So just when I thought things couldn’t be better after the euphoric emotions from the overall victory and all around good times at Uni Games, they did! (I’m going to apologize to anyone reading this in advance for the length, I swear I’m doing my best at sticking to the highlights)
After finally getting one good night sleep back in Wellington, I woke up at 6:30 in order to catch the Interislander Ferry. Lenny and I were accompanied with Lis (an American rugby girl who lives close to Lenny) and Nat (Lis’s boyfriend who was in visiting from upstate NY), and were excited to get going. Similarly to the beginning my last adventure, there were some unexpected hiccups; namely we were late for the ferry. Luckily enough for us, because we arrived within minutes after the final boarding call (the gangplank had already been pulled), we were able to exchange our tickets for the next ferry free of charge. So we sat and swapped old travel stories while waiting. Once on the ferry, we were all just happy to be on the move.
The ferry ride was relatively uneventful 3 hours from Wellington to Picton. We picked up our rental car and were on the road for Fox Glacier (name of the glacier and nearby town); roughly a 9 hour drive. The car ride was full of sleeping, beautiful scenery (through Nelson, the Marlborough region, and down the West Coast), and a plethora of inappropriate jokes. We arrived at the hostel in Fox Glacier at about 11:30 pm and promptly passed out.
We were all signed up for a full day Glacier walk following day and awoke at 8, as to make our way to the guide center. Lenny was a bit tough to wake up that morning, so Lis enjoyed jumping all over his bed; much to Lenny’s dismay. Upon arriving at the Fox Glacier Guide center, we were issued boots, crampons (metal spikes for conquering the glacier), and any warm gear we wanted. Our group was comprised of a great number of people from the UK, USA, and Germany. Our guide was a young Kiwi who preferred to walk rather than talk. He told us the important facts and answered any questions we had, but it was really nice to have a guide who was just as interested in exploring as we were. There was a reoccurring theme throughout our entire trip – we were just simply blessed with outstanding weather. The only cloudy day we had was our last day of the trip, and every other day was just about perfect! We had a bit of a hike to actually access the glacier; our guide equated it to climbing the stairs of a 50 story building! Fortunately, this hike was through the middle of rainforest and was full of gorgeous foliage and beautiful birds. After climbing some steep faces, and crossing some apparently dangerous crossings, we arrived at the access point to the glacier. Everyone strapped on their crampons, and ascended onto the glacier. It was an interesting feeling walking on ice, but the crampons really worked well. They apply such incredible traction once you dig into the ice that you can climb up virtually anything! The traction was great because one slip could result in a slide that could last several hundred meters on ice that can act like a cheese grater – not a pleasant thought. We spent 5 hours wandering the glacier, getting tidbits of information every so often. The most shocking fact for me was that the ice on this particular glacier, which is nearly 13 km long, takes only 60 years to travel from start to finish! We were shown some markers which track the ice flow, and the glacier looses nearly 2 meters of ice off the surface every 3 weeks. Caves, bridges and crevasses we saw would remain the same for a week at most. One bridge we saw (in the pictures it’s the gigantic circle of ice) probably melted out by the end of the day we were there. We were very luck to see some of the sights, and the weather just made the day incredible.
After descending the glacier and rainforest and returning to town, I took the wheel and we were off to Queenstown, another 6 hours of driving. We arrived late in Queenstown, found a cheap motel, and got some much needed rest. Because we were all fairly busy in the weeks leading up to this trip, none of us had taken too much time to make a set itinerary, which was wonderful. Traveling without worrying about time was a nice break.
So the next morning we decided on heading straight to for Milford Sound. It was only a 4 hour drive and the weather was pristine again, so we went for it. We made our way along some surprisingly straight roads until we hit Te Anau where we made a quick stop for lunch. Little did we know at the time, Nat had left his wallet at Subway. This posed a problem as Lis was relying on Nat for paying for just about everything (not that Lis is that kind of girl, but he’s working full time back in the states, while Lis is a student – but frankly I don’t blame her!). This left Lenny and I spotting a fair chunk of cash for the rest of the trip, but we know where she lives…
The drive from Te Anau to Milford Sounds was absolutely gorgeous. Words can’t describe the rolling topography, still lakes, steep cliffs, and bright blue sky (just look at the photos). We made several stops for photos, the most eventful was a traffic light for a tunnel leading to the sound. The sign above stated that the light changed every 15 minutes, so we turned off the car, and threw rocks until the light changed. The other side of the tunnel was even more stunning. Some serious switchbacks gave us a full view and we were in complete and utter awe.
Arriving at Milford Sound, we quickly booked the next ferry trip as the overnight cruises were fully booked (there were a few spots left for the upper class cruise, but we just couldn’t afford the $450 per person price tag). For $55 each, we hopped onto a 100 person ferry and spend the next 2 hours seeing all the Milford Sound had to offer. There were waterfalls everywhere, and the scenery was exquisite. I do not have the linguistic skills to properly describe the beauty of Milford, anyone who’s been there can understand. Just look at the photos, and I’ll put up some of the videos I took at the bottom of this post.
After talking to a few people on the boat, we realized that there were very limited accommodations at Milford and were told that our best option would be to return to Queenstown that night. While we dreaded the thought of doubling our driving that day, we figured it was our best option. So we got back in our car, with Lis behind the wheel and got a move on.
The drinking and driving laws are slightly different in NZ than they are in Canada and the States. Obviously the driver is forbidden to drink and drive, his/her passengers on the other hand are free to booze as much as they like. With Lenny and I in the back seat, and having a decent amount of beer left over from the night before, we got to work while Lis got us back to Queenstown. Along the way, we passed some wayward hitchhikers and decided to pick them up. The only issue was that we were driving a mid-sized sedan with 4 people and a full trunk. We managed to squeeze this mid 20s American couple from Philly into the back with us, along with all of their camping gear, leaving Lenny and I with limited arm room for our consumption; but we managed. Lis made incredible time back to Queenstown. We dropped off the hitchers, found a great little motel, and hunkered down for the night.
I managed to wake up the next day feeling like shit, and it had nothing to do with the alcohol. I couldn’t breath through my nose, I couldn’t swallow without significant pain, and I had a splitting headache. It was the worst cold I’ve had in a very long time, but luckily we had nothing planned and looked for something low key for the day. We found an animal park, Deer Park Heights, and decided it could be a lot of fun, for very little money. We packed two of our other friends from the State in the car with us; Tara and Megan (Megan joined Lenny and I on our first road trip). We drove through the park and saw tons of animals like pigs, ducks, lamas, goats, sheep, donkeys, rams, red stag, buffalo, and yak. We had some good fun with all of them as they were very accustomed to human contact. But the most impressive aspect of this part was the 360 degree view from the top. We could see the entire Queenstown region with mountains in every direction. While still feeling completely under the weather, I took some nice R&R while at the top and just took in the sights. It didn’t make me feel any better, but it sure was pretty!
After making the 20 minute drive back to Queenstown, I loaded up on some cold medication, grabbed some Furgburger (yet another high quality burger joint – the second best I’ve had. I’m still loyal to Burger Fuel), and fell asleep. We all had big days ahead of us.
The next day was our typical, scare-the-crap-out-of-yourself, day in Queenstown. Lis, Nat and I were off to NZONE for a 15000-foot skydive, while Lenny was of to the NEVIS Canyon for a 134 meter bungie jump. We wished Lenny the best of luck, as he had to leave before us, and were off to sign our lives away. As I was filling out the forms I noticed a huge warning at the top of the sheet, “WARNING: DO NOT SKYDIVE IF YOU HAVE A COLD, SORE THROAT, CONGESTED SINUSES, FEVER LIKE SYMPTOMS, ARE HUNGOVER, OR PREGNANT.” I was rather nervous, being 4 for 6, but my thought process was – you only live once! I signed the forms, took some more cold medication, and got on the bus heading to the airfield.
I met my tandem master, Kras once we arrived. He was a Bulgarian man in his late 40s who had 26 years and 21 days of experience. With Kras having over 9500 jumps under his belt took away most of my worries as we suited up. After going over the instructions a few times, we were in the plane and climbing to 15000 ft. The area we had in the plane was about 4 ft wide and 12 ft long; not exactly roomy with 4 jumpers, 4 tandem masters and one camera man (for the random Brit we had with us in the plane – it was $179 for photos. Lis, Nat and I didn’t think it was worth it). We were blessed again with perfect weather and from the plane we could see mountains in every direction. As we achieved 15000 and the door of the plane opened, it suddenly hit me that I was about to actually jump out of a plane. Even going over it now just gets my heart pumping! I was third out of the plane, and our Brit was first. I felt sorry for the poor guy. His hands were trembling from take-off. But he fell so fast out of the plane I couldn’t even hear him scream. Lis went next, and then my legs were suddenly dangling out of the plane. Kras asked me if I was ready, and every bone in my body said no; but I yelled YEAH! (Everything was yelled at this point as you couldn’t hear anything with the door open). Kras had told me on the way up to keep my eyes open the whole time as he was going to try his best to scare me; I was encouraging him. We did 2 back flips out of the plane as we started the 10000 ft free fall. It was by far the fastest 60 seconds of my life. At 200 km per hour the loose skin in your cheeks is really flapping around. It was an incredible experience that I recommend to everyone!
We all made perfect landings and made our way back to Queenstown to meet up with Lenny. Lenny was just as giddy about his adrenaline filled afternoon as we were. We all swapped stories as we grabbed dinner and got into the car. Because Lis and Nat had to return back to Wellington earlier than Lenny and I, we drove back up the West Coast to Franz Joseph to meet up with Tara and Megan for the remainder of our trip. We all slept at a great hostel that night.
When Lenny and I woke up, Lis and Nat had already left as they had to a ferry to up in Picton. Since Tara and Megan were doing a full day glacier walk, Lenny and I found a hike which took us to the base of Franz Joseph glacier. We spent 4 hours hiking, eating, taking photos and just enjoying each other’s company. Lis made the comment earlier in the trip that we had some good bromance going on. We found ourselves at the base of Franz Joseph glacier playing rock golf (we would pick a maker and have to hit it with a rock – match play and we played 9 holes). Realizing how far a walk back it was, we managed to hitch a ride back from the parking lot near the glacier back to town. It saved us a 1.5 hour walk which was lovely. We returned for a hot tub at the hostel while waiting for the girls to return from their trip.
They swung by to pick us up, and we were headed for Greymouth. After spending the night at another wonderful hostel, we did a long day of driving by Pancake Rocks and up to Kahurangi National Park and ended our trip back in Nelson. The day was mostly spent driving, though we did see some very cool caves and arches.
Our final day of our trip was spent on a winery tour. We figured it was a perfect way to cap off the trip. Touring the Marlborough region was incredible. We made stops at wineries such as Drylands, Haast, Cloudy Bay and a few others which have slipped my mind. The wine was incredible. I found a new appreciation for Riesling, a variety I normally despise for being too sweet and tart. In Marlborough, the Riesling is very popular and is made in a varying array of styles. I was very impressed.
We caught the ferry back that night, and all the wine had us feeling very sleepy for the ride. I’ve now been back in Wellington for a very uneventful week which I have spent most at the library. I finally finished my term paper for the History of the Holocaust and Genocide which had been keeping me occupied all week. Lenny and I are now furiously trying to figure out ways in which to watch playoff hockey. We are very frustrated that we can’t watch Ovechkin and Crosby go head-to-head in the second round. But I somehow believe that we won’t get any sympathy from people back home.
