Skydiving!!!

The Tongariro Crossing

The Tongariro Crossing is one of the top day hikes in the world through volcanoes and sulfur lakes, including the volcano Mt. Doom in Lord of the Rings!!! (which is actually Mt. Nguaruhoe in real life). The hike was about 18 km which normally takes about 7-8 hours, but we did it in 6. There was a good portion of the hike that was up steep hills and extremely challenging, but the rewarding feeling at the end was so worth it!

above the clouds!!

We drove up to Tongariro National Park on Friday evening with Emily, Daniela, Lori, Christie, MK, Jess, and Pat and stayed in a hostel near the crossing. The hostel was pretty nice, had a fire and free tea to warm us up! Our shuttle left at 8:00 in the morning and brought us to the crossing, and later picked us up on the other end of it. When we first started walking it was a bit chilly and very cloudy out, but we were ripping off layers within minutes. The weather was crazy, changing at every height we were at, and we were pretty much walking in the clouds the entire time. One of the things we really wanted to do was hike Mt. Doom but our bus driver told us that the weather was looking unpredictable that day and if something happened they wouldn't be able to find us for weeks. We were all pretty disappointed but thought it would be best to listen to someone who knew more than we did. Here is a picture of Mt. Doom! I had to take it fast since the clouds would come rolling in within seconds. But, got a bit of sunlight for this one!

mt. doom!

Since we couldn't hike Mt. Doom, we decided to do the extra trail to the summit. As soon as we started walking higher, the wind was incredibly strong I couldn't hear anything. We were in the clouds too, so I could barely see anything and just had to look as I went step by step. Some parts were very steep and I got a little nervous that I was going to fall off the mountain! But we were fine. Here's a video of us at the top of the summit.

After that we made our way down the steep mountain, and the ground was soft dirt that you'd sink into as you walked... which made it very easy to fall (many of us wiped out). We started observing other people running down which seemed to be the easiest way to get down quickly without walling, so we ran the rest of the way, lots of fun! When we got to the bottom we took off our sneakers and dumped out inches of dirt. My sneakers are still incredibly dirty from it. We now reached the sulfur pools, which were BRIGHT blue. Here's a picture.

We knew we were ahead of schedule at this point so we took a little water break and cleaned out our shoes, and then continued on! After this point there was one more hill and then it was all down hill from there. We stopped for a lunch break overlooking a lake and then finished the trek!!! Such a good feeling to be done, but so exhausted. I was sore for days after, but it was definitely worth it! We found our shuttle and enjoyed some free tea in our hostel, then drove to Taupo to SKYDIVE!!

South Island: Days 9-13

I am ridiculously behind in this blog so I'm gonna do a quick summary of the rest of the trip so I can update everyone on my latest adventures (SKYDIVING/TONGARIRO).

Day 9: Milford Sound

One of my other favorite days on the trip. We all took a bus tour down to Milford Sound from Queenstown, about a 4-5 hour drive stopping along the way at beautiful sights and waterfalls. Our group took a boat tour around the sound, and got a buffet lunch included (which was delicious because we had been living off of pbj sandwiches all week). Milford Sound was beautiful, especially since I love the water so much! Pictures will describe it better than words can.. here are a few and a video.

Loyola Group!

Day 10: Drive to Dunedin

Day 11: Dunedin

Did a tour of the Cadbury chocolate factory in the morning! Then spent the rest of the day exploring Dunedin. We went to tunnel beach which was a pleasant surprise, we had no idea what to expect. We hiked all the way down to the beach- went through a tunnel to get all the way to the bottom. The whole thing was just very nice and scenic and really relaxing. We hung out there for a while laying in the sun and taking it all in.

After tunnel beach we all drove to the Otago Peninsula where we tailgaited watching penguins come running out of the water. haha it was so much fun, everyone gave us strange looks but that's what you gotta do when you're living in vans! The penguins were neat, we couldn't take pictures or anything but they were little guys and we all sat in a small stadium and watched them leave the water and run up onto the shore. Apparantly they do this every day and in summer months there are hundreds more of them. We began the drive to Lake Tekapo after this, where we drove to the creepiest campsite ever. Had to open gates to get to it! It was an adventure though, and in the morning it looked absolutely fine. At night it was terrifying!

Day 12: Lake Tekapo!

Lake Tekapo was quite lovely! We decided to go on a hike, that turned into an adventurous mountain climb. We created our own path, had to crawl through pricker bushes as one point! It was so worth it though, because at the top was the most incredible view of the lake and mountains in the distance. Absolutely exhausting but so beautiful. After lake tekapo we all found a campsite to stay for our last night in the South Island. The one we found was free AND had bathrooms with running water haha it's hilarious how amazing that felt to us at that time. We had such a fun night and just celebrated an incredible trip together.

Day 13: Castle Hill and Chrischurch! The End!

Castle Hill was one of my favorite places! It was just endless limestone rocks as far as you could see, so we climbed them and it felt like we were in a giant playground. So fun, I could have stayed there all day climbing rocks and looking at the view. After that we headed back to Christchurch, cleaned up James May and handed him in... then saw the botanical gardens and a few areas in Christchurch and caught our flight home! We got back really late and were exhausted, but it was the best 2 weeks of my lifeee.

Castle Hill!

Christchurch

South Island: Days 5-8

Day 5: Drive to Franz Joseph Glacier

We woke up bright and early and began the 7 hour drive along the west coast. We stopped a bunch of times so the whole trek pretty much took the whole day. We first stopped at NZ's longest swing bridge that we paid $5 to cross, pretty neat. Some people decided to zipline back across. Then we went to see the pancake rocks which was along the coast made of rocks that kind of looked like pancakes... they just had a bunch of ridges in them to make it look like a stack of pancakes. We then headed to Greymouth where we did ad tour of Monteith's brewery... our new favorite beer. The tour wasn't too exciting but we got to try all the beer after, we're all obsessed with Radler it's delicious. We got to go behind the bar and pour our own glass too which was cool! After that we got some delicious fish 'n' chips and then continued the journey. Trying to find a campsite was very difficult tonight. We finally found one and met up with everyone. We tried to make a fire but the ground was too wet... so we called it a night and went to bed early for the big hike the next day!

Day 6- Franz Joseph Glacier!

The big day! We woke up around 6AM and met up with the whole Loyola group for the first time since the start of the trip. They gave us waterproof jackets, mittens, socks, boots, a fanny pack with crampons, and a hat... most of us wore shorts since they said it would be nice out. We hopped on a bus that brought us to the glacier, and then had to walk a bit to get to the actual ice. We split up into smaller groups with individual guides, ours was Jason, interesting fella. He led us up a steep hill... one of the toughest parts of the whole thing. Eventually we got to the actual glacier, but before heading to it we had to put our crampons on, which are spikey things that go on under your shoes to have traction on the ice. They worked so well and i didn't feel unstable at all the entire time.

The glacier hike was INCREDIBLE. So hard to describe because it's unlike anything I've ever done before. We started out wearing shorts and long sleeved shirts and were hot and sweaty... about half way up that changed quickly. We went through an ice tunnel which got our bare legs and clothes wet... so after that things started to get a liiiittle chilly. The guides were constantly using ice picks to carve out safe paths for us to walk, so much of the time was waiting until we could move again, and a lot of standing around got us even colder. A lot of the paths they made required holding onto a rope to climb up or down so we wouldn't fall on the ice. We all toughed through the cold and learned some manuevers to stay warm like jumping up and down with your arms straight down and fingers pointing up... pretty interesting but it worked! We stopped for lunch on the glacier and made some pb + j sandwiches (clearly becoming a trend of the trip if you couldn't tell already).

As we started to head back down the glacier we warmed up and everything was fun again. They took us through ice caves which were insane. We had to literally crawl through them, not much head room or space for your body. They warned us not to step in any puddles because they were actually almost 4 feet deep and we'd fall into them and freeeeze. By the time we reached the bottom it started downpouring raining and then hailing so now everyone was completely numb (but we were glad it waited to rain AFTER we were off the glacier). My bag took a few days to completely dry out, and everything in it got drenched. (glad i took my old camera on this trip). The same thing was on everyone's mind after this... HOT SHOWERS!!! We all changed out of our wet clothes and found a campsite nearby to warm up. This campsite was one of my favorites and had a kitchen where we all hung out at night. We made some pasta and played some card games, relaxing after a long and exciting day!!! Definitely something I'll never forget and an experience of a lifetime.

Day 7: Lake Matheson --> Queenstown

Woke up at 6AM to go watch the sunrise on Lake Matheson. However, on the way we ran into a little problem... poor Daniela tried to turn the car around and ended up driving into a ditch! Immediately I was like we got this! Kara and I will push you out! ...epic fail. The car was pretty deep and we were just making it worse. So we texted the wicked vans who instantly came to our rescue. We had 6 guys and 5 girls trying to push out the van but it still wouldn't budge. Somehow the wicked vans got crafty and put wood and rocks under the wheels for traction. Right as Daniela was calling AAA, we GOT IT!!! Best feeling ever. The guys were really excited they got to rescue us it was so funny. So then we sped to Lake Matheson and caught the end of the sunrise, the lake reflected Mt. Cook and was insanely beautiful. Here's a pic: that's Mt. Cook on the top right.

We then began the drive to Queenstown! This was a hilarious ride, everyone was super hyper and just having a great time. We stopped at Puzzle World in Wanaka which I was not a fan of... but that side excursion didn't take too long. Once we finally made it to Queenstown the guys really wanted McDonalds... so we all stopped to eat, and then left to go find the free campsite called twelve mile delta. Here we weren't supposed to make a fire but we did anyway... and I spent some time laying on a blanket star gazing (I don't think I will ever see better stars than that night in the South Island, incredible). We hung out a bit in the wicked vans and then got some sleep for NEVIS the next day!!!! I also started freaking out this day since I thought I had a few more days until the nevis bungy than I actually did....

Day 8: QUEENSTOWN: THE Nevis Bungy, Gondola, Luge, Paraglide!

Pretty much best day of the trip so far. I woke up at 6:30AM and crawled out of James May trying not to wake Kara and Daniela, hopped into Tongaroa and drove to the Bungy place!!! We were split into 2 groups and mine ended up being the 9:20 group... so we had some time to kill, and got to use computers and communicate with people from home which was nice! Finally it was our turn to head out to the canyon and we all hopped onto a bus... I sat next to Anthony freaking out the entire time. My parents called me on the bus which was funny because I hadn't told them I was doing it yet.... no big deaaal. Once we started driving the the canyon area it really started to hit me what we were about to do. We had to transfer to a smaller bus to get to the actual site, and drove on windy roads all the way up the canyon. Once we arrived, they put our harnesses on right away, and did a final weigh in. There was no wasting time everything was super quick! Shauna was the first to go on the cable car that brought us out to the center of the canyon.... we all watched her anxiously knowing we were next. Riding on the cable car to the canyon was crazy. We could see everything underneath us and really started to realize just how high we were (134 meters!!!). Then we were all finally together in the center of a canyon on a cable about to jump off, WILD. I was the 3rd to go in our group, so got to watch some friends go first. THey attached ankle things on us and then we got to sit in the preparation chair where they told us how to jump and when to release our legs once we were done jumping. Everything was a blur and I really didn't even have time to process it all or get scared. I honestly feel like I was more scared for the bridge bungy because I had no idea what to expect. But this time, I was prepared. When they told me to walk all the way to the edge with my toes dangling over I knew what to expect and knew how terrifying it would be! But I was pretty calm the whole time, and then finally the woman counted "5.. 4.. 3.. 2.. 1" annnnd off I went! The feeling was incredible... so difficult to describe... but I felt like I was in a wind tunnel or something going so fast down the canyon. It was an 8 second freefall and I didn't have time to get scared during it because before I knew it I felt the bungy pulling me up, and survived!!! The whole way up I was just laughing, and so happy I decided to do it. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I loved challenging myself to do something I would have never thought I could do before coming to New Zealand.

Everyone was feeling so high on life and super pumped we did it so we went to a little pub on the water to celebrate our survival haha. After that everyone ended up getting split up and I was walking around with Daniela, Shauna, Kelly, DK, and Anthony. We decided to go up the gondola to get a nice view of the lake, which was very beautiful! Dk, Anthony, Shauna and I rode a chairlift up higher and then luged down, and got separated from the rest. We were all feeling very adventurous and ready to do something else so we spontaneously decided to go paragliding after getting a sweet discount. So the 4 of us hopped back on the chairlift and hiked up all the way to the top of the mountain (not a short climb!!). At the top we caught our breath, and then one by one jumped off the mountain with our individual paraglide guys flying with us. It was so much fun and the view of Queenstown was amazing, I felt like I was flying. It was a perfect way to end an already incredible day. We also each got a free beer which we got right after to celebrate the best day ever. Definitely a day I'll never forget!

South Island: Days 1-4

Map of South Island to follow the journey....

Day 1: Christchurch

The beginning of our South Island adventure! Kara, MK, and I all took an 8:30PM flight after class and headed down to meet everyone else who was already in Christchurch. We got there around 10:00, met Shauna at the airport- Todd and Tommy at our hostel and walked to a bar where the other girls were. It was a pretty chill night, just wanted to get out in Christchurch at least once before leaving, ended up going back a little after 12 to get some rest for the next day. We stayed in a hostel the first night since we didn't have our spaceships yet...

Day 2: Christchurch --> Kaikoura

Woke up around 8 and took luxurious showers, not knowing the next time we'd be able to. The hostel provided free homemade bread and coffee/tea which was a nice way to start the morning! Then the hostel shuttled us over to the spaceship place where we picked up our car and met James May for the first time, our home for the next 2 weeks. James May was the newest of the fleet and much nicer than all the other cars so we got lucky! Got introduced to all the gadgets of James, including a TV for DVDs that you are supposed to exchange whenever you see another spaceship on the road/at a campsite. Also had a little fridge for food, a folding table, portable stove, sheets/duvet/pillows, and all kitchen utensils. Pretty sweet deal. We jumped in our cars and headed up to Kaikoura (which means Meal of the Crayfish) with two other vans Tongaroa and Jetson. (Tongaroa = Shauna, Becky, Kelly ; Jetson = Emily, MK, Lori, Christie) Daniela was the first brave soul to venture driving on the opposite side of the car and opposite side of the road. She did great!

Once we reached Kaikoura we walked around a bit exploring the seal colonies and walking on the rocks along the shore. The mountains in the background made this area absolutely gorgeous. We got pretty close to some seals, but signs warned us not to get too close because they can get vicious. We soon found this out as the seals started crawling at us and attempted to chase us. Who would have thought! I still got some good pictures though obviously.

After getting some fish for dinner we went to find our first campsite to stay in for the night. This was probably one of the best campsites of the entire trip: right on the ocean and free! No bathrooms or anything but we embraced it living in the wilderness. Anthony made us all a fire, which we sat around all night while listening to the waves crash right next to us. This was also our first night staying in the vans. We eventually found a great system fitting all our luggage in the front seats and then opening up the whole bed. The first night was chilly but we all snuggled together for warmth.

Day 3: Kaikoura--> Nelson --> Abel Tasman

We woke up at 6:30 AM bright and early for the sunrise on the water. This video will capture it better than I can with words.

Absolutely gorgeous. After the sunrise we went to find public bathrooms and then spent the morning in Kaikoura. I decided to join a small group to rent bikes for a few hours to ride to the seal colony, tons of fun! We rode along the coast so the entire thing was so scenic and beautiful. We climbed up a steep hill pushing our bikes to get a better view of it all, it was definitely worth it (besides losing my sunglasses up there). Made some pb + j and headed out to Nelson, part of Marlborough wine country! Unfortunately, all the wine tastings were closed by the time we got there. So we ended up going food shopping and then stopped at a beach to play frisbee at. I jumped in the ocean, preeeetty chilly. Then we continued along to Abel Tasman where we met up with the Wicked Vans and the other spaceships. Wicked vans = DK, Anthony, Chris, Joey, Pat, Meg, Jerry, Brit. There weren't any free campsites in the area so we had to pay for this one, but it had $1- 6 minute showers which were lovely. We all grilled out and made burgers, hung out with everyone for the night.

Day 4: Hike on Abel Tasman

Easter Sunday! We decided to spend it going on a 6 hour hike with half the group. We hopped on a boat that guided us around the area, which lasted a good half hour, much longer than any of us thought it would. Soooo pretty! Finally, the boat driver brought us to the hiking starting point and would pick us up later at the end. The 20 km walk was entirely along the coast of the ocean, and was probably the most fun hike I've been on. The company didn't hurt either, and the whole time we all just chatted and played games and were all in the best moods. The steep hills didn't even phase us because it was all just such a great time. During the hike we ran into a random swing bridge which was a little scary to cross- but we all made it!

Then we took the low-tide route during high-tide by accident which made for quite the adventure... The entire trail we were supposed to be on was covered in water so we decided to try and hop from rock to rock in hopes of making it to the sand bar in the middle and then walking the rest of the way through the water. Everything was working out great until we found out the water we had to cross was almost waiste deep! haha so we all took our sneakers off, rolled up our shorts, and roughed through the water. My shorts got completely soaked but it was so much fun I didn't even care. We stopped for a celebratory lunch break, then finished off the hike where we waited for the boat to come get us and bring us back to the campsite. We snuck in some quick showers since we were now freezing, and hopped in the vans to find a campsite along the way to the Franz Joseph Glacier. This was my first time driving! Of course, it was dark out and pouring rain, but I got the hang of it and it wasn't too bad! The roads were very windy but you just have to drive slow and you're fine. The wicked vans found a free campsite that was literally right on the side of the main road, little sketchy but totally fine. It was raining too hard so Kara, Daniela and I scrounged for food in the van for dinner, consisting of pb j crackers, peppers, and bananas, haha quite the combo but you gotta do what you gotta do. We snuggled up and watched a movie and then passed out.

South Island Road Trip Preview...

This trip was probably the best two weeks of my life. It was completely different from any I'd ever been on, living out of vans in the wilderness with friends on a constant adventure. Here's a little preview of what our life was like :)

OUR HOME: JAMES MAY- We lived in bright orange campervans called spaceships- mine was named James May (not sure who that is) and in it with me was Kara and Daniela. The three of us had a blast, belting out tunes as we drove around the entire south island. The spaceships seated the three of us during the day, and then at night it turned into a bed with sheets and a giant comfy duvet they supplied us with. So every night the three of us snuggled together in the back... really got to know each other well that's for sure! Our spaceships came with cooking supplies and a portable stovetop so we saved a ton of money buying our own food and cooking dinners. Kara, Daniela, and I tried to be a healthy van (that kind of worked out) and bought lots of fruit and veggies to share for the trip. Every morning for breakfast we'd have granola bars and some fruit, pretty much lived off of pb & j for lunch, and then for dinner usually cooked with everyone making sausage, pasta, or burgers. We only bought food a few times in restaurants and cooking was much more fun!

The Campsites- I don't think I'll ever look at running water the same way after this trip. Every night we found campsites to stay in, basically in the middle of the woods with nothing at all. We weren't allowed to park on the side of the road so we always searched for free campsites. A free campsite meant NO running water which = no bathrooms (or disgusting ones that we chose the woods over anyway), and no showers. Most of the time this is what we were staying in. Some campsites were $10 a person which we had to stay in a few times when we couldn't find a free one or when we were desperately in need of a shower (aka after glacier hike and other athletic activities). By the end of the trip peeing in the woods was no biggie, and running water was the best thing EVER (even if it was freezing cold). We made fires 3 or 4 nights (Anthony made the fires I should say) but most of the campsites didn't allow you to because they were nature reserves. The nights were pretty chilly so when we could make a campfire we took full advantage.

The Crew- We pretty much stuck with the same group the entire time. We were the wicked van/spaceship caravan. There were 8 people in the wicked vans, and then Jetson and Tongaroa were the spaceships. By the end of the trip we started referring to everyone by their car names, and still kind of do back in Auckland. There were 18 of us traveling around together out of about 35 or so Loyola kids in the south island. We met up with the rest of the group a few times for the Glacier Hike, Nevis Bungy, and Milford Sound.

A lot of the trip was spent in our vans driving, but looking out our window seeing all the beauty of the south island was one of the best parts about it. We mixed around the vans a lot so it was really just a constant road trip hanging out with all of our close friends on the trip.

The Journey- So the story begins. Our journey started in Christchurch and we drove counter clockwise around the entire south island and ended back in Christchurch. The next post will give the trip day-by-day. If you'd like to hear all the details continue on, otherwise just look at the pics :)

Off to the South Island!

The long awaited "Spring Break" (more like fall break here) has come!!! We are off to the South Island for 2 weeks!! About 35 of us from Loyola are flying down to Christchurch and renting campervans to live in and stay at campsites while journeying around the entire island. ADVENTURE!!!! Updates to come when I return!

If anyone would like to send me a 30 cent text... here is my number.

+64 21 132 0966

Otherwise- I'll be out of contact for a while. Talk to you all soon! :)