New Zealand

The Final Stretch

Sheraya Smith1 Comment

Alrighty, here it is: my official last New Zealand post. Geesh, to think it’s been basically 3 months since I’ve gotten back… Whoops!

Anyway, so I got back from the solo road trip late on June 9th, but I still didn’t have my first final until the 15th. Basically in between there was a lot of studying, some relaxing, some packing, and some movie nights with Megan, Jessica and CeeCee. Loved having this group to hang out with this semester! I miss them dearly.

I also made one more trip up Baldwin Street; it definitely looked different from the beginning of the semester with a lot of the leaves gone.

I had my sociology final on Saturday, then my AI final Monday and my Human-Computer Interaction final Tuesday, so they were all kind of packed in there. My AI final was the one I was most stressed about, but that also meant I had been studying hard since classes ended, so I ended up doing really pretty well!

The way they did finals was actually really interesting; it was similar to the AP tests I took in high school, where professors were not allowed to be in the room, bathroom breaks were limited, and all of your answers had to be in a standardized packet. Definitely a different experience than DePauw, where finals are always administered by the professor, and their rules apply.

After my last final finished on Tuesday, I had two days before I had to vacate my flat, so I decided to make the most of them. Even before arriving in New Zealand, it was my dream to go skiing there at least once. Thankfully a lot of the slopes had just opened up the week or so before and had a decent amount of snow already, so early morning Wednesday, Jack (a guy from my program) and I picked up a rental car and headed out for the Remarkables ski range in Queenstown.

By the time we got up the mountain and parked at the slopes, it was about a four hour drive. We hustled in and got our skis and equipment; it was actually pretty hard giving our measurement so they could fix our skis, since everything was in metric! As soon as we were ready, we hit the slopes.

It was really a pretty interesting setup. There were no trees, since we were way above treeline, but there were a lot of rocks. I stuck mostly to blue squares, but Jack, who’s a native Coloradan, ventured out a bit more.

What a beautiful day it was: not too cold, sun was shining. It was great to be back on the slopes, especially since I had left the States rather early into the ski season there. And the views were pretty a-okay too…

Jack wore his bright blue and yellow Highlanders onesie in lieu of a ski suit and was quite the favorite among strangers on the slopes. What a riot! I just wish I had a picture.

My only complaint was how quickly and easily I got tired. I’m guessing it must have been the mountain air, but I was dead tired after only four hours of skiing or so. It worked out well, though, because Jack had to be back anyways. So grateful we were able to squeeze in this trip last minute!

After we got back, the rest of the night was mine to pack and clean, since Jessica and Megan had already left for home.

The morning of my last full day in New Zealand, I finished packing, carved a stamp and assembled a letterbox, and ran some last minute errands. Rather than return the rental car after skiing, I had decided to hang on to it the next day so I could do some last-minute sight-seeing around Dunedin and then drive myself to the airport.

My first stop was Signal Hill, where I planted the letterbox. It was also a great place to get a good view of Dunedin.

After a quick stop at Unipol to pick up some pack liners for me and the fam, I had a decision to make: go to Larnach Castle, the only castle in New Zealand and something my Grandma had been really excited about, or go to Tunnel Beach, which I’d also heard was really cool. I had originally hoped to make it to both, but after running into some construction, it became pretty clear I was going to have to choose between. (“Silly Sheraya”, you say, “you were in Dunedin for 4.5 months!” Well, in my defense, I didn’t have a car, and I was traveling other parts of New Zealand almost every weekend. But point taken.)

I ultimately decided to go to Larnach Castle, and I was not disappointed.

Though not your traditional castle, there was still so much history, and I was just enthralled.

The story behind the builders of the castle was actually pretty sad; Mr. Larnach’s first and second wives died, his third wife cheated on him with his son, and his kids in general were lazy moochers, save for his favorite daughter, who died in her twenties. Mr. Larnach committed suicide in the Parliament Buildings after receiving a mysterious note one morning. Legal battles further tore the family apart, and the castle was ultimately sold. It was used for various purposes throughout the next several decades, including a hospital for soldiers, a retreat for nuns, a place to stay for the best-behaved at asylums, and so on. It wasn’t until the newly married Barkers stumbled across the castle on a road trip and purchased it that it was used again as a home and restored to its former glory. And wowee, what a place to live!

I was so excited that I splurged and rented a device to tell me more about the history of the castle. (For those who know how cheap I am, you’ll realize this is a pretty big step for me!) I’ll spare you all the details, but I do want to point out just how exquisite the ceilings were. Every room was beautiful, but the ceilings were just the icing on the cake. Though I’m sad not to have seen Tunnel Beach, I definitely don’t regret spending my last few free hours here.

Alas, it was finally time to drive myself to the airport and begin the long journey home. I got one last view of beautiful Dunedin, though, from the peninsula.

After that, the travel adrenaline kicked in as I drove to the airport, dropped off the rental car, and waited for my flight to Auckland. It was dark when we took off, so I didn’t get to see Dunedin while flying away. In my state, though, that was honestly probably better.

The flight to Auckland went smoothly, and before I knew it, I was back where it all began. I even stayed at the same hotel I did when first flying in. So funny how things can come full circle.

Unlike my frozen pie dinner when I first arrived, however, I decided to treat myself to McDonald’s for dinner. I ordered the Brekkie burger, which was kind of like a quarter-pounder but with a hashbrown and barbecue sauce, and a strawberry chocolate shake. (I won’t tell you how much it cost, but it was pretty ridiculous). Tasty though!

The next morning came far too early, but I made it to the airport in time for my flight. This was my last ever picture taken in New Zealand.

And the international traveling began! My flight actually had me hopping over to Sydney, so technically I can say I have been to Australia. (Just not outside of the airport. I could see the opera house while we were landing though!)

I was pretty fascinated and amused by the McDonald’s in the Sydney airport, enough to take a picture. You can kind of make out workers on the top floor, who would send finished orders down to the counter below via the conveyor belt. (I promise, I’m not obsessed with McDonald’s…)

I had a short layover, and then it was time to board the plane to L.A. The flight was pretty uneventful; I finally got to finish Instant Family, which I had started on my first flight to New Zealand! They also had some pretty tasty food.

Finally, we touched down in L.A. I was so excited to be back in the States, but also really anxious to be home already.

Going through customs ended up being a breeze, thank goodness. My layover before Indy seemed to drag on. A couple hours later, though, I had reached the last leg of the journey.

Finally, back home again in Indiana, and home to stay.

Mom and Dad came to meet me at the airport. I was pretty happy to see them, and almost as happy to take my extra layers off.

Approaching my house…

HOME SWEET HOME.

I can’t tell you how good it felt to be with my family, sleep in my bed, and eat a home-cooked meal. Four and a half months can really be a long time.

Apparently I hadn’t had enough travel in the past 48 hours, though, because the next morning I scampered off to pick up one of our trio, Angie, from Greencastle, and drive basically to Cincinnati to surprise the third of our trio, Shelby, for her birthday. Mind you, I hadn’t driven on the right side of the road for 4.5 months… Probs not the best decision I ever made, but hands down so worth it to be reunited with these two.

…

So now that we’ve reached the end of my New Zealand journeys, how on earth do I wrap up “the adventure of a lifetime”?

I could (and probably still will) say a lot of cliche things. Most of you are probably over me talking about New Zealand, though, so I won’t drag it out (too long. Hopefully).

This semester, while a little lighter academically, still taught me innumerable lessons, and I don’t mean just how to survive in the wilderness for four days with only a pack on your back or drive a campervan through narrow mountain switchbacks. (Although those were definitely some things I learned. )

I learned how to adapt to an unfamiliar academic, living, and cultural system. I learned how beautiful nature can be, and how having friends to share it with makes it only more beautiful. I learned how much satisfaction there can be in planning something and then actually doing it. I learned how to be more okay with spending a lot of money on something I really want. I learned that gratuitous violence is insensible and painful no matter where it occurs. I learned how there are little things I take for granted every day, from junk food to phone calls to hugs. I learned that traveling doesn’t have to be far from home to be fun, and that there are tons of cool things to do in my own backyard that I haven’t made a priority to do. I learned that we’re never guaranteed tomorrow, so we should make the most of what time we have. I re-learned that my loved ones are not invincible no matter how they may appear, and I now hug them a little tighter when I see them. I learned that friends, no matter where or how they are made, add so much to life. I learned that accents can be tough to decipher, but kindness is a universal language.

(Okay, sorry, almost done with the sap.)

I guess I’ll end by saying I feel so grateful and so blessed to have been able to study abroad in New Zealand. At the same time, I’d rather not say this was the “adventure of a lifetime.” I’d much rather view it as the beginning to an adventurous life.

To adventuring.

Road Trippin’, Vol. 2, Part 2 -Week 16

Sheraya SmithLeave a comment

Welcome back! If you couldn’t tell from the title, this is the recap of the second half of my roadtrip, after Autumn and I split ways at Queenstown.

My first solo adventure on Wednesday was hitting up a letterbox at the Queenstown Botanical Gardens that we had missed because of the Luma festival. I located a second letterbox just outside Queenstown at the Kawarau Bridge, where I bungee jumped back in the summer.

Somewhere in there I caught these views…

I made a brief stop in Wanaka to pick up a crepe from my favorite breakfast place and some CDs from a thrift store, because I quickly found out that radio reception was pretty far and few between.

And then it was off on an even grander adventure to the West Coast! What a great day for driving…

I quickly made a habit of pulling over after seeing something really neat, dashing out to grab a picture, and then racing back to the car.

A couple longer stops were at a few waterfalls…

…and the very aptly named Blue Pools.

Earlier in the semester several ISA friends had come here and jumped off the bridge in the last picture, but it was a little too chilly for that by the time I made it there. Still very worth the stop!

About early afternoon I reached Haast, which was the last town with a gas station for another 140 km. I found it pretty funny that the station didn’t even bother posting a price; I guess when there’s much of a demand it really doesn’t matter.

After Haast I started seeing a lot more of the coast, which was really cool. I know it’s cliche, but the ocean just kept going and going…

I made a stop in Brod Bay, where it appears the thing to do was write a message on a rock and leave it in a pile, …

….then went over several suspension bridges and through winding curves…

…until I reached the tiny town of Franz Josef, my home for the night.

It was a pretty quiet night for me, mostly filled with cooking dinner, a little time spent with my Northern European roommates, and studying (did I mention I had finals that next week? Time to get serious!).

Thursday I woke up to a drizzly day. Though I drug my feet a little, I eventually got packed up and headed out to see the nearby Franz Josef Glacier. I was actually really lucky to be able to see it; a couple of months ago there had been severe flooding in the area that had wiped out the roads leading back to both Franz Josef Glacier and the nearby Fox Glacier. Fox was still closed when I got there, but I guess Franz Josef had just reopened.

It was about a 30 minute hike one way to see the glacier, and unfortunately it was drizzling most of the way. The air was so misty that it was honestly kind of hard to see the glacier; you can kinda make it out in the photo below. A bit underwhelming frankly, but at least I can say I’ve seen a glacier relatively up close now!

After finding a quick letterbox just off of one of the trails, it was time to hang up my raincoat inside my car, turn up the heat, and hit the road again!

Next stop was Hokitika, a neat little coastal town.

I had heard about Hokitika Gorge and wanted to visit but didn’t realize it was actually a 30 minute drive from the actual town. I decided to go for it anyway.

It was a neat place, but due to the rain the water wasn’t quite as blue as some pictures I’d seen. I also looked for a letterbox here but couldn’t find it.

My next official stop wasn’t until Punakaiki, but that didn’t keep me from pulling over a couple times for some cool shots.

A little bit of backstory on that night’s destination: I had first heard about the Pancake Rocks, located in the tiny coastal town of Punakaiki, from the in-flight magazine on my initial flight from Auckland to Dunedin. It was one of the first things on my bucket list, but I wasn’t sure if I would make it there, since it was pretty far away from everywhere else. When I started planning this road trip, I knew I had to get there, even if it would mean a little backtracking later on. Boy, was it worth it.

I arrived in Punakaiki a little before dark, so I decided to save the Pancake Rocks for the morning and snuggle into my hostel instead. After a day of being wet, the hostel felt so nice and dry and cozy and homey. On top of that, it was located right on the beach, AND I had a gorgeous guitar-playing Londoner for a roommate. It was a pretty quiet night studying, but it honestly felt like I’d found a slice of paradise.

Plus, I got to indulge in a steamy pud!

‘Puds’ I’m guessing are short for pudding, though more like a cakey pudding than what we have in the States. I hadn’t seen these until I came to NZ, and with so little processed food available, I was pretty intrigued. They were so good, especially warmed up!

Come Friday morning, I was honestly kinda reluctant to leave the hostel, it was so homey. Probably my favorite place I stayed in all of NZ.

But there were even better things in store for the day, namely the Pancake Rocks. They’re named so because the ocean has worn them down so they appear to have layers (my geology ignorance is surely showing). The water’s also worn away several pockets, holes and chasms in the rocks, and especially come high tide, the area is just a majestic and thunderous display of booming, splashing, spraying, powerful water. It’s really quite the sight to see, so I’m not sorry for bombarding you with pictures.

To make things even better, there was a letterbox here, and I was first finder!

I then walked back down the hill towards town to explore a nearby cave, which was kinda cool.

I still couldn’t resist the pull of the Pancake Rocks, though, and I found myself back there, which was even cooler since it was now closer to high tide. Definitely ranks as one of my favorite spots in New Zealand.

Though I lingered as long as I could, I had to hit the road so I could make it to the next destination: Arthur’s Pass, my first inland destination in a while. It was a pretty neat drive, and especially interesting how quickly things changed from bright, green and sunny….

…to snowy, cloudy and brown.

I arrived in the pass about 3:00 or so and made tracks to the Bealy Spur trailhead. The trail was recommended to me by an ISA friend, and despite having to battle some ice above the treeline, I was really glad I went through with it.

I beat the dark back down the mountain and went in search of my hostel just up the road. Not even 30 seconds after I had parked I heard something on the roof. To my great amusement, the beaky “something” didn’t take long to show itself.

It was the infamous kea, apparently its curiosity peaked by my shiny car. (For previous encounters with kea, see my post from hiking the Kepler Track.)

Even after I stepped out of the car, it just kind of sat and looked at me.

Four other less bold birds were a couple feet from the car and watched as I carried my stuff inside. Such cheeky things!

It was another quiet night with my singular bunkmate, this time July from Italy, who I had happened to first run into on the Bealey Spur track. Despite not being able to get the wi-fi to work, I was still able to study.

Saturday morning July and I went to go investigate some nearby hikes. She also wanted to see some kea (apparently her car wasn’t very shiny), so we headed to a lookout near the Otira Viaduct, where there were supposed to be some. What a piece of architecture!

Next up we started the Otira Valley Track, which was a bit lower in elevation than Bealey Spur, but still snowy and gorgeous! We could only walk about an hour in before special equipment was required, but it was worth it.

Afterwards, we drove back into the pass a little further and did the short Devil’s Punchbowl track. It didn’t really end in a punchbowl, at least not the kind I was used to, but there was a really neat waterfall!

July and I headed back to the hostel where I finished packing up my stuff and got ready to go. The hostel was a pretty neat stay, though quite rustic.

I even found a note left by some people in Earlham College in Indiana! What a small world!

After I got the car loaded, July and I said goodbye and parted ways. Next destination? Christchurch, on the east coast. After living in the U.S. my whole life, it was kinda funny to cross the whole width of the country in a matter of hours.

Of course, the drive to Christchurch wasn’t without a stop along the way. I saw there would be a letterbox at Castle Hill and decided to make a stop. And boy, I was so glad I did.

This place is well known among Kiwis as one of the best bouldering spots in New Zealand. It’s also well known as the filming site of the battle scene from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, hence the Mr. Tumnus stamp in the letterbox. Judging from the marks in the snow, it looks like a lot of people have found it to be a pretty good sledding spot too.

This was honestly one of my favorite spots in New Zealand. The boulders were just incredible, and it was the best feeling being able to climb up one, see for miles around and watch the sun go down.

After reluctantly leaving Castle Hill, I made one more quick stop at this picturesque place…

…then headed straight on to Christchurch. After checking into my hostel, I decided to walk a couple blocks down to BurgerFuel, New Zealand’s burger chain. Pretty good stuff, especially when paired with a good ol’ L&P (a lemon soda unique to NZ.

It was another pretty quiet night studying back at the hostel. Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy the same solitude I’d experienced the last couple nights, but I made do.

Sunday morning was my last day on the road, and my plan was to make the most of it. I decided to start out by walking around downtown Christchurch, and I was glad I did. I’d been to Christchurch real briefly once before at the end of our mid-semester road trip, but I experienced much more of the 2011 earthquake devastation (as well as effects of the 2019 mosque shooting) this visit. Many of the buildings downtown were still in shambles or being held together by supports, including the Christchurch Cathedral, which they’ve only recently started to repair.

I did make it to the Transitional Cathedral, more commonly known as the Cardboard Cathedral (it is actually partially made out of cardboard!). The choir was having practice when I walked in, and it was really nice to sit down and listen for a few minutes. It’s just so neat to see how different denominations worship our same God.

Next I wandered down close to the Botanical Gardens in search of the Antigua Boat Sheds and discovered the Living Memorial for the victims of the mosque shooting back in March. The memorial had been pared down significantly in the previous few months, but it was still pretty awe-inspiring.

I did finally find the Boat Sheds! I was kind of hoping I could squeeze in punting (basically they take you down the river in a canoe, similar to a gondolier), but it just didn’t work out timing wise.

I decided to try and hit the nearby suburb of Lyttleton, which ended up being a slightly longer drive than expected, part of which was through one of the longest tunnels in the country. It was a neat little harbor town; one of the coolest parts was the Timeball Station, at which a large ball was dropped at a very specific time, which sailors could use to make sure their ships’ clocks were on schedule. The station was destroyed in the earthquake and had just recently been rebuilt.

I didn’t spend too much time there before heading back, as there was still a lot left to see; I really wanted to make it out to the Banks Peninsula yet. As it happened, though, I got lost trying to head that way and had to rely on Google Maps, which just happened to take me on a strange route through a residential area. I just happened to spot a sign for the “Old Stone House” and remembered seeing online that a letterbox was located there, so I turned around and nabbed the box. It was a pretty neat location with a cool ghost story.

I was even more psyched, however, about the Girl Guide center I had seen when I’d turned off to go to the Old Stone House. I drove in through the gates, and just my luck, they happened to be having an event there that weekend! I got to talk with three Rangers, which is like the US equivalent of Cadettes I believe, and they even let me take a quick video of them! I had been wanting to interact with Girl Guides since before I came, so I was over the moon (I was a Girl Scout for 12 years, so please excuse my nerdy excitement). And to think, if I hadn’t gotten lost, and if I hadn’t turned back for the letterbox, I would have never seen the center.

Next it was off to Akaroa, finally. Akaroa is the site of the only French settlement in New Zealand, and it takes about an hour to get there from Christchurch. It was a pretty drive with some great views of the ocean and peninsula.

Today Akaroa is pretty touristy, but it was still a neat town. I spent some time wandering in and out of shops, then walked down to the lighthouse.

After an hour or two, I was getting ready to hit the road again, especially knowing it was going to be about a five hour drive back to Dunedin. I made one more stop on the peninsula on my way out at Birdlings Flat in an attempt to grab a letterbox.

Unfortunately, I was a little too gung-ho in my driving while trying to find the box and unwittingly drove into a 4×4 area only, where I quickly got stuck. I was extremely fortunate that there were other people around who quickly stopped what they were doing and came to the rescue. We dug out the car some, then I hit the gas in reverse while some of my godsends pushed. We were able to get it unstuck, thank the Lord! That was an adventure I wouldn’t mind not repeating; honestly, it was one of the scariest moments of my time in New Zealand.

And of course, I couldn’t find the letterbox. Oh well. It was still an incredible place with a gorgeous beach. Even better, I was there for sunset.

After watching the sun go down for a while, it was time to hit the road back to Dunedin. Other than a stop for food and one quick detour for another attempt at a letterbox (foiled again, darn it), it was straight back to Dunedin. I got in about midnight, cleaned out the car, and took it back to the rental place before crashing for the night.

It’s hard to say how to wrap up such an amazing trip. I guess I’m just really glad I took the initiative to figure out what I still wanted to see and made a plan to make it happen. I think I’ll be forever grateful I did.

(One more post! That’s what I’m aiming for. I’ve got a week and a half before school starts; think I can do it before then?)

Road Trippin’, Vol. 2, Part 1 – Weeks 15 and 16

Sheraya SmithLeave a comment

Here it is: the post you’ve been waiting for! (Or at least the first half). I know, the last was such a cliffhanger. (Except you already know I got home safely.)

The week after returning from Milford was a decently busy one. It was the last week of classes, so thankfully classwork was finally slowing down. I made it to my final flax weaving class and cranked out two more placemats for a total of four. I had quite a bit to carry on my way home from class and had to get a bit creative; Jessica found it pretty entertaining and snapped a picture. And yes, I got quite a few strange looks. Oh well; if it works, it works!

Outside of that, my time was largely spent planning what to do with my time in between end of classes and finals and studying for my early exam in New Zealand history. After the test was finished Thursday afternoon, ISA met up for our final get-together of the semester at the famous (in New Zealand) Speight’s Brewing Company in downtown Dunedin. We got a tour of the whole place and lots of information about its history and beer-making process, unfortunately far more than my brain could ever remember.

And of course, one of the best parts was the tasting at the end.

Believe it or not, it was my first ever beer. Definitely seems to be an acquired taste, but I did thoroughly enjoy their cider!

And things just kept going up when we got free dinner and a free drink after the tour! Steak dinner with cheesecake for dessert, no less! Plus, good company to top it all off. This girl was pretty much in heaven.

It was so hard to believe that this was the last time everyone from ISA would be together in one room. Lots of laughter, reminiscing, and toasts that night: a great way to send things off. I already miss you all bunches and can’t wait to see many of you again! Cheers!

After getting home that night, it was go time again: I was leaving bright and early the next morning on a road trip with my flatmate Autumn and had a lot of packing to do!

After a very short night, we were on the road headed for Bluff, probably the southernmost town on the South Island. Our main destination, however, was even further south: Stewart Island. We had to take a ferry to get there, which was about an hour long trip. Thankfully I don’t get seasick easily!

Stewart Island, though decently sizeable (half the acreage of Rhode Island), has just one tiny town, Oban. The island is most known for its history in timber and saw milling and the Rakiura Track, one of NZ’s nine Great Walks. If you’ve followed my other posts, you can probably guess what the main draw was for me…

After a brief stop at the DOC center to get some information on the track, we were off! Of course we had to take a picture with the kiwi (sign) we saw. Stewart Island is known as one of the best places to see a wild kiwi.

The trail was beautiful. It was a lot of ferns and greenery and had relatively few jaw-dropping vistas compared to the other Great Walks I had done, which I was initially kind of disappointed about. The track really grew on me the longer we kept going, however.

Somewhere along the stretch, we reached the point that was probably the furthest south I would ever be! Much further and I would be too cold.

After about 3 and a half hours, we reached the North Arm Hut, our home for the night. We had pretty good luck in terms of weather; just after we arrived, it started pouring. Thankfully it didn’t last too long, so we could go out and explore a bit.

Sharing the hut with us was Dan from Christchurch, Tim and Janet from Wanaka, and Janet’s dad Doug, who was from Australia. We bonded pretty quickly while trying to light a fire with very few dry materials handy. After we finally got it going and ate dinner, I spent a good while chatting with Dan and Tim about all the adventures I had been on that semester and comparing which hikes we had done.

The next day Autumn and I set out early, as we had about an eight hour hike in front of us. The landscape was pretty similar to the day before, though with a little more elevation.

To give a fully accurate representation of the track, though, I really have to show you these pictures. It was so MUDDY. No matter how careful we were, we were sometimes up to our ankles in mud… My boots were quite well camouflaged; see if you can spot them below!

Also rounding out the track were a couple of historical sites. I think I mentioned how Stewart Island was once a big timber and saw milling site, and luckily some old equipment was left behind. While the track was really beautiful, I think the history really made it for me. (I know, my nerdiness is showing)…

We definitely got more coastal views as we got towards the end of the track… So gorgeous! We even found a Paua shell! (An abalone only found in New Zealand)

After a long day of hiking (about 7 hours), nearly all of which we had perfect weather for, we made it to the end! Another Great Walk down!

Fortunately, we were able to call a taxi to take us the couple of miles back into town (especially since I soaked my socks taking that last picture… worth it!).

We got settled into our cozy hostel, then set out to find Dan, Janet, Tim and Doug, who all happened to be staying at our hostel! (To be fair, it wasn’t that big of a coincidence… Oban is pretty teeny!)

Our North Arm Hut reunion started with a short walk to an area of town nearby where there had been several kiwi spottings the last couple nights. We had no such luck, but it was a pretty walk with a good view of Oban.

We then went out to dinner at the hotel nearby, where we got some really big portions for a pretty good rate. Even after having backpacked the last two days, I still had leftovers of my loaded potato wedges!

After dinner, we headed out one more time to try to find the ever-illusive wild kiwi. This time we searched a rugby field quietly and diligently with our red flashlights (kiwi can’t see red light). It wasn’t too long before we all got impatient and cold, and one of us got the bright idea of shining their super bright headlamp all across the field. Still no luck. I think my favorite quotes from the trip occurred then: “That’s how we’ll get to see them, we’ll just blind the little buggers!” and “If we can’t see them, nobody can!” What a riot. I was really glad to meet these incredible people, and even more glad we could reunite with them. What a great bunch!

The next morning, it was up early again to catch the ferry back across. After reaching the mainland we headed back north again towards Te Anau, stopping briefly in the scenic town of Invercargill along the way. It’s home to possibly the fanciest water tower I will ever see.

Our primary destination at Te Anau was the glowworm caves. If you haven’t heard of these, they’re these teeny little worms that live only in New Zealand caves and put off a blueish greenish light. This had been on my bucket list for a good while, and Te Anau was supposed to be one of the best places to see them.

To reach the cave, we had to take a cruise across Lake Te Anau. Once we arrived we were split up into groups to go inside the cave. After walking a ways through the cave, we were ushered into a little boat, and the lights were turned completely out. After bumping around in complete darkness for a minute or two, our eyes adjusted and we were able to see clouds of little blue pinpricks floating in the black. Of course, I couldn’t take any pictures, but it was pretty cool. Guess you’ll just have to take my word for it.

After we emerged, we were taken to the Cavern House, where we got to learn a little more about the history of the place and about glowworms. I won’t share the gory details here, but glowworms are really sort of primal creatures (I don’t think that’s quite the right word, but I couldn’t come up with it…). Feel free to Google them if interested, but make sure to at least look at pictures!

To be honest, I enjoyed the ride back across the lake almost as much as the glow worms! It was a gorgeous night.

To top it off, we got to find a letterbox just outside of town! It was my first one in New Zealand, so I was pretty psyched. For those of you unfamiliar, it’s basically like a treasure hunt where you’re looking for little boxes with a stamp (usually hand-carved) and a logbook inside. If you find one, you take a print of the stamp and leave a print of your personal stamp inside. It’s pretty similar to geocaching if you’ve heard of that.

After finding the box, we headed off to Queenstown to spend the night. While most hostels I stayed at just had a bunkbed layout, this one was really unique: each person had a totally encapsulated pod to themselves within a larger room. I found the personal space and noise barrier really nice, especially since it’s hard for me to sleep when people are snoring…

The next morning it was off for another round of Queenstown adventures. The first item on the itinerary? Paragliding!

We rode the famous Queenstown gondola up to the top where we met our instructors/pilots. They got us saddled up and the parachutes all straightened out, then gave us a couple of instructions and off we went!

Essentially, once my pilot got the parachute up in the air, he just told me to start walking and then running on his cue. So basically, we just ran off the side of the hill: not really scary at all! It really felt like flying, or at least what I imagine flying would be like.

Unfortunately, the winds were a little too strong for us to travel too far out from the mountain, but the views were still gorgeous, and he took me on a bit of a roller coaster ride as we neared the bottom. Overall a cool experience!

Afterwards, we took the gondola back up the mountain and enjoyed exploring the chalet at the top for a bit. They apparently had a thing for jelly beans; in addition to a Jelly Belly store, they had replicas of some famous artwork made from jelly beans!

We also enjoyed some really yummy hot chocolate…

…and some classic Queenstown views.

Next up we tried luging. The best way I can explain luging is probably real-life Mario Kart; you basically have a cross between a scooter and a wagon and ride it on a track. I really wasn’t expecting much, but Autumn talked me into it, and I’m so glad she did! It was a blast!

Afterwards, we went on a bit of a hike, where we caught some killer views of Ben Lomond (a nearby mountain) and some other paragliders. What a stunning day.

After many hours atop the mountain, we finally took the gondola back down and headed out to nearby Arrowtown, which I also had stopped at on my first trip to Queenstown. I was really hungry for another one of ABC’s pies, and it did not disappoint! (The “M” is for mince, in case you were wondering.)

I also wanted to spend more time exploring the town since my last visit here had been short. Arrowtown was once a mining town and had a large population of Chinese miners, who were asked to come fill the vacuum of Kiwi miners who left after the large chunks of gold ran out. We learned in my history class that the miners faced a lot of obstacles, including ridiculously high poll taxes, and were treated poorly, yet were so hard-working. It was pretty humbling to see how they survived in such itty-bitty homes.

We then retraced our steps to Queenstown, where we were hoping to see Luma, Queenstown’s annual winter lights festival. Though it was pretty chilly, there were enough really neat displays to make it worthwhile.

Although I couldn’t figure out how it was related, one of my favorite parts was a garden gnome decorating exhibit. From what I could piece together, it sounds like several artists were given blank gnomes and free reign to decorate them however they wanted. The results were quite creative!

I think Autumn could have stayed for ages (she loved it!), but I was pretty cold, so we eventually headed out. Our hostel that night was in Wanaka, so it was on the road again.

Tuesday morning, we woke up to snowy mountains in Wanaka.

After sleeping in a bit (what a luxury!), we had to head out for the Rob Roy track pretty quickly. What we didn’t realize was how quickly the road would deteriorate from pavement. We may or may not have had to ford a couple pretty deep streams… Thankfully, we didn’t get stuck, and no bill from the rental car company yet! Despite road conditions, the scenery was as usual magnificent.

The track had a decently steady but not too steep incline. It followed a river for part of the way, which was a gorgeous Listerine blue (not Gatorade blue, as Autumn corrected me!).

The endpoint was the Rob Roy glacier. It was kind of hard to spot and was covered in snow, but still really pretty.

We made it back to the car in about 3.5-4 hours and rushed back through the fords to try and make it to our next destination before it closed. Of course, this just happened to line up with a quintessential New Zealand experience:

We probably spent a good five minutes creeping along behind those sheep. The poor things were so confused: first they were going away from us, then towards us, then away again! They’re not lying when they say sheep aren’t the brightest creatures. Thankfully the farmer wasn’t far behind us to tell us to just drive through them and they would move out of the way.

We rolled into Puzzling World with about an hour until closing time and raced inside. We quickly worked out a plan: explore the indoor portion of the museum, which was filled with puzzles and illusions, then head outdoors to complete the giant maze. Below are some of my favorite illusions and puzzles from the indoor portion. (If I didn’t include Towers of Hanoi, would I really be a computer science major?)

We made it outside into the maze just before closing time and were left to our own devices. (Don’t worry, there were emergency exit doors! But that’s cheating.) We were tasked with making it to each of the four corners of the maze, which all had a tower, and then finding our way to the exit. Making things even more challenging was the fact that we quickly ran out of daylight. We made it out in a little less than an hour, though!

After a decent hike plus a couple more steps in the Maze, we were pretty ready for dinner, so we hit up a taco stand in celebration of our last night together. Tasty…

Wednesday morning we were on the road again, this time before it was even light. I nearly missed seeing the famous Cardrona Hotel on the side of the road, but I caught it just in time to pull over and snap a picture.

Sadly, our adventures together were coming to an end. Autumn had to be back in Dunedin to perform at a concert, so we planned for her to take a bus back from Queenstown that morning. I still had a couple of days before I had to get back and get serious about finals, so I was going to travel for a bit more. Cheers to the first half of my travels and a good travel mate!

Shew! This post is already ginormous and there’s still a lot to cover, so I think I’m going to split this trip up and leave you hanging a little bit longer. Hold tight, almost there!

A Wet Weekend at Magnificent Milford – Week 14

Sheraya Smith1 Comment

Hoo boy. I am really having to stretch my brain to remember what happened this week. I’ll make it work though!

This was actually a pretty busy week. I did take a couple minutes to explore the campus a little more, as I hadn’t been inside the clocktower building yet. Didn’t disappoint!

Monday night Momma Dee taught the ISA group how to make pavlova! If you haven’t heard of it before, it’s a classic Kiwi dessert made from egg whites and sugar and topped with kiwifruit and flaked chocolate. I have to say, there certainly were a lot of cooks in the kitchen! Definitely a good time though.

We had to hold off tasting them until the next day because we had to bake them and let cool overnight, but I’d say it was worth the wait. Pretty unique, but yummy!

Tuesday I also had my fourth flax weaving class and started making placemats. I was pretty happy with the how the first two came out! I have to say though, they look a lot different now that they’ve dried some, but still pretty cool.

Wednesday a good chunk from us from ISA went to the annual Otago Uni Capping Show. I learned after the fact that it’s a long-standing tradition: this year was the 125th anniversary of the first one, making it the second-longest running student production in the world! In true Otago style, it was incredibly obscene and profane, but definitely entertaining. This year’s theme was “Lord of the Degrees” – think a magic ring that will give automatically give you straight A’s and everyone else bad grades, and all breeds of academic ‘creatures’ fighting to get their hands on it, and you have the basic premise. There were several other skits and small performances spread throughout the show; a lot of Otago and New Zealand specific humor, though my personal favorite was a Brexit-themed Scooby Doo skit in which the gang tried to unveil Theresa May, only to find out she wasn’t actually a monster. I have almost zero knowledge or opinion on Brexit’s recent happenings, but the chase scene in the skit sure had me howling. Some of the performances also were apparently traditions; one was the Capping Sextet, an a capella group dressed as clowns, and the Selwyn College ballet, a ballet performance by all the first-year guys in one of the dorms on campus. It was quite the night!

I had my big HCI project due this week, so there was a lot of work on that going on in between classes and all this other stuff going on. Got it turned in Friday, so that felt pretty good. I then made biscuits and gravy for dinner and got to make biscuits from scratch for the first time because refrigerated biscuit dough (or even biscuits, for that matter) aren’t really a thing here; biscuits are cookies here! I was pretty happy with how it all turned out though; so tasty!

After chowing down, my flatmate Autumn and I headed out on the town for Disco Night at a local bar. Despite definitely being on the younger side of people in the room and not knowing too many songs, it was a great time.

The next morning it was up early to head to Milford Sound with Logan and Maddie L. from ISA with additional friends Emily and Sally. The sunrise that morning was incredible, but I should have remembered the saying “red skies at morning, sailors take warning” as foreshadowing for the weekend. I had had an incredible streak in terms of weekend weather up to this point, so it was about time that my luck would run out.

We stopped in Te Anau for a brief lunch and made a photo stop at the speck-on-the-map called Te Anau Downs.

We also couldn’t resist getting a good ol’ ISA picture at the next stop.

We were driving to our next destination, the Lake Marian track carpark, when it started raining. We decided to do the hike despite the rain; we’d heard it was only an hour and a half return, so we weren’t too concerned. We quickly learned that the track turns into a small stream when raining, so we carefully picked our way up, trying not to get our boots soaked.

They say that on a clear day, Lake Marian (the endpoint of the track) is almost a mirror lake, but this was not a clear day. It was also kinda unfortunate that a fog rolled in just as we got there, which kinda obscured the mountains. Still pretty though!

We didn’t spend too long admiring the views, however. I quickly realized that it had taken us an hour and a half just one way, and that we had about one hour of daylight remaining. Needless to say, we were a lot less concerned with keeping our boots dry on the return trip. Despite getting slightly lost and even separated at one point, we were able to make it back to the carpark before dark. Shew!

Our troubles weren’t over yet, though. We had planned to camp overnight at a campsite nearby and were hoping we could find a sheltered spot that wasn’t soaked through. No such luck. On top of this, we had rented our tent and were completely unfamiliar with how to set it up, so we got it completely soaked and still couldn’t figure it out. We decided to take the loss and retreat to the car to make a plan.

Other than sleeping in the car, we basically had only two options: backtrack to Te Anau, where we were pretty sure there would be lodging for us somewhere, but we would lose time and gas; or head on to Milford, where we weren’t sure if there was lodging, but we would be close to our destination the following day. None of us had cell phone service and weren’t likely to for a good while, so we couldn’t look anything up. After much debate, we decided to take the risk and head to Milford.

Upon arriving we found a single lodge that had just five beds left, which just happened to be the exact number of people we had. I’m entirely convinced we were being watched over on this trip! We hung up some of our wet clothes, played a couple card games, and then called it a night, falling asleep to the sound of a now raging thunderstorm outside and feeling so thankful to be inside and dry.

The next morning we awoke to looming mountains all around us. This isn’t the best picture, but you probably get some idea.

I would say that Milford Sound is probably one place that looks as spectacular, if not better, when raining as when the sun is shining. This is because of the insane amount of waterfalls, which really roar when it’s raining.

The thing to do in Milford apparently is take a cruise around the sound, so that’s what we did!

And the views were spectacular, despite the crazy weather. The wind was so strong you can see the waterfalls being blown sideways below.

And here’s a little behind the scenes photo of what it was really like…

…some of us taking cover, and the rest hanging on for dear life though the waves!

Unfortunately, my phone got so wet that it decided to shut down, so the next few photos are courtesy of Maddie. Of course, the rain stopped almost immediately after my phone quit…

After the cruise, we piled back into our wet car and began the long drive home, though not without stopping briefly at the Chasm, a really cool spot in a nearby river where the water had carved out some potholes. (Sorry, no photos… phone was still a no-go).

Also not pictured is the incredible drive up to and shortly after the Milford Tunnel, which basically drills through a mountain at the base and spits you out on the other side. If you’re curious, I highly recommend Googling it!

My phone was finally revived an hour or so later along the road, just in time to get this shot!

I was definitely glad to get home and be warm and dry after this weekend. It’s times like these that make you so glad for shelter.

P.S. Yes, I am home, and very happy to be home! I’ve still got about three weeks of NZ adventures left to cover, which I’m hoping to squeeze into two more blogs. The next one will probably be really long, and the final one should be shorter; I’ll try to get them out ASAP so I don’t start forgetting what happened! Love you all! Yay for the USA!

Cook-ing Up Some Great Views – Week 13

Sheraya SmithLeave a comment

It’s another week in good ol’ Dunners (Dunedin)!

As a head’s up, my posts are going to get (even more) sporadic over these next couple weeks. Good grief, I’ve still got last week’s to write. I’ll also be traveling next week, then have finals (spoilers), so I may not be able to make another post until after I’m home on June 21st. Gosh, that date is getting closer and closer. Only 22ish days!

Alright, so let me rewind to Week 13. I was coping with losing Grandpa (still am, but doing okay), and I’m so grateful to all my friends, both here and at home, who reached out and let me lean on them this week. A couple of my amazing flatmates even got me flowers.

Other highlights of the week involved a baking and movie night with friends, and my third flax-weaving class. This week we made a four-cornered basket, or kete. I was pretty happy with how it turned out!

This weekend was a visual stunner. Destination? Mt. Cook, the highest point in New Zealand.

A decent sized group of us from ISA ended up going, though not all of us stuck together the whole time. We left Dunedin at the very early hour of 5 am on Friday and headed towards Cook. Big shoutout to Megan for driving! Once the sun finally came up, the views were gorgeous (surprise, surprise).

We got to the visitor’s center at Mount Cook Village (such a cool building, I could stay there a long time) and talked with some Department of Conservation people. Logan, Megan and I had hoped to at least get up to Mueller Hut, a very popular hike, for a little while and maybe even spend the night there, but the DOC people told us we wouldn’t be able to get up without ice picks and crampons and that there was bad weather coming the next day. I was pretty bummed.

So the three of us went to a nearby hostel and booked for the night. We then met up with the rest of the ISA people and friends and began the long ascent. We knew there were a bunch of stairs (later learned about 2,000) up to the lookout point, and then it was rock scrambling after that, a good portion of which was covered with snow. We planned to go up as far as we felt safe.

What a climb, but what a view.

That’s good ol’ Mt. Cook in the distance, FYI; we’re not actually summiting the highest point in New Zealand! Definitely got some great views of it though. This picture was taken from the lookout point, so we were just about to begin the rock scrambling part.

Not going to lie, it was pretty steep at points!

We kept talking to people who were coming down about how far they thought it was safe for us to go up without crampons, and we kept getting really mixed reviews. We decided to keep plugging along as far as we could, even after we got into snow.

Before we knew it, we had gotten to the top of the ridgeline in one piece. Mueller wasn’t much further, and we didn’t think there would be much more elevation gain getting there, so we decided to keep trucking along.

The mountains were really ‘snowing’ off that morning (haha, sorry, couldn’t resist). Believe it or not, it was like 45-50 Fahrenheit where the sun was shining.

After a short hike, we rounded the bend and saw a beautiful sight – the hut!

I was so excited that we made it all the way up; it was so worth all of those stairs and somewhat slippery slopes. We stopped and broke for lunch at the hut, because when else are you going to get such great views with your peanut butter and jelly?

Unfortunately, we couldn’t spend too much time up there because we were worried about the snow refreezing on us and it getting dark. Thus, we began the long descent.

We then got to the point we had been dreading while climbing up: the snow-covered rock scramble. Our method of getting down was certainly inglorious (and quite hilarious, looking back), but at least it kept us safe!

And Mt. Cook (and surrounding mountains) somehow looked even more gorgeous in the afternoon.

We eventually all made it safely to the bottom, though my knees were definitely feeling the stairs. I was really glad I only had a day pack on and not a full pack; that would have been brutal.

Megan, Logan and I bid goodbye to the rest of our ISA friends and went to go check into our hostel. We were pretty pumped that you could check out an emergency teddy bear if you had forgotten yours.

We then grabbed dinner at a local restaurant and celebrated Megan’s birthday with a piece of carrot cake (delicious, if you were wondering).

After a 5 am wakeup and 6+ hour hike, we were pretty zonked, so it was bedtime for us!

In the morning, we walked over close to a glacier – my first one! – near the foot of Mount Cook. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but still pretty cool. The top of it is covered in dirt, so it’s kind of hard to spot in the pictures, but it’s right behind the lake. We had a couple of our old friends, kea, pay us a visit too.

We spent a little more time at the visitor’s center, then packed up and headed out. It was pretty drizzly near the base of the mountain, but as we drove out it kept getting sunnier. So pretty!

Our first stop that morning was the Clay Cliffs. We had to go a bit off the beaten path to reach them, but it was definitely worth it! It was just so suddenly and drastically different from the surrounding mountains.

The drive was gorgeous as usual, especially since it was so sunny.

We made a quick stop again at the Salmon Farm and Oamaru (read more about them in my blog for Week 12). We also stopped at the Katiki Point lighthouse again, and I got some decent pictures of the yellow-eyed penguins this time! We were also there at good ol’ Golden Hour this time, so it was even more stunning.

We then headed back to Dunedin and parted ways. I’ve loved having three-day weekends because I can travel more, but it’s also nice to have only two-day trips every once in a while so that I can catch up, especially with finals getting closer.

Okie doke, artichokes; I’ll see if I can put out another blog before I leave, but no promises. Until then, whenever that may be!

Hills and Valleys, Figuratively and Literally – Week 12

Sheraya SmithLeave a comment

I’m behind again – imagine that! This post will cover May 6-12.

Not gonna lie, this week was rough. Most of the week I was super stressed about an AI project to the extent I was considering dropping the class, and then over the weekend I learned that my grandpa lost his short battle with brain cancer.

I’m doing better now; I met with my tutor (NZ’s equivalent of a TA) and am sticking with the class. I’m still trying to process life without Grandpa, and it’s going to take time to heal, but I know God is good through it all.

Apart from the project, I didn’t do much during the week, but I did make time to go to my flax-weaving class again! This time we made a two-cornered kete (aka basket, pronounced kinda like kitty). Quite a bit harder than the flower we did last week, but I made it through!

Friday I took another study break to go to the Otago Museum with some ISA folks, which was really cool! The highlight was the planetarium show: we sat in these ultra-reclining seats (think movie theater-style, but reclining til you could look at the ceiling) and watched as they projected the night sky on the inside of a dome. They were able to point out constellations, rotate the sky, zoom into different stars, etc. The only thing better is looking at stars in reality.

The science exhibits were also really cool. Pictured here is a room with tons of mirrors and lights, a room where a special type of light made everything appear to be monotone, and a specimen from the butterfly room.

There were also several interesting history exhibits, including a huge room full of model ships and other seafaring history.

Unfortunately, it closed before I had time to get to a lot of it, so I’ll definitely have to go back.

Saturday morning we left Dunedin for our final ISA program-wide trip. Shortly after we left, I got the call that Grandpa had passed away. I had learned just the day before that he had started to decline, and I’m so grateful I wasn’t traveling Friday because I got the chance to call him and Grandma. Thankfully, I was surrounded by my best friends here when I got the news about his passing, and though it definitely put a damper on the rest of the trip for me, it was probably really good that I was kept busy.

One of our first stops was the Elephant Rocks, which were actually the site of the battle scene in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. We had a good time climbing on them. (You can spot me in the silhouette picture, creds to Margaret. I’m the one sitting down with the ball cap on.)

We also stopped to look at some Maori rock paintings, and a fossilized whale bone. I didn’t take too many pictures, but here’s the site of the paintings.

Our next stop was this lake overlooking Mount Cook, which is the highest point in New Zealand – it looks light blue in these pictures. Apparently we really lucked out, because Mount Cook is often hidden by clouds. All I can say is wow.

Next we arrived at the sprawling metropolis of Lake Tekapo (haha, just kidding: it’s tiny), which was our final destination for the night. Shortly after we arrived, we hiked part of the Mount Saint John Summit Track, which provided some amazing views.

If that water could get any bluer, I don’t know what I’d do…

After we finished, we were free until 11:00 that night. The group I hung out with decided to first go to the quaint little Church of the Good Shepherd on the lakefront.

Once it got dark, we starting looking for places to eat and settled on a sit-down. I treated myself to a pork chop special, which was really tasty.

We then went back to the motel and hung out for a couple hours while we waited for the group to reconvene. Our final activity for the night?

Stargazing.

Lake Tekapo is said to be one the of the best places in the Southern Hemisphere, if not the world, to stargaze. We got really lucky; it had been cloudy most of the day but had just happened to clear up that evening.

This was our primary reason for going to the planetarium at the museum, to get ourselves familiar with the sky here. Did you know that we see very different stars and constellations here? No Dippers or North star, but we do have the Southern Cross, along with a few other unique ones.

We went to an official stargazing place, where they had very fancy telescopes and we could get a close-up look at Saturn and Jupiter, along with some nebulas. The Milky Way was insanely obvious to the eye. After using the telescopes for a while, we got access to their hot pools and spent a good while gazing from there. Though it was a late night, it was definitely worth it.

The next morning we got to sleep in a bit, then got our picture by the Church before heading off.

Our first stop that morning was the Salmon Farm.

It was kinda fun. The only salmon I’d ever really had before was barbecued salmon, which I found really weird and really turned me off. I tried some again this time, but still found it just okay, so I didn’t get anything.

Our big stop was Oamaru, which is a town known for its steampunk vibe. Before you ask what that means, here’s a definition: “Steampunk is a quirky and fun genre of science fiction that features steam-powered technology. It is often set in an alternate, futuristic version of 19th century Victorian England steam powered devices – the ‘world gone mad’ as Victorian people may have imagined it.” Anyhow, the town, particularly Harbour Street, looks pretty cool.

Next up was the Moeraki boulders, which was one of my favorite stops. If you have a Windows computer, you’re pretty much bound to have seen these at some point on the lock screen. They were so cool!

Afterwards it was a short drive to Katiki Point. This is most known for being home to yellow-eyed penguins, which the sign said are the rarest penguins in the world. We were lucky and got to see about four! Unfortunately I didn’t really get any good pictures of them, but the views were still sweet.

This was our last stop of the trip, so it was back to Dunedin afterwards for some much needed homework and alone-time.

Hopefully I’ll have my next post up within the next couple of days. However, you’ve clearly been able to survive more than a week without a post from me, and I have a group project due soon, so no promises. Until then!

A Rugged Routeburn Rendezvous- Week 11

Sheraya SmithLeave a comment

Hello all! I know I’m a bit behind on blog posts; to clarify, this one will cover the time frame April 29-May 5.

It’s official: We are now in the second half of the semester and ramping up! I have to admit, it’s been pretty strange watching some friends back home start summer break, especially when I’ve still got a month and a half to go here. Thankfully, the last three weeks are reserved for finals, so I only have a couple weeks of classes left. I got pretty lucky with my final schedule, as all three are in the last week, meaning I have about two weeks to study and travel.

I tried something new this week: flax weaving! Flax is a plant that grows here (you may have heard of flax seed as a health food), and it’s historically very important to Maori, who used it to create clothing, mats and ropes. Now it’s considered more of an art. We made putiputi (flowers) as our first project.

Other highlights of the week included a final $2 churro from Night’n’Day, helping orchestrate a surprise birthday party for Megan’s twentieth, and finally watching Avengers: Endgame.

The best part of the week, however, was getting to tackle the Routeburn Track, my third Great Walk and second official backpacking trip, with some more great ISA people. I hadn’t spent a ton of time with this group (Sawyer, Maddie S., Molly, Emma P., and Shayna) before, so it was really fun to get to know them better!

Our plans were pretty uncertain up until the day before we left; we just knew we wanted to do some kind of hiking. We decided, however, to take a risk and knock out the whole Routeburn Track in two days, despite a high chance of rain on the second day. Thankfully this was only 30-some kilometers instead of 60 like Kepler!

We headed out towards Te Anau early Friday morning. It was a gorgeous day, hardly a cloud in sight.

We made one stop at the Department of Conservation office to purchase a hut ticket, then a quick stop at the Mirror Lakes in Fiordland. So pretty…

By 12:30, we were on the track, and it didn’t take long before we were getting some amazing views.

Aside from doing a small side track to the Key Summit, we stuck to the main track and made pretty good time, which means we got to the hut in daylight.

And I’m so glad we did, because Lake Mackenzie, right nearby, was stunning.

I honestly thought this lake was more deserving of the name “Mirror” than the lakes we saw before!

We spent the rest of the time before dark taking in the views and settling into the hut. Since it’s now off-season for the track and first-come-first-serve for the hut, we were a little worried about availability, but there ended up being plenty of room. Hiking off-season also meant that we weren’t provided with gas stoves or flush toilets but also only had to pay $15 rather than $130 for the hut. (Besides, it’s backpacking; who needs flush toilets?)

After a nice warm dinner, we went out to look at stars.

Oh my word. They were incredible.

I wish I could have taken a decent picture of them; I seriously don’t think I’ve ever seen so many stars before.

We set out about dawn the next morning as we were a bit worried about finishing before dark. The weather had turned a bit sour and it had started raining, making everything a bit slippier. Between my clumsiness, the rain, and the wind, I slipped off an edge at one point, which got the heart pumping, but thankfully I fell at a decent spot and caught myself very quickly.

The rain did add a very mysterious element to the mountains, though it obscured them a bit. Still gorgeous.

Despite our valiant efforts with raingear, we were all pretty soaked though before long. Yay for looking like a handful of drowned rats!

Thankfully, there was a hut at the perfect spot to break for lunch, and it had a wood stove, which we quickly swarmed.

We stepped away from it as little as possible because this created a draft and made everyone colder. This worked out pretty well; we were able to make oatmeal and grilled cheese just by setting it on top of the stove!

After getting ourselves a bit warmer and drier, we reluctantly pried ourselves away to get back on the trail. Thankfully, the rain had basically stopped!

The rest of the track we closely followed a river and got to see a number of waterfalls. The water was such an icy blue – just beautiful!

Finally, we reached the end – a lot earlier than expected!

So early, in fact, that the person shuttling our car from the other end hadn’t arrived yet. It worked out really well, though, because as soon as we got to shelter, it started pouring. The car showed up not too much longer, thankfully, and it was off to Queenstown!

We made a quick stop first, however, in Glenorchy. Cause, ya know. Gotta have the classic Glenorchy shed picture.

It really was pretty, though.

Next up was Queenstown. If I didn’t love Queenstown already, I would have no excuse not to love it in the fall. It’s simply gorgeous.

We went on a bit of a drive up part of the Remarkables, and we got nearly 360 degree views. Stunning. (I’m running out of adjectives to describe New Zealand…)

There just happened to be a couple taking wedding photos while we were up there. I really couldn’t resist snapping a quick picture…

Afterwards, we went to find a place to crash for the night and came across the Hippo Lodge. After unloading, we headed out for dinner.

I swear, pizza is one of the best post-backpacking meals out there.

We weren’t out on the town long, as we were pretty eager for showers and bed. We didn’t stick around too much longer the next morning, either, though we did take advantage of McDonald’s $1 hot chocolate again. And as always, great views on the way home.

And that concludes our backpacking trip! As for the rest of Sunday, I mostly spent it at church and then celebrating Megan’s actual birthday, which was a great time.

That pretty much wraps things up for this week! We’ve got our final ISA-wide trip this upcoming weekend, so stay tuned for that! Love you all!

4 Girls, 7 Days, 1 Campervan – Week 10

Sheraya SmithLeave a comment

Hello all! Wanted to let you know I’m alive and well after these last couple whirlwind weeks!

My visit with Grandpa went really well; he was very lucid and awake the first day I was there, so I got to talk a lot with him. Unfortunately, jet lag hit me harder than I thought, so both he and I were asleep a good deal of the afternoon on the second day. Nevertheless, I’m so glad I got the chance to go back.

I hopped back on the plane the evening of that second day and was back in New Zealand Easter morning. You know you’ve done a quick turnaround when your flight attendants are the exact same ones you flew over with…

I landed in Christchurch and picked up our group’s home for the week about noon. Not going to lie, this campervan was by far the biggest thing I had ever driven; I think the next biggest was my grandma’s SUV… On top of this, I was the only one allowed to drive it, since all the other girls (Ashley, Alyssa, and Lindsey) weren’t 21 yet. Hooboy, we were in for a time!

We set out right away for Kaikoura, which was about a 2.5 hour drive. Our first campsite was a little ways outside town right along the coast, which was pretty amazing!

The first night was pretty rainy, so we played cards to pass the time and got to know the camper (which we quickly nicknamed Sharon…) a bit better. We waited until dark to cook dinner, which we quickly figured out was a mistake because you have to leave the camper doors open when using the stove to help ventilate, and then all the bugs are attracted to the lights and swarm into the van. Thus, we had quite the mosquito massacre that night, which was pretty entertaining.

Monday was also unfortunately pretty rainy, but we made the best of it and headed into Kaikoura. After a grocery run, we spent some time on the coast along Kaikoura (beach doesn’t really feel like the right word because there wasn’t any sand…). It was still very pretty, though, and we got to see some seals! (Photos courtesy of Ashley).

The campsite also offered showers and laundry services, so we readily took advantage of those. I found the fact that the shower was limited to six minutes a bit challenging, and when the dryer was quite ineffective, we had to get creative with a makeshift clothesline. We didn’t realize at the time what luxury we were living in: electricity, showers, running water in the campervan, clean (if not dry) clothes…

Tuesday was considerably clearer, thank goodness. We headed out that morning for Picton, but not without a stop on this little beach, where there were some cool makeshift dwellings.

Once we arrived in Picton, we made a pit stop at the local mechanic to get a leak in the roof patched up. While a bit of a setback, it also meant a couple hours of free wi-fi and time to work on an essay I hadn’t managed to work on before break.

And Picton was beautiful. Wish we could have stayed longer!

After our van was patched back up, it was back on the road again. We did make another quick stop at this neat suspension bridge, which was fun. And the river was so pretty!

Our final pit stop of the day was just outside of Nelson. We couldn’t resist being so close to the beach at sunset.

We finally stopped for the night in Motueka. After cooking dinner and getting settled, we realized that our parking spot close to the beach did not allow us to stay overnight, which led to a bit of a wild goose chase. We eventually found a spot in town, which, while less scenic and without bathrooms, would become our home for the night. We made ourselves comfy and watched Pretty Woman, a thrift store find. (Another time I’m glad my laptop comes with a CD/DVD drive!)

Another one of the downsides of our home for the night was that we had to vacate it by 7:00 the next morning, so we became rather early patrons of the nearby McDonald’s on Wednesday. Their $1 hot chocolates (and bathrooms with running water!) were a dream come true.

Because of early eviction, we had to stop somewhere and make breakfast, since we weren’t enough of early risers to make it before seven. We decided it would be nice to to have a scenic lookout for our Nutella and pancakes and kept our eye out for the perfect spot. The one we found was better than we could have asked for. Oh, the perks of having a home on wheels…

After a short drive and our first encounter with potholed gravel roads, we made it to Wharariki Beach, located on the very northwest tip of the South Island. It was so warm and beautiful, and the short hike there was also gorgeous.

My friends are so acrobatic. I, on the other hand, was quite content to be the one taking photos of them.

After a couple of enjoyable hours there, we headed slightly north to Farewell Spit, a very skinny peninsula that protrudes from the northwest corner of the South Island. A 360 viewpoint provided a great view of it.

We unfortunately couldn’t walk all the way out to the tip, but we went out about as far as we could. The east side wasn’t the prettiest and was very still, but once we hiked about twenty minutes to the west coast, it was gorgeous, especially at sunset. Imma just gonna dump a bunch of pictures here, because I really can’t decide which are best. (Credits for the first one go to Lindsey!

I really couldn’t get over how the sunset kept reflecting off the wet beach… SO gorgeous!

We were able to hustle back to the campervan at twilight and find a camping spot, this time under a bridge just outside Takaka (yikes, this sounds so sketchy as I write… It actually was a little sketchy, but I promise we locked the doors, and it was a designated spot for campervans!).

The next morning, Thursday, was another early one; it was ANZAC Day, which is a day of remembrance for all New Zealanders who have served their country but started out as honoring the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps members who fought in World War I at Gallipoli (if this sounds familiar, it’s because I mentioned Gallipoli in my Wellington post). Anyways, there’s dawn memorial services across the country on this day, and since we were so close to Takaka, we wanted to experience one for ourselves. It was pretty neat, especially since New Zealand has been a small but mighty ally of the US. In the photo below, you can see the poppies left at the memorial, a tradition on ANZAC day.

Afterwards, we looked for a place to fill up our water tank, as we’d been driving on empty for a while. While we weren’t successful, we did find this spot in Takaka that had 4 minute hot showers for $2. Remember how I was slightly worried about pulling off a six-minute shower earlier in the week? Well, your girl now knows it’s possible for her to wash hair and body and have a minute leftover to enjoy hot water in the span of just FOUR MINUTES. Crazy, right?!

We also utilized their sink to wash our dishes that had been piling up since we last ran out of water. Life in a camper van is spontaneous and fun.

And plus, there were great views.

4-minute hot showers, water to do dishes, and great views – what more could you ask for? Thanks Takaka!

Next up was Abel Tasman, another one of New Zealand’s Great Walks (for a previous Great Walk adventure, see my post about Kepler). If Kepler was all about stunning mountain views, Tasman was all about stunning coastal views.

And even when the track didn’t directly follow the coast, there were cool things like this former homestead, now a hut, to see along the way.

I swear, New Zealand has it all.

The original plan hadn’t really included Tasman from what I understood, but I’m so glad we did a part of it. We really lucked out and had just enough food for the hike, which was really nice because most stores opened late on ANZAC Day. We weren’t quite truly backpacking, but we did have backpacks and stayed in a tent at Mutton Cove, which was really cool.

After arriving, my friends, mostly Ashley, quickly took advantage of the tall trees near the beach and set up aerial silks. If you don’t recognize the name, the pictures below might help.

My friends are seriously so talented.

I, meanwhile, went climbing across some rocks. My hiking boots, of course, were not well suited to this task, so I did it barefoot. Probably not the best decision I’ve ever made, and my feet have certainly been happier, but I think it was worth it. You can barely make me out in the photo below, creds to Alyssa.

After a dinner of couscous, we hit the hay pretty early, which was good because we decided Friday was going to be a very early morning. Since we wanted to catch sunrise over at the next beach along the hike, we got up at 4:30. Despite some rough terrain, no major setbacks getting there, and it was pretty cool to watch it go from complete darkness to sunup.

The rocks here were also pretty cool.

After sunup, we headed back to Mutton Cove, and we decided to spend most of the morning there.

And I’m so glad we did, because these four little guys came to join us.

THEY WERE SO STINKING CUTE. They stayed here for over 30 minutes, just playing. I swear they were showing off and eating up the attention. And they got so close! The photo below is not zoomed in one bit.

After a morning of soaking up sunshine and beautiful views, we reluctantly decided to pack up and head out a little past noon. What a great time.

We then hopped back on the road again and set our for Moetueka, where we had parked a couple nights before. Somehow none of us had remembered the road as being that curvy, so we were pretty confident going in the dark wouldn’t be that bad. Not only was it curvy, but it was a mountain pass under construction. Whoops. We made it out alright without a scratch, though!

The next morning (Saturday), we were again out our parking lot home at 7:00 and again went to the same McDonald’s for hot chocolate and some electricity. After finding that it didn’t have outlets, however (what McDonald’s doesn’t have outlets for the public???), we changed plans and headed to a small cafe nearby. And it was much cuter, so I was content.

I also got a few hours of work done, so that was nice.

Saturday was mostly a driving day, which worked out well because it was raining. The rain also provided something else: rainbows.

We started counting, and the final count I’m pretty sure was nine. How crazy.

We decided to take a more inland route back to Christchurch, partly because we wanted to see new territory and partly because it was quicker. It still took a long time, probably 7 hours.

We did make a stop at one point for a view and lunch at some falls near the road and just happened to run into the Otago Kayaking Club as they were taking out. Too funny! It seems like some of them decided to go over the falls. Not quite my cup of tea, but fun to watch!

We stopped for the night about forty minutes outside of Christchurch, then headed into Christchurch the next morning (Sunday). After a few hours in a Starbucks cranking out some more homework, we stopped on adorable Regent Street for some postcards.

We then made the most of our last few hours with the van and headed towards a market on the edge of town. What I thought was going to be a smallish farmer’s market turned out to be a sprawling market with several vendors. I got to indulge in a bratwurst, and we saw some pretty cool stuff for sale. Lindsey and I also splurged on a giant bag of factory-rejected but still delicious cookie pieces, which have been some of my favorite soft cookies I’ve had here. I was really glad we went.

After an adventurous week in Sharon, we sadly cleaned her up and took her back to her home at Britz. We were then conveniently picked up by another ISA friend and driven back to Dunedin. The drive was pretty, though long.

We finally made it back however, and indulged in Poptarts at my flat. I had brought these all the way from the States, and we had planned to eat them for breakfast one morning when we were at a powered site. We were too cheap, however, to pay for a parking space, but refused to eat the Poptarts without a working toaster, so we just hung on to them until the end. If you ask me, it was well worth the wait.

Don’t mind us crazy Americans, missing and craving our fatty, over-sugared, over-processed foods.

And that pretty much concludes our trip! Before I end, some quickish random memories and photos:

  • singing the ‘da da da’s alternately in “I’m Gonna Be (500 miles)”
  • filling up pots and pans with water when we ran out
  • trying to parallel park Sharon…yikes.
  • making mac’n’cheese with pancake mix when we didn’t have any flour (true story)
  • crawling over and around each other all the time in the van
  • Ashley cocooning in her aerial silks at night at Abel Tasman because we didn’t have a fourth sleeping bag
  • the many amazing views of mountains we got the entire week in all sorts of lighting and weather
  • being so grateful for passing lanes because we were moving slow
  • how bad our fridge smelled after several days of not being on
  • finding a big bag of apples at a roadside fruit stand for $2!! (We stopped there twice)

And finally, the official song for our road trip – “Wanderlust” by James Bay. May all of you get wanderlust at some point in your lives. It can result in some incredible views, wonderful friendships, and forever memories.

(Cheesy, I know, but how else do you end a nearly 2500 word post?)

Home and Back Again – Weeks 8 & 9

Sheraya SmithLeave a comment

Hi all. I’m really sorry if I worried you by being so late to post a blog. These past couple weeks have been a bit crazy. Not really many photos to share, as a head’s up.

I learned last week on Thursday that my grandpa was very ill. This began the mad dash to see if there was a way for me to get back home to see him in a timely manner.

Thankfully, we were able to confirm that my insurance covered a trip back home in emergency situations, and we set the wheels in motion. I spent most of the weekend alternately working on an essay and decompressing with friends. Thankfully, I ran into a couple of Kiwi friends on my way to the library on Saturday, and they kidnapped me and took me around Dunedin for a couple of hours, which was a really nice break. And of course, we got fish and chips on the beach! It was such a lovely day too.

Insurance cleared my case Tuesday morning, so I was able to book flights for Wednesday and head back on a whirlwind trip. I’m here for just a short time before turning around and doing the whole trip back again. I’ll be back in New Zealand on Easter Sunday.

I’ll be back to adventures very soon! Since it’s now our fall break (weird, I know, right?), a group of us will be road tripping around the northern tip of the South Island, so stay tuned for that.

In the meantime, if you could keep my family in your prayers, that would be much appreciated. I’m so thankful for this chance to come back and see Grandpa, and I’m so grateful for the 21 years he’s been a part of my life. I love him so much.


A Track Tramping Triumph – Week 7

Sheraya Smith1 Comment

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.

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.)

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!

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.

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!

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.

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

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!