MXC

That last post was pretty desperate. Well, justly so... The track was hard and I spent 3 days living in a cloud. By the second day, I literally could not remember what it meant to be dry. It started raining the first night, and didnt stop until we pulled into the driveway. Good timing, I know.
Well, we didymo-ed our boots before starting the track, and then came upon the most gorgeous, "rushnormous" (new word for rushing and enormous) waterfalls in the world! Only half of our BYU group went on the Routeburn hike, and that group split into 2 as well. So my tramping group of 11 started at the Queenstown side and ended in Te Anu where the other group began. It worked out well because we just swapped keys in passing on the trail and then took each others' cars home. Most trampers pay alot of money to get shuttled back and forth since they have no vehicle waiting at the other end.

The first night, we stayed in "huts" which basically means shelter!!! It was amazing to get there and have a dry place to keep our stuff. We cooked on the stoves they had there and played some AMAZINGLY funny games of Mafia where the killers usually ended up winning. I wish people would just believe me!!! We met/made friends with Hollandish trampers and one Bulgarian. It was amazing how global our track was! Trying to be positive about the torrential rain, I told Ben it would be great since we'd get so many more waterfalls! Ben jokingly replied, "the track is going to be a waterfall Stef!" Little did we know, that was NOT a joke.
There were parts of the tramp where I felt like I was on the show MXC (Most Extreme Challenge). THere was NO POSSIBLE WAY to make it across without falling in the river, but you have to go for it regardless. We started trying to find a way to avoid pure river and balance on high rocks, but after 10 minutes, we all bagged that idea and just embraced climbing waterfalls. All Marci wanted to do was ring out her socks. We reached the peak of the mountain and counted 50+ waterfalls from one spot! The mountain was just flowing! It was fun to hike alone part of the time, and fun to walk with the group and listen to/tell stories. It was such beautiful land and so magnificent! I have such spiritual experiences in the mountains and every time I go tramping, I just want to stay forever! The land is gorgeous and I learn so much about myself and others when I take the time to get away and appreciate nature. You should try it!

The second night was... wet. EVERYTHING was just soaked. We tried to hang it dry, but to no avail. When we got to camp the girls just started stripping like crazy. The boys turned the other way when they realized what was going on... It was the pits to put on wet clothes and sleep in puddles. Everyone had an awesome attitude and since there was nothing we could do, we just got through it together. We ate like kings over a bunson burner and warmed our noses with our dinner tins and ate chocolate covered almonds in bed. We went to bed at like 5pm because we had nothing else to do... I shared a 2 man tent with Erin and Marci- that was a thrill :) When I woke up I really felt like both my shoulders had been dislocated. Any direction I moved, pain. My hip made me feel like I was 90, and I had to crunch into a ball to avoid puddles.
The next morning we faced more torrential rain, and encountered teh MOST amazing waterfall of my life. If you even tried to walk through it, the wind would push you back and the rain pelt into your eyeballs like daggars. I can't even describe it- it was just AMAZING! So we took the flood evacuation route which turned out to be super cool! I dont have pictures because I love my camera too much to loose it to water. We couldn't even talk to each other by the waterfall because it was so loud! Cameron told us stories to keep our minds off our aching bodies. We tramped out the rest of the way and hurried to the toilets as fast as possible!!!

It may seem as though I had a miserable weekend. Do not be deceived. I really did have a great time and would do it again in a minute!