Hol-Le-Lu-Yah NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand is absolutely amazing.....everything I ever imagined and more!!!! And the way that Tobias and are are travelling could not be better. Having a car (as I learned in Hawaii) really makes the trip that much better, especially when you are driving through such dramatic landscapes.

Tobias and I really have no plans at all, no guide book, no idea what is around the next corner....just a spirit for adventure, curious personalities, and packs on our backs! I could not be travelling with anyone better. We really see eye to eye on everything and really work off each other.

Apon arriving on the south island we hoped on a bus and headed into Nelson, where our rental car awaited us (bye the way, Jen (of course) was the ONLY one to submit an answer for the Lord of the Rings triva question about Sam's horse's name....good answer....but with the help of google I discovered that it is actually BILL...kinda boring and really disappointing especially after waiting such a long time (Tobias and I have been itching to name our car). So we get to this car rental place and there are two middle age women working there (about mom's age...which just happens to be 32), and mom, they really reminded me of you and your friends. It was some dumpy second rate budget car rental place but they where having a ball, all laughs and full of tips (yuri, you know about me and tips). So we heeded there advice and headed to a park along the coast called Abel Tasman (which just happens to be a New Zealand GREAT WALK...I later learned)

So we bought some groceries, packed our backpacks, and hike up the coast. It was a truely amazing hike, right along the cliffs, right along the beach, and since we got a late start (5:30 ) we had the whole place to ourselves. We hiked for a couple of hours then found a remote beach and claimed it as our own. Tobias set up the tent, I made a fire, and then we cooked dinner over the fire (this became a habit of ours...i was in charge of the fire...just like in the boy scouts dad...one match, and he would set up shop).

I cant really describe everything we have done, even though it has only been three days, we have had so many adventures..so I'll just kind of give you a bigger picture. Having a car is a blast. And Tobias and I are in the same mind state, we dont really make much progress because everything and anything that looks interesting..well we stop and check it out (new zealands largest spring, the worlds clearest spring water, the hotest spring, swimming holes, waterfall, apple orchards, pie (meat) shops, fishing spots, rivers, dead animals, and overlooks). We shower in the river ,and we go the bathroom in the woods. We camp in the most beautiful places (where no camping is allowed) and we cook all our meals over the fire. WE ARE MEN, and we yell that sometimes. No trail goes unclimbed, no fruit tree goes unpicked. He drives and I navigate (of course...mark and jason, you know how i am with road trips). We pick up hitchhikers, and we ask random people for advise as to our next adventure. Yuri, and Jeff, you guys would love this shit!! If we want to stop and take a picture, we do it, if we want to chase sheep/cows, we do it. We are rulers of this land...or at least that is how it feels. Every morning we wake up and have no idea where we are going, every night we pull into an area with no idea where we are going to camp...but man o man has it been amazing..the things these eyes have seen! I have more pictures then I could ever imagine posting on this website. The landscape here is beautiful, the rivers are clearer then anything I have ever seen (aparently the only place with clear water is in antartica), and the road...the road is wide open and waiting to be tramped. We are not tourists or on a vacation, we are travellers living off of the land (And the grocery stores). We drink from springs, and we steal post cards (well not really, just one, by accident..jen you'll be getting it soon).

I will see penguins, I will skydive, I will ice climb, I will trade possum tails for beer (at the Mussel Pub..really), and if it rains, I will sleep in the car (our tent is pretty bad).

In beautiful places i miss you guys the most...i see parts of everyone here..dad you would love the fishing here, and this reminds me a lot of parts of CO and WY that we all visited! Yuri, man, the adventures that we could have here! Mom, you would love the tiny little towns here. Mark and Jason...all I can say is road trip. Jen, if I could spend a few nights camping with you on the coast here.....i/we would love that(maybe we can do this in Washington State...i heard the coast there is pretty amazing too).

(someone please send me some more words that I can use in place of "amazing"...haha)

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