Pirongia Forest Park

Last weekend Ruth and I headed 50km south to Pirongia Forest Park in hopes of experiencing our first 'real' hike of New Zealand. Complete with my new backpack and all ;) They weighed about 20 lbs each! Saturday was the first day of our hike, setting off at around 10 am for Mount Pirongia Summit. Needless to say... the tramping trails here are apparently no joke. Honestly, half of it was basically rock climbing, the other half complete with swamps of mud up to our ankles. Of course, we were hiking in our running shoes so.. they got filled with mud.. it was really cute :) But we got pretty dirty and had a great time! The sun was out and shining the whole time. We reached the summit around 4:30 pm... that should explain how intense the hike was. It was another 30 minutes hiking to the back country hut that we stayed in and I can promise you that if it had been even a couple minutes farther.. I don't think I would have made it. My legs were jello by the time we got there! I have to say, though, I am so impressed with myself and us as a team for accomplishing that hike so well. It wasn't easy at times and we did a really great job.. and kept a steady pace that worked for both of us. I hope that we will get a chance to do another one before the school year is over.

Reached the top of our first peak!

Mount Pirongia Summit!

The next day, after a rather restless sleep on my part in the back country hut, we set off around the same time (10 am) for the second track of the loop we were doing. This one was supposed to be mildly easier than the day before and take an hour or so less than the first track. Well, to our surprise it ended up being much easier! Although it had some really awesome cliffs that we did some rock climbing on which was great! I think it's for the best that day 2 had an easier terrain... our muscles were shaking the whole way down. I think we worked them to the core the first day. It was pretty interesting.. and also a lot less muddy! I think I have thoroughly used my running shoes to their full potential though. I think I'm in need of a new purchase.. Whoops! It was well worth it though!

Day 2: Rock Climbing

Mount Pirongia :)

Well, TaDa. It was Super fun and I'm really excited that I got such a nice backpack. It was really comfortable to hike with and I definitely know that it will last through my travels after that experience. Let's just say I slipped and fell a few times on our hike... Ruth almost had a heart attack every time... haha! You think she'd be used to the fact that I'm rather clumsy sometimes by now. Ah, I just can't help it. My mind would start to wander... I mean its just us and the rain forest... There's not much else to do other than think about lots and lots of random things.

Anyways, now I am just over at Brittany's flat and we are having a sleepover tonight. We just watched Into the Wild because she has never seen it. For anyone that has not seen it -- Please do. I love that movie so much. It really makes you appreciate the beauty that is around you everywhere in the landscape and in people. It makes me all inspirational and stuff :)

"When you want something in life, you just gotta reach out and grab it." 



Peace, Love, & Beauty
--BreezyDownUnder