Rakiura

Whew... 2 weeks (and I think a certain few freshly returned folks will agree) is not nearly enough time to even make a dent in all there is to see here. So, after a night in Christchurch we turned right round and started the whole trip over again. We took care of a few lingering details in ChCh – mainly just the Sunday market at the arts center – and struck off south again. Our handy little DoC campsite book had a nice stopping point near the previously mentioned/visited Moreaki Boulders so we stayed the night at the mouth of __ Gorge (I'll find the name later). We were a tad bit surprised to find a about a dozen cows munching and defecating about the campsite, as DoC generally frowns upon the grazing of cattle in their nature reserves. Steve was quick to shed some light on the situation.

Steve pulled up asking if anyone had seen any cows. By this time, they had all scampered off up a trail which we explained to Steve and he drove off. He seemed just a grizzled 40 something farmer that we would never see again, but Steve came back to chat. Several times. Turns out Steve owns most the land in the gorge we were camping in – including the only house as he was proud to point out -- and keeps some cattle for a friend of his. Steve is probably the most spectacular version of a kiwi we have come across here. Imagine a Mr. Brian Pierce if he had been sitting out in the sun for 30 years or so then raided the free bin at the Goowill trailer. He talked to us about what happened to his cows then left. Then came back and talked about his life in the gorge and his car restoration hobby then left. Then came back and showed us pictures of the totaled Jag that he rebuilt and sold off as almost new having redone almost the whole car. He talked almost constantly with a hand rolled cigarette bouncing in his lips the entire time which he had to re-light 7 or 8 times. After about an hour of chatting he ended up inviting us to his house for a warm up (we decided it was best to not to take him up on the offer and keep him from turning too weird in our eyes). As he left his last question was “How old do you think my wife is?” The woman in question who we had briefly met earlier was this tiny little woman who I would ask for ID if I were a bouncer. We conservatively guessed 30, but Steve had hit the jackpot (and he knew it judging by the smirk on his face when he told us) with a 42 year-old woman who didn't look a day over 25.

I know I drone on about silly things, but it was quite the experience. Like we were really in New Zealand the country and not the theme park.

Now for what this post is actually supposed to be about! Rakiura. Stewart Island. The smaller bit off the southern tip of the South Island. We took the ferry over across the notoriously bumpy Foveaux Strait. Turns out I don't get sea sick and Lieschen does. HA! We got off the boat and started the track. And it rained. Hard. For a long time. I have never been so wet in my entire life. We reached the first hut in about 4 hours. There could have been a lot to see, but truth is I have no idea. My glasses fogged up instantly so I had to go without and all I could focus on was Lieschen's back. Lucky for us there was a woman that had decided not to leave the hut that day in the rain so we were greeted by a nice warm fire to dry ourselves and all our stuff (we never bothered to buy pack covers). We weren't the only miserable ones though. A family of 5 (11 y-o twin girls and 9 y-o boy) from Australia were there minutes ahead of us in the same state. The kids were definitely the highlight of the tramp. We had a blast playing cards and talking to them since we stayed in the same huts with them both nights. Of course by the time we all felt dry and warm, the rain stopped and a bit later another family waltzed in bone dry asking why all our stuff was so wet.

The second day was much nicer. A little windy, but dry with blue skies. We burned through the walk anyhow. I think it was probably just the thought of rain that kept the pace high, although we went inland across the island so there wasn't much to see. There was a nice overlook where you could see the whole of Patterson Inlet (the inhabited portion of Stewart Island). We took our 3 pictures from the track and moved on. That night was more fun meeting people from all over the world. Ex-pat couple from Indiana living in Auckland were really nice and provided some much needed adult conversation after chatting it up with the twin girls for most of the afternoon.

The third day, right before we left in a bit of a sprinkle, I remember thinking, “there's no way it could possibly rain more than it did the first day” ...

Long story short (would have been a good policy for this whole post) the Rakiura Track turned into the Rakiura River, which was knee deep in spots, complete with shin deep mud on the shoreline and we spent the night in a hotel.

Forth day on the island was back to nice weather. We caught a water taxi over to Ulva Island which after some monumental killing spree was declared rat free and opened up as a bird sanctuary. Lots of very pretty birds in very pretty bush with lots of goofy tourist toting binoculars and telephoto lenses. Best birds though were the albatross who paid a little visit to our water taxi and the ferry as we left Stewart Island later that evening.

We hope everybody returns to / remains in good health. I'm finishing this a couple weeks late from Melbourne so I hope everybody had the time they devoted to reading the ramble post, now I'm going to go eat ice cream and watch movies with Heather.

whirlwind tour

We just got done dropping My Mom Robert and Bob off at the airport after two weeks with them circling the bottom of the South Island.
We began the journey by driving west into Aurthur's pass national park. That drive had some of the most amazing scenery I have ever seen. The mountains tower and seem to come out of no where. Then in the middle there is a large valley cut by the fault line that runs through the islands. You can see where the plates are coming together and how one plate is being pushed up over the other tilting large flat pieces of earth upwards right in the middle of the flats. The whole park is an amazing bright green colour spattered with fields of these tall purple flowers that smell like grape jolly ranchers. We went for a short hike, or rather a stair climb, to some beautiful waterfalls. the water was crystal clear and the falls were huge and just spectacular to look at. Aaron ran around on the rocks and we all filled our water bottles with this fresh river water.
That nigh we camped at a free DOC camp sight next to a field of those flowers and the river that those falls connect to. While setting up our tents we had several visitors, Kia, up in the trees just above our head. Kia are these parott like green birds with terribly strong beaks. They are known for ripping the rubber off car windows and sharpening their beaks on canoes and public benches. They watched us and tried to get us to feed them and we chased them away until they started watching from a safe distance.
The next day we hiked the first hour or so of the avalanch peak trail. The trail itself was steap and more like rock climbing at points but the waterfalls were beautiful and if the water handn't been so cold we would have been in it.
From their we traveled to Greymouth on the coast. It was a larger town- by NZ standards anyway- and we stayed at a holiday park on the beach. The beaches on the west coast in the south tended to be a bit rocky and this one was no exception. The rocks were all polished by the water and they were in every colour from white and black to orange, green and purple. Not to mention all the gnarly driftwood- The only negative was NZ worst enemy, the southern wind.
Our next adventure was further south at the Franz Joseph glacier. This is a glacier that sits amid rainforest only 300m above sea level and 12km from the ocean- glaciers are an amazing sight on their own but in that setting it was breathtaking. It was christmas day and everything was closed but we bumped into an american geology student from UW and picked him up on our way to hike the glaciers. The Weaher was a bit sour so we walked from the bottom of the road up the river bed toward the bottom. Having a geologist with us made it one of the best experiences i have had in NZ. We bounced across little streams and jumped rocks up to the closest poin to the ice you can get safely. Most of the bottom of the glacier is black accept for a large blue spot at the mouth of the river that our friend said indiated a recent collapse and likely the reason we were not allowed much closer. On the way back Aaron balanced rocks and Kendra stood under the waterfalls testing her rain gear under the ice water.
From there we dropped our hiker off in Fox glacier township before driving to the end of the road from the city and finding ourselves at an amazing campsight on a beach that seemed to go on forever. We built a fire pit and had a roaring fire with dinner and aaron dug a fridge into the sand for our beer. We found rockless parts of the beach to camp on and woke up to the roaring waves of the ocean.
The next stop was Wanaka, a lake side town described as Queenstown 20 years ago. Either way it was beautiful. They had great street food and art galleries and the lake was stunning surrouded by mountains. We spent that evening in Christchurch organizing our time in the fjoirdlands national park. Queenstown is natuarally much like a larger Wanaka, a lively town boardering the lake and filled with stunning second homes and people heading for the park.
We had an awesome seafood dinner with local surf acompanied with the west coasts famouse terrible waitstaff and service. But it was mighty tasty and we got to bring our own wine. sweet.
The park was something else. I dont have the words to describe the emensity or the beauty of the towering peaks above the water but you get the idea. We couldnt do the walk but we traveled through milford sound on the water instead. My pictures certainly wont do enought to describe it and obviously my words suck so you will have to go see for yourself.
That night we stayed in Te Anau the gateway to the park. The next day we decided to follow this road that didnt really exist and try and take it to doubtful sound even though everyone said you have to get there by boat. Well we got with in a few Km before it turned into an impossibly steap 4x4 road no longer maintained by the DOC. A day well spent even if it wasnt spen in the sound.
The next day we climbed the first day of the famouse Kepler track one of NZ great walks. We climbed through a creaky forest up to the top of the mountain where the tree line ends in almost a perfect line into a field of grass and rocky peaks. After that little 6 hour hike we headed out over the lake on a boat to the glow worm caves. The boat took us through a series of thimble islands before dropping us off at the cave entrance. This cave was much smaller and more intimate than some of the others we had see on the north island. The waitomo caves were older larger and had more formations and exciting things to see beyond the glow worms, but these had all the focus on the worms and the water and the result is spectacular. The glow worms are right in your face up close like the fullest night sky you have ever dreamed of and the river flows perfectly clear being filtered by the limestone. On he walk to the boat that takes you under the worms there are two deafening waterfalls that you cant take your eyes off of until someone points out the first worms and you get in the boat.
The next day was mostly a driving day taking us on the southern scenic routh through invercarvill towards Dunedin. This is getting long so im going to give you the highlights of the drive. WE SAW YELLOW EYED PENGUINS!!!! and even better they were on a beach filled with petrified wood! We also went to the southern most point of NZ and threw rocks at the south pole because that is just what you do when your that close- well that and jumping pictures anyway.
We drove up to Dunedin for New Years and celebrated with the whole town at a carnival in the octagon which is the center of town. We had dinner and an irish pub with a lively cover band and he best sticky date pudding ever! Then Aaron, Robert Kendra and I ended up drinking a bottle of bubbly at a skatepark while robert used a borowed board at 1am.
We spent a day at Otago Peninsula and went to the albatrose center. They were out flying in the morning when we arrived and when we took the tour of the center we got to see sevral nesting on the hill incubating their eggs. We learned a lot of amazing things about those birds and i wont bore it with you now but ask us some time, they are really intersting creatures.
We Then drove up to Timaru and then to Boulder beach, a beach with these large perfectly round rocks just sitting on the beach. They are said to be the spilled bounty from the fisherman Maui's boat when he fished up the North island. Aaron and Robert skimped down to their skivvies and went for a swim and a body surf while the rest of us combed the beach for shells.
skipping a little forward the last full day of the trip was spent in Akaroa, an area where three volcanoes onces stood but now forms a mountainous peninsula filled with bays and beautiful views. The town is very visibly the hot vacation spot for wealthy Christchurch people on the weekends and vacations but no without reason. The hills, the views, the water, the bays its all just wonderful to look at and play in.
Today we did some final shopping and watched street performers and people playing chess on a near lifesize board in the town center.
hope you all had amazing holidays and dont feel too bad if ours sound better ; )