Alyse Horn, 2011 New Zealand student blogger, writes:
The sites just keep getting better. On Tuesday, Penn State and Virginia Tech explored the wilderness of Aoraki Mt. Cook National Park. The mountains don’t even look real. I just want to reach out and touch them, but even after a four-hour hike they are unattainable.
During our day hike it was really windy, and while a few of us were standing ontop of a hill taking pictures it really picked up. It was so strong that we realized we could lean against the wind and wouldn’t fall over. It was like we were weightless and was one of the most exhilarating feelings. On the hike back there was a double rainbow, and none of us could believe how picture perfect Mt. Cook was. The mountain itself is the highest in New Zealand and being so close to it really made me think about how tiny we are in the world.
Thursday we went on two-hour boat ride through Milford Sound. This unique bay is found in Fiordland National Park and Te Wahipounamu World Heritage site and surrounded by massive lush green and snowcapped mountains. We saw a handful of waterfalls pouring out of the mountains, and our Captain decided to give us an up close and personal look at one of the larger ones. Standing on the deck at the front of the boat I finally realized how serious he was with the statement once we were so close to the waterfall that I could feel the mist from the waterfall on my face. Needless to say, I walked away from the tour anything less than dry.
On Friday, we arrived in Queenstown. After sitting through a lecture we had time to get settled in and prepare for our hike that we went on Saturday through Fiordland National Park on the Routeburn Track. This hike was just Penn State, as VT was going on the hike Sunday. We got started on the track around 9 a.m and didn’t finish until 4 p.m. This was one of the most intense hikes on our trip, but it was well worth it.
I just can’t stop talking about the views that New Zealand’s South Island has to offer. It is amazing to be walking across a grassland field while being submerged in mountains that are filled with trees yet capped with snow. During our hike it was actually snowing a bit, and made the experience that much more magical. We ate our lunch in a valley that was exactly what I just described. It was beautiful and we were all so glad to be experiencing it together.
Being on a trip half way around the world was hard at first, especially because I came into this not really knowing anybody. Now being in New Zealand for two weeks I can say that these people are not strangers anymore, they are my friends. Combined with our hikes, stays in hostels and never ending bus rides I have realized that I haven’t laughed this much and this hard the entire year. We have made a connection through traveling together that no one else will understand. This trip is changing me for the better, and to experience this with other people who are going through the same thing is like describing New Zealand; there just are no words.
