Serenity Through Nature

Dear Friends and Fam,

Cheers all the way from Wanaka on the south island of New Zealand! We've logged some driving hours over the last week and a half but it's all been worth it as we've been blessed by the weather God's with ridiculously beautiful weather that has paved the path for some amazing scenic driving.

I'll start off where I left off on the north island in the cultural Maori town of Rotorua. We woke up and Meadow and I drove to one of the national parks that was a volcanic reserve. The tramp (hike) was very easy as it was paved the entire way and we first came to a lake that had steam rising up from the water and all around on the surrounding hills as the water rose to temperatures close to 60 Celsius. Walking along the stream there were hot spots everywhere and of course Meadow and I had to touch the water to see just how hot it was and to give you an idea it would be like taking a hot tub in very uncomfortably warm water! We hiked to the crater which was the bluest sky blue water I've ever seen as a result from the sulfur and other chemicals that also dictate the temperature, rising and flooding of the crater along with the active magma below the surface. The park was overall pretty good so after about a two hour tramp we called if off and headed back to town. The rest of the day was relatively mellow, drinking coffee and doing some shopping and than that night we went rock climbing at an indoor gym. The wall was by far the most intricate and massive I've ever seen and it was great to get some climbing in and get a much needed adrenaline rush that I've been without for awhile.

The next morning, despite being soar, I'd heard the mtn. biking was super good in Rotorua so I woke up before the boys and took to town and rented a really nice Mongoose front suspensional mtn. bike and cruised about 20 minutes out of town to some nationally renown tracks. The trails were just what I was looking for and super challenging as I found out. The grading system goes up to 6 being the most difficult so I road mostly 3's, 4's and I road a five. I found a really sick course I liked a lot that I had run earlier so I headed back there and halfway down the backside of the trail I rounded a curve and flew off a 3 ft. drop off landing on balance but catching a rock which through me off balance and I grazed a tree with my right arm before my handle bar dug into my thigh and I bailed off pretty hard. Lying there after counting my sheep I realized it wasn't a bad spill at all and I got pretty lucky so with a nice shiner on my thigh I decided to call it a day and head back. I definitely am going to get back into mtn. biking when I get back home, I miss it so much! We took off that day and headed for the south island and a long road trip. Getting to the ferry about 2 hours ahead of schedule we slept in the car and then boarded the ferry at 2am again sleeping on the ferry on the ground in our sleeping bags until about 5am when we arrived at Picton, south island. I slept pretty well so I volunteered to keep driving and an hour and a half later we were in Nelson where we met up with Meadow's parents long time friend, coincidentally enough named Jay as well! Jay was super homely to us and got us situated beautifully despite it still being early in the morning and we crashed for about 6 hours catching up on lost sleep. Later that day we cruised town for a bit, ate some really good sushi and then bought some local fish for that night to cook. Jay prepared the entire meal that night; two local types of fish, garlic bread, fresh salad and some local red wine! I am not lying when I say it was the best meal I've had my entire trip, I just got hungry just thinking about it! That night Jay helped us map out where we should go and would want to go on south island because of course we hadn't given much thought and were just going with the flow. Our trip has been very indicative of going with the flow and we're so fortunate to have had the cards fall as they may and end up working out every time.

The next day we took off for a 3 hour road trip to Abel Tasman National Park to do a tramp that is meant to be very popular and really good which is proved to be and so much more! We took a 20 minute boat ride to the end of the trail where we were going to hike back to our car about 4 hours or so. The tramp was really good as the tide was low and all the bays we cut across and made out own paths. The hike was along the ocean the entire time with the surrounding islands lingering adrift within sight. Towards the last bit of the hike we trekked across the beach which as a result of the low tide we found ourselves on what seemed like a desert by the ocean as the path was about 500 yards away and the ocean was about 500 yards away as well in either direction. It was truly a peaceful moment in my life where everything except your feet seemed to stop in time. That moment was much like another I experienced yesterday that I'll get to shortly.

After the hike at Abel Tasman we drove another 3 hours to Westport, a sleepy little town by the beach where we just crashed at a deserted hostel and took off the next day. We did meet an elderly couple from Baltimore that was traveling for about the same amount of time as us and it was really interesting to hear their story and exchange our travel stories. I truly hope that when I retire some day I'll have the strength and passion that they exhibited to continue my travels and do it the right way, not in expensive resorts where you stay on the ocean and swim in the pool the entire time!

Leaving town we stopped at a seal colony along the way which was always cool to see before we took back off for another 4 hour road trip to Punakaiki. There we saw the "flat rocks" or called pancake rocks as they looked like there were layers of rock on top one another which was quite cool to see. After chomping down some meat pies we drove down a gravel trail along a river to do the punakaiki river track, about a 2-3 hour hike. The hike was incredible as we only saw two people the entire way and saw the beautiful tropical hillside that secluded the river beneath it. After the hike we took off for the rest of our drive to Franz Glacier. Getting to the town, that lived off the tourism from the glacier, we settled in at a hostel where we quickly made friends with these three hitchhikers from the northeast part of the states. The three of them had sailed for a year to get to New Zealand and the night prior had camped behind the local town church, they put our stories to shame quite simply! After teaching them our travel games they all opened up pretty quick and we went out for drinks that night and had a blast. That is until they got Meadow and I to take the local shot to prove our manhood, which of course we undoubtedly agreed to. To give you an idea of how disguesting that shot was I'll simply tell you the ingredients: Rum, Tequila, Whiskey, Absenth and Chili Powder! After that little guy I decided to call it a night and after not drinking for about a week and a half now I soon remembered the all so familiar feeling of the hangover.

The next morning we lounged about and watched a Maori movie with our buddies before taking off south to Fox Glacier. The hike was not much of one at all to get to Fow Glacier, about 20 minutes was all and we decided to cut off the trail once we saw the glacier to get as close as possible. Oh ya side story, I spoke in a classic traditional English accent to every tourist I saw and I think Meadow and Jay about died laughing as we caught some people pretty off guard! Anyway, walking over the rocks and getting closer to the glacier you began to feel the sheer girth of the beast in front of us. It wasn't as big as the glacier I've seen in Alaska or the one I ice climbed in Switzerland but I've never been this close to the face of a glacier which gives you an entirely better respect. We got within 10 feet of the glacier and than after seeing rocks crashing down alongside us decided to back up quite a bit. We found some rocks to sit on and listened to our ipods as we enojoyed some of the rarest weather I'm sure the glacier has seen. I lied on a rock in some where around 80 degree weather with my shades on staring at a massive glacier! The other cool thing about this huge block of ice is that the surrounding vegetation is all tropical which I don't think you'll find anywhere else in the world. If you want to live vicariously and feel the ecstasy I felt download a song by Orbital called (Halcyon) or just search for CKY Icelandic theme song and than go plant yourself 50 ft from a glacier, truly an unforgettable feeling. Leaving the glacier we drove for another couple hours to where we are now which is Wanaka. The drive was incredible alongside numerous lakes surrounded by the massive southern alps and the tropical trees on the ground along the road. We slept in a little cottage last night, watched a movie and had a beer before crashing early. Today, Meadow and Jay are out riding mtn. bikes which I unfortunately can't take a part of because Meadow through a block of ice at me at the glacier which landed on my foot and since then has swollen up a bit. It's no worries though because I am going to go grab a coffee here in a bit and listen to some music and soak in exactly where I am which is a little village town on a lake surrounded by the souther alps, truly beautiful.

It's really funny that the places we expected the weather to be hot have been cloudy and raining at times and everywhere we expected it to be bad weather has turned out to be sunny and amazing! New Zealand has been everything people have made it out to be and so much more and hopefully in the coming days I can get some more adventure sports in my belt, it's only a matter of days before we jump off the second tallest bungee jump in the world! I'm off for now.

Sweet as,
Grant

New Zealand has been nothing short off all the beautiful things people have praised about her and I can't wait to continue south where peole rave that it gets even more beautiful.