Mar 2009

Two dudes holdin hands on a mountain top? - awkward!! haha A victory stance like no other, after ten days in the backcountry of the Fjordlands, through knee-deep mud, relentless sand flies, scorching sun, sharp alpine winds, wading through lakes and streams of glacier water, we climb the last steep hill and are treated to a sight like no other. Completely surrounded by alpine lakes and glaciers, in the distance we can see the waves of the Tasman Sea crashing on the western shore of the South Island.

I can't really describe to you how crazy amazing the whole journey of the South Island is... I hike the Abel Tasman coastal trail in the north of the island in four days and then hitch hike my way down through Christchurch and Dunedin before catching a ride west to Christchurch and meeting up with Will. We get food and equipment and we're off for ten days adventuring in the Fjordlands. I'll have to tell you more stories next time I see you, but here are the pics of the last leg of my Grand Tour odyssey:

Abel Tasman Marshlands

This dude sees I am hiking with my blue guitar and busted out some blues riffs

I traverse many of these beautiful creeks running into pristine blue ocean water

I have to wait for low tides to cross a couple of basins

Sunrise on the Abel Tasman Trail

Whenever the trees clear on my right, this was the view

Now for some Fjordland Hiking Pics!

I guess New Zealand was almost called Fernland, also it is the last remainder or the fauna found on "Gondwana" the super continent of lore.

Definitely feels like Lord of the Rings sometimes

We get out of the forest and into the Alpine section of the Kepler Trail

Awesome alpine landscape!

Never seen flowers like I seen on this mountain

just, wow.

Next to the wet and wild Hollyford track. Mud and rain and clouds for half, sunny and warm and spectacular for the other.

Some amazing moments in between sun and rain.

Did some good lake fishing!

The color of glacier water serves as a reminder of how freakin cold it is!

We are pretty exhausted and hurting at some points during our journey, but our surroundings help us along

When we do get a break, we have some amazing views. I think Will is praying here for the below freezing glacier water to turn into a muscle-relaxing hot tub.

Delicious!!!ly poisonous

I go fishing again with some string and bread and a safety pin, too bad no fish are around to laugh at it!

I've never seen this before and don't think I will ever again, a sunbow shows us the way one evening.

And that's the end of my journey! Well, kind of. We hike out of the glacier-carved mountains onto a bus to Queensland, then on to a coach to Christchurch and a night of celebrating before a pre-dawn flight back to Brisbane, Australia. A last day with Will before I fly to Sydney, then Singapore, then London, the Rome, then Greece, and finally to Tel Aviv where my sister and her Israeli beau pick me up at the airport at 3:30 in the morning.

Tel Aviv is where I call my home for the time being, but I am looking forward to exploring Israel by bike, bus, and backpack soon. I am excited to start Hebrew classes here in a few days. The Purim holiday here is like a week long Mardi Gras and the beaches are just insane with beautiful people - all Jews! My sister rocks, I'm tired, but happy, and the beach will be the perfect place for me to chill out for awhile. Thanks for reading my blog and following me around the world! More adventures are sure to come; I hope all is well wherever you are, and till next time.