Just landed back in the USA! Sitting in the SF airport United Club lounge. The free drinks are terrible, you know? I think I'm about 26 hour into my 36 hour trip from Christchurch, New Zealand to Billings, Montana. Anyway, I've neglected my NZ blog for a couple of weeks; here's something a few of us did earlier this month.
CASTLE HILL
Used in the
final battle scene of the Chronicles of Narnia, Castle Hill is another incredibly unique New Zealand location. A hill filled with soft limestone rock formations, it almost feels like another planet. Here's some pictures.
FULL ALBUM HERE.
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| Overall view of the hill after about 45 minutes of hiking to the summit |
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| Eric Lumpkin admiring the terrain |
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| Chris Kirchner after a very difficult, unassisted climb to the top of this formation |
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| Myself atop one of the many boulders |
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| ...and attempting to climb another one |
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| the small summit of the hill behind the boulders |
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| A weird New Zealand tree |
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| The Flag!!! |
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| Typical view |
Cave Stream
In the same day, the three of us hiked upstream through a cave (about an hour). At some points, the water is about chest high. Additionally, it was pitch black, so headlamps were a necessity. A few parts of the trek required climbing up a 6 foot waterfall with questionable footing, but overall it wasn't too difficult. Pictures included in the same album as Castle Hill.
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| Just realizing how cold the water is. And how CLEAR it is in every lake and stream. |
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| Entrance to the cave with Eric Lumpkin |
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| Realizing we had to go in the chest high channel on the right |
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| One of two places with footholds in the rock to climb |
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| Scooting along a ledge |
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| Shoulda turned the headlamps off for the photo after we finished |
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| Panorama of the drive home |
