When my native Kiwi friends Alli and Nikki asked me to join them on a mission, I envisioned an afternoon spent on some stealth, yet high-risk and fun assignment. What I had in mind was far from the Kiwi meaning of “mission”. Apparently crawling on hands and knees up cliffs of rocks and through thorny underbrush while following tiny goat tracks for hours is what the girls meant by a “mission” (AKA a lengthy and challenging adventure).
Cut-up, sunburned, bruised, thirsty, and slightly bleeding I reached the summit of some unnamed peak with Alli and Nikki at my side…resting next to a mineral colored pond, we took in the incredible view, which was more gratifying considering the insane three hours we had spent scrambling up cliff sides and literally following goats to get there. In fact, I have a much deeper appreciation for the athletic abilities of goats now that I’ve walked (or staggered) in their footsteps.
We headed “just over the next hill” about six times while following the directions of Nikki who – as a professional snowboard instructor and mountaineering guide, seemed trust-worthy. Finally (just as Alli whispered to me “how many times are we going over one more hill before we’re lost?”) we spotted our destination on the horizon – a rarely used mountain shack built alongside running spring water!
A few minutes later and we were strategizing where to find the best drinking water. I followed Nikki’s example and took my turn scooping handfuls of water into my parched mouth. After the third thirst-quenching scoop I began examining the water beneath me. A funny shaped stick caught me attention, and upon further inspection I realized it wasn’t a stick, but an animal bone with a hoof attached!
Thinking to myself “that’s gross…where is the rest of it?” I made the mistake of looking upstream. About two feet above Nikki’s so carefully selected watering hole, submerged halfway in the water, was a partially decomposed GOAT CARCASS! Like a sissy little girl I squealed “EWWWWW!!!” and then spit a few times (as if it would do anything to help the fact that I had just drank carcass water)!
After berating my less-than-perceptive guide for leading me straight to carcass water, we all enjoyed a good laugh and then headed back toward civilization on a winding dirt road. Exhausted but feeling accomplished, we reached Alli’s house just in time to find her roommate, and my favorite Starbucks co-worker, Tommy enjoying a full two hours of action packed live performances from none other than the wonderfully talented Celine Dion! What a way to end the day…
-Ashley
Fun fact: Due to ozone depletion, the intensity of the sun in New Zealand can burn someone in as little as 8 minutes –believe me, I’ve accidentally tested this theory!
No comments:
Post a Comment