Do One Thing Every Day That Scares You: The pieces of a NZ trip and traveling on my own

2 weeks - end of winter start of spring 2012

NZ seems to not have a huge radio music available and as I didn’t have a plug for my ipod I spent a lot of time in the car driving and thinking and just being (oh okay I may have sung quite a bit to myself haha) I drove some long days, though NZ is a small country its very mountainous and the roads reflect this as you constantly hug another corner but the scenery is so stunning I never felt too tired to continue. There were times I felt like I was driving through the hills of the lakes district, or the sides of the Scottish highland mountains and the beach side towns around Cornwall. It was like a compact UK with more stunning and prominent mountains. I was left wondering how had it taken me so long to discover this gem of a place.

I didn’t just tramp, I did do some other activities too.

One of these was a boat cruise around the Milford sound. I did some shopping in Queenstown and ate a Ferburger with Tara (apparently a must do while in Queenstown). The drive from Glentunnel to Queenstown (8 hours) was stunning and had time to stop off to view Mt Cook (3754m) though due to avalanche prone conditions we couldn’t do an overnight tramp up to the Mueller hut, we were super lucky to have blue bird skies and amazing views of this prominent peak. Sheep even decided to block our road for a bit as they moved paddocks how very NZ!

In Wanaka I arrived late at night to find out they had 61cm of new snow a day ago. I was able to catch the last rental shop still open and rent ski’s,boots and poles. Tara had left me her ski clothes and helmet so the only thing of mine was my goggles! A complete inversion and gorgeous sun on Treble Cone and I loved being back on Ski’s. I’ve had a season and half off due to being back in Aus but thankfully not all my skiing ability has vanished. There was still fresh powder to ski though over on the saddle side I wasn’t as adventurous about hiking out on my own being a new resort as well. The powder was quite wet and heavy so my legs that have not been training for skiing did burn by the end, I was smiling another fabulous day.

I did spend some time at Fox Glacier and Franz Joseph glacier though neither were stunning due to the rain, high winds and low cloud. I used the chance to do some trail running as I was going to get wet made more sense to run than walk! Still I”ve been lucky enough to be out on glaciers a bit through my time mountaineering in France so missing out on these wasn’t a disappointment. I did stay at a funky little hostel in Fox where the lady had framed every single positive quote/affirmation you could probably think of and put them on her walls. It was like walking around this feel good energy place. She also reused lots of items left behind by travelers coming up with unique ideas like walking boots as planters for flower bulbs now it was spring.

My last solo day was at Akaroa which Tara and Paul recommended I visit. It was back to being sunny and I hadn’t really checked out the east coast of NZ yet so was glad to go. The views were stunning of this historic French and British settlement The gorgeous greeny blue water reflecting the green hills and sunshine. I went for a long stroll took my book found a comfy rock and just sat and enjoyed the moment. The spring flowers are starting to flourish and the beautiful pink cherry blossoms had me pull to the side of the road to capture.

What a great way to wind down from an adventure packed, short tour of a place that I feel so at ease being. Perhaps life will send me back in the direction of NZ one day but for now I’m getting close to the move to Vancouver Canada. I feel so grateful for the time I got the spend with Tara and Paul, the adventures we shared and reconnecting. I also feel grateful for the continued growth of spending time alone and building on my inner strength and peace again, back to regaining confident and independent Lisa.

The best days are when you don't need anything extreme or special to happen to make it great. You just appreciate it and feel gratitude, seeking nothing else, nothing more. That is what true happiness is all about. —