After posting my xmas note I joined a epic Christmas party at the hostel. In sharing the Christmas spirit we ended up getting a little rambunctious and had a noise complaint called in from the neighboring hotel, at 2pm. Swimmers and Santa hats were the appropriate attire for our party and everyone had a great time around the pool. My Canadian friend Robbie was in rare form and truly an avatar of the party gods as he brought cheer and shots of jager to all around (I think it may become a tradition). By 4 we were eating delicious Kanga and mashed potatoes I managed to put together and by 5 Erin and I snuck of to the airport to catch our redeye flight to Auckland. Sleep was impossible to come by and I landed with only an hour and half nap. A couple calls home for Xmas and we went off to find our hotel and visit Auckland. After dropping our bags off we went for a stroll and found the White Lady, restaurant via old school bus. I had the White Lady burger, a delicious decadent sandwich incorporating a hamburger patty, sirloin steak, two types of bacon, onion, fried egg, and pineapple. The ultimate breakfast! Properly fortified against the day we took a ferry to Ringatoto Island, a dormant volcano just outside Auckland and hiked up and around. It offered some beautiful views of the city and surrounding island, a nice hike even with the jetlag. Coming back to Auckland I took a much needed nap before heading out to supper. A craving for Chinese food was much harder to satisfy than you would think and it took a good hour or more to finally find one that wasn’t too scary but the food at Imperial Garden was by far the best Chinese food I have ever had in my life.
The next morn we caught a bus to the rental depot where I discovered that I managed to rent a brand new, 6 berth camper (3 beds, full kitchen, 3 different dvd players) for a meager $5 a day (comes out to $3.45 in USD) Enjoying the fact that my luck was back in full force we took off heading south and managed to get to the Shire just as the rain started to fall (luck didn’t stretch that far). Yes folks I turned my NZ adventure into a tour of Lord of the Rings. What’s the point of traveling half way around the world if you cant satisfy your inner nerd? The area around the Shire is truly what you would imagine with soft rolling hills, pine-covered ridges on the horizon and a gentle atmosphere to the place. If you are really curious the Shire is outside the town Matamata on the north island. Nice people there too.
Continuing our LOTR adventure we headed south around Lake Taupo to Tongariro National Park, where they shot the scenes for Mt Doom and Mordor. Sadly heaps of rain and 135kph winds kept us off the mountain and hid the horizons. Having to meet a deadline we headed south to wine country and on to the Kiatoke Park, where they shot the scenes of Rivendell. Sadly the scene wasn’t as impressive in real life as it was in the movie, CG goes a long way, but it was a cheap camp and beautiful area. Later I cooked a delicious curry with heaps of suggestions and advice from Erin then settled down and gave the night over to the ducks and hedgehogs wandering around the campground. That next day went on several hikes that used swing bridges and here I discovered Erin’s unfounded fear of bridges, especially bouncy ones. Of course I was a perfect gentleman and didn’t provoke or deserve any of the nasty names she called me while trying to cross them.
The next morn we loaded up the beast (what I started calling our camper) and headed into Wellington to catch the ferry to the south island. A nice quiet drive except for the wicked wind that kept trying to blow us off the road. As comfortable as the Beast was, it kinda resembled a big kite and acted accordingly which is quite entertaining especially on windy, narrow mountain roads. Once on the ferry it was nice to relax and catch up on some reading while we crossed to the south island then from there we took Highway 1 south towards Christchurch. Now I know New Zealand is not very populated, but Hwy 1 was the busiest highway on the south island, and yet they still had single lane bridges…. One lane bridges without stop lights, just simple yield signs on the most used highway. Interesting country, and definitely entertaining. The drive south was beautiful though; we cooked supper in Marlborough wine country, dry hills with green vineyards rolling into the mountains on the horizon. A little later we reached rougher country and the road was cut into a narrow area between rocky mountains and the blue waters of the south pacific. Camp that night was an empty gravel lot miles north of Kiakoura with the southern stars blazing overhead as the waves crashed the surf just ahead of us. We took some amazing pictures of the sunset and following sunrise but it was Erin who took the winning shot of a mountain that perfectly resembles a boob (and here she calls ME immature and then goes off and takes a picture like that)
Off with the rising sun we continued down to Christchurch where we switched the Beast for a tiny little Nissan, definitely a step down. From there we headed south to Oamaru where we enjoyed seeing penguins waddle in from the ocean then grabbed supper at a Turkish joint. The next day we drove across the whole country to Milford Sound (really only a 4 hour drive) and checked in at the local lodge for New Years Eve. We sat in the lodge and sorted pics and plans then went for a short hike down to the sound where we got some great pics while getting eaten alive by sandflies. People will tell you that one of the great things about New Zealand is that there is nothing dangerous there, no large hairy carnivorous beast, no little spiders with venom dripping from their fangs, and no snakes what so ever, harmless or poisonous! But they do have sandflies… Not an even trade for New Zealand, I would rather have bears, bugs and nasty slithering things than to deal with those nasty flies again. They manage to crawl into your cloths and bit places that have never be exposed except in the most private times.
New Years Eve ended with a delicious meal of fajitas and several bottles of wine and woke to a sunrise that led to a wonderful and surprisingly beautiful New Years Day. We got up early and waited for a shuttle into the sound where we went kayaking. Ben our guide was quite the adventurer, surpassing even myself. He spends the year chasing the summer between Canada and New Zealand guiding for kayaking and white water rafting companies. The day prior he went for a run along the Milford Track, a 40km track that goes over one fairly large mountain and takes most people 3 days to cover and here he just did it in one for shits and giggles. The year prior he completed the Kepler Challenge, a 60km race with over 1500 meters of climbing over Mt Luxmore. We nicknamed him Capitan New Zealand.
The kayaking was absolutely amazing, when we set out there was the slightest of breeze, not even enough to keep the sandflies away. Once we were properly garbed in thermals and gortex we escaped the flies to the safety of the water. Paddling to a synchronized tempo and showing teamwork that defied the prior week of planning discussions and ensuing arguments Erin and I paddled our kayak through the mirroring image of the rugged mountains that jutted straight up out of the glassy surface and reflected in the pristine waters. We started out paddling out to and underneath a roaring waterfall so powerful the mist engulfed all visibility long before we reached its base. Smiling and damp from the falls we followed the vertical cliff of the adjacent mountain to a small stone beach where we had mid-morningsies tea and sandwiches. Leaving the beach we fought a brisk wind that came with the morning heat to get into the middle of the sound. Lined up with the wind and the harbor we hoisted a makeshift sail with the 2 other couples in our group and let the wind blow us home. This worked great for the first three quarters of the way till the couple on the starboard side of our makeshift catamaran drifted too far and tried to correct to hard and tipped. In the next 30 seconds they managed to pop out of the kayak and hold onto the upturned craft as Erin and I untangled from the remaining kayak and latch onto stray paddles. The next 20 minutes was spent trying to paddle back into the wind to get to where Capt NZ was righting their kayak and getting them loaded back in all upright and above water, Erin and I almost capsized ourselves in the meter/meter and half waves. Grouping back up with everyone pointed the right direction we paddled back to the harbor not trying the sail again. Later that afternoon we went for a quick hike to the Chasm, just outside Milford Sound. The Chasm is simply one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life. Water and rock raging against each other to create such subtle and smooth beauty. Over the rivers life it’s iridescent turquoise water has ground and smoothed out the rock canyon walls creating the simultaneously soft yet rock hard curves and contours that exceed the beauty of any human.
It truly was a great way to start the New Year though, kayaking through what many people consider the most beautiful place on earth.
Heading back to Te Anu the next day we pitched camp at a Dept of Conservation campsite outside of town then headed in to restock and check out town. Here I discovered that I booked our four-day Kepler hike (yes four days to do what Capt New Zealand ran in one) three days later than I thought I had, and had to reorganize the rental cars. A couple hours and everything lined out later we returned to camp to find two very weird old men trying to steal our campsite. One was quasinormal looking, but his mate (in how many senses I don’t want to know) was a weird looking guy with a goofy smile on his face usually reserved for a drunk, simpleminded, or butt-ass naked person. Considering all he had on was a red and black wool coat and winter boots I am guessing that he hit all three. I asked them to move so I could park my car in my campsite and eventually they got the idea that we were not interested in sharing our campsite took off. Camp that night was on par with any 5 star hotel as the tent was pitched on a good four inches of moss making it the most comfortable bed I have had in a good six months. With three days to spare we headed up to Queentown where we enjoyed a bit of civilization. Erin went shopping and I hit a few shops, and finding the same things for sale there that any other city in the world has I got my book and sat and enjoyed a pint of beer and read outside of a pub near the harbor. The next morning Erin went and jumped off a bridge (not at my request!!!!) and got some great pics from the bungee jump. Afterwards we headed north towards Wanaka hitting some nice historic towns along the way then coming around a bend we saw a beautiful winery set on the other side of a deep jagged chasm cut over the years by a still raging river. Chard Winery lived up to expectations and was well worth driving a couple kilometers on a one lane road precariously cut into the chasm wall. Leaving there we headed down the road and pulled into another winery. Waitiri Winery is set up in an old Presbyterian church but followed a different doctern now (Mom was excited to hear I went to church till she found out the details). Jason the owner gave us the tasting himself, and I have never learned so much about wine in so short of time. I ended up buying a Riesling, drier than what you think a Riesling would be, but one that would pair well with curry or spicy food. After this tasting I figured that neither of us should operate a vehicle for a bit so we had lunch (bacon, hard boiled egg, sundried tomato sandwiches) before continuing on to Wanaka. About 14 km from town I stopped and booked a campsite at a strange little holiday park then we continued into town. By this point we were both tired and I was a bit hungover from the wine tastings so we got some groceries and headed back to camp. The campground was a dual use park. The middle was a cricket field but outside game days they ringed it with tents and campers for a measly $5 a person. Paid to keep the grass mowed I suppose.
The next morn we headed back to Te Anu to start hiking the Kepler Track. We got to town just in time for it to start raining. It continued through the night and into the morn so we decided to shorten the first days hike and sat inside and drank wine and watched a movie before taking off in the afternoon. Three hours of hiking in the rain we came to the first camp, Brod Bay next to a nice little beach on Lake Te Anu. Under the rain shelter we met Franklin, a shy boy doing the hike alone. It turns out that he was in Antarctica helping his professor on a seismic study and in NZ on his way home to Missouri. After 30 min he finally looked up from his book and said hello. Shortly after, whistling came through the trees and into camp came a Russian couple. The girl was nice, had a friendly smile, but the boy, 6ftish thick glasses and wearing a “Top Gun” cap and was pretty annoying. Sadly all conversations from him centered around his superiority complex. First he went into how he went to grade school in Seattle and how much better the schools were in Mother Russia and how many Nobel Peace Prize winners came from his school and how horrible our schools were and how much better his were. To make it even more engaging he spoke in a spectacularly monotone, robotic voice. He quieted only when I pointed out that with all his science and superior schooling I was the one who got the fire going after 24 hours of steady rain. Finally he went to bed and I got to make some jokes about the cylon invasion coming from Mother Russia.
The next day we started climbing Mt Luxmore, 1000 meters above Brod Bay. 5 hours of climbing 5%-10% grades with 40lbs of pack on our backs but finally we broke the tree line and all of the south island opened up below us. Cold wind cut across my smile and brought fresh air to my lungs and I felt the euphoric that only comes from the mountain air. A little while later we made it to Luxmore hut, home for the night, a little after one in the afternoon. Dropping my pack to the floor I felt that I might actually float off the ground without the weight on my back. After resting for a bit we headed for a short hike to a nearby cave. Returning after enjoying the glistening rocks and stalactites we started supper. Vegetable curry with the Riesling from Waitiri Winery made everyone jealous in the hut and I was very glad to be rid of 5lbs that it made in my pack. After meeting some very nice and interesting people we went to the bunkroom where 50 of us stretched out on mats in wooden bunks and slept just to wake to the cold of a mountain morning. After a breakfast of leftover curry we took off hiking up to the summit then 14km along the mountain ridge often with the steep mountain dropping off to both sides of the 2ft wide track giving us breathtaking views all around. Even though we spent all day walking along the tops of mountains the views never ceased to get better. From watching tiny sailboats in the lake where the mountains meets the water to loosing sight of the earth for the clouds climbing the mountains side I felt the freedom of heart and mind that only mountains bring.
That afternoon we descended off the mountain ridge to Iris Burn camp where we exhaustedly pitched camp and cooked supper and enjoyed the company of Erin and Eli, two wonderfully nice Coloradoans traveling the world on their honeymoon. Two wonderful people, the type that reaffirm that the world is full of good people.
With the rising sun the next morn Erin and I made breakfast and broke camp. While we didn’t have any more mountains to climb we still had over twenty-two kilometers to cover before we attempted to get a ride back into town. Sore legs from the last three days slowly warmed up and stretched out and we made great time on the first 16 kilometers where we hiked through mossy rainforest spectacularly lit by piercing sunlight filtering through the thick canopy. Truly the only way to make you understand the beauty is to say that it could have very well inspired the set for the movie “Avatar” That afternoon we stopped for a quick and very refreshing swim in a wonderful lake. Refreshed and with a quick meal we covered the last 6 kilometers with as much grace as possible, although Erin was so tired she didn’t even have the energy to worry about the swing bridges we had to cross. We finished the hike at Rainbow Reach, a tiny nondescript gravel parking lot. After a drink of water and a handful of nuts I took off hitchhiking to town to pick up the car. A couple more kilometers down the road I finally got a ride from a nice group of Kiwi’s that Erin solicited a ride for me back at the parking lot. We finished up the day enjoying air-conditioning and a nice simple drive up to Queenstown where we camped for the night.
In Queenstown we picked up a Wicked Campervan then went out for a well-deserved meal. That night I woke up wheezing and coughing as the campervan was so moldy that it caused an asthma attack. After climbing into my tent I managed to get some sleep. The next morning I canceled the campervan and kept our current car, although I am still fighting with Wicked on getting my money refunded. Taking off from Queenstown we headed north towards Fox Glacier. Finding the main trail closed we continued on to Franz Josef Glacier where we went for a nice hike up to the base. It is a unique glacier in the fact that it is actually growing instead of receding.
Staying in a holiday park not far from there we headed back to Christchurch and stayed at the Jailhouse Hostel. This hostel up to ten years ago was a functioning prison, and since most backpackers are only slightly more civilized than convicts it was an easy conversion over to a hostel. In all honesty it was a great hostel, clean and well lit and not near as creepy as you would think. Luckily they had the solitary hole well locked up as Erin threatened to make me sleep there.
Sadly the next morning was one of goodbyes as I flew back to Cairns to continue my diving and Erin flew back to Melb’s to catch a long flight home to the real world. Good byes don’t get any easier even after all the practice I have had this last year.
Back in Cairns I set out to get myself on some dive boats and get back on the reef. I swung in the brewery to let them know that I did in fact return and would love to get some hours in to pay for all the fun I have had and hope to have and now I am waiting to hear which boats I can get some work on. Cross your fingers for me as I hope to spend most of February out on the water!
