauled him into the boat down below us, he lay there smiling and waving. It was so funny. It was really great!!! So, those were my three favorite jumps, including Michael who did it just as gracefully as a swan dive into a pool. However, I think he did yell a bad word on the first jerk back up b/c of all the pressure. To me it just sounded like a scream, so it didn’t matter. 

Now that Michael survived the jump, we can move along w/ the trip. We walked around the city, and mostly kept talking about the bungy. Crazy enough we ran into Sarah and Verena, a couple of old backpackers from Hastings. We saw them on the street. They were headed to a local rugby game in the park. We talked for a long time, happy to see each other, and then went our own ways b/c Michael and I had not eaten since breakfast. We made some pasta at the campsite, and are now hanging out. I am writing while he reads “Lonesome Dove.” I am reading “Lonesome Dove” and keep laughing out loud and talking about how great it is, and now I have him hooked as well. It is so good! :)

We will most likely leave Queenstown tomorrow. I am not sure for where, but we’ll be headed that way. Hope all is well, and I’ll write again when I can ! :)