The Perfect Trip to Milford Sound

This will be my last blog from New Zealand as I am leaving tomorrow morning to return to the great state of Maine! Thankfully, I just had the most perfect last weekend in NZ that I could have hoped for, and that I won't soon forget.

On Saturday, my flatmate Chris and I left Dunedin in his car at 10am heading westward, making only one stop in rural Gore for KFC before getting to stunning Te Anau, on the shores of Lake Te Anau, the largest lake on the South Island. We stopped briefly to pay for our kayak trip and get coffee and pancakes before pressing onwards, north along the Milford Road! The Milford Road starts in Te Anau and ends in Milford Sound, and at 120 kms long it is the longest dead end road in New Zealand :) Chris and I made several stops on the way, just because the mountains of Fiordland rising up on either side of the road are so massive and amazing. We finally arrived at the Homer Tunnel, a long tunnel that goes right through a mountain, carved out by hand during the depression. Not long after the tunnel we drove down into Milford and checked in at the Milford Lodge. Chris and I made pizza for dinner and talked with a British couple that were also kayaking the next morning. We hung out for a while at the lodge, but when the full moon rose, we walked the 15 minutes down the road to the sound and looked at the ghostly images of Mitre Peak and the surrounding mountains lit up by the moon.

On Sunday we had to get up fairly early to get ready for the day. To our delight, there wasn't a cloud in the sky! This fact alone is amazing because Fiordland, a temperate rainforest, gets 6 meters (18 feet) of rain per year. It's almost never sunny! We were pretty excited. Even more so when our kayak guide couldn't contain her excitement about how nice a day it was! We were very very lucky. Drove down to the water and got all of our kayak gear on, and Chris and I jumped in a two person kayak, with me in front. There were 3 other double kayaks and our guide, a great group size! We were out on Milford Sound for 4 hours, marvelling at the view, drinking out of a glacial river, snapping photos of a sunning seal, and very thankful for the calm water. It was an amazing trip. We finished with a stop at Bowen Falls, three times higher than Niagara Falls, and very impressive. On the way back I counted 14 mountains that I could see from my kayak that were well over 1500 meters high. Amazing! All that kayaking made us pretty sleepy, so we spent the afternoon lazing around and went out for dinner that night at the Blue Duck Cafe :)

On Monday the clouds had returned, settling in the ridges and valleys of the mountains. Chris and I made one last visit to the sound, and lucky we did, I saw 2 new birds! A white heron and some grey ducks. We set out at 10:00 knowing we had to cross the entire country before dark :) Made some stops along the Milford Road on the way back, stopped in Te Anau for coffee and walked to the wildlife refuge so I could see a Takahe, then continued on towards Dunedin. After 4 hours of DJ Kate's 90's hit remix, we were finally back. When I closed my eyes to go to sleep, all I could see were mountains...

Goodbye Wellington, Hello Chilly Dunedin!

I haven't posted in a while, but there have been some big changes! Last week my job ended and I spent a day running around snapping photos, going to the museum and going out to dessert with my workmates and my friend Dave from university. On Wednesday I flew down to the South Island to spend my last two weeks back in Dunedin with my friends. I was very sad to leave Matt up in Wellington... I told him to win the Lotto so he can fly to Maine and meet everyone :)


This past week I have been sitting around and sleeping a lot. Flatmate Chris and I went out to the end of the Otago Peninsula on Sunday and it was freeeezing and very windy. We didn't see any penguins, but did somehow find my dog, Jetta.






Just kidding, that's a seal :) Next up is a trip to Milford Sound this weekend, and I'll be home in a little over a week! Looking forward to summer weather!

Things I Like...

...about Wellington! A short list:

1. The Forest and Bird Society plays bird sounds on top of it's building next to a giant tui.
2. Sometimes people put soap suds in the Bucket Fountain.
3. Carrot cake from Mr. Bun.
4. Flat white for $3 from Midnight Espresso.
5. Watching the sun rise over the Rimutakas from the Terrace.
6. Using the toilets in the Embassy Theatre (and pretending I'm Liv Tyler...)
7. The whale bridge.
8. Random music on Cuba St.

Ok, that's all for now. Back to work!

Otari and the Zoo!

Quick one: this past weekend Matt and I spent Saturday at the Otari/Wilton's Bush reserve in Wellington. We walked around through all-native gardens and native bush for about 2 hours. Saw quite a few wood pigeons and an 800 year old rimu tree! It really felt like we weren't near the city, it was nice.

On Sunday Matt and I took the bus to Newtown to go to the Wellington Zoo! It wasn't a very big zoo, but it still took us a long time to walk all the way around. They had the usual giraffes, lions, chimpanzees, a tiger, zebras... but also had kangaroos, red pandas, and malayan sun bears! Quite a few different birds as well. And I got to see my first kiwi in the Twilight exhibit! It was a pretty fun time :) And for those Peter Jackson fans out there, they filmed part of "Dead Alive" at the Wellington Zoo! Ok, it's back to work for my last week at Motu, and hopefully a trip to Kapiti Island!

The Sunny Wairarapa

Just got back from a weekend away with Matt in the Wairarapa, one of the North Island's most prominent wine regions and a beautiful piece of countryside between the Rimutaka mountains and the coast. On Saturday we got up early and took the train one stop out of Wellington to pick up our rental car, went back to his flat and picked up our stuff, then headed north out of town! It felt good to leave the city behind, especially as it looked like it would be a very nice day. We drove up over Rimutaka Hill (scary! I'm glad Matt was driving...) and down into the Wairarapa to the town of Masterton. Stopped in Masterton to pick up lunch and dinner from the grocery store and a flat white at a cafe in town... soooo good.

From there we headed right to Castlepoint on the east coast, named so because Captain Cook thought the point looked like the battlements of a castle. What a genius that guy was! We got there too early to check in to our room, so we drove over to the point and looked around at the reef. When 1:00 rolled around we went to check in to our little kitchen cabin (Matt let me drive back!), brought all of our stuff in, and went back to the point. Go to google maps, type in "castlepoint nz" and check it out, it's really cool! First we went to the lighthouse, then ate lunch in the bright sunshine, then went down around on the ocean side of the point looking for a cave Claire had said was around there somewhere. Didn't find it, so we started to walk over to do a loop walk when we aw a DOC sign saying where the cave was! And it was low tide so we could actually get to it! Climbed along the shore of the point until we got to this big limestone cave that goes under the whole point, so you can see light and waves coming in on the other side! So cool. Apparently it was once home to Te Wheke, the octopus, in Maori legend :) From there we did a loop walk around to Castle Rock were we got some elevation and could see pretty far up the coast in both directions. The sun set around 6:00, so we went back and made dinner in the little cabin (so cute!) as the full moon rose, then went out later for a cider at the bar.

The next morning, I was up at sunrise (much to Matt's chagrin) and shaking him to get out of bed since it was so beautiful! We walked down to the beach through the strong wind and took some photos and waited for the sun to come up over the horizon. Nothing makes you feel like the earth is spinning more than watching the first rays of the sun appear. Since the sun rose at 7:30, we decided to eat breakfast and pack up, and we left Castlepoint at 9:30. And then the driving began... We drove south to Riversdale beach, then I took over (yes, Matt, I will stay on the left) and drove a gravel stretch of the road for about an hour. Continued on to Martinborough after thinking we might be lost and finally got a coffee and some carrot cake!!! Mmm. And the town was really cute, it's like the heart of the Wairarapa where all the wine enthusiasts go. From there we drove south to Lake Ferry on the coast, then east along the coast to the lighthouse at Cape Palliser. We stopped there for lunch and were entertained by the cutest New Zealand fur seals ever. And some of the seals went in the ocean and were jumping clear out of the water like dolphins, it was amazing!

<-- Matt and me at the lighthouse.

Made one stop on the way back to take a short walk up a stream valley to see the Pinnacles, interesting formations made out of eroding mud on the sides of the valley. It was dusk then and the valley smelled like home in the summer. From there we drove all the way back to Wellington, with a stop in Featherston for fish and chips. It had been such a hot, beautiful day, and weekend, and when we got back to the city we were exhausted but happy :)

Cape Palliser Lighthouse, 250 steps up a cliff!

Two-Dozen, Carrot Cake and Turkish Food

Well yesterday was my 24th birthday (or two-dozen, as I've been telling people), and it was a really great day! I got breakfast muffins (with candles!) in bed and then went out for bagels with Matt in the morning, went to work and then went home at noon to call my mom :) I had also gotten my packages from my mom and from my best friend that morning, so that was really exciting! In the afternoon, since it was a Thursday, we had afternoon tea and the ladies got me a carrot cake (with candles!). I went shopping after work for a new top and skirt, then got ready for Matt to pick me up at 7:00 for my surprise evening! Ooooh...

I threw on my heels and met Matt at the door and we headed towards Cuba St., and then I figured out where we were going! Cafe Istanbul! I had been wanting to go out to eat there since Matt has been to Turkey three times and said how good the food was. He had reserved a table by the fire in the middle of the dimly lit room, so that was really nice. We got some Turkish beer (Efes), halloumi cheese and bread, then lamb shish kebabs with salad and rice, and bread with four different dips. Mmmm. Finished it all off with some Turkish coffee in the lounge with brightly colored pillows. It was so good! Below is a photo of me and Matt, awww... :)

Matt and me at the restaurant (you can see his eyes in this photo, haha):

ANZAC Day

Wednesday was ANZAC (Australia/New Zealand Army Corps) Day, so I had the day off from work. They have a dawn service (it's like memorial day here) at 6am, but I wasn't about to get up at 5:30 on my day off! Did get up at around 9:00 though and spent the day walking up to Wright's Hill with Matt. It took an hour and 40 minutes to walk all the way there and up the hill, but it was worth it. There is a WWII fortification on the top of the hill which is only open 4 days out of the year! There were tons of people up there, and for $5 you can go into all of the underground tunnels and see all the old ammo storage, plotting and gun rooms. It was pretty cool! Plus the views from the hill were really great. The guns, which ironically were sold as scrap metal to the Japanese after the war, could reportedly hit the South Island! Nothing big planned for this weekend yet, besides seeing my favorite NZ band, the Phoenix Foundation, play Saturday night :)

Bays and Sanctuaries

Since I've been working full time during the week, there really isn't much to report until after the weekend (though Matt did take me out to the Embassy Theatre last week!). On Saturday Matt and I took a train north up the west coast and got off at Pukerua Bay. There were great views of the coast, and of Kapiti Island which is a predator free bird sanctuary. We stopped to eat brie and french bread sandwiches (mmm!) then walked south along the coast into a nature reserve. The shoreline was very rocky and there were lots of tide pools, and when we came around a corner we could see the South Island! *sigh* I miss the South Island! In the tide pools Matt kept finding paua shells which are bright blue on the inside and sell for lots of money in the shops. Yay! We found four good ones of all different sizes. And even more exciting, we found an octopus trapped in a small tide pool. It came over to me and squirted water at me... hey! :-O

On Sunday, Matt and I walked up to the Karori Bird Sanctuary and walked around for the whole day. I was very excited to see quite a few hihi (stitchbirds) and a couple of brown teal. Both are very rare, the teal is one of the rarest ducks in the world. Also saw three tuataras (prehistoric reptiles) in their research area. At the end of walking around the whole day, we just made it to the 19th c. gold mine they have in the sanctuary before it closed. It's quite a dimly lit tunnel, and had a very low ceiling. Matt went in first with a dim flashlight that he used to look at the giant cave wetas on the ceiling. Um, can we just take a minute here and point out that Kate doesn't like giant cave anything, never mind wetas, that are like huuuuuge grasshoppers, crawling all over a low ceiling? Gross. Needless to say, we weren't in there very long. But it was cool to finally see a weta :)

So, back to work for me, but only for the next two days... I get Wednesday off for ANZAC Day! Will write more later, post comments if you like, I like reading them! I also updated my last two blogs with more photos (and a photo of Matt!).












<-- Me at the Embassy Theatre!











<---Matt pointing out the octopus










<--- Kapiti Island at sunset









<--- A North Island Robin! Now I've seen them all!











<--- Me at the dam in Karori Sanctuary

Around the Town

<---This bucket fountain is right outside my office window!

It's so warm out here today that it's hard to focus on work! So I'm taking a break to write in my blog :) This past weekend wasn't very adventurous, but it was good to really see the city I'm now living in. On Saturday, Matt (British, met on Stewart Island) and I went to the Botanic Gardens in the morning. We took the Cable Car up from the downtown district, it was really fun! Spent forever walking around the windy, hilly paths until I felt I had seen it all. Then in the afternoon we crossed the whole city to the other side and climbed up Mt. Victoria, which took all of 45 minutes. It was a steep climb, but the views were great! Could see the airport, the whole harbor, and lots of the Tararua Mountains. Stayed up there for a while and watched the ferries come in before the sun started to set. Didn't do much of anything on Sunday... it was warm so Matt and I went to the beach at Oriental Bay for the afternoon and got "American-style" hot dogs. Mmmm.


<---Matt and I at the beach!

Now I'm back at work for the week, and trying to plan too many things at once! Tomorrow I have a hot date with Matt, we're going to the Embassy Theatre to see a movie. It's the same theater that all three Lord of the Rings movies were premiered in! It's owned by Peter Jackson :) Yay! Maybe I'll sit where Orlando Bloom was sitting. ;) A girl can only wish...

A Ferry Ride to Windy Wellington

Well everyone, I've made it to Wellington! I left Dunedin on Saturday morning (very early) with hugs from my hottie kiwi flatmates :) Why did I leave again? Slept for most of the 7.5 hour bus ride up the east coast to Kaikoura. Saturday night I slept in Kaikoura, a town known for it's swimming with dolphins and seals, and it's amazing scenery of the mountains by the sea. Unfortunately, it was cloudy and drizzly when I awoke, and thus I saw none of the scenery. No matter though, it was only two hours north on a bus from there to the ferry terminal in Picton and the weather got better the further north I went! Saw lots of New Zealand's wineries on the way.

It was hot and sunny for the ferry ride, which they say is one of the most beautiful ferry rides in the world. Indeed, the trip through the hilly Marlborough sounds and out across the Cook Strait to the North Island was really beautiful. For the first part of the trip I stayed on deck and watched the albatrosses (albatri?) get out of the way of the huge boat. It got pretty windy though, so I stayed inside to watch as Wellington Harbor came into view. My first night in Wellington I stayed in a hostel in town.

On Monday I went to look at a flat that had been advertised online, loved it, and moved in that afternoon. Lucky me! I had heard rumors about how hard it was to find a flat, so I was in no position to be picky. I'm technically sharing a very large but partitioned room with another girl, but I have my own door and it's very quiet. The room has a bed, desk and chair in it too, which is great :) It beats paying for a hostel... On Tuesday I started work at Motu, and it's a bright sunny office right in the heart of Wellington's cafe district. And it's only a 5 minute walk from my flat! Lucky me again! I feel like I have settled in fairly quickly in the past three days, and can't wait to get out and explore the city. Hope everyone is doing well, and that this warm weather here is reaching it's way north! More from me later!

Stewart Island/Rakiura National Park

I just spent last Thursday to Sunday on Stewart Island, a large island south of the South Island that has only one town (with 390 people!) and the rest is pretty much Rakiura National Park. I lucked out big time with the weather, it was sunny and warm for the first two days, and only a bit windy and cloudy the last day. Sweet!

Ok, on Thursday I met a guy from England named Matt on the ferry, and we ended up tramping up to Port William Hut and back on the Rakiura Track. My intention was just to go to Maori Beach, but it was so beautiful we just wanted to keep going! The water is very blue and clear, and the bush really looks primeval, especially with morning fog. We ended up tramping for 7 hours :) Here are some photos from that day:




<--The "anchor chain" entrance to the park








<--me walking along a beach









<--one of the beautiful views from the track!





On Friday Matt and I took a water taxi out to Ulva Island in Paterson Inlet. Ulva Island is a predator free island that they have started introducing endangered birds onto, so I got to see plenty of weka, a few saddlebacks, a couple Stewart Island robins (soooo cute!) and one kakariki, otherwise known as a red-crowned parakeet. So, I didn't see any kiwi, but it was a great day anyway!





<--a Stewart Island robin








<-- me surrounded by wekas!









<-- a South Island weka





Saturday was kind of a low-key day, I went on a 3 hour tramp in the bush and along the inlet, but was fairly exhausted from the last two days, so I didn't do much else. Matt and I tried to find a good cup of coffee to no avail. However, he had gone blue cod fishing that day and he made me help him eat the ten fillets that he had caught! We got very full, but it tasted sooo good.

On Sunday, I was in Invercargill all day waiting for the bus to take me home at 6:00, but I did get to see "The World's Fastest Indian" at the museum (the main character is from Invercargill!). Made it back to Dunedin all in one piece at 9:30pm :) This week so far I have seen the new NZ movie "Black Sheep" and have volunteered weeding a sand dune for the YEP Trust. Saw a penguin on the beach too!

Am heading to Wellington on Saturday, so I probably won't post until after I get there! And I have lots to do in Dunedin before I go... :)

A Mountain, a Steep Street, and the Rarest of Them All

Had a great weekend this past weekend in Dunedin. Amy from Wanaka and her friend Emily were here and good times abounded :)

On Saturday I convinced the girls that a hike up Mt. Cargill was in order, since it was sunny and warm and beautiful, and the views from the top are stunning! We met my flatmate Chris at the museum and he drove us out to the trail. The four of us climbed up through thick native bush, and scrambled up the rocks to the top. We were met with a view of the Otago peninsula, the surrounding city of Dunedin (the 6th largest city in the world by area) and a silently flowing sea fog enveloping the coastline far below us. Chris had thought ahead and brought a watermelon and a chocolate bar. Woohoo! After a bit of a hang out at the top, including watching people run and jump off the mountain to hang glide, we headed down through the forest. Saw the "top five" NZ forest birds: wood pigeon, tomtit, fantail, tui and bellbird.


<-- Eating watermelon, Amy me and Chris









<-Amy, me and Emily at the top






On the way back into town, we just had to make a stop at Baldwin St., the steepest street in the world! Not only did we stop, oh no, Chris had to drive up to the top! It's like going up the first part of a roller coaster, you are afraid you are going to flip over backwards! We almost made it, but just before the end all the girls had to get out so the car could get to the top. It was crazy! Everyone cheered us on though, it was really funny.







<--Me and Baldwin St. behind my head




Ok, then on Sunday there was a lot of banana pancake and scrambled egg making in the morning, then we stole our friend Paul's car and headed to the Otago Peninsula, namely Sandfly Bay. After a bit of a scary cliffside drive up over the hills in the middle, we descended on the south coast and parked at the DOC sign. It was a great walk down to the beach, with sweeping views of the bay and Otago coastline and huge dunes stretching back from the beach. We were all pretty happy just to be on the beach on such a nice warm day, and then it got better... wildlife!!



Not only were there sea lions lounging on the beach within feet of where we were walking, but there was a pair of yellow eyed penguins at the other end of the beach! I didn't think we'd see them, but since they are molting they are not feeding in the ocean during the day. We got great photos, and even some video. They are so charming and adorable :) And they are one of the rarest penguins in the world, so lucky us! When we finally left the bay us three girls were very happy. It also didn't hurt that we had a gourmet pizza cook-off at the end of the day complete with red wine :)




<-- Yellow Eyed Penguins! One of them is molting :)








<-- Can anyone spot the penguin in this photo?





That's my update for now, am making plans for Stewart Island for the upcoming week, so stay tuned!

Yellow Eyed Penguin Trust

Quick post, I just spent the day volunteering for the second time at the Yellow Eyed Penguin Trust repotting native species and moving plants around. It's so fun to hear everyone's stories and hear about how many penguins they saw on night counts. And we get morning tea at 10:30, and lunch at noon and leave by 3:00, so it's a pretty good day! Below is a picture of Anita and myself moving around some plants, and one of the nursery :)

Weekend in Wanaka

I have just returned from my weekend in Wanaka, a great lakeside town in the Southern Alps near Mt. Aspiring National Park. The weather was beautiful! I was able to do everything that I had planned. Hooray! So without further ado, the illustrated version of my weekend:

Friday March 16: I woke up at my backpackers and was picked up by a shuttle to Mt. Aspiring National Park, about an hours drive north into a striking glacial river valley. We stopped at the Raspberry Creek car park at the entrance of the Matukituki Valley, and I was reminded of a certain crazy tramp I did the last time I was in NZ :) My hike that day lead me up through a stream valley beech forest for 2 hours to a striking lookout at the Rob Roy Glacier.The clouds stayed just behind the ridge so we got great views. The mountain the glacier is on is almost 8,000 feet high! The walk back afforded many sightings of native birds all eager to eat the insects I was stirring up. I was back in Wanaka by 4:30 and relaxed in town until meeting up with a girl Amy I had met here last time. Went to her apartment for the evening for a big BBQ and a soak in the hot tub. Nice!





<--Rob Roy Glacier





Saturday March 17: When I woke up I could tell in the distance that the park was completely clouded over, but the sun always shines in Wanaka! I decided to take advantage of the clear day and go horseback riding. At 1:00 I was picked up with two other people and we drove 30 mins south through the Cardrona Valley. The riding place had appaloosas that were very striking. While most of them had names like Dakota and Pocohontas... mine was named Prickles! Ten of us set out for a two hour ride up through the open fields of the valley, with beautiful views of the mountains back towards Wanaka. We got to trot and canter quite a bit, which was great, Prickles was very well behaved. If you're having a hard time imagining it, think of the second Lord of the Rings movie... it felt like that :) After the ride I could barely walk, but still met up with Amy and her friend for a Guinness at the local pub before going back to stay at the apartment that night (in the master bedroom that two friends had just moved out of!). Good times so far...

Sunday March 18: Amy had the day off from work, so we went downtown for a flat white (it's like a latte). It was only my 6th flat white of the weekend... Amy's boyfriend John was taking the car up to the national park, so we packed our bags and hitched a ride. We had him drop us off at the Diamond Lake Conservation Area on the way, and since it looked so ominous further up the valley, he stayed and hiked with us! The hike was nice, ambling up a small mountain named Rocky Mountain, and for the most part it was sunny and very windy. The views of the lake from the top were great and Amy and I got a triumphant summit photograph. I also saw a NZ pipit for the first time, so that made me very happy. The three of us spent the rest of the day eating ice cream, watching movies and going to a free barbeque down by the lakeside. And of course finished the day in the hot tub :)




<--Summit of Rocky Mountain







Ok, so that was my weekend! Not too bad I don't think. It's nice to be back in Dunedin for now, but I do miss the mountains already... ~Kate


P.S. Yes, I know the naked people on the cover of this tramping book... it's my friend's boyfriend Josh and his friend Paul! Silly Kiwis :)

Picture album from Rarotonga

Hey everyone, I finally got all of my pictures uploaded to Kodak Gallery and put titles on them. If you want to see the album, click the link below:

Kate's Rarotonga Picture Album

I have taken a few pics around Dunedin, so hopefully I will post those before I go to Wanaka for the weekend!

Yay for penicillin!

I went to the doctors today and got myself a healthy dose of penicillin for the next ten days. Yay! I am already feeling so much better, mostly because my throat was too sore to eat for the last five days and now it's feeling fine! Yessss, fooooood. So, now that I am better, I have to make plans for what to do while I'm here. Plan number one involves going to the beach this weekend and sitting in the sun. St. Kilda here I come...

Pictures are up!

Check out my older posts, they all have pictures with them now! Click on the picture to see it bigger, but don't forget to hit the back button to get back to the blog. Enjoy!

~Kate

P.S. I'm feeling much better, especially after eating chicken, potatoes and pumpkin at Harley's parents farm last night!!

Lesson Learned

Well, I made it to Dunedin in one piece, and with all of my luggage, so I am pretty happy about that. It was a 5.5 hour bus ride down though, which is quite a long time.

But here is a little lesson for you all:

Do not spend one day riding around a hot tropical island on a scooter, and the next day swimming in a glacial river for 4 hours. Because you will get a fever. Which I have.

The good news is that 1) it's not dengue fever, which is awesome, 2) my friend made me soup last night and toast and tea this morning, and 3) I don't have anything to do right now anyway, so it's actually the perfect time to get sick! I am itching to get out in Dunedin though and see some familiar old places (although watching TV here is funny enough...). I'm going to go lie down again and drink my tea, I'll let you know when something more exciting happens!

~Kate

Rafting and Christchurch

I'm so glad all my travelling worked out, because when I woke up on Tuesday morning in Christchurch there was a bus waiting to take me to the Rangitata River... to go white water rafting! Sweeeeeet. We all got there and got suited up in wet suits, poly pro, windbreakers, life jackets and helmets, then headed down in a huge van to the river. Four rafts were going, and since I wasn't with anyone I got put with a group of 4 blond-haired blue-eyed girls from Sweden. Go team Sweden! They were all really sweet, and since none of us knew what we were doing, we got a really experienced guide (Ben) who was really funny. He kept making fun of the other guides, jumped out of our boat a couple times, and was pretty happy to have 5 pretty girls in his boat to scream when we hit something big :)

The river itself was amazing, it goes slow, then starts to progress down a gorge. We hit Class 5 rapids! Woo! None of us fell out, and we always got to go down first so we could watch the other rafts coming down. It was a gorgeous sunny day too, and not far from Lake Tekapo, so really beautiful scenery. At the end of the rapids there is a part where you can jump in and swim down in a really strong current, then you swim to the left and climb a huge cliff (30 ft) called Jump Rock. And then you jump off. And I did! It was pretty freakin' cool. After that we got a barbeque at the lodge, and got to see the photos from the trip. It was such a fun time! I'm missing lots of stuff because so much happened, but you get the idea. Here is a picture from their website:

Just pretend that's me in one of the rafts :) Ok, I'm about to run out of internet time. It's off to breakfast with a guy from England I met on my rafting trip, and then a 6 hour bus ride to Dunedin! Write you later :)





Team SWEDEN! Me with Emily, Emilie, Erica, and Malin :)

Leaving Rarotonga

The last few days in Rarotonga were absolutely amazing. We found a great spot to snorkel, and I saw parrotfish, needlefish, cornet fish, puffer fish, starfish, damselfish, and an eel :) We also hiked up Raemaru mountain again and this time scaled the cliffs to get to the top. It was an amazing view, but definitely made you feel like you were in the middle of nowhere. On Friday night 6 of us from the backpackers went out on the town, and had a legendary night. We got picked up by a tour bus going bar hopping in town, so we didn't have to pay for the bus. Plus it stopped at every bar in town throughout the night! We got to dance, and had quite a few rum and cokes (we're on an island, remember?). The best part was that we had a really hot Maori tour guide that took a liking to yours truly ;) I spent Saturday packing, hanging out at the backpackers with my friends, and going to the market in town with Paoa on the back of his motor scooter. Soo much fun! It was really damn hot though, I had to jump in the pool every 5 minutes.

On Sunday, Paoa took me around the whole island on his scooter, which is only about 20 miles. It was so nice to see it all before I left, and drive past all the places I had been. We stopped at a resort where he used to work and he talked with his friends for a while in Maori. I had no idea what they were talking about :) Oh, and the best part is that because the island is so small, he knows almost everyone on it, including the people in the pictures in my guide book! So hilarious.

My flight out yesterday was delayed a half hour, but I still made my flight to Christchurch. I got to travel with a girl named Katie from the backpackers, and both of us had to stop each other getting off the plane! Palm trees, lagoons, mountains, boys on scooters.... who wants to leave? Maybe I'll stop there on my way home ;) Ok, this is long enough, and I have to go white water rafting today on the Rangitata River! Kia orana!

~Kate

Snorkelling at Aro'a Beach:












Climbing down the cliffs of Raemaru Mtn. with Elly from England:












Rarotonga Backpackers... Hillside!









Sunset from the backpackers:









Paoa on his scooter:












Rarotonga out the plane window: