Day 9 - February 29

Kia ora,

After lucking out with great weather so far on the trip, today was the first day with rain. Most of the group headed out early for white water rafting. I have done it before, so I opted to stay back and go for a hike; however, the rain kept the hike from happening. It was actually a good morning to relax and not feel like I needed to be heading somewhere.

We finally hit the road around noon and made a brief stop in the town of Geraldine. There were a lot of nice, little shops, and this place was also home to the world's largest knitted sweater (pic will be coming eventually).

After Geraldine, we traveled to Lake Tekapo, a really scenic lake with turquoise water and mountain landscapes behind us. We also saw the infamous Mt. Cook for the first time. I asked about summiting it, but when I was told it took Sir Edmund Hillary (the New Zealander who was the first man to summit Everest) 62 hours to climb it, I realized I would need more prep and practice to do so.

In the evening, we arrived at the most beautiful campsite I have stayed at to date. We are along Lake Pukaki, with a view of Mt. Cook and billions of stars lighting up the night sky. I am now off to bed with the sound of lake water moving in the background.Read more