Wanaka...

Best trip of the entire New Zealand experience probably. This was our 3 day rock climbing trip up in Wanaka. It was so incredibly fun. We all hoped into the vans and drove about 4 hours to get to Wanaka. The drive itself was super fun. David, who taught us kayaking and then rock climbing, was the driver of our van and we had SO much fun. The whole ride consisted of a lot of laughing, and story telling, and pretty much culminating in us belting Disney songs at the top of our lungs. When we got to camp we were able to go out to a crag (where you go climbing). It was so different to go climbing on an actual rock wall. It was a lot harder than going indoors. Indoor rock climbing you have a path set out for you and given holds. Indoor also has a lot of jug holds, which is where you hand loops over the top very easily and you can pull yourself up. Outdoors on the other hand there isn't those given holds. You have to explore the wall a lot and be very creative in where you put your feet and how you grab holds and find holds. It was very exciting and interesting. I really liked it, because I feel like I was able to improve in rock climbing exponentially when it was outdoors because you have to work harder to find holds. It was incredible. We also spent a lot of time learning how to tie ropes and different belay devices and we also got to go abseiling again. It was fun because this time we were more in control of how we went down the cliff face. I got stuck pretty close to the top however because we were using what's called a prussic, where you have to keep slack on the rope, and if it tightens up it locks. That's to prevent you from falling if your hand slips. Well unfortunately we had to go over a big rock lip so you kinda fell a little. Well my rope got pulled tight so it was locked, and I was stuck hanging up in the air for a little bit before I figured it out. I did eventually though and got down. The rest of the trip was just spent having fun on the rock, and trying different climbs. I had differing levels of success. Some climbs I was able to do really well and other climbs were pretty hard. It was so much fun though. Just an awesome adventure. Curtis and Ann

The other fun part is that Curtis and David where there with us. They were our favorite teachers from the whole time we've been here. There both 22 and work for a place called Adventure Southland (who do climbing, kayaking, etc. for Invercargill and neighboring areas.) Anyway they are best mates and we've had each of them individually on other trips, but this trip they were together and we had a lot of fun hanging out with them when climbing. Good times.
The rest of climbing was awesome, and then the ride home was equally as fun. I was in Dave's car again and highlights included playing the sheep game, where you stick you head out the window and yell "SHEEP" at the top of your lungs at the sheep and are trying to get them to move or react. My throat was so sore by the end of our drive. We also had a Chinese fire drill at a stoplight (for construction purposes), which was very exciting around a van with a trailer. We also would give the other drivers cheesy thumbs up and smile at them and try to get a reaction. It was one of the funnest times I've ever had on a drive.
Dave's mad skills