The Road Home

After Stewart Island, I had one week left on my travels. I headed up the middle of the island and then to the west coast. My first stop was Fiordlands National Park. Apparently, there are huge mountains surrounding the fiords. I couldn't see much because of the constant wind and rain, but I hear there are amazing views on clear days. Even though it was raining, I still decided to go kayaking in Milford Sound. I couldn't see the tops of any of the mountains because of the rain but hopefully you can get an idea how giant the rocks are - hopefully you can see the cruise ship against the rocks. That ship held about 400 people. We were about 2 kilometers from the boat.

We did get to paddle with dolphins- they came right up to our boats.


I hit a low point on the trip at Milford Sound. While I was kayaking for about 5-6 hours, I managed to leave the trunk of my car open. Nothing - thankfully - was stolen, but most everything in the trunk was soaked. When the guide pulled up to my car and saw the trunk wide open, he asked me, "Do you do this kind of stuff a lot?" I smiled and wanted to hit him with one of the paddles, but instead just put my head down and mumbled yes. I ended up sleeping in my car that night - it wasn't very pleasant at all.

The next morning, I was tired of the rain and wind, and a little stiff, so I left Fiordlands and headed to Wanaka. I did a two day tramp into Aspring National Park and got great views of Mount Aspiring.

Here's the hut where I almost spent the night. Once I got to the top and realized that I'd be the only person there, I got a little freaked out and headed back down and spent the night at this hut.


I would love to spend more time there - the views are amazing, the walks aren't too hard, and the mountains are accessible.

From Wanaka, I headed to Franz Joseph Glacier. My last night in Wanaka, it rained and rained and the wind blew the fly off my tent and I got soaked - so around 3 in the morning I had to sleep in the car again. So, when I got to Franz Joesph, I spent the night in a hotel and felt like a human being. It was great.

I spent most of the day Friday walking on the glacier.

The highlight of the hike was seeing Superman's house.


After Franz Joseph, I drove to my friend's house in Neslon, and spent the next few days with them. There was definitely more to see and do, but my trip ended after Franz Joseph. I read a delightful book on my trip - Travels with Charley, but John Steinbeck. He took 3 months to travel across America and at the end of his trip he talks about how some journeys leave you before you're ready. I think that's what happened to me. I still had a couple of days to explore the south island, but I was ready to get home and be around friends again. The last leg of the trip, I didn't look out the window too much - I didn't stop anywhere, I drove through the night to get back home.

So, the trip is over, but summer isn't. I still have a couple of weeks before the school year starts and will be enjoying every sunny day that I get here.