Day 1... long flight, Richard Simmons safty video cracked me up... met the 5 people on the trip... Mo from Dubai, Gerry from Canada, Larissa a navy nuclear physiscist from the US, Julienne an American studying in Australia and our guides H and Lofty... hiked to waterfall on Arthurs pass, saw waterfall that kept washing out the highway so they just built a bridge for it to extend it over the highway... then another hike and walk along the beach from Christchurch to Aurthurs pass to Hokitika to Okarita
Day 2... great breakfast then hike to 2 different glaciers and into a cave then a great lunch and then lots of bugs on Ship creek with green stone, fossilized ice, dolphins playing in the ocean etc... from Okarita to Franz Josef Glacier to Fox Glacier to Makarora
Day 3... took FUCKING SMALL PLANE to Siberia Valley and then hiked out wading through rivers etc... Mo and Gerry got in the river before the jet boat picked us up and took us on a great ride... Makarora to Siberia Valley to Wilkin River... stayed at the Homestead which was awesome
Day 4... Awesome mountain bike ride of 24 km with only 1 acciednt... made it over passes to Queenstown for bungee jumping (not me since not interested) and incredible hikes... Makarora to Te Arora track to Wanaki bike to Arrowtown then drive to Queenstown
Day 5... day on our own with great hiking, walking, internet and Laundry... made a necklace out of Pauau, Jade and Kuru then hiked up Queenstown hill then an amazing Thai lunch and then walked through the beautiful gardens and then to Frankton and back and then an AMAZING Indian dinner
Day 6... hike to great waterfalls, Mo saw snow for the first time, way cool 1 way tunnel, lots of scenery as we drove to Milford sound from Queenstown
Day 7... early am kayak x 4 hours in the sound with seals, birds, waterfalls, mangrove area and then helicopter ride over the glacier to where Edmond Hilary practiced and couldn't ascend while trying to plan for Everest... then to a beachside hotel for our final dinner... Milford sound to Manapouri
Day 8-9... drive to Queenstown, fly to Aukland, fly to LA and then home... missing NZ and great folks already!
2 great lines from the trip... "she is lighter than a sparrow's fart"... Lofty talking about Larissa AND "like stupidity, intelligence is contageous" by Andrea Hirata from the book "Laskar Pelingi"
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