Pricey Showers

The Routeburn track is one of the most famous tramping tracks in New Zealand. It takes 3-4 days to traverse this popular rain forest hike. Amy and I didn't have that much time, so we opted to hike to the first hut (Flats Hut) which took about 2 1/2 hours. The trail is well-maintained by the Department of Conservation (DOC) and it was a lovely tramp mostly through thick forested areas until we got to the Flat (after much debate we decided a "Flat" is the equivalent to what we would call a "meadow.") As we ate our lunch in the flat, surrounded by the mountains, I had to admit that I was glad to be going back down the mountain instead of up and over the pass. The snow-capped peaks looked a little daunting to me. Amy, on the other hand wanted to go another 45 minutes to reach the top of the pass. I ended up winning that little disagreement and we headed back down the mountain to the car park.

Five hours of hiking leaves one feeling a bit grimy and dirty. Since we were still camping and didn't really feel like washing in the freezing lake, we decided to ask at the Kinlock Lodge if we could use their showers. They said that was no problem, however, it would cost us-$5.00 each! It's the most expensive shower I've ever had, but worth it. Considering the next day to be January 1, I wanted to start the new year off on a clean slate.

The venue for New Year's Eve at Kinlock Lake was fireworks off the dock at midnight. Amy and I didn't even try and stay up til midnight. We crawled into our sleeping bags after our dinner of soup and pasta. However, we did get up for the 10 minutes of fireworks and to see our rowdy neighbors go skinny dipping at the stroke of 12.

On the shores of Lake Wakatipu

Queenstown was a madhouse of people from all over the world. We didn't even try and find accomadation in town for over the New Year's weekend. Instead we drove 40 minutes North to tiny Glenorchy. But we didn't stop there! We kept going an extra 26 KM from Glenorchy to an even tinier town (don't even know if it could be classified as a town-more like a community) called Kinlock on the shores of Lake Wakatipu. It was here that we found our camping spot! Initially, we had our doubts as to the wisdom of camping since it was poring down rain. Once we reached Kinlock we sat in the car watching as the rain fell in sheets of water from the sky! But Amy and I come from hearty stock, a little rain doesn't faze us. So we waited for it to let up and then pitched our tent as fast as we could. We didn't get too soaked. We found out the rain fly works, and that is always a plus. We came prepared, and had a deck of cards to help keep us occupied in our tent. Howerver, we didn't have to wait too long before the rain stopped and the sun came out. It never ceases to amaze me how fast the weather changes here.

Rob Roy

Rob Roy Glacier turned out to be one of our favorite tramps of the whole trip. Despite our best intentions, we didn't get an early start. We started driving to Mt. Aspiring National Park at around 11 o'clock in the morning. But the day was beautiful and the drive was through pastures and snow capped mountains. We even had to ford several streams enroute to our starting point. I'm impressed the Subaru was able to hold up. The first stream we encountered, I made Amy get out and make sure the car wasn't going to be carried away. She informed me the 4 inches of water were not going to do anything! I couldn't tell how deep it was from the driver's seat! We had to cross 8 small streams before we got to our destination. With each one I was wishing we had rented a 4 wheel drive. The tramp was absolutely stunning. It took us a good three hours to reach Rob Roy Glacier. We ate our lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and watched as occasional slabs of ice would crumble down the mountain, causing waterfalls of crushed ice.

Wanaka

Sore abs...sore bum...sore arms....sore legs. We didn't stop too many places today, just because it was too painful getting in and out of the car. Apparently, swinging an ice axe for several hours of the day will do that to you! We appreciated the beautiful scenery while looking out the car window. We drove past Knights Point, several waterfalls and through Haast Pass, and eventually came to Wanaka. Wanaka is a ritzy little ski town at the entrance to Mt. Aspiring National Park. Amy and I spent two happy days here recovering from our adventure in the glaciers.

Fox Glacier-Up Close

I found Fox Glacier to be fascinating. First of all, it's only about 20 km from the ocean. What a drastic change of landscape in such a short distanace! Secondly, it is surrounded by a rainforest. There are only two places in the world where this occurs-here in NZ and also one glacier in South America. It is one of the wettest places on New Zealand, so it is not surprising that it rained the whole day. It didn't stop us from having an absolutely amazing day on the glacier. Amy was so enthusiastic about the whole adventure, it was hard not to be excited with her. It started out with meeting our guide, a wee girl who didn't even look like she could lift an ice axe let alone climb a sheer wall of ice! But she proved to be a very capable leader. There were two other people in our group besides me and Amy. We hiked in the rain forest for about an hour, carrying all our gear, before we got to some level ice. Along the way we could hear the glacier "talking." The creaking of the ice and then a thunderous crack when a huge slab broke away and crashed to the bottom. I didn't want to think about the ice moving when we were actually walking on it. According to our guide, the glacier can move up to a meter a day!
We geared up with rain proof jackets and pants, rope, helmets, and ice axes, and then strapped on our heavy duty crampons. It's quite a chore trying to walk on the ice with crampons. Because they can snag on your pant legs and cause tripping, which would not be ideal on a glacier, you have to learn to walk with your legs further apart. In order to grip the ice with the crampons, I had to stomp with each step. I felt like a monster stomping around up there!
We first practiced kicking our toes into the wall of ice and walking sideways just a few feet above the level ice. Once this was mastered we hooked up to our ropes and did our first vertical climb, with our guide balaying us. Eventually I got to balay Amy and visa versa. By the end of the day, we were climbing 18-20 foot walls of ice. In between climbs, Amy and I would stop for a bit of warm tea that we brought in a thermos. We were so thankful for that little bit of warmth. By our last climb we were soaked through all our layers of clothes. Because it had rained all day, the rivers on our way back down were much stronger and more difficult to cross. By the time we got to the bottom and rode the bus back into Fox Glacier Town, Amy and I were both knackered. Thankfully, we had thought ahead, and booked our next night at the Fox Glacier Inn. We were never so grateful for a hot shower.

Boxing Day

Hokitika is the Jade capital of New Zealand, and Amy and spent all morning browsing the shops and looking at jade and bone carvings. We hit the road again after lunch and continued on down the West coast until we came to Franz Joseph Township. We had booked a room at the Top 10 Holiday Park, so we found our room and then decided to make plans for the next day. There were two options that we were considering. I wanted to do the heli-hiking, which consisted of taking a helicopter up to the glacier and then hiking around on the ice for a couple of hours. Amy wanted to do the ice climbing-the much more strenuous of the two activites. This was one of the very few times during our trip that Amy and I disagreed on what we wanted to do. We compared the brochurs and discussed both options, however, neither of us was giving in to the other. Finally Amy played her trump card and said, "You have the choice of coming back here, I probably won't ever come back, so we should do what I want." How could I argue with that? So we made reservations for ice climbing.

At dusk we took a 20 minute walk to Lake Matheson, which is so still you can see the reflection of the mountains in the lake. It was a beautiful walk through the rain forest, however, I preferred to call it The Enchanted Forest. Moss covered trees lined the trail giving it a Lord of the Rings appearance. I expected the trees to start talking at any moment! We saw the lake just before it started raining, interupting the stillness and obscuring the reflections.

We didn't know what to expect with the Top 10 Holiday Park. It turned out to be a camping area, with cabins and single rooms available as well. Amy and I stayed in a single room with shared cooking and bathroom facilities. The kitchen was a huge room with several stoves, friges, sinks and tables in order to accomodate everyone. We cooked our meager dinner of canned soup and bread, however, we looked longingly at our neighbors who were making a gourmet salad, stirfly and grilled beef. Their dinner looked much more appetizing than ours! We played a game of guessing where all the other accents and languages were from. There were very few, if any Americans besides ourselves.

Christmas Day

Christmas morning at the Lazy Cow consisted of waiting for our turn for the shower and a hurried breakfast of porridge and toast. I threw out the coffee-I couldn't wait to get out of that place. For some reason it gave me the creeps. But once we were on the road I was able to relax again. We drove through the mist-shrouded forests of the Buller Gorge. Our first stop was the Buller Gorge Swingbridge, New Zealand's longest swinging bridge of 110 meters. We had to wait our turn to cross since we got stuck behind a group of Japanese tourists who were filming every step of their journey across to the other side.

We drove through Westport and stopped at Tauranga Bay to see the seal colony. Seal pups are born from November until late December, so we got to see the baby seals as they swam in the "nursery pools" on the rocks with thier mums. They stay on the rocks for about a month before they venture out to sea. From the seal colony we went on a 4 km walk along the coast to the Lighthouse of Cape Foulwind.

The sun came out and we enjoyed the beatiful scenery as we drove further south along the coast. In Paparoa Natinal Park, we stopped in Punakaiki to see the Pancake rocks. These rocks were created by wind and waves eating into the softer layers of stratified limstone (called stylobedding) giving them a distinctive layered look.

We spent a little time getting lost in Greymouth, which is the biggest town on the West Coast, a wopping population of 13,500. After we got out of Greymouth, the sun had disappeared and it started raining-not just little sprinkles, but a torrential downpore. We made it to the town of Hokitika where we were lucky to find accomodation at the Fitzherbert Motel. I was a little leery of backpackers, so I convinced Amy, through begging, to stay at a Motel for the night. After all it was Christmas! We were glad for our groceries that we bought the night before. There was absolutely nothing open during Christmas. So Amy and I ate a Christmas dinner of packaged rice and canned beans with chips and salsa. We had microwave chocolate pudding to finish off our gourmet meal. After dinner I got to open presents! Amy didn't get any because I forget them at home. Of all the people I wouldn't have to mail presents to, I actually forgot to bring her present with us. Oh well, at least I got mine!

The Lazy Cow

It's Christmas Eve! Amy and I leizurely packed up camp and set off back to Marahou for our pickup and ride to Motueka. The sea wasn't too choppy, so we were able to stop and enjoy the scenery. By lunchtime the sun had disappeared and it started raining, however, it didn't keep us from enjoying our lunch on a secluded beach watching the world go by!

Once back in Motueka, we were able to take a quick shower before starting our drive down the west coast of the South Island. We had made no accomodation plans for the rest of the trip, so we decided to just drive and see where we ended up that night. We ended up at the Lazy Cow, a hostel in the small town of Murchison, population 850. The Lazy Cow is best described by Amy, "It's just a bit dodgy." It was pretty much a house with about 4 rooms, with a communal kitchen and bathroom. It was owned by a middle aged man who lived in the house as well, so it felt like we were staying in some strange man's house. But the door had a lock and there didn't seem to be any other place available, so we took it.

We had the foresight to go food shopping before everything closed down for Christmas, and then we found the only place open, besides the pubs, to go for some dinner. The River Cafe was festive and playing "A New Zealand Christmas," over the radio. Amy and I had missed that song when trying to remember and sing all the Christmas songs we could think of while driving! We found out our rental car did not have a working radio, so we settled for singing ourselves, which for the most part sounded...horrendous!

Tonga Island

Amy and I had a lazy Sunday morning. We slept in late, had a leisurely breakfast of porridge and kiwifruit on peanut buttered bread, hmmm-yummy! We even had a cup of hot cocoa. So it was late in the morning by the time we pushed our kayak out to sea, headed for Tonga Island to see some seals. Since I was sitting in the front, I had to get in first, while Amy held the kayak steady. I was sitting on the kayak, putting my feet in when a big wave came up unexpectedly. It knocked me completely off balance and I fell over the other side of the kayak. My pride was a bit wounded, but at least Amy found it funny. The wind had picked up considerably during the night, and the waves, once we got out of the bay, were quite a bit bigger than the day before. I wasn't too nervous, knowing Amy had seen worse, until she told me she was seasick! She also got sunscreen in her eye and was having a hard time seeing. We were half way between our home beach and Tonga Island, so we decided to keep going. Because of the strong headwind and the big waves, it took us a little over an hour to get there, but we finally managed it, seasickness and all! We couldn't get out of our kayaks, because Tonga Island is in a protected marine reserve, but at least we were sheltered from the wind and didn't have to keep paddling like madwomen to keep from going backwards! Amy told me the more nervous I got the faster I paddled. We did get to see some seals and even some wee baby ones that couldn't swim yet.

After some discussion, we decided our best course of action was to head for the nearest beach so Amy could recover from her seasickness. By this time she was feeling nauseated and I didn't know how much time I had before I had to throw her overboard to keep the vessel from sinking in the waves. So for the next 15 minutes we paddled furiously and finally made it to land. We collapsed in the sand and spent the rest of the day lounging in the sun. We took great care, though, to keep from getting sunburned. 55 SPF sunscreen every 2 hours, long sleeves, and legs covered. That's how we sunbathed!

We thought the wind might die down, but it seemed to pick up again the later the afternoon got. So finally, with Amy feeling back up to the task of navigating, we attempted to push off from the beach. The wind was so strong, though, that the kayak kept blowing sideways into the beach. I kept hearing the words of Rowey, our guide, saying the most difficult times to keep from capsizing are getting in and out of the kayak. We finally gave it our best shot and we did it! It was only by team effort that we got off that beach. The trip back went much faster due to our shore wind pushing us along. We were happy to see our beach and tent come into view. The wind kept up for a couple more hours and then just as we were getting ready for bed, it suddenly died and the sea was peaceful again. Amy and I slept really well that night, but the next morning I woke up to find that despite my best efforts, the inside of my left ear and my bottom lip were sunburned. My lip was swollen three times its normal size! It's a good thing there were no mirrors close by. But guessing by Amy's giggles, my fat lip did not look exactly sexy.

Abel Tasman National Park

It's a 45 minute drive to Motueka from Nelson, so we had to get an early start in order to check in for our sea kayak trip by 8:00. We ate our breakfast of Fruity-Bix, which is a much better cereal than Wheat-Bix. Amy insisted we get them so she could reminisce back on her Australia days; now I am hooked on them.

We found The Sea Kayak Co. without any problems. Amy turned out to be an excellent navigator. It was a little hectic trying to organize all our gear, especially since we decided to buy the cheap garbage bags to keep our stuff dry. They turned out to have white writing on them that flaked off the bag and onto everything else. No matter how thoroughly we cleaned, bits of white flakes would turn up everywhere for the duration of the holiday!

Our group of eight were taken by van to the starting point of Marahou. Here we were given our mini-course on kayaking safely. The most important tip we learned was how to minimize soreness when paddling. Amy and I were given the biggest kayak-so we could fit all our stuff into it. For awhile we marvelled at how little other people had brought until we realized we were the only ones from our group staying longer than the day trip. That made us feel better about our packing skills! Since Amy took a sea kayak class while in Australia, she got to be the one in the back with the job of steering with the foot peddles. I very happily let her take on that responsibility. Later on the trip when the waves were not so calm and looked much bigger than I expected, I was comforted with the fact that the more experienced kayaker was in charge!

We set off at about 10:00 with Rowey, our guide (what an appropriate name for a kayak guide. I never got around to asking if that was his real name.) and six other tourist. Four were from Holland and two from Switzerland. The day was grey and drab due to a thick blanket of clouds that didn't look like it was going to move, but by about midday, the sunshine hit us and everything was transformed. The water turned a brilliant blue-green color and the sky was a clear blue with not a cloud in sight. It was absolutely stunning. At one point we saw a huge stingray glide under our boat. While we were paddling, Rowey regaled us with stories of the ancient Moari and early European explorers, the most notable one being Abel Tasman. For lunch we pulled up onto a beach for some sandwiches, pavlolva and of course tea. Even though the water looked like it should be warm, it was chilling. I never once got any deeper than up to my knees in the water. Amy was more adventurous than me and decided to go for a swim. She got more than she bargained for when one of the Holland boys joined her only in his knickers-speedo style!

We said good-bye to Rowey, Speedo-Man and the rest of the group after lunch, and set off on our own to find our designated beach where we were going to spend the next two nights. It was probably another hour of paddling before we found Medlands Beach, a small secluded bay where we set up camp. After pitching our tent, we laid on the beach and took a little snooze. I learned that my 'no sunburn after 3:30 rule' does not apply here. Amy and I both got a little browner after our nap in the sun and it was 5:30 in the evening! Considering it didn't get fully dark until about 10:30 at night, I guess my new sunburn cut-off time is now 6. When the sun finally did go down, we watched the moon come up and make a moon path over the water.

Nelson

Accents by the Park, our Nelson backpacker, was situated close to the center of town. So an easy walk down to the main street where there were several shops and restaurants. Friday morning we found a place for breakfast called Yaza. A little hippy-ish, but excellent food. While waiting for our ggs Benedict and pancakes to arrive to arrive, a newspaper headline caught my eye. A major earthquake had just occurred the evening before in Gisborn, just North of Hawke's Bay! Some people reported feeling the aftershocks all the way down in Christchurch, but we didn't feel a thing.

In the afternoon Amy and I decided to have a look around in the World of WearableArt & Collectible Cars Museum. It was a relatively small museum divided into two sections and we could take pictures of the collectible cars, but photos of the wearable art were prohibited. Which was a shame, because Amy and I were both fascinated to see what art people came up with to wear. There were "dresses" or pieces made out of anything from spoons,to paper to tampons! There was even a bizarre bra section with one of my favorite displays called the "Bee" Cup.

Nelson supposedly is one of the sunniest locations in the South Island, but the whole two days we were there it was cloudy with just a tinge of coldness in the air. But we decided to have a picnic lunch on the beach anyway. Our lunch consisted of kiwifruit-very appropriate, peanut butter and honey sandwiches and chippies!

After lunch we sped off in our Imprezza to Happy Valley Adventures for some quad-biking and the Skyline, a 3 km-long ride, 150 meters above the native forest. Just as we were strapping into our Skyline ride the sun came out and we got a beautiful view of the valley and ocean. After our thrilling ride over the valley we quad-biked up the mountain where there was some hot tea and biscuits waiting for us as we watched the sun set.

North to South

Since Amy and I were staying in the Capital city, we thought we should stop and see the Beehive, the parliament building. It is literally shaped like a beehive with people hurrying in and out of the building like busy bees. We joined the early morning businessmen as they were walking to work that morning. I was so thankful to be on holiday!

After our morning excursion, we packed up our numerous bags and caught a bus to the ferry terminal. Since we were foot passengers, we got to check our baggage in at the gate and not have to lug it around while on the boat. The three hour ferry ride passed quickly with movies and scenery to keep us busy. Although, after the first movie, Amy had to drag me outside to see our first glimpse of the South Island. I'm always a sucker for the movies!

We docked in Picton and were picked up by our rental car. It was nice having a set of wheels again after depending on the bus system. Our mode of transportation for the next 2 1/2 weeks weeks turned out to be a Subaru Imprezza. We found out its not the most powerful vehicle, especially trying to get up the hills! At one point during the trip, Amy noticed the left rear tire was low on air. After we discussed it for awhile, we both decided the responsible thing to do would be to get it filled at the next petrol station. However, after getting back into the car, we both promptly forgot about it and never ended up getting it fixed. Oh well, I guess it made it anyway!

Picton was a small port town, and we didn't spend too much time there besides a quick visit to the superloo and then to get some lunch. From there we headed to our next destination-Accents by the Park in Nelson.

Road to Welly

The day of our departure from Hawke's Bay dawned rainy and cold. But that didn't dampen our enthusiasm for starting our journey. My flatmates dropped us off at the bus station in downtown Hastings to catch our 8:00 AM NakedBus to Wellington. Now I'm not sure why it is called Nakedbus, but I was relieved to find everyone fully clothed when we boarded. Too bad Amy and I took the name literally and decided to forgo clothing! Just kidding-we were fully clothed as well. It was a good thing too, it was freezing inside the bus. Apparently, no heat could be turned on because it would fog up the driver's window. We managed to stay warm-just barely for the 5 hour drive to the capital city of Wellington.

The Nakedbus dropped us off in the middle of town, however, we still had to walk quite a few blocks to get to our backpacker, where we were staying the night. It wasn't so bad, except that we did have two backpacks and one huge duffel bag each. Combined with the rain, it didn't make for a very relaxing jaunt to the hotel. I did try using my umbrella, but found it to be useless since it turns upside down with the slightest bit of wind!

After finding our accommodation, the rest of the afternoon was spent at Te Papa Museum. A great place to spend a rainy day! Wellington turned out to be a nice sized city with real shopping malls! I realized I kinda missed being in a big city with all the city conveniences. I wasn't ready to actually do any shopping in the mall, however, we did stop and see The Bee Movie that night.

She's here!

Amy has finally arrived-however her luggage did not. It is either still in L.A., in Sydney or in Auckland, and hopefully not anywhere in between. Nobody at the airport seems to be able to locate the bag either, which is not very comforting. The lost bag has two days to arrive in Napier before we set off for the South Island. In the meantime, its great catching up with my little sister. I did an excellent job of keeping her awake past 10:00, more for my own preservation then for hers. I didn't want to be awakened by her at 4 the next morning!

The second day we got up relatively early and climbed Te Mata Peak for a view of Hawke's bay. It was stunning in the morning sunshine. The afternoon was spent having a nosy around Opossum World, which shows all the different ways to kill a 'possum. Very enlightening! Most preferred and easiest method is just running them over.

When Amy called Air New Zealand about her lost luggage, she was informed it was not yet located, however, whenever it was found it would be sent directly to us. Considering we had plans to leave the next day, I was doubtful it would show up in time. I had visions of a postman trying to track us down in a sea kayak while we were kayaking in Abel Tasman National Park. But that wasn't necessary, the lost bag did arrive in the nick of time.

Time for Fun

Today is my last day of work for three weeks! Amy is flying into Napier this Sunday! I love this system of being able to take three week holidays.

I can't tell you how much I need a break from the hospital. I know I need some time off when I'm feeling very ineffective and useless at work. Patients dying, or not making progress seem to depress me more than usual. I'm ready for a vacation and Amy is just the person I need to vacation with. Two more days!

These boots were made for walkin'...

Last week I spent an exorbitant amount of money to purchase a pair of tramping boots at Kiwi Outdoor in Napier. I decided mid-range is good. I'm not a tramping fanatic, but I do my fair amount of traipsing around in the outdoors.

Te Puia Hot Springs is where I initiated my new tramping boots. The beginning of the hike is about an hour from town, and from there it is three and a half hours to the hot springs. Jeff and I set off on Saturday afternoon with the weather looking a little bit like it might rain. However, it held off for the duration of the hike.The trail starts off quite steep, but the majority of the way we were walking by the river. It was a lovely tramp, and it was even lovelier to soak in the hot springs at the end.

And my new tramping boots? They passed the test-no blisters, no twisted ankles, no cramped toes when going down hill. I think this will be the beginning of a long lasting, pain-free tramping relationship!