An Endlessly Changing Horizon

Last Sunday night we grudgingly returned to a characteristically cold and rainy Dunedin. Home sweet home. Exhausted from a week on the road and sleeping in tents, it was an easy decision to let my putrid hiking clothes marinate in the sweat of my backpack for just another night. I had a brief urge to look through some of the photos that I had accumulated over the last 10 days but after discovering the total was over 500, I swiftly turned the camera off and designated it as another task for tomorrow.

Our adventure began two Fridays before as we set off for Christchurch, the largest city on the South Island (population 377,000). There, we were met with the remaining rubble from the earthquake that devastated the city center just two months prior. Having grown up in southern New Hampshire, I have never felt an earthquake nor seen the aftermath save on television, so it was quite overwhelming. Few words were spoken between the four of us during the two hours we were there. A solemn silence blanketed the once-thriving downtown area, all of which had been fenced off and guarded by the Army.

Our next stop was Kaikoura, a much happier town known for it's whales, seals, and dolphins. However, I was far more fascinated my the extreme vicinity of two of my favorite things, the ocean and mountains. Here is one of the few spots in the World where the ocean and alpine mountains are so close, about 2 miles. Pretty sweet.

Pete, me, and Michael (left to right) in Kaikoura

The next two days in Picton and Nelson were rainy and unremarkable besides the free soup and breakfast we were treated to in our Nelson hostel. After a short moment of morality, we were able to justify our three servings of vegetable soup and eat up. Joke's on you... the Americans are here and we're hungry!

Monday morning we began the cornerstone of our roadtrip; the Abel Tasman Coastal Track (one of NZ's 9 "Great Walks"). In Marahau, we took a boat north about 30 km up the coast then began hiking a very casual pace along the flat 12 km to our campsite. Along the trail we were treated to beautiful beaches, great conversation, yet mediocre weather. Nevertheless, we arrived at Medlands Beach an hour before sundown to see our private beach of a campsite. After a quick and icy swim, I made a 5 star dinner of rice, beans, and chicken then called it a night. The next day followed basically the same protocol, even down to the private beach/campsite! On the final day, we made it back to Marahau with only one thing on our minds... FISH N CHIPS. After three days of salami and tuna, we were more than ready for something warm and packed with cholesterol.

I bet you didn't know I was a break dancer

Cleopatra's Pool

The crew on Torrent Beach

Night one campsite: Medlands Beach

Night two campsite: Te Pukatea Beach

The next morning we took to the seas on the first sunny day of the trip. We rented kayaks and paddled around the bay for the better part of the day. We first parked on Adele Island and I made a PB&J using a shell as I forgot to bring a knife. Next, I led the way to the opposite side of the much smaller Fisherman Island to a beach I found on Google Maps. It turned out to be one of my favorite places of NZ so far. On one side, a beautiful white sandy beach, on the other a black sand beach, and in between a craggy rock formation on which I let my innate drive to climb things take over.

Pete piloting our 2-man kayak

Adele Island

Fisherman Island

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The final subadventure of the week was a more challenging hike to Lake Angelus, an hour south in the Nelson Lakes Region. After an initial steep climb I found myself on Robert Ridge, which we would follow for the next 12 kilometers. Shortly into the ridge hike, I realized this was one of the best hikes I had ever done. I looked right and saw miles and miles of rolling green landscape and dark blue lakes. I looked left and saw imposing snow-capped mountains extending well above a well-defined tree line. I actually felt like I was in Lord of the Rings. And to boot, there was a vicious cold wind blowing from the mountain side that we could only escape behind infrequent rock piles along the trail. Unlike most, I found great joy in the powerful winds, which made the trek all the more intense.

Robert Ridge stretching for miles

Decent view off the left side of the ridge

After 5 and a half hours, we peaked over another ridge into a crater of a valley and saw Angelus Hut surrounded by an unimaginably blue lake at 5,000 feet above sea level. I spent the rest of the day beside the lake, writing, and marveling at how amazing my life is and how lucky I was to be at that particular spot on that particular day. I woke up the next morning in a similar awe-struck mentality which was only intensified by the perfect reflection of the orange glowing mountains on the lake.

Looking down upon Lake Angelus and Angelus Hut

Good morning, Lake Angelus

Finally, I'd like to conclude this post with more of a personal comment. Today I received a card from my Mom which read "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." I thought about this for a long time and recognized that it does, in some ways, speak to my experience here thus far. Being in such an amazing country while being so far away from home has a change potential that I was warned of. And I am starting to see that I am changing and creating myself here. I'm finally finding out what I want from life, and simultaneously rejecting the vanilla lifestyle that I before saw myself falling into. With only one life to live, why not do what I love? And why waste any time? I hope this will be one of the biggest changes I bring back with me; the hunger to live life every day and the curiosity to go out and experience this beautiful World.