I must have seen at least a thousand waterfalls in the past week. I didn't think that something as magical as a waterfall could ever become routine, but I had to keep walking and stop taking pictures, so eventually I basically ignored them. I can't believe it, but if I didn't let them go then I'd still be there, staring and starving. So a few days ago I finished hiking the Milford Track. It was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. Maggie did not end up going on the hike, so it was just me, which made it four days of thought and consideration.

The hike is very regulated because of its high demand, so only 40 people are allowed to start each day and you have to stay in the huts provided. This means that you get to know the people in your group, but since everyone takes the day at their own pace, I usually felt like I was the only person in the world on the hike. Of my group of 40, 4 of them were a family from Charlotte! It was crazy. I didn't meet them until the last day, only to learn that they live 10 minutes from my home in Charlotte. Tiny world. It was just the most amazing scenery. It looked like the floating mountains of waterfalls in Avatar. There were even helicopters sometimes. The hike takes you through Fiordland and you have to get to and from the trail by boat. Fiordland gets more annual rainfall than anywhere in the world except a spot in Hawaii, so fresh water is in abundance. I constantly walked along brooks, streams, lakes, rivers and waterfalls of all sorts. Part of the walk takes you through a valley surrounded by steep fjords running with waterfalls streaming from the snow on top. At one point I stopped on a bridge above a waterfall and counted how many waterfalls I could see in my surround view of the weeping mountains. I could see 43! Just from one spot!

One day I realized that by 5:00 the only thing I'd said aloud was, "hold it for ten seconds" in reference to the button on the gas stove. I'd also said "hello" twice, but both were to birds, so I don't think that counts. It was nice not to complain about my feet hurting or say things like, "this is pretty" about views that embodied magnificence. Twice I was caught laughing aloud when I stumbled upon another hiker, and another time I was caught practicing my Irish accent aloud. That one made me seem a little crazy.

After the hike I happily reunited with Maggie, who broke the news that we have mice in our car. She'd spent the last night in terror trying to catch the mice. Though this makes us seem extremely unclean, we were told that this "happens all the time" at this time of year because they seek out warmth. That must be it.

We spent a couple of nights around Queenstown investigating job possibilities. Then a night at Mt. Cook, the tallest mountain in NZ, where it looks like the glacier is crawling down the mountain. We went into a fancy hotel and drank tea and pretended to belong there instead of our tent in the rain. On the drive away we passed a hitchhiker that looked an awful lot like our friend Eddie, who we'd left apple picking on the North Island. We turned around and sure enough, there was Eddie under all those bags, so we drove him for a while screaming about the feats of great timing. Then we spent a night along a beach in Kaikoura where the full moon reflected perfectly on the water and the next morning greeted us with a huge pod of the most active dolphins I've ever seen. We sat on the beach to eat dinner and watched the ocean for a moment and then I raised my arms and said, "Whales, commence!" Immediately we noticed the dolphins leaping out of the air. Really close second. Perfect New Zealand. The dolphins hung around for hours, continually leaping and backflipping out of the water. It looked like a Sea World show.

Now Maggie and I are happily settled in Wellington visiting Eva and Caroline for a week of absolute chill time. It's exactly what we want. They have a kitchen and electricity and hot water! Maybe I'll even put up some pictures.