Sebastian!

There were lots of Sebastian’s on this trip. The man who made our car rental on the phone for us accidentally gave us an $18 dollar discount so in honor of him we named the car Sebastian. Then, after arriving to our hut after the hike the first man we meet was Sebastian from Poland.

We headed out on Friday afternoon and drove over to the West Coast to a town called Westport.

The drive over to the West Coast
Sebastian!
Kate's VERY FIRST time driving an Automatic car. I never thought it could be something you had to teach..

We found a hostel to stay in and settled in for the night. We watched the New Zealand version of America’s Next Top Model and played with the Hostel’s cats. We met a few very interesting people staying in the hostel. One woman drank at least 2 bottles of wine while we sat and watched TV. One man we met rents out his house to tourists and then stays in the hostel while they’re renting! We slept in a dorm room with 8 other people so the snoring was a bit loud but all in all it was a fun hostel stay. We got up early to make it to the start of the track at a reasonable hour.

The hour and a half drive to the National park where the Heaphy Great Walk track is located was beautiful. It was a perfect day for the 10 mile hike into the Heaphy hut and we enjoyed taking out time. We made the walk in about 4 and a half hours with lots of stops for snacks and pictures. There were lots of stream crossings and cool suspension bridges to go over. The track was right on the ocean and would occasionally veer inland into jungle like terrain.

The start of the Track
Chelsie and Me
On one of the many bridges
View from the bridge


Shag birds that we thought were penguins
Taking a break to empty sand out of our shoes



Lunch Time
Cool Trees

Kate, Chelsie and I went exploring after arriving to the hut and walked along the beach. We paddled in the water (which is the British term for dipping your feet in so says Kate). I started a fire in the hut and kept it going the entire night for all 11 of us staying there which I was pretty proud of!

That night in the hut we met our Polish friend Sebestian along with Mark and Nora from the UK and Germany and Amandine and Frank from France. Sebastian gave us some Polish candy which was pretty awesome. We all went out to watch the sunset and then played cards together by candle and flash light. It was really fun to meet new people and socialize in the hut.

The Polish Candy
Paddling in the water

The next morning Kate, Chelsie and I were the first ones up and we left around 8. We thought we’d be pretty tired but we booked it back and made the walk in about 3 and a half hours. We still had a 7 hour drive back to school so it was nice to start our drive by 1pm. We got a little nervous at one point in the drive when the gas light when on and we still had 90 km to go to the next gas station. We drove with the car in neutral down the hills and I’m pretty sure we JUST made it to the station in time. Good old Sebastian pulled through for us!

Hiking back
Cool shells you see on the walk
Another cool bridge

We were very tired after a day of hiking and driving and all went to bed pretty early. Since we still had the rental car until 12pm the next day we decided to wake up to see the sunrise at 6:30. We got up at 5:30 and drove out to Sumner Beach. It was beautiful and well worth the trip.

The moon over the water facing away from the sun was almost more beautiful than the sunrise.

It was such a great trip and I’m really glad I got a chance to hike part of the Heaphy track while I’m in NZ. I can’t believe that my time here is almost over. Mom and Dad get here in 5 days and then we’ll be traveling around for 16 days. I really can’t wait!!