The tramp to end all tramps

If I talked you before leaving on our last tramping trip, then you know that I was anything but excited to go. For about two weeks prior to our trip, our instructors had been leading us around the deep bushland of New Zealand with maps and compasses with seemingly little purpose but to get us frustrated and lost in pokey bushes and trees. After some humbling experiences and discussions, I have realized that of course, there was a purpose to all of this. I just took me a long time to see it.



Monday morning we set off from SIT. The drive took a couple of hours and the whole way, I was relishing the time in the van. When we got to where we would begin our "journey" as they liked to call it, I did NOT want to get out of the car. I waited until the last possible moment, then jumped out and donned my pack. Our instructors gave us a little information about how the next three days would go and that it was a time for us to reflect on our lives and particularly our time in New Zealand. All of it sort of went in one ear and out the other for me as I was in a very terrible mood.



They gave us the coordinates of our destination, told us to work as a team and then sent us out into the bush. There was a trail, but we were banned from taking it. Luckily, the weather was really nice and we stayed dry and warm. Unfortunately, none of that helped my mood--even though it should have. After a lot of group discussions and wrong turns, we made it to our campsite. I was surprised at how quickly and effectively we made our bivvy that night. I was toasty warm and though I didn't sleep that great, I slept much better than I thought I would.



Because of my bad awful mood, I didn't really take any pictures the first day, or the whole trip really (these pictures are mostly supplied by Stefanie's ever-present camera), but this one is worth posting:




The man you see who looks naked other than his very large coat and red beanie is Tony, one of our instructors. If you look closely, you can Jason, another instrutor, in the background, effectively sporting what they insist is typical New Zealand tramping garb. The outfit is as follows: no cotton, just polyprop shirts and other fleece insulating layers as necessary, "stubbies" (aka--very short shorts), gaters and boots. They look ridiculous but insist that its the only way to tramp.