Queenstown

Hi all! It has been a while. A lot has happened in the last few days. I will write about Queenstown.

Jess and I stayed there a total of about 1 week. It was a beautiful place but definitely one where all of the average tourists leave with empty pockets. Like I described before Queenstown is the adventure capital of the world. There are so many extreme sports and opportunities here. ( stunt jet flying, whitewater rafting, paragliding, river surfing, skydiving, dirt biking, bungee jumping, jet boating etc.) Mainly it is snow sport capital of New Zealand and comes alive in the winter. Queenstown is also the birthplace of bungee jumping. It is a little bit overwhelming having so much peer pressure to do these things. Jess and I decided it wasn't all that important to us to succumb to the tourist traps. We finally resolved as a couple that we would save the cash and sacrifice all of the adrenaline rushes available. We had a long talk and both came to peace with our decision. Just as a testimony to how God sees and recognizes the sacrifices that we make to come together as a couple, we both won a free bungee jump no more than five hours later. The jump is the second highest in the world a 134 meters (450 ft.) called the Nevis. We were sooo excited! I have never heard so many guys talk about how scared they have been until I heard them talk about this bungee.
Jess and I each did the bungee and loved it. Jesse didn't even hesitate to jump. It was a feeling unlike I have ever had. The driver took us from town about 45 minutes to the mountains, then put harnesses on us and we all got into a little basket attached to a pulley wire like a ski lift but it was hanging over the middle of a massive canyon. This took us out to the center of the canyon where there was a hanging room with music going and all of the bungee straps and cords. each person took their turn getting strapped up and inching out to an itty-bitty platform, waiting for the 3, 2, 1, then leaped out if their legs let them, into a swan dive down into the canyon below. They fly toward the river with about a 7 second free fall then spring up to another 40 meters (130 ft) and fall again. It is incredible. I jumped then remembered I wanted to look up and out instead of down. The colors of the mountains around were just a blur as I savored the free fall feeling. :O) crazy. I am so happy to know that it was not just a jump but almost the highest in the world, I won't feel the need to go higher, I won't need a next time.
Not only did we win the Bungee, but I won a river surfing trip, this is where you put on a full wet suit life jacket and helmet then with your guides and other travelers jump into the river and boogie board down grade three rapids, about 4 miles. (it is so hard) When I finished doing this, I felt like I had just run the mile. It was such an incredible experience just to become acquainted with the river, and to feel the pull and the strength of the water. I had an amazing time.
Jess and I enjoyed the friendships that we made on our buses. Almost all of us stayed in Queenstown for the whole week together and were able to hang out and have a lot of fun. There were some really nice groups almost all English.
Yesterday we took a tour bus from Queenstown to Mt. Cook Village. There is no store here, just a few accommodations and tons of hiking. Yesterday we hiked to Hooker Glacier on Hooker Lake. We both agreed that it was the best hike we had ever done. It took us about five hours in total. The mountains that surround us here are amazing, towering, and covered in snow. It is wild. On our hike we could see Mueller Glacier, Tazman Glazier, Mt. Sefton Glacier, and Hooker Glacier. Mt. Cook was also in full view during the hike, this is the highest Mt. in NZ at 12,316 ft. This is a place where someone hikes all day and comes back to the cabin for a warm drink and to sit by the fire.
Two days later.... we changed our plans from two nights here to four nights. The park is just too amazing to leave so soon. We have done some truly gorgeous hikes and we able to spend a lot of time in the visitors center museum learning the history of the area and the mountaineers who first adventured to the tops of these mountains in the late 1800's. Tomorrow we leave for Christchurch. I will post this after we get there.

Franz Josef Glacier!!!

On the bus again.... We just left Franz Josef. We had an awesome time yesterday! Instead of doing a guided tour we walked up to the glacier and climbed it ourselves. We spent about four or five hours in total, a lot of time we spent just at the base looking out at the towering cliffs on all sides of us, the waterfalls, and the river pouring out of the massive mouth of the glacier. We ate lunch and watched a helicopter take a girl out who hurt her leg... Several groups were commencing and ending their hikes, in between them we took our own hike up to the white snow of the glacier. The whole thing was quite majestic. While we were up there a group of three guys with a guide came around the corner. The guys were from our bus group so that was cool. The guide offered us a ride back into town, so we left with them. What a beautiful experience.
...Now we are in Queenstown. It is sooo pretty! Queenstown is small and reminds us of Tahoe a lot. It is situated on the edge of a lake and is surrounded by gigantic mountains covered in snow. It is called the adventure capital of the world. We will stay here another two nights and then head up to Christchurch. I will edit this blog probably tomorrow. Love to all till then. Jess

Nelson to Franz Josef

Hey guys! Jess and I are currently on the road. We are headed to Franz Josef. The last few days have been interesting and fun. We drove out of Nelson down to Westport along the Buller Gorge. This drive is often described as one of New Zealands longest and most scenic drives. It follows along the Buller River and flows out to the beautiful Tasman Sea. We stopped by Nelson Lakes National Park park and did a nice little walk (45 mins) along the lake where we had a little picnic and the bus picked us up. From the dock where we ate we could look down into the water and see a dozen or so giant eels. Just above them were a bunch of ducks and a few black swans. This was so weird to see! Honestly I didn't know that eels existed outside of salt water. I touched one of them with my foot. :O) The lake was pretty and the walk refreshing.
Along the drive we have seen lots of sheep, but aside from them, there are tons of deer farms! I will just jump ahead of the time-line here.---This morning we visited a little museum, sort of. The man who runs it is an Ex Deer Killer. Here in NZ that was an actual professional title mostly back in the 50's-70's. There were no native four legged creatures on the island before it was inhabited by the Europeans. The deer were introduced for sport and to help beautify and balance the land. Well, the deer spread and soon destroyed much of the native bush. There had to be a way of controlling the population. So hunters started on foot shooting the deer and developed a relationship with Germany to export the meat. Anyways to shorten this long story, they eventually started using helicopters to shoot the deer from and to transport the meat. One man had a brilliant idea to start farming the deer, for industry and population control. The men started jumping out of the helicopters onto each deer's back, tackling them, binding their legs, and would take them to be farmed. They started shooting nets over the deer (that was the next method to evolve as well as tranquilizer darts and shock).....interesting history. It was fun to learn about. The professionals actually were called to the US at one point to help transport some wild buffalo to an Indian reservation. The museum calls this deer capturing last great adventure of the New Zealander.
So the first night out of Nelson we stayed in a small coal mining town called Westport. I don't think that I had ever seen a real piece of raw coal in my whole life....let alone smelt it. Really quite a bad smell. Everybody here uses it in their furnaces for heat and so forth... Coal miners. I only relate them to the people in books I've read who have terrible conditions and often died early because of lung problems...but apparently it is fine here and the people make a nice living. :O)
The next day, yesterday, Thursday for you all. We travelled from Westport down to Lake Mahinapua. We trekked three really nice trails. The first was right out of Westport along the coast. Stunning. The second was Pancake Rocks I will put up photos. There were stratified layers of limestone that formed towering pillars off the shore. There were natural blowholes, a great bush walk, and splashy rocks. We both really enjoyed the views. Our third walk was only about twenty minutes round trip, but was easy to spend some time at the destination (aside from the cold). The trail led us to the lake Mahinapua. Jesse loved it, he was shooting all of the photos trying to capture Mt. Cook (the highest peak in the southern hemisphere, I think) He got some great shots. Oh! We did this walk later that night around 12:00 to see the glowworms on the walkway and to get some night shots of the mountain. We had a really nice time. Our accommodation was called the Pu Pub for short. We had an amazing meal there that the owner (84 years old) prepared, huge steak, potatoes, salad, pasta salad, bread, corn on the cob, mixed veggies, and an awesome venison stew! All for about $6 US. I was going to take a picture but couldn't pull myself away from the food to grab the camera. :O) yum. Fun day, fun evening.
Since I started the letter we have arrived in Franz Joseph, walked around town to the information center, bought groceries, had about three cups of tea, and are resting before the nights activities. Oh, There was a costume contest last night, everyone had to be something that begins with the first letter of their name. I wasn't going to do it, and Jess and I spent the whole time everybody was shopping calling family and arranging flight confirmations. We returned to the bus and all the girls were like "Ah, you havvvve to...." so I ran down the street and found some fabric that I could transform into an outfit. So... I used my little sewing kit, found some other supplies in the bush (ferns, long leaves to braid, and some other decorative things) and created "Jungle Jane" from George of the Jungle. I had my water color pencils to paint my face, (Hiedi) and the whole outfit turned out really well. There are some really great prizes for best costume, (skydiving, bungy jumping, dinners) Tonight we find out who was chosen. ;O) Jess was a surf Jock, he wore his surfing outfit.
Anyways tomorrow we are planning a hike from town up to the base of the Franz Joseph Glacier. Many people are paying to go up there but I think that we will have just as good a time as any doing it on our own. It will be a little more exciting and nice to get away from the tour a little bit.
Love You All!! Jessica

Nelson- first days in the South Island

Jess and I are in Raglan. We were fortunate enough to spend two nights here. The town is charming, similar to Santa Cruz with a Humboldt feeling of seclusion. It is known as the sunniest part of NZ. We had plenty of sun while we have been here (thank God!) But it is very cold! The wind is biting. So we wandered around a bit of today to several different thrift stores and (thanks Mike and Jackie) found an excellent fleece sweater for each of us. Mine was a dollar twenty US and Jesse found one for ~$1.60. Amazing.
Anyways, the hostel we are staying at is fun. It has a bit of history being built in 1888. It was renovated about twenty years ago and has been featured as one of the top 5 hostels in New Zealand. It is a beautiful Victorian style home we are bunked in 15x12 room with eight other people. It is a little bit crowded. But, the first night they made an excellent English dinner of roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, roast veggies, gravy....yummy.
Oh, Jess just reminded me of our Subway experience here. We ordered a lamb footlong with all the veggies and mint sauce. That was US NZ fusion right there. Fun.
What else....Oh! Yesterday we climbed to the center of New Zealand. The calculated center just on the side of town. What a nice walk! When we reached the top we heard a woman just on the next hill over playing her bagpipes. Her song of choice was Amazing Grace. That was a blessing.
Tomorrow we head out of town to Westport. Apparently there is fantastic surf in this town but not much else. So we will see how many nights we spend there. Hopefully there is internet and I will be able to send out this post. Love you all and miss you, Jessica

Sheep show!

Last few stops...

Jesse and I are in a town called Taupo. This is the adventure capital of the North Island, and is known for it's amazing species of fish transplanted from the Mcleod River in Northern California. There is a massive lake named after the town with over forty rivers pouring into it. We have had an onward struggle with the rain here. Hopefully it will stick a little more in the upcomming days.

Jess is really excited to be here. :O) We are staying at a Base Hostel ( the largest chain in the country). It is not bad. Over the last few days we have been in 1) Rotorua - known as sulphur city. It has geysers, hot springs and the Maori tribal experience where you learn all about the native history and culture. We had the opportunity to visit a farm "show" on the way out of town. It was so funny. We saw around 17 species of sheep that are bred here in NZ. We also were able to watch a sheep hearding demonstration. There was also an adventure stop where I took a ride on the swoop! I had a freefall of like 2 seconds before the swing caught and swung the rest of the way down.....anyways it was eXciting.:O)

2) Waitomo was the next stop. Here we went black water rafting!! Yeah, it was such an experience! We all put on wetsuits hard hats and got an inter tube to fit our bums, then went in for a caving adventure. Much of it we walked through but most of the second half we floated through a huge cave with a narrow river. Everybody turned off their headlights and we had hundreds of little glow worms all over the ceiling. This was fun and very different. We spent the night there and the next day took a trip to the coast to...


3) Raglan- featured in the 1966 epic film Endless Summer, for it's amazing surf. We got there and the surf was not so amazing but did show extreme potential.... The hostel was awesome! It was built and started by a surfer from LA along with his (surfer) wife. I enjoyed the lush bush all around and the relaxed atmosphere. I will put up a photo. We left much earlier than expected (the next day) and went back to Waitomo with just enough daylight to go on a bushwalk. We started in bush then through some hills and cow-land, back along a creek, more pastures, back to bush and ending in the same area as our caving adventure. We explored a couple caves entering near the that spot we floated out of, then did a walk after dark where we saw hundreds more glow worms all over the rocky walls. We had a blast. That night we met a girl form Vienna, Austria. We did a bit of walking with her and then had dinner together at the nicest place in the little town. I walked in with mud covered sandals and hiking clothes...this is all part of backpacking! The food was AMAZING ( Roast lamb rump, cous cous of with pistachio yams and pomegranate) just savory.
So that was last night.... we are here now in Taupo and will be here all tomorrow and we will see after that. Love you all and miss you. Jessica