This has absolutely nothing to do with recent events, but it’s a story I want to share because of the memories.
Back when I was in Middle Earth, I traveled solo an awful lot, which was perfectly fine by me. I had the freedom to do whatever, whenever, with the help of my loyal steed Shadowfax. I hoped he’d lead me to Gandalf, but we never quite caught up to him. 🙁
On my grand month-long South Island tour in February/March, I made up my travel route as I went. After tramping the St. James Walkway, relaxing with some Germans in Hanmer Hot Springs, and taking a second trip to Christchurch to check on the earthquake-shaken city, I decided to head inland. Since I have a thing for New Zealand (aka I wish I was kiwi), I wanted to see everything while I was there, meaning I never fully wanted to move on.
And so one night in early March I found myself leaving the Christchurch area hours later than was ideal. By looking at my NZ road atlas – one of my favorite books – I could see I would never make it to Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park by dark. This was due to a combination of a late start and my enjoyment of the freedom of the road. (With my own wheels, I could stop to take pictures, look at unique things, etc.) Luckily I’d been to Mount Cook NP before, and miraculously the weather had been clear enough to see the mountain; in theory I wouldn’t miss any scenery. With that in mind, I took off from Christchurch for Mount Cook.
Along the way lies Lake Tekapo, the home of the Church of the Good Shepherd. Apparently it’s one of the busiest chapels for weddings, and the scenery of a clear day speaks for itself as to why. The last time I had passed through, it was pretty cloudy, so I was happy to just make it there before it got too dark for photos.
I stayed there until the light disappeared, which left me to drive the final 105K in darkness. Even though Shadowfax (my car) was fantastic in many ways, the radio didn’t quite work, which left me with only the limited library on my mp3 player for music. For awhile I’m sure I played whatever. I honestly don’t remember what it was, but it kept me alert and awake.
Shortly after making my turn on the road to Mount Cook, I decided to play two relatively quiet Linkin Park songs. I’m not sure why “Shadow of the Day” and “Hands Held High” from their Minutes to Midnight album sounded appealing for that particular night, but after playing them once, I repeated them over and over and over and over… pretty much for the final 45K of the drive. I’m not one for singing in front of other people, but I will sing along with music when I’m alone any day, and sing I did that night.
I remember the drive was essentially in total darkness – except for the light of my headlights. I probably saw a total of 5 cars during those final 45 kilometers, and with it being New Zealand, I didn’t really need to watch out for any wildlife.*
That night it was just me, the car, the music, the winding road, the stars, and the surrounding darkness.
I know that probably doesn’t mean anything to most of you reading this, but it means oh so much to me. Since my return to the States, I’ve discovered that on that night I created a magical recipe by combining the darkness with those 2 songs on repeat.
I don’t have trouble falling asleep, but sometimes it’s nice to listen to music in the preliminary stages of sleep. If I close my eyes and play those 2 Linkin Park songs, I’m immediately right back in my car feeling the curves of the road and the peaceful quiet of that New Zealand night. Especially the first few chords and melody of “Hands Held High” just take me back to that drive, and sometimes I get the chills when my mind goes to those memories. It’s pretty magical, and my pathetic attempts to describe it here don’t do it justice.
I arrived at the White Horse Hill DOC campsite and contentedly fell asleep rather late in the night. The next morning I quickly realized that the scenery had woken up early for me, making me one of the lucky people who has a 2/2 record for seeing Mount Cook. Awesome.
*Regarding the wildlife comment: (Of course, with that being said, I did pay more attention when a rabbit darted across the road… even though I had told myself I didn’t care if I hit one because they’re an introduced animal and too plentiful.)