Arthur's Pass

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Hello again Friends!

It is with mixed emotions I write that our great tramping adventures of the South Island have officially come to an end; a week in Arthur's Pass was the final hurrah! This is a sad note because it's becoming more and more real now that we must actually return to reality back home soon, but also very joyful because my body has had about enough of this. The days in the Arthur's Pass were an excellent final destination as they offered a little of everything we've done in our time here, from river stomping to alpine passes. This area of New Zealand is very epic in scale; huge sweeping valleys and giant, towering mountains stretching the land in all directions. We all noted how it kind of reminded us of Colorado, albeit much greener overall. In total, we spent six nights in back country huts, and two nights at the home of our friends Mel and Morgan who we met earlier in our time back on Stewart Island. Also very enjoyable about these latest days, was the relative ease of tramping compared to earlier madness. Of the eight days we actually spent hiking, only one of them turned out to be a real bastard of a time; this was a route over Waimakariri Col and ending down the Rolleston River. The day started off beautifully, with breathtaking views at the top and easy walking. Unfortunately endless fields of sweeping, very steep scree waited for us and took hours to cross. This day was perhaps worsened in memory because I managed to injure my right ankle at some point, causing extreme pain by the end of the long tramp. Luckily it seems to have recovered, certainly enough to handle whatever little tramping we shall do in our remaining weeks on the North Island. It is amazing to think how a little over two weeks is all the time we have left here, considering how quickly a little over two months passed. However, I can say I'm definitely ready to return home as family and friends will be a welcome sight.

And another week in the woods really wouldn't be complete if I didn't have an additional story to add to the "Chronicles of the Night" courtesy of Chad. From what I remember, Nick and I were awaken to Chad shouting, "Hey, where's my headlight!?" and then immediately thrashing about violently in his sleeping bag, perhaps looking for it. Per usual, I tried to wake him by saying, "Chad, you need to wake up now," which case Chad sarcastically answered something to the nature of, "Thanks I got it," and continued to look for his light. I simply went back to sleep.

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Comments

[not gay]

Thanks I got it...He never believes us when he's sleep talking, it seems like it would save himself a lot of worry if he did...

[Procrastinatingblogger]

Not Gay
I imagine the tone was similar to him once saying, "it's four...exactly."