Busy, busy, busy!

Wow, what a busy and amazing past month I’ve had! I assume you have heard all about the trip with Mom and Dad, so I’ll keep that section brief!

All of us in Milford Sound

Mom and Dad got in to Queenstown and it was so great to see them after 7 months! I gave them a bit of a break to walk around Queenstown and eat the famous FergBurger, but then we were on the road to Te Anau.  After walking around a small wildlife park and meeting one of my CouchSurfing hosts, I think everyone was ready for bed.  The next morning we were on our way to Milford Sound in Fiordland—one of my favourite drives and places in the world.  Despite being a bit chilly, we made all the usual stops along the way at the Chasm, Mirror Lakes, the Cathedral, and finally, a Milford Sound cruise where Mom and Dad got their first introduction to NZ fur seals.  As if that wasn’t enough for one day, we were headed over to Dunedin.  Another town with a  special place in my heart, I showed them around where I used to live, my Uni, downtown, the Railway Building, my favourite restaurants, up Signal Hill, out to the Sandfly Bay viewpoint on the Otago Peninsula, and drove them (and my trusty car) up the steepest street in the world.  They even got to meet Hannah, who stayed with us in Maryland, and Andy, my best friend in NZ!  That afternoon, it was on the road again for Mt Cook.  Coming into Lake Pukaki was stunning.  I had never seen it in such clear and calm weather with a perfect reflection of New Zealand’s tallest peak in the lake!  After a night by Lake Tekapo, we went into the park and walked to Kea Point, which gave great views of Mt. Cook, Mt. Sefton, and the Tasman Glacier Lake.  That night, we headed to Christchurch where we walked around the remnants of the earthquake-destroyed city and gave Mom and Dad their first Thai dinner!  Finally, I took it a little bit easier on them with a short 2 hour drive to Kaikoura.  The coastal town has bright blue water with mountains in the background and seals

Sunset in Kaikoura

playing all over it!  At the top of the town viewpoint, we watched a gorgeous sunset.  Next we went to Abel Tasman National Park where we collected cockles (clams), despite Dad’s post-Alaska claim that he’d never do that again!  (It’s a bit easier and far less dirty here).  The following day we took the water taxi to Anchorage Bay to relax in the sand and I showed Mom and Dad what a (luxurious) New Zealand Dept. of Conservation hut looks like.  After the beach, we headed to Picton through the scenic Queen Charlotte Drive and on to the ferry to Wellington.  In our last day together, we checked out New Zealand’s Parliament Building, the Beehive, the Supreme Court building, and Te Papa, New Zealand’s National Museum.  The trip finished with lunch overlooking the ocean and then off to the airport where Mom and Dad had a long journey home and I had new adventures waiting.  It’s always hard to say goodbye, but I had an absolutely amazing time with Mom and Dad.  Their trip will be one of the special moments

Anchorage Bay, Abel Tasman

that come to mind immediately when I think of my travels now and far into the future.  From sharing my favourite spots to discovering new things together, I couldn’t have asked for a more fun time.  Once they had left, it was time for me to look forward to my next adventure—being a volunteer Hut Warden for the Department of Conservation at Angelus Hut in Nelson Lakes National Park.  (Sorry, I tried to keep it short…)

Climbing Angelus Peak

Nelson Lakes is an area that I’d heard great things about, but never been to.  Apparently Mom and Dad took the good weather with them, but despite the forecast I was off to Angelus Hut with an extremely heavy pack in the thick cloud and light rain.  I finally made it to my home for the week around 5pm and found out that I had the place to myself for the night, which was good as it gave me a chance to figure things out for myself before dealing with others. Hut wardens are responsible for radioing in to the Visitor Centre at 8:30am for a weather update, cleaning the hut and bathroom area, splitting firewood, then radioing in again at 4pm and then giving a hut talk and collecting fees at 6pm.  All of the “work” usually only took an hour, which meant I had from 10-4 to myself. Unfortunately, the weather was awful for the first 3 days—rainy, cloudy, and cold.  I still managed to get up to Sunset Saddle, but the views were less-than-impressive in thick fog.  I spent a lot of time reading near the fire, but after my night alone, there were more people though the next few days.  On the 4^th day the rain turned to sleet and the 5^th morning was beautiful.  Overnight everything had turned to snow and the sun had appeared for the first time revealing a lake surrounded by beautiful white mountains. With that, the water tank froze and would remain frozen for the rest of the week, but luckily there was no shortage with the snow and the lake.  I attempted to climb Angelus Peak, but was forced to turn around 100m from the top.  I took the more direct, steep route, which worked out fine until the top pitch which was a thin layer of ice covering all the rocks.  Anyway, between the food provided by the DoC, the food I carried, the books on my Kindle (I finished 2 and started a 3^rd!), the sunshine in the mountains, and the company

View from the hut!

from various people of all walks of life from all corners of the globe, I had an amazing time at Angelus Hut—one of the most stunning places I’d visited.  However, of course, it’d be too simple for me to be done my Nelson Lakes National Park adventure there.  Instead I decided to carry on for 4 more nights to get to Blue Lake.  Blue Lake is meant to have some of the clearest water in the world and the clearest non-tropical seawater.  With visibility reaching 80m, it is pretty impressive!  I also met a German girl who had the same plan of going to Blue Lake Hut for 2 nights and her and I did a day trip up Moss Pass, which gave great views of the Sabine River Valley, and D’Urville River Valley.  We saw kea and chamois, as well as my first Blue Ducks—a rare New Zealand duck!  The only downside was that I had to walk for nearly 30 hours over 5 days to get to Blue Lake and back, so I am now exhausted, but definitely not regretting it!

Lake Angelus

So, where does my adventure take me next? That’s the million dollar question.  In the very short term, I plan to spend tomorrow in the civilized world of Motueka, then visit Golden Bay and Farewell Spit.  If the weather remains good, I will then hike in an area called the Arthur Tablelands in Kahurangi National Park.  From there, I’d like to do a bit more hiking in the Richmond Forest Park before doing a road trip slowly working my way back down to Dunedin, Gore, Te Anau, and Wanaka to say goodbye to friends.  At the latest, I think I will leave New Zealand by mid-June.  Where I’m going, though, remains to be seen.