I began the New Zealand leg of my journey in Queenstown, adventure capitol NZ. It is here where one is extreme during the day and drunk at night... There are hundreds of different crazy attractions that can swoop you up, get your adrenaline pumping and drain your bank account in the time it takes you to free fall from a bridge to the water... which isn't very long, but I will say that the views and the landscape are breathtakingly beautiful. Flying into Queenstown was absolutely stunning, dropping into mountains that should belong to the Swiss Alps and landing in a nearly tropical setting with the largest, deepest, most incredibly blue lake my eyes have ever seen. I spent the following five days meeting wonderful fellow backpackers and doing the things that give me the ultimate high: hiking to the top of the gondola for the best view of the lakeside city, biking along the lake and attempting to capture it with my pen and paper as I had no camera, and jumping icy cold water on a sunny day. In a community with such extreme sports and activities, it was funny how people were shocked by my swimming in the cold lake... it's all perspective I suppose.
Queenstown was beautiful, but not exactly my cup of tea, so when I found a note posted on a bulletin board with an offer to carpool further north, I jumped on it. Luk (my new Swiss travelling buddy) was heading north to the small town of Wanaka for a few days, then up to Franz Joseph Glacier and I joined him. In Wanaka, met up with a German girl, Corina, and we were able to join her at her couch surfing spot. We stayed for a couple of days with Andrew, his 5 year old son Jayden and his flatmate Grant, enjoying dinners together and jumping on their neighbor's trampoline. Was the universe conspiring? I think so.
We then moved onward to Fox Glacier, picking up a wonderful Dutch hitch hiker, Pauline, along the way. Together, we explored this beautiful area surrounding a massive glacier that is unfortunately receding quite rapidly. We hiked through the woods, along the beach, towards the glacier, away from the glacier... all over the place. We watched sunsets and I had my first go at spinning fire at the Glow worm hostel. Yes, that's right. And I didn't even catch on fire. Checked that off of my bucket list!
Luk and I parted from the others and continued up to Punakaiki where we found the pancake rocks. Mmmmmmm so yummy for the soul. Massive rocks jutting out of the ocean and so beautifully carved into stacks of pancakes by the pounding of the waves. We camped out for a night (if you can call it camping... this campground had laundry, showers and a full kitchen with a Tavern around the corner) and watched the most amazing sunset that truly brought me to tears and inspired me with song. The violent waves of the Tasman Sea were so beautifully contrasted by the soft orange glow of the setting sun and the bright blue sky above it showing off its first star of the night. Yeah, chew on that for a minute.
We finally made it to Nelson and it is from here that I am writing you. It's a big city with a small town feel and all sorts of little wonders to be discovered. I love it. I absolutely love it. We leave tomorrow, but I know I will be back and I will describe it more in depth when that time comes. But for now, we are headed to the Abel Tasman. We are about to embark upon one of the many Great Walks in New Zealand. It will be a 5 day trek along the north part of the south island's Golden Bay. We will kayak the first day and hike the rest.
More details to come when I return. Until then, I'm sending you all so much love and this wonderful Kiwi energy. You are in my heart and on my mind and I hope that you're hearts are filled with absolute love, joy, happiness and gratitude. As I will be trekking on the occasion, Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
To infinity and beyond :)
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