There are many things in this life that go unseen by so many people. In my life, I always look forward to a new adventure or new places that offer the most amazing experiences. This past weekend I was able to see things I never would have imagined existed. Places that look fake in pictures; just imagine what that means they look like in person. I feel so blessed to be on this adventure and thank God every day for my experiences. I also thank my parents for being my rock and my everything; none of this would be possible without you. As well as my cousins for so happily letting me eat them out of house, for taking such great care of me, and for becoming my friends. If it weren't for them, I would not be where I am. I love you all.
The people I have met on my journey so far are ones that will be in my heart forever. All of you have made an impact on my life and I hope to stay in touch forever.
So getting on to what I saw and did that has made me feel such a way... My friend Emma, who I met last weekend in Dunedin at my couch surfing host's house, and myself decided we shall adventure out to a far away place known as Fiordland. Fiordland is located in the southwestern part of the South Island in New Zealand. Here--->
It is also as close to Antarctica as you can get without actually being there... (Except for that little island at the bottom).
I left Christchurch on Thursday, June 13th, on the Nakedbus (of course) towards Invercargill to meet Emma. She had rented a car and traveled the previous day through the Catlins, where I have not made it to yet, and said she had a splendid time. I met her at the bus station in Invercargill and we were off to find our first nights accomodation, Sparky's Backpackers. I found this place through google and I have to say, I am more than happy I did. It took us a little while to find it due to my poor navigation skills and Emma's failure at driving in the dark but we managed to make it in one piece (good thing she got insurance). We pulled into the driveway of a backpackers unlike any I've stayed at thus far. It was a house instead of a hotel type residence that welcomed us in with its cozy atmosphere. As soon as we rang the doorbell, a man came rushing to the entrance and ushered us in to the heat of his abode. We asked him if he had room available for two and he looked at us quizzically, probably thinking "did you see the parking lot? It's basically empty," and asked us why we were even here. In the summer, the South Island is booming with tourists, but as the winter weather moves in, the people tend to migrate out. Therefore, he found it very odd that we were visiting the area.
We walked into the living room that was ever so busy with decorations...
...then through the kitchen that looked straight from the 80's with a wooden stove and pots and pans hanging from Oak cabinets. He finally showed us to our room that was decorated with an Egyptian theme and had three bunkbeds within.
After setting our things down he gave us our key and left us to our business. We went to the store and bought bread and apples (nothing new) and then planned out our next day's journey. Then, after taking advice from the owner on some places to see in Fiordland, Emma and I were off to dreamland and anxious for what the next day would bring.
The next morning we woke up to 36 degree weather, yet hardly noticed because of our excitement to get on with the day. We packed up our things, waited for the windshield to deftrost, said fairwell to Sparky's, and were off! It was a very foggy morning making some of the scenic drive unseeable, but this was probably a good thing seeing as I would have driven Emma crazy making her pull off to take pictures at every picturesque moment. As soon as the sun came up though, the fog lifted and we were greeted with the most beautiful beach sunrise I've ever encountered.
We continued driving and reached our destination of Te Anau around 9:30am. We arrived to the Kepler Track and discovered that it was a 10 hour hike to the top and back and the shorter track was only around the lake. So, thinking this is not what we wanted to do with our day, we set off in search of a mountain that we could get to the top of in a more reasonable amount of time. We stopped in town and paid for our night's accomnodation at Edgewater Motel and then signed up for our cruise through Doubtful Sound at the Information Center. We asked the man at the motel where we should go to get to the top of a mountain with a timely hike and he responded with "Key Summit" and showed us the location on the map.
It took us about an hour and a half drive to get to Key Summit from Te Anau and of course the drive offered such beautiful landscapes that I hardly noticed the time.
We stopped at Eglinton River for some photo opportunities--
As we reached the mountain, the weather cleared up as if it knew we were coming and it became a gorgeous sunny day.
The sign at the base of the mountain relayed that is was an hour and a half hike to the summit so we set off with our bread and apples in tow. We passed many fallen trees, fallen rocks, and waterfalls that flowed from as high up and as far down as the eye could see.
Emma and I also passed many of New Zealand's trees, the Fern.
Massive Fern leaves!
As we hiked, or "tramped" as they call it here, we could see snow covered mountains peeking through tree gaps, spying on us from miles away.
The anticipation was killing me when finally the path smoothed over and the trees gave way to the most extravagant view I have ever encountered.
I felt as if I'd walked onto the set of a fairytale movie but no one was there to slap me out of it.
We walked about the mountain's top and discovered a small pond that was ever so glassy and did such a marvelous job reflecting the surrounding mountaintops as if to let them admire their own beauty in an uncracked mirror.
Like many other people in this world, I have a bucket list that is filled with many things I want to do and see before I die. But unlike most of those lists, mine is made up of a few crazy or uncommon activities. On this adventure to the Key Summit I was able to happily check one off:
Take a topless photo on top of a mountain in the winter ☑☑☑
What a breezy feeling! :)
Love life.
&& embrace it.
<3
After taking many more pictures, we set aside the cameras and enjoyed the serenity the mountains had to offer. It was the quietest moments I have ever had and felt incredibly surreal. Nature untouched by humans and peace some could only dream of. We enjoyed our apples and bread with peanut butter while the sun began its descent down the mountain. Enjoying a couple last moments of the sun's warmth, we packed our bags and then headed back down the trail we came up.
We reached our car and packed up to head back to Te Anau. I made Emma stop a couple times to snap a few photos and enjoy the incredibly clear weather.
We reached Edgewater Motel and discovered that we had yet again been rewarded with wonderful and unexpected accommadation. Since it is winter, the regular hostel has been closed due to lack of backpackers and the neighboring motel open to those that were crazy enough to visit (to put in prospective how dead the towns were down here, we only saw two cars the entire day) So we payed $25 for a regularly $75 room. It had a flat screen TV, a reasonable sized shower, and an efficient heater! Upper-class status! Emma and I reminisced about our day and then dosed off to Never Never Land.
Waking up at 7:30, we packed up our things and headed to the Real Journeys station to load the bus that would take us to our next big adventure!
DOUBTFUL SOUND!!! Doubtful Sound is in the heart of Fiordland National Park. Here-->
The journey began in Manapouri, where we boarded our first boat that sailed us across Lake Manapouri.
Emma and I sat against the window at a table where we were joined by a couple from Aukland and a young girl from London. Very lovely people. The weather was not the best but could have been much worse. It was below freezing and light rain; a mysterious mist lingered around the mountains edges. As we cruised, we passed many small islands that studded the lake from start to finish. Due to the cold and rain, I was one of few that stayed on the top deck to admire the sound's beauty. If it weren't for my cousin letting me borrow her puffer jacket, I would have froze. On the top deck I met a lovely gentleman from Austria, Stefan, who has been traveling the world for the last year (incredible story). He took most of the picture of me throughout the journey.
After an hours cruise across Lake Manapouri, we docked and boarded a couch that took us across Wilmot Pass to Deep Cove. Along the way we learned a lot about New Zealand's history. Fiordland National Park is 3 million acres and is the largest of the 14 New Zealand national parks. Lake Manapouri is the fifth largest lake in New Zealand and very deep due to the scraping and scooping action of the ice age glaciers. Manapouri is said to mean sorrowful or anxious heart. Wilmot Pass Road is one of New Zealand's remotest roads. It was built in the mid 1960s for heavy equipment access for the construction of the power station that was planned to take 12 months to build; but due to unpredictable weather. it took 2 years. Deep Cove is 40km in length, making Doubtful Sound the second largest fiord. The water temperature in the fiord averages 11 degrees Celcius. He also talked about the Maori history in these parts that I mentioned in an earlier blog.
We stopped at a lookout area along the way...
Emma and myself.
...then carried on to board our next vessel that would guide us all through the Sound. Because of the rain there were many waterfalls noticeably flowing down the mountain sides.
Windy from Aukland :) teaching her the reverse screen feature on the iPhone :P
My photographer, Stefan.
Emma, me, and Shell from London :)
Cruising through the Sound.
Toward the middle of our journey we were greeted with an unexpected surprise, dolphins! I was standing against the railing when out of the lake depths came 3 or 4 dolphins that surfed our boat's wake. I didn't get any photos because I wasn't risking putting my phone out over the railing with my already numb hands. But it was a beautiful sight.
After cruising a bit longer, we began our ride back to the dock. We took the same route as we came and were able to re-admire the same scenery. The cruise was everlasting and I was completely worn out by the end of it. It was a marvelous day and I will remember it for the rest of my life.
After bidding farewell to all of our new friends, Emma and I began our drive toward Gore, where we were planning to stay that night. We passed through town after town that seemed to all be nearly abandoned. There were hardly any people in any direction we traveled and left us feeling like a zombie apocalypse had occuried.
When we reached Gore it was just as dead so we decided to fill up on gas and head back to Dunedin. We reached Dunedin around 10:30pm and were greeted by all the people I had met the previous weekend when I couch surfed. It was great seeing all of them again before they headed home in different directions. They provided me with a warm bed and in the morning a few of us went to breakfast at a cute little place across the way. I loaded on my bus shortly after and met one of the most beautiful women I have ever encountered. Her name is Louis, she is from Australia and traveled to New Zealand to visit some friends. Her story is incredible. Since the early age of 13, she has traveled the world with her aspiring father that she so dearly loves and lost to cancer about a year ago. When I asked where she has traveled to and from, she named off so many countries that I had to make her stop after a few minutes of listing them. I don't think I could even name that many countries if I tried. She was so inspiring and I am so happy she walked into my life. When I told her it was my cousin in law's birthday and I was feeling guilty for returning empty handed, she immediately suggested we write him a poem. She had me describe him with random words and then placed them all into the cleverest poem.
& this is how it turned out:
Piers wasn't one to follow the herd
While others found his obsession absurd
From his ivory tower he surveyed the land
And focused instead at the tusk at hand
People continued to him assail
"You're from East UK, why not study whales?"
But sick of the weather and all it entails,
He followed his heart and bailed out of Wales
To enthrall Kiwi students with all of his tales
Christchurch it seemed was having a fit;
The ground was rolling and shaking and it
Seemed the best mode of transport to like
Was that of the old fashioned two-wheeler bike
India, then, was a mammoth affair
These grand pachyderms were everywhere
Anthropologists gathered and spent all the day
Speaking most kindly of matriarchs grey
Wishing human-elephant conflict would be kept at bay
And wondering whoever could have thunk
That Amarula would get elephants drunk
Rugby, though, got his ears in a flap
No one could deny that Wales was crap
In comparison to the mighty All Blacks
And no one restrained in giving him flak
So now it's your birthday and we'd just like to say,
We hope no wee mousies get in your way
Between you and the bottle and those who have thunk
They can stop you from getting thoroughly trunk.
Brilliant! Thank you Louis. I will never forget this!
Another amazing adventure down in New Zealand. No plans for the next one yet but I will keep you all posted. Thanks for reading :) email me at kay.sunchild@gmail.com with any comments or questions!
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