For our first weekend trip, we decided hike and kayak in the Fjorland National Park.

Thursday 01.10.2019

After finishing classes on Thursday afternoon, we packed up everything for the weekend trip and hit the road (as we wanted to maximize the time doing activities for the next couple of days.)

We saw so so so many sheep, cows, horses, and deers while we were driving to Te Anau. It was crazy to see a whole land covered with white spots (aka sheep) everywhere! After driving for about 2 hours, we stopped to eat dinner (we had packed dinner from the cafeteria, it was delicious) and enjoy the scenery. After driving for about 3 hours, we arrived at our first campsite at Lumsden and set up our tents. It took a while for us (Kate, Karinne, Caroline, myself) to set up our 4 person tent as it was so big with a lot of connecting parts, but we managed to get the job done before the sun went down. It was a little bit weird sleeping in a tent as the last time I slept in a tent was in middle school, but I soon passed out as I was exhausted.

Friday 01.10.2019

We woke up at 6:30 to leave for our first hike in Fjorland National Park. It rained a lot throughout the night, but it was nice and sunny when we woke up. After packing up everything, we hit the road once again. This time, I took the first wheel and started driving! It was kind of weird/carzy sitting on the right side while driving on the left side. Everything was the opposite – the back mirror was facing the right side, the windshield wiper and turn signals were on the opposite side, etc. The scariest part was cars passing on the right side, as it felt like I was on the wrong side of the road (about to get run over or something)! After driving for about 2 hours, we arrived at the Fjorland National Park Information Place. We saw alpacas here which was fascinating! I’ve never seen alpacas and they looked so cute.

We arrived to our first hike – Key Summit (4.2 miles, 3 hours) – and started hiking around 11:15. It was so rough, as it was fast paced and because I wasn’t used to hiking. I had to take frequent short breaks to catch my breath and stretch my legs. It was nice to go at a pace that I was comfortable with as I was able to enjoy the nature without passing out. After about 2 hours of hiking upwards, we finally arrived at the summit, and it was AMAZING! The view from every angle was surrounded by mountains after mountains, and it was so refreshing being at the top. We were also able to see our 2nd hike destination – Lake Marian. After spending about 30 minutes or so, we hiked back in order to start our next hike. We were able to finish the hike within 2.5 hours so yay us!

We had a quick lunch before starting our next hike. Since Lake Marian (4.4 miles, 3-4 hours) was only 5 minutes away from Key Summit, we were able to start our hike fairly quickly. Unlike Key Summit, which was very forest like/mountainous, Lake Marian was very wet, muddy, and rocky. The second hike was even harder due to it being so steep and slippery. After 2 long hours of straight incline, we were able to arrive at the lake. It was absolutely beautiful; I was in awe at the color of the lake and the scenery that was surrounding the place. Since it was such a nice sunny day outside, we decided to take a long break at the lake and enjoy the weather and the scenery. I decided to walk around in the lake, and oh my it was so cold! Lake Marian being a glacier lake was beyond refreshing – it was freezing. I accidentally took one wrong step and missed a stepping rock and half dunked myself into the water (yikes). I soon came out to dry myself under the nice warm sun. After about 30 minutes of relaxing or so, we ran into our other group of Nick, Hannah, Alexandra, Kevin, and Carolann without planning on so. It was such a nice surprise to see them. After spending some more time at the lake, we started our descend. At one point, we hiked down a 10 ft boulder, and I was holding on to rocks/trees for my dear life. By the time we got to the end of the hike, my knees were shaking from exhaustion.

We drove about an hour to Cascade Creek Campsite near Milford Sound in preparation of next day’s kayaking trip. After setting up tents (we knew how to set it up better/faster this time whoo!) and eating dinner, the sun was set, and we were able to see the night sky with countless stars. I always enjoyed looking at the night sky, and it was an amazing experience to see it so clear. We saw various things on the sky such as the satellite rotating around, Mar, and even the Milky Way! Some of the fortunate one of us (not me 😦 ) were able to see several shooting stars.

Saturday 01.11.2019

Sleeping in tents/sleeping bag through this night was pretty brutal. The weather dropped down to high 30s – low 40s, and I found myself buried inside my sleeping bag from head to toe when I woke up. When I got out of the tent in the morning, I noticed that the whole campground was covered with mist/fog; no wonder it was so cold! We drove to Milford Sound to our 5 hour kayak around the sea. The place had insane amount of sandflies everywhere that bit us and left red bumps all over. I was able to learn from our tour guide that according to the legends, they were created in order to protect Milford Sound from humans, tormenting them if they stayed too long. We were able to start kayaking around 9 after the safety training. E.D. was my partner to explore around the breathtaking scenery of Milford Sound. Since we were out there for about 5 hours, we were able to immerse ourselves into the nature and take a close look at wildlife animals, such as seals and several birds.

After kayaking, we dropped by the Mistake Creek to do the 3 wire bridge – 2 wires for hands and 1 wire for feet. Since I wasn’t wearing my hiking shoes when we arrived, I decided to go barefoot to be safer. Although it hurt my feet a little bit, I was too focused on trying not to fall down from the bridge. It was terrifying since I am scared of heights/falling, and I could not stop thinking about the place’s name of “Mistake” Creek (hint the name for my regrets).

We also stopped at the Mirror Lake to see a clear reflection of the mountains ‘mirrored’ onto the lake, but it was too windy for us to witness it. We headed back to Te Anau for campsite/dinner. We decided to eat out for the dinner as most of us ran out of food. I got the fish and chips basket, and it was one of THE best fish and chips I have ever eaten. I also got the famous boysenberry (mix of blackberry, raspberry, dewberry, and loganberry) ice cream for dessert, and it was also so delicious. We drove back to the first campsite for the night. We were so good at setting our tent up by this time – go team! Since it was our last night for the weekend, we decided to stay up a little later to chat.

Sunday 01.12.2019

We woke up early on Sunday and packed everything up to start our drive back to Dunedin. It started raining about an hour into the drive, and it travelled with us the whole time to Dunedin. Once we entered Dunedin, we decided to drop by the Tunnel Beach. Although it was raining hard, it was still so peaceful and beautiful. Before we returned the cars to the rental place, we stopped by Baldwin Street – the world’s steepest street. It was SO scary going up and down the street. I literally thought our car was going to breakdown or something! But we were able to survive the terrifying experience. 🙂