Another White Dash (or Installment 6)

The next day when we woke up (Monday) it was raining but it wasn’t too bad because we had a long day ahead of us in the car driving up to Fox Glacier which is about a 6-7 hours drive north of Queenstown. We listened to Harry Potter 6 basically the entire way, all of us wanting to sleep in the car but trying really hard to stay awake just so we could listen. Once we reached Fox Glacier, it was still raining and we were super tired so we didn’t get to hike to see it, but instead watched Titanic in the hostel and ate some instant noodles. Great life choice.

The next morning, we decided that it would be a good idea to wake up wicked early (eww) and do a hike before driving to Takaka, which is on the northern part of the island. So we all trekked out to Matheson Lake were we saw the stillest water I’ve ever seen in my life. Everything was reflected perfectly into the water and it was especially cool to see the sunrise behind Mt. Cook (we’re on the other side of the mountain now). After the hike, we loaded into the car (and by this point, all of our bags plus the food that seemed to keep increasing was jammed packed into the car, so much so that you couldn’t see out the back window) and headed north, listening to HP (because by now, we were obviously hooked). The roads were super windy and I was thankful I don’t get carsick, but we made a stop on the way at the Pancake Rocks which was kind of neat. Basically, it’s all these giant rocks that are layered on top of each other in the ocean and no one really knows how they formed. So we stopped there for lunch and kept on driving until we spent a quiet night in Takaka.

We left Takaka the next morning, but because our next destination was only a few hours away so we thought we’d see a lot of things on the way. We started out the morning going to PuPu Springs which are apparently the clearest springs in the entire world (besides Antarctica, but who really sees those anyway?) A little further down, we hiked to the Wahui waterfalls, which were absolutely beautiful. All through the hike, I felt like I was in Lost or about to get eaten by a dinosaur from Jurassic Park 2. Actually, everywhere I went, I felt like I was in a movie/TV show (which kind of makes me feel lame, but hey, that’s my life…) The falls were similar to what I’d seen in the Smokey Mountains and the drive up north was a little like the Hawaiian landscape (not that I’ve ever been, but what I imagine it would be like…)

After the springs and the falls, we did a walk through this Grove Nature Reserve (it was a big nature day obviously) which we decided would be the coolest place to have in your backyard as a kid. There were swinging vines (Tarzan?) and all these rocks that had been split apart to made caves/forts. We had heard about this little salami shop that was located nearby so we (after several wrong turns) went to this quaint little homemade salami shop that was owned by this older couple. The others all bought some salami, which at the time seemed like the best idea ever, but eventually caused our food bag to reek of spicy sausage. Mmmm… We also stopped at this bus which was like a roadside restaurant where I had probably THE most delicious chocolate cake I’ve ever had. No lies. Finally, we reached Nelson that night and spent the night in, enjoying hot showers and some salami.

Buildings and Mountains (or Installment 2)

The following morning, we left Mt. Cook and drove a short way to Wanaka, this quaint little inland city that we all just loved. We pulled into the hostel (which oddly felt like summer camp) in the early afternoon and had the entire day to see beautiful Wanaka. Since we didn’t go kayaking at Mt. Cook, we decided to go on Lake Wanaka, which is this absolutely gorgeous lake surrounded by mountains. While the water was a bit chilly, the views were breathtaking. After drying off, we went to one of Wanaka’s main attractions: Puzzle World. Obviously, we were all pretty stoked about going. :) Basically Puzzle World is half Cosi Science Museum with all these neat optical illusions and half outdoor maze. It took us about an hour or 2 to make it through the maze, having to reach all 4 towers. (Brandon, it was like “A-MAZE-ing Mirrors mixed with corn maze). Needless to say, it was awesome.

For dinner, we read that there was a free Sausage Sizzle in the park and since we’re all about free food, we went and had some dinner. After dinner (or napping for some of us) we decided to check out the cinema. Everyone had told us to go to this cute one-of-a-kind cinema that they have and I am SO glad we did. It’s this little art house cinema that plays (relatively) new movies and makes their own homemade cookies and ice cream. The theater doesn’t have typical seats; instead you sit on couches and pillows that have been put together in this giant room. We watched Revolutionary Road (don’t watch if you’re looking for something upbeat) but it was good. And the homemade cookies and ice cream were definitely worth it. We may or may not have gone back to get more during intermission. One of the coolest things about Wanaka was that it had such a small town feel. The same guy who rented us our kayaks worked at the cinema and there were lots of other people that we had seen before, whether it was travelers from Mt. Cook or people around town. Definitely one of my favorite NZ places.

After only one night in Wanaka, we took a beautiful drive down to Dunedin (you should probably just be google imaging these places as I write about them…) which is at the southern part of the island. Dunedin is a little rainy university city that is just off of the Otago Peninsula. Or maybe it was just rainy while we were there. Regardless, after setting up in our hostel (which felt like I was staying at my great aunt’s house with all of her cats) we walked around the city, stopping in coffee shops and getting more groceries. The evening was chill and we enjoyed the free sauna/hot tub that was there. We wanted to be well rested for all the adventure we’d have to tomorrow, after all…