Back From Nelson Lakes!

Hello World!!!

We are now back from tramping (hiking) in Nelson Lakes National Park. We had amazing weather with clear blue skies & almost no clouds. It could not have been better!!

After our first night in Lakehead Hut we walked five hours to John Tait Hut. Here we saw the damage from an avalanche that occurred this past winter. It swept down the mountain behind the hut, swept away the toilet and came to rest just a few meters away from the hut. Good thing we were not there when that happened, that would have been exciting.

Leaving Lakehead Hut

Avalanche Debris at John Tait Hut

The "Red Rocks" in the Travers Valley

Waterfall on our way to Upper Travers Hut

We had the pleasure of meeting a couple from Christchurch who were doing the same tramp that we were. They were amazingly fit and even with their age, they have never stopped tramping. That was a great lesson for us. We also met a guy from the Czech Republic who had just recovered from his "near drowning experience". He had decided to cross the Travers river, which was flowing quite strong from the snow melt and recent rains. All his clothes & gear were soaked along with his four month old digital SLR camera. He may have lost his camera but he was fortunate to be alive. It was obvious that this experience upset him and we got a chance to talk to him for a while before he headed on up the valley.

The friendly couple that we met the previous day were heading in the same direction as we were and we met them at Upper Travers Hut right after lunch. That afternoon we tried to climb the saddle but the snow was too soft and the ground underneath was frozen so we got about half way up and decided to turn around and go back to the hut.

Climbing up Travers Saddle

Returning from the Travers Saddle

New Friends at Upper Travers Hut

The next day we walked eight hours through the mud and over a nice swing bridge back to Lakehead Hut. Our last night in the mountains was very special for Darren; we'll let him tell you what happened:

"We were staying at Lakehead Hut again and another group of seven people were also staying at the hut that night. As the night wore on the hut got roasting hot due to all the people in it so Andrea & I decided to sleep outside under the stars. This was a good idea until about midnight.....when I felt something at my feet and kicked it away. A few minutes later I felt a sharp bite so I jumped up & put my head torch on. At my feet was this gigantic (At least one meter tall) kea. Well maybe not a meter tall but it looked like it in the dim light. A kea is an alpine parrot who is known for being very cheeky. Anyway, I shooed him away by throwing stones & sticks at him. Fortunately for me he flew away, but unfortunately for Andrea he landed on her and gave her quite the fright! A few minutes later the bird was gone and I was back to sleep. Well I was asleep for about thirty minutes when I heard a noise at my feet again. This time it was a possum!!! and it was going through my backpack!!! I had enough so I packed up and headed back to the hut and slept the rest of the night on the porch with the sand flies. Something I could almost cope with. When I woke in the morning I found that the kea had ripped a hole in my pack, stole my sunhat, and had eaten one of my granola bars. So here is some free advice to anyone who is planning on coming to New Zealand and sleeping outside... Bring a shotgun so you can stop the pesky birds and possums from stealing your food and maybe you'll get a decent night sleep."

The next day we packed up, headed off on the track and met up with Leigh-Anne & Christy later that morning. They greeted us with fruit and biscuits and it was good for the TEAm to be back together again.

One Big Happy Family Again!!

This week was are talking about the "Fruit of the Spirit" and we want those characteristics to be evident in our lives, so we can glorify our Lord in all we do. We have a variety of exciting and challenging activities this week. Please keep us in prayer as we continue on our journey and find out more and more about why the Lord has us in this place.

Until next time,

Andrea, Ingrid, Darren & the rest of the TEAm