Dunedin, Catlins and Mt Cook

Hi!

OK! So once again I have waited too long to update - sorry!

Last I told you guys we were off to Dunedin - on the way there we stopped at the Moerakai Boulders - they are these sphere shaped boulders on the beach. They are SO cool!!! Perfect dome shaped and they are HUGE! We had an awesome time playing on them taking lots of pics with us jumping off them. We are so cool.

Dunedin is a college town - The University of Otago - is there so there are lots of young folks and cafes, restaurants, etc. The highlight was going to a real live RUGBY GAME!! We saw the Highlanders vs the Crusaders - the Crusaders are from Christchurch and the Highlanders was the home team! It was REALLY fun to see. They sell 4 packs of plastic bottles of beer - so cute :) We took advantage of the good exchange rate that night...After the game, there was a concert that all the students stayed to listen to so we figured we'd check it out! And all the Kiwi's were like Oh my god - you haven't heard them before?? This will be a REAL Kiwi treat for you then! And all these people were going nuts - one guy in front of me who seems to not have heard about deoderant yet and must have had his fair share of 4 packs that night - kept falling all over me everytime the band did anything! So, much to Jessie and my surprise the band was TERRIBLE!! hahah - it was hysterical! I think we should send some American bands over here so they can have an American treat :)

After Dunedin, we drove to a region called the Catlins. It's a pretty remote area - with several things to see like really old, beautful light houses on the coast. And my favorite were the "windswept trees" at Slope Point. It is SO windy there that the trees are almost parallel to the ground - so cool and eerie looking..

We drove on to Invercargill which is a port town. Our plan was to do a 3 day hike on Stewart Island starting Monday but on Sunday night it hailed and sleeted (PS - it's Summer here :)) the wind was howling and blowing so hard it woke us up!! Soo - the lady at the Stewart Island info desk was like - you'll be waist deep in mud if you go...and due to our lack of rainproof clothes we decided to move on :)

So up to Queenstown we went - Qtowm is on a beautiful lake and is surrounded by mountains - no wonder it's a super popular place! We didn;t stay long as we knew we'd be back to Qtown soon. We went up to Mt Cook Village to do a 2 day hike called the "Mueller Hut Hike" - on Wednesday morning we didnt care that the weather wasn't so great , we were getting stir crazy to get outside!! So the lady at that info center was like" The Mueller hut hike is like climbing stairs for 4 hours. The winds are coming pretty swiftly in a southwesterly direction, which is right at you, so it should be pretty unpleasant for you." Awesome, way to get us pumped , lady.

So we were pleasantly surprised - we had OK weather and the winds weren't bad - we just din't really stop bc it was too cold when we stood still!! She wasn't kidding about it being straight up. Kiwis don't seem to be into switch backs as much as we are :)

Once we got to the top you could see all kinds of glaciers!! It was INCREDIBLE!! So the last hour of the hike is in snow with amazing views of Mt Cook and the surrounding glaciers...pretty sweet :) Then we arrived at the hut, which our guides had described as "nice" - remind me to write them a note about that. The Mueller Hut was the coldest place I have ever been in - for real. Pretty sure it would have been warmer sleeping on the glacier. Jessie and I don't have camping cooking untensils - we just pack cold food when we hike. Eating cold noodles in a freezing cold hut when I am wearting every single piece of clothing I brought was pretty miserable. We are buying cookware today - lesson learned :) We played cards with a few guys we met up there which was really fun and we woke up to see the sunrise which was really pretty with the sun shining off the snow!

Oh, I want to mention the toilets. Yes. The warden of the hut gives us the ground rules and part of her speech includes instructions on how to use the toilets complete with a diagram. the diagram has a hiker sitting on the potty and then has pictures of pee going into the front section of the toilet and a PICTURE of "poo and paper" going into the back section of the toilet. Amazing. I really enjoyed that part. Oh, they don't have TP up there. Thank goodness for the route map - best $2 I ever spent :)

After watching the sunrise and enviously starting at all the people melting snow in their pots to make HOT tea, we headed down - we were slip sliding all the way down the snowing part which was pretty funny :) We thought we'd be in the clear once we reached the non snowy portion of the track. Jessie proved that walking on mud is more difficult than snow. She tumbled several times as I tried to hide my laughter. My favorite was when she decided walking in the grass would be easier - and fell in a hole and went rolling through the grass. I was dying but trying to act like I was concerned hehehe I am a mean big sister. Jessie accurately described the hike down as the "stair master from hell " - it was a doozie on our quads! We are walking around like fools today, limping and wimpering when we have to bend down :)

I am totally just being silly about all this - the hike was REALLY awesome and I am so glad we did it!!

Today we are heading to Alexandra a small town outside of Queenstown to visit Ned's granddad's friends who live here for part of the year! I am excited to meet them!

Then we are headed to an even smaller town of Te Anau where we will begin the "Routeburn Track" a 3 day hike that we are SUPER excited about!! More to come on that!

Sorry for such a long update, congrats if you got all the way to this part :)

LOVE, Alley