Costume Night

Well my two new friends from Holland talked me into actually going out last night. It was a costume party and everyone had to dress up. I went as Micheal Phelps girlfriend and my friends from Holland went as rubbish (trash). The last picture is my attempt to be creative and do a cartwheel to capture sunset.

Much Love,

Hannah

Westport

I boarded the Kiwi Experience Bus this morning and said goodbye to my new friends, the Boar Hunters.

I wasn't expecting this activity (above left) to be so much fun but it was a really nice surprise. The picture above is our group of motor bikes. I was just expecting a normal 4-wheeler but these things were so much faster and lighter. We road on sand, rocks, through a stream, and rough tracks... and I only got stuck once :)

The group on this bus is about 38 people and most of them love to party. So when they left to go bar hopping I took advantage of the computer and fireplace.

Much love,
Hannah

Boar Hunters!

Above is the progression of skinning a wild boar! Crazy stuff. The past few days I have been staying on a farm with a family of wild boar hunters! This has definitely been the most unique Kiwi experience yet. These guys live a rough life and are passionate about hunting. I walked into a house full of bones... they have 14 hunting dogs and hunt almost everyday. This isn't typical hunting either... you need to be really fit to do this stuff. I went on one hunt where we had to run through the bush for an hour to find the dogs. The dogs sniff and when they smell a pig they go crazy and chase after it until they find it. The hunters run after the dogs. When the dogs get to the pig, two of the dogs hold the ears of the pig while the other dogs surround it barking. Then when the hunter gets their he picks the pig up by its hind legs, turns it on it back, and stabs its heart (worst part... def couldn't watch it)! If the pig is fighting too hard or the dogs aren't doing a good job then the hunter shots the pig to be safe. This is just skimming the surface of explaining this kind of hunting.

River Valley Riding

Oh geese. I love riding horses. Although this ride was quite different than I expected. Our horses weren't the typical easy riding horses they kinda had minds of their own. So my horse ended up racing another horse and it stopped so fast I almost flew off. Our guide was laughing so hard but later told me she was a bit nervous too. The views were incredible and I wasn't ready to part with "honey" (my horse) when the ride was over.

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