Golden Bay

After walking for 3 days in the Able Tasman trek, we all agreed we didn’t have enough of the beautiful Golden Bay area, and decided to stay a few more nights in a small town called Takaka.

After looking for a camping spot in town for about an hour, we decided to pitch out tent on the outskirts of the town, on the riverside of what is reputedly the clearest water river in NZ. I know, I was impressed as well.

The next morning I realized that I hadn’t taken a shower for 10 days, so I jumped into the river, and discovered that clear water is FUCKING FREEZING!!!


We drove north to the north most part of the southern island, the Farewell Spit, which is a 26
km long and only 30m wide (hence “spit”) natural reserve.








When we got to the reserve, we went down to the beach to see some baby seals, and after taking maybe 3000 photos of them, we had a small picnic in a beautiful scenic viewpoint over the spit.


Teresa, the wacky German girl, had only 10 more days to her stay here, so we decided to drive through the west coast rather quickly, in order to get to Queenstown in this time frame.
Our next stop was Franz Josef Glacier, which I decided to see with my parents, when they come mid March, so as my friends were touring the glacier, I was busy wasting time.

The next day we drove to the neighboring glacier – Fox Glacier, and had a magnificent view over the glacier across from Mathison Lake.
We went on driving, and stopped at a beautiful camp site past Haast, where we got an amazing sunset view of mount cook, the highest mountain in NZ.







LAMA LO AMART…

After driving around 1000km in 4 days, we arrived to Wanaka, a pastoral town on the shore of the Wanaka Lake. The town is usually regarded as Queenstown’s little sister, and like some little sisters – it doesn’t have the big breast and tight ass of Queenstown, but it can still gives a hell of a BJ.



The funny thing about Wanaka, is that because German people pronounce W like V, and I am traveling with 2 Germans, the next few days all I heard was: “Vanka, Vanka”, which made me a bit homesick.

After spending a sleepy morning on the lakeside, Rob and I decided to have some peace and quiet from the girls, so we drove an hour outside town, and took the 4 hours Rob Roy trek.
The main treks in NZ are perfectly maintained, but the trek outside the beaten track are less well kept, so the drive itself was on a gravel road for about 45 minutes, with the crossing of several fords, some almost covering the whole car wheel.

The walk was mostly uphill, meandering through a bushy walkway, and after 2.5 hours walk we








got to one of the most beautiful viewpoint I’ve seen. Although the weather wasn’t completely clear, as clouds covered the mountain top, the view of the Rob Roy glacier with all its glory and around 30 waterfalls varying from small to huge, was breathtaking.





We unwillingly drove back to meet the girls, who decided to surprise us with a homemade dinner. The weird coincidence in our group of 5 people is that one person is a vegetarian, one person is gluten intolerant, one person is lactose intolerant, and the two other are guys. So cooking dinner for 5 is a real challenge.

The next day we went to see the famous Wanaka Puzzle World (well, maybe not that famous…).
This amusement complex hold some really nice illusions, puzzles and a real size outdoors maze, 1.5km in length (most people go though 3km before finding the end). First, we tried the maze. We naturally divided into boys vs. girls, and began running through the compound, shoving each other and trying to avoid injuring other people. It took us 45 minutes to go though all stops, and out of fake modesty and thoughtfulness, I won’t say who won.



The illusion room included nice but widely known visual illusion (thanks to office boredom, and the wonders of the internet), but the next room, was a real treat. It holds 3 walls covered with faces which are built in concave (rather than convex), and so a beautiful illusion is created, when all faces are seemingly watching you as you move around the room.


The next room held another famous but cool illusion, where the room is built like a trapeze, so when two people stand at both far sides of the room, one looks really tall, and the other short. I am definitely coming back one day with my two brothers, and having them stay in the far corner until I regain confidence.



The final room was a slanted room, where the whole room is in 25 degrees, so it looks like everyone is slanted.













We concluded the visit with a pathetic “must have” picture of me holding a slanting clock tower outside the Puzzle World.

Surely this picture will be framed next to my University Diploma.









The town of queen

The next day we felt we exerted everything Wanaka had to offer, so we took the beautiful scenic drive to Queenstown.
Queenstown is situated on the shore of a marvelous lake, amidst huge rocky mountain tops, rivers and lakes around it, making the view almost surreal.
The city had gotten the best of all worlds, as on top of the beautiful surroundings in which it sits, the nightlife is young, vibrant and full of tourists trying to shake the recent thrill they underwent, as Queenstown is also the adrenaline capitol of the world, with adventures stretching from bungee jumping, through Canoeing and Rafting, canyon swinging and river surfing, to skydiving, parasailing, paragliding and hang gliding.
You can literally see people on the street attaching wings to random things, trying to make it the new hype. I don’t think garbage-gliding will catch on, but you can never know with these wacky kiwis.

Rob and I wanted to make the most of the few light hours we had that day, so we climbed Queenstown Hill, overlooking the whole area. The walk itself was charmingly unattractive, but when we got to the top, an amazing panorama of green hills, black rock mounts and astonishing indigo water view from above.
We rested our legs and souls by sitting and drinking a few beers, and went on down to meet the girls.






That night we went out for the last time with Teresa, as she was set to take a flight the next day to Auckland and from there back to Germany.
Although I was the oldest at the bar, and in some cases even older that two girls’ age added together, we had a great time drinking the night away.
The next day we said goodbye to Teresa, and went on to our exciting action-packed day of…




The day of Horror

Coming to Queenstown and not booking a bungee jump, is like getting hit on by a hot seductive woman, and respond: “no thanks, I think I’ll go home and watch porn”.

Rob, Marissa, Me and another nice Aussie (also named Rob) decided to go together.
We got on the bus and saw 40 pairs of terrified eyes looking at us, rolling in their holes. We sat on the back seat, and for the whole 45 minutes ride we were shaking in our seats, making the smooth bus ride look like an army TILTULIT.
The bungee site is the highest in NZ, 134m of sheer terror, 8.4 seconds of freefall, and altogether quite unnecessary.

After being harnessed and writing our will, we went on to enter the gondola, taking us to the jumping pod. The jump pod is located above a huge canyon, where a giant jump pod is suspended on two metal cables stretching from one end of the canyon, to the other.
The gondola taking you to the pod is actually just a metal cage, and when you are crossing the canyon, making your way to the pod – your balls are shaking so hard, sparks fly out.

Most of the pod’s floor is glass, so when you are entering the pod – you can see the huge abyss below, and what may well be your last resting place.
We were standing there in a group of 10 strangers, about to share a frightening experience together, and we were dead silent. No one was laughing, or even talking, and all you can hear are 10 rhythmic breathes, and the song “I’m free falling” in the background.

I was 5th.
The staff guy was calling my name: “siban, Israel”, and I reacted like a sheep, moving to the silver gate, separating the real men from the kids.
I sat in the gynecologist like chair, and the instructor started tying the giant cable to my legs. “75 kilos” I replied, when he asked me for my weight, “but now it’s probably a couple kilos less, because I am shitting myself!”
I got up, slowly hopping toward the ledge, as my legs were shackled together, incase I wanted to run away. At that point you’re not really thinking. Everything kind of just happens, and you’re mind races so fast, so no clear thought comes up.
I was standing on the 20 cm wide ledge, not fully comprehending what is about to take place, and then a strong confident voice said: “ready mate? 5..4..3..2..1..”.
I tilted my body forward, allowing my feet a last grasp of sweet solid land, and halfway through, I bended my knees, and jumped.

I don’t really remember what happened next, but the strong feeling of not really believing it is happening. My breath suddenly got stuck and all I could see is the ground drawing closer at a frantic pace… The wind started pounding in my ears, and as my mind is wondering where the hell the god damn cable tug is, all which came out of my mouth was a small weak whisper: “IMALE…”








The Bungee was amazing.
When you are being pulled back up, all you want to do is go again.
I climbed up to the pod, and my whole body was shaking from adrenalin.

Baby Rafting

We got back to the city, and decided to enhance the adrenalin rush with a two hour rafting trip in a close by river. Maren decide to join us, and we took the bus to the river base, and got our equipment.
The rafting experience was nice, but not half as exiting as the Bungee. At some parts, the rapids were awesome, and our boat almost capsized twice, but all in all, it wasn’t what I expected it to be.

The silence after the storm

Since then, we’ve been chilling in sweet Queenstown, going out every night, drinking and dancing. We met two great guys in our hostel (Aussie Rob, and Denilo from Germany), so our group is big and happy again.















We took a beautiful drive to a small town called Glenochy, and just wandered around for a couple of hours, before hading back to go in the hostel’s spa. Life is hard.









When going online to write this post, I found out that all of my pictures from the past two weeks are lost, as I accidentally deleted them when Teresa asked me to make her a photo DVD before she left, so I had to spend 3 hours recovering the photos, and then another 5 hours writing this post. I cannot tell you how sick of computers I am right now.

I will leave Queenstown tomorrow, and head down to Invercargill, to cross to Stewart Island, and do a 3 day trek there.

A Final Thought

Home seek

I am starting to miss home, and spend a lot of dead hours thinking about what will happen when I get back. People back home are having their lives, some enrolling for 2nd degree, some undergoing new exciting career changes, and I feel like I parked my life car at the side of the road, and went for a 6 months circular trek, because although the scenery is amazing, and I am having so much fun meeting new people and doing things I always wanted to do – I always saw myself as a focused person, with a goal, and when I get back home I will be in the same exact spot I left.

Have fun, and keep in touch

Sivan.