New Zealand
Documenting our adventures between January 15th and February 12th, 2018.
Let the travel begin! After a few weeks of suffering in freezing Montreal weather, Will, Ally, Isabel and I finally hopped on a plane destined for Melbourne for our semester abroad. Connecting with our friend Alexis, we all explored the city and looked for an apartment to live in during classes. Ally, Isabel and I then split from the group and took a quick flight to Auckland, where we began our month in New Zealand.
Leaving the farmlands bordering Auckland on Wednesday, Isabel, Ally and I finally got a taste of the New Zealand wilderness. We began by driving to the Northlands, where we were met by beautiful, yet treacherous mountain roads on our way to our first camp site in Maitai Bay. Following the east coast down through Lang's Beach once the weather lightened up, we crossed inland and reached Piha for a beautiful night at a campsite in the centre of town. From there, we traveled to Coromandel for two nights before spending a long day of driving from Athenree to Rotorua with several hours at the Waitomo Caves in between.
Venturing further South this week, Isabel, Ally and I experienced some intensely variable New Zealand weather. From scalding hot dry summer days to flash hail storms, sheets of rain and tempests that overturned vans and trucks on the highway, a new day never fails to excite, nor make it easy to sleepily pack up a soaking wet tent in the morning. Nonetheless, there have been enough calm moments for me to pull out the camera and record as much as possible (albeit biased towards clement times). Time now to venture into the blustery mountains of the West Coast and get some proper hiking underway...
Time now for a conclusion to the month of travel that brought us from the pristine hidden beaches of the North Island to the towering glacial mountains of the South Island and everywhere in between. In our last few days, we drove long distances from Westport all the way down through the Franz Joseph Glacier, Mount Aspiring National Park, Queenstown, Milford Sound, Invercargill, and back up to the Catlins, Dunedin, Lake Tekapo and finally Christchurch. Along the way, I climbed five mountains, walked on and under a glacier off the beaten track, traversed two glacially carved rock walls, nearly took out my knees going on several mountainous runs, walked unguided for an hour into an abandoned cave to find a spectacular dome of glow worms, kayaked against the current of a glacial river, saw endemic birds, dolphins and seals up close, watched a part of the Olympic opening ceremonies over breakfast with some heavily bearded kiwi motorcyclists, survived a car accident at 80km/h and learned to appreciate the life of a mechanic. In other words, I made some memories that should last a while.