outside the fiordland paua factory

as we left riverton this morning we first stopped at the fiordland paua (abalone) jewelry factory shop. they have a huge paua shell that they put together outside of the shop. we watched a quick demonstration of how they polish the shells. then about a 5-10 minute drive away we stopped at a beach. there were many cool rocks to make jewelry from so we collected some however i don't think we got enough to make even a bracelet. we'll just have to put one or a few together with some beads and give them away as necklaces i suppose.

the next place we went to stop at was to check out some severely wind-blown trees in orepuki. the wind is really strong in these parts. another stop was at mccracken's rest where we could see the bottom of the fiordlands.

windblown trees of orepuki

mccracken's rest

we made it to tuatapere, where we must get off to do the hump ridge track, and my heart sank. it is not at all how i pictured it. it is very plain, drab, etc. i imagined more trees and it to be forest-like. we checked into the hump ridge track center and were dropped off at our accommodation that was included in the hiking package we purchased. the place is called five mountain holiday park--what a dump! utter crap. it felt like the bates motel, only creepier. the furnishings are crap. it was also extremely cold in the room. there was no way i would survive the night. i went to put my food in the kitchen and there was a plate of uncovered meet in the fridge. within 10 minutes we called the local bbh hostel and walked over to it. it was a fucking pain in the ass to carry all of our crap. so heavy...our packs...we can store some of it as hump ridge provides many things a regular hut does not but there's no way we can do the milford this way. *big sigh* how can we possibly cut down any more? we did some brainstorming and thought of a few things we could send to the hostel we'll be staying at in queenstown after doing the hump ridge track. i just don't know if it'll be enough.

we made it to shooters backpackers and this place is sooooooo much better! it was just built last year and it seems like we're the only ones staying tonight. i have a strange feeling we're the only ones hiking tomorrow too. it's a little cold. the rooms don't have individual heaters. there is a fireplace in the common area but the heat doesn't really get around. it's kinda creepy being in a place with no other guests.