So, we are driving down "Scenic Drive", and there's a place where we pull off the road and park our cars, then literally just off this two lane road, there is an entrance that leads to a "trail", which consists of a partly cleared path with tree roots, huge rocks, branches, and more mud than I have ever seen. In NZ the mud is more like clay, so it's 100X more slippery. Half or more of our group ran off, leaving us with no idea of where to go (we have no map), so we decided to go right... which led pretty quickly back up to the road. All the while people are slipping and falling into the mud, grabbing onto tree branches for dear life, and cursing the rain that is starting to fall.
Once we got back up to the road, three of us (Stephanie, Lauren, and I) decided we didn't want to go back down for the full hike, which was supposed to take 4 hours. So we took everyone's valuables back to the van so they wouldn't get wet, and we prepared ourselves for an adventure of our own. We start down a different trail to a place called "Christian Road" which Stephanie is convinced should be renamed Devil's Way.
Ironically, the trail that we chose to go down, unbeknownst to us, was WAY more rugged and difficult than the one we had been on with the whole group. Pretty soon, we were headed through worse mud, bigger & more slippery rocks, except now we were going down inclines of about 50 degrees. ON THE SIDE OF A MOUNTAIN. Let's just say I have never done anything like that in my life. And to top it all off (Brice & everyone else who knows how un-athletic and un-outdoorsy I am will appreciate this), I was leading us down the trail.
Eventually, we came to a little place of civilization that we didn't know existed - there were some old men down there that run a "Dam Tram" and they told us that we could walk a little farther and see the water filtration system, which really wasn't much to look at, but it was cool to think about the fact that they actually gather water there from the dam and purify it for the city.
So, then we start the hike back up - we went a different way because we saw an entrance that said Scenic Drive - which was where we needed to go... and the men told us it was a longer trail, but we had time to kill so we did it anyway. Which was a very interesting choice. The incline going back up was about 65 degrees at some points... I literally had to stretch my leg up as far as it would go to boost myself up (kind of like pulling yourself out of a swimming pool)... which was much more difficult for the other girls because I have abnormally long legs so mine could reach up higher. Anyway, after about an hour, we made it back up to the road! We came out at a different point than where we started, but I thought we should turn right down the road (again, for those of you who know how bad my sense of direction is, it is hilarious that I was leading)...
At this point, I had so much adrenaline pumping through my body from just trying to survive up the side of this mountain, that I felt like I wanted to run down the road to try to find our vans. So I ran for a few minutes and eventually... there they were! Hallelujah. What a good day. Will post pictures soon!
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