I was blessed with another crystal clear day, so I used it wisely by indulging a special need programmed into every man: scoping out the tallest thing in sight, then climbing it. In this case, the tallest nearby thing was Roy's Peak, right outside of Wanaka. It isn't an excessively tall mountain, only but it is in a convenient location and makes a decent day hike, especially since climbing it does not require crampons and an iceaxe.
After living in the world's flattest continent for nearly a year, I was definitely feeling the altitude. The hike was a constant steep grade. I climbed higher and higher, but the top seemed no closer. This is the sad true of hiking up mountains: they are always taller than they look. I started chanting a mantra, trying to push myself to the top. I kept getting this weird feeling of being watched, I looked around and realized that the sheep were staring at me. Even the mountains of New Zealand are sheep paddock. Finally, after a three hour uphill march, I reached the top. It was well worth the near heart attack. On one side, there was the spectacular views of Lake Wanaka below. The other side had a clear sight of Mt. Aspiring, second highest mountain in Australiasia. This gave me the adrenaline rush to make it back down. I collapsed at the car.
Since I chose a longer hike than planned, it was to be my only one for the day. Queenstown, one of the most popular tourist towns in the country was crossed off my list. It is dubbed as the adrenaline capital of the world. Bungee jumping was invented here, I even drove over the famous bridge where it all started. I think it's called "That bridge everyone jumps off of" or something like taht. Queenstown also offers hang gliding, sky diving, jet boating, whitewater rafting, skiing, heliskiing (jumping out of a helicopter with skis), zorbing, canyoning, base jumping, and binge drinking. It is a tourist wasteland, created to suck every dollar. It sounded like my own personal hell, so I wasn't too sad about missing it. On my way through town though, I stopped for quick photo. Despite being soulless, it is also beautiful, one of the prettiest towns I've ever seen actually. I'm glad I could simply leave it with that image.
After living in the world's flattest continent for nearly a year, I was definitely feeling the altitude. The hike was a constant steep grade. I climbed higher and higher, but the top seemed no closer. This is the sad true of hiking up mountains: they are always taller than they look. I started chanting a mantra, trying to push myself to the top. I kept getting this weird feeling of being watched, I looked around and realized that the sheep were staring at me. Even the mountains of New Zealand are sheep paddock. Finally, after a three hour uphill march, I reached the top. It was well worth the near heart attack. On one side, there was the spectacular views of Lake Wanaka below. The other side had a clear sight of Mt. Aspiring, second highest mountain in Australiasia. This gave me the adrenaline rush to make it back down. I collapsed at the car.
Since I chose a longer hike than planned, it was to be my only one for the day. Queenstown, one of the most popular tourist towns in the country was crossed off my list. It is dubbed as the adrenaline capital of the world. Bungee jumping was invented here, I even drove over the famous bridge where it all started. I think it's called "That bridge everyone jumps off of" or something like taht. Queenstown also offers hang gliding, sky diving, jet boating, whitewater rafting, skiing, heliskiing (jumping out of a helicopter with skis), zorbing, canyoning, base jumping, and binge drinking. It is a tourist wasteland, created to suck every dollar. It sounded like my own personal hell, so I wasn't too sad about missing it. On my way through town though, I stopped for quick photo. Despite being soulless, it is also beautiful, one of the prettiest towns I've ever seen actually. I'm glad I could simply leave it with that image.
1 comment:
Wow, pretty.
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