On My Own

Ben and Fabian left me, I had to return the White Stallion, and I was left with a backpack and six weeks to do whatever I like. I spent the first few days bumming around Queenstown. I wish I could say I made a great new discovery or accomplished some soul searching, but I mostly slept and went out and slept some more. I did hike Queenstown Hill, granting gorgeous views of the Remarkables.

Eventually I felt like a lazy piece of poo, and not knowing what else to do, I booked a bus to Franz Josef glacier. Franz Josef is the first major stop moving up the west coast from Queenstown, a must-see for tourists. About two hours after I booked the bus, I met Jens, a German guy planning to drive north with his friend who has a car. It was too late to unbook the bus, but we arranged to meet in Franz Josef two days later. I was very relieved to have finally found travel buddies, and both boys turned out to be sweethearts.

We drove from Franz to Greymouth, probably the most useless town ever. It's big for a New Zealand town but literally has nothing to do. The hostel there, however, is immaculate. Everything is clean, with a warm fire burning every night and big, cozy rooms. We drove out of town to the beach to search for jade, pretty much the only activity in Greymouth. Maori culture revolves around jade, and many Kiwis make a living out of jade  carving. The beach is spectacular and has a view of Captain Cook.We didn't find any jade, though :(.

The hostel was so cozy I didn't want to leave, so when Jens and Johannes moved north, I decided to stay put. I befriended the German guy who had been working for accommodation at the hostel, Simon, and we spent three days in Greymouth bike riding, hiking, and baking all kinds of cookies and brownies and such. We tried to watch nice sunsets, but clouds kept getting in the way. Finally we caught a gorgeous one our last night.

I switched directions to travel with Simon, a decision I made at midnight the night before we left. A few hours later we were in Franz Josef. We hiked Fox Glacier, which was pretty sweet. Everything kind of happens without much thought; we're totally living on a whim.

The next town south is Haast, which we decided to stay in last minute. The one hostel in town is total crap, and Haast is actually more useless than Greymouth. We got out of there as fast as we could, hopping on a bus to Wanaka. Now we're in Wanaka in crappy weather. I haven't even left the hostel today, we just made pumpkin soup and drank tea. I'm not too sure where our travels will take us next, but Stewart Island might be in the cards. We'll have to wait and see!