A few days ago when I started this 3 part series I realized how ridiculious it was. Trying to capture five weeks in New Zealand in 3 blog entries!? Not even possible! New Zealand is approximately the same size as the US state of Colorado, at it's widest it is 175 miles wide. It is an amazing study in ecosystems and biomes! I explain it like this...God created the world and when he was done there were just little bits left of all the different parts. He smushed them together; the plains, rain forests, mountains, glaciers, bays, sounds and all. He called it New Zealand. Truly, this is the most amazing place on Earth. You can kayak in Milford Sound and later that day enjoy the glaciers. The next day you can tour a winery and sample the goods.I don't know if it's possible to pick a favorite part of NZ. We met lots of folks from all over the country and every single person was so kind. The sights were stunning and (insert any positive adjective here). The food was sooooo tasty! I took over 4000 pictures on this holiday and my scrapbooks for this trip are a combined total of 5" thick! I really did love spending that whole time with Hubby. Having 5 weeks without cell phones, work, distractions was a treat. We talked, laughed, and just were. Like life at home there weren't any arguments or fights, we truly treasured that time together experiencing New Zealand to the max! After loving the time with K, I think my favorite places/parts of the trip were: Okarito Lagoon and the Angelus tramp (hike). Okarito is the sleepy village of 31 people and the sea pounding along the rocky beach just mesmerized me. It was my spiritual happy place!
The Mt. Angelus tramp was the last of our Active New Zealand group tour and a milestone in my life. With Ben as our guide, we made a 1.5 day tramp to the Mt. Angelus Hut. K and I dropped our 30 and 40 pound packs and took off for the geographical summit of Mt. Angelus, and additional 6km and an additional 435 meters of elevation to gain.Mt. Angelus, the first mountain that I climbed, ever! From sea level to 2075 meters. I hiked up the whole mountain in one day, with a 30 pound pack on my back. I stood at the true summit of a real mountain! All around me in every direction was a mountain range and I was on top. I saw the tops of the mountains and the tops of the clouds. What a journey! The start to this "wee bit of a walk" was gorgeous with several little tarns dotting the way. K and I had some beautiful conversations along the way from the hut to the summit. We loved this place and the beauty and strength and remote
protection of this area. Then suddenly, the tramp took an abrupt up and we were scrambling in a scree. A massive, sharp, medium-sized rock scree field stretched above us. It was as if the scree was natures way of protecting the summit from me. I hated the scree! You plant a foot and the hiking poles and everything under you gives way and slides backwards taking you with it. I was so discouraged, so out of breath, and so tired. I knew that if I didn't summit, that K wouldn't either. He would stay with me. I did not come to NZ to quit! This was K's dream trip...So, I started counting steps. My first goal was 50 steps. Once I reached 50 I would take a short rest and get my breath. After that once I got to 100 I could have a sip of water. At one of those short stops I turned around to see how far we had come and I got dizzy! For a second, I was sure that I was going back down head first. At some point in this climb I started thinking about my Mom. I just started having a conversation with her in my head...telling her how tired I was, how my emotions were just all racked up inside me, how much I wanted to do this for K...all of it. I remembered some of what she wrote in my scrapbook about my technical c
limb of Devil's Tower in Wyoming, USA. That was my first technical climb, and this, my first mountain summit was just so closely tied to that experience. Finally, K saw the rest of the group at the summit...I knew that I was going to make it! We took some pictures and I let a few tears fall to the ground. Tears of so many overwhelming feelings: fear, exhaustion. self-doubt, relief, shock. I whispered to everyone in our group that this was my first summit. Then I whispered into the wind so that it would carry to my Mom, "I made it!"
protection of this area. Then suddenly, the tramp took an abrupt up and we were scrambling in a scree. A massive, sharp, medium-sized rock scree field stretched above us. It was as if the scree was natures way of protecting the summit from me. I hated the scree! You plant a foot and the hiking poles and everything under you gives way and slides backwards taking you with it. I was so discouraged, so out of breath, and so tired. I knew that if I didn't summit, that K wouldn't either. He would stay with me. I did not come to NZ to quit! This was K's dream trip...So, I started counting steps. My first goal was 50 steps. Once I reached 50 I would take a short rest and get my breath. After that once I got to 100 I could have a sip of water. At one of those short stops I turned around to see how far we had come and I got dizzy! For a second, I was sure that I was going back down head first. At some point in this climb I started thinking about my Mom. I just started having a conversation with her in my head...telling her how tired I was, how my emotions were just all racked up inside me, how much I wanted to do this for K...all of it. I remembered some of what she wrote in my scrapbook about my technical c
limb of Devil's Tower in Wyoming, USA. That was my first technical climb, and this, my first mountain summit was just so closely tied to that experience. Finally, K saw the rest of the group at the summit...I knew that I was going to make it! We took some pictures and I let a few tears fall to the ground. Tears of so many overwhelming feelings: fear, exhaustion. self-doubt, relief, shock. I whispered to everyone in our group that this was my first summit. Then I whispered into the wind so that it would carry to my Mom, "I made it!"At dinner on the last day of our tour with the group I did something my Mom always does at the end of vacation. I asked everyone what their favorite part was. Ben our guide told the group that it was hearing that my first mountain summit was on Angelus and that he was a part of it. How amazing is that?
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