Facing Fears

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(I've added photos to the previous entry, which is probably more interesting that the photos here, so check those out first!)

We set off on our four day tramp with the sun shining and a clear blue sky. After six hours of walking, half of it around a lake and half of it uphill, we arrived at Luxmoor Hut. I'm slow as Christmas going uphill, especially with 20 pounds or so on my back, so I was relieved to have reached our peak (1,085 metres) for the day. It's always a terrific feeling to see snow-capped mountains at eye level. The total distance of the trek is 60km (40 miles), spaced over four days for a total of at least 20 hours of walking. I felt a little ambitious for doing this trek, but then we discovered that theere is a running race on the same track in November, where runners complete the course in 5 - 6 hours!!

Our first night, the sky was so amazingly clear that we could see Mars and Venus!! There were shooting stars all over the place . . . the sky in the Southern Hemisphere is marked by the Southern Cross, but it was difficult to distinguish constellations because there were so many visible stars.

The second day is the most challenging, especially for someone like me who has a qualified fear of heights. Heights in general don't frighten me, but narrow trails next to a ledge where I could plummet to my death sends me into a bit of panic. When I agreed to do this trek, I didn't realize I would spend a few hours confronting my fear. The ascent took quite a while, but once we were at the ridge, it was incredible!! We walked along the top for over an hour and took in views of Fiordland. We then descended about 1,000 metres, mostly via switchbacks, to the valley where we spent that night.

The last two days seemed to be a combination of small uphills and downhills before leveling to follow the path of the Waiau River. (I believe this is the River Anduin for you Lord of the Rings fans.) The hut for the third night was situated about 100 metres from the lake so we all fell asleep to the sound of waves lapping while looking at the stars. After four days of walking, my feet were begging for mercy . . . while I'm glad I did a four day hike, especially in New Zealand, it will be some time before I convince myself to do another.

We returned to Auckland with 24 hours left in our trip. I still hadn't attempted any adventure sport so I bungy jumped off the Auckland Harbor Bridge!! Quite an experience . . . 43 metres above the water with a harness on. I felt fear for a split second before the Jumpmaster started counting down, and I felt a moment of fear immediately after I jumped, but other than that, it was pure adrenaline!! I bought the DVD of it, and Sne is working on extracting some still shots so I can post them here.

I was hanging out in LA for the week and saw U2 in concert Wednesday night at the Staples Center (www.one.org) . . . I leave for Ecuador on November 5th. No habla espagnol . . .

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