Abel Tasman Trip Update!

All in all, this was a good trip. The weather sucked, but that just makes me want to go back again and explore when it's bound to be nicer out. I really enjoyed the short little "road trip" and the scenery was awesome, as always. I had plenty of time to reflect on things and talk to God, which was nice. I ruined and then lost my shoes, but that's really the only thing I have to complain about the trip. And that we didn't get to go black-water rafting. Major bummer. And that it rained. A LOT! Let me explain the trip though.


So, Day 1 of the trip, Saturday, was pretty fun and unplanned haha! We were supposed to leave at 9, but of course didn't until after noon sometime. We drove up to Nelson, about a 6 hour drive I think. Then we walked around trying to find a stinkin place to eat and directions to Marahau since we didn't really research anything like that at all. It was pretty fun. I went with 3 guys: Daniel, Patrick, and Nick. Patrick ended up being hilarious and we had fun the entire trip; he quickly became my outlet for laughter! The guys were pretty much on good behavior, besides the random "That's what she said" jokes, which I apparently set up perfectly. At one point I just stopped talking because every word that came out of my mouth was a perfect set-up. I guess it's good that I don't have my mind in the gutter all the time. Anyways, we ate at this little Italian place (we were sooo hungry) and Daniel found a piece of plastic in his salad, which wasn't cool. I had to call my flatmate Sara from the road to get directions to Marahau after, and Dan was in a pissy mood, but other than that it was fun. I learned to roll with the punches early... Anywho, that was Day 1. When we got to our hostel, we all got ready for bed and then talked for awhile before drifting off to sleep.



Day 2: We woke up, packed, and walked to meet the water-taxi that took us to a spot on Abel Tasman (we walked back to Marahau from this spot, a 4-day tramp/hike). On the way we got to see a seal eating an octopus, as well as heaps of seals sunbathing. It wasn't really sunny out though. Although it wasn't raining, so that was good. We finally started our tramp and hiked for about 3 hours or so I think, maybe longer. We reached an inlet-crossing, where you have to wait for tides to go out before you can cross. We waited for awhile, but it started getting dark, so I took off my shoes and decided to go barefoot. It was a bad idea; my feet got cut up by all the sea shells and such. Oh well. I had a peanut butter sandwich for dinner and an apple. Not very filling, but I found out that you can survive on nuts/dried fruit mix, a peanut butter sandwich, an apple, and an orange a day and get along fine. I was hoping I would lose weight, but I don't think I did. Disappointing. Anyways, that night we met 2 other American girls in our hut, played cards with them, and then went to bed at around 9. So boring I know. I did get stared at by a possum as I was brushing my teeth. That was slightly freaky; I tried to scare him but he wouldn't budge. Oh well. Dan and I slept in the hut and met some American girls traveling the South Island. We played a few games of Bull S*** with them before going to bed.



Day 3: When I woke up this morning, I found that the lining from one of my shoes had pulled away from the side and curled up, so I could barely get my foot in. It caused me to get even more blisters, which I was certain wasn't possible...I was wrong. Anyways, we woke up and got started around 9 (although we'd planned on 8, go figure) and then started walking in the rain. This was by far the worst day. We didn't play many games, it rained harder than ever, and then wind was added to the mix. It was completely miserable. The sun showed itself for a few glorious moments at one point, and then it went downhill after that. We really didn't speak much and tried to walk as fast as possible. My bag was the heaviest of all because I used Joe and Amy's sleeping bag, which was great at night cause it kept me warm but was ultra heavy. My pack had to weigh at least 50 lbs, and that's not an over-exaggeration. Plus, I carried the food that Daniel and I shared. My back and shoulders are still sore! And the pack was pretty much as big (tall) as me, so that didn't help either. Anyways, we finally made it, but we took a longer route because I downright refused to walk through any more inlets. It ended up taking us 4 hours, and it was the hardest part of the trail as well. We did get to stop and see Cleopatra's Pool, which is a really cool rock formation. We were unable to cross though because the river was overflowing due to the rain =). Oh joy! And we got to set our packs down too, which was AMAZING and I felt like I was floating! Anyways, we reached the hut pretty early, around 1 I think. I changed and then set my stuff to dry again. We had previously talked about going all the way back to Marahau because it was so miserable, but there was no way I would have made it. Then, the weather got extremely bad! It became a storm, with lightning and thunder that shook the entire hut. I thought we would have to abandon it at one point because I was certain it was coming down. It didn't though, thank goodness haha! I also learned that you can pass HOURS by doing absolutely nothing. It was soooo boring. We were all exhausted, Patrick ran out of food and went to bed at 4 in the afternoon, and the rest of us just sat. Literally. I thought about heaps of stuff, read this boring poster of New Zealand fish, etc. Then I got out my Bible, read a lot, and then grabbed a pen I'd brought and started doodling. I never knew you could just sit and pass time for the sake of passing time haha. Nick, Dan and I stayed up talking, and were joined by some Chilean (we think) women a little later who got pissed at the fact that we took up so much stove space ;)...oops! We talked about Harry Potter, and then I learned that Nick's dad had actually passed away this summer from cancer. It was pretty shocking and extremely sad...you just don't have words for that situation. I felt really bad for him; it sounded pretty rough. Anyways, he headed to bed around 8, and Dan and I stayed up talkin til about 10 and then tried to fall asleep, but the storm was sooo loud. Eventually, I did though...



Day 4: Today was our last tramp!!! We had 4 hours to go, and that's all I could tell myself. Plus, the storm blew itself out during the night, so of course it ended up being absolutely beautiful weather, around 65 and sunny. I was too happy it wasn't raining to be bitter! We all had a good time, and I got to lead, for once! We played 21 Questions again, and talked a lot, and just walked. I was tryin to book it, but about 1/4 of the way my feet started hurting soooo badly that each step was painful. I couldn't stop walking because I knew if I stopped, I wouldn't start again. We also reached a spot where there had been a landslide during the night, so we had to climb over mud and plants and trees to get on the other side of the path. New Zealand trails are just so much more "natural" with extremely few guard rails (if any) and stuff like that. Basically, the motto here is that if you mess up, it's your fault. I like it. Anwyays, I seriously considered walking barefoot about halfway, my feet had never hurt so bad in my life. We finally got back and I can't tell you how relieved I was! I just kept a rhythm in my head going of "ALMOST THERE ALMOST THERE ALMOST THERE" over and over! We finally reached the hostel we'd stayed at 4 nights ago, were able to shower (thank goodness) and then headed back to Nelson. I literally couldn't walk and had to buy new shoes...and then somehow between then and Christchurch my shoes got lost. I blame the boys, since they "rearranged" things in the back often. I was frustrated but I'm over it. Anyways, we then drove 4 hours after eating a REAL MEAL haha! We made it to Greymouth with not much problems. I was co-pilot today and Patrick drove. We had a ton of fun and laughed most of the trip. Once it got dark, the talk turned pretty philosophical and got kinda deep, and I kept my mouth shut for the most part because most of the words being used were way too big for me to try and follow (they were talking astro-physics). It was interesting. Anywho, we did hit a bird as well. Sad day. We made it finally (after turning into a road with a complete dead end) and stayed in the Penguin Room at this hostel known as Noah's Ark. I LOVED IT! Nick and Dan stayed up to watch The Mummy, but Patrick and I headed for bed. My head hit the pillow around 10 and I was out.


Day 5: Today Nick, Dan, and I woke up early and headed out to go black-water rafting. Basically, you get an inner-tube and are able to ride it down the river, and then you enter a cave where you have morning "tea and biscuits" before riding back out with the only light being that of the glowworms in the cave around you. It's supposedly a ton of fun, even in the winter. When we got there, we were given tons of clothes and wetsuits to put on in order to keep us warm and dry. Obviously it was slightly weird putting on long underwear that didn't belong to me, but whatever. It was raining all day and our guide was really cool. I can't remember his name now of course but we really liked him; he was pretty funny and we basically had a "private tour" since we were the only people scheduled =). We drove through some country and were stopped by feeding time for the cows, who stand in the middle of the road and refuse to move. When we got to the river, we followed our guide upstream to a specific point, and then jumped into our inner-tubes and rode downstream. There were heaps of natural waterfalls and such off the cliffs above us because of all the rain, and it was really fun! The only part of me that got wet and cold were my hands, and that's to be expected. Other than that, I was sweating in all the layers! Anyways, we reached the cave with no one falling out of their inner-tube (which I guess happens a lot) and got to ride this sled down a "natural slide" into the river! Then, we tried to go into the cave...but the water-level was way higher than normal and the current was sooo strong. We abandoned our inner-tubes and tried again. Me, being so short, got about two steps inside before my life-vest did its job and buoyed me up, including my feet, so that basically I was hanging onto the straps of our guide and Dan was trying to walk through the current and my flailing feet! It was absolutely hilarious and frustrating. I kept pushing myself down and tried sooo hard to keep my feet on the river bottom, but it was impossible. The river bottom wasn't firm anyways because of the current, and after 3 unsuccessful tries, our guide decided there was no way we could get into the cave :(. So, instead, we jumped off a little waterfall, with our guide waiting below to catch us haha! We warmed up after that with some hot chocolate, and then jumped off the side into a deep part of the river for one last "hoorah!" It was really fun despite the rain and our guide was so nice he gave us vouchers to come back again! YES!!!! So we get to do it all again!!!! I was really excited about that. When we got back to the place, we were all given muffins and drinks of our choice, and chilled in the hot tub. It was nice for awhile, then we got out, ate at McDonald's, and drove home. I actually drove! On the other side of the car and the other side of the road! It wasn't too hard at all honestly. It was very hilly since we went through the mountain range again, but there was always something breathtaking to see. When we reached high altitudes, however, the car didn't work as well....at one point I had the pedal on the floorboards and we were going up a mountain at a crawl! Then, of course, I pulled over and it started snowing. It just came down to the fact that uphill was bad for our little "budget" car, cause downhill we were cruisin! Anyways, by the end of 4 hours I was ready to be back in Christchurch, and I have this awful habit of not reading the FULL sign or not really reading at all even though I see it....it just doesn't click in my brain or something. I definitely saw the word "Christchurch" and pulled into the Christchurch prison haha! The guys all made fun of me and I was like "I just want to be back!!!!" Once we made it though, I did some laundry and then packed for Sydney, finally falling asleep way past the time I wanted to....