Mid Semester Break

We were granted a week off for our mid-semester break from April 23rd to the 1st of May. While most of the flat and friends took off for Sydney for the week, Noah and I took Wootie on a joy ride. Our friends Reid and Rafaela came with us.

Day 1 - April 23rd:
We drove from Christchurch to Nelson stopping in Kaikoura on the way. We saw some great coastlines and big mountains.

We stopped at a Holiday Park where we set up our tent and crashed for the night. It was the first night Noah's tent got use, and man did it fail. It started raining a few hours in, and rained stupid amounts overnight soaking most of us.


Day 2 - April 24th:
The tent leaked quite a bit but we toughed it out, got up early and dropped Raffy off for her bus ride back to Wellington where she goes to uni.

We then continued on our way to Motueka where we met up with some other friends and picked up Taylor (who joined us for the rest of the trip). We made a few sight seeing stops on the 24th:

• Hawkes Lookout

• Ngarua Caves

• Pupu Springs

• Takaka
• Cape Farewell (South Island's northernmost point)

We got our hut tickets and set up the hike for the next day (Abel Tasman Coastal Track). Everything was soaked from the night before so instead of camping we bunked up at a cheap motel in Motueka. We snuck 4 into a room for two and took advantage of the dryer and the TV (We watched Beverly Hills Chuaua and House Bunny...judge us.) while we could.

Day 3 - April 25th:

We packed up the car early, got some food, and headed to the Abel Tasman Coastal Track.

We cranked out the 8 hour hike into the hut in 5 (with a nice long lunch break on a river). Hung out on the beach, got eaten by sand flies, cooked some dinner, played cards, and made some friends. The hut was very cool, and we all got a good nights sleep.

Day 4 - April 26th:

We got up early, made some porridge, and took off to finish the track. There were two tidal crossings that we had to hit at certain times when tide was low, so we had to be on time. At the second crossing, we saw Alex, Jenn, Suzy, and some friends from a distance. Alex and I were excited to see each other...

We stopped and had lunch after the second crossing, then finished the track around 1. We were supposed to take the water taxi which would bring us back to our car via the ocean, but the weather was harsh. They couldn't get to us so they sent us a bus:

We took the bus back, got a nice nap, then continued toward the west coast. Pit stop at Split Apple Rock:

We stopped at Lake Rotoroa in the dark to set up a tent for the night. Successful tent night with no rain!

Day 5 - April 27th:

We got up early to head toward Westport on the west coast. On the way out, we checked out Lake Rotoroa because we couldn't see anything te night before (too dark when we got there). It was AWESOME:

We kept driving and got to Westport mid morning. We saw Cape Foulwind, got some food, then went to Denniston (and old gold mine site):

After that we kept driving as we drove down the west coast toward Greymouth. We stopped at the Pancake Rocks to check them out:

In Greymouth, we stocked up on groceries, set up our glacier hike for Friday, and continued south (oh, and saw this:)

Then made a pit stop at a sweet gold mine:

After a few hours of driving by sunset over the ocean and windy gnarly as mountain roads, we arrived in Franz. Continuing on, we headed toward Gillepsies Beach where we camped the night. On the way, we saw what Noah, in his delirious late night driving trance state, thought was a white wolf. So we backed up to confirm his sight for it to be a sheep...

We got to the site, built a fire and Taylor made us burritos. Set up camp and tented the night.

Day 6 - April 28th:

We got up early again, saw a beautiful sunrise over Mt. Cook and the glaciers, and went to Lake Mathison to see the reflection lake:

We got some breakfast at a small cafe, set up a skydive for Taylor and Reid, then went for a hike. The hike was up the Franz Josef glacier valley. It was a beautiful day, and some great views. We got up to the base of the glacier and checked the area out:

We brought Taylor and Reid to the drop zone, cleaned out the car while they were in the air, and got some pictures and videos of them on their way down. It was a cool, very small dropzone; so we could get right under them for pictures and chat up the jumpers a bit:

After that, we drove to Okarito Beach and Lagoon to check it out, then back to the campsite at Gillespies. We caught a cool sunset over the ocean, had a nice dinner and fire, and star gazed as we went to bed.

Day 7 - April 29th:

Another early morning to see the sunrise over the mountains. Next we were off the Fox glacier for an all day guided hike. We got geared up with cramp ons, hopped on a bus, and drove to the glacier. We had a cool guide who took us around on the glacier for the whole day. It was AWESOME. Bluebird day:

When we finished, we got back in Wootie and took off through the mountains to Haast, which is further down the west coast. We crashed at a small backpackers and finally got to dry clothes, take a shower, and relax a bit.

Day 8 - April 30th:

Final morning, rise early again. We packed up and headed to Wanaka through Haast Pass. It was a super rad drive through rugged mountains, cool streams, waterfalls, and cliffs. Once in Wanaka, we went to a bike hire shop and for $20 we got some bikes. We peddled a few kms on the edge of Lake Wanaka and down a river to a place called Dean's Bank Track. It was a brand new, very cool track:

After a crazy workout, and one of the most fun days I have ever had (my first time downhill mountain biking - New addiction), we hung out at the beach and relaxed. We drove around a little after we got bored and checked out Treble Cone (a ski field) where we saw some speed flyers land (AWESOME!) and some rock climbers climbing and bouldering.

We got back to town where I bought a new pack for AT trips this winter and we got some dinner and a few beers at a local bar. When we were all done, we got back in Wootie for the last time and drove back to Dunedin.

This trip may have been the most fun I have ever had. It was great to just live in a tent, not worry about anything (showers, what clothing, school work, etc), and be totally disconnected (no cell service or internet connection). I couldn't have asked for better traveling companions: Reid is a gnarly backpacker from Alaska who is never affected by long days, Noah likes some extreme stuff like me and is really into hiking, and Taylor gave us someone to crack sexist women jokes at the whole time. She took it like a champ and she was awesome the whole trip. Taylor is a hard core hiker too so everyone was just happy to be out doing stuff. No whining or complaining (serious that is, we all whined about stupid things for entertainment, of course).

p.s. - I rocked a Fu Man Chu stache and sideburns the whole time 

Going back to uni is going to suck...