The End of Tragic Days, But Not Of Our Cheap Ways

We successfully made it back to Queenstown via shuttle (gasp) to finally reunite with our toiletries and other belongings that didn’t rank as highly as food on the priority list for the multi-day hike. After scrubbing the days worth of grime off our bodies we decided to go on some more hikes….because really, what else is there to do for free?

Seeing as the Yoloers are keen on finding good view spots, we decided to climb yet another mountain. Here’s X climbing up to the Ben Lomond saddle (shout out to Beth and Thomas!).





The hike was an unrelenting 2 hour climb to the top, so we decided to take a more fun way down- the luge. Although this doesn’t look dangerous, it’s a plastic cart on three wheels with no breaks. Nick successfully made it down the scenic route (aka the beginner track) after a failed attempt to go down the advanced track. Good thing he’s got that helmet!












As if Ben Lomond wasn’t enough, we pushed ourselves to climb yet another mountain. Luckily this one was shorter and mostly paved road. Here we are at the top with Lake Wakatipu in the background.




Back at sea level and in front of Lake Wakatipu catching the 10pm sunset (because in case you forgot, it is summer here- be jealous).











That night out in Queenstown, we were all in for a big night out because before embarking on Routeburn the Yoloers made a pact with one another that after successfully completing the tramp they would celebrate with drinks. The deal was if someone decided to back out they would have to buy the rest of the Yoloers drinks for the night. Considering how cheap we are there was no way that was going to happen, so it was a big night out for all four of us.




Out on the town we met up with Thom, the blonde guy in the middle, better known to you avid blog readers as the guy we hitched a ride from after Routeburn. Most people hitch and ditch, but because we = the shit Thom craved our company and wanted to meet up again. The other guy in the pic is Jeremy, Thom’s friend, who is celebrating his birthday. Guess how old. 18? No, try 32! I know, we were shocked too.


X takes one for the team….again, and let us post this funny and inebriated picture of her. For the record, all the Yoloers were in this state, but clearly X has a tendency to get caught on camera. This is Zach, another one of Thom’s friends. X batted her eyes a wee bit and somehow we all ended up with free drinks. Cheers!




Our night in a nutshell.







If you couldn’t tell from the last couple of pictures, the night was pretty rough, but it got even rougher at 6:30am when we had to get up the next morning to get on the Tragic bus to Dunedin. No worries, we did make it, but only after 4 hours of windy roads, nausea, and bad elevator music. We didn’t even get off the bus to get ice cream, normally the Yoloer’s favorite pit stop. Sorry guys, no pics from day number one in Dunedin, Maggie never left the hostel and the rest of us only made it to the grocery store. But lucky for you the Yoloers recover quickly and were back to the normal routine of finding free activities the next day.


The first free activity was the Otago museum. When they say interactive we take it to a whole new level. This was in the Antarctic exhibit, and lucky for us the museum supplied us with free explorer packs and an adventurer’s notebook (probably for kids). Nick, Maggie, and Caitlin examining the Antarctic wildlife.


Maggie injured her ankle on the ice, so X had to rush her back to Scott’s base for medical attention.


Although the Antarctic exhibit kept us busy for a while, we eventually moved on to the rest of the museum. Caitlin found more Moas!!!


Ok, this activity wasn’t free, but who wouldn’t spend $14 to visit Cadbury World!!!! We were taken on a chocolate factory tour, and the Yoloers dominated the Q and A portion, winning extra free samples (true, our competition was 4 year olds and non English speakers, but hey, when free candy’s on the line it’s on). This is a picture of the girls in Cadbury World. Notice the creepy plastic men coming out of the candy mountain.

After dinner and more chocolate, we re-packed our bags to set out, again, on board the Tragic Bus. The day on the Tragic Bus consisted of a few (free) stops on our way to Lake Tekapo.


The pictures of the actual street didn’t really do it justice. Not only because it was raining, but also because a street straight up, when photographed apparently looks like plain asphalt. For the record, Maggie beat every other fellow tragic bus rider to the top. Sadly there was no chocolate prize.


Next stop, Moeraki Boulders! These boulders are a geological phenomenon and our tragic bus driver advised us not to stand on the boulders because they are very delicate. However, half of the tragic bus proceeded to take their photos on top of the boulders- do the math, that means half of the tragic bus are non-English speakers or just idiots. And you wonder why we have yet to befriend a fellow tragic bus rider.


According to the tragic bus driver this was a “classy” stop on the magic path in NZ. Although it was free, even this seemed below the Yoloers free activities standards. Please check out the feeding in progress behind Maggie. But in all honesty, don’t think we didn’t actually feed the salmon, of course we did, it was free and fun!


We couldn’t catch the salmon in the air- but can you feel the excitement?!


The best thing about living in Christchurch and making best friends, is when you are traveling they offer to let you stay in their summer homes. This cabin was generously donated to the Yoloers for two days in Lake Tekapo from our very best friend, Ms. Sas Rhodes (who is also an avid blog reader- so thanks Sas- you’re the best!) Can we just say how excited we were to have a home for 48 hours (cause p.s. in case you have forgotten the four of us are technically homeless until May 8th)


Although Sas rocks, she did have some conditions if we were to stay in her cabin. One was to climb on top of the town statue, commemorating the sheep hearding capabilities of Mackensie the dog, for who the region was named after (we know, only in New Zealand). Here is Maggie taking one for the team, and earning us our stay.
So, what do you do when you have a home?


Live the high life and stop eating out of a bag.










In homes, you do jigsaw puzzles! It clearly has been a long time since we have had a home, because this puzzle wore Caitlin out. Notice the two cups of coffee she had to try and finish it. This puzzle took us two hours and there was not one word spoken between the Yoloers.





You play Trivial Pursuit! This edition proved to be a little tough, seeing as it was the 1983 New Zealand version. Some tricky questions were: “What are the colors of West Germany’s flag?” and “What was the royal sounding name of the horse that won the New Zealand cup in 1970 and 1971?” And no, there were no multiple choice options (but duh everyone knows the horse was Princess Melay)





And while doing all of those fun cabin activities, this beautiful lake was outside the whole time. Just goes to show you how happy we were to have a home. But, of course we did get out and explore the free activities in Lake Tekapo (walking around the lake).

Lake Tekapo was our last stop on the Tragic Bus before returning to Christchurch (but don’t worry we have one more excursion before ending our South Island adventure). To celebrate successfully surviving the Tragic Bus, we did what we know best- eating ice cream….out of a bag….and it may or may not have been 1 litre.


Long Live The Tragic Bus!