Act 1: The Ring
Welcome to New Zealand’s north island. We were on a quest.
My friend Kenny is leaving for Army basic training first week of January. He wanted a last hurrah but doesn’t like snow very much, so he wanted to go somewhere it was summer.
It just so happened our friend recently became unmarried due to his wife cheating on him, so we wanted to do him a favor and chuck his ex’s engagement ring into Mt. Doom.
Two birds with one stone, you know? New Zealand it was.
There is a dayhike called the Alpine Crossing that runs between two of Tongariro NP’s three volcanos.
We tried to bring some California sunshine in with us but it got seized at customs. Unfortunately the hiker’s shuttle wasn’t running hikes into the park due to poor visibility, heavy rains and 50 kmph winds. However fast that is. 33.33 miles per hour? In other words, the hike was a no-go.
As you can see there is a lot of water in Tongariro, much of it coming from the sky. We did a nice little dayhike to some waterfall, and there was water everywhere, like inside our waterproof rain jackets.
Act 2: Land Bridge
Welcome to highway 1, the road from Wellington to Taupo.
Of all the boring drives in my lifetime, this may have taken the cake. And believe me, I have driven some boring roads.
I thought about committing crime as I rolled into this little town, just for some excitement. Perhaps robbing a convenience store, but there was none to be robbed.
We tried escaping the rain by driving into this floating cave, which crossed the strait lead us south to this town called Picton on the South Island.
Act 3: Eastern Seaboard
From Picton we rolled down the east coast of New Zealand’s south island in our rental Corolla, stopping at a winery along the way.
We stopped and looked for food, those seals looking pretty tempting. But with the sheep overpopulation problem, we opted for lamb instead.
I think the rain was chasing us south because it was pretty cold and wet most of the way. The seals didn’t seem to mind the wet. Probably because they’re seals.
We ran into what was New Zealand’s last distillery for some whisky tasting and to support the local economy.
Driving some of these highways was kind of like driving in the midwest, but replacing corn with sheep.
We got to the Speight’s brewery in Dunedin by the afternoon. Thankfully the whiskey worn off just in time for the beer tasting.
We then were invited over to a friend’s place for dinner (and beer). I actually ripped off much of my lighting technique from this man. You can see his work here. It was quite the honor.
Act 4: Photosynthesis
We pushed south into Wanaka, outrunning the rain. Up until this point the most blue I’d seen previously was Windows XP’s default wallpaper, so this was a welcome change.
A mountain biker on a night ride up a nearby hill. Yes, I said night; the sun doesn’t set until 9:15pm.
Obligatory lame flower close-up. I’m so nature photographer.
We walked back down the hill to troll the town for beer and Turkish food.
We went kayaking the entire next day. My camera stayed at the hostel, due to my safety record with cameras, I kept it as far from the river as possible.
We kind of got along with the river guides, both of which happened to be climbers as well. So after an entire day of kayaking, we climbed.
I did my first lead.
It was a tiring day and I think I was sore for the next two, but we had use what sunshine we had to maximize our outdoorsiness.
Act 5: Ice Ice, Baby
The next morning we rolled over the pass to the west coast.
Unfortunately the cloud cover caught up with us. No more epic landscape light, as my strobes aren’t big enough to light a mountain range.
We made it up to Fox Glacier.
Unfortunately we weren’t equipped for ice travel so we only walked up to the thing and walked back.
The next morning on our way out of Arthurs Pass, we saw these guys on the road who needed a lift down the hill. It was the same direction as we were headed, so what the heck.
Due to a mistake booking my flights, I ended up alone in Christchurch for a day in a half. The first half of my day alone I ended up catching up with some reading, post processing photos and finishing MW2 on veteran.
I started my day in the evening and walked around Christchurch for a few hours. Pretty underwhelmed, I returned to the hostel and sat in the common area to do some more reading, whereupon I was invited to a game of Jenga by a few Germans. Pictionary with some Canadians followed, then jawjacked with a gun-loving Montanan went well into the early morning.
I used to knock traveling around the world just to mingle with other tourists, but darn if it isn’t fun.
