After a surfing lesson on Friday, a few friends and I went on a spontaneous Backpacking/Camping/Hiking trip to Wanaka; a trip which will definitely go down as one of the most memorable weekends I've ever had!
Friday morning, around 20 of us who traveled through the same program together tried our hands at surfing the waves down at St. Clair beach! I wish someone had gotten photos of us not only after surfing, but actually wiping out while surfing because that is what most of the time consisted of. Surfing was a blast and something I will definitely try to do again while in NZ.
After a cold surf we needed a hot drink...even the coffee cups are amazing in New Zealand!
We were treated to a special sight when we were done surfing and just relaxing above the beach. Crys spotted a large brown spot in the water ... a sea lion riding the waves in next to the surfers! The next thing we knew the sea lion was coming on shore and eating some people's picnic who had run away after seeing the creature come out of the ocean!
You can just see the sea lion on the beach looking like the statue above!
Yet, the sea lion wasn't the only surprise of the day. Two friends of Crys, Cara and I (Grinnell Friends) invited us to tag along on their weekend trip to Wanaka last minute! They had made plans about a week or so ago but figured they'd reach out to offer the extra seats in their car... and we were thrilled to be invited! The only catch was that we only had about an hour and a half to get everything we needed to and take off. We scrambled around packing our backpacks, going to the grocery store and renting a tent and to make it just in time to join Hans and Kalea on a spontaneous adventure. Going on a whim, I had very little knowledge about what we would be doing and seeing. I think going in with no expectations made my weekend even more special than I could have imagined previously.
We took off on the winding roads of New Zealand in an old Japanese minivan filled with new friends, good music, and lots of anticipation.
We arrived at the campsite and pitched our tent on a beautiful lakefront patch of grass just as the sun was setting.
After having a hearty dinner of ramen noodles, we all tried to fall asleep early so that we could wake up for a sunrise hike on Roy's Peak. In order to do so we would need to wake up at... 3am. Falling asleep proved harder than we had anticipated because the stars illuminated the sky so brightly, there was a soft light even in the night time.
When it came to wake up at 3 none of us had slept much, but were excited to get up to climb a mountain for an amazing view under the stars! It was dark as we ascended, using head lamps to see where we were stepping. Frankly, I am glad I could not see where I was going because being able to see how far away the highest peak was may have scared me off! We climbed upwards for about 3 hours as day light broke around us. The hike was HARD! It was 5 miles of steep uphill, and I would be lying if I said I didn't question why I was working so hard to climb a mountain for 'fun' at 4am.
We made it to the top only for a quick rain to blow in and cover the view. Instead of enjoying the peaceful sunrise we imagined we were eager to get below the cover of the mountain and out of the blistering, wet wind. Thankfully, it was only shortly after that the clouds started to clear, and it became clear to us why we had climbed in the first place.
As you can see I had a little more pep in my step after the clouds cleared and the incredible view made the whole climb worth it!
I call this look 'New Zealand Chic' (photo by Hans).
In the end the hike was about 10 miles, took 5.5 hours, and was well worth it, even considering the weather! We were all feeling good afterwards and decided to check out the beach and famous "Wanaka Tree" at the beach below.
After climbing Roy's Peak we had no concrete plans, so we headed to the New Zealand Department of Conservation building in Wanaka for a recommendation. A knowledgable DOC member told us about some back country hiking we could do to see the beautiful Mt. Aspiring National Park in the Southern Alps, and we never looked back!
We drove past Roy's peak and onto a gravel road that drove right through deer, cow and sheep pastures up against some of the most beautiful scenery I had ever seen. It was exciting to drive away from the more touristy locations and into the untamed natural beauty of the southern island.
Here you can see the cows and sheep blocking the beginning of the road!
Gorgeous and plentiful waterfalls poured down from the mountains above.
You can see us driver further into the valley and towards the snowy peaks in the slide show below.
We decided to stop at one of the waterfalls which was marked by the DOC. It was a short walk to Wishbone falls, but entailed walking right through the cows!
The falls turned out to be a beautiful place to eat lunch and take a quick snooze, which is exactly what we did.
We even woke up to see the cow we passed earlier looming over Crys!
We arrived at what must be considered one of the best looking parking lots to exist, and packed our backpacks for the night.
Right as you pull up you are struck by the florescent blue water running from the glaciers up in the mountains.
And just like that.. we were off into the wilderness.
As we walked, the mountains became closer, the water bluer, and the glaciers clearer.
And we also passed more cows!
One incredible aspect of New Zealand is the amount of different landscapes that can coexist in one area. We were walking through a grassy mountain valley one minutes, and stepping into a coniferous forest the next.
Here you can see the water falling down from one of the glaciers.
We experienced a really special moment when a handful of Kea's, a rare bird native only to New Zealand, greeted us onto Shovel Flat! Kea's are the only breed of alpine parrots in the world.
We pitched our tents that night in the midst of the tremendous southern alps, with nothing to be heard but the squawk of the keas and falling of water from the three galciers overhead. We slept peacefully knowing that New Zealand does not have large predators as most other places, such as bears, wolves, cougars, ect. NZ does not even have snakes or ticks! The locals say the killer in New Zealand is the weather, as storms can blow up very fast in the ocean and travel quickly across the skinny island, but thankfully there was nothing but a light drizzle that night.
The sun setting across the face of a mountain.
We awoke to a beautiful fog passing through the valley.
Here I am looking very concerned as to why Hans put his camera so close to my face.
As the sun was rising and making its way into the valley, we began our 10 mile trek back.
This is the famous Rob Roy glacier, which is currently closed off from being viewed any closer.
After an incredible trip, it was sadly time to drive back. In under 36 hours we hiked over 30 miles of gorgeous New Zealand scenery.
Here you can see the map with an X where the DOC trails person told us to camp.
On the way back to Dunedin, we put off going back one last time and stopped at a charming Lavender Farm off the road!
After a fantastic weekend, we were all reluctant to leave New Zealand's nature wonderland in order to do what we actually came here for... study. As classes stared on Monday all our heads were filled with scenes from the weekend before and ideas of where we could travel to next!
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