Month: November 2012

What a COOL city! We could have spent a week here! The backpacker lodge was great because we had our own little building we stayed in. We woke up early to go jet-boating in Skippers Canyon – our guide was super cool and we enjoyed driving the 10^th most dangerous road in the world with him. The jet-boating itself was short-lived but exciting.

We then made our way to Fergburger for lunch. JD had the “Tropical Swine”, which was NZ grass fed beef with bacon, egg, cheese, and pineapple on top. Definitely a combination we’ll have to re-create at home. Audrey had the Bambi burger – venison with plum chutney – also good, but not as good as JD’s. These burgers combined with fries made for two very stuffed Americans who couldn’t finish all their food.

Next, we went souvenir shopping for a wee bit before taking a nap back at the lodge and uploading pictures. We made our way over to the Skyline Gondola and Luge, which as a pretty and FUN way to see the city. Again, we recorded some awesome GoPro footage to highlight the views and the luge run.

Finally, we made our way back to the lodge to take our last shower before the Milford and watch the sun set over the big lake in town. The folks next door invited us over to their very nice town home for some wine and cake. We enjoyed chatting with them very much, but had to pull ourselves away to get some rest prior to the Milford Track!

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On a normal day, hiking a glacier would be great fun and quite a thrill, but perhaps due to the rain or our general tiredness, thrilling was not the word to describe this tour. Slow and wet would perhaps be better adjectives for this activity.

We signed up for the full day walk because it meant more ice time on the glacier. It also meant lots of standing around in the rain while the guides attempted to pick out a safe hiking route. We did get to see some cool crevasses and whatnot, but from my memory of the Athabasca glacier in Canada, Fox was much dirtier and slower going. At the end of the trip, the guide informed me that they are long overdue for a mega earthquake, with a fault line running underneath the glaciers in the area. Glad I found out about this after the tour…

Finally, we purchased a sub-par pizza at the supposed best place in town and started the long, albeit breathtaking drive down to Queenstown via Haast Pass and Wanaka. We got lots of GoPro driving footage that we hope you will enjoy!

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…and unlike the states, the West Coast here does NOT mean the Pacific Ocean, but rather the Tasman Sea. It’s hard to say, because the drive down to Kaikoura (East Coast) was lovely, although gray and cloudy, (and we’ve yet to see the southern part of the east coast), but today’s drive took the cake when it comes to the “wow” factor. The NZ weather gods were smiling upon as, as the sun poked through just in time for the ocean to open out to our right hand side.
The day started with a leisurely breakfast and some packing prior to departure from the Havenlee Homestay, which was FANTASTIC. We were sad to go. We picked up some provisions from the local supermarket and we were off. We stopped at the Cape Foulwind lighthouse, which wasn’t all that impressive and then the Seal Colony, which again, was cool but we’ve already seen seals several times already =) We had a loevly coffee at a surf shack overlooking a great surf beach (although their version of a “large” is the equivalent of a Starbucks small, but the cost of a large. Ugh. It will make me glad to go grocery shopping when I return home to the States.
The road wound through some farmland and had us wondering when the ocean would come into view. And come into view it did, along with the sun. Our first main stop was Punakaiki – the famous “pancake rocks and blowholes” that spew water high into the air when the tide is high and the seas were rough. We knew that they were most impressive at high tide, but we couldn’t make it down there in time to catch it. The formations and walkways around them were impressive nonetheless. The pictures should highlight these unusual formations nicely – scientists still aren’t completely sure why the rocks formed the way they did. We then hopped into the car and made our way to the Truman Track, a short little walk down to an impressive beach with a limestone overhang and waterfall that had been cut out by the sea. We did notice some shattered glass in the parking area – evidence of a car break-in that we are so afraid of and see signposted everywhere in this country. We are as smart as possible about the situation and take all the key stuff ($, passports, electronics) with us at all times, but the thought of having all your gear stolen and a car in need of repair scares the heck out of me. It was a reality check nonetheless that we can’t get too comfortable or lax when it comes to leaving stuff in sight when we stop the car to get out even for a brief moment.
We then made our way down to Greymouth, a former gold mining town, where we enjoyed a 6-beer sampler at Monteith’s, as well a ridiculously priced “bruchestta” that consisted of 4 TINY pieces of bread with tiny tomato slivers and some cheese. Again, can’t wait to stop paying double to triple what we’re used to at home for food. The beer was good, however and it was a nice stop before making our way through the misty mountains down to Fox Glaicer. We hope the rain and fog clear up for tomorrow’s scheduled glacier hike. It’ll be a neat experience, but especially overpriced if there aren’t the stunning mountain views to be had as advertised.
We’re off to check out some glow worms in the bush and hopefully some stars. Wish us luck!

We got a late start to the day thanks to Jan’s lovely breakfast, but nevertheless decided to make the trek up to Karamea and Kahurangi National park. The 100km, then switchbacks, then 16km on a bumpy dirt road did not deter us from wanting to visit the “jungle”, root-beer (tanin-stained) rivers, and famous limestone arches and caves that served as a basis for many of Gollum’s cave scenes in LOTR.

So, was Kahurangi worth the drive? Yes! The walks in the rainforest were magical, the arches spectacular, and we we had the place all to ourselves. Only 2 other cars in the whole national park! That’s what we love so much about this country! We had our first encounter with Wekas – pesky chicken-like birds that come right up to your car wanting food. We visited Moria and Oparara Arches, as well as Box Canyon and Crazy Paving Cave, where we got to see GLOW WORMS for the first time! (JD is now officially hooked on spotting them). Turns out they are nearly everywhere in the country, you just need a dark damp place to go looking for them.

On the drive back, we stopped at Charming Creek, an old mining railway turned walkway (4km each way). We managed to squeeze in a brisk walk before sunset. Old mining relics, tunnels with glow worms and waterfalls were highlights of this lovely walk. To top it all off, we enjoyed a lovely sunset over the Tasman Sea on the drive back to Westport, and then got to snuggle into our lovely annexe at the Havenlee Homestay.

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Our day began with a nice view from our little “chalet” in the gardens – what a cute little mini-house!

We made our way down to Motueka to catch the water taxi to the Abel Tasman National Park and walking track. Upon signing in, we took our seats on the back of a boat that was being hauled by a tractor. They actually load you on dry land, then back the boat trailer into the water via farm tractor in the tidal flats. Never seen that before…
The boat road out to Anchorage Bay was nice, albeit somewhat short. The waters are such a beautiful blue, and the sands a lovely white. We then had a 13 km or so trek through Bark Bay past Tonga Quarry, where the boat would pick us up in 6 hours’ time. The track was fairly flat, with a few ups and downs, but nothing compared to Tongariro. Very often, we were rewarded with beautiful Tasman Sea views through the ferns and tropical-ish bush. JD’s knee started acting up, which was a shame and we hope it does calm down before the 4-day Milford Track. The boat ride back past the seal colony was a bit of a disappointment, as there were hardly any seals and we lingered for all of 3 minutes. Our take on the situation – the hike was great, the water taxi was a ripoff for the price.
We then had a drive through the Buller River Gorge, which was LOVELY on our way to Westport. Beautiful rivers and bridges and the ocasional (Rein)deer farm, which was an odd sight to see.
We arrived 3 hours later safely at our homestay, where we had our own “Annexe” (wing) of the house to ourselves. It was so clean and neat and WONDERFUL!

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Our day began with the drive from Blenheim to Havelock to pick up the mailboat.  We didn’t really know what to expect, but what we ended up getting was the best value for our $ experience on the entire trip.  Many of the residents in the Pelorous sound have no electricity and no good road access, so they get their mail delivered by a private company (the mail boat) that is subsidized by the government and tour-goers such as ourselves.  Aside from the scenic views, we got to hear about the history of the area and the locals that we were delivering mail to.  In the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday, we handed out Moon Pies that we had brought from home to the locals.  We had several dolphin come swim in the wake of the boat,  including a Hector’s Dolphin, which was quite a treat!  One stop included a trip to an old house on the sound.  The views and absolute silence and solitude out there were AMAZING!   Along the way, we also got to see Mussell Farms in action and learn about that growing and harvesting process.  We later got to try some of the famous green-lip mussells fresh from the sound, although I cannot say we’re huge fans of them =)

After a wonderful day out on the water, we made the drive out to the Abel Tasman to stage for tomorrow’s hike.

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Our day began with an early wakeup at 4:30am (ouch!) for the 5:30am Dolphin Encounter. Early wakeup plus the mere thought of jumping into 55 degree F water caused us to have some second thoughts, but they were soon forgotten.

We put on our lovely wetsuits, which although damp, kept us surprisingly warm. We watched a safety video explaining that the dolphins might have no interest in us, so don’t be disappointed that you woke up SUPER early and willingly jumped into freezing cold water to see potentially nothing.

We boarded the bus to take us to the boat and before we knew it were were cruising away with a lovely view of snow-capped mountains greeting us from the Kaikoura Coastline. We started spotting Dusky Dolphins and I got nervous – shoot – now I have to jump in the water. As we sat on the back of the boat with our flippered feet feeling like popsicles, I thought “I hope it’s” worth it.

OH MY GOSH. Upon jumping in, two things immediately strike you. First, the sensation of COLD water trickling into your wetsuit, and second, “OMG there is a dolphin swimming right at my face at this very moment”. We were instructed to “sing” to the dolphins, as they are curious about noise – “la la la la la” was my call to the dolphins and they seemed to respond well, as I had several come within inches and swim around in circles with me, in an effort to check me out. After a while, the pod we were swimming with moved on, so we got back on the boat and tried again. This is when you realize how cold you actually are. We made three swims with the dolphins, each of which was fantastic. Upon climbing onboard, our guide told us there was a surprise in store that were were going to check out. I had a heck of a time trying to get off my wetsuit with essentially non-functioning fingers and then had the further pleasure of stripping down and struggling immensely to put on all of my warmest clothes without the use of my hands. No time for embarrassment when you are freezing your you know what off. Glad I hurried though because just as I was clothed, I heard the unmistakable sound of a whale coming to the surface of the water. An out of season humpback whale decided to come over and visit and what a treat! He got so close to the boat and the dolphins were playing with him, it was incredible (so much for feeling torn about whether to do the Whale Watch instead). We were then served hot coacoa and cookies to round out the experience as AWESOME and 100% worth it.

After returning, we made our way back to the hostel for a nice long hot shower and boy, did it feel good. We packed up and hit the road north to Blenheim, NZ’s famous Sauvignon Blanc country. We did pull over for some awesome fur seal viewing points, including a waterfall that baby seals hang out at. Very cool. Not cool was the drowsiness while driving that set in around 10:30am (we had been up 6 hours already). We had to pull over and take a mini nap in a cafe parking lot and get a “flat white” – NZ capaccino and frothed milk thing before carrying on.

We finally made it to Blenheim, and visited several wineries, including Yealands, Lawson’s, Auntsfield, Georges Michel, Moa (beer), St. Claire, and a nice chocolate shop too. Nearly all the wineries offered FREE tastings – it was usually just the two of us and the person pouring the wine and telling us all about the different flavors. For being proclaimed “I’m not really a fan of white wine” folks, we sure enjoyed the fruity and crisp flavors on NZ wine!

We then made our way over to a place called SCOTCH that came recommended as a good place for inexpensive food that isn’t McDonald’s (yuck). Even still, the tab for one burger and one large order of fries was $22 – yikes! I miss our cheap American food. The prices that is, all the food we’ve had so far has been lovely. After a filling supper to cap off a wonderfully sunny afternoon (this is the first time we’ve seen the sun for an extended period the entire trip =( we made our way to backpacker lodge #2. It’s definitely a no-frills way to stay some place for $50-70 a night, but they have generally been clean, quiet, had nice kitchen facilities and suited us quite well.

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We’re on a boat…

Today’s the day we cross over to the South Island.  Despite the cheaper rates on car rentals (free relocation for the companies), every travel site recommended going North to South, saving the “best” for last.  Being the larger island, plus the extensive list of sites to see and activities to do in the South Island, we’re making the switch pretty early in the trip.  The journey across the Cook Strait is a scenic one, and we’re very much looking forward to this day of mainly travel.

The crossing is 92km and takes about 4 hours.  Pretty cool to pull your car on board and sit down and relax while they take care of the crossing for us.

We got an early start out of Tongariro (thanks to our early night from being exhausted on the mountain) to make the drive down to Wellington to catch the Interislander Ferry to Picton. We got there a little early, so we decided to park and walk around Wellington, the capitol of NZ. Between having a heck of a time making right hand turns out of streets that we made wrong turns on to and ending up in a parking garage that had NO spots and wanted $6 an hour for parking, we finally ditched the car and made our way to Wellington’s #1 (supposedly)b tourist attraction, the famed cable car. Well let’s just say – after seeing San Francisco, we were not impressed. It made two stops over the course of a 3 minute climb up a hill overlooking the cloudy waterfront. Don’t get me wrong, it was nice and all, but #1 tourist attraction in Wellington – Lonely Planet, you left me disappointed. Anyways, we grabbed a nice lunch on the main shopping strip (fishcake that was a lovely combo of seafood and potato for Audrey and a nice toasted sandwich for JD. This was after we decided that the $12 “Lamb-burger” (I’m not kidding) from McDonald’s was a bit ridiculous, as well as the $10 footlong at Subways. I still can’t get over the price of food in this country! I guess we should have gone to Te Papa (the national museum of culture in NZ) or on a Lord of the Rings Tour (except they are $, and there are so many LOTR-esque things that you can see on your own in this country).

After our disappointing Wellington excursion, we made our way over to the Interislander Ferry terminal, which was an interesting experience. We pulled up, the attendant printed our boarding passes and she told us to pull our car into the queu in lane #4. And then we just sat there and waited for about an hour with no further instruction. The kiwis are very easy-going people, so we didn’t think much of it – also, everyone else appeared to be in the same boat (pun intended) as well. We got to watch the big-ass ship pull into the harbor and all the cars unload from the previous voyage. Then came the exciting part for us – pulling our car on to the ferry. It’s amazing just how many full-size tractor trailers, railway cars, campervans, cars, motorcycles, bikes, etc. they can fit on a BOAT. Very cool. Once parked onboard, you simply get out, lock up and head up to a seat. The sailing was fine going, although it was a bit too cold and windy for my liking to stand on the deck. We did brave the cold when we neared the South Island, as the scenery was beautiful.

Upon arrival in Picton, we drove off the boat and headed south on Hwy 1 to Kaikoura. The fact that their great coastal highway is also named Hwy #1 is pretty cool. Unfortunately, clouds and rain obscured the fantastic view and we would have to hope it’d clear on the ride back tomorrow to get the fantastic views I had read about. Poor JD was tuckered out after 6+ hours of driving and 4 hours on the boat, but thankfully we made it to our lodging alright – the Dolphin Backpacker Hostel. What a neat little place. We had our own room with ensuite, and have encountered so many Germans (they really know how to travel!) and other nationalities in the kitchen/living area – this has been true across the country – it really makes me realize how very little vacation we as Americans receive compared to the rest of the world.

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We were originally scheduled to this hike the day previous, but snow and cold made the passing impossible, so we had to reschedule to today.

Our day began with a 5am wakeup, which didn’t prove to be a problem thanks to the little bit of jet lag. Not lag really, just a shift in our time. We caught the bus from our wee backpacker cabin to the start of the Crossing and were on the trail by 6am. The clouds hung low over the mountain and we were worried if it was going to clear up to give us a good view once we climbed the formidable “Mt. Doom”. The first 1.5 hours was fine. Mostly flat, slightly uphill through some Scottish looking heath. Then the steps up the back side of the mountains began. And we climbed. Until we reached the base of Narihou. Some intrepid souls tried to to make it up, but given the snow last night and the STEEP grade, it looked like a terrible proposition. We carried on nearly on our hands and knees up to the summit of the Red Crater and were greeted by strong bitterly cold winds. We then caught glimpse of the Emerald Lakes and Blue Lake. We had lunch atop a sheltered vantage point that gave us lovely views minus the wind. The slide down the steep snow was hardly fun, until we got to see a recently erupted (and sill very much steaming) volcano in the Tongariro complex. (Aug 6, 2012.)   (We came to find out after the fact that there’s a good chance another volcano in the Tongariro complex is going to blow shortly – the shuttle provider we went with was very reputable and very much concerned about safety, so I’d like to think they would NOT let anyone go if there was imminent threat.  All the same, I’m glad to be off the mountain!  There were signs all over warning us about not getting near the area and being in the “volcanic activity zone” – holy shit. I didn’t realize I was hiking a volcano that was quite THAT active =/ The trek down was longer than expected, and our bodies will be thanking us later for the abuse on our knees and toes, but the Crossing was definitely worth the physical exertion. Upon the bus ride home, we happened across the piece in our hiking phamplet about the owner of the lodge where we’re staying winning a mountain running championship – it took us 8 hours to make the crossing – it took him 1 hours, 25 minutes. Well, I guess we better try harder next time…

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Audrey has developed a Tim-Tam addiction.

In other news, the weather can’t make up its’ mind today. It rained and poured and then the sun poked out. We saw an awesome rainbow or two on the drive out of Rotorua to Taupo. We had grand hopes of skydiving AND visiting some wineries in Napier, but with the weather threatening our skydive, we had to decide one or the other. And although we love wine, skydiving won out. And it was worth it.

We dove with Skydive Taupo and we had a great experience.

Audrey’ take: it wasn’t as scary as I thought it could be. After the initial roll out of the plane accompanied by some serious screaming, it was mostly just COLD. And hard to breathe. I guess that’s why they pump you full of Oxygen on the plane ride up. The spinning in free fall was cool, as it allowed us to take in the lake. My favorite part was when the parachute came out and we got to enjoy a gentle coast down to the ground. My instructor (who was tall and handsome ;^) let me steer the parachute for a little while which was really neat. The landing ended up being a pretty hard thump on the rear, but nothing I haven’t experienced playing soccer. I would definitely do it again (although the price does hurt).

John David’s take: Really overwhelming – probably would not want to do again.

We then grabbed a bite to eat at Burger Fuel (our new favorite chain restaurant in this country) and drove down to National Park to stage for our big hike tomorrow.

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