well i'm back. spent the last three weeks running from corner to corner to corner to corner of this place and returned a little older (21 in a week!) a little wiser, a little more trail haggard (i could walk on coals with these feet of mine), and a lot thriftier. funny how the worth of your dollar is split in half when one is suddenly transfered to a place where minimum wage is $12 an hour. meals were comprised primarily of porridge, carrots and nutella... a winning combination for any occasion and complimented delightfully by an array of cheap wines, alpine streams and powdered milk as it turns out! there is much to report, and with your interest in mind, dear reader...brevity remains king.
first was the kepler track, one of the great walks located in fjord country in the southern region of the south island. easily the highlite of the break, this walk was stupidly scenic and for a good portion of the time my eyes were having a difficult time translating to my brain the electric stunner of the landscape before me. 4 days, brisk climb, sweaty faces high spirits. our huts were luxury with surly and informative wardens wielding stalactites as a friendly reminder that it was our heads if we forget for a second it was privilege to walk in such untouched territory. a cave under our first hut, with one light source between the eight of us footing was uncertain and hillarious. the nights were chatting with new friends, and american/irish duo and listening for kiwi calls...tried and failed to master this game Euchre, a midwestern tradition; cards behind the ears, milk my interlaced fingerweb. The thrill of walking on an actual mountain ridge surpasses anything i've known since arrival. climbing as high as possible above tree-line and cloud-line and bug-line on these endless passes produces a ridiculous combination of immortality and humility that could make a body loose its mind.
the ridge offered giant alpine parrots in the mist, most certainly within tackling distance. they had no fear of us because to them people have never been a threat. so they squawk and charge and i feel real love for those razor beaks and beady eyes. soon after, a speedy descent through endless switchbacks into fern gully. too much time in my head and the mountains were hidden, but the surroundings were so fertile and so many different little greens. moss instead of grass and the most fantastic array of mushrooms some the kind that make mario big and some a purple that really shouldn't appear in nature.here are some more mountain pictures, if you can believe it:
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
