The One On A Mountain

When you’ve had free time 24 hours a day for the past two months, waking up at 7:00 AM is not the norm. But this day was different. I was climbing mountains! Literally.

By 7:45 I was at the base of a trail that winds its way through dense forests until finally reaching the summit, and a 220-degree view so spectacular, it is one of the top attractions of the whole of New Zealand. I craned my neck upwards to take in just how impressive the 1,500 feet of mountain I was about to climb really was. After a few deep breaths of cold air, I headed up the first of many steep ravines to come.

About halfway up, just as the trail (FINALLY) leveled out, I came upon an opening in the giant wall of rock I had been walking along. Not sure if it was just an indentation in the rocks or an awesome cave, I decided to check it out. Half crawling half sliding, I got about a third of my body into the hole (which opened up quiet a bit a few feet in) when I heard a sound all-too familiar. My brand new camera had slipped out of a small side pocket in my backpack and was crashing and smashing its way into a black hole of jagged rocks. As if to tell me, “Hey I’m down here!” the camera let off one last flash then settled into darkness.

Now, because I know my mom reads this, I cannot type specifically what came out of my mouth upon realizing two things: one, I was an idiot for not zipping my backpack pocket fully shut and two, I now had to figure out a way to crawl down into the pitch-black (without a flashlight) and feel around for my camera. Reminding myself that there are no poisonous snakes, spiders, or predatory animals in New Zealand did not calm the intense fear that overcame me, caused by the thought of descending all alone into a pitch-black cave…but I overcame and triumphed! (((Fade-in superhero music here)))

After clamoring around for a few minutes I was back in full-daylight inspecting the damage. Entire portions of my camera’s lens were gone, and even the playback feature refused to work, I was depressed, to say the least, that I would have no way of recording the rest of my incredible climb and that now I have to figure out how to get my camera fixed while a few thousand miles away from home.

I spent the next two hours climbing up to the summit (the views were everything they were chalked up to be and more) and then ambled my way back down to civilization. The trail back followed a rusty and moss covered old pipeline that used to bring water into Queenstown. It meanders along a crystal clear stream of water, passing waterfalls and fern groves before ending a half-mile from the center of town. I was in awe by how picturesque the hike was, and am now more excited than ever to explore the rest of New Zealand’s many hiking trails. Despite the cave eating my camera, and my legs feeling like I just finished playing in a two-day rugby tournament, I loved every minute of carefree exploration!

-Ashley

Fun fact: When traveling, it is common to hear a multitude of languages and accents. Upon discussing this with friends (from all over the world) we all came to the consensus that German is in fact, the ugliest sounding language and accent of them all, with Irish being the hardest to understand (I wonder if they are even speaking English most of the time), and Italian and French being amongst the sexiest.