HI everyone. Sorry for taking so long to put this on Darth Dog. Well my trip to New Zealand was amazing. It was the most beautiful place I have ever seen and it was a great experience. I was very nervous about the trip since I was new and knew no one. There were two teachers on my trip and 20 kids. The first day of the trip, luckily I met two very nice girls, Maria and Ellen. I hung out with them for the whole trip. They were great. The trip to New Zealand was a 10 hour flight. We left Singapore at around 9:00pm and we arrived in Christchurch, New Zealand the next day at 11:00am. New Zealand is 5 hours ahead of Singapore. The flight was relaxing, watching movies and sleeping. We would be in New Zealand for a week.

After we got our bags we drove 5 hours in a bus to Lake Tekapo. It was very beautiful. We stayed at a lodge and in each room there were about 6 people. We slept in bunk beds. This was ok until, I heard snoring. Everyone knows that I HATE snoring and the girl right next to me was doing it very loudly. So not that much sleep that night. The next day we drove into Queenstown. This is a small, tourist town with lots of activities to do. We went white water rafting, we went on a ride called the Shotover Jet, and in the evening we went bungy jumping. Now that was an experience. I couldn’t believe that I actually went bungy jumping. It was amazing though. That night we stayed in Queenstown in a lodge. The sleeping arrangements were the same as the night before.

The next day we would set off for the Milford Track, the main activity of this trip. We had to hike for 4 days caring all of our stuff with us. I packed very light. Also we had to carry our food, so I really had to think about what I needed to bring when I was packing my backpack. To get to the start of the Milford Trek you have to take an hour boat ride on this lake (I don’t remember what it was called). It was very beautiful on this ride. Once we got to our staring point, we were off. We only had to hike 5km which took about an hour and a half. Then we reached the first hut we would be staying in. Clinton Hut. All the huts have 4 rooms with 20 bunks in them. There also is a cooking hall, where there is a big kitchen and tables to eat at. So there were other people at the huts hiking on the Milford Track as well. The rest of the day we went swimming and played games and just relaxed. That day we met the sandflies. They are like mosquitoes, but smaller and they are everywhere on the Milford Track. When the 4 days were up, I had been eaten alive. I was glad to get away from those bugs!

The next day was longer, it was about 6 hours. Maria, Ellen and I were the slowest hikers. We liked to take pictures and we rested a lot, we enjoyed the scenery. It was gorgeous. Every morning we got up at 6:15am and left the huts at 8:15. We got to the huts usually between 3 and 4 in the afternoon. By the end of the second day, my feet were killing me; I could barley walk when I took my boots off at the hut. I had to rest up because the next day was going to be the toughest. The 3rd day was up hill for about 3 hours; remember we are caring a heavy pack! When we reached the top of this mountain, the view was to die for!!! It was gorgeous. That is the spot where all my mountain pictures came from. Now we were on the top, we had to go down hill. The down hill was about 3 to 4 hours. It was very hard to go down hill, hard on your knees. When we reached Dumpling Hut, I was sooo happy. It had been a hard day.

The next day was the last day, thank goodness. It was beautiful, but I needed to get away from the bugs and I needed to take a shower! The 4th day was flat and easy but it was the longest of all the days, 18km. The end of the Milford Track is called Sandfly point, and can you guess why?! When we reached this, what a feeling of relief. There was a ferry to take us through Milford Sound. That was a gorgeous place also. Then we reached the main land and it was over. We had to take a bus about 3 hours to a place where we could take showers. Then we drove back to Lake Tekapo which took about 4 hours. We reached the lake at 12am. We stayed at the same place as the first night.

The next morning we drove back to Christchurch and we left for Singapore in the early part of the afternoon. This was a great trip and it was an experience that I will always remember.

Also: If you want to take a look at my bungy jumping pictures go to this web site: www.AJHackett.com then click on Daily photos. A pictures search will come up, then enter this code and 3 pictures will pop up. The code is: AJHL702136997476