Ray of Sunshine Travel

Kia ora! (I’m running out of ways to start my blogs… Is it showing?)

Last swing dancing class this week! I’m sorry to see it go, though I hope to go to a couple dances. Maybe I’ll surprise myself and sign up for another class!

We (our class, or what was left of us at the end of five weeks) took a selfie to commemorate the great times had by all as we tripped over each other’s feet, blanked on where we were supposed to step next, and laughed as our dancing completely fell apart. I also discovered my selfie camera is kinda awful. (Tells you how many selfies I take.)

Low quality picture, high quality people. (I know, cliche.)

Also, it was a Tuesday. And on Tuesdays, a mini-mart chain called Night’n’Day has deals.

This month, it was $2 churros.

So your girl got a churro.

They say Kiwis don’t do Mexican/Latin food very well, but if this churro was any indication, I don’t really believe them. (Not that I know what authentic churros taste like! This just tasted really good.)

I think fall might be coming; it’s getting a bit chillier out, and we just ended Daylight Saving Time (which makes calculating time differences even more fun…yippee). But it does mean the leaves are turning!

Not too much homework this week, which is always nice, but honestly a really good thing this week.

Because we went backpacking (“tramping,” in Kiwi lingo) on the Kepler Track, one of New Zealand’s Great Walks.

For 3 1/2 days.

Because, you know, when the four of you have never backpacked in your life, starting off with a 3.5-day 30+ mile trip with 1000m elevation gain is a great idea, right? What could go wrong?

*Ahem* (freezing temps, rain, previous injuries acting up, asthma attacks, blisters, sandflies, cheeky alpine parrots stalking our tent, etc.)

Don’t worry, it was a great time. I won’t sit/walk/stand normally for probably a week, but it was well worth it.

Looking back, we were so lucky. There were so many ways it could have gone wrong. For starters, since it was a loop trail, parking at the wrong parking lot and almost going the wrong way, which would have meant completely missing the other two girls who had already started…. (In my defense, it was dark.)

Anyways, despite the mixup, slight drizzle, and darkness, Margaret and I made it to the first campsite okay, where Megan and Jessica were at. We were a bit surprised at the view from our tent the next morning, though!

We knew we were close to the lake, but not how close. This is Lake Te Anau, apparently the largest body of fresh water in New Zealand.

Here we are just having packed up and ready for the first real day of hiking. This is the freshest we’ll look, by the way, so brace yourself!

This was the day with the most elevation gain, but honestly, it wasn’t all that bad. Lots of switchbacks, and very green! Moss seemed to just cover the ground in some places, and if it wasn’t moss, it was ferns. So pretty.

We eventually got above tree line, and that was pretty too. It took Marg and I less than 3 hours to reach the Luxmore Hut, our first destination, which was quicker than we thought it would be! The hut was still a welcome sight, though.

The hut was really nice; no electricity, but it had gas stoves, sinks, toilets, a wood stove and shelter from the wind, which sounded pretty good to us when the low was 36 degrees outside. And those views were to die for.

The hut had a common area, with tables and a food prep area. This was the warmest room, so we spent a lot of time here. It just so happens there was another group of Otago exchange students hiking, so that was fun to meet them!

The divider wall between the kitchen and common tables had some origami figures, which I was happy to contribute a frog to. I was also really amused/impressed by the tin foil backpacker.

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There were also two bunkrooms, which were basically two tiers of mattresses laid out across the room real cozy-like; you just picked a mattress and set your stuff down by it. The mattresses are piled up here, but you can see what it was like.

We went exploring nearby the hut to kill time; there was a cave nearby which we explored, which was kinda cool. (Don’t mind me looking like a dork with my head lamp.)

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My favorite thing we discovered, however, was this little grove. Everything was covered in moss, but a different, more stringy moss than what we’d seen before. So cool!

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We cooked up some cheesy instant mashed potatoes for dinner, got some awesome sunset shots (below), listened to the ranger give a talk, then headed to bed.

So for reference, here’s what the valley looked like an hour before we went to bed. Beautiful, right?

Oh, but it got even better.

I woke up the next morning to people talking about a cloud. I was a bit confused, until I went outside to this.

Definitely one of the trip highlights! Except for flying, I don’t think I’ve ever been above the clouds before. It was even still there when we left for the day.

The second day of hiking was definitely harder, due to fatigue from the first day and the terrain. There were a lot of ups and downs, which made things really pretty but also a lot trickier.

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We were up above the treeline for most of the day and then descended down into a valley near the end. Definitely pretty below the treeline; photo credits below to Jessica!

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After how quickly we’d finished the hike the day before, we were hoping we’d be way ahead of schedule again, but this wasn’t exactly the case; we took right about five hours to get to the Iris Burn campsite. We were really happy to get our packs and boots off.

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This campsite was also really pretty (who am I kidding? The whole track was gorgeous).

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We had a warm dinner thanks to our little camper stove, then curled up quickly in our tents once it got dark. After over 12 hours of sleep the night before, we unfortunately had a bit of trouble getting to sleep that night, but at least we stayed decently warm!

We awoke the next morning to some bold visitors investigating our tent. These were kea, the world’s only alpine parrots. They’re certainly cheeky little buggers; they love shiny things, and they went inside someone else’s tent and pecked through their shiny mat. This is a really poor picture, but you can kinda make out three of them messing with the shiny poles on someone else’s tent.

Also, the stars that morning were AMAZING! I swear I could see the Milky Way, it was so clear. I also spotted a shooting star, one of the clearest I’ve ever seen.

Megan and Jessica set out pretty early, then Margaret and I followed not too long afterwards. This was by far our flattest day, but also our longest: 13 miles from the campsite to the parking lot.

Again, beautiful terrain, despite being mostly flat. Lots of ferns and moss again; photo cred this time to Megan. Surreal, isn’t it?

We really powered through, as we wanted to get back decently early. Lake Te Anau was a welcome sight, as we knew we were getting closer.

After 5 1/2 hours, Margaret and I finally saw the bridge we had crossed over on accident that first night. Such a sweet, sweet sight!

WE MADE IT!!

Success has never tasted sweeter (or saltier, I guess if we’re being literal). And my bed has rarely felt more comfortable or my shower so soothing.

It’s the little things.

Until next week y’all!