Sorry everyone for the delay on the blog, i've been busy and honestly a bit lazy with writing. Anyway we went on the Tongariro Crossing about a week and a half ago(2.5 now, i meant to post this before my river trip, but forgot to click "publish post"). The crossing is widely considered to be the best single day hike in all of New Zealand, if not the world. Anyway in order to give our group more experience with backpacking we turned it into an overnight. For those of you looking this up on a map, we started at the mangatepopo car park and ended at the Ketatahi car park. This whole trip covered only about 17Km(10.5 miles), but it does traverse some relatively rough and steep terrain(Our 90 liter packs carrying all of our sleeping gear, cold weather clothes, food and first aid supplies made it seem even steeper). Its was also one of the filming locations for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, specifically Mt Ngaurohoe which is the real life version of Mt Doom in the films as well as other parts of Sam and Frodo's journey into and through Mordor.
the trek started out pretty flat before gradually getting steeper and steeper. walking across this land was an experience. the ground was mostly barren due to the volcanic rock that dominated the landscape. We really did feel like Frodo and Sam making there journey across middle earth. With rockscape surrounding us, and the mountains looming above, it was easy to feel small, lost and a bit powerless in front of the approaching mountains. they were dominating the skyline in front of us, looming over us like a giant impenetrable fortress and they presented a challenge to us. It was as if mother earth was telling us "come climb me my child, and I will reveal to you the secrets and the magnificence about my makeup that only the sky father knows". And as we climbed higher and higher, these secrets and treasures really were revealed. the views were completely incredible. We were fortunate enough that it wasn't too cloudy, and the rest of NZ spread out before us, an extensive landscape, sparsely dotted with towns that stretched for miles.
As we climbed and it got steeper, became extremely impressed with the upkeep of the trail. It is easy to tell why this country is world renown for the parks, and it is not all about the natural elements involved. It is a country that is truly invested in the up keep and preservation of their natural surroundings. The trails are well kept and lightly graveled which is very nice. in some parts they even have an extensive stair system which was NOT appreciated by everyeone("NO MORE STAIRS!!"). We walked through two craters which were amazing due to the mountains towering above us on either side. At one point a cloud slowly crept towards us across the crater, engulfing the rugged landscape it crossed before finally consuming us. It was a very eerie experience.
As a whole the trip was amazing, and it was a great way to continue bonding with many of my trip-mates.
Sorry for the delay, this was meant to be posted a week ago but I guess I didnt manage to. And then ive since been a week long river trip that kept me away from technology. But that story is for another time.
Monday 30 January 2012
Monday 16 January 2012
The Quaker Settlement
For the first part of our trip we are staying at a quaker settlement in the city of Wanganui. The Quaker settlement is a very interesting place. They were quick to point out to us that they are not a commune and are what can be called an intentional living community. the main difference being that they still have a ton of contact with the outside world. By this I mean that many of them work out in the town, and contribute to the city in the same way that anybody might. It might be helpful to think of it more as a neighborhood that has some shared living spaces like a community type center, a pool, gardens, pasture for sheep, parks as well as what I can only describe as a sleeping building for guests.
There are nearly 10 houses on the settlement with about 30 people who live there permanently. Their were extra houses for our program leaders and their family. For the most part they carryout their lives separately apart from some morning prayer/ discussion, the occasional group meal and planning for how life on the settlement is to be conducted. In all it's a very neat place. Oh and as quakers they have a fairly strict no alcohol policy on the settlement itself. but other than that nothing seems to be all that intrusive or controlling over the individuals life. Thanks for reading, and until next time.
There are nearly 10 houses on the settlement with about 30 people who live there permanently. Their were extra houses for our program leaders and their family. For the most part they carryout their lives separately apart from some morning prayer/ discussion, the occasional group meal and planning for how life on the settlement is to be conducted. In all it's a very neat place. Oh and as quakers they have a fairly strict no alcohol policy on the settlement itself. but other than that nothing seems to be all that intrusive or controlling over the individuals life. Thanks for reading, and until next time.
Thursday 12 January 2012
Wellington
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I met up with the group in Wellington at around 730. Due to my poor travel planning, I was the last too arrive and had a full day ahead of me after 54 hours of travel and a night spent on the bus. I was a bit tired, but excited super excited to be there and ready to explore a completely new city. We had the afternoon free to wander the city a little bit, but mostly to complete a scavenger hunt at the Te Papa Museum(history of NZ).
Wellington is a really neat city. Its built on a harbor and into the surrounding hills with the downtown right on the waterfront. The surrounding neighborhoods are built into the hills. The severity of these hills so near the water leaves these houses terraced with most houses having incredible views over the harbor as well as the rest of the city. I also found the city itself to be incredibly interesting. The architecture of Wellington is unlike anything I've ever seen in the States. It seemed that every building was designed to be completely different from the one next to it, giving the city a very eclectic feel. This may sound distracting to some, but in the end it gave the city an extremely laid back climate as it didn't seem to take itself too seriously. The Te Papa Museum itself was really cool and extremely informative. It had everything from natural history (both geological and wildlife) to Maori culture to the history of New Zealand post European settler. If I had to pick a highlight it would've been learning about how much has changed here since the first introduction of man (essentially the first mammals in the country) in the 1200's.
Despite my lack of sleep, I felt like I needed to go out and enjoy my only night in Wellington. Since we were staying at the youth hostile, we met people from all over the country, as well as a couple other countries. I ended up spending most of my night with a few guys from Auckland. They were all pretty cool and friendly, perfectly willing to help show us yanks a good time in the city. It seemed like there were people from all over out that night as I met people from Europe, Australia, China, Canada and of course all over NZ. I wont get into the details too much, but suffice to say that I stayed up much later than I should've considering the amount of sleep I'd gotten the last two nights. The next morning we slept in a bit before leaving for the Quaker settlement in Whanganui. But ill save that for next time, thanks for reading!
Monday 9 January 2012
The Trip
Hey All!
Well, after a mere 54 hours of travel, I made it to the hostile we stayed in Wellington!
My trip started in Madison on wednesday morning and started off with a flight to Denver. After a 2 hour layover, I hopped a plane to LA. Once in LA, I only had a 9 hour layover to get through. but it was fine, there were plenty of bars at the airport : ). Getting on the plane, I was surprised to find one of the program members sitting across the aisle from me, what a fun coincidence! The 10.5 hour flight to Fiji went pretty smoothly, except for the jerk in front of me who used their chair like a sledgehammer against my knees. But I was able to make it to Fiji with a couple hours of sleep under my belt.
The Fijian airport was small, just 1 terminal with only eight gates. but it was probably the cheapest airport ever. If I had been thinking/ known the exchange rate I would've bought some of the shell figurines for $1 US or a hand carved mask for $5 US. But after my 5 hour layover I took off for Auckland. It was a relatively short flight, just under 3 hours. It only took an 1.5 hours or so to go through customs which was nice. Since I only had about 2.5 hours of free time before my bus to wellington so I took a seat at what seemed to be the only authentic New Zealand restaurant at the airport, which was of course a bar. I was able to sample some local beers and chat up some of the kiwis which was really cool.
To get to the bus station, I had to take a a shuttle 45 minutes into downtown, and still had a 5 block walk to get there. Unfortunately this is where my trip ran into a little bit of a hick-up. At the stop before mine, a car decided to cut in front of the shuttle as we began to pull out and we hit their rear bumper. At this point both drivers got out and started screaming at each other in the street. After about a minute, our driver got back on and calmly told us to get off and that there would be another shuttle in about 20 minutes if we wanted. Unfortunately I didn't have time to wait. So instead of a 5 block walk with about 100 pounds of luggage through a strange city. I now had 10 blocks, and only about 30 minutes before I was supposed to check in. Fortunately it all worked out perfectly, even with the giant 5 block hill I had to climb.
The bus ride was shorter than expected, only 9 hours instead of 10 which was really nice. Unfortunately it was at night so I wasn't able to see too much, though I did get acquainted with their gas stations(boy do they love their meat and cheese pies!). Anyway I made it to Wellington in time for a jam packed day with the group and fun night downtown. but that'll have to wait until my next post.
Thanks for reading
Well, after a mere 54 hours of travel, I made it to the hostile we stayed in Wellington!
My trip started in Madison on wednesday morning and started off with a flight to Denver. After a 2 hour layover, I hopped a plane to LA. Once in LA, I only had a 9 hour layover to get through. but it was fine, there were plenty of bars at the airport : ). Getting on the plane, I was surprised to find one of the program members sitting across the aisle from me, what a fun coincidence! The 10.5 hour flight to Fiji went pretty smoothly, except for the jerk in front of me who used their chair like a sledgehammer against my knees. But I was able to make it to Fiji with a couple hours of sleep under my belt.
The Fijian airport was small, just 1 terminal with only eight gates. but it was probably the cheapest airport ever. If I had been thinking/ known the exchange rate I would've bought some of the shell figurines for $1 US or a hand carved mask for $5 US. But after my 5 hour layover I took off for Auckland. It was a relatively short flight, just under 3 hours. It only took an 1.5 hours or so to go through customs which was nice. Since I only had about 2.5 hours of free time before my bus to wellington so I took a seat at what seemed to be the only authentic New Zealand restaurant at the airport, which was of course a bar. I was able to sample some local beers and chat up some of the kiwis which was really cool.
To get to the bus station, I had to take a a shuttle 45 minutes into downtown, and still had a 5 block walk to get there. Unfortunately this is where my trip ran into a little bit of a hick-up. At the stop before mine, a car decided to cut in front of the shuttle as we began to pull out and we hit their rear bumper. At this point both drivers got out and started screaming at each other in the street. After about a minute, our driver got back on and calmly told us to get off and that there would be another shuttle in about 20 minutes if we wanted. Unfortunately I didn't have time to wait. So instead of a 5 block walk with about 100 pounds of luggage through a strange city. I now had 10 blocks, and only about 30 minutes before I was supposed to check in. Fortunately it all worked out perfectly, even with the giant 5 block hill I had to climb.
The bus ride was shorter than expected, only 9 hours instead of 10 which was really nice. Unfortunately it was at night so I wasn't able to see too much, though I did get acquainted with their gas stations(boy do they love their meat and cheese pies!). Anyway I made it to Wellington in time for a jam packed day with the group and fun night downtown. but that'll have to wait until my next post.
Thanks for reading
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