New Zealand recap

This is it - my last New Zealand blog! I could ramble about how this has been the most incredible six months of my life and how I met such amazing people and I'm so changed and inspired, but you already know what I'd say, so instead I thought it would be fun to recap some of my favorite moments and include some fun stats as well.

Exploring the pretty coast near Christchurch, the first day all the exchange students hung out and the first day where I started feeling like I was going to make friends and my time in New Zealand was going to be amazing.

Total days in NZ: 169

Spring break crew on the beautiful beaches of the Abel Tasman Track, the longest multi-day hike we did.

Total distance hiked: 315km/200mi

On the summit of Mt. Fyffe, possibly my favorite hike we did in NZ because the views were so expansive in every direction and it looked really badass even though it wasn't that high or difficult.

Nights not spent at home: 46 (27% of time)

Crew in Arthur's Pass, our backyard playground, on a very typical hike - river crossings, gorgeous mountains, cramming into a hut built for two, building a big bonfire, boxed wine and introducing the Kiwis to the joys of smores.

Breakdown of nights not spent at home:

- tent: 18 (~8 freedom camping)

- hostel: 13

- DOC hut: 7

- couchsurf: 4

- WWOOF: 4

Entering Cave Stream, a 40 minute trek through a narrow cave up some waterfalls and out the other side - epic, adventurous, and best because our fearless leader Andrew didn't spoil the surprise of what an awesome time we were in for!

Percent of lectures attended: ~60%

(but grades: A-, A-. B!)

The perfect day of life at Ilam Apartments - hanging out with the exchange students in the sun, not going to class, getting up to mischief and loving life.

Longest hiking trip: 3 days on the Abel Tasman Track, difficult because we planned to go out and back so we carried 6 days worth of stuff

The breathtaking Welcome Flats hot pools, all pristine and surrounded by mountains and free but well earned after a seven hour hike in the rain! Possibly my favorite spot of everywhere I went.

Longest day of hiking: 21km/13mi (Abel Tasman)

The epic Tasman Glacier at Mt. Cook - you just can't tell from the picture how blue and silty the water was or how huge the lake and icebergs were. This view literally took my breath away when we came up over the ridge.

Most elevation gain hiking in one day: 1400m/4500ft (Mt. Fyffe)

Spring at the stunning Lake Tekapo - these colors are real, not photoshopped. Especially meaningful because this is the first spot my mom saw outside of Christchurch!

Summits conquered: 5

The stunning Routeburn Track, a great experience to share with my mom and one of the most beautiful places in NZ.

Number of weekend trips: 8

Lake Harris on the Routeburn Track, just before the helicopter picked us up to take us over the pass because of avalanche danger - so cool!

Weeks of travel outside of school: 7

The most perfect reading spot ever, Lake Mackenzie on the Routeburn Track. Nothing happier than quiet moments in the sun.

Sunrises watched: 5, including one from the plane in each direction

The iconic and beautiful Milford Sound, probably the most famous spot in NZ.

Photos taken: 2151

Incredible Milford Sound cruise - even more ominous and cool in the gloomy weather and just so enormous with so many waterfalls!

Number of people I knew when I got to NZ: 0

A rare break in the weather on Mt. Taranaki, well worth the climb.

Hours, door to door, it takes to get from Seattle to Christchurch: 33

Super fun mini camping road trip, here enjoying the "sun" at Lake Taupo in "summer".

Time change between Seattle and Christchurch: 3 hours

Rainbow on Lake Tarawera. Dahlia and I stayed here for free in exchange for an hour or two of weeding per day - what is life?

Number of countries I met people from: 14

Kayaking in paradise, relaxing on Lake Tarawera and floating around talking about life.

Rides hitched: 8

Hitchhiked 400km over 3 days with many random changes of plans. We were loving spontaneity and the freedom of having everything you need on your back!

Percentage of savings spent: 90%

The one sunny day we got in our last few weeks, loving the beach at Mt. Maunganui in the midst of our hitchhiking adventures.

Flights taken: 8

A photo probably representative of my whole NZ experience - beautiful scenery, fun, carefree, inspiring, flexible, and in the company of incredible people.

I'm devastated that this experience has come to an end but I know I'll always carry it with me and it will propel me on to do more of the same. I'm just so grateful to have had this opportunity, I'll never forget you New Zealand!

Hitchhiking around with Dahlia

After WWOOFing Dahlia and I entered the last stage of our journey, which was also the craziest! Our task was to hitchhike from Rotorua 200k up the Coromandel Peninsula, home to New Zealand’s best beaches. We were a little nervous but excited to see how this new method of transportation would go. Before I get into our adventures, let me just give a disclaimer that we were very careful – we always stayed together, didn’t accept rides with people who seemed sketchy, texted the license plate number to a friend, asked where they were going instead of telling them where we were going, only went during the day in areas that seemed safe, and kept all of our valuables on us.  It was actually less scary and easier than I thought it would be and a great experience (although I would never do it outside of NZ and I wouldn’t plan on relying on it either)!

So we set off in Rotorua and made it pretty quickly to Tauranga in 2 rides. We grabbed lunch and dropped our stuff off to take a detour up the gorgeous Mt. Maunganui and enjoy the apparently rare December sunshine! Afterwards we got one more ride up towards the Peninsula so we could find a place outside the city to camp so we could continue the rest of the way in the morning. There was a perfect park just off the highway and thus our days of freedom and flexibility began!

So much stuff!

Camping spot

Enjoying the homelessness, eating breakfast in the parking lot

The next day we made it to our destination in Hahei without too much trouble in another three rides. Here we were staying with a really cool host from couchsurfing who works at the hostel in Hahei. Our weather was less than great but we enjoyed checking out the famous Cathedral Cove anyway and celebrated our success making it to Hahei. 

Cathedral Cove

Then came the hard part – we needed to figure out what we were doing next. We had a few days to kill before we needed to go back to Wellington for our flights, the forecast was for days of rain, and in Hahei we’d be freedom camping with nowhere to leave our stuff during the day. I was antsy and not excited about the prospect of days of wet with not a lot to do. I decided to go to Auckland because Bernard was there with some friends for a concert and otherwise I would have missed the biggest city in NZ and Dahlia decided to join me for lack of anything else to do. Only three hours passed between our decision to leave and our arrival in Auckland – pretty good for a pair of novice hitchhikers!

Our time in Auckland passed quickly with unfortunate weather but great company. I was glad to get there even though everyone hates Auckland and it was just as dirty and characterless as I expected it to be. We spent our time wandering around and relaxing in the hotel room – it was much more about the people than the place so I barely have any pictures but we had a great time.

Excuse the profanity, in reference to the weather - this is my only picture of the Sky Tower haha.

In total we made it 400k with 8 rides over the course of 3 days, met some amazing people, and gained a great new experience of spontaneity.  I don’t think I’ll hitchhike again but it was good to check it off my list with a great friend! From Auckland I took the bus down to Wellington, spent a night at my old couchsurfing host Kern’s, and then flew to Christchurch and now I’m enjoying my last few days here before heading home. I can’t believe how fast it’s gone by, what an amazing experience and easily the best six months of my life! Expect a summary blog soon.

WWOOFing at Lake Tarawera

The next stage of my travels was spending five days WWOOFing (working on an organic farm in exchange for free room and board) with Dahlia on the gorgeous Lake Tarawera near Rotorua. We did a max of two hours of weeding per day and in exchange had an entire house to ourselves with four other WWOOFers (two girls from LA and two girls from Germany) and our host, Geoff, would cook us dinner every night. It was great! We relaxed, read, hung out on the lake, wandered, went kayaking, played tennis, and just generally enjoyed the down time. WWOOFing is amazing!

View from the dinner table

The WWOOFers' house

Out on the boat at a hot water beach

Life is good :)