Narnia!

After delaying our big backpacking trip into the mountains for two weeks because of storms, we finally got to go this past weekend. The place we were going to was called Pinnacle Huts up in some mountains, and the trip definitely did not go as expected. We had to pack an overnight bag with a sleeping bag, as well as any clothes we would need, so I stuffed my pink Jansport ridiculously full. I felt like a turtle with it on. As usual, everyone showed up at the guys house to make sandwiches in the morning and we then loaded up to go. After about five minutes of driving, the drivers realized they forgot the map at the house so we had to turn around and go get it. They couldn't find it anywhere so they decided to go off and buy a new map and left us all at the house, so we helped ourselves to a second breakfast. An hour later than we had planned, we were on our way. My van was pretty fun; we all were passing around bags of chips and other snacks, and one girl gave me a can of V which is kind of similar to Red Bull but it tastes fruitier, and I was jammin' to music on my iPod the whole way up. I was pretty pumped for this.

We got to the site and headed down some trail, which eventually took us to a river that we had to cross. We all had to take off our shoes and be crreative with our packs so nothing would get wet as we walked/bear crawled across the river in the cold water on the slippery rocks that kind of hurt your feet. When everyone finally got across, we determined that we weren't quite sure where we were supposed to go so we waited on a hill while one of the staff members headed up the path a ways to make sure we were on the right path. About 10 minutes later, he comes back with two hunters and their dogs. As they got closer, we realized tnhat one of the hunters was giving a piggy back ride to big, black, furry, dead boar that they had shot. Only in New Zealand. Don't worry, I got a picture of the thing. The hunters told us that it would take us too long to go up the trail that way if we wanted to reach the Pinnacle Huts by nightfall, so we decided to head back to the vans and drive a bit furthur up the road to another path. Of course, that meant re-crossing the cold, rocky river.

Eventually, we did get on the right path up, even if it was like 2 hours later than planned, and trekked up the mountains. It started out pretty light with some fun river crossings (this time on bridges), but then we hit the "Rock Staircase" which was basically an hour of climbing up this big, uneven steps that were carved into the rock in the mountains. Since we were trying to beat the sun, we had to book it, which meant no time for pictures and less breaks, which really kind of sucked. It also started to rain a bit about halfway up. I tried my hardest not to stoop to my XC complaining level. We finally reached the top, shaving like an hour off the estimated time, though I can't say it was entirely worth it, and discovered that Pinnacle Huts was more like Pinnacle Hut. It was a big building with two rooms  that were stacked with bunk beds that had room for 80 people, a grill on the porch, and an inclosed dining room. It was nice and all, we brought hamburgers for dinner and Monopoly Deal to play, but it was pretty unfortnate that it was a communal sleeping area, especially since some people were crazy enough to bring their kids on this treacherous hike.

After a not-so-satisfying night's sleep, we woke up to more cold and rain. Luckily it only took an hour and a half to come down the mountain. We were all super hungry, so we stopped at a little mall with a food court and ate there. I walked around the mall a bit with another girl and felt so out of place. I hadn't showered in like 2 days and I was dressed like I rolled out of bed and into a mud puddle. I didn't know anyone there so I wasn't super concerned. Now we get to the title of this post, to Narnia. Well, at least where they filmed a scene in Prince Caspian We went to Cathedral Cove which was a beautiful beach with huge rocks, a stone archway, and torquoise waters ( I'm sure you all saw the pics on facebook). They shot the part in Prince Caspian where they arrive in Narnia and find themselves on the beach, and the stone archway is in the shot. I am loving it here in New Zealand, and I leave for outreach in only two weeks!