Tongariro Crossing

Tongariro Crossing is a 18.5km hike on mountains and volcanoes outside of Lake Taupo. This was the most extreme hike I have ever done. We had to wear crampons (ice breakers attached to you boot) and walking sticks and an Ice Pict. It was stunningly pure scenery and overall it took 8 hours to complete. We stopped for lunch on top of a frozen lake and descended the mountain partially by sliding down parts on our butts. Our main guide was a stud named Sarah who guided this hike 5 or 6 times a week... I was impressed.

It has been 4 days since I started my trip with Kiwi Experience. Kiwi Experience is an adventure bus that takes you around New Zealand and shows you the entire country along with all the adventurous opportunity you can think of.
So in 4 days I have dug up natural hot pools (to the right), been to a cultural night of the Maori (left), been Black Water Rafting, and skydiving.... and those are just the ones on the top on my head. Tomorrow I am going on a 18km walk over a volcano. We also stop for various walks and breaks from driving as we are on the road almost everyday... We are now in Lake Taupo for two days.

Black Water Rafting has been the most challenging activity yet. We were underground in a cave for 5 hours. We repelled down into the cave, zip lined across it in the dark, jumped off the edge into the water with a intertube, swam in the dark looking at the glow worms on the top of the caves, walked (and fell) through the rushing waters, and finished by climbing up two waterfalls... one of which I lost my footing on half way up and fell backwards (thankfully my helmet caught most of the fall and was left with a few minor cuts... and I thought I was an athlete :))

Much love and blessings,
Hannah

Quick Trip

Wow my mom and I have done one wild wind tour of the South Island and sadly she is returning home now. To give a short account of our travels we started in Christchurch then Mt Cook, Qweenstown, Frans Joseph Glacier, Fox Glacier, Greymouth and finally took the Trans Alpine Train back to Christchurch.

We saw where several scenes of Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, and Wolverine where filmed. Drove through a river in a Land Rover and the water got up to the windshield! Oh geese best part of the day. Yes and alot more but we also spent plenty of time on a bus so needless to say I am reading like a mad women.

Its hard to capture this kind of beauty in a picture but I hope this helps some! This last picture is of the Remarkables. The are the main mountains used for Lord of the Rings. Breathtaking! But sadly a day after we left Qweenstown an avalanche buried one snowboarder on a close by mountain.

I am sad to see my mom go but many sweet memories were made and it reminded me how blessed I am to call her my mom. She is amazing.

Bedtime is here so all for now.

Much Love,

Hannah

THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

THE BLUE MOUNTAINS. Yesterday we went on a full days tour to the Blue Mountains which are just about and hour and a half away from Sydney. The day was full and included alot of stops. We saw five kangaroo's up close and got a video of a 5 month old baby (named Joey) hopping around as cute as can be!

We stopped and had lunch in a mountain town and my mom had the traditional pie. It's like a chicken pot pie in the states but they make all different kinds here and they are so popular. Pumpkin anything is also big here... pumpkin soup, bread, salad etc... So she got a pumpkin, feta cheese, and lentil pie and it was delish.

After lunch we took a sky rail down a huge drop off into the heart of the mountains to see The Three Sisters (a famous rock formation). To get back up we took the steepest railway (kinda like a train) ride in the world. At one point we were at 56 degrees. Later in the day we hiked down to a view of a waterfall in midst the mountains and finished the day taking a fairy ride back into Sydney. At the waterfall I talked with our guide (who looked just like Gary Hall Jr. an American swimmer) about Americans. He said he heard a stat that less than 5% of Americans ever travel outside of the US!

It was a great day but by the end of it we were exhausted and ready for bed! This morning I flew to Christchurch and am happy to be back in New Zealand! I'm still quite sick so I am laying low in my hostel bed. I lost my voice and sound like a raspy version of Demi Moore so I have gotten three comments about how I have such a interesting unique voice. Oh geese.

All for now.

Much Love,

Hannah

Byron Bay

We arrived today in this cute beach / hippie town on the east coast called Byron Bay. After having a bit of sushi for dinner we walked down to watch the sunset on the beach. On my gosh is all I have to say about that. This is the picture of it. Beautiful!... but it still doesn't quite do it justice. Isn't God incredible.

Much Love,

Hannah

Cairns/ Port Douglas

Wow... its hard to believe we have been in Port Douglas for almost a week now. Port Douglas is a beach town right outside of Cairns. To the right is a picture of Four Mile Beach. This beach is about 400 meters from our Villa. We have been spoiled here and I'm not letting myself get used to this cause when my mom is gone I will be back on my backpackers budget of 20 dollar hostels!

The picture of the left is the Bay Villa Apartments we are staying at. Since it is so expensive to eat out here we have been going to the local supermarket called Coles and cooking in. The first two days here were packed full with tours. First we went up the Skyrail that takes you over the rainforest. We then came back down by train. It was beautiful traveling through the rainforest and mountains in the train. The next day was The Great Barrier Reef.
By FAR my FAVORITE. It was incredible. We went on three different dives and various spots throughout the reef. It was and hour and a half boat ride out to the reef and we spent about an hour at each of the three dive spots. At the first stop I went scuba diving for the first time. When I was through I came to the surface to find my mom in the water snorkeling. This was a great surprise because she had been doubtful about getting in the day before. Needless to say she had the time of her life pointing at various little fish swimming by and talking throughout the day about their colors and beauty. On our trip back to port we saw two Humpback Whales breech directly in front of our boat. Everyone on the boat (about 80 people) were silent watching these huge beautiful creatures play in the sea. I wrote my dad previously and said that some of God's creations bring people to totally silent and all we can do is simply stand in awe.

Ayers Rock

Oh geese We have been on the move none stop since we left Sydney. From Sydney we flew north to Alice Springs (Central Australia). We only stayed one night but Alice Springs is know for having one of if not the highest per ca pita number of art galleries. They were everywhere! The town was small about 30,000 I believe. Nice change of pace from the huge city of Sydney. The next morning we took a 6 hour bus ride to Ayers Rock Resort. The trip was through what you might think of the typical Outback of Australia. We stopped at a camel farm and yes I did ride a camel!
Ayers Rock Resort was pretty interesting because it was a 3.5km circle of all the different resorts... but that was the whole town (if you would call it that) except for the Aboriginals that live in a separate area. The evening we arrived we went to watch the Sunset at a Ayers Rock viewing area. The Rock changes colors as the sun sets.... yellows, oranges, reds, and purples lit up the sky. God is indeed a creative God. During the sunset we were given a choice of bottomless white or red wine to enjoy. While we were waiting for the sun to set we became friend with the cutest sisters. They were in there 80s and had the most interesting life stories to share. One of the sisters, Louise was a retired Nun and her sister has been a school teacher and spent many years in Hong Kong teaching. They were the funniest and sweetest souls and by the end of our stay they had given us their addresses on the Gold Coast and asked us to visit!
Early... and I mean early the next morning we drove to watch the sun rise which was just looked totally different from the day before. The highlight of this tour for me was the two dingos that visited us. They simply came to inspect us humans... found us boring and ran off into the desert. During the day we took a trip to do a short hike at Kata Juta which consists of 44 huge boulders. During all the bus trips I have been reading this long Australia Novel called Jessica. I have found it to be quite sad as its about one girls hard rugged life in the Outback.
The next day we drove about 4 hours to Kings Canyon and again watched the sunset. Early the next morning we took a 3 hr Rim Walk Hike around the Canyon. This was so fun ... it included a water hole, "the Garden of Eden" (all this greenery around a otherwise barren red canyon), and lots of cliffs.
Then back to Ayers Rock Resort and from their we flew to Cairns (Port Douglas)... home of the Great Barrier Reef. It's in the 80's here and I am definately wearing a tank top and shorts today... just lovely (as they would say)! Even though we just arrived today I already know this will be my favorite place.... I have always dreamed of swimming in the Great Barrier Reed and now its only two days away!
With Much Love,
Hannah