Lake Taupo and Mount Doom

Hey Guys,

This will be my last blog post seeing I'm leaving in just under a week. This one is a doosey though. One of my favorite weekends this semester for sure. We went down to Lake Taupo for our friend Jaime's 21st birthday and we rented a house on the Lake. This Lake is also the crater of a volcano which if it erupted would probably destroy half of the world. Anyway Jaimes' parents joined us for weekend and we also did the Tongariro Crossing which was a crazy 8-hour hike with some of the most amazing scenery I've ever seen.

We started this whole thang on Friday morning and I got to drive the 3-4 hours to the Lake. Unfortunately we decided to leave on Labor Day so we were stuck in traffic for a good half the way there. It sucked and surprisingly when you're in traffic it doesn't matter if your on the other side of the road it still takes for-goddamn-ever. Anyway we got to the house around 5 and it was a sweet as place. Really nice living room, dining room/kitchen and a bunch of bedrooms. Plus a sweet loft above the garage where I originally claimed to sleep but it didn't end up like that....

As soon as we got settled in the house we left for the grocery store and stocked up. We knew we were going to hike a good 8 hours the next day so we saddled up with supplies. But once we got home we started celebrating Jaime's 21st. Damn did we celebrate. Started out pretty quick since I had been driving through traffic for 4 hours I started out with some Cap'n and it got the job done. Jaime's parents volunteered dinner thankfully so the us kids went down to catch the sunset down at the beach. Played some football and I went swimming and boy was it refreshing. Cold, but refreshing.

Makin plays and rocking a sweet stache

 

I am one with nature.

I was having a great time if you couldn't tell. After sunset we headed back to the house. Had a delicious dinner and boy were we tipsy. Collin decided to put his hand is Scotty's food and it got real awkward. Then Collin ran outside and stayed out there for about the whole night. He had a really weird night I can't even describe it. Anyway jist of the night, we got really drunk and somehow were going to do a "dangerous" 8-hour hike the next morning.

Waking up was difficult to say the least. I was most certainly not sober and thank god for Jon because he was the only person to wake anyone up. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't have woken up til probably 2. We got up though and it took us a while to set ourselves for the hike. Took us longer than we expected to get ready but we got going and drove to the mountain. As soon as we arrived Ryan's (The Canadian) car started smoking and after some inspection turns out the belt was snapped or something like that. Don't worry it all works out in the end unfortunately for Jon and myself but I'll tell you about that later.

For the Crossing there are two carparks where you can start from. I had already picked up Ryan and Collin when they did it about a month ago. So I knew what to do and where to go. We left Ryan's car at the first car park where we would end and drove to the other entrance. Then we got going.

It was a pretty flat hike for the first couple hours and then stairs on stairs on stairs. It was terrible. Pretty cool views although the weather was overcast and cloudy. Honestly writing and thinking about those stairs just makes my legs ache so I'm going to skip that and just go with pictures.

Then after a crap-ton of stairs we reached the first crater. It was crazy. We were in the clouds and could barely see 50 feet in front of us, on a perfectly flat surface. Then the clouds would be blown away for about 2 minutes and BOOM MOUNT FREAKING DOOM. Boy was it elusive. I could not get a good picture of it. Which really pissed me off but the view was sweet.

The Texans got real excited over snow

We're really cute.

Next was a steep climb and then probably the windiest I've ever experienced. Every 5 or so minutes the wind would clear the clouds and we'd get the nicest view. I literally couldn't take a picture because I feared the wind would take my camera off in the wind. I thought this because I was wearing Jaime's Patagonia hat (as you can see in the picture above) and then the freaking wind took it off my head and threw it down the mountain. I felt so bad but it was so far gone there was no way I would be able to get it back. If you're reading this Jaime, I'm sorry and I'll get you another Patagonia hat, my bad. Every 5 or so minutes the wind would clear the clouds and we'd get the nicest view. We climbed another steep part and got to the very top and then we saw the other side which was just beautiful ice blue crater lakes.

We chose this as our stopping point for lunch and we realized the rest of the journey was downhill and the end was near. We enjoyed some refreshing beers next to these crater lakes and enjoying the view. We could see the entire Tongariro mountain range and it was spectacular. After about half an hour of rest we got back to it and it was real cool. It was basically flat except for two steeps parts. As well as a considerable amount of snow which I loved. Some more hiking and we passed an even bigger crater lake and went around it to some snow crossing. Then we saw the view of the lake. Stunning, check out the pics.

The rest of the next two hours went around one hillside snaking back and forth ending at a hut where we stayed at for another break. But we were coming close to finishing the hike, only about an hour and a half so we were a little cranky and very tired.

Cheesin'

Surprisingly this hike gets even more diverse. The last of the hike consisted of huge fields of wheat or some New Zealand grass cousin and rainforest like woods. It was awesome and we all had a very long day and were super tired. This was the point where we had to figure out how to get the two cars from the other car park. Jon and I offered to hitchhike and get them. I had never hitchhiked before so I was excited. When we finished the crossing ahead of everyone else, Jon and I went out on the road to call down a ride. It didn't work. We had heard usually every 3rd car picks you up. We got up to 10 in about an hour and half and not a single one stopped. We ended up walking for another 7km in 2 hours, AFTER an 8-hour hike over a mountain range. Needless to say Jon and I were not happy. We finally got picked up however by some French dudes who also did the Crossing. They drove us up to the cars and I was eternally grateful. Once I got in the car I called Scotty P telling him we were coming and that's when he filled me in that there was nothing wrong with Ryan's car at all. It was just his A/C unit smoking. When I heard that I was just happy to be in the car, if it had been anyother time I would've flipped out and been very upset. Instead I drove extremely fast back to the car park to pick up our group. Jon followed me but when we got back didn't take it as well. I had to drive back to the house which was about 45 minutes. When we got back Jon was pissed in the other car and nobody was really happy with anyone. I was hungrier than anything else so I organized getting a bunch of Domino's pizza and feasting on that. So the Cowboys and I went off and got 10 pizzas for everyone.

After a huge, unhealthy pizza buffet we were all exhausted and full. Collin and Scotty really wanted to go to the park by the beach since it was dead night and check out the stars. Nobody else wanted too but I went along. It wasn't the best night for the stars since it was kinda overcast. But we still enjoyed it and got on the tire swing with 3 people which was a little sketch but it was fun. We came back and threw on a movie and it didn't take long for everyone to fall asleep.

The next day we just used all the rest of our food and made a breakfast with eggs and bacon. Not much of each but we made up for it with a LOT of toast. Packed up the cars and went on our way to Huka Falls. It was a cool falls right outside the city but worth a few pictures and then nothing else.

After this we headed to some natural springs. It was amazing after the 8-hour hike we did yesterday. The road to the springs was very sketchy with pot holes everywhere. But we got through it and spent a good hour soaking in the springs. It felt amazing. Jon, Scotty, Collin and I swam down the stream to the end like gaters but it didn't go too far. After a good soak, it was time to head back to Auckland. I had to drive the entire way and it was slow with traffic for a while. Finally it cleared out once we got closer to Auckland. Overall took about 4 hours and then I had to unpack the car and bring it to the rental place by myself. It was tough but I did it and once I got back and put my stuff away I had one of the best sleeps of my life.

Overall this will be my last post about NZ and I want to thank all of you for reading my blog. I know it's not the best but I've had some pretty crazy adventures and writing it down helps me remember them. Special shout out to my family for helping me do this trip. I couldn't have done it without you (literally). Also Jon, my partner/traveler in crime. We had a crazy semester and it was a good time with you bro. Last but certainly not least is my All Black Nigerians.

I. FREAKING. LOVE. YOU. GUYS.

I wouldn't have been able to have nearly half as fun of a time here if it wasn't for you guys. We will meet again and most definitely have a reunion at Danny Doolens.

Thanks again guys, hope you stay tuned for my next worldly adventure I will blog about. Enjoy yourself wherever you are and always know that there's still a whole world out there to explore.

Peace.

Mokorua Falls

So the weather was pretty crappy last weekend so we couldn't really leave Auckland and do anything else but we did take a day-trip to Mokorua Falls which is about 45 minutes from Auckland and was an amazing hike. Also one of the most unorthodox hikes I've ever done. It was a group of mostly Europeans plus Jon, Ryan (The Canadian) and myself. We got there around 1:30 and we believed the hike would take about 2 hours which, we were very wrong about.

The beginning of the hike was fairly normal with some nice trees along the path. Then suddenly we had to take our shoes off and cross a small stream. I thought "Cool! We crossed a stream how rad and explorer-like". Trust me this wasn't the last time we were gonna do this. We joked that every time we crossed the river it was another level of this river crossing game. By the end we got to like Level 13, so you can try to imagine how many times we did it (about 13 if that wasn't obvious). There was a point where we all just went barefoot on the trail. Our feet got real muddy but we had to cross the stream about 5 minutes afterwards so it wasn't a big deal. It was actually a lot of fun, as long as you didn't fall on your butt which a few girls did but I didn't.

 Along our journey whoever was leading us failed to follow the path (not me, women). We eventually got led to a giant cliff which we had to scale down. It was pretty sketchy but kinda fun. For me and the other guys at least, not so much for the ladies. A lot of screaming and complaining but they were good sports about it. We all got down a-okay though so nothing too bad.

After a long hike where we totally forgot how far we've been walking we came across this sort of waterfall/lagoon place. It also had a rope swing and a plank on top of these big rocks about 50 feet off the water. Of course I jumped off it. It was awesome although I botched the landing a little bit and landed on my side. That hurt a little plus my balls and butt were in a decent amount of pain too but that's what I get for jumping off like 50 feet. Still totally worth it and I got 2 other guys to do it as well. I guess you could say I'm a trendsetter...

 

We stayed at this spot a little long so we had to get going so we could finish this hike that we honestly had no idea how long it would take. Probably took about an hour of some more stream crossings and tramping from before. Still a lot of fun and the view of the falls was totally worth it. Plus from the falls it was only a half hour from the carpark which meant we didn't have too walk far to get home. Yayyyy! Anyway check out these pics and stay tuned for my trip to Lake Taupo this weekend which will be a good one. Peace y'all!

Northland Part 2: Batch Chillin

So last weekend we went back up to the Northland of New Zealand but this time we went all the way up and we stayed there in style. One of our RA friends at our apartments has a second house (they call them batches) near the tip of NZ and offered to let our small group of Americans to stay there. This place was super freaking nice. He also lives up there so we were getting a fresh, homemade meal almost every night which I haven't had in a real long time. The group we went up with was the boys which included the Cowboys, SoCal Ben, Jon and myself, plus Kayne who had the batch. One of Jon's roommates, Javlyn (Yeah I know they have real weird names here) also lives up north so we stopped at her house and her and Jon's other roommates came along. Both of them were girls but we were looking for a Man weekend so we won't talk about those girl much.

We left around noon on Friday with a 4-hour bus up north, which was a pleasant drive but it's still a bus ride. Once we all moved around we somehow got all 5 of us in the very back of the bus and that was splendid for everyone else I bet having 5 loud Amurican guys in the back. We couldn't have been too bad but there was this Maori dude right in front of us beat boxing to the window and then started wrestling with his girlfriend during the trip which was pretty weird. We got to our stop and it was raining quite a bit and we had to wait for Kayne to come pick us up. We decided to wait it out in a bar, where else would we go?

Only took Kayne about 2 beers to get to us so we hopped in his car and drove up to his house. We were going to camp but the weather was shit so we got to sleep in a bed instead (I wasn't complaining). He had a really nice house. His family owns a local grocery store so he's quite well off and his house/batch shows it. We made some frozen pizzas for dinner and waited for the girls to get to Kayne's place. Once they got there we played some drinking games and Kayne's mom was okay with everything as long as we didn't spew, which wasn't going to be a problem...Kayne did bite through his glass at one point but that's another story.

The next morning we made breakfast and drove a few hours to Javlyn's house and got a huge lunch feast from her Mom. Her Mom is also pro-green (if you catch my drift) which me and the other guys really enjoyed. After an amazing lunch we went out and played with her dogs and horse. This was the first time I was close to a big horse, at least from what I can remember, and it was awesome. His name was Tick and we're homies now cause he loved me. Ended up following me around and trying to eat my camera case but it was worth it.

This was the view from her land.

Good ol' Tick

After loading up the cars we headed off to the tip of NZ, Cape Reinga. This place was so cool! It was very windy, you'll see that from the pictures but it was still amazing. It has a very sacred history to the Maori because they believe when you die your spirit goes to the tip and dives into the water where you join the rest of your ancestors in the ocean. It's a very peaceful place and absolutely beautiful. You can also see where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean collide and it's a very cool sight. Check out these pics.

We got lucky on the timing of this trip because as soon as we made the walk back to the cars it started to get real windy and a storm was coming in. The wind got crazy and the rain felt like water bullets hitting your face. It hurt but it was cool. Since we couldn't camp again we went to Kayne's batch and this place was amazing. I took a video showing each room of the place but it's not exactly PG-rated thanks to the Cowboys, but I can describe it. The lowest floor was basically just bedrooms and some really nice bathrooms. Also with a storage room with about 20 different reels for fishing which I could tell meant his dad was a big fisherman. Next floor was the kitchen/living room with another bedroom. The kitchen was state of the art appliances and just overall sweet as stuff. The living room had a huge wraparound sectional red leather couch, which apparently was the first thing his parents bought for the batch. The living room also had a porch outside which wrapped around to the bedroom. An incredible view of the ocean and coast. Here's a picture:

Next floor up was the entertainment room with a huge TV and couch. As well as a sweet as stereo (Bose set up all over the house with speakers in the ceiling), the most expensive Wi-fi I've ever seen and some other crazy technology. The final floor of the house (4th in case you can't count) was dedicated to the master bedroom. A huge bathroom and walk-in closet plus the room itself. Freaking awesome. It was also finished about 8 months ago so very new. We had a great night, with no parental supervision, still didn't break anything instead had a super intense game of sardines. Basically hide and go seek but one person hides and last to find him loses. The next day we were going on Kayne's boat so we were super excited about the next day.

We woke up to find Kayne's parents were already at the batch and were getting breakfast ready for us which I liked a lot. We made food and then got everything ready to head out onto the boat. This was probably the nicest and biggest personal boat I've ever been on and the water was a little choppy but still a great ride. Went out around the coast and some close islands as well as went swimming in very cold water but we jumped off the top of the boat which was about 20 feet. Well worth it. Plus I got to drive it too, call me Captain Vert.

It was a sweet ride but we weren't done for the day. There was a pretty big mountain across the bay and we wanted to climb it so we hopped in the dinghy and sped across the bay and hoping no pirates would come steal our dinghy hid it among some bushes. Not really we just left it on the beach. The path up the mountain was sort of nonexistent. Kayne was leading us along this "path" but I was off trying to climb all the trees and fun stuff like that. The rest of the hike was basically straight uphill and quite slippery. Took us about 30 minutes to finish and get to the top and the views were stellar. We saw the whole path that we went on earlier with the boat plus basically all of the surrounding area. Check out these pics.

Once we were at the top we saw a pretty intense storm coming in and decided to book it down the mountain in hopes to beat it. We didn't so we waited it out in the woods a little bit, while doing this Collin and I found the coolest place. It was a very peaceful clearing and we decided this was the place where we would set up our hippy commune that we had previously discussed. There was a nearby stream for water, a great place for meetings as well as a mother tree that you could literally walk up. We decided we would have to go back to this place at some point. The other guys were getting mad at us and threatening to leave without us so we had to go back.

Once we got back to the batch we were all super exhausted so we took some showers and then were treated to a delicious lasagna that Kayne's Mom made for us. It was such a cute family dinner. Who doesn't love lasagna and red wine? Not this guy! The rest of the night was low-key cause we were beat.

The next day we got all packed and said our goodbye to Kayne's Mom and thanked her tremendously for everything this weekend. Packed up the cars, took a few last pictures and then headed to a couple beaches not too far away where we were gonna hangout til we had to catch the bus back to Auckland.

The first beach we went to I honestly can't remember the name of it maybe like Fern Hole or something like that, I don't know I can still barely understand what these kiwi's are saying sometimes. It was a really cool beach though and some cool rocks along the coast that led to this pretty big cave which went fairly deep and of course we explored it til we all got into one space where the five of us barely fit and there was absolutely no where else to go. Then me and Collin started climbing some rock walls which got a little sketchy but my climbing has improved significantly since I've been here and I can climb just about anything now. We left here after about an hour or two and then went to another beach where we got ice cream and hot chips (french fries). Delicious plus me and Collin climbed some more trees and rock walls. We also decided we're going to start a meat pie business back in the States called Crusty's (already trademarked suckers). Don't wanna give away our business plan but we'll make a boatload of money and then were going to buy a boat and sail all over the world.

After this beach we headed back to the bus stop and had a 4 hour bus ride where the bus driver wouldn't turn the lights off in the back of the bus. The front of the bus had lights off but not the back....It wasn't very comfortable. Luckily we got picked up at the bus stop and driven back to the apartments by Javlyn. Too bad she's one of the worst drivers I've ever seen so probably would've been better if we'd walked. Besides that the weekend was one of my favorite and a time I'll probably never forget. Kinda scary realizing I have about a month left in this beautiful country and I'm gonna miss it heaps.

Spring Break: Wanaka

Hey y'all, it's been a while since my last post and I figured since all this stuff happened over 2 weeks ago I might as well get it over with. So after Queenstown we went northwest to Wanaka which is a very pretty town right in the middle of a bay. The views from this town are breathtaking with glaciers off in the distance over the lake.

The hostel we stayed at was probably the closest/most friendly one we've been too. A lot of Americans and UK people at this one. Which was nice to talk to Americans, not that I was sick of other internationals but it's nice being able to understand every word that someone says in English.

We got there pretty early in the day so we decided to walk around the town and see what it had to offer. After checking out some hikes, it was obvious we didn't really have a lot to do without a car. But there was a nice hike nearby that seemed a bit challenging but we were determined to wake up early and do it. We got some delicious fish and chips for lunch, headed back to the hostel. Put our backpacks away in our room and went out again to get some nice pictures from the head of one bay.

After some time spent at the point we headed back and just happened to run into two of our classmates from one of our Maori classes and go to UVM. We caught up for a bit and then headed off to the grocery store so we could save some money and prepare our own meal as opposed to buying it. We spent the rest of the night in the hostel talking to the other people staying there. Pretty lazy day overall but we were tired so we needed a bit of a lazy day.

Woke up the next day intending to climb a pretty hard peak but I turned my alarm off as soon as I woke up so that wasn't happening. We ended up waking up a lot later and doing a different hike much closer than the other one. Still got good views just less work. Plus on our way down we went to Puzzle World, which sounds like only 5 year old children would enjoy but we had a good time. It was basically a bunch of trippy stuff put into one huge house and used as a tourist trap. They also had a gigantic maze in the back which was very hard. There were four towers in each of the corners of the maze. The goal was to reach each of these towers and then find your way out. There was a second challenge to go to each of the towers in a certain order and Jon and I did that one cause were not gonna wimp out on some easy challenge. Took us about an hour and a half but totally worth it. We got so lost at some points but we eventually figured it out and got through. Good thing to I really had to go to the bathroom by the end of it.

We walked back to the hostel and spent the rest of the night hanging out in the hostel because the last week and a half of traveling really tuckered us out. We had a decently early check out time the next day so we figured it best to get out early.

We were up and out of the hostel pretty early and got to the bus stop with plenty of time to spare. The bus ride was really nice too some great views and very diverse. It was a pretty long drive and we went through a rainforest, glaciers and even the beach. On to Franz Josef Glacier for our next stop.

Spring Break: Queenstown

So this post is about our time in Queenstown which we stayed in for about 5 days so this will be a long but entertaining one so feel free to read it in intervals or all the way through in one if you’re a trooper. Hope you enjoy!

We were lucky to get to Queenstown on my 21^st birthday and what a birthday it was. My only friend for probably my most important birthday was Jon but it was good enough. We had decided to start the day off well with drinking some Jack D from my flask on the bus ride so I wouldn’t be wasting the day by not drinking. Once arriving to our hostel we put all of our stuff away and knowing we would stay the next 5 days in Queenstown we got comfortable in our room. From what we could see there was only one other occupant of our 8-bed dorm, which wasn’t bad and we expected to get more during our stay.

Since it was all up to me to choose where we went that night, I wanted to see all that Queenstown had to offer. I apologize now for the abuse of alcohol that occurred on this night but it was my 21^st birthday so I cannot be judged for my actions. We started with the bar underneath our hostel with a couple beers and shots of tequila (upon Jon’s request). We also got some jalapeno poppers from the bar kitchen which were quite disappointing but we never really had dinner so we enjoyed them.

Next was onto some Irish bar a block away that we got a couple beers at and again to Jon’s behest a quite strong Guinness, which helped, put the night into motion. We sat outside and discussed some interesting topics including Game of Thrones and we got made fun of by a couple other dudes sitting outside with us mocking it Dungeons and Dragons...HAH as if. From there on we went down by the lake and were sufficiently buzzed while we took some nice pictures of the lake and enjoyed the view.

How'd he do that?

After this we headed to a couple bars on the lake that were quite fancy and a little expensive but we enjoyed them very well. We actually didn’t pay for our last drink at the first bar because we just got up and left forgetting to pay (we never went back to that bar either). The other bar we went to was much the same besides we talked to some locals for about 5 minutes and then went to another bar after. At this point we were definitely “on the piss” as the kiwis say and it’s a bit blurry from now on. I do remember returning to our hostel where we grabbed some jackets because of the cold and were preparing for the rest of the night. We then got a couple more shots at the bar downstairs and getting them for half-price because we had become tight with the bartender (something I recommend to all you listening, if you haven’t figured that out for yourself yet). 

From then on it’s a very blurry night and just memories. We met up with some pretty cute girls at one bar but don’t remember what happened to them, probably got offended by something Jon said. Another memory is getting denied at a bar for looking too drunk to which I replied, “but ish my 21^st birthday bra”. Didn’t help my case whatsoever. Jon told me about this the next morning but we were at one place and he asked the bartender for two beers. The bartender then proceeded to fill up two glasses of water. We got offended by this and decided to leave immediately. Seemed like a good idea from his point of view but from ours we were just insulted. We also got cheeseburgers at one point which was our only food for the night besides the jalapeno poppers, which we figured out was the reason we got so sloshed.

Anyway around 11 probably we were good and wasted. Jon decided to go to bed but it was my birthday so I pushed on. I went to the hostel bar and met a British fella and we got acquainted somehow. After some conversation and beers, I figured it was time for me to hit the sack. I headed up to my room and immediately collapsed into bed.

Waking up the next morning was not easy especially since we were planning on going skydiving that day. But it was a poopy weather day so we weren’t able to go. Which was better for us because we were quite hung-over that morning. Instead we got a real nice $10 breakfast, which was huge, and we went back to the same place about 3 times while in Queenstown. We figured since we couldn’t go skydiving, why not go bungee jumping?

So we went down to AJ Hackett, said to be the best bungee jumping in the world (marketing) and checked the prices for the bungee and canyon swing. We could do the canyon swing for about half the price of the bungee so we decided to do that. It was freaking crazy. Took about 40 minutes to drive up to the place where we would jump and got out on this 100-meter long suspension bridge, which was sketchy to begin with, and then we’d have to jump off it. There are a bunch of different positions you could fall with and I wanted to do the craziest one but Jon wasn’t feeling it. So he went right side up and I decided to do it upside down. Totally worth it. I kinda blacked out on the way down and didn’t really know what was going on when we stopped swinging. I put myself right sides up and Jon said my eyes were straight red, “like the devil”. It was awesome.

I was a little excited

We fell from that.

The rest of that day was just getting a couple of really cheap beers with some other guys we did the bungee with and getting some food. It was overall a day and also only our 1^st day in Queenstown so we had a few more days to enjoy it all.

The next day we again woke early to try and go skydiving but it was again poopy weather. We could’ve gone at 1 but we instead decided to go at 9am the next morning where it was supposed to be much better weather. Instead Jon and I went on a hike right outside of Queenstown. It was supposed to be a 6-hour hike but during the hike we decided to go off trail a little to get some better pictures because it was a very foggy day. We walked along a ridge for a good while took some really nice pictures and were on a really cool trail. Along our journey we spotted a falcon ahead of us on a peak of the mountain we were hiking up. Right in our way and as we got closer this was a pretty freaking big falcon. We saw a post earlier about a New Zealand falcon that is endangered and it had to be the same. It had a big hooked beak and really sweet red feathers underneath its wings. We got some really good pictures of it but it would not move out of our way. So we decided to traverse down a fairly steep, loose rock hill. Not our best idea but we got down fine. I’d rather trailblaze my own way when hiking then follow a path anyways. We were hiking our own path for a while and then Jon tells me to look up and about 20 feet away a couple mountain goats just staring at me. Got a few good pictures of them and we turned around and saw another pair of mountain goats to our left. This time it was a momma and baby goat running away from us. Some more good pictures of them.

 

We kept going forward and eventually got to a path that we followed to the top of Queenstown hill and walked onto this crazy tourist trap at the top of the hill. First we came upon this luge track that went a ways down the mountain and had a chairlift. There was also paragliding from the top of the hill which we really wanted to do but it was a little too expensive for us. Last there was this big complex that had a gondola leading to it and down the hill, equipped with a super fancy restaurant and bar. We saw the prices for each of the activities and decided to do the luge because it wasn’t too expensive and had some real good fun doing that. The first run I couldn’t really stop it too quickly because my knees were in the way of the brake and around one corner Jon and I were going a little too fast and he stopped really suddenly in the middle of the track and since there was no room for me to stop I shot around him, hit the side and shot off that scrapping a decent part of my leg and hip. That has been bothering the shit out of me as well, constantly having my pants rub against it. Either way the luge was a lot of fun. We got a beer at the bar and had a really nice view of Queenstown and some Para gliders.

We hiked down the mountain cause we weren’t gonna spend over $20 for a one-way ride down a gondola. So we took a path, which wasn’t too bad, and when we got back to town we went straight to Fergburger. If you don’t know about Fergburger, it’s one of the best burgers I’ve ever had in my life and that’s coming from an American. It was expensive but huge and delicious. After that and the hike we were pooped. We went back to the hostel and didn’t really do anything for the rest of the day. Expecting to go skydiving the next day we fell asleep ready for the next day.

We woke early and got another breakfast from the place wanting to have a full breakfast for our day of falling from the sky. This day we woke up and saw bluebird skies and were extremely excited. We met our driver who happened to be a gold medalist in the Jujitsu Championship in New Zealand last month. He drove us to the drop site that was the Lord of the Rings drop site, I think some of the mountains used were in the movie but I’m not sure. Either way we got to the site and had a little lesson about what your supposed to do while falling. Basically turn yourself into a banana. Pretty simple, we also had a professional skydiver on our back as well so we really didn’t have to do anything. After seeing the video Jon and I decided to purchase that as well which was $150 but totally worth it to be able to relive the jump through a GoPro.

We were in a group of 6 and only 2 went at a time, conveniently Jon and I were put in the last place so we had to wait for everyone else to go before we could. That just built the anticipation. Took about an hour before we could go up and I was freaking. If you haven’t seen the video, check my Facebook page cause it’s definitely worth a watch.

The dude on my back was this Brazilian who has done about 2,000 jumps named Mac. He really likes to mess with you during your fall. On the plane ride up to the 12,000 ft. mark he kept putting the GoPro in my face and without my knowledge throwing up the bunny ears behind my head. I was pretty calm in the plane up because I knew there wasn’t really anything I could do but fall. On the way up Mac kept adjusting my straps and telling me what I should do while we were falling. When we got to the drop point Jon was in front of me so he was dropping first. The door slid open and he put his feet out the door and was getting ready to jump. The next second he was just gone, completely disappeared. Then it was my turn, Mac and me slid up and out the door. He told me to put my head against his shoulder but I was trying to scope the view first. Stunningly beautiful. Put my head on his shoulder and fell out. That second of leaving the plane and accelerating from 0 to really freaking fast was probably the best feeling in my life. Freefalling for about 45 seconds that actually felt like an hour. Then the chute opened and we leveled out and I felt an insane amount of adrenaline hit me. Such a great feeling. We just cruised around in the air for the rest of the time in the air and it felt like a long time but it was about 5 minutes. I really can’t describe it because it’s just a feeling you need to experience yourself. When we landed I immediately started running around and freaking out. In the video you see I get interviewed a little bit but you don’t see after Jon lands we run over to each other and do a real cool bro hug in mid-air. Don’t judge us we just jumped 12,000 ft.

On our way back into Queenstown we were still pumped about the experience and adrenaline pumping through the veins, we decided since you can drink in the streets of Queenstown we got a pack of beer and went to chill and soak up some sun on the beach. It was a rocky beach made up of mostly gravel though so not too comfortable but we stayed there for a good while. Made some cool beach art as well.

After relaxing on the beach we headed back to the hostel, caught up with our roommates and heard about their day of bungeeing. Made some dinner and then we went out with them and let me tell you these guys can party. They were dancing crazily and it was a lot of fun.

The next day was really bad weather and it was our last day in Queenstown so we didn’t really wanna do much just relax. We went to the breakfast place we’ve gone to almost every day. Got some breakfast and just watched American football (I can’t believe I’m calling it that). It was a good day because it’s been a while since I’ve watched football and there was literally nothing else for us to do that day.

We had an early bus ride the next day starting at 8am. So we woke up early tried to get Fergburger for the ride but apparently they don’t open up til 8:30 so we got lied to the last time we were there, but next store Fergbaker was open and they had some damn good pies. Waited at the bus stop and essentially just slept the entire way to Wanaka.

Damn I’m glad that’s over. Alright guys I’m gonna try and bust out the second half of the trip in the next week so stay tuned for more of my South Island adventures. Peace!