The Hike of My Life

So yesterday I had the hike of my life. I think I came pretty close to making it into the papers as a missing hiker. All I can say is THANK GOD that I made it out alive...

I arrived in Queenstown 2 nights ago. It's a great little town. People think it's quite commercial and yes it is, I guess, but it's freakin' cool. It's an absolutely beautiful town on the lake surrounded by the mountains. Anyway, I thought it'd be cool to go for a 6-8 hour hike on my own. I left at about 9am and decided not to exhaust myself right at the start so I hopped on the gondola to get me up the side of the mountain. I hiked for a bit and made it to the summit of Ben Lomond by lunch time. That was totally fine. I'd keep looking over my shoulder to take in the increasingly impressive view of the lake and mountains below. It was stunning.

I'm starting to fall more and more in love with New Zealand. When I first got here, I found it a bit bland b/c it was so "un-exotic" compared to Asia and it reminded me of Canada. But actually now, I think New Zealand would be a country that I'd come back to. I'd want to come back w/ "someone special" of course that I could go hiking, kayaking, and gasp... maybe even camping with. The weather is pretty messed up in New Zealand, you can't plan anything based on the weather forecast, but it's absolutely stunning. I do my best to stay away during long bus rides b/c the scenery is breathtaking.

Anyways... I digress...

So I got to the bottom of the summit by about 12:30pm and I was ready to push onto the second leg of the hike. I think everyone just hikes back from the saddle back to the gondola and rides it back down. But I thought I'd be adventurous and keep going and loop around another mountain. I was on my own and the trail marking wasn't particularly good. There would be a pole every little bit. Eventually, I hit a sheep pasture and I looked at my map (my crap map) and thought that I should just follow the sheep pasture fence. Yep, I lost about an hour following the sheep pasture fence. I thought to myself - gosh, this is an awful trail. It's so poorly marked and uneven. And then I got to an intersection in the fence and it went straight up the side of the mountain at some ridiculous angle... hmmm.... I don't think this is the way...

I went up a bit, to try to get a view... nope... I went down to get a view... I could see the river that was on my map... maybe if I could just get down to the river... no... hmmm... better be safer than sorry... and just walk back the same way that I came. I started following the fence back, dodging sheep turd at every step and "bah-ing" at the livestock. One hour wasted...

Oh... there's the trail marker... so I started following it again and again, poorly marked. The trail was quite overgrown. But I kept going b/c the views were absolutely stunning. The scenery and vegetation changed for the third time in the row and there were wild mountain flowers, etc. But I kept losing the trail and the pole markers became less and less frequent.

I eventually found myself on this horse riding trail so now I was dodging horse crap at every step. I had to get past a few cows on the trail. But I kept losing the trail and there were so many freakin' thorn bushes on the past. I kept going and going. I think at various points, I was following cow trails b/c I was just looking for cow dung and flattened grass. I think I left the trail way behind me at some point b/c the trails would get steep and I'd have to keep going around these awful prickly plants and bushes. At one point, I crossed the face of a very steep ledge... hmmm... I don't think this is the trail.

It took me awhile but then I realised that I was thoroughly lost. I knew which direction to go in but I couldn't see any trail for the life of me. That and I was too afraid to go back - that stone ledge was terrifying. I thought - well, maybe if I can get to the river below. Yep, the river is much farther away than it seems. That didn't stop me from trying to slide down this sand face of the mountain, drop through a tree to soften the fall. Gosh - I can't believe that I didn't break or twist anything. I could see the river but it was so far away. That's when I started screaming for help. I was terrified. It was only 3 in the afternoon, and I knew that the hostel wouldn't notice me gone until at least 7, but I didn't want to stay on the side of that freakin' mountain. The first batch of white water rafters that went by in the river simply waved at me. I climbed around a bit and became more and more terrified. I've always read those awful stories in the newspapers about hikers that go off on their own and go missing, get rescued the next day, or worse, die. I was so panicked at that point. That and all the crazy climbing had sucked so much energy out of me. I was out of water. I brought 1.5L with me and it was pretty much gone. That and I was starting to cough up phlem w/ blood in it at one point... :(

Eventually, another batch of white water rafters went by down in the river. I screamed at the top of my lungs until I was hoarse. They did stop and pulled to a side bank to see if I was okay. We shouted back and forth - we could barely hear each other. The rafter just told me to climb back up to the ridge and follow it back west. I was like... "uh... okay..." So they left and proceeded to climb back up the ridge - up the sand face... god, I was so exhausted. I could see what I thought was a trail just above my head and I got excited except that I had to get through a whole area of those god-forsaken thorn and prickly plants. Like it was a freakin' plantation of them or something. There followed one of the most painful moments and survival instinctual moments of my life. The plants literally came up to my head so I had a hard time pushing them aside. My new strategy was to simply close my eyes and throw myself onto the plants and crawl over them. A billion pricks on my legs, stomachs, arms, hands... My hands are still pretty torn up today. It was so awful but I had to keep going up the side of the mountain b/c my life depended on it.

I eventually got up to what I thought was a path. I think it was just another cow track. I had to stop every few minutes to sit down - parched and exhausted. It was probably just after 5pm at this point. I didn't even know how I'd get back from Arthur's Point (the terminus) back into town. I was told it was 1.5 hour walk and it'd hard to catch a lift b/c there wasn't much traffic. I kept walking and walking until I saw a white haired woman up ahead.

"Uh.... do you have any water please..." I shouted hoarsely. She turned around and said yes and started walking back towards me. The "trail" that I was on joined with a proper trail. I have no idea where I was. She asked where I had come from - and I'm like - "the side of the mountain." She gave me all the water she had and sat w/ me while I caught my breath. Her name is Celia - but I call her angel. So I walked back w/ her to the car park and then she drove me back into town. I spent the car ride pulling out splinters and thorns in my hands and clothes. I got in just before 6pm.

OMG - I can't believe that I survived. Two Lift Energy drinks later (essentially Red Bulls) and I was ready to keep going to about 1:30am this morning. ;) I did enjoy telling my story to everyone back at the hostel, but I don't think I fully grasp the danger that I was in. It was so crazy.... so yeah, then I went out and had a big night drinking w/ a bunch of people that I met in Franz Josef. :D Good times...

So that was THE HIKE OF MY LIFE! I'll post pictures from that hike once I get back to Australia next Thursday. I'm feeling a bit freaked out about hikes now... I don't think I'll ever go hiking on my own again. My hands are still pretty torn up so I'm not sure if the all day kayak in Milford Sound tomorrow is going to happen. I might just suck it up and tough it out. I'll keep you posted.

p.s. - it'd be nice if people who posted "anonymously" included their names. :D Thanks!