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Published: February 25th 2007
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Well well well look who it is
Saturday Feb/10
Lesson of the day: Drinking a mickey of Vodka in under 8 minutes is logistically possible but not recommended
Today our rag tag group, comprised of Ryan, myself and our new partner in crime Will decided that this was not to be a day wasted with sleeping in but a day to be cherished. Our presence in Christchurch for low these many days had been primarily to watch the completion of the outdoor adventure competition dubbed “The Coast to Coast”. This little endurance competition comprised individuals who would race each other from the east coast of NZ to the west in either a 2 day competition or for those bold enough in a single day. Winners of the single day race could do this feat in as little as 11 hours. The race itself had a kayaking, running and evening a biking section…similar in many respects to the iron man competition in North America and Europe.
While we waited for the competitors to cross the finish line I decided to do a little exploring… and within minutes I had found myself in a rock cave located near the pounding
surf of Sumner beach. As Ryan and Will watched on I went deeper and deeper into the then dry cave….emphasis on “dry”…. And as Ryan and Will were to describe to me soon after, a rather large wave and subsequent surge found its way into the cave behind me …luckily by this point I had just walked out a small exit in the rear…for to my dismay the cave quickly filled up behind me, taking no longer then 5-6 seconds. We all had a good laugh at this…though I could feel that one of my 9 lives had gone and left the building.
After watching many of the competitors cross the finish line in still remarkable shape, we decided to go partake in a NZ pastime by going to watch a Rugby game. Now Will and I didn’t feel much like paying for expensive booze within the stadium, so we thought of a plan so elegant that no security personnel could have figured out what we were doing. Dubbed operation “mix coke and vodka together in a coke bottle” this little scheme would revolutionize the drinking world… but sadly not all would go to plan. Arriving at the stadium
with coke bottles in hand we were then told that we were not allowed to have bottles of coke larger then 1 liter…. Those diabolical geniuses had in fact figured us out long before this and were in fact toying with us, knowing that we would then have to throw the bottles in the garbage…. But that’s when we threw them a curve ball back, when we said “no worries we will just drink it now”… lets just say the result still hurts my stomach to this day. But in the end we got into the rugby game… though walking to our seats had become so much more difficult… and we enjoyed a great night out.
Wednesday Feb/15 to Feb 23
After weeks of planning and various purchases Lutz and I had finally gotten ourselves ready for two walks dubbed “pain” and “ful” that took us 9 days and more than 130 km to complete. These hikes, called Tramps here in NZ would take us through very remote areas located surprising close to Queenstown. With no need of a tent the NZ government had developed huts all along these walks at varying intervals that could sleep up to
Glacial Baptism
this was a glacial fed lake... so you knows its gotta be warm 12 people. Now I had never done hikes like these before but I felt that whatever pain I was to face would be more then worth it, and in the end they really were. Both Ryan and I were to carry more then 30 pounds of food and clothing each on these tracks that ranged from flat trails, to fast flowing streams and even incredibly steep climes. There were various painful highlights on these treks from days where I honestly felt I could walk no further, especially after one nasty day where I had to climb 2000 feet and then descend the same distance…all in under a km, to days where I could hardly bend my right leg yet still had to walk 17 kms on it. To positive highlights, which included times where Ryan and I walked on beautiful sunny days, as we listened to the haunting sounds of glaciers located around us creak and groan, to a day where I got to ride a jet boat out of one of our walks, getting soaked along the way as we did 360’s down the river. But all in all I really was taken back by how great the whole
experience was… though I think my feet and even Lutz’s need a few months before they would be up for anything like this again.
Well that’s all for now…
P.S there is a video that Lutz made at the top of a moutain we walked to... so check it out at the top of the page
Catch ya on the flip side
- Ryan
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Alyson
non-member comment
fun times
Looks and sounds like you are having a blast Can't wait to read about more of your adventures! . . .