The South Island

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When I arrived in the South Island I went to Blenheim to look for work. Within a day I had found a job working on a vineyard. Everyone that was staying at the hostel in Blenheim was also working on the vineyards. I spent three weeks working on there. The work was extremely boring but the pay was not too bad. I think I made more working on these vineyards then I did at my job back home... Pretty sad considering the job involved lifting up the wires, which held up the plants, from one clip to the next all day long. Did not take much thought.

I travelled off to Kaikora with Kevin, from Detroit, who was also working in Blenheim. Kaikora is known for their seal colonies. Everyone told us that we could not miss them and we would have trouble trying not to step on them. We went to the colony twice and did not see a single seal up close, but we did see about ten dolpins swimming around as we were driving to our next destination, Christchurch. We spent two nights in Christchurch, which was a really nice city. The first night as we went looking for the casino in the rain a cop pulled over and asked us where we were going. We werent sure if we did something wrong but when we told him we were headed to the casino he told us to hop in the car and he took us there. We were quite surprised but we got turned down at the casino anyway because we were wearing sandals and I had frayed jeans. It was probably for the best.

We drove to Arthurs Pass to do a four day hike that we mapped out. The population of Aruthurs Pass was a wopping 60 so as you can imagine it was a busy place. We met a guy from Austria (Gerd) the night before we left and he decided to join us. He turned out to be an important asset to our little expedition since he was a pro at finding ways to cross the rivers. Some of the rivers were moving pretty quick so we had to be careful not to get washed away. Plus the water was freezing in some areas. My feet were completely numb within seconds. The second day of the hike we had to climb a gorge, but the views were astounding as we climbed. The pictures I have do it no justice. Overall, the hike was great even though we survived off beans, peanut butter and ramin noodles.

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Photos

Welcome to the South Island
On the ferry

My new office
one of the many neverending rows

The First day of our 4 day hike through Arthurs Pass
First day was long and rainy

Day 2
Kevin and Gerd

Climbing up the gorge
We had to ford back and forth over the river on the way up..the coldest water ive ever felt

The view from our hut
There was a hot spring nearby that we were able to soak our aching feet in

One of the huts we stayed in
In the middle of nowhere