Friend Time

A few weeks ago, my dear friend and former college roommate, Allie, came to visit us for a quick 8 days. We had the most amazing time while she was here! Brian and I were able to hang out in Christchurch's alluring San Francisco-esque botanic gardens while we waited for her flight to get in. The weather was perfect and hot- a nice treat for someone coming from Olympia right as the snowstorm hit!

We drove to Akaroa, a French-inspired town on the Banks Peninsula about an hour away from Christchurch. Thank you, Shelley, for your recommendation, because this was one of our favorite towns so far! The night we arrived we had trouble finding our backpackers, which was a little stressful, but it turned out it was a little outside of town. set up at the top of a hill overlooking a gorgeous valley, the lodge was really quirky, mismatched, and rustic. Not your typical backpackers spot but we really liked it. We made dinner and caught up and laughed and it was so much fun adding Allie's dynamic into our mix. The next day we relaxed; Allie had traveled for like 36 hours or something crazy to get to us, so we just took in Akaroa's beauty while walking around, playing bananagrams, drinking wine, cooking, and planning our next move.

The next morning we left on one of the most stunning drives ever, to Wanaka. I don't think the drive would have been more than 5 or so hours had we gone straight, but took about 8 with all the stops for snacks, gas, and endless photo-opportunities. There wasn't much more on that day's agenda after the epic drive, and the next day was also kind of relaxing. We kayaked gorgeous lake Wanaka, had a picnic, and then drove to a DOC campsite at Lake Pukitiri. We had to pull over several times along that drive as well. Blue skies and dramatic scenery combined with Simon and Garfunkel as a soundtrack resulted in a kind of religious experience. Once we arrived, that mood was hindered slightly by our dear friend, the sandfly. Think of the itchiness-level of a mosquito, then multiple that by 50. That's a sandfly bite. Not to mention they last maybe 5x as long as mosquito bites do, and leave vicious scars. Luckily we just planned to stay there for the night, because the sandflies were unbearable. We endured an itchy dinner outside at a picnic table until we could escape into the safety of the tent (Allie, find the lyrics for your brother's sandfly song and email them to me!). In the morning we drove to the start of the Copland track for our hike.

The hike to Welcome Flat hut was one of the best we've done yet. Even though it was raining most of the 7 hours hiking in, we crossed so many types of dramatic landscapes, from rainforests with sub-tropical plants, mud flats, riverside beach/scrambling over stones, to alpine views with snowcaps. I was in heaven because for once I had someone to hike with!! Allie stayed my pace so Brian could go off on his own as he does, and we got to chat and catch up the whole time. When we arrived at the hut we were welcomed by infinity pool hotsprings. Sitting in the pools in the drizzle with the mountains peeking out from behind fog was so serene. The hut was cool too, really big (sleeps 30!) with a fireplace and plenty of places to sit and play cards. :)

The next day we hiked back out and got a different type of beauty with a nicer day and no rain. It was wonderful. We drove to Franz Josef, the larger of NZ's two glaciers. More cooking, chatting, games, and a night in a backpackers. The next afternoon we took a guided tour up the glacier and got to walk around in crampons on the ice. The weather was cloudy at first but cleared up for us once we were on the top so we were able to get lots of great pics! That evening we celebrated Allie's trip with an Indian dinner, and a very late night partying. :) We drove her to Greymouth the next day so she could take the famous TranzAlpine train across the south island to Christchurch and catch her flight to BALI. Poor girl, haha. I was so, so, so sad when she left; we had the best time and it was so wonderful catching up and having some girl-time. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR COMING, ALLIE!!!

Luckily I was pulled out of my rut by a time with a couple more friends, Zosha and Matt! Brian and I were in Hokitika, a coastal town in the West, for a night, staying in the cutest backpackers (Birdsong, even the name is cute), before meeting up with them at a nearby DOC campsite at Lake Mahinapua. In case I haven't mentioned the story before, Matt and Zosha are a couple who were living in San Diego, who I was introduced to via Facebook through a mutual friend from Seattle. Our mutual friend, Jessica, told me that Zosha and Matt were also getting ready to move to New Zealand, and she thought we'd get along, and the best part was that when she "introduced" us, I was a few days away from a trip to San Diego! So I got to meet Zosha in person, and we had a great time talking and comparing NZ plans. They came to New Zealand a month or so after us, and so we kept missing each other, but finally we were able to meet in Hokitika! We ended up camping for 3 nights at the DOC site with them, and spending 4 days relaxing and lounging around. We drove out to Hokitika Gorge, which has a nice swingbridge with views of inky-turquoise water and some more of those lovely sandflies. We mostly spent the rest of our time chatting, going on a few walks, hiding from the rain in their van, and playing cards. Mom, they knew Nerts! We played in a coffee shop for hours one day while it was raining, and Matt was the champion of almost every round. :) We had so much fun, and we were extra thankful for the timing of our meet-up, because our camp stove has a gas leak and isn't working, so they were so kind as to share their van-stove with us. I hope we will be able to meet up with you guys again soon! Plus they have wonderful WWOOF karma, so I might just have them choose our next host for us, not take any chances. :)

Friend time is important. I was just talking to Brian about this last night; we have met a lot of people and made a few close friends while here, but making those connections like you have at home is difficult. Not to mention most of the backpackers in NZ are 18-20, with the a few 21-22 year olds sprinkled in. Nothing against you young 'ens, but it would be nice to meet more people who are closer in their life-phase to us… on the flip side, I am a bit envious of all these Germans we meet who are just freshly out of high school and on an extended trip to New Zealand or even better: an around-the-world trip lasting a year that lets them go to several countries. All of that experience right out of high school, before they have to make decisions about university and what they want to do with their life… it's amazing. I think that is a wonderful system that people in the US could really benefit from.

Here's to all my friends at home, the ones I've made here, and hopefully many more to come over the next 8 months!