Tuesday, August 10: It was a beautiful day today so I ran to Hagley Park. It is a huge park and I got lost inside it! I ended up running for over an hour but couldn't stop running because I had to get back for class! It was a nice run but I miss my running buddy and best friend, Teadie.
Thursday, August 12: Jess, Courtney, Stephanie, Will, Connor, and I went to the beach called Taylor's Mistake at night and hung out by our campfire. This beach is really nice and I want to come back in the daylight!
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| Abel Tasman Coastal Track |
Friday the 13th!! : I went to the store this morning to buy food and supplies for our hiking trip along the Abel Tasman Coast Track. At 22,530 hectares Abel Tasman is New Zealand's smallest national park and is located as the top of the South Island. The Coast Track is 54.4 km in total and would take 3 to 5 days to complete but we just did the first section. Courtney, Stephanie, Lindsay, Cathy, and Sarah drove in the Jucy rental car and Jess, Max, Andrew, and I drove in Max's car. It took about 5 and a half hours to get to Nelson. We made it to our hostel (Youth Hostel Association) just in time!! If we were seven minutes later, they would have closed up for the night and we would have been stranded! We were very lucky. We checked in and got dinner in town at the Noodle Canteen. We ended up at a local bar with an amazing live band and then went back early to get a good night sleep for the start of our hike.
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| Anchorage |
Saturday, August 14: We woke up the next morning and went straight to the huge farmers market in the parking lot outside our hostel. I got an amazing lime honey and raspberry crepe for breakfast. We then drove an hour to Kaiteriteri - the gateway to the Abel Tasman National Park. We began our hike at Marahau and headed toward Anchorage. We had 12.4 km ahead of us for the day! The four hour hike was epic. We walked through rainforest and had spectacular views of beaches, waterfalls, and mountains. I even saw many silver ferns and a giant koru. My shoulders hurt so bad by the end because of my pack but I didn't care because I felt like I was in a dream. Near the end, on top of the mountain where we could see our hut in the distance, we had the most amazing view I have ever seen in my life. Stephanie and I fell behind the group as we took in the moment. You know that feeling when you realize how lucky you are to be living and a part of something so beautiful and too big to comprehend that you get an overwhelming urge to cry because you don't know what else to do? I had one of those moments at the top of that mountain overlooking Anchorage.
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| Anchorage Beach |
We eventually made our way down to the hut which was on an amazing beach. The whole time it felt like we were on the set of LOST. We ate some pb & j on the beach and listened to music as the sun set. We hung out on the beach all night. At one point I went off by myself and sat by the shore and just listened to the waves and the forest. It was very meditative and peaceful. I love life. This trip also made me appreciate light because the hut didn't have any lights and I didn't have a flashlight. The hut was cool and interesting. It had a nice kitchen area and two rooms for sleeping. The rooms had something like a giant bunk bed and you had to sleep right next to strangers! Luckily I was able to borrow a sleeping bag.
At the start, Lindsay, Stephanie, Max, and I decided to sleep on the beach. We got all cozy in our sleeping bags but then it started to drizzle. We reluctantly gathered our stuff to go back to the hut and as we were walking Max stopped us. He asked us, "am I hallucinating or do you guys see this too?" He was shuffling his feet and it looked like he was creating sparks in the sand! We all freaked out and kicked the sand with him. It was magical! I literally didn't know if I was dreaming or if I was awake. Then we looked at the waves and they were lighting up too as they crashed on the shore! Max picked up a log and threw it in the water and the water sparkled! This was hands down the greatest moment I've had in New Zealand, and one of the greatest moments of my life. I was awestruck and dumbfounded and a little scared! We pretended that we were the first to discover this phenomenon and that it would never happen again. Later I researched it and apparently "The sparkling effect is the result of millions of one-celled organisms that emit light when pressure is applied to the cell wall." Our preferred explanation is NZ magic.
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| Anchorage Beach |
We returned to the hut and fell asleep with the rest of the people staying in Anchorage but were soon rudely awakened by the fire alarm! Everyone woke up confused. We couldn't figure out why it was going off so we took the batteries out and tried to get back to sleep. I had such an awful night sleep because of the alarm, the beds were uncomfortable, I had no pillow, and I was sleeping next to a stranger. But I'm not complaining because there isn't anywhere else I'd rather be than in the heart of NZ.
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| High Tide! |
Sunday, August 15: We woke up and found the drinking water! I was dehydrated because I was trying to conserve my water. Water never tasted so good in this moment - I downed two full bottles. Then I walked out onto the beach. It was a beautiful morning. There was not a cloud in the sky and the sun struck the golden sand and deep blue water. Paradise. Soon we were off again back down the 12.4 km trail. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. We stopped at a small beach off the path for lunch. The tide came in by the time we were leaving and we had to scramble over rocks to get back to the trail! That was so intense! Long hikes can be both meditative when you walk silently for long periods and social when you have deep conversations with the person next to you. I love it!
When we reached the end we threw down our bags and jumped up and down in excitement that we made it! Our drive back took around six or seven hours. Another amazing weekend <3
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