So here we are. November 1...(remember I'm in the future for most of you). Where has the time gone? I swear I feel like I arrived in Wellington, knowing no one and being excited about it yesterday. But that was July 7. A full 4 months ago. I have 3 days till my last final and 6 till I leave for Australia.
I've been filling my last weeks with some exciting stuff!
Last week I went with 5 friends to hike the Tongariro Passing... for those of you who don't know, it's where they filmed Mt. Doom. We took two cars and drove 6 or so hours (including rests, bathroom breaks, and filling up the tank) to the track. We arrived at 1 am to our first Department of Conservation (DOC) hut. We hiked about 30 minutes to the hut in the dark with head torches and stuff. The group consisted of Sampo and Miia from Finland, Jens from Denmark, Joanna and Lennart from Germany, and me.. I was positively non-European. haha.
Anyways we woke up early the next day for breakfast and made lunch and started hiking around 9:30. Now this was an intense hike.. about a full 7 hour day. When we got to the mountain (Mount Doom), Miia and I decided we didn't want to go all the way up to the summit. There were clouds and I was already tired. So we went up halfway and turned back around while the other 4 continued to the top. Miia and I had time to just talk and bond and hang out while we headed towards the second hut, called Katetahi. One of the best things about NZ is the scenery. Yes, it's beautiful. But its really unique too. You can walk for two hours in a straight line and hit 18 different kinds of terrain! We were trecking through slushy ice and snow, and then forrest, and then rocks and sand, and then ice again, and so on. Where we were walking is a very volcanic area so we were walking through soft soil and minerals. There were even some geothermal pools of bright green and blue, not 1000 yards from another lake that was completely frozen over. I love New Zealand.
Anyways Miia and I got to the hut first. It was rolling hills upon hills and lakes and mountains and cliffs.. and this tiny hut sitting by itself on a hill, facing all of this. It was incredible. The view was breathtaking. We were fortunate enough to have the entire hut to ourselves!! Most of the time, there are several groups of people trecking through and spending the night at the DOC huts. But we got really lucky.
When we all got there, we took out our sleeping bags and pulled mattresses from indoors to sit on the porch, drink tea and coffee, and laugh and talk and enjoy the scenery. All of us were so ecstatic about the amazing day we had all had. To quote Lennart: "If there is an amazing sunset tonight... I don't know... my head's just going to explode!"
That's how we felt. And there was an amazing sunset. Luckily, Lennart's head stayed in tact. But just barely... like the rest of us.. ha.
We made dinner and were just having a really good time enjoying food and one another's company. An hour after the sun started setting, there were still streaks of orange and red and pink in the sky. I grabbed my sleeping bag and ran outside to catch the last of it. Lennart joined me. And then Joanna and Jens. Eventually the two of them left and we were joined by Miia. The three of us stargazed for a while before heading to bed. It was an incredible weekend.
And yesterday I went to a beach!! It was really cold and windy, but surprisingly the water wasn't all too bad. And of course I jumped in.. I couldn't resist the water! My time here is coming to an end a little too quickly... but I'm glad for all these experiences and the great friends I've made here. :D
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