Into the Heart of Darkness

After dropping Paddy off, Erin and I turned back around and began our final journey north. We stopped off in Omaru, where two little blue penguins graced us with their presence. We still are the penguin whisperers, two years can't change that. From there we ventured into Tekapo in hopes of finally seeing a clear night sky. Aaaand we got it! The way in was foggy and we were terrified that the sky would be clouded over once again. However, the skies cleared and we saw more stars span over the heavens and cascade all the way to the horizon than I have ever seen in my entire life. It. was. wonderful. Dream come true for us! (In case you don't remember, or in case we never told you, we tried many times to see the Tekapo night sky during out past trip. The last time we tried we found ourselves taking shelter for the night in a public toilet from the torrential rain and icy winds. It was less than pleasant.) We fell asleep in our car and continued on our way the next day to Christchurch. What a shock going into Christchurch. Two years ago, the streets were alive with people and activity. Now the whole inner city is gated off and no one's allowed in. There was hardly anyone on the streets, and evidence of the earthquakes surrounded us. It was really sad and a bit of a reality check I guess. We didnt have to turn the car in until the next day, so we took off for Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula.

We took our time wandering through the peninsula, exploring a valley where we met an ostrich, and then watching the sunset while on a beach made of perfectly round, smooth skipping rocks. We braved the heights and Luci snaked up the mountains, taking us into the mist. We felt like we were in the Misty Mountains and entering into some strange land in a parallel universe. It was all very cool and we were excited about adventure. And this is why we decided to take the tourist route to Akaroa, despite the fact that darkness was approaching. I think we assumed we would get there before then. We definitely did not. As soon as we got to the top of the mountain and turned down that treacherous excuse of a road, night fell upon us. We inched our way along the tops of mountains, wondering where the heck we were going. Just minutes ago we were on an exciting 35km adventure to Akaroa, and now we were on the top of some strange mystery mountain range with no light in sight, alone on the road. We wound along, occasionally seeing the lights in the bay, but then we would veer off in the wrong direction and all hope of a town would disappear. The darkness was almost heavy and overwhelming, our headlights trying bravely to slice through the inky black with little success, and no guard rails to stop our deadly descent down the mountain should we take a wrong turn. The only thing we could see was the few feet ahead of us and the road reflectors to guide our path, seemingly floating in air. To top it off, our gas tank was dipping dangerously close to a quarter tank and we had not seen a gas station (or any hope of one) for miles and miles. What we did not know was that the tourist track was not only way more than 35km, it looped around the mountain tops instead of taking the direct route. We finally made it to Akaroa and felt like we were home. On our way, we had been joking about finding a place with a beach, mountains, sun, free booze, and people offering us jobs without us asking. When we got to Akaroa, we went into a bar where they had a sign for job openings, sit down, and the owner comes up and asks if we were looking for work. Then she gave us free wine. And in the morning, we woke up and looked around to find ourselves on the water front and completely encircled by mountains. We had ventured into the heart of darkness and found paradise.

-K