So...woke up to pouring rain this a.m., rained (and snowed a bit) all day, and as I type this is's pouring outside still. Let's not forget it's maybe in the 40s (that's F not C). Even Evan admitted today that he hopes Australia is really hot. I would just take sunny at this point.
Anyway, we took yesterday easy-ish and then used our Asian inspiration to make a delicious stir-fry for dinner last night.
Today we went on a bit of a tour. We took a bus to a boat through lake Manapouri (the rainy lake - over 440 meters deep!) to a bus through a hydro electric plant and over a mountain to a boat in Doubtful Sound. We saw some amazing waterfalls and mountains and even some dolphin. The sound is salt water but due to the amount of rainfall there is a layer of fresh water on top and apparently a pretty cool ecosystem down there. If I wasn't so sick of being cold I would have loved to SCUBA a bit there. Anyway, then we took the boat back to a bus over the mountain (through the snow) to a boat and back to a bus which brought us back to our campervan.
Evan made pasta and meat sauce. I opened the olives and suggested crackers and cheese. I also dropped most of our veggies on the floor. Who needs veggies anyway?
And that's where we are. Despite the cold and the rain I'm still enjoying my time. I've had a lot of time to think about a bunch of decisions I'm going to have to make once I'm home in November...job, personal, future. I'm glad I have some time to reflect while I'm here and I'm excited by some of the possibilities I'm considering.
I also realized today that this date is exactly 5 years since I last saw my brother Jason alive. I remember that day down to his voice, what we ate together, and the muscle definition in his forearms. When he had his accident less than 1 month later I took all my energy and directed it to memorializing every single detail of today in my head. I wonder what he would think of this trip and what it would be like if he were here.
I know I told some people why this trip is so important to me. Most of you must think I'm nuts to put my life on hold, 1st for Europe and now for this crazy outdoor adventure. Well...Europe was for me. NZ and OZ are for me but in a different way. My one and only regret of my life (I've made many mistakes but I've appreciated and learned from each one) is not knowing my brother Jason better before he was gone. I don't know why Evan wanted to go on this trip with me (I'm old, slow, and more of a city girl than a mountain girl) but I wouldn't have missed it for the world. I get to see these amazing places and I get to hopefully know Evan a bit.
And that's all she wrote for tonight. Tomorrow it's off to Wanaka and right now it's back to listening to the rain fall.
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