Spring Break in the South Island

Well, I hope you're sitting down. This could take a while...

On April 1, Karlee, Tyler and I set out to catch the shuttle to the Auckland airport to catch our flight to Christchurch on the South Island's (hereafter referred to as S.A.) east coast. After our guide leading us in the wrong direction to the bus stop, and then about a 45 minute wait without a bus, we called a taxi and arrived at the airport just as our flight was boarding. Heart attack no. 1 and a crazy beginning to a crazy two weeks.
We arrived in Christchurch and found the town to be quite quiet, for it was a Wednesday night. We did have a very lively encounter with out hostelmates, however, who returned to the room belligerently drunk very early in the morning. One tripped over his long board, another banged his head into a low-lying ceiling beam. In the light of their flashlight, I saw the silhouette of a very spiky, very tall mohawk. Part of my wanted to laugh hearing these guys fall all over and part of me was terrified of the person sleeping in the bunk just below me!
The next day we had breakfast and walked around Christchurch because our van rental needed a repair. It seemed like a somewhat depressed town. I'm still not quite sure what I think of it. When we finally picked up our Alice, she was sprayed painted bright green with scenes from Alice in Wonderland covering every inch. Our rental van came from a company called Escape (which we pronounced escahpay- like from Nemo- for the duration of the trip). They graffiti all of their vans and we enjoyed seeing our fellow Escapees throughout the trip, although we never found a van as cool as Alice.
Since we'd been delayed in our first day, we had to hightail it up to Able Tasman National Park for the night- about a 7 hour drive. We passed through, and took pictures at, Kaikoura, which is a gorgeous coastal town with snow capped peaks crumbling down into the azure sea. Very stunning.
The next day we were able- ha, in Able- to rent kayaks and take them to Split Apple Rock, which we renamed Apple Bottom Rock, which then had us making up our own version of Flo Rida's "Low." 'Seals with the fur' I believe was the next line...Speaking of which, we ran into a few sea lions, coming within about a yard of one who seemed to be putting on quite the show. From Able Tasman, we continued another 6 hours or so to Goldsborough, the site of an old mining town that now is only the site of a Goldsborough trail head and a free camp ground. I got to camp for the first time on the trip, which was fun. That night I heard Karlee exclaim "A kiwi! I see a kiwi! I'm not kidding!" but I'd already tucked myself into my sleepingbag and was half asleep. The next morning I heard noises all around my tent that slightly sounded like hedgehogs and I figured they were either that or some sort of bird. When I poked my head out of my tent, I saw a bird standing there and ran to the van. I woke a groggy Karlee and had her pass me my camera.
"I see a kiwi, too! I'm getting a picture of a kiwi! You're going to be soooo jealous!" And so I started to photograph the bird, then another one popped out of the woods. Then another...and another...and before we knew it there were about 12 birds surrounding us in broad daylight and we reasoned that these couldn't be kiwis. We later found out that they are wekas, which are very curious birds. That explains one of them trying to run away with Karlee's toe as she put her contacts in.
That day we drove into Arthur's Pass, one of the two passes that crosses directly from the coast to coast in the middle of the South Island. There are no other roads that are as direct as Arthur's and Logan's passes. If you want to get to the north of the west coast you have to go all the way around the periphery of the east and northern coasts. If you want to get to Queenstown, you can drive down to about an hour north of Dunedin, then begin to cut across. This is due to challenging terrain and I would imagine also due in large part to land conservation. There are very few major roads in the South Island. The upside: scenic drives!..like this one.
So, Arthur's Pass. We drove up into the clouds, hiked to Devil's Punchbowl Falls and the Temple Basin track that ended in the bowl of the Temple Basin ski area. The clouds started moving in at this point so we forged on, down to the glaciers!
We arrived at Franz Josef, had a meal at the Speight's Ale house- Speight's by the way is a New Zealand-brewed beer, the "Pride of the South" as they say, and they have a lager called Summit, which tastes exactly like Long Trail. We camped at a campground that night in a mining town called Okarito, which I referred to as Okatiro, Otariki, Otakiri, and many other variations I'm sure. In the morning, we had our first showers of the trip in their $1 showers! Oooo what a luxury to be clean. That was the longest we went without showering- 4 days, I think- and we never went that long again because we learned that cleanliness was not only detrimental to our appearance (this took a back seat to the next reason) but also that it was imperative to the general mood of the car and everyone's disposition. The longest we went after that was 3 days.
We had arrived with the intention of glacier climbing the next day and skydiving the next, yet discovered the forecast to be miserable for the ensuing few days. So we moved climbing to the 11th and figured skydiving wouldn't happen anyway, and continued to the town of Wanaka for two nights.
Wanaka is not only situated on the beautiful Lake Wanaka, but it also is located in the foothills of Mt. Aspiring National Park, where many "ski fields" are established. The town itself has a "ski village" vibe and is very laid back. We enjoyed hiking the Diamond Lake Trail, visiting an award winning micro brewery, seeing "The Changeling" (sp?) in one of the country's most peculiar theaters (forced inside by rain!) and eating a hearty meal beside an outdoor fire after a chilly hike in the rain. I would love to see Wanaka in the wintertime!
After hearing from our skydiving friends, we were given the go-ahead to continue on to Queenstown, as the weather forecast for the glaciers was still poor. To Q.town we went! The drive was only about an hour and a half from Wanaka and we passed our bungy outfitter on the way in and moved our Thrillogy up a day. What's the Thrillogy you ask? More on that in a bit.
Driving into Queenstown, I felt as though I was entering my utopia. There were mountains everywhere surrounding the massive Lake Wakatipu and in between mountain and lake was nestled the outdoor adventure capital of the world. Walking down the streets, we saw signs for any kind of outdoor activity one could imagine. River luging, heli-biking, bungy jumping of course, skydiving, Lord of the Rings ATV tours, winery tours (okay, not an outdoor activity but an integral part of the New Zealand, and Queenstown in particular, cultural experience. I'm not joking). Everything. We promptly rented bikes while the sun was out, and headed out around the lake. We got to the 8 km mark, when the sun suddenly disappeared and clouds rolled in from Fiordland at the far end of the lake. Uh.oh.
They say that New Zealand can easily experience four seasons in one day. Never was this more true than during this bike ride, when our warm, sunny, day fast became a freezing torrent of rain. Tyler was able to speed off back toward town, but Karlee and I had jeans on. And wet jeans make biking particularly difficult. We finally found our way back to Tyler with mud sprayed across our backs and smiles on our faces- albeit, breaking smiles.
That night we grabbed a bite, returned to our backpackers, the Happy Hippo Lodge, and settled in for a good night's sleep before the THRILLOGY.
I didn't get much sleep, however, thinking about throwing myself off of not one, but 3 platforms the next day attached to nothing but a cord of elastic that would hopefully snap me back from the Earth just as I plummeted to a point within meters of a rocky/ watery/ tree pine needley death. Then the sun rose.
The Thrillogy: a series of three bungy jumps, the first being the world renowned Nevis. This platform, suspended over a gorge by steel cables, allows for a free fall of 8.5 seconds from a height of 134m (440 ft) above the ground before one feels any tension on the rope at all. The three of us realized the magnitude of this jump after we were wheeled out to the platform in a cable car that had a grated bottom that allowed you to see exactly how high up you were. After a long wait because I was the second lightest in the group and had to watch almost everyone go before me, I was strapped up and walked to the plank. The technician began his countdown from 5 but I jumped at 2 because any longer and I might've stood there all day. Weightlessness. My body froze. "Oh my god" escaped as I fell towards the ground and FINALLY felt a gradual tension in the leg bands I was wearing. I had completed the 3rd highest bungy jump in the world!
Number 2 was Karawau Bridge, the original site of commercial bungy jumping. Everything seemed like a piece of cake after the Nevis, that is until I stood on the platform ready to go. I still got nervous but I was ready this time. We were given the option to touch the Karawau River below and instructed to jump outward so that we wouldn't be submerged past our fingertips. Well, I think Karlee and I jumped too far, because neither of us touched the water, but it was still a fun experience.
Number 3 was called the Ledge. It's suspended over Queenstown at the top of the gondola and you're able to jump however you like because your harnessed in from the front of the chest. Tyler flipped, but Karlee and I just ran as fast as we could off the end. By the time we jumped, it was snowing and we were freezing! I have to say this was probably the scariest hang time out of any of the bungies because the Nevis' pully system was very high tech and the at the bridge they just lowered you onto a raft and let you walk back up from the river bed, but for the Ledge you had to take a carabener and latch it onto your harness yourself and when it's snowy and windy and you're being blown in every direction while hanging above Queenstown, it's a little nerve-wracking.
Thrillogy: complete.
That night, we drove back to Fox Glacier because the forecast for the next day was sun! So we parked on the air field and camped out there. In the morning we had but a short walk to our next day's adventure...
...Which was AWESOME! After camping basically in the middle of town, we rolled up in Alice, donned wind suits (tres chic), strapped into some harnesses and jumped in the plane! Karlee and I rode up together. Our plane first flew out over Fox Glacier, then up to Mt. Cook and Mt. Tasman, the two tallest peaks in New Zealand. We were able to photograph stunning views of the snow capped Southern Alps, as well as views of the tropical forest and sandy beaches that were but several kilometers away! What incredibly unique landscape!
Then came time for the jump. Lazlo, my instructor, opened the door- heart attack number 4 or 5- and I hung myself outside the plane as I was told to do, and then we just floated away. The free fall was fast and I struggled for my breath a bit. It's an awkward feeling having air rush past you so quickly. I guess I tried to kind of catch it in my mouth. It was pretty funny. When the chute finally opened, the harness yanked me up and then we floated back down to the ground, but not before doing a few spins. Terra firma.
Sore from the previous days' bungy thrills and our nerves shot, we decided to check out the Franz Josef thermal pools, but upon seeing the prices, we figured it would be cheaper to just check into a campground and go in their hot tub, so we did that. We ended up running into a group that was studying in Perth and one guy from Elon actually knew two people that I knew in high school. Small world, indeed.
Well I'm going to leave things here for now and continue in a bit.