part1: christchurch-twizel-mtcook-twizel

02 January 2009 8:46:00 PM

a quick shoutout to everyone...IM BACK!

pictures would be uploaded separately.

the trip was enjoyable thou at times there were so much emotions being bottled up. i felt the 17 days away from sg have made me appreciate the scorching unbearable weather, the greasy fatty food and my bed (: ITS GOOD TO BE BACK...on the other hand, im missing new zealand already.

the trip started with me being late! great start uh? upon arrival, we found a really nice bus driver who brought us to our stay at cokers backpackers (that later turned out to be everyone's fav stay). here on out, everything seem to be a rush! woke up pretty early to catch the bus to mt cook village. had a stop at twizel, saw lake takeapo and finally settle at alpine chalet.

the weather held us for two days in the village. meanwhile, we did our equipments check and realise there were some redundant items that we brought (almost everyone was complaining). on top of that, everyone agreed that our store camping stuffs were bulky (eg. the fat sleeping bag) lol it was funny seeing them complaining to the vid cam. we learnt to place our tools neatly on the harness, the proper way of roping up and keeping our ropes neat. on the 2nd day, we had a mini pusik competition, by which, i fell in love with the nz pusik and had a looong lecture on mountain weather afterwards (i fight so hard not to doze off). finally on the 3rd day, we left for kelman hut that we made home for six days.

tmc (technical mountaineering course) was a hell of a joy ride for me as i felt ive have so much to learn. the 3rd day (first day on e mountain) see me bein pissed with the world prolly due to the lack of sleep, the rushing of stuffs, the endless rope up after rope ups, the walking on snow, the uncooked food and awful frozen up fingers and feet. however, towards the end, i felt my lack of ability was the main reason for feeling messed up. it was stupid of me. we took 4 hrs to get everything settled including the carrying of food up the hut (no joke walkin up and down a snowy slope!). the two guides, jamie and nicolo, taught us the use of crampons, types of snow terrain (there are 107 different types of snow) and self arrest. it was so much fun not till everyone's waterproof pants broke LOL! going to toilet at night was chilly and scary but the stars were beautiful (:

we left very early in the morning to taslmen settle hut. had our cold sandwhich in the hut (everything went cold on the way here). boy, it was windy! 60 knots!? (almost got blown off the cliff) it was freezing~ looong day but anchoring and pitching lesson in the sun was fun (: thou its repeating of steps, i felt we could actually do something other then staying in the hut as forecast report having bad weather for two days. fyi, every hut have a communication device that the hq would contact at 7pm followed by a report of next day forecast. dont go to e toilet if you know its snowing outside! the guys had rounds of 31 with the two guide that who would have knew would be our mir official mountain game.

e forecast was spot on. was forced in the hut for two days. snowing heavily and with an average of 5 degrees per sec, everyone had to drink endless amount of tea (this explains my coughs). well, everyone gets to wake up late! haha! i got to shove snow! was really tiring and FREEZING! tried my hands on snowball fight too! was snow-drenched. nicolo recap on pitching and went further in detailed about the technique. my partner and i was pretty bored with pitching that we went to our room upstairs and decided to grab a pack of m&m to slack while the others diligently continue with the practice. it was fun. had a mini round of 31 and 10s.

the 6th day of tmc (still struck in the hut). apart from waking up with frozen fingers and feets, shoving snow and going to the toilet with chilly strong winds blowing at your face (still haven figure?...yes! the toilet is outside of the hut, you need to walk down the skinny stairs to reach it), everyone seem to be very enthusiastic when jamie taught us crevasse rescue (conscious state) and how to work with the avalanche transistor. the day was great! everyone had a go finding the hidden transistor. repairing the hopeless waterproof pants was a waste of time...dont need it after all. 31 was fun!

we hit the snow on the 7th day and guess what...the fact that the snow was extremely soft, every step reaches till my knee. i dread walking on such snow. it takes more energy and time to travel. avalanche warning was on high. we had to walk 20 meters apart upslope. saw many small avalanches day long. headed to the cliff near talsmen settle hut for crevasse rescue. o man, this was so freaking cool. to be dropped off a cliff while pusiking up myself and stubbornly refusing to use the ice hammer, it was tiring. i was literally punching the snow with my fist till e snow went all hard and had to use the hammer. nicolo advice was helpful and i dig my boots into the ice to push myself with all the strength i had left to reach the surface. jamie then taugh us the unconscious method (tried pulling my partner up but took so much arm power that nicolo helped too). the way back to the hut was horribly burning. ive got to experience the feel of having to fall in a crevasse (its not a good idea to avoid a hole and find urself in another hole). the most freaky stuff was to see an avalanche happening right beside me like 15 meters away (freak the hell out of me, i was suddenly awake from my zombie state). even thou i was down to my fleece, i had to unzip it and pull the sleeve up. i was seriously burning (my first layer of burn). my breathing was fast and deep. still, i manage to drag myself up. the stars were beautiful.

set off early (snow feels harder when the sun isnt up). the initial part to mt almer was easy, not till my big mouth gave me away and was asked to break the ice for 5 mins (no kiddin'). everyone had their share and felt for nicolo as he was always the one who helped break the ice. walking on the ridge (the peak) was super intense. the sun was above our heads and the snow on the ridge seems to have melted slightly. frankly, i was nervous but soon, the stunning view beyond the ridge took my fears away. it was truly breath taking. wish i had more time on the mountain (more time = more sun burns). true enough, had my 2nd layer of burn. headed back and the scenario was the same as ytd, e burning sensation while heading back. came back alive. reached the hut in the early afternoon and jamie gave a short lecture on navigation (that i skip cos i was extremely sleepy n cold). had our last dinner. everyone helped to clean the hut after dinner as we were leaving the place for good the next day. we also had our last game of 31 with the guides.

i cant wait to get back to civilisation! no more freezing butts no more waking up early NO MORE HAVING COLD SANDWHICH...SHOWER~!!! this was my first time waking up early and feeling happy (: (packing the fat sleeping bag is becoming a pain) the leftover food was distributed among us. our bags were fking heavy! walked down to the ice wall below talsman settle hut and did two hrs of climbing. was really fun but the strain on the calf was no joke. soon, it was time to pack. head for the pick up area. in a flash, everyone was back in the village. headed to old mountaineer's for dinner. the beer was nice.

had rock climbing on the last day. thought it would be rather boring but who would have know that to reach the rock wall (natural wall), there was a mini hike to the location, interesting. 2 hrs passes by really quickly. manage to climb two out of the four routes. it was fun. we bid farewell to the guides and left on the mt cook connection towards twizel...

i achieve:
-working/trusting in my partner
-tolerating annoying teammates
-going beyond what i thought was impossible with my broken leg
-learning to look at the greener side of the mountain
-got the perfect recipe of cooking rice in the cold
-completing tmc in one piece!

i felt that the mountain taught me a great deal of life lessons, being humble and not taking small peaks for granted. I HATE THE COLD WEATHER BUT I LOVE THE SNOW!

Tschus!

breaking ice is a pain in the ass

RECAP

DUH...

EAT THAT!