Quite a Merry Gathering

By the end of February, I already had friends visiting!  My bestie, Suzy, and our friend, Chris, came for a solid two week holiday in the land down under.  Right in time for my birthday, they arrived via Sydney, and at first, it was really surreal to see them in a place that, though I was beginning to call it home, was so far away from the place where we'd become close friends.  Nonetheless, I was excited to show them by new digs, and celebrate another birthday with them.

I had met Suzy 4 years ago when I first moved to San Francisco, through an ex-boyfriend, and it so happened to be her birthday--and two weeks before mine that year--when we first shook hands.  Since then, our friendship has been a whirlwind!  Boyfriends have come and gone since we started our friendship, but we've stuck together like peas and carrots.  Suzy's the type of friend that you call on a Friday night, especially when you're in need to just sit at a quiet bar or stay in to watch a movie; or if you want to spend a quick two hours dancing at the salsa club or check out the latest food truck fest.  She's been there for me thick and thin!  Having her for my first New Zealand birthday marked our four-year anniversary as BFFs.

Their holiday started out with a big get together with my kiwi family.  We all gathered at a humongous table at a chinese restaurant at the end of Courtenay Place, sipping BYO wine of all varieties.  Chris and Suzy looked overwhelmed as they met the twenty-so-odd new faces.  In no time, we were loud with stuffed faces, laughing across the table, and running out of wine too quickly.  After dinner, we set ourselves up in a room at the nearby karaoke place, where we sang until the wee hours of the morning.  I was so glad to have everyone there together, so happy that this first birthday in some faraway place did not turn out to be lonely or difficult to get people together for.  Some last few birthdays in San Francisco--despite the good friends that did come around for dinner or a drink for a mellow celebration--had begun to feel that way...

Me and Suzy at our Beach Rd Cottage

After a raucous night out, Brandon and I took Chris and Suzy across the North Island for the weekend to Hawke's Bay.  We had rented a little cottage by the water, where we spent the evenings cooking and catching up, while watching the sunset sky turn shades of purple and orange.  The towns within the region, Napier in particular, were quite mellow, and though we caught the town on its quietest day of the week, Sunday, we still endeavored to wander the streets and admire the art deco buildings.  On our full day in Hawke's Bay, we trekked up to Te Mata Peak, enduring the warm sunshine.  I had warned Chris and Suzy about the strong New Zealand sun, and as we reached the peak, they assured me that I had not been exaggerating.  The summit provided us with a sparkling view of the region, the rolling hills behind us and the vast Pacific Ocean beyond, and like I had been since moving to New Zealand, they were also reminded of California.  The dry golden hills and the blue ocean...it's like we sat on the mirror image of California during the summer.

Our family photo

At the Te Mata Peak

Chris and the Te Mata Hills

In the evening, we (and mostly Chris the cook) cooked a delicious dinner of risotto and roasted chicken.  It felt good just to be in a home with those two in particular again.  After dinner, I introduced them to a few of New Zealand's favorite desserts, including ginger kisses, tim tams, and toffee pops, while we sipped some local NZ red wine.  They seemed to agree with New Zealand then!

Hawke's Bay, in all, was quiet and laid-back, but a great place just relax with friends.  It certainly was a region where we could concentrate on each other, rather than to be constantly distracted by the local sights and sounds.  In general, the area provided us with a pretty backdrop: the ocean, the sky, and the landscape always seemed to offer up bright hues of blue, gold, and green.  I won't mind going back there one day, but perhaps it'll be for a bike ride or a marathon, some planned event for sure.

Early Monday morning, we made our way back to Wellington with the cool, low fog hovering over the passing sheep fields.  Chris and Suzy were still in awe, while they were still awake, and the start number of sheep roaming the hills.  In Wellington, Brandon went into work for a meeting, and we let Chris wander the city at his own pace, which gave Suzy and I some time to catch up, just the girls.  She was eager to trace some hobbit footsteps on Mt. Victoria. We stayed close, knowing that it would be another uncertain year or two before we'd meet again.  I wish she could stay just another week or two at least!

In the evening, I took them down to the ferry terminal so that they could continue their New Zealand tour to South Island.  They were eager to venture on, but I lingered and held onto them until the last minute.  But they assured me that they'd be back; New Zealand was too cool to see in just 10 days.  They had to come back see more and visit again!

We Are Met Together in the House of Our Friend

Our plan was to always get a place for just the two of us.  Though it was great fun living with my two Kiwi flatmates since mid-October, I was very much looking forward to finally having a place of my own with Brandon.  We searched every so often here and there since mid-January, once the thrill of Brandon's arrival had settled, and the typical unlikeable places of Wellington popped up.  A cramped apartment in Mt. Victoria, a damp flat smelling of mold in Thorndon, or a really nice place with a weird layout for too much money in Kelburn.  It turned out too, that the lease for my current apartment with the Kiwis was up in mid-March, which took off some pressure for Brandon and I to find a place.  But sharing a room with him with two others in the house, though we got along fine, was encouragement enough to find the perfect place soon.

Then we found it, as if it had been saved for just the right time and just for us.  An apartment to let was put up on TradeMe on a Sunday evening in early February, and the description was promising.  It was located in Mt. Cook, a moderately flat walk to and from town, was perched up on the third level above ground, had a covered carpark place, extra storage unit, two bedrooms, modern fixtures, built in 2008, a corner unit and at a moderate per week price--within but at the top of our budget anyway.  We immediately emailed the owner, who was also currently living in the unit, and he was back to us by the morning; we were at the unit touring flat by later that evening.  With the midsummer sun shining in through the terrace and the wide glass windows, the TradeMe description matched exactly everything in person.  The flat is compact, but spacious with carpeting and paint of neutral tones that are pleasing to the lighting of the space.  The kitchen is open and simple, the bathroom roomy with all the right fixings.  It's everything that we were looking for.

We warmed to the owner and he to us.  We were exactly the kind of people he was looking to let his apartment: young, professional, mature, and easy-going.  And he appeared to be a good kind of landlord: young, professional, mature, and easy-going.  It only took us an hour after the first meeting to confirm that we would take it, and we had a signed lease by the end of that week!

It was not until early March that we finally had a chance to move in.  We immediately made ourselves comfortable, and it wasn't long before we had friends over to celebrate our first place together.  I had been waiting to comfortably host friends at a place that I could call my own, and sure enough, I was eagerly inviting our few close friends for long, wine-filled dinners.  Additionally, having my own place has also given me the chance to explore my cooking skills, a chance that for whatever reason, I never quite felt opened to when I was living with strangers or even friends.

And having Brandon as my sole roommate has also been a real delight.  To not have to say goodbye after breakfast or to not have to decide when or where we might meet for the weekend puts me more at ease.  And to have him there when I come home, is really comforting.  Although this place is certainly temporary, we've made it our home in this faraway country.  It's a place that we can watch movies and shows on lazy winter weekends, a place where we can host our friends for long dinners and potlucks, or simply sit quietly in the summer sunshine on the terrace with a books each of our own.  There are days that I look forward to snuggling up on our comfy couch--in between all the exploring adventures, of course.

The Woods Shall Wave on Mountains

It was an early goal to walk most of the 9 Great Walks of New Zealand.  It seemed like the best way to explore this country's beauty and a goal to keep fixated on during my time here.  So when the opportunity came to head south to Queenstown on ANZAC Weekend to visit an old college friend of Brandon's, we jumped at the chance to check one of the 9 off of our list.  We decided to take an extra two days off of that weekend to hike one of the 3 Great Walks near Queenstown.  Probably because it's considered one of the most gorgeous of the 9 Walks, we aimed for the Routeburn Track.  Traversing across alpine meadows, forests of bright green beech trees, and over ridges overlooking ice-carved valleys and with views of the Southern Alps and the Fiordland Mountains.  Just reading the brochure got my senses tingling!

We didn't realize, however, how much of an effort it can be to get to these Great Walks, especially if one has to fly first to a major town before driving another couple hours to the trailhead.  After our connecting flight in Christchurch was delayed an hour due to fog, we missed our bus to the Routeburn trailhead at The Divide.  Thankfully, our bus company Transnet was extremely helpful over the phone, and they were able to transfer us to the last bus to Te Anau--the closest but smaller town around the 3 Great Walks in the area--from Queenstown, book us a cheap room at their associate holiday park, and get us on the first bus the next morning to The Divide.

We wandered around Queenstown while we waited for our transfer, rummaging through the numerous outdoors shops, passing by the long queue at Fergburger, and searching for the DOC centre to make a last minute change to our reserved huts for the next two nights.  Our bus ride to Te Anau took us two and a half hours into the sunset, and despite the warm Autumn colors around Lake Wakatipu, we easily fell asleep along the winding highway.  It was dark by the time we came upon the Te Anau holiday park, and the girl at the front desk laughed to herself when she told us that our little cabin had a great view of the lake.  "You won't even see it in the morning, since you'll be leaving before dawn," she smiled.  Too bad.

Our cabin was a tiny little thing with a severely angled A-frame roof and a bouncy little full-sized bed.  We ate the dinner that we would have had on our first night along the trail.  Like a lot of other New Zealand holiday parks, this one was clean and well set-up with a communal bathroom and kitchen in the middle of the park, where we washed up after dinner.  We were in bed by 9pm and up and out by 6:45am the next morning; our bus driver was waiting for us punctually by the front desk.  We were two of three hikers setting off into the Fiordlands that Friday!

We watched the sunrise during the hour and a half ride to The Divide, but by the time we arrived at the trailhead, a heavy fog had settled around the valleys and foothills.  We ascended for several kilometres before coming across the first hut at Lake Howden, where we had meant to stay the night before.  After a quick adjustment in gear and a snack, we set off into the rocky, beech forest  The trail leveled off just a bit as we came under a thick canopy of damp trees. We fell into a good rhythm that built our confidence into reaching Routeburn Falls Hut by sundown.   The fog broke up here and there, and as we climbed the ridge, we spotted glimpses of majestic views, of rocky faces up high overhead, peaking through the rolling mist.  We came across Earland Falls, where the thundering waterfall mist cooled our faces as we climbed over boulders to continue.

The approach to Lake Mackensie was stunning, which started first with a flat meadow.  The sun made its presence, exposing the bright green grass and the towering mountain tops beside us.  We wandered into the nearby hut, folding ourselves for rest over the wood benches and tables, only a few other hikers within earshot.  After eating lunch there, we ascended again into even thicker beech forest before it opened up to the valley faces, where the fog thickened and the wind picked up.  We spotted on-coming hikers as if they were mystical creatures emerging from the low-lying clouds.  But as we turned to Hollyford Valley--or at least what the map described as the valley in the fog below us--the view over us became more visible.

The Fiordland Mountains began to show themselves in the afternoon sunlight as the fog moved below us.  Up past Harris Saddle, the landscape seemed to unfold.  We stopped to admire Routeburn Valley from our place over Lake Harris, where we could see a slithering waterfall along the mountain rock faces and the river curl and twist from the mouth of the lake.  A chopper passed in the cloud, and just as we thought that it was too far from us to matter, it zoomed overhead, over Lake Harris!  We cheered, "This is AWESOMMMMEE!"  The rest of the walk took us over rocky wetlands and a fog-less view of the Fiordland Mountains.  And as the river descended over the multi-tiers of Routeburn Falls with the sun still reflecting off of the mountainsides ahead of us, we knew that we had made it in time to Routeburn Falls hut.

The hut was the most comfortable "outdoor adventure" accommodation we had ever experienced! The "hut"--since it was more like a backpackers hostel set at the bottom of Routeburn Falls and with a 180-degree view deck at its north side--was spread over two main buildings.  The larger of the two housed the 56 bunks, set in cubicles of 2 sets of bunks along rows of 3 cubicles each, and the toilets, which were flush WITH TOILET PAPER.  The smaller building was the massive kitchen and dining area, where we sat, cold, tired and hungry during our dinner.  We didn't really bother befriending the other 20 hikers there that night, unfortunately--a small number in comparison to what the hut had seen over its mid-summer season--as we were in bed by 8pm, exhausted and looking forward to another epic day on the trail.

The next day was only to be a 3 hour hike to the Routeburn Shelter road end.  The trail from Routeburn Falls descended quickly at first, but leveled out into a calm, flat, and well-graded track.  We crossed over several swing bridges, some more scenic than others, which crossed over emerald green water that tumbled over large boulders.  The forest around us seemed like a Peter Jackson set with trees that seemed to line up in neat rows and covered the forest floor with rich brown and green leaves.  The trail ended with one last epic bridge over a part of the river that had carved its way through massive rock faces.  And then it all opened up into a grassy meadow.  I took a sigh of relief that I had one Great Walk now checked off, and looked forward to a thick piece of chocolate as a reward.

Going Off into the Blue for Mad Adventures

Landing in Queenstown Airport is landing in the middle of an alpine landscape that you've only seen featured in adventure travel magazines.  Though the airport is tiny, it's set against the towering Remarkables.  As we descended onto the tarmac, we had 360-degree views of Lake Wakatipu on one end, the Remarkables on other, and sprawling valley everywhere in between.  Welcome to Queenstown.

At the end of our two days on the Routeburn Track, we met up with Brandon's college classmate at the Routeburn Shelter.  We had specifically planned for a our hike to end approximately when her husband was set to finish the annual Routeburn Classic Run.  (Yeah, some crazy mofos run the length of the Routeburn Track from The Divide to the road end shelter as if it's a regular morning workout.)  Her husband finished almost right on time, about an hour after we arrived.  I got my thick chocolate pastry and we were off back to Queenstown.

Unfortunately for me, perhaps from the mix of dehydration and exhaustion, the narrow winding roads were no match for me that morning, and before we made it into town, I grew carsick and projectile vomited out the window...what a nice way to meet Brandon's friends...Luckily, however, we were headed to a big comfortable house by the Lake, where we'd be spending the weekend with a small handful of fellow Americans, coworkers of Brandon's college buddy.  We were one of the first to arrive, and got first pick of a comfortable room with a cozy view of the lake and the orange and red Autumn trees.

There was a massive living space at the top floor with an expansive viewing deck to enjoy for hours.  We settled in and washed up, after which we welcomed, with beers in hand, the small trickling stream of those who we'd be spending the weekend with.  They were an interesting mix of American--mostly male--engineers from both the East and West coast of the US, dotted with a local Kiwi here and there.  It was nice just to be around new faces, especially those with which we could find the connection of being from the same place, experiencing similar feelings of a rugged new landscape.  Once settled, a trip to Fergburger was made and I finally got to see what all the fuss is all about.

We cooked in and stayed cozy that first night, Brandon and I still recovering from our two days on the trail and getting to know our new companions and enjoying the comfort of the luxurious holiday home--the bach.  The next morning, we awoke to one of the other couples cooking a lovely and super-complete breakfast.  I warmed up to them real quick!  Over breakfast, we all schemed about who would be brave enough to go bungy jumping that afternoon.  A couple of the guys said, "Of course, I will," while I shook my head and reminded everyone that a simple car ride easily makes me sick.  We made plans to explore the surrounding areas before heading to the original site of the first commercialized bungy jump to see who might dare to take the plunge.

Our first stop was in Arrowtown, which is a true gem in itself.  It's an historic mining town that has now turned into a tourist haven of quirky shops, surrounded by rolling hillsides covered in aspen trees.  After walking through the little town strip, we climbed up to the War Memorial, where we found striking views of the aspen trees gone orange, gold, and red.  Now that the rain had stopped, the clouds had parted and the sun was shining, so we stopped for a quiet while to admire the wonderful before heading further north for a bit of wine-tasting.  Wine-tasting here always seems to remind me of home...

We arrived at the Kawarau Bridge in the early afternoon, where everyone else was already oggling at other daring adventure tourists taking the plunge toward the Kawarau Gorge.  With it just having rained, the river below looked muddy and thick with debris, and as a response, the bungy centre had proceeded with bungy jumps using a chest harness instead of the typical ankle-waist harnesses.  We watched a couple of jumpers from the viewing platform, listening to their curdling screams echo off the surrounding granite rocks.  Everyone in our group was daring someone else to at least consider it, while I watched several petite girls lightly bounce at the end of the bungy cord in their fitting chest harnesses.  It didn't look so bad, I thought.  It almost looked comfortable.  This bridge is supposed to be the most famous of bungy jumps.  So when I heard Brandon re-affirm that he was committed to the jump, I turned around to him and said, "Yeah, me too."

Everyone was truly surprised that I was up for it, considering my exclamation earlier that morning that I wasn't.  But I was feeling better and I wanted to be able to say that I had done something that New Zealand is famous for, while living in New Zealand.  So I asked all my nervous questions to the front desk staff and kept the adrenaline pumping as I waited in the queue on the bridge.  Brandon seemed calm.  His jump seemed over in a flash, and then it was my turn!  I had the bridge crew check and re-check my harness.  I almost jumped before their countdown was finished, my eyes fixed at the horizon so as to not freak myself out.  But when I finally got it all down, I took the plunge and jumped 43-metres into the Kawarau Gorge.

The feeling was incredible--terrifying, but surreal.  I opened my tightly-shut eyes as I bounced back up into the air, holding my harness tight.  It wasn't that bad at all, but I knew I'd never do it again.  ($200 is also a lot of money to jump off of a bridge.)  Our house crew cheered me on from the outlook platform.  I did it.  I took a couple of sighs of relieve, said a prayer of thanks, and smiled my way back up to the bridge.

I threw up in the car ride on the way home...

It was another comfortable night in our big holiday home that night with a huge barbecue dinner to suit.  Now that we were all better acquainted, we spent longer hours chatting away and laughing.  Some of the younger guys who had chickened out at the bungy jump came over to ask me how it all went.  It turned out that one of the other guys had gone to school with my San Francisco flatmate and another San Francisco coworker--what a small world!  One of the two Kiwi blokes fell intrigued with us after it was made known of his fascination with American culture, and he talked for hours about cultural aspects that some of us weren't even all that privy to.  It was great to be amongst another great set of new friends.

We'll be back Queenstown.  I promise.