Otago Peninsula: Fun in the Sun

This saturday we rented a car, and explored the Otago peninsula which extends off of Dunedin, and is home to cool birds, seals, and sea lions! After descending the large sand dunes into the beach, we threw around the frisbee for a while, then decided to harass the large sea lions. When provoked they will aggressively roar and then chase you for a short distance.

That night we drove up past Port Chalmers to Long Beach (about 30minutes away) to the Cathedral Caves where there was a large party of about 60 people with a bonfire and music powered by generator. Everyone camped out in the cave which was prettty expansive afterwards. I was so cold when i woke up around sunrise that I went for a long run on the beach in the early morning to warm up. It was beautiful out. After returning home I slept most of the day to make up for lost sleep, waking up at dinner to write a short essay for the next day. Another great weekend in Dunedin!

Lost in Snow

Since I got back from this weekend, whenever I close my eyes I can picture myself on this spot, on my stomach staring across the glacial valley of the Southern Alps. Pure Bliss.

Matt and I drove up friday night to Wanaka, and dropped three of our friends off at the trail head of Mt. Aspiring National Park where I went earlier this year (see Bush Ball post). We were expecting a massive storm for this weekend that never seemed to materialize (besides dropping a bunch of snow for us to ski). As we drove down a dirt road in the dead of night, snow began to fall. All of a sudden we saw a large herd of cattle blocking the road. As we drove they began to slowly run (butts jiggling) down the road, but not out of our way. Matt insisted he wanted to get out and chase them, and after much debate we let him out and he went wild on them, chasing them off the road. Our road was clear... for now. As we drove we were met with herd after herd of sheep or cattle which needed to be persuaded off the road by horn or matt's yelps. It was quite the experience.

Matt and I returned to our hostel in Wanaka after dropping them off and woke up the next morning, to blue sky, powder and a whole mountain almost empty because of the expected storm. Over a foot of powder in places, fresh tracks, and all the wonders of skiing above tree-line led to some of the most amazing skiing. On both days we hiked up to the peak of the mountain to look out over the valley (where the picture was taken), even making a snowman at the top as a gift to the snow gods.

Sunday afternoon we picked up our friends from Mt. Aspiring and returned home, exhausted.

Over, Under, Sideways, Down

Leaving early friday morning, 3 friends and I departed for the West Coast. Driving up through Wanaka we stopped at Puzzling World a place with illusion rooms and a giant maze. Colin and I powered through the maze in 37 minutes. We continued on to the Coast and made it to Haast by nightful and stayed at a hotel room there. We woke up early and headed to the Fox Glacier where we took a short hike to the front of it and touched some ice. It was rainy all day...

Around nightful we arrived in Arthur's pass and hung out and played cards in a cafe till dinner time. Then we drove down the road a little pulled off and set up camp in the woods, making a hearty meal of mac n' cheese on the camping stove. In the morning we woke up and hiked about an hour up to this amazing hundred foot waterfall. We got back in the car and drove back home via Christchurch stopping on the ways to jump in some bright blue water, and then later to see the boulders on the East Coast.

A wonderful time had by all...

Tonga: Hidden Paradise

I spent the past week in the wonderful island chain of Tonga, specifically on the main island of Tongatapu (meaning sacred south). I left friday from Dunedin on a bus to Christchurch, where we hung out in the town square till we caught another bus to the airport where we spent the night. We got out towels and sleeping bags curled up next to each other and hunkered down for the night. We woke up in the morning to a bustling airport and made our way to the terminal for our flight.

After flying from Christchurch to Auckland, and then on to Tonga, we arrived after dinner in the main island Saturday evening. We were picked up by our resort owner who was also the cook, grounds keeper, receptionist and driver. He and his wife ran the quaint island resort which was very lovely. Arriving in darkness we woke up not realizing the beauty that lay outside. We spent the next few days (slash the entire week) doing nothing but reading and relaxing and napping on the beach. Nights were spent drinking and playing cards. I had no desire to do anything but lie on the beach and loose myself in the island time. It was about 80 degrees with a constant breeze that left you neither hot nor cold all the time. After 2 months of sleeping fully clothed in my sleeping bag in Dunedin, it was amazing to sleep only in underwear for once.

We had a few small adventures seeing some of the attractions on the island but for the most part, it was spent simply relaxing. The nation of tonga is only comprised of about 100,000 people and is not a very touristy place. It is rather impoverished, but everyone seems quite content and happy. They are happy that it is not overrun with tourists but still heavily rely on the few tourists it does get and the aid money it recieves from overseas.

After going taking a ferry to the small island of Tongamatu we took the 10 minute walk around the island, had lunch and lounged for the day. We returned home in time to go to a cultural dinner and show that included tongan buffet and fire dancing. A full cultural treat. We headed to the airport at around 12midnight to wait for our 3 am flight. When we landed in Auckland we learned that there had been a Earthquake in Christchurch (our next destination) and after a stressed out few hours of trying to figure out flights 5 of us got direct flights to Dunedin that day, while me and my friend Brittney had to fly to Queenstown where we would take a bus the rest of the way (another 3-4 hours bus ride). We arrived at around 10pm saturday night, our vacation complete!