The mossomeness continues….
January 13th
8:30am
TODAY WAS THE COOLEST THING WE DID ON THE SOUTH ISLAND: Glacier Country Helicopter Flights!!!
“How incredible to still be topping that list! And knowing straight away.” – Bel
It was THE most perfect day. And we were heading to see the Franz Josef receding glacier.
Same page rebels.
Our ride.
HOW EPIC IS THIS GLACIER FROM ABOVE?!
Pure pleasure.
We noticed the toll that the bush fires in Australia had taken on the snow (made it dirty, even all the way out here in New Zealand). And debriefed about our trip / let the helicopter ride settle in during a YUMMY chai tea indulgence. And then applauded when the Department of Conservation pulled up, ’cause we fan girls.
A disappointing color at Hokitika Gorge. Headlamps purchased. Much needed eggs Benedict. Real fruit ice cream. A phone chat with the love of my life. Always different weather in Arthur’s Pass (this time rain). Back for Devils Punch Bowl waterfall. Or should I call it ‘jaded falls’. Filled up our water at the river spot. Wrong side of the road. About an accident: Well, we know they wrapped police tape around the car and just left it there. Klondyke Corner to sleep. Cloudy night sky. Started, finished, and loved the Netflix show Unbelievable.
January 14th
Bealy Spur track. Finally, we were tackling this hike. And would you believe we nailed it with the weather? It was a GORGEOUS day.
Does it make you a tramp if you’re tramping on a hike in New Zealand?
And then…
Caving!
It was fun to feel slight fear, hiking down to this cave.
That water was so COLD it took my breath away.
We were prepared. Headlamps on. Higher water then we thought. Freezing cold water. Up to our chests. Turn around. Back to the entrance. Try again. Same result. Heads hung low. Back to the car? A little bit of heart break. That feeling of disappointment. Wanna eat?
In the evening, we left Arthurs Pass, never to return again. Barefoot in the grocery store. Picking up some pull tab Watties. And heading to the movies. Peanut Butter Falcon, WHICH WE LOVED!!
Finished before the movie even started: Popcorn & a Unicorn Rainbow Cornetto
January 15th
6:30am
Low tide. Nailed it!
A Motukiekie beach walk (means bush island in the Maori language).
Wildlife
Looks like the west coast of Seattle 🙂
On this walk we were the closest to seeing Scott that we’ve ever been.
Waited for high tide at the blow holes. Talked to Travis Re-evaluated our Australia trip.
“Did I tell you I have a library in my van?! It’s next to the kitchen.”
Pancake rocks; we were destined to be unimpressed.
New world refuel. Changed our Australia trip, lost money, ate our feelings. The doc lady came around and startled us. Of course we were always going to pay $16 for the night. Grateful to the imposter Bach for keeping away the sandflies
January 16th
Rae used a can opener in a non traditional way but for a traditional purpose. I talked to Helen about my impending visit (!) and our deleting pictures obsession — 12 wakeups!!
Mt Robert loop, 2.5 hours.
We beat Scott’s time by 30 minutes. A goal I didn’t even know I had.
On the road, again.
30 kilometers of winding gravel prettiness.
Paturau beach, we Deeted UP. Wine and a beach walk “with big brains, not just any brains, smart ones who bought Scott’s book”.
Attacked by Oyster Catcher Birds.
Searching for adventure…
A swamp person named Gram. Quads. Leaning to the left. Beers. Carbonation. A river crossing. Gravel road. Everyone’s okay. Rachel always had my back. “Get on the quad again”. Honking from behind. We thought this van was a POS but THAT van 🤢
Well, we had picked out a spot where we were going to sleep but it turns out? Parking the car anywhere was fine. Stars; that big night sky we wanted. Actually, we got a lot of what we wanted tonight. Too much. We need to run from this place. No feeling sorry for ourselves, said Rachel, We’re not the first girls and we won’t be the last.
Road dogs FOR LIFE, and in Rachel we trust,
‘mi
Adventuresam 
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