H2 WOAH

Sooo we went to Milford Sound 2 weekends ago. Was it as beautiful as all the photographs say? Well, I wouldn’t be able to tell you, since it rained (and by rain I mean monsooned (and I know that's not a word)) allll weekend. We did see some sick waterfalls and almost got trapped there for the week. Here’s the lowdown:

Julia, Krystal (from SLU), Jonas (from Germany), and I rented a car from trusty ol' Jackie's again and drove to Te Anu on Friday night, where we camped about ½ an hour outside of. It started to rain the next morning as we were packing up the car, but it wasn't that bad until we started to drive through Fiordland, but when we got to Milford Sound was when it really started. We didn’t care though, it was still going to be a sweet kayak through the Sound (which is actually a fiord... incorrectly named). We got to the "town" of Milford (which consists of a lodge, cafe, and bar. That's it.), and bummed around in the cafe/park area for a bit, eating lunch and getting pumped to sea kayak. We then met Dan, our leader for the expedition, and one other German woman who was by herself. After some brief talk about safety and how to maneuver our kayaks, and hopping into some sweet-as thermals/fleeces/rain jackets/spray skirts, I hopped in the back of our tandem (Julia in the front), and we were off for a 4-hour paddle around the Sound/fiord.

Julia and Krystal looking fine in Rosco's sweet getup

It was pretty cloudy, so we couldn't see the views that you saw in the lodge posters, but it was still spectacular. We kayaked along side a seal for a bit, and saw some really cool waterfalls with all the new rain. We actually made it out where Dan said was one of his favorite places that he hadn't seen in a while (woo-hooo! We're not fat, lazy, Americans!). Kayaking along side of the mountains was so cool! They literally just lifted right out of the water and rose up for hundreds of feet. With our trip, Dan also told us all sorts of history behind the area- colonial and Maori.

A whole new meaning to "mountains meet the water"

We ended our trip soaking from the rain, and pretty chilly once we stopped moving. Lucky for us, Rosco's Kayaking has an AMAZING tent with a heater that dries clothes and bodies sooo quickly. Running back out to the car to grab clothes was a painful experience. When we were changing, Dan asked where we were planning on staying for the night, and when we told him we were planning on tenting it, he offered up the guide’s summer house that had about 4 empty beds for lack of guides staying there in the off-season. Ca-ching! So after helping him close up, we went to the house. We were able to use a real stove to cook our dinner, and, get this, immediately wash our dishes, in a well-light area- all while staying dry. What a luxury. The house also had a television (with the countdown of the greatest hip-hop songs of all time… in New Zealand. Yeah, I was thrown for a loop too), and a heater. So we hung out with Dan for a bit, made dinner when he went to the bar, Dan came back, made venison steaks (sooooo good), and then we went to the bar. There were some pretty interesting people there- we were highly entertained by a group of men who had come up to go fishing for the weekend and were convinced we were going to do some sort of wrestle, which consisted of looping a belt between you and your partner’s back of the head, getting on all fours, and who ever pulls the belt off wins. Apparently it’s a pretty big bachelor party game. We told the guy that we were strictly worm-wrestlers though, but it was really funny to watch. We left after that, and headed back to Dan’s, where we vegged out for a bit and then hit the hay.

In the morning, we woke up to the absolute dumping of rain on the roof, thunder, and lightening. We were very, very grateful to be inside. Again, we cooked while staying warm and dry, met some other guides and got ready to leave…which didn’t work so well. We got about 10 minutes down the road and were told to turn around by the Milford Helicopter Officials- the road was closed. We returned to the café/bar area, and got ready to spend some good quality time there. Since we were some of the firsts there, we snagged the couches. A guide that we had met that morning at Dan’s showed up and told us she was going to try to still go out, the last time she had seen it dumping like this she was stuck for 6 days, and she had a flight to Africa to catch in 3! But it didn’t really work out for her too well, we saw her a couple hours later. We passed the time playing cards, trying to connect to the dialup internet (key word: trying), and not to thinking about the papers/presentations that were due that coming week. Whatever, it’s just New Zealand, right?

When I first saw these waterfalls, I immediately thought of a ski mountain!

We were right next to that waterfall less than 24 hours before this was taken!

Around 3:30 we decided to go to the one and only store in Milford (which was a room in the lodge down the road) to get some more food, and found out there was and evacuation convoy leading people out in an hour! So we hopped in the car, and drove to the line of cars waiting to get lead out of Milford. Since it wasn’t supposed to stop raining for about 2 or 3 more days, they decided they may as well get people out when it was still semi-safe. There was probably a line of about 30 or 40 cars, all just following the officials out of the town. Although it was really shitty weather, we saw some amazing waterfalls and rivers. As I’ve said about all my pictures, they don’t do justice to the situation we were in.

So we got out dry and safe, and made it back to Dunedin around 11, which was a bit later than we originally planned, but much earlier than the Thursday night we were getting ready for. Turns out, the next day, there was a bridge that got completely washed out on the main road, and they were airlifting people out of the town and the Milford track. So our day turned out as well as it could have, it’s just always an adventure here!

This was taken right out of our car window... aka the water was running right onto the road
Let's hope this road stays in tact...

It's official; I'm living here.

I am sorry to the 3 people who are actually reading this (mainly Sadie) that I am so bad at updating this. SO, since everyone knows that pictures are worth 1000 words, and I am too lazy to write about the past month, I will sum it up picture-book style:


Mom and Nana came to visit!! 3 generations- wooo! Don't know what they're looking at though...

We went to the peninsula to see the albatross with Julia, and then I went to Queenstown with them for a weekend full of good food, good beer, and good shopping =) It was so much fun to show them around, and I’m so glad that they BOTH were able to come out- 2 of the hardest working people I know got a well deserved break! Sadly, my camera battery decided that on the drive to Queenstown would be a great time to die, so I don't have any pics.

The next weekend I went to Fiordland with the trampinig club, and what an adventure that was. When people tell you it rains all the time somewhere here- believe them. It does. Our trip involved the following:

Crossing a wire bridge


Tramping through major tussock land


INTENSE river crossing (except not at all. It was the least of our problems)


Climbing up a waterfall. No joke. This is the part of the trip where we started to question our route…

.... and then climbing up a cliff. This picture does absolutely no justice, we were all holding on for dear life…. with a full pack on our backs. It was definitely one of the scariest moments of my life thus far.

However, when we got to our location, we were all in awe. We were right in the basin of the U-Pass, with a glacier only about 500 meters (and then some height) from where we pitched our tents. After some great dinner, dessert, AND a Tim-Tam slam (Paula has the best meal plans), we climbed into our tents and got ready for the long day coming. That day we had hiked about 9 hours, and the next day was 7. We went up over the U-Pass, and looped around to the beginning, where we all got picked up by the bus and slept much of the way back to Dunedin.


That Wednesday was St. Patty’s day. Let’s just say whoever said that Kiwi’s don’t know how to celebrate this was absurd. People were out in the streets totally hammered at 4, and we didn’t get in until 4 in the morning. Pretty much amazing.

That weekend Julia and I volunteered to do work with the Botany department in the Mid-Dome region, in southland. We were pulling out Maine’s pride and joy, the pine tree. It was planted here to prevent erosion on the mountain slopes, but is highly invasive and spreads rapidly…. So they need cool nature geeks like Julia and myself to chop ‘em down. It was one of the best weekends I’ve had yet for the following reasons:
1. We got to work side-by-side with Alan Marks, the guy to go to for Alpine botany, who wrote the bible of the subject, and has been knighted. BFD.
2. We got to ride a HELICOPTER. Awww yeah.


The next weekend was the start of our mid-semester break (remember, I’m going to school here? Sort of…). Julia, Meg (from SLU), Molly (Bowdoin), and I all did an 11-day road trip around the south island in our trusty car Angus. And by our, I mean ours for the week via Jackie’s rental car. Here’s a picture book within the book:

Castle Hill- a playground for all ages

Spelunking! Wooo-hooo! It was totally dark here, the walk was probably about a mile long. Soooo cool though! We met up with Meg's friend from middle school who is studying in Christchurch and they showed us this hidden gem.


Little bit o’ hiking

A lot of rock collecting…

Swimming in the Tasman Sea. And by swim, I mean ducking in. The current was very strong.

Punakaiki (pancake rocks)

A waeka stealing a whole loaf of bread.

Camping under a bridge with the most stereotypical group of hippies traveling around NZ.

A lonnnggg walk through Abel Tasman. Note: hiking boots NOT required.

Waking up to peacocks.


SKYDIVING. Amazing. I recommend it to EVERYONE, freefalling is the most incredible experience- I can't wait to go again when I'm not a poor college student.


Flat tire. Poor Angus.

Strange LOTR themed vans

Staying RIGHT IN the Marlborough Sounds at Julia’s lab partner’s grandparents. Apparently there are dolphins, sting-rays, killer whales, and penguins right outside their house, none of which we saw. We did hear some penguins though, they apparently like to hang out in the shed at night. This location is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been, it’s so untouched (besides the muscle farm in this picture, but right outside of their house it's clear).

Finally NZ kiwi fruit!


Bathing in thermal pools- not what we thought it would be at all. We were thinking natural pools, not commercial, manmade. But by the 10th day, we all needed a good soaking.


Cooking by our headlamps, which was a norm by the end. As was setting up our tents in the pitch black.

Morakai boulders (my camera died, so these are courtesy of Meg).

PENGUINS! Yellow-eyed penguins (Hoihos). So loud... and feisty!


And finally back to Dunedin, where I am now realizing that I need to start doing school work…. dammit. The road trip just re-emphasized how much I want to live here, and don’t ever want to leave… except maybe to live in Townhouse 303 next year! But really… I love this place.

Romping in Paradise

“Hey Hannah, where did you go this weekend?” “Oh, you know, to Paradise.” Legit. I went to a place called Paradise… and it was pretty close to just that. It was the first official trip with the tramping club, where the hike lasted more than a half hour march up a hill. There were about 65 people on the trip total, but we split up into smaller groups for each hike.
***PAUSE. Wagon Wheel is playing. Shout out to SLU!***
Ok, so on my hike was my roommate and another friend Jackie, and then a guy from North Carolina, a girl from the Netherlands, a girl from Ohio, and TWO Kiwis, plus our Kiwi leader. Oh yeah, 80% of the tramping club is international students. So much for trying to branch out and meet the locals. But, since Julia and I were conveniently some of the last to get to the meeting place, we hopped in a van rather than the coach bus and rode with some of the trip leaders… real, live, Kiwis through and through. On the way there, Joe announced to the van “Have you ever seen a road cone on top of a mountain?” After we all answered no, he immediately pulled the van over, told Kate to grab a cone on the side of the road and announced that he would carry it up tomorrow, and place it on top of the mountain.
So we got to the site, and it was already about midnight. Much to our dismay, there was a group of rowdy campers that had clearly been there for a quite some time, judging from the music, singing, dancing, empty bottles, and use of a headlamp on SOS for a strobe light. YES. So we went to another site after turning the bus around, and finally set up camp and got to bed around 1:00. Julia and I slept in my brand new tent (2 person bearing the name Hubba Hubba, I kid you not), which I am in love with. I’m that geek that is just is so excited to use all of my new camping gear. The next morning when I was getting all of my bowls/cup/spork out, Krystal looked at me (as I was giddy), laughed, and said “You are so in your element right now.” (Couldn’t help but think of you Berg!!) But yeah, so we woke up that morning, again, surrounded by the Southern Alp beauty. Everything here seems straight out of a postcard… it’s absolutely breathtaking, and it’s moments like those when I realize that I am really, finally in New Zealand. It’s awesome.

So our hike was lead by Paula, who Julia and I met earlier in the week, and she sort of gave us the impression that she hated us. But I guess she was having a bad day, cause she is awesome, and ended up having a great time. Our group hiked to the Scott Basin, which gave quite a variety of terrain. We started climbing up a steep, steep hill in a paddock for sheep, and quickly entered what seemed like a jungle, bringing us to a waterfall straight out of a Disney movie. Soo beautiful.

It was then pretty normal hiking though the woods for about 2 hours, brining us to the river, where we stopped to eat lunch. At this point, a girl who clearly was nowhere near in shape (DON’T sign up for a medium+ hike if you know you can’t handle it! You’re in New Zealand; they take this tramping thing kind of seriously). So we left a few people at our lunch spot, and hiked up to the top of a peak about 45 minutes fast hiking up. And it was spectacular! The bush-whacking that we did to get there (and my legs are scabbed to prove it) was totally worth it.

The grass may look soft, but it is very deceiving. I have so many cuts on my legs now.

We then turned around and went back down to the other girls, and hiked down to where we met the van to pick us up. On the way back, we had something that stereotypically would happen here. As we were driving along, we turned a corner and had to slam on the breaks in order not to run into a flock of about 100 sheep being herded along the side of the road by a farmer and his daughter on horses, and about 7 sheep dogs.


So great. We then got back to the campsite, went swimming in the river (so cold, but soo refreshing), and started to make dinner. This is where the $80 that we paid for our trip came in. Each group was in a competition to win the best meal, so we each had entrees (what they call hors d'oeuvre here) of bread, Brie and Camembert cheese (couldn’t help but think of you LG), and spreads for our bread. Then the main course was steak/onion/pepper kababs, and desert was lime-coconut tart with yogurt, chocolate sauce, and raspberries. Soooo goooood. Needless to say, we won dessert. Then came the best part of the night: WORM WRESTELING. Basically by the headlights of the car, 2 people got in a sleeping bag each, got on their knees, and entered the ring. They then fought (without the use of hands), until one was pushed out of the ring, or a round 2 was called for. So of course Krystal challenged me, and we both could stop laughing. But I did hear someone say that we both pulled the best moves they had seen all night. It was a good fight, but in the end Krystal ended up pushing me out of the ring. My fellow slu-goers we warned: worm wrestling WILL happen in townhouse 303 next year. Get psyched.

WORM WRESTLING!!

Krystal is in the Army, so I guess it's okay she beat me. Plus, I was nearly peeing my pants laughing as you can see.

So the next morning we got all packed up and then went swimming in a gorgeous lake surrounded by mountains about a 20 minute walk from our site, came back, packed the vans and buses and left.

Swimming in the lake in Paradise

Julia and I decided to van it again, which was SUCH a good decision. Taking an alternate route, we went through the mountains that were pure NZ farmland. It was a 1-lane dirt road that we had to open gates at (sheep were some of the only signs of civilization seen). We were driving with a cliff face straight up to one side, and a drop off of, well, a long way, to the other. It was so cool! It was a great way to see a new part of the country and we got to know our Kiwi guides a lot better than if we had been on the bus.
(See the other van behind us? ->)

So that is Paradise in a wrap. And by wrap I mean extensively long post. But my Mom and Nana are here this week, and I head off to Queenstown with them for the weekend leaving tomorrow morning. Yesterday we went to the Otago Peninsula and saw Hooker Sea Lions (rarest in the world), Fur Seals, Royal Albatross, and saw where Julia and I will return to see the yellow eyed and blue penguins. They come up at dusk (which is about 8:30 now), so we didn’t want to stay that long and drive back in the dark. But Julia and I will return!

Let the tramping begin

Ok, so fail on my part for keeping up on this blog. This past weekend I officially joined the tramping club, and we had a (very large) group hike up to the top of Mt. Cargill, which is just a 15 minute drive from campus. Since this was the first official activity of the tramping club, there were of course about 80 people there. I don’t know if anyone has ever hiked up a mountain with a busload full of people, but I don’t recommend it. It wasn’t really a hiking experience; we were just kind of herded along to the top. It was still fun though, I saw Abby and Lily for the first time since being here, and caught up with them. When we all got to the top, it was sort of drizzly and really foggy, so we weren’t able to see the city at all, and I’m pretty sure that’s the weather that provided this spectacular hacking cough that I’ve had all week. On the way down, we took a different route and went to the base of the mountain (we had driven up about ½ of it going up), where a delicious barbeque was waiting for us. It must be a New Zealand thing, but all during O-Week they had these tents that were giving out free sausages with bread for a bun with ketchup and onions, and they had them again for us… along with the staple choice of Tui or Speights. =) Sitting in our picnic was really interesting; we got to meet people from all around the world. That’s a really cool thing about being an international student here, I feel like half of the people I have met are international as well! We ate lunch with a girl from Switzerland, another from Brazil, and then walked back with a Kiwi and someone else from the states. And since it’s the tramping club, and we like walking (Julia’s reply to someone who questioned what we were saying), we walked back to campus.
On our way, Julia, Krystal, and I stopped at the steepest street in the world, Baldwin Street. Honestly, hiking up that was more of a workout than our hike. And it is steep! I forgot to snap a photo on the base of the street, but here is a sign explaining it stolen off the internet. I would love to take place in the gutbuster, but I think that happened earlier in the summer.

Spenst anyone?

Julia has some great pictures of us all; I will have to steal them from her sometime later. But these will do for now:

My flatmate, Julia. Notice the strategically placed water fountain!

I told Julia if we walked down backwards our calves would get a great workout... we had trouble climbing stairs the next day. PS, we're twins.

Oh, and walking back we saw this adorable kiwi stuffed animal.
So this weekend, we are tramping in Paradise... literally, it's called Paradise. Much more to come!

Oh yeah, and classes started. I'm now officially done with my Christmas break, just in time for everyone back home to go on spring break. I should probably go study minerals... dammit.