erin, etc.

An eventful morning- we woke up and couldn’t get the car started. We probably should’ve known this was going to happen since we did witness them needing to jump start the car at the rental place before handing it over to us. They did assure us that there was 24 hour emergency road side assistance and we didn’t think much of it- hello! they couldn’t even get our car started from the get go and we just took it without so much as a second thought! Anyways, there were some lovely salt of the earth fishermen who offered us a jump. This was after Justin had called the 24 hour assistance number and was told that there was an $85 charge and they could only guarantee they’d be there in 24 hours! I think this fisherman’s car needed frequent jumping as well since he brought out a full battery recharger. The morning was a little stressful as we weren’t really sure how long the car could be off before it wouldn’t start up! We spent a quick 10 minute hike to the Nugget Point Lighthouse and saw a ‘nursery pool’ in the rocks where the little baby seals were playing! Too bad we don’t have a good zoom on the camera! Drove into another little town (Owaka- Town of the Canoe) and found a gas station with a mechanic shop attached. The mechanic was busy attaching plastic bubble wrap to a couple’s rental car whose window wouldn’t stay up (it is still raining of course). We were able to purchase a new battery and now our rental car purrs like a kitten! Feeling a little more relaxed we drove out to Cannibal Bay in search of NZ sealions. After a quick 2 minute walk on the beach we saw 2! And we almost tripped over a very cute fur seal. The sealions were a little cranky and one sleeping up in the dunes surprised us as we were taking pics of her friend on the beach! They recommend staying at least 15 ft from these beasts but I’d recommend 30 at least! They’re big but they can move!

From South Island

Erin and Fur Seal

From South Island

Endangered NZ Sealion

From South Island

Pissed off NZ Sealion!

More rain today as we drove through Ingercarvill down to the South South. A quick stop in Ingercarvill to check out the museum (VERY cool) and stock up on groceries. The museum also had a Tuatara exhibit- the Tuatara are the closest descendants of dinosaurs still alive- some of the ones in this exhibit were over 100 years old! They are reptiles that also have some characteristics of birds- those little spikes are actually primitive feathers! Very weird, but kind of cute- we got to meet them at feeding time! We decided to pass on Stewart Island since our time was somewhat limited and it is really expensive. The Catlins Coast is one of the most stunning coastlines we’ve seen so far, and this even in the pouring rain! Endless stretches of white beaches with rough surf and lots of wildlife. We ended up at Kaka Point, staying in a modest little hostel.

From South Island

Tuatara

Rain, rain, rain- and another gorgeous rainbow! Justin and I said goodbye to the group after dropping them off at the airport and picked up our new smaller rental car for the rest of the Southland trip. Wiping our tears away and missing everyone already we embarked further South to see how far we could get…in search of penguins, albatross, seals, sea lions and more…

Yet another gourmet brekkie and then some quick postcard mailing before packing up to head over to Queenstown for 2 days. The boys decided on river rafting- which entails getting into a padded wetsuit with flippers and surfing down river rapids on a boogie board. The girls decided to opt for shopping and exploring Queenstown, a really cute little tourist adventure town. Justin opted for getting some work done in the hotel before the crew rejoined for a celebratory thai dinner for Jeremy’s birthday.

From South Island

Finally, we were able to sleep in a little! We had a fantastic brunch and decided to use our leg muscles on a beautiful hike up to Lake Marion, an alpine, glacier fed lake on the way to Milford Sound. Following a thundering stream straight up into the mountains, we were rewarded with a deep blue cold lake surrounded by glaciers and cliffs and mountains with waterfalls in all directions. That, and we were the only people there! Another gourmet lunch after half the group decided to brave the water and take a dive (remember- we could actually see the glacier water pouring into this lake!). The rest of us (aka the smart ones) decided sunbathing was a better idea! After hiking back down we piled back in the cars and drove into Milford Sound, probably the most popular of the Sounds in Fiordland (and the most crowded). We stopped at a vista point and met the famous Kea birds. These birds are big alpine parrots that are known for their crazy antics. They will actually approach humans and grab food right out of their hands. They will also eat scarves, convertible car tops, tents, basically anything that isn’t attached! We watched one eat a Birkinstock sandal! Right down to the buckle! The drive down to Milford was spectacular, we didn’t stay long since the sand flies were vicious and we were exhausted! We finally arrived back home in Te Anau for a very late dinner of BBQ lamb.

From South Island

From South Island

The Infamous Kea

Day 4- Doubtful Sound Kayak Trip Day 2

Eve ‘knocked’ on our tents early again and this time we awoke only to the sound of the stream nearby- no raindrops! Most of the swamp we had stayed in had dried up and we were able to make breakfast and enjoy the sun streaming over the clouds through the Fiords. We were moving slow, getting our tents down and our stuff loaded back into the boats when Eve yelled at us to get our gear on, yep. Most of Eve’s sentences ended with ‘yep’. To us, this meant the task we had least looked forward to…taking off all our nice warm dry clothes, exposing our naked skins to biting sand flies (these little guys take bug bites to a whole new level of pain and misery) and worse of all, peeling on our wet cold wet suits. With an optomistic round of “It’s getting hot in here…” and some serious visualization of the Sahara Desert we managed to get those suits on with only a minimum of girlish screaming.Then it was back in the boats for a beautiful exploration of Hall Arm. It was amazing to see how many of the waterfalls had dried up- what was hundreds the day before was reduced to a few dozen without the rain. The Sound was like glass and we glided over to a warm beach for another gourmet meal. I think Eve was pretty impressed with our food! Our group does not take eating lightly   We headed back into the main channel of the Sound and picked up some wind. We strapped our boats together, forming a raft, and put up the sails! Jeremy, the sailor in the group, led us as our boat picked up speed down the Sound. This unfortunately did not last long and we were back to paddling. We broke off into groups of four and got the sails up again, this time really picking up speed over to Penguin Island. We quietly paddled around Penguin Island in the hopes of seeing one of the small Fiordland Crested Penguins with their funny  yellow eyebrows but they were too shy to come out and play. We rafted together again and sailed right up onto our landing shore. Then it was out of the gear, pack up, cross over to the Power Station, back onto the ferry and a quick van ride home to showers and a night out at the local pizza joint, where we proceeded to have far to many toasts with far too much wine! What a trip!

Day 3- Te Anau to Doubtful Sound Overnight Kayak Trip

Got in to Te Anau late last night, accidently waking up our neighbors before figuring out which house was ours! Had a good night and another early wake up call to pack and get ready for the kayak trip. Our guide, Eve, picked us up and we drove into Manapouri. We loaded all our gear onto a ferry and enjoyed a somewhat rough and rainy sunrise ferry trip across Lake Manapouri to the Power station where we unloaded our gear and suited up. Putting on our wet suits and rain gear, we were somewhat doubtful about the weather. Back into another van for a 4WD trip over to Doubtful Sound, one of the many sounds in Fiordland. We finally reached the water and loaded up our kayaks. After a quick briefing on how not to tip over, we launched! Pouring rain and gale force winds forced us to quickly retreat back onto land. We put up a rain shelter over the van and had tea and lunch, hoping for the rain and winds to clear. Fiordland has over 180 days of rain per year- that’s every other day! Finally Eve told us that we had to make a decision regarding the weather. We still wanted to push ahead and so decided to pack all our gear into a boat and take a few taxi trips over to a beach where the kayak trippers from the day before were waiting, also unable to manage the water. That boat trip was crazy! Holding on to each other to avoid flying out of the boat it felt like we were on a piece of aluminum foil in the ocean! We finally got all our stuff into the other kayaks and we were in the water again, this time in Hall Arm, sheltered from the wind. Looking around from our boats were hundreds of water falls in all directions, just pouring off the cliffs above us. We had been told that it is truly amazing to see the Fiords in the rain but this was beyond expectations. We were able to take a few pictures, paddling under a cave to avoid the rain and a seal was playing nearby, catching fish! We finally pulled into camp and put up our tents and made dinner. There were doubts but we did get dry and comfy even in the rain. We introduced Eve to American Chile and Cornbread for dinner. We fell, exhausted, into our tents, all hoping that the next day would bring at least a little sunshine (some members of the group swearing that they would never camp again).

CHECK OUT THESE PHOTOS ON PICASA! JUST CLICK ON THEM…

From South Island

From South Island

From South Island

From South Island

Started the day early for a sunrise hike to Lake Matheson. As twilight dawned, Mt Cook and Mt Tasman were reflected in the water, well worth the early morning awakening. We returned to the cabins for a gourmet breakfast before heading on a half day Fox Glacier hike. The guides met us and gave us socks and boots at headquarters. We boarded a big red school bus (‘Ol Stumpy) and cruised up the river bed toward the terminal end of the glacier. Our hike traveled up and into rain forest, crossing beautiful streams before ending right at the glacier’s edge. We strapped on our crampons and put on warm clothing, stepping onto the glacier up a stair case cut by our pick-ax wielding guide. We spent about an hour exploring the crevasses and holes cut by water moving through the glacier. We had a snack of Rittersport and glacier water before heading back. These glaciers have been retreating at a steady pace for the past few years but recently have been noted to actually been moving forward. This is due to the weather patterns over the Alps, dumping lots of snow at the tops of the glaciers causing pushing movements forward. We met Jeremy and Tanveer back at headquarters (they’ve done this before a few times!), and were back on our road for the long drive to Te Anau.

From South Island

Lake Matheson at sunrise with Mt Cook and Mt Tasman reflected

From South Island

From South Island

Leg 1 of ‘The Journey 2008’- Auckland to Christchurch…

Met up with Jer, Tanu, Abu (Tanu’s brother), Peter and Robbie in Auckland Airport and flew down to Christchurch where we met up with Nila and picked up the two rental cars- the ‘Hot Juicy Box’ and ‘The Juice Caboose’- appropriately named since we rented from Jucy.

Day 1- Christchurch to Fox Glacier
Traversed the Southern Alps over Arthur’s Pass, to the West Coast through Hokitia (Greenstone capital) and then onwards past Franz Josef Glacier ending up at Fox Glacier. The South Island is just spectacular ‘Lord of the Rings’ scenery in all directions. The green hills are punctuated with fluffy sheep and rough rocks. Stopped for a gourmet lunch on the beach, trying to avoid the sand flies and saw dolphins playing in the waves! We bunked in two adorable little cabins near the base of the glacier and had a great meal before tucking in for the night. Big plans for day two…

From South Island