Huge Challenge
Trip Start
Jun 28, 2005
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10
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Trip End
Jun 28, 2006
Greymouth, New Zealand
Friday, November 18, 2005
It didn't look that big or hard to tackle until your first foot is planted in the thick ice, it was going to be a long day. We reached the half way mark with no problems but the whole group was silent, hard concentrating and trying not to put a foot wrong until we set off after a quick break and things went from scary to horrifying.
The final straw for most of our group was when we had to climb backwards down the side of the glacier without the facilities to hold onto anything, you had to believe in yourself and use your body as a temple to keep yourself from going off balance, bloody hard task and we all did it but that just put the fear of god into us and so our guide called Troy (Helen of Troy....perfect match....yum) chipped away a new path for us to follow until we reached the side of the glacier where stones met the ice, not the most easiest tasks walking on stones/rocks with crampons on (it's like trying to walk on rocks with stilettos on).
Anyway I lived to tell and tail after 7 hours on the glacier.....never again! I'm going to keep my feet firmly on the ground from now on.
Wed 26th Oct
I woke up in pain, legs were killing me. The only thing I wanted to do is have a bath or head into a spa......no such luck. What I did do to keep my mind off my injuries is to work in the hostel for the cost of my lodgings....$23 for 3 hours cleaning, not bad for my first paid job since travelling in June.
Thur 27th Oct
Everyday is special to me, I'm happy to be spending my days travelling and spending all my money and realise that I wont have a job, house or money when I return home (if I do). But you see other travellers and some are lovely, some don't even acknowledge you and then there's others that you like instantly and are on the same wave length and happy to enjoy life and have a laugh. These people will hopefully be long-time friends.
Today I took the breath-taking walk around Lake Matheson and thats all my legs could manage.
Fri 28th Oct
Moving on again, re-pack the rucksack and back on Stray bus. This time to a small town called Wanaka and stopped in the Purple Cow Hostel (my dad said in a text that if I don't stop drinking I will end up with a purple nose....lol, funniest thing he's ever sent on a txt). Wanaka had a groovy cinema, it's where you sit in armchairs, sofa's and even climb into a Moris Miner car and watch the movie. I went to see the Wedding Crashers, funny film.
Sat 29th Oct
On a mission today to visit Puzzle World before my next bus picked me up. Puzzle World has an adult crazy maze and weird things on display. Good fun and only took me 43mins to complete, didn't cheat...honest!
Back on bus, again and I joined a happy passenger bus because we were heading for a lively place called Queenstown. A quick change in hostel then down to pub to join others for some weird and wacky drinks from teapots!
Sun 30th Oct
Poorly head.....so the best therapy treatment was to head for the shops. As a back-packer you know A, you can afford to spend money on luxuries called clothes and b, you can't carry any more stuff. Stuff that, I brought new clothes and took old ones to the charity shop, saved my back-packing problems.
Mon 31st Oct
Didn't get much sleep, an elderly lady in our 8 female dorm marched around the room poking anyone that snored or made a noise (girls can be worse than boys at snoring). Luckily I put her in place....the cheeky woman....that's why it's called YHA, Y stands for Youth (old bag.....)
Because of this everyone in MY dorm started laughing about the 'old lady episode' so as part of a rebellious action we all went out drinking together. I took it to the next level and sang on the karioki.....'girls just wonna have fun'!
Tues 1st Nov
Hung over again, but that didn't stop me from getting a piercing (not telling you where). Also to blow away the cobwebs, Scotish Susan (aka Loopy Juice) jumped in a speed boat with me for a thrilling ride lasting longer than any sex starved man.
Wed 2nd Nov
It's hard work sorting out my travels and by now you can guess that I am travelling a fair bit around NZ. Sorting out accommodation and transportation is not only time consuming but also stressful, hard life being a back-packer!
Departed from Queenswtown because I spending far too much money, headed towards Milford Sound. It's one of the most beautiful scenery's and the ferry boat around the fiord was lovely, bit boring thou.
I stopped in a place that was in the middle of nowhere and the facilities in the hostel where not good quality so all you can do is either sleep in your cramped mixed dorm or sit and eat. That's where I met a lovely bloke called Alex and we headed off to the local pub for a game of pool followed by jugs of beer. Good night.....don't get your hopes up for me girls, he had a serious girly back home in Dublin ;-(
Thr 3rd Nov
I got Alex to give me a lift to a more lively place called Te Anau. Weather wasn't great so I stopped in and watched movies, first time in months since I watched TV.
Fri 4th Nov
Why is it people in kitchens don't talk to anyone.....are they concentrating or just impolite?
Nothing much to do in Te Anau except look round the little high street and beach front. I headed into the internet shop, I've spent loads of money on internet....not budget for this at all. I checked for availability for Xmas in Sydney, nothing all booked out.
Sat 5th Nov
I'll stop there on this page.....I'll explain more in next pod-page....to be continued.
