Wilderness weekend

Hey!! Today I feel like writing in English (after all, that's why I'm here!) I hope you don't mind...

This weekend I did an adventure trip. It was organized by the English school and first, I thought I couldn't go because I was told it was already full. But last Tuesday, I had a nice surprise receiving a call from the animator who told me that thanks to the cancellation of another student, I could join them!! Yahoo!!! That's how Friday pm I joined 10 other friends and we left for our big adventure, all ready and happy to be together! Our only fear was the weather forecast. It was nice and warm on Friday, but they were announcing heavy rain for all the rest of the weekend... glups! During the whole weekend, 2 guides took care of us, they were our drivers, guides, animators... and they were great! We drove out of Nelson, made a first stop 1 hour later at the guides' company base to get ready. They made us unpack all our bags to pack again with the strict minimum for the weekend (we all tend to take too much all the time... hum!). Then we were off again, drove another hour over the hills and far away to do our first activity: caving (speleology)! It was great! :)

The muuuuuh speleo group

Michael, Stef, Judy and Miriam in their sexy thermals :P

We crawled between narrow rocks, walked, nearly swam, saw many glow worms… a very good experience. I was the only one who had already caved before, but I still enjoyed it a lot! After that we drove again for a while to reach our camping site for the night. I didn’t feel like camping, it seemed cold outside. Fortunately, the hut next to the site was free and we could me it ours for the night!! We cooked a delicious nachos meal (how cool is that, cooking nachos in a hut with only camping kitchen equipment?!), which was really pleasant in this context. Then a nice and warm sleep inside the hut!

Sarah, Cha, Martina and Judy showing you our style for the weekend ;)

Mountain biking

Cobb Lake

Saturday morning, we rode our mountain bikes along Cobb Lake for 1 hour or so. The track was really easy but pleasant. After that we walked up the mountain with our backpack to reach our second hut next to Sylvester lake. 2 hours and a half walking up a steep but nice way… so far so good, no rain! We had lunch in the hut and then it started to rain… :( But we went out for a walk again anyway. It was rainy, foggy and windy but the mist made the scenery even more special! We walked around Lake Sylvester, up the cliffs, along the edge of the cliffs for 2 hours. It was a really nice atmosphere. We were nearly expecting the Lake Monster suddenly coming out of the lake :) Several of us wanted to be brave and go for a swim after the walk, but we had to give up because of the heavy rain and wind. Still, a crazy person tried to make believe the diving… hum ;) hahahahahahaha!!

Crazy me up the cliffs ;)

The groupe posing in the wind and the rain

Martina and me

Judy and me tasting the sheep plant :)

We went back to the hut, happy to get dry and have a good end of afternoon, chilling out until dinner. We cooked some delicious cheese macaroni. It’s amazing how nice a meal can be with a bit of imagination, a good team working, gas and a few camping pots ! Later during the evening we played very silly but very funny games (like the sticker on your forehead game (for those of Château-d’Oex ;) and the animal games (for those who went trekking with me in Morocco) except we were making sounds instead of gestures  hilarious moment which we all appreciated a lot! :D Then it was soon bedtime before our last adventure day.

Macaroni cheese and the Japanese

Sunday morning, before breakfast, 3 girls and I went for a walk back to Lake Sylvester. It was even more beautiful than the previous day. The fog was getting out, making the lake becoming clearer and nicer every minute. One very brave girl even went for a swim, brrrr! After breakfast, we packed, left the hut, walked down the mountain and reached our bus. Then we did part of the way back on our mountain bikes, down the Cobb Valley, along the gorge. It was raining but we still enjoyed it a lot and it was a nice way of ending this wonderful weekend.

Lake Sylvester

After a last stop at the base, we tidied everything up, had our last lunch together, said farewell to our great guides and drove back to Nelson, looking forward to a long and nice shower but all very happy and satisfied of these 3 adventurous days!

I’m so lucky and so glad I could join the trip in the end, it was really worth it! The weather wasn’t that bad after all, or at least didn’t prevent us to have a lot of fun (To make you feel less jealous… it was still a pretty humid weekend); the team of the weekend was great another time; the landscapes of New Zealand are still beautiful; and I’m really happy of all those trips I have the chance to make!!! :D :D

Everything fine on the other side of the globe?!

See ya! ;)
:)