Fraser Island, North Keppel, and a not-so-wet last night of hiking!

Gidday folks, chuck another shrimp on the barbie….

Australia is noticeably different from NZ. If the swarms of biting mosquitos and sandflys don't alert you to it straight away, the intense heat and miles of endless beaches will.

Since arriving in Auz we have had a couple of nights on the run in pretty, beachy places, and five days out on North Keppel Island, part of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area. Our camp there was stunning, right on the edge of our very own beach, and we spent the week doing volunteer work such as clearing a fire-break, removing non-native weeds, counting and mapping the sand-dunes, which are receeding. Our work there was the start of a push to re-plant the dunes and save the beachfront. We also spent half a day snorkeling, which was a highlight for all. Awesome, beautiful tropical swimming-things abounding. We ate lots of delicious food, as always, and had a really great time working and bonding further as a group.

Pizza and a second night in Rockhampton preceeded the drive to Hervey Bay, gateway to Fraser Island. You'll find there's lots of stories from our time on Fraser Island, two main ones; the one from those who made the decision to come off a day early and had a dry night at the hostel, and the one from those who stayed the course and got soaked, two nights in a row.

From Leo, stationed in the middle to catch the groups as they came through, I enjoyed my time on Fraser, although lonely without my 11 buddies (they've become more like limbs over these past two months). I did get to see one of the beautiful freshwater lakes that this gorgeous sand Island is famous for (biggest sand island in the world!) and had a few walks on my own with the aid of a dingo stick in case of any too close encounters with a dingo (they recommend you don't ever walk alone)! I'll leave the rest to some of the group for comment….

North Keppel Island was stunning. I think we all were a little surprised when we realized that this was going to be our home for the next 5 days. Right on the beach, it was the perfect spot for camping. Even though the bugs ate us all up (some worse than others… ahem, boys) we had the best time pitching tents and hanging out in this beautiful place. We got to walk through an endless mud filled path everyday, clear a fire break, mark coordinates of trees to help save the beachline, play with children staying at the education center on the other side of the island, clear out weeds, and plant new baby trees. The staff even took us out snorkeling one day - a very nice treat. We saw the most colorful fish, a couple jellyfish, crazy cool corals, some saw a nursing shark, while others saw pucker fish, and a stingray. Like Leo said, it was a major highlight - I had the best time taking funny photos in our snorkel gear, swimming around in the prettiest blue water, and looking at the awesome underwater world with my group. A well spent 5 days I'd say!

And wow, Fraser Island was definitely something I'll never forget. It was gorgeous; the views from the walks were absolutely amazing and almost didn't seem real at times. We weren't prepared for the rainforest environment we found ourselves in either… not something you'd expect from a big island of sand! The largest in fact, which is very cool. We saw goannas, dingos, crazy spiders, and all types of sand lizards. Lake McKenzie was the most breathtaking of waters we came across, and luckily we got to experience it with the last bit of sunlight we would see, for at least the 3 following days… The weather played a huge role in this trip—it rained um, all 4 days! During dinner, during the night, during the walks, pretty much during everything. It was something that you almost had to laugh at because there wasn't anything else you could do about it.

Our group, Group 1, which included Lesley, Brian, Ursula, Tony, Michael, and myself, ended our 41km hike at Dilli Village. After starting at Kingfisher a couple of days prior, I'm sure the sight of us walking into Dilli was totally priceless. We dragged in, mosquitoes buzzing around us, completely drenched, in our oversized raingear, staring at the ground, not sure what to think of all the rain, hating everyone who drove by in cars, not wanting to set up our wet tents, knowing everything in our backpacks was soaked as well, while the guy in charge of the campground told us that the campsites were closed for maintenance this Monday-Thursday (by the way - it's Tuesday), and that there was no place for us… Ah man. I wish there was a picture for this moment! Seriously. At the time it was pitiful but now it's just funny... We managed to get ahold of Leo who moved our taxi and ferry rides up a day early. And since we were already finished, why not right? Our taxi driver told us later that we actually made a good decision, because with predicted winds of 100 km/h, they probably wouldn't have even been able to pick us up at our expected time the next day. And so we arrived in Hervey Bay. The sight of the hostel was literally the best thing ever. Warm dry clothes, showers, COKES, and beds awaited us, and we couldn't have been happier to have made the decisions we did that got us there. We just wished that the other group would have able to join us. It was definitely not as fun as it could have been, but we really had a great time together and somehow still aren't sick of each other!

The trip has happened so fast; it's crazy to me to think back to all we've accomplished together, knowing that 2 months ago I didn't even know these people. And now they have become like family. It's weird how spending 9 weeks with 11 people affects you the way it does. I wasn't expecting it to be this way. It's been so much better than I could have imagined though! I've learned so much about myself and others, and leaving them is going to be incredibly hard. But I'm excited to still have 2 weeks with them, and I'm sure the next part of the trip is going to be just as fun and entertaining as the last 7 have been. Thanks PD for making this all possible, I've had the time of my life!! Xoxo Lindsay

Footnote from Leo: Although we all at the YHA had a sleepless night worrying for the other group; they ended up taking a room at the prestigious "Kingfisher Resort" on Fraser Island and had some good photos, clean clothes and wet hair (from the hot tub) to show for it!

Kahurangi Challenge

Expedition Two: Kahurangi National Park (Tuesday 02 Feb -Saturday 06 Feb)

Day one (Tuesday 2/2): Arrive at Courthouse Flat set up base camp. Caving in Blue Creek cave.
-We all arrived at the campsite early in the morning, around 8:00. By 9:30 we were geared up with overalls, helmets and our headlamps and headed towards Blue Creek Cave. We ate lunch before we entered the cave for a few hours. In the cave we went around obstacles such as walls, water, and slippery surfaces. It was challenging and dark but so much fun! It felt like we were in Indiana Jones so we were constantly singing/whistling the theme song.
-After a muddy, wet, fun day in the cave we came back to the campsite and cooked up a delicious steak meal thanks to our amazing guides Dawn and Andrew. It was fantastic after a long days work under ground! We then prepared/trained for our next day of repelling

Day two: Full day canyoning in Blue Creek canyon.
-Woke up to another delicious meal prepared by our guides (and great weather). We had bacon, eggs, beans, cereal, fruit... it was a feast. We needed it though for our long day of canyoning down some cliffs! We went down this one gorgeous narrow canyon and repelled down 12 different times. One time we had to repell into water and we got our waist down soaked! It was another LONG but FUN!! day. We got back to camp and cooked in our cooking groups then went to bed dreaming of what else there was to come.

Day three: Tramp through Dogface flat. This is no ordinary tramp, there are ropes and ladders required to ascend this rugged gorge. In one place it is required to wade in water which is chest deep.

This was definitely our most intense day. We hiked with our backpacks on which probably weighed like 30ish pounds. We had MANY obstacles that at times could be really scary. It varied from walking on thin paths, climbing up rocks/waterfalls, walking through the cold river chest deep, and more. I had no idea how intense it would be but it was amazing fun. It was challenging and really pushed all of us and tested our teamwork. We started on the path for about 2 hours going over trees, sliding down on our buts, avoiding wasp nests (a couple of us got stung), & climbing steep uphill. It was a huge workout. After lunch near the river we changed into our warm polypro/long undewear gear because we would be walking up the river. We got suited up and all prepared for cold wet feet. It was really fun walking up through the river but definitely chilly at times! We followed Andrew up and he guided us around all the obstacles. Our first big obstacle though was to get through chest deep water. We walked around the edge of the river holding onto rocks until we reached Dawn who was holding a rope- she then quickly pulled us up over the rock. Everyone was so excited at that point and having so much fun because it was our first real challenge! Other obstacles were to climb up ladders, lift ourselves up rocks, balance on logs and moer. I can't really explain it to you because it was way more intense than it sounds. It was hard becasue of the big backpack we had on that could easily shift your weight. By the end of the day, however, the backpack seemed like it was apart of me and having it off felt so weird (but great!). Anyway, the day was super challenging, risky, exciting, fun, but overall amazing! To past time, we pretended to be in the Lord of the Rings. Actually, we were right by/saw the mountain in the first movie where the Fellowship hid from the spy crows on top of the mountain before they went into the mine--we were also right by the mine where Gandolf falls. By the end of the day I was beat but excited to do more!

Day four: Our plans changed for day four because it took us a lot longer the previous day to get up the gorge/river. We instead hiked up a little farther up the river then hiked the mountain in order to loop back around to our first campsite. It was a bit easier of a day obstacle wise but we had to hike uphill for a while and then downhill on this rocky terrain. Towards the end too there was limited water so everyone got really thirsty. It was another really fun day and luckily there was no real wet feet. At one point it was just fun rocks to climb up so James and I just flew up them--I love rockclimbing and the challenge of it! Just being outside in this gorgeous place was amazing enough. I really can't explain what it was like but we just hiked in the woods, in the river, in some rocks, down some rocks, down ropes, over holes, just so much stuff! We all arrived to the campsite around 8:00 and cooked up a quick dinner and celebrated Leo's birthday. We all dressed up in dresses and had cake. The person with the best dress won... all the judges voted for the boys because they looked really funny in their dresses or "frocks."

Day Five (Saturday 2/6): Sleep in and compass work! We slept in after two long days and then Andrew taught us how to use a compass/GPS. We did some exercises which was really fun. After that and a sad goodbye to our awesome instructors we headed back to Nelson.

In the end, after an amazing 5 days of seclusion, the group became a lot closer. Going through the different challenges, we worked on our character and team building skills. It was a once in a lifetime experience that we will all look back on and remember. We are all stronger physically and mentally after pushing ourselves farther than any of us thought possible. We all made it through with help from each other and being able to find our inner strengths. Looking forward to the next week of volunteering at Nelson Lakes!!

- Natalie and Carolyn

Bring on the south!

Weeks one and two have passed in a torrent of fun, laughs, hard work and a little rain. It was obvious from the start that this was going to be a great group who would enjoy our time together and make the most of everything.

Urupukapuka Island in the Bay of Islands, North Island, was our first stop. A week spent working hard for our meals for the Department of Conservation taught everyone solid camping skills (had to survive an unseasonal thunder and lightning storm in tents), new cooking skills and also taught a lot about ourselves and each other. This was a truly beautiful place and everyone enjoyed the sun and gorgeous surroundings.

Back to Auckland next for a night cleaning ourselves and our clothes, then off to Taupo, via Rotorua, where we rafted the Kaituna River, and Zorbing; where most of the group were rolled down a grassy slope in a huge inflatable ball - fantastic! At Taupo everyone in the group decided to challenge themselves and we all went skydiving. This is hard to describe, mind-blowingly fun, and was an amazing experience I will never forget or regret.

After Taupo we started our four days paddling the Whanganui River, still in the North Island. Rain on the first night seemed nothing compared to the storm we weathered during the first week, and yummy meals, planned by the everyone, made for some new cooking skills and new tastes. We celebrated Tony's birthday at a campsite all to ourselves, by filling his tent with lots of balloons and then tucking in to a chocolate mudcake. Everyones favourite night and day of the trip.

The last night of the canoeing trip and the following night were spent at Maraes (Maori home/community centre) and enabled everyone to learn a bit about native NZ culture and experience the Karanga - the haunting, beautiful cry of the Kuia (respected woman) calling to welcome us onto the marae. Koriniti was a chance to dry out all our gear, have hot showers and spend some time alone, as well as reliving our experiences as a group.

An early morning today saw us driving to Wellington, the capital of NZ, where we took a tour of the Beehive - the New Zealand parliament building and learnt about NZ government. Tomorrow is the first fully free day of the trip, and most have chosen to take a ferry out to a small island in the harbour that has ancient Tuataras, the smallest penguins in the world, and the ugliest little wetas you ever did see! Off to the South Island in a few days. Yeehaa.

Leo