Onward to Glaciers

We stayed one day in Wanaka and quickly headed to the Franz Josef Glacier. The glacier was smashed in between two large mountains. Furthermore, there was a visible crack between the two continental shelves. very cool. We strapped on our foot clamps and began the five hour hike up and through the glacier. There's a main stream that goes through the heart of the glacier. Sometimes, the waterways gets clogged up by a large ice rock, and eventually builds up enough pressure to bust through the opening. Last time, it shot out like a ton worth of rock and ice a km out of the glacier. Don't want to be around for that!

yahoo! We stayed the night the town Franz Josef to head over to the northern part of the south island.

The plans were to go kayaking in the abel tasman sea, but the weather was a bit dodgy so we ended up taking three days to roll back down to campus. We stopped in Kaikora to enjoy some beautiful coast lines, but didn't stay for long since we would be returning once I got all my school crap done.

We arrived back to Lincoln Uni on April 26th. I had a few papers to turn in, and then we quickly headed back to Kaikora to kayak with seals!!! We took the same coastal walk I did with my dad, which was nice to return to.

Our last day was rainy and cold, but we still managed to sea kayak next to colonies of seals! some pups attempted to swim by us, but the water was too rough, and they still weren't the best swimmers. very cute to watch.

We headed back to Chrsistchurch one last time. I took Anthony to the Chch Botanical Gardens, my favorite part of the city. We went strolling through the rose gardens and some historic conservatories. We finally had to say our goodbyes on May 2nd, which was no fun. BUT! we got to see almost every highlight of the south island, finished two great walks, climbed glaciers, sea kayaked, river sledged, and saw some amazing scenery in between. :-)

Queenstown: Adventure capital of the world!

After the scenic drive through fjord land, we head to Queens town to meet some of my friends from Lincoln Uni. We decided to take it easy and hit up a couple pubs. It was a nice way to enjoy the west coast after a hard tramp.

Here's the view from our Hostel, probably one of the best pictures I've taken on the trip.

Intially, I was planning on sky diving in Queenstown, but then I realized I couldn't jump off a five foot cliff on the north island, so me and Anthony decided to go river sledging instead.

River sledging consist of going down a 5km rapid with a boogie board. We took two runs down the rapid, each lasted about 40 minutes long. IT WAS INSANE. There was heaps of eddies and whirl pools that felt like a monster was pulling you under and pooped you out slowly. Anthony was having some trouble getting in and out of the eddies, so we were about 2 km away from each other the entire time. Despite me getting popped in the head by a stout German lady's board, it was tons of fun. We went up and down 7 foot waves and were twirled around in whirl pools. It was neat.

After Queenstown, we took a road through mountains that was so treacherous that no rental cars were allowed on the highway. My little Corona showed no signs of death as we putt putted up and down the mountains to the rugged west coast.

Here's one of the Lakes heading to Wanaka. The west coast is known for is rough roads and beautiful scenery. We arrived in Wanaka at mid day and were ready to relax!

The Milford Sound

The Routeburn Track ended about an hour outside Queenstown, but we had to go alllll the way back to Te Anau to pick up the car before going back to Queenstown...poor planning on my part.

We decided to make one last stop at the Milford Sound, which is the most famous fjord area of the southern west coast.

We started with 3 quarters of a tank in my old corona, but almost didn't cut it. I drove up the steepest and swirvest hills ever, Talk about a heart attack! It took us over 2 hours to get there, even though it was almost 90 km away....and we stayed there for twenty minutes. poop.

But. Here it is. Notice how excited I get from the tugboat. FJOOOOOOOOOOOOOORDDDDDDDD

To the Routeburn Track

After getting to the main land, we packed up our car and headed to fjord land.

FJOOOOOOOOOOOORDDDDDDDDDDDD.

We arrived to the beautiful town of Te Anau, and started the 3 day route burn track the next morning. The track goes through the heart of the fjord land and is ranked in the top eight tracks of New Zealand (the Stewart island track made the cut as well). We started up a gentle slope through the silver and mountain beech forest and a lime green moss covered everything. It was straight out of gnome world.

I saw the biggest waterfall of my life too! the fjord land averages about 7 metres of rainfall per year. THAT'S ALOT. Luckily, we we covered by a canopy of trees.

so first day was a success.

The second day rained buckets and buckets and buckets. I decided that I would pack really light compared to my 50 lb bag in Stewart island, so i decided to not bring any extra clothing. FAIL. Anthony and I were completely soak. Even worse, the entire second day of the track is exposed at the top of the mountain so we had no protection from the rain or wind. Even WorseR, the track was flooding from the amount of rain that day, so we were basically hiking through a stream/waterfall.

My shoes were suppose to be waterproof. FAIL

My jacket was suppose to be waterproof. DOUBLE FAIL.

The rocks were extremely jagged throughout the track as well. At certain points, I was stepping in a foot of water and had to climb down giant drops. I slipped a couple times and a lady at the previous hut broke her ankle. So no pictures from this day. But here's our view from our second hut that was located at the bottom of a waterfall!.

Our meals during these tracks were a bit dodgy. We attempted to make spaghetti with Asian sauce...that's wasn't too appetizing. So we basically stuck with Chile and noodle soup, and a boat load of peanut butter sandwiches.

The third day of the track was just wonderful. We had beautiful weather as we gently strolled down to the bottom of the mountain.

See, we happy campers.

So, Anthony and I hike 62 km in 7 days, didn't kill each other, and got our hiking legs which I have not used since then. Yahoo!.

Pictures

Here's a link to my pictures! From Akaroa to Australia!

BADDA BING!
http://picasaweb.google.com/coldwinds87

Fall break: Anthony in Aotearoa!!!!

Hello!!! I'm now up to the events which took place from April 9th-may 2nd: my fall break.

SIDE NOTE: I had my bottom two wisdom teeth extracted. I received no laughing gas or knock out treatment. I only got that shot you get when you have cavities. I SAW EVERYTHING. and I got to keep my teeth! really weird!

ok! so On April 9th, Anthony arrived in NZ with some complications with airport flight times. soooo i started our day out with some meat pies and giraffes! We went to the wildlife park of Christchurch, which basically is a safari. HUUUGE habitats for the animals, and we both saw our first kiwis!

kiws are actually noctoral so they have to assimulate night condition during the day so tourist can see them active.

The next day, we headed off to Dunedin. It was a beautiful drive, except we got stuck in traffic for about 2 hours right out Chch. There was an accident on a bridge. Several of the bridges here only have room for one lane, so each side must coordinate. LOST of accidents occur.

I took Anthony to the same look out cliff with the Albatross and seal colonies. It takes about 30 minutes of mind numbing driving to head out to the tip of the peninsula. But we had a splendid time searching for big birds.

Our first week was a bit intense. We had two 3-day tramps that were about 36 km each to accomplish in 7 days. After Dunedin, we rushed down to Bluff to catch a ferry over to Stewart Island. I was becoming a bit panic-y on the way down and accidentally locked the keys in the car. BUT! since everyone in NZ is lovely, we had no problem finding help to prop the door open. We were off to the island around 5 PM. We arrived about an hour later to find absolutely no vacant accommodations available. Apparently the island is a hot spot during Easter weekend...whoops. We finally looked so pathetic that the hostel allowed us to stay in a tiny room for hostel workers. Hey, whatever works.

We started the Rakiura track early the next morning. It started with gorgeous coastal tramping, followed by a two hour hike within native bush. Stewart is known for two things: bird (especially kiwi) and rain. Luckily it didn't rain at all during our tramp. There are a ton of birds since many of the invasive species haven't populated on the island. There are quite of few tom cats and some possums, but not nearly as devastating in numbers as the north and south island. Actually, if you're going to see a kiwi in the wild, it would be here. I only saw kiwi poop though..i think :-(

The entire track is pretty much on a board walk or cable bridge, which became annoying at times. LOTS of mud.
We saw some kea birds in the forest, which is New Zealand's most expensive conservation project for threatened species. Kathleen told me from her wildlife class that they spend a million dollars on habitat restoration/research per year. sounds like alot right? but it also takes one million dollars to fix a metre of road. ONE METRE. So I'm not sure what to think of that. After the 3 days, Anthony and I enjoyed a beautiful morning sunrise over the Stewart island harbour, and headed back to the main land for another 3 day hike! what was I thinking!??!?!

last week of March: MAAAAAAAAAAAA

The last weekend of March, my parents came to visit! We spent the first two days in Kaikora, which is my favorite area in New Zealand. There's heaps of birds and one of the only places where there's mammalian wildlife....aka SEALS AND WHALES.

The weather was gorgeous! My dad and I went on a cliff track which went along a seal colony. BUT! the first part was up the cliff into a cow pasture. mud pies, no fun.

We then decided to climb down the cliff and make our way to the car along the coastline.

problem number: tide was coming in

problem number two: seals were everywhere. and they get mean.

We had to hop along a couple places to avoid the tide. I ALMOST stepped on a seal. There was this one blind spot and a seal was peacefully sleeping right where my foot was about to land. Luckily, my screen didn't alarm him too much....

The next day we went whale watching, which I never thought I would ever do. We took this rocky boat out 3 km off shore and waited for about 20 minutes or so. I'd like to think that I saw the blow hole first, but who knows. Apparently male Sperm whales congregate in Kaikora that time of year. Currently, I think it's hump back whale season. This is due to the drop off of the continental shelf.

Anywayss!! Here he is!

The tour ended a tad early. So in order to kill some time, the tour company drove us by a huge school of dolphins. hundreds and hundreds of dolphins flipping, flopping, and mopping! It was nuts.

We ended the days with a brisk walk in a native forest and a big meal and cable TV. yum :)

The last day, I took them around my campus and to Christchurch, which was very nice too.

And this one is for Jessica. Cheers.