Naps and mustaches

That was out latest video, set to "Pencils in the wind" by Flight of the Conchords, the funniest Kiwi duo we know.
***
Well, that's what we've been doing in New Zealand recently - taking naps and growing mustaches. Well, at least some of us. The naps were a glowing success, and so was Eli's mustache. In fact, in the very first morning he was wearing it he opened the door for someone, and that someone said... "Danke Shunn"! Eli said that was one of the highlights of the trip for him. Being confused for a German via mustache alone is no mean feat.
After we were done revelling in this, we kept driving up the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand with Shira and Itamar. We saw glaciers (less fun than you think), we went rafting (exactly as fun as you think), we made knives from scratch (more fun than you think) and we shot zombies with 3D glasses (a million times more fun than you think!). On the way we also passed through Mount Cook, maybe the most beautiful place we saw in all of New Zealand.

pictured: road trip

pictured: fun

pictured: a million times more fun

***
Wait, maybe we should elaborate a bit. What do you mean, "maybe the most beautiful place in New Zealand"? Well, Mt. Cook (Aoraki by its Maori name) is a special place. The route we hiked took us to a hut named after some Mueller*, and includes a climb up 2,000(!) stairs to the mid-point(!!) of the trail, and then a few more hours going steeply uphill, including clambering over a rockfall that feels like an obstacle course. But there are two wonderful prizes on the way. The first prize is the rest area and vista in the middle, that had a flat bit, a bench, and a one-of-its-kind view. A view that requires some time to sink in. You need to stare at it. Try to soak in the size of the mountain ahead of you, the elegant assymetry of the smaller peaks that curve out from it like a huge dragon's tail, the greenish lake and the dry valley far, far below. You need to close your eyes and still see it, the shapes, the colors, and more than anything - the scale. If you sit there for a while, you can even imagine your tiny self inside the scenery. And hear a gentle whisper.

Mike, star of the open road

2,000 stairs: the "after" picture

oh, Itamar! your witticisms bring us such amusement!

"..."

The second prize is getting to the actual hut at the end of the climb. It's an alpine mountain hut, with a pink sunset in the snow and rocks. Because Israelis are word-of-mouth travelers, it's one of the most well-known trails in the country, and every Israeli you meet send you there. The result: a hut full of 20 happy, loud Israelis and two polite Germans who have no idea how to handle all this chaos.

the hut!

I see your stove, and I raise by two headlights and a dog

***
Wait, maybe we should keep elaborating. What do you mean glaciers? Well, apparently glaciers aren't just huge blocks of ice but actually slowly-flowing frozen rivers. Snow builds up at the top and becomes compacted into ice, which melts at the bottom a few years later. New Zealand has some of the most accessible glaciers in the world - you can come right up to them or even walk on them without any special preparation. They're less than an hour from the parking lot. They look like huge blocks of ice, but they're flowing quite quickly - over a meter a day. in 1943 a plane crashed 3.5 kilometers up one of them, and came out the bottom only six and a half years later! Sounds really cool, right? Well, it still just looks like a big valley of dirty ice. Never again.

in the background - damn ugly glacier

well, we guess it looks ok from some angles

***
Wait, maybe we should elaborate some more. What do you mean "made your own knives"? Were we given a blade, a handle and some glue? Actually, it was much cooler than that. We each got a chunk of steel, a piece of wood and a few bits of copper, and we actually had to forge the knife - push the steel into the fire, hit it with a hammer until it's knife-shaped, cut it, smoothe it, sharpen it, put the handle on, etc., until it's a knife. Our main takeaway: the industrial revolution rocks. The amount of time and effort needed to manufacture even a small, simple object with pre-industrial technology is immense**. Although there's a big plus - you really feel attached to it afterwards. Actually, why is that such a good thing? We don't know. In any case, it was really fun, and the host's dry jokes were an experience in itself. Here are some pictures:

on the far right: Neriya discovers her pirate tendencies

there were also activities; here's one

and here's another

***
Wait, maybe we should stop elaborating, becuase we don't have anything more to elaborate about. All in all, we spent a wonderful last two weeks with Shira and Itamar until we met Neriya's family. Yes, Neriya's family! They saw Eli's parents "we'll both come visit you" and raised by a brother and a sister. But that's a tale for another post.

BEEEEEEP

"you should really go to this one beach, it's really beautiful, and there's a waterfall on the edge!" "um, ok..."

waiting for Shira and Itamar at the end of the Nelson Lakes trek, which we didn't hike. Not pictured: pesky, biting sandflies

------------------------
* Ok, ok. Fedinand Von Mueller, a 19th century German-Austrian physician, geographer and botanist who came to Australia because a doctor told his sister she needed warmer weather. As the story goes, some of the plants he discovered he pulled from the water on the ship before even arriving. He was the first manager of the Melbourne Botanical Gardens, and was fired after the public complained that he was showcasing local plants instead of giving them a nice, orderly Victorian parrk like back in England. Wait, but what does he have to do with New Zealand? Nothing. He never even visited it. Go figure.
** Actually, we used electrical belt grinders, and the steel didn't exactly come out of the ground fully formed - we were saved long hours of stirring iron with coal to make a suitable mix.