#FlatOutBeautiful - Queenstown Half Marathon Weekend

I want to start this post with a quick anecdote - Yesterday I decided that I wanted to bake cookies for the first time. I looked up a recipe online and made a grocery list of 4 ingredients. 

1. Dark brown sugar 

2. Cornstarch 

3. Vanilla Extract 

4. Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

So I drove to the store, and here's what I discovered:
1. They make "brown sugar" in this country. Not light brown sugar, not dark brown sugar. There are not 50 shades of brown. So I came home with 500 grams of soft brown sugar.

2. Cornstarch is actually corn flour here. But when I got to the store they didnt have that, they only had maize corn flour or wheaten corn flour. If I wanted wheaten corn flour wouldnt I just get regular flour? Maybe? Who knows. I got the maize one and hoped for the best.

3. They call extract "essense". ugh. I can't win.

4. Turns out they dont sell those classic toll house semi sweet chocolate chips here either. I had to choose between milk chocolate or dark chocolate and "drops" or "buttons". Came home with some "dark chocolate drops" which Cam confirmed would probably work because dark chocolate doesnt have full sweetness. 

So here I am, more than a year in to living abroad, with less than a month to go, and I still can hardly grocery shop on my own. But hey, the cookies taste delicious.

Queenstown - December 2014.
Just getting you ready for the rest of the post.

The main reason for this post is that last weekend, Cam, seven of our closest work mates/friends, and I went to Queenstown!

Queenstown was the #1 place reccommended to me before I came to New Zealand and it is hands down my favorite place in this country. Every time I go to Queenstown I leave thinking that it is the most gorgeous place on earth, I had the best time, and I hope I go back but if I don't I think I'm satisfied with the excursions I did. Then I go back and find all kinds of new things to do. Well, to be fair, the first time I knew I wasn't satisfied. 

Hellooooo Queenstown

To quickly recap:

Trip #1 - November 2014 - Travelled through Queenstown on my way to the Routeburn track. Got there after dark, and woke up to the most splendid scenery I'd ever seen. Drove around Lake Wakatipu to the get to the track, and after the hike drove the "road to glenorchy" back to Queenstown before heading back to Chch. 
Excursions: FergBurger (It counts), Road to Glenorchy

Trip #2 - December 2014 - Thought my time would be over on 12/20/2014, so my mom came for a visit and we flew on down to Queenstown for the weekend.
Excurions: Queenstown Hill hike, AJ Hackett Bungy, Arrowtown

Trip #3 - March 2015 - Three friends from Hopkins/NY came to visit and we stopped in Queenstown on the way to Milford Sound.
Excursions: Paragliding!!

Trip #4 - April 2015-  It was Jen and Keith's last weekend in NZ and Keith was going to run the Routeburn (See Trip #1), so we all got a bach to wish them farewell. 
Excursion: Gondola + Luge

And finally TRIP NUMBER 5:

Spoiler Alert. 
Excursions: Queenstown Half Marathon, Shotover Jet, Million Dollar Cruise (for the girls), Downhill Mountain Biking (for the boys)

This trip was a long time coming. I had known that I wanted to run a half while I was in New Zealand and knew a friend who ran Queenstown last year and said it was a great course. He didn't tell me about the giant hill in the middle.... but that's besides the point for now. I checked the other day and I actually signed up for the half on July 24th! That seems like so long ago now. 

Photo from Approximately July 24th. So long ago!

The Friday before the race, Cam and I drove down to Queenstown with James and Jess, the other two friends running with me.

Stopped in Tekapo on the way down!

Lupins! Photo Cred: Cam

James had booked our accomodation and warned us that it was "the only thing left" by the time we booked and it was garden view, not lake view. So when we got to Queenstown and checked out the hotel I was absolutely shocked at how nice they were. For the nine of us, we had two 2-bedroom apartments, each with a lake side balcony. 

First look from the parking lot. I like what I see.
(Our future room had one of those pretty balconies)

Just stop. Still in the parking lot. 

Didn't think it could get much better? This is our room. #remarkable

That view tho.

After checking out both rooms, and picking the better one (perks of arriving first), we walked the last 3k of the race course (!!) in to town to pick up our bibs. I was really anxious about the race, so Cam and I got chicken sandwiches and sat by the water for a while before I caught a cab back to the hotel.

One mile to go on the course (the night before)

I got race ready and was in bed before Cam got home. (Also, while getting ready I realized I didn't have ANY food for breakfast. Oops. Traveling for races is hard. Thanks to Cam who grabbed me a scone in town before coming home)

And the next morning it was go time!! Cam (if you can't tell yet, he was the best support crew - major major thanks to Cam.) got up early, took our picture on the balcony (pre-race photos are always the sleepiest), and drove us to the start.

Pre race photos - energy level is not quite READY TO RUN 13.1 MILES.

I was so nervous getting out of the car. As soon as we got about 5 meters from the car, I turned to Jess and said "I can't wait to see Cam again at the finish." #motivation

Lets do this!

And then we got in line, crossed the start line, and ran ran ran until I got back to town. A lot of people have asked how it went/how it was so I think I got my synopsis down: It was hard. It was beautiful. Literally every turn was an incredible view.

Not even joking (maybe one filter) but this was the course!!
Would've taken so many more photos if I weren't also trying to run a race.

The last 11.5 miles were on a trail along the lake, but unfortunately it was really narrow and crowded. I felt like it was hard to boost up or down a hill with the path being so narrow and full of people.

See what I mean about crowded.
Mile 1.5 of the race and heading in to the trail portion

But in the end, I finished, and I saw Cam right in front of the finish, and the announcer man announced my finish! "Erin is across the line! Good job Erin!" And then I found Cam. And then I cried. Ah that post half finish line cry - gets me every time. 

FINISHERS!

The rest of the day is a slight blur - we did a lot of walking and as much sitting as possible. The rest of our friends (the 6 non-runners) were headed on an uphill hike, but I knew I wasn't cut out of that. Cam, James, Jess and I went in to town for a giant pizza and beer feast. We were trying to figure out what we could do that would be exciting (especially for Cam who didn't run) but not too tiring. All of us agreed that the one excursion we hadn't done but would want to was the shotover jet. So we got on the next tour, and headed over to sit down and wait for that to start.

:)

As expected, the shotover jet was incredible!! The bottom of the boat must have been so shallow because it was able to go so close to rocks and the shore without (seemingly) worrying about the depth of the water. It zoomed through the canyon, making several 360 turns in the middle, and had us all cracking up the whole time.

My best friend Kate also went on the shotover jet.
Cam made fun of me for taking this picture.

And after that I was dead. Time for a nap, some beers, dinner, and finally home. When I got home, I checked my phone and I had allegedly walked 22 miles that day. Gooooood night.

Are you getting sick of this view yet? Yeah me neither.

Sunday morning, I woke up feeling surprisingly alright. Cam and I walked in to town to get some meat pies for breakfast (what has happened to me!?), and ended up meeting up with our friends. They were meant to do paragliding (See Trip #2... it was incredible), but it got cancelled due to wind, and they were itching to find another activity.

Not to rub it in, but #tbt. Remember this?

The guys decided to go downhill mountain biking (take a bike up the gondola and then ride down tracks that are marked like ski slopes - green, blue, black, double black) so Cam went with them to do that. Kiki, her friend Terri, and I decided to take the Million Dollar Cruise for $35. Honestly most excursions in Queenstown cost $200 for an 8 second experience (yes bungy jumping I'm talking about you), so $35 for a 90 minute cruise where I could SIT DOWN the whole time? Sign me up. 

Million Dollar Views

Hotel I stayed at with my mom last December!

One more of this view.. Can't stop, won't stop.

Oh forgot to mention I was the captain of the cruise.
Look at that sign above my head  -  that's my favorite part.

Both of our excursions ended at the same time (ish), so we all met up, got some dumplings for lunch, and started the long long drive back to Christchurch. I was honestly so sad to leave Queenstown, knowing that I really am leaving New Zealand this time. But I'll be back. As my mom said, I'm still young ;)

Ah Queenstown. I LOVE YOU. 12/2014

Five Hundred, Twenty Five Thousand, Six Hundred Minutes

How do you measure, measure a year?

This Thursday is my official one year anniversary with New Zealand. What. A. Year. It was approximately TODAY a year ago that I found out I would be coming to New Zealand at all - just until Thanksgiving, maybe Christmas. Well a year later here we are. I have experienced, learned, and grown so much over the last year it's almost hard to put it in to words, but I'm certainly going to try.

First and foremost I learned a lot about myself - I learned who the people are in the world who matter the most to me. I learned what I truly and honestly like to do. I learned what habits were a product of my environment and which were activities I would enjoy doing in one of the furthest places from home. I discovered who I am as an individual and how to stay true to that self.

I learned how to travel. To be honest I'm still working on that one. If you've been reading my blog, you've seen all the missteps I've had on weekend trips here and there. Over the course of this year, I've discovered there's more to traveling than booking transportation and accomodation. It takes an incredible amount of planning, direction, and a willingness to change your mind. My first weekend here I drove to Hokitika to discover that it was a much smaller town than expected, and I basically had a beer in a bar, decided not even to try to see Pancake Rocks or the Hokitika Gorge (which 10 months later would become one of my favorite trips) and without cancelling the accomodation I had booked, turned around and drove back to Christchurch. Throughout this year I've learned the things to look for in a smaller city and how to enjoy the road- even if it's bumpy, and rainy, and probably not the best idea I've ever had.

Traveling in Style

I met Cam. Life has been an amazing adventure ever since. I owe about 90% of my knowledge of New Zealand to this guy. Thank you for teaching me the merits of surfing, lolly mixtures, and salt and vinegar chips.

I gained friends who I will treasure my whole life. Without getting too sappy, the TTNZ community is made up of an incredible group of people, and I am certain those people will be in my life for the long haul.

The Girls of TT New Zealand

I rediscovered the flat white. Plain and simple- New Zealand makes the world's best coffee.

So how do measure, measure a year? According to the cast of Rent - Measure in Love. I can truly say I have loved this year - this opportunity, these friends, each trip and every experience. Work has been hard, and missing friends and family pushed me to tears a couple times - but what a year full of love I have had. I am so grateful for everyone who has been a part of that.

To wrap it up, I've been thinking recently about all the adventures I've had and wanted to do a couple superlatives:

Best weekend trip: Akaroa for the Queen's birthday or Nelson Wine Tasting with my mom
Best day hike: Queenstown Hill
Favorite City in New Zealand: Queenstown
Favorite blue water I've seen - there's a lot here: Lake Pukaki (I'm always driving and have never taken a photo but just look - Thank you Google Images)
Hardest thing I've done: Routeburn in the middle of a blizzard
Craziest thing I've done: Bungy Jumping in Queenstown

And finally, I made a map with all of my trips - red are completed, green are on the calendar to be finished by December, and purple is Christchurch. I've seen a good bit of this country - but honestly, it keeps surprising me.

I wish I could make this more interactive and tie markers to photos/blog post links..
maybe with a little more internet research time :)

Cam and I have been enjoying Christchurch, our friends, and being outside in the spring weather, but the traveling will pick up again in the end of this month. Next stop: Waiheke Island (it's that green marker next to Auckland)!

Staying home's not too bad, when home looks like this.

Until Boston, Jen and Keith

Wowee. After 26 hours of traveling from Christchurch NZ to New York City, I am on a 7 and a half hour bus ride to Pittsburgh. Steeler Country, here I come! And with all this traveling comes time to reflect on my past few weekends and time to write about it. :D

City of Champions (and bridges)!

Tongariro

We’ll start two weekends ago – my third consecutive weekend on the north island (can you tell I’m tired of flying already?)

Two weekends ago I did the Tongariro Crossing – or rather I went to the Tongariro Crossing Great Walk. As seems to keep happening, the weather was forecasted to be insanely bad for the day we planned to do the walk. But with plane tickets booked on a regular (non-3-day) weekend, we didn’t have any wiggle room. The track is 19k long in one direction and you need to take a shuttle back to the beginning when you finish the track. About 6 hours before our flight out of Christchurch, Jen got a call that our shuttle was cancelled and was told that we would be crazy to do the walk. Great. At that point the plan seemed pretty crazy, and I was exhausted after spending the last two weekends on the North Island, but it was my last trip with Jen and Keith (well adventure trip.. more on the real last trip later) so I had to go for it.

Thanks for all the adventures Jen and Keith! (Avalanche Peak)

We flew up to Wellington, drove five hours to National Park (yes that is the name of a place) and stayed in the YHA there – we had a really nice room for a hostel.  It absolutely POURED all night. As in I was woken up because it was raining so loudly outside. But we woke up to clear skies, with blue sky peeking through in the distance and a clear view of Mount Doom (apparently that’s not actually its real name ;) thanks Cam).

View of Mt Doom for most of the hike (Should've taken a photo in the am)

We went to the visitor center feeling pretty confident that we were going to do the walk, but the guide at the visitors center seemed to think we were crazy and unprepared. The funniest part was that the forecast predicted 19mm in an hour, twice in the course of the day—but it couldn’t predict which hours or where on the entire north island it was going to happen. We decided to do an abridged track (a 17k loop instead of 19k’s in one direction – no shuttle involved). The only thing I really wanted to see were the blue lakes on the Tongariro Crossing and we were told that the Tama Lakes on the abridged track were the same blue geothermal style so we could do the shortened walk and still get the same effect.

Abridged track even had great waterfalls!

Tama Lakes! Brilliantly Blue!

Loved this lake

My happy place - it was a little cold at the top

Mt Doom came out at the end!

We ended up finishing the 17k’s in 5 hours, saw the lakes, and ate PB&J’s on the top of a mountain one last time. The lakes didn’t disappoint and while we didn’t do what we set out to do we all felt satisfied with the experience. AND finishing at 2 pm meant we had plenty of time to drive back to Wellington in the daylight and get beers there with Jen’s grad school friends.

Beautiful drive back to Wellington

And after our 9 am flight back to Christchurch on Sunday I had plenty of time to sleep after such a crazy weekend. Phew.

#TTinQT2015

The following weekend (Weekend 4 in a row of traveling) we went to Queenstown! My favorite!

I <3 you Queenstown

The “we” in this case is pretty much everyone I know in New Zealand. It was Jen and Keith’s last weekend in the country and we had a 3-day weekend for Anzac Day. For their last weekend, Keith decided that he wanted to run the Routeburn (a 30-ish k Great Walk that normally takes 2-3 days to walk and goes over the saddle of a mountain) I did the walk with Jen and Keith and two other coworkers in November (see thispost), and now Keith was going to run it.

Just to give you a feel of the terrain on Keith's race

Jen and Keith last time we did the Routeburn

Jen had the idea to get a bach (kiwi for holiday/beach/lake/vacation house) and invite all of our coworker-friends for the three day weekend. Significant others were included so somehow I convinced Cam that he really did want to drive 6 hours with me for a day and a half in QT.

The weather on the way to Queenstown was gorgeous! I loved the whole drive – and Cam drove so that helped.

Once we got there we hung out with everyone at the house with an amazing view! The colors in Queenstown were amazing this weekend. I had been twice before, in spring and summer, and I have to say that autumn was hands down my favorite. Could not get over those orange trees.

ORANGE

View from the bach!

Sunday was our main day in Queenstown and of course it was pouring when we woke up. Cam and I took a gamble and decided to go up the gondola anyway in hopes that some of the activities would open up if it ever stopped raining. The gondola is one of the main tourist attractions in Queenstown and  takes you up to a hill overlooking all of Queenstown, and somehow I had never done it before.

Queenstown from the top of the Gondola

It was rainy so we took some photos :)

Once you’re at the top you can walk down, do a zip line course at the top, bungy jump or do the luge. Cam and I really wanted to do the luge, but they close it when it rains, so we were a bit disappointed. But once we were up there walking around, it cleared up, and rainbows started appearing, and they opened the luge!!

Ready to go!

Luge Course!!

We did a few rounds of real life Mario kart and then got a text that Jen and friends were going to Arrowtown, wine tasting, and bungy jumping, so we got in a gondola down the mountain to catch up with the fun.

Arrowtown, I love you too (p.s. ORANGE!)

The whole day I just could not get over the colors. Arrowtown was stunning – I must say it looks a bit like western PA in the fall. The bungy jump location was also beautiful!

So beautiful

The water wasn’t as nice a color as when I did it in December, but the trees looked amazing. Two of Jen’s grad school friends did the bungy (I think they loved it) and it was so fun to watch .. and not be jumping. Then we went back the bach for a group barbeque.

Monday we got up did a little more wandering around Queenstown and then drove six hours back to Christchurch in the ridiculous pouring rain. Ugh.

Final morning - View from our room (!!) Nice house, Jen

And then two days later I left for NY! So excited for my two weeks at home with all my friends and then back to NZ for a bit more time down under.

And this is the new puppy I came home to. Sophie!!!

Til our next adventure,

E