Nicks Big Adventure

Hello everybody. I know it has been a long time but I really had nothing to say or report. I was in Dunedin, it's a cool college town with good museums, but again I stayed too long. I did get to catch some live music that was good. A country sound from a band called The Eastern. If you are into the fiddle you must look them up. It reminded me of home and I told the band so. I then left for Gore, the fishing and country music capital of New Zealand. I did not catch a fish and I did not hear ant music so that was enough of that. Easter I spent in a small town called Clyde at the Food and Wine festival. It reminded me of the Redondo beach fiesta, drinks, food, kids, live music and arts and crafts. I even got to see what a New Zealand DUI check point looks like. I was not driving and the driver was sober. First you count to ten while the officer holds the breath meter to your face. If there is a detection level of alcohol on your breath then they make you blow into the tube. He blew a 200 and you need a 400 to be illegal. I have no idea what those numbers mean. I then decided to meet with a friend I met on the North Island who is hiking the Te Aroa trail. It goes from the North to the South, like the Appalation Trail. He was going my way so I gave him a ride to Kinloch where we would both start our hikes. I was going to conquer the Caples Greenstone trail. This trail consists of hiking from a river mouth of a lake up the caples valley, to a saddle that leads to the greenstone valley, and back to the start. It is a loop trail that takes about 4 days. My time was amazing. I also hiked with an Israeli guy named Gal. He was much slower than I and liked to take pictures so we would meet up at the end of the day. Tramping or hiking in New Zealand is very popular with kiwis and travelers. You walk all day or for a few hours then you share a hut or cabin with total strangers. There is no electricity, cooking utensils, or hot water. So its like camping without a tent. This makes your pack much lighter. In huts you can meet so many different types of people and you have to get along with them because you are in close quarters. Some people hunt out of the huts, they get permission to hunt the bush in the area and base themselves out of the hut. Hut living is a greatly unique experience. My buddy Gal set up a tent outside of the huts because he did not want to pay the 15 dollars. One day he was so far behind when the sun went down that he had to camp on the trail. I though for sure that he had gone another direction but in the morning there he was. When we finished we celebrated and went our separate ways. I came back to Queenstown :( Now I will reload and refresh for another trip on the Rees-Dart track. It is 1 day longer, more technical and there is a glacier. It will be exciting and hopefully the weather will play nice. I hope everyone is doing well. I have been applying to jobs so keep you fingers crossed for me. Pura Vida