4-10 The New Zealand Tour South Island: Te Anau, Milford Sound, and Queenstown.

I found myself back in the car waking up next to a butcher shop fan buzzing to keep the meat in the freezer cold and I smoothly wiped the condensation off the windows before heading out to a place called by some people Jurassic park or a simpler version called a Fiord. A Fiord is a long valley full of tall sheer mountains that have been carved out by a giant glacier and at the very end of the valley is a shallow deposit of the remains of rocks that were sheered off if you didn't know. The car cruise there was pretty mellow and there wasn't any cars on the road which felt very nice to be alone out in the middle of nowhere I've been before. If you ever get a chance to come to this amazing spot of the world you'll find yourself traveling through a kilometer long tunnel through a mountain that spits you out to the side where Milford Sound is and it is creepy cool. When I arrived at the Sound it was freezing around 2 degrees Celsius and I shivered from the car park 300m to the cruise center before walking on to the Jucy cruise. The cruise itself lasts about an hour and a half long and the captain announces some fun facts along the way as well. I would recommend coming here in the winter time or on a heavy rain day to see the waterfalls in full affect because right now, end of summer, there is only three going slowly. After the amazingly beautiful time in the Fiord I bolted back to Queenstown ready to ride a mountain bike down some crazy downhill tracks and give my pituitary gland a squeeze. When I got into town I went to Vertigo bikes and they situated me with a full suspension bike, elbow and knee pads, and a helmet of course. I then finally made my way up to the top after a nice gondola ride and rode out ready to trench down some black diamonds. After a few fun runs down then up the nice gondola and a couple front flips into bushes with some slide outs in between I finally got most of the place down. My hands where so sore from clenching the brakes at times that I thought I was going to have to strap a crowbar to my back in case i needed to open them. After the adrenaline rush and bruised back I took some photos of the view and set back down the hill to drop of the bike while getting some grub at a grocery as well. I then headed out to a YHA in use of a kitchen and stumbled a conversation upon some English girls that sat down to have dinner with me. The two were Rachael and Allison and they told me where they've been traveling with the where's and don't go here stories. While we where finishing up our meals two others sitting next us, Will, Asian kid who was at the same bungee jump as me, and Rena, New Brunswick Canadian girl, jumped in the crazy open conversation. At the end I offered them all a chance to skip the Magic one stop not going where you want to go bus and just hitch with me up the coast seeing loads. The two English girls didn't really want to sleep in a car, Will I think left, and Rena was like that sounds like a plan. After that strike of luck to split some gas money and not being bored by myself on the road we set up a time for the next day to meet. I then headed for a sneak shower after saying goodbye with the exchange of emails and set off for a nice place to sleep up the hill with a view over the city lights.

Bye for now...

Some thoughts:

You'll find me sitting at the very end of a boat forgetting about the cold and allowing my mind to drift into the outstanding scenery. I feel as if I am lost in the trees outstanding beauty of colors that rush into my eyes opening my mind to think nothing and that I have forgotten what it means to be human. What does it mean to be human? Who are we? Where are we? What are we doing? How are we going to survive on this planet when all we do is fight, argue, kill each other, make waste higher than our eyeballs, and care about currency more than the places we live?
I hope you find that I'm not the only one thinking these things and that you converse with others about what we can do to make this place habitable or for our generations to see what we have seen.

Some of my new YouTube videos of this day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELJ_Y6-ASdo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8lR4SWrrys
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbneT5G5AkU

4-9 The New Zealand Tour South Island: Wanaka, Queenstown, and Te Anau

After a nice sleep in the car I climbed out of the sleeping bag, rolled it up, and put it away to find that it was starting to rain. I had some doubts before going to bed about it raining and not being able to get a good view through clouds at the top of Roy's Peak so I waited for an hour, then two and it still did not subside. Feeling a little discouraged that the weather finally caught up to me I decided to drive to Queenstown through the Cardrona Valley. I found it to be an amazing drive and the rain was no where but the clouds laid overhead covering the blue sky. When heading down the last bit of the valley road it looked as if someone was having a drag race due to all the skid marks and I thought to myself did Top Gear film here?
Upon the arrival into Queenstown I thought I was in speedy mode due to all the people around and wasn't used to civilization after being away from a big cities and in the open lands of nature. Got into what felt like a big small town with a couple hours to spare before the 134m Nevis Bungee and checked some shops before entering a Happy Travels Adventure booking place. The town itself feels like an adventurers dream or an adrenaline junkies cup of tea and I was hooked into getting a half day mountain bike with a Milford Sound morning cruise as well. There is so much more you can do in that place from skydiving, paragliding, jet boating, lake skiing, and skidoo riding as well from what I was doing. After getting some paperwork for the adventures I had I headed over to the "Station" where they come pick you up and take you to the 3rd biggest operating bungee in the world. On the way out our bus broke down in a heaping smoke and some people where like: "your dragging this on longer, the anticipation is killing me". I was really content on the Bungee and if all else fails then "hey this was a good run so far". After about fifteen minutes went by before another bus came and picked us up and when we got close we had to go up this steep dirt road that at the top did a 70 degree incline making everyone go tense. Threw on a harness, got on a tiny cart overhanging a 100m inclining drop, and then came to the middle of the wire station throwing on ankle harnesses before sitting in a chair awaiting the drop. "Ok Utah look up here with a smile then out there, arms out, 3-2-1 Bungee!" says the harness operator and I was in free fall for about ten seconds before bouncing up again to failing again and then sitting in the middle of a canyon slowly brought back up to the station wanting to do it again. Operator: "How was it?" I replied: "Amazing!" Took the little cart back across and waited till the bus was going to take us back. Got into town a little late so I grabbed some food at the grocery store and headed out on the M6 then the M94 to Te Anau which is about 120km away from Milford Sound while the sun was fading away to the other side of the planet. Found a nice place to sleep in a neighborhood next to a butcher shop and was stoked to check out Milford Sound in the morning on a Jucy cruise.

Bye for now...

Some thoughts:

You'll find me starring down at the ground through a metal grate 130m up while wondering what it would feel like if I was to fall all the way down to the ground. Would the air make a difference? Would the silent serene canyon of no civilization calm my mind? Would the shrills of the people around me scare me even more or would it welcome me to the ground and the little stream of cushion in between? Would I smile on the way down? Would I let go and close my eyes feeling as if I'm falling into a mist of water? I step to the edge looking all the way down and smile. I leap out not even thinking about if the ground is there or not or that I could die in that moment if the cord holding me breaks and I find it to be so silently calm that fear is no where near. I realize that the jump wasn't the memory in my mind but being out in complete silence without worrying about anything was what cleared my mind of thought.
I hope you find that you could die at any moment and how you deal with letting go of that fear is purely up to you. Take it in with a breath and smile it away on the way out.


My Bungee Video thanks to YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmRS2MfmiHY&feature=youtube_gdata_player

4-7 The New Zealand Tour South Island: Castle Hill to the West coast and ending up at Franz Josef

I woke up this morning to a very cold car thinking that it had to have been -2 degree Celsius last night and its slowly starting to warm up now. While sitting here in the car watching the sun slowly come up and peer over the Castle Hill valley I have decided it is time to get out for a cold climb. Took some pictures and climbed a bit before heading back on the 73 for an adventure down the coast on motorway six to Franz Josef Glacier. Upon my arrival into the town which is very small I decided that I should take a nap and rest up for a bit before heading out again. I was so tired that I slept all the way through half the day and woke up at night still tired so I slept to it was morning.

Bye for now...

Some thoughts:

You'll find me sitting on the highest boulder of the land and looking out to a beautiful sun ring in the sky. Its so quiet I can't even hear my own breath and I wonder if anyone has ever felt this way. I move slowly down the face of the rock matching my breath to my movement and know that falling is not going to happen. When I get to the bottom I realize that it's more than just the climb, but a breakthrough in my minds ability to relax in a situation that presents so much anxiety, harm, pain, and fear.
I hope you find yourself facing your fear when your at a vulnerable point of time in your life and look at it with a smile knowing you'll overcome it with ease.