Procrastinatingblogger

It is with astonishment that I now type the final blog entry of my time in New Zealand; three months gone in a blink and smile. Leaving the South Island behind, we took the ferry across the Cook Straight to the North Island landing in Wellington. There, we meet up with Mark and Karen, who we began our first tramping adventure with all the way back on New Years. After a couple days in the city, we headed to the middle of the North Island for one of our final tramps around several giant (and active) New Zealand volcanoes; the Tongariro Crossing. This was track was special because we were able to get a large party of friends together from both this trip and Chad's previous expeditions. In total there were five others who joined us; ... read more

There are certain things I found out I was capable of in this last tramp, many of them I never wished to have learned. The only proper way to describe this latest hike accurately is EPIC and ADVENTUROUS. For many weeks now, Ivory Lake has been mentioned in future plans with the idea we should build up to it, as it was expected to be the most difficult tramp we had available. Little did we know than that this was exactly what we had in store for us, and then cranked to eleven. We began this tramp as a party of six, being joined by three of our Christchurch friends who we hiked with over New Years. Everyone later would describe this as some of the most physically challenging and intense days of their lives. The ... read more

Hello All! The last couple of days have been taken pretty easy (relatively speaking) in terms of tramping; we traveled up the west coast completing a two-night stay at Mt. Brewster and a one night stop on the Copland track. The first tramp was a 3000 foot uphill stretch to the base of Mt. Brewster, where we were treated to beautiful valley sights and the excellent view of the Brewster glacier. It is here where we first met the 'Allies' of this post; ironically three climbers at the hut were from none other than Ohio, one of which now lives in Breckenridge CO! Apparently, it is a small world, after all. Chad, having most of the proper equipment and the least fear of death, climbed to the summit of Mt. Brewster on the second day amongst ... read more

Hello all! It is with great pleasure that I write now, after successfully completing what is considered a difficult tramp by New Zealand standards; Five Passes. It is much like it sounds, five mountain passes through a mostly unmarked route, each section offering its own unique and difficult challenges. I have no doubt that the path we chose was the best approach, as each pass seemed to one-up the previous as far as the views went, supplying us with countless amazing photos and memories that will last a life time. The only negative to our route was several descents that could be described as disturbing in nature, with a slight chance of painful and certain bodily injury border-lining...death. However, I am happy to report everyone managed to emerge from this adventure with no serious injuries only ... read more

I want to take an opportunity to reflect on a recent occurrence in my life here in New Zealand that is significant in its rarity. Since my arrival to this wonderful place, I....read.....a...book. And not just a book mind you full of pictures and such (my usual fare), but an epic monster tallying over 900 pages. I'll give those who passed out from this news a second to recover, as I was confused with the event myself. There. So, what's interesting here is that this book has two more sequels, which I already own waiting in the safety of my house in Colorado, however, they are difficult to read from that distance. Now I didn't think to bring these other two books, because lets be honest, I figured to be a new pages into the current ... read more