March 24, 2003
Laurie and I got up early, well early for us. It was 7:00. We were at the trail head at 8:30. The hike we were doing was called Mt. Roy. The trail is actually on private farm land, but the owner lets people hike. It is all exposed and we could see where our destination was, which looked a long way away. When I read that the trail was farmland I didn't realize that it was sheep and cow pasture. We didn't figure that out because we saw them, but because the trail was covered with their droppings. I tried to watch my steps but it was next to impossible. I kept thinking that we were not on the trail but I could see boot tracks so we kept going. We did run into a few sheep and cows along the way. For all the droppings that we saw, there had to be a lot more sheep and cows hiding.
I was feeling quite hot because as I said we were exposed and I know I was getting sunburned.
Finally we made it to the top and as we read the views were great. We could see 360 degrees. We could see the snow capped mountains of Mt. Aspiring National Park, we could see the town of Wanaka, and the lake named Lake Wanaka. Lake Wanaka is the fourth largest lake in New Zealand. There was a town on the other side but I didn't know what it was. The towns are clusters of houses and buildings in a small area with nothing but farm land, lakes, and mountains surrounding it. When you are on top of the mountain you realize it. I kind of wonder how some of these towns exist. They are stuck among nothing and miles away from anywhere. I wonder what they do for work besides tourism and farming.
We were back at the hostel by 2:30. We decided to go to this placed called "The Puzzling World". It has a life size maze where you have to find your way to the four corner towers and then your way out. It is about 1.5 kilometers of maze and can be much more if you can't find where you are going. It has emergency exits for the frustrated and less patient. It said it could take up to an hour and a half to get through. I guess two heads are better than one because it only took Laurie and I 35 minutes. The place also has a building where there are holograms, puzzles, and optical illusions. There was one section that had a 15 degree slant and it had different items and a less slant, but the way they were built it looked like things were rolling uphill. We enjoyed it and could have spent hours there working on the puzzle.
We got back to the hostel, cooked dinner, and watched the Academy Awards. We already knew who won because they had already taken place and it was just airing here at a later time.
I enjoyed this hostel because it was quiet even though there were a lot of people. Some were reading, writing, watching TV, and playing games. The only confusion was having so many people cook at the same time. One thing that bothered me was that many people didn't clean-up after themselves. They left dirty dishes and dirty sinks.
I went to the tent and read for a while. Laurie and I each picked up a book. It will be good to read a fiction book for a change. The books are expensive here. I would like to find a tag sale and second hand bookstore for the next one.
March 25, 2003
This morning we had a pleasant and leisurely start. We talked to a woman named Jacku from Australia. She is traveling by herself. She traveled previously by herself for about 8 months. She is an older woman. She gave us tips and encouragement. She told us that she got a tatoo when she turned 60. I thought that was neat. I guess at 60 you aren't doing it just because everyone else is doing it.
We were on the road by 9:00. We wanted to go to Fox Glacier and Mt. Cook. After looking at the map I realized that we would have to back track all the way to Wanaka to get to the other. We decided to do it anyway. It took about 2 hours to get to Mt. Cook. We saw some body of water and I am not sure what it was, but it was such a color that I had never seen water be. It was like a turquoise, but more blue. It was beautiful. We pulled into Glentanner Park. It was right by the beautiful water and we had views of Mt. Cook and the surrounding mountain right in front of our tents.
We got our tents out so we could get them dry from the night and morning dew. Once they were dry we set them up. It was about 12:00 and we were hungry because we didn't have much breakfast. At the park there is a restaurant. We had lunch and since there was too much food, I got our baggies and filled it up with leftovers that we could eat for dinner.
We then proceeded to Mt. Cook Village which was about 23 kilometers away. There were some hikes that we were planning on doing. They were short so we were going to do a couple of them. We packed the car at the Hermitage. This is supposedly the most famous hotel in New Zealand because of its location which gave fantastic views of Mt. Cook. The Hermitage has chalets, studios, and hotel rooms. The price ranges from $130-$475. I think I am happy with my $10 view.
The first hike we did was only about a half hour and then the next one we did was an hour. It was more or less just exercise for us. Later in the day I wasn't in the mood for hiking at first, but once I got going I was fine. After those two hikes we were going to drive to check out a few places to possibly hike tomorrow. Before we left we checked out the Hermitage. We were actually looking to get some ice. We saw a sign that said "ice and milk". I thought that was a weird combination. What we found was a small ice box that had plastic containers of ice and bottles of milk. It didn't say the ice was for the hotel staff so we took two containers of ice. I felt like a thief, but felt it was only ice. I wouldn't have taken the milk.
