I woke up this morning to a warm car and an old man peeking out of his house wondering: "who's parked in front of my house!" I slowly drove away while waving hello and in my mind saying "thank you for the nice spot to sleep with a view". I then pulled up to the YHA and loaded Rena's things in ready for departure to Mt. Cook, Lake Tekapo, Geralston, Lake Clearwater, Mount Sunday, and Christchurch. On the way out of Queenstown we saw a young New Zealander girl at the gas station who ran out of gas up the hill and I decided to give her a ride back to her car so she could make it to work on time because I once ran out of gas in California and some complete stranger offered their help. After the paying it forward we set out on the M6 to Cromwell and then switched over to the M8 up to Mt. Cook. Upon getting there we could see the clouds in the distance and were hoping to at least get a peek but the rain kept getting worse as we got closer and closer, so we decided to not waste any more time and turned around in search for sunshine. We then made it to Lake Tekapo which isn't really a site to see and saw some backpackers looking for a ride to Geralston, in our direction, so I asked them if they would like to join us and they said of course. I loaded up their stuff and told them Rena and I are going to grab a bite and maybe a swim in the Lake. Without a choice they watched us swim with shout from the cold glacier water and probably thought: "Crazy North Americans!". Shivering our way out we walked through the wind and joined with the two Germans, I don't remember their names, for a nice mellow drive to Geralston. I felt as if I was sheered off a stone from the glacier water and was a little uplifted in that moment of my body heating up again. We then made it to Geralston and said some safe travel goodbyes to our backseat passengers before heading out to Lake Clearwater that looked adventurous on the map. The Lake didn't look like much so we kept going past it down the road to a valley that felt like no mans land and is located dead center in the South Island. The valley didn't have a name but a small mound in the middle is called Mount Sunday and we thought what the hell we are here let's climb it. When we got to the top it was a wind storm with a small wind device not moving much that had everyones names engraved in it who made it there and I found a nail to do the same. After we left that hidden gem and made a mark for people to see we set out to Christchurch in search for some Wifi, a place to shower, and a cinema to see Oblivion due to Rena loosing a bet about who the main character is in "The Life of David Gale". Upon the arrival of Christchurch city centre we didn't get lost like the last time I did and we made it to the Re:start place for some free Internet in search of where a YHA is and a local cinema that is playing Oblivion. After the nice shower and little sneakaroo we headed out to the movie with a little detour this time due to the city signs. The movie was great, a little long with some corky spots, but above all mind trippingly satisfying. I would say it is similar to Minority Report in the sense of a great Sci-fi film, but has a crazy different story to it with a twist here and there. If you like Sci-fi on the big screen and Tom cruise then I would recommend it, but it's no where near any of Christopher Nolan's Sci-fi films that make your brain say: "overload" after seeing them. After that jazz we headed out to a nice dark quiet spot for some sleep and preparation for the next day ahead.
Bye for now...
Some thoughts...
You'll find me tip toeing my way into a lake that feels so cold it feels hot and as the water envelops all the way up to my chest I slowly can't breath so I decide to jump head first and sink to the bottom. I grab the earth beneath and forget that I'm underwater. I push up to the surface and my body gasps for air in shock of freezing but I say to myself: "be still, breath still, your here now". I come out of the water feeling like I'm icy hot and let the wind blow dry the water off my body. I feel as if I'm reminded of what my whole body feels like and how I can control my body in some of the harshest environments present.
I hope you do something that helps remind you of what it is to live and in that moment you see who you are in the body you have.
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