The day I killed a rabbit and a Fish

So after spending a couple of semi-lonely days in Wanaka hiking and one day rock climbing I was looking for another adventure... so I decided to call my Aussie friends in Queenstown to see what they were up to... sure enough Dan had organized a trip for the three of them to sea kayak into a hut stay the night and come back the next day... Seeing how i enjoyed Dan's last trip I decided to sign up for another one. They accepted my company with open arms.

Well because I was in Wanaka which is over an hour away from Queenstown I needed to wake up in the 4's for our 630 am start in Queenstown. ( I don't like waking up in the 4's for anything but I did it anyway). On my drive over to Queenstown who knew I'd be playing "Frogger" with all the rabbits on the road, they were everywhere I couldn't believe it . Now I know you are not supposed to swerve to avoid adding to the road kill but I couldn't help it, I had never killed anything on the road and didn't want to start. There were two rabbits at once both going in different directions, there was no where for me to swerve... I think at least one of them survived but I know by the bump and the thud I hit one of them. I wasn't too sure what to do, cry... say 10 hail mary's or wish the rabbit a happy trip to heaven... all I do remember doing is apologizing profusely to the poor rabbit on the road...

I got to Queesnstown confused my sin to my friends and instead of sympathy and a hug, I got a "congratulations Jamie those things are pests here, next time don't swerve hit 'em all" So much for the hail mary's

So we drove on to Lake Manuopori, we picked up our kayaks and paddled on beautiful Lake Manuopouri, stopped for lunch, cursed the sand flies that ate us alive, went for a hike/mountain climb (One of Dan's short side walks) saw the most beautiful views of the lake and surrounding area then carried on and paddled to the hut.

We found the hut and we stayed there, the sand flies were insane.. (worse than the bugs in the NWT in the summer) so we drank and ate... because we were in kayaks we could carry alcohol and all the hut goodies imaginable. We had brie cheese, chocolate, wine and beer.

Somewhere around 9pm we set a few challenges up. See Dan brought a fishing rod and was talking about catching a fish... he talked about it so much that none of us including him thought it could happen... and around 9pm the girls were getting cold and needed a fire... so the challenge was the boys were to go fishing and the girls were to make a fire. We didn't think they were going to catch a fish and they didn't think we could start a fire.... The challenge was on....

Little did they know I own a wood stove at home.. and Garret has taught me over the years how to build a fire properly... So Roweena and I had our fire going in no time laughing that we would win the challenge....

Not too long after the boys walked in carrying a 5lb trout from the lake.... none of us could believe it... we took a lot of trophy shots and then had a group decision to release the fish (75% release and 25% eat the fish) I was the 25%.... we all walked down to the lake for the trial release but the fish wasn't going anywhere except on our breakfast plates the next morning....

the only problem was the fish wasn't totally dead... he still had fight in him, so sadly because I was voted the avid animal killer of the day (I can't believe it) and because I have done it before for fish that Garret has caught... I was the one that had to bash the fish on the head with a stick... I was very apologetic and was only ok at my job... Roweena gave it a go as well, but I think she tapped the fish on the head more than anything....

so I killed a rabbit and a fish that day, we ate the fish and not the rabbit... ( I think I need something profound here but I am lost for words....)

The next am we paddled back against the wind so in river boats I would classify it like class 2 rapids upstream and just as cold as home.... but I had a smile on my face the whole time... not really but I tried to....

We finished with an awvo session on the patio in Te anu.... I stayed in Te anu and the rest of the crew carried on back to Queenstown...

Teanu is the gateway to the Milford Sound... Fiordland National Park... a very beautiful part of New Zealand... probably the most beautiful I have seen here, mountains everywhere, looks alot like the Duffey Lake Road but even more stunning ( I know its hard to believe)... and yes my camera is broken so I don't have pics, but I hope to get some from friends...

I spent a couple days doing some day hikes in the Fiordland area... I am now in Queenston hanging out for a couple days.... Queenstown is a very busy place... reminds me of Whistler.... very touristy.... but this is the area where people come to do all the adventure skydives and bungee jumps... I haven't attempted this yet... but you never know, maybe one day....

Last night I met up with an old friend from my very early Whistler days... Micheal Glock, and I got to meet his girlfriend Lisa... we had a few beers and dinner and got to reminisce and catch up...

I am heading back to Christchurch tomorrow to pick up Garret from the airport, we plan to head north from there and down along the West coast of the South Island... so I'll be on to more adventures with him up there, probably get some rock climbing and more hiking in...

So, Have a beautiful day, send me updates on what you are are up to... I love hearing about what people are doing... please keep in touch!! Big Hug Jamie