I have been camping in the bush for the past few weeks and
have not had an intertube signal for a while … today is dumping rain so I was
able to take a break from the tour schedule and find a bar with wifi to give a
quick update.
I’m halfway through a 4-week group tour of both islands of New
Zealand. I thought that this tour would
be a cycling trip – but it turns out it is more of an adventure/camping/hiking
trip. I’m on a bus with 20 really
interesting peeps and the schedule is completely packed. A typical day is 1) break down a campsite, 2)
do something awesome, 3) nap on the bus for 3 to 6 hours while it whisks us to
a new locale, 4) set up camp, 5) campfire dinner, and 6) pass out looking at
the stars.
New Zealand is an outdoorsy dream
– words can’t really describe it. It is
kind of like combining the Alps, Fjords, and the U.S. Pacific Northwest. Here are some activities we have done to
date: 1) digging up sand on a beach to
find underground thermal rivers to make a makeshift beach hottub, 2) swimming
with pods of dolphins at daybreak, 3) backpacking trips through elvin moss forests,
4) white water rafting, 5) hiking to a volcanic crater full of icebergs, 6)
sailing through the southernmost fjords that were rife with waterfalls, 7) wine
and brewery tours, and 8) scrambling up the face of the active volcano that was
depicted in the Lord of the Rings movie as Mount Doom.
The Mount Doom hike was a harrowing and amazing day. We started predawn and splashed through the
marshland that Frodo and Sam led Gollum through on a rope. Then the mood changed as we trudged straight
up into a frozen cloud that led to a foggy moonscape of volcanic rock. Shortly thereafter, the temperature plunged
and most everyone (except for a few extremely prepared Germans) questioned why
we did not bring warmer gear. That
thought was replaced with the “holy cow I can’t see a thing in this 100 mile
per hour frozen wind storm and I’m in danger of being blown off this mountain
if I don’t freeze to death first.” I can
only describe that 30-minute stretch as follows … pretend you are at the top of
a ski lift in a howling wind blizzard armed only with jeans and a pullover (rather
than a parka and goggles). It was super
intense, amazing, and in the end, the views were totally worth it. We felt like
honorary hobbits!
I’m now at southwest corner of the south Island heading
north toward Auckland. After this trip
I’m still thinking about heading back to Brisbane, Australia and continuing to
the north to the great barrier reef.
I look forward to hearing from you!
- The Hiphopopotomus
P.S. Kudos if you know the name of the song associated with
this post’s title :)
