OK, so it came a little early

I have quite a lot to catch up for everyone. This one’s mostly for the parents, as it will be long.

This style of writing is called “get it on the page as fast as possible so I remember as much as possible”, hopefully it starts trending, and I can take credit for it and put it on my resume or something.

Here is a rundown of the last month.

A few weeks ago a group of us set out to do the Tongariro Crossing; it was striking, stunning, and out of place. My friend Marisa pretty much summed it up in her post here: http://halfwayacrosstheworld.posterous.com/bad-ass

But regardless I’ll still give my take.

After school on a Friday, we hopped in a car and gunned it down to Tongariro National Park. Taylor took us the long way. Y’all know Taylor right?? I really should have invested in a sleeping bag and/or sleeping mat. It was very cold – in fact my tent had frosted over the morning before we started the hike.

Waking up we saw the epic Mt. Ruapehu and Mt. Ngauruhoe in the distance. Game time.

We got to the beginning of the track around 7 AM, and waited an hour for everyone as HUNDREDS of other people passed us. I was worried about being clogged up the whole way.

The ascent to the top of Mt. Ngauruhoe (Mt. Doom) was extremely challenging, and set us back 3 ½ hours, it had snowed previously that week so that this spitting image of a volcano had a snow capped peak. Every step taken up the side of the ashy mountain was like walking up a sand dune with falling rocks. It was harder than the entirety of the 20 km hike. But the payoff was extraordinary. The ridge of the volcano had a breathtaking view of the North Island. You could see north to Lake Taupo (biggest lake in New Zealand, and west to Mt. Taranaki, which is near the coast, and all the land in between. Behind us was the even bigger Mt. Ruapehu. And two steps to our right was a 50 meter drop into the center of the volcano. I called my mom from up there, where don’t you get cell service anymore? On the way back down I just sat myself on a 200 meter slick of snow and slid down the side of the volcano as fast as a toboggan, it was hilarious and completely unexpected. My pants/ass were literally frozen when I got up at the end of it. Luckily, by the time we had finished the extra off-trail portion of the hike, the crowds had more than cleared, and we had a nice solitude for the remainder of the hike. I could keep on describing the ever changing landscape, but it would take ages to get through this blog, so just read my friends post, or give me a call!

Insert week of school.

Two week break time.

To kick off the two week break in our semester, myself, and my friends Danielle and Marisa went to Raglan to drink and be merry. I could write about Raglan for days. Made even more friends and obviously stayed 4 more days than planned. Same old story here for the week. Soaked up the town’s chill vibes, surfed as much as possible (conditions weren’t that great), caught my first wave face, and I’m doing it pretty much every time I attempt it now, and almost got crushed by a wave that was way too big. Super scary. My board took a SERIOUS beating over the break. Lost a fin, cracked the nose, and got dings all over it – made some serious progress though so it’s all good. I’ll be back in Raglan for most of June.

Then Danielle and I went to the zoo. It was awesome; I haven’t been since early grade school. I was just as enthralled by the monkeys as I had been when I was eight.

I also found my new favourite hangout in Auckland, it’s called Hulucat Tea Lounge, and when I go there I become a shining white star in a sea of Asian people. But seriously it’s awesome. I’ve spent about fifty bones on tea there as of now…

My friend Jenn Blakely came over from Australia to go on a road trip with me for a week. We had big plans and a lot of ground to cover, so the majority of the week was spent gunning it down the coastline. Jenn flew into Auckland; we picked up the rental car, strapped the surfboard to it, and then headed directly to the Coromandel Peninsula. We made a pact not to stay in backpackers and to sleep in the car/tent. We pulled into town fairly early, had to take a breathalyzer 4 times in the vicinity of a block (a lot of drunks in a town population 300 I guess). Found a parking spot, went to the pub, and then tried to get a good night’s sleep. The following day we explored the majority of the peninsula, it was mostly off-road, super stunning, and very rural. We saw the sights. We came, we saw, we conquered.

We had to make it out to East Cape (easternmost point of New Zealand) so we drove until 1 AM to get there, the road would never end. The goal was to see the first sunrise in the world. We woke up in our car from the sun hitting our eyes, “Hey Jenn, look at the sunrise…” “That’s awesome…” “Yah…”, and then we both fell back asleep. So I can officially say I have seen the first sunrise in the world.

East Cape to Gisborne was an absolutely stunning ride; I could have driven for days without getting sick of the scenery around me. It was completely rural, even more so than the Coromandel, yet constantly changing. I felt like it was a mystical version of home, with fall just setting in without being able to show its true colours. I wish I had more than just a few hours in these areas, and really get to know the local communities; it seems like a fascinating part of the world to live in. If anything I’d like to stay there just to let the beauty burn into my head a little longer.

Gisborne. The surf wasn’t really up in Gisborne but I gave it a go. It was kind of a surreal spot for me. You always have a picture of what it might look like in your mind, but when you get there it is never what you expect, which is half the fun. It was rolling farmland that came to an abrupt end at world class beaches, and the downtown was lined with massive palm trees, also out of place. See paragraph above for the drive to Napier.

Napier is hyped up by NZ tourism as the “art-deco capital of New Zealand”. I guess it is, but it just seemed like a well-designed shopping center to me. We were there over Easter weekend, and it turns out New Zealand pretty much completely shuts down all weekend. We parked the car in an alley, and the only things open were a Burger King and a brothel. Happy Easter.

When I finally woke up, we were almost in Wellington; Jenn drove all morning while I was sleeping. It was great to see the city again. I love that place. Jenn drove us into downtown and instantly popped a tire on a curb. Thank god for insurance haha. A guy who was delivering eggs tried to help us out as much as he can, he was super nice, and even offered us some of the eggs. Got it fixed in no time though, tire replaced and went to check out the suburb of Miramar in Wellington, where Peter Jackson’s Weta Workshop is.

I was stoked.

The sheer passion for what they do really comes through even in the little touristy area/shop that they set out for people coming through. It really is inspiring. I would have gotten a little something if a scarf weren’t literally 250 dollars there. They’re not products, they’re “collectables”.

Did the Wellington rounds with Jenn after that, and got lost in the hills/suburbs and checked out an unreal view of the city at night, windy as ever. We decided to get out of the city for a night, and went to park on a beach forty minutes out of town. I was afraid the wind would blow the car over that night. Nuts.

The next day our mission was Taupo, central north island. We took a route through Whanganui (“wh” is pronounced “f”) National Park, a one lane gravel road that took us through what was my opinion one of the most beautiful areas of New Zealand. The colours on the trees and the crispness of the air reminded me of the dead of fall back home. Not to mention the EPIC landscape. This place really is Middle Earth. There is too much to talk about in this area, except it was absolutely breathtaking. Little communities dotted the road, and were no bigger than a few houses and a few sheep. One of the last stops in the park was a town called Jerusalem; it had a church standing there from the late nineteenth century that had a fantastic blend of styles between the Christian faith and Maori culture. It wasn’t a big church but I would be shocked if all the communities in the area were able to fill it up on any given Sunday. My camera was out of batteries for Jerusalem, so it’ll be something that just stays in my head – very special place.

We pull out to flat land, coming into the instant desert that is Tongariro National Park. The peaks of the mountains were covered in clouds but we drove up to the bottom of the ski lifts on Mt. Ruapehu so Jenn could touch some snow. The wind was serious. Gale force wind warnings all over the place, I was flooring the car up the mountain and was only going 40 km/h.

Up to Taupo, where we planned to skydive the following day, but it was cancelled because of wind warnings all over the central north island. It turns out we got down the east coast at the right time, not a day after we left the highways completely flooded. With no skydiving options we went off on an adventure into the rural Waikato region, saw a swing bridge in Arapuni, and a place called the Blue Pools. The water in this slow running river takes 50-100 years to work its way up from the water table, and it is also filtered by many plants that lie on the riverbed. The river sinks down in areas and forms an eerily fresh blue among the perfectly clear and transparent water. The only way to describe it for people to get an image of it would be: “the ghost of sunken turquoise water on steroids”. I can’t imagine too many people get out here. There was a monument that was out of place at a spot I sat. It really held some meaning for me, as if it was there to mirror people’s thoughts. I am still shocked at the power of a simple landscape to weight so deeply in one’s mind. I can imagine the same thing goes through everybody’s head when they sit down to watch this peaceful place. It read:

Dust if you must, but wouldn’t it be better

To paint a picture or write a letter

Bake a cake or plant a seed

Ponder the difference between want and need

Dust if you must but the worlds out there

With the sun in your eyes, the wind in your hair

A flutter of snow, a shower of rain

This day will not come around again

Dust if you must but there’s not much time

With rivers to swim and mountains to climb

Music to hear and books to read

Friends to cherish and life to lead

Dust if you must, but bear in mind

The time will come and it’s not kind

And when you go, and go you must

You yourself will make more dust

It is a beautiful country, and it has allowed a lot of things inside me to come into fruition. The energy of the landscape is in the countryside; it holds almost a spiritual presence, and as with anywhere, you just have to be open to look for it.

Miss y’all.