*eeep*
I havnt posted in ages again!
so since then... I worked... worked some more... wanted to go for a hiking trip, but my hiking partner had a small accident the week before AND my camera died. So I went to Invercargill instead and bought a really nice new camera and did some walks around the town and around Bluff hill.
Then worked LOTS in February, finally did the Hollyford track in the second week of March. It was AMAZING! fotos posted here
also did some volunteer work for DOC trying to catch some bats on the Kepler track. Without success on the bat side, but had some really nice early morning walks and got to know a girl from England that works nearby. We've been on a girls hike with a friend of hers to the Back Valley and might meet up again later to do the Heaphy.
and then I worked again... the season is very unpredictable. Not many bookings in advance, but on unexpected days the camp suddenly fills up.
Now I've cleared out the caravan I lived in, got my stuff partially in boxes that will stay in Manapouri atm and will be travelling for 3 weeks. Even that backpack is a bit on the heavy side, I have no idea how I'll manage to transport all later on! There is some stuff that I dont really need, but I dont want to throw it away. I would like to send it home, but it's so darn expensive. For starters, I dont really need my tent. I've used it once. I could have slept in the hut instead, would have cost me 40$, but that doesnt justify carrying a tent everywhere for a year. *mumblemumble*
first stop is Invercargill, where I am right now. Here I bought food supplies for the hike I will be doing on Stewart Island and tomorrow in the morning I'll try to get a spare battery for my camera, gaiters and some beef jerky. Then I'll try to hop onto the next ferry over the Forveaux straight to Oban. I already got the first night accommodation booked, I hope I can start on the hiking track the next morning. The plan is to do the North West Circuit anti-clockwise in 8 days and take the water taxi back from Freshwater Hut, because the last 2 bits are really carp to walk and dont have any special sights. If that is a lot of mumbo jumo to you let me put it like this: 6 days of coastal walk through forest, along beaches etc, on the last day I'll arrive at Mason Bay (where the whales stranded), which is a HUGE beach and where kiwis can be seen during daylight hours. The next day is a 4 hour walk across the island to a hut where I can do an optional mountain climb to get a good view. The day after I get on a boat that brings me back to civilization, though I'll only feel really civilized after a LOOOONG shower and a real meal.
Then I go back to Invercargill and will try to find a ride to Curio Bay in the Caitlins. That means sea lions and penguins on long beaches and also a petrified forest. Then on to Dunedin and the peninsula if I have time, then back to Manapouri. Working there for a weekend and then take all my stuff and move on to Queenstown, Wanaka, Twizel, Lake Tekapo...
That is the plan... I'm curious what will happen!
so since then... I worked... worked some more... wanted to go for a hiking trip, but my hiking partner had a small accident the week before AND my camera died. So I went to Invercargill instead and bought a really nice new camera and did some walks around the town and around Bluff hill.
Then worked LOTS in February, finally did the Hollyford track in the second week of March. It was AMAZING! fotos posted here
also did some volunteer work for DOC trying to catch some bats on the Kepler track. Without success on the bat side, but had some really nice early morning walks and got to know a girl from England that works nearby. We've been on a girls hike with a friend of hers to the Back Valley and might meet up again later to do the Heaphy.
and then I worked again... the season is very unpredictable. Not many bookings in advance, but on unexpected days the camp suddenly fills up.
Now I've cleared out the caravan I lived in, got my stuff partially in boxes that will stay in Manapouri atm and will be travelling for 3 weeks. Even that backpack is a bit on the heavy side, I have no idea how I'll manage to transport all later on! There is some stuff that I dont really need, but I dont want to throw it away. I would like to send it home, but it's so darn expensive. For starters, I dont really need my tent. I've used it once. I could have slept in the hut instead, would have cost me 40$, but that doesnt justify carrying a tent everywhere for a year. *mumblemumble*
first stop is Invercargill, where I am right now. Here I bought food supplies for the hike I will be doing on Stewart Island and tomorrow in the morning I'll try to get a spare battery for my camera, gaiters and some beef jerky. Then I'll try to hop onto the next ferry over the Forveaux straight to Oban. I already got the first night accommodation booked, I hope I can start on the hiking track the next morning. The plan is to do the North West Circuit anti-clockwise in 8 days and take the water taxi back from Freshwater Hut, because the last 2 bits are really carp to walk and dont have any special sights. If that is a lot of mumbo jumo to you let me put it like this: 6 days of coastal walk through forest, along beaches etc, on the last day I'll arrive at Mason Bay (where the whales stranded), which is a HUGE beach and where kiwis can be seen during daylight hours. The next day is a 4 hour walk across the island to a hut where I can do an optional mountain climb to get a good view. The day after I get on a boat that brings me back to civilization, though I'll only feel really civilized after a LOOOONG shower and a real meal.
Then I go back to Invercargill and will try to find a ride to Curio Bay in the Caitlins. That means sea lions and penguins on long beaches and also a petrified forest. Then on to Dunedin and the peninsula if I have time, then back to Manapouri. Working there for a weekend and then take all my stuff and move on to Queenstown, Wanaka, Twizel, Lake Tekapo...
That is the plan... I'm curious what will happen!