Family Fun

Well, it took an entire week for my legs to work normally again after that last tramp. I have seriously never been that sore before and while it was funny for the first couple days, by day 3, the fact that I still required assistance to stand from the couch and could not walk down stairs or hills was no longer amusing. Luckily, it did not stop us from having a little fun on St Patty's Day! We received a fantastic set of fuzzy green stick-on facial features in the mail from Kim, so we put them on and headed to our favorite restaurant to celebrate St Patty along with our friend's birthday. The fuzz was quite a hit, especially when Craig's mustache fell off in his water glass! It was a pretty tame day for us, compared to the usual festivities, but fun nonetheless!


Leprechauns!

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful until Saturday when we headed over to Queenstown to meet up with my parents and aunt and uncle. Craig and I started driving over there early to squeeze in some mountain biking, but only made it about 5minutes down the road before our bike rack start wobbling like crazy. We pulled over and Craig figured out that the part that holds it on the hitch was stripped and not useable. So, we took the bikes off and crammed them in the car with the rest of our camping gear.

When we got to Queenstown, we set up camp and headed over to a cool trail for some MTB action. The trail is pretty technical with lots of single track with rocks, boulders, trees, and roots, so it made for a really fun few hours! And the scenery is beautiful, as usual. So, after our ride we jetted back to camp, showered, and headed to my parents' hotel. The hotel was super fancy and we ended up having a beer there and then hanging out in the flash lobby on the comfy chairs by the fireplace. It was nice to see them for the first time in 9 months.

Next day, we met for a quick breakfast and wandered around town until lunchtime when we had reservations for the skyline restaurant (this is the restaurant we also went to with Andy, where you take a ski gondola to the top for a yummy buffet). The buffet was not quite as impressive as the dinner one, but still tasty. After lunch, we went outside for some fresh air and views, and to watch the paragliders taking off. Uncle Kevin decided to brave the luge, and had two good rides. Then, he decided the luge wasn't adventurous enough and went paragliding! We rushed to the bottom of the mountain and got to watch his whole flight and landing. Looked like fun! I still feel I may have a problem with walking off the mountain for the takeoff though.......


Craig, Mom, Katie, Dad in Queenstown


Uncle Kevin on the Luge

Unfortunately, by this time we had to head back to Dunedin so we left the elders for their trip to Te Anau and Milford Sound. They had a great time there, enjoying continued sunshine, and met back up with us in Dunedin on Tuesday night. The rest of the time since then was spent with the tourists (after work), showing them the sights, including Moeraki Boulders, seal and penguin viewing (Mom got yelled at for using flash photography, which apparently "injures the animals"), Farmers Market, Mt. Cargill, the Catlins, and the Peninsula. They also took the Taeri Gorge train ride and explored Dunedin while we were at work. The weather, amazingly, held out the whole time they were here. There was a Buskers Blitz in town on Saturday, which provided us with some entertainment by street performers, including a sword swallower. And on our drive out on the peninsula, we saw a sheep in a tree, perched right up on top! Crazy!


Tree Climbing Sheep

More Pics

All in all, I think Mom, Dad, Aunt Jeanne, and Uncle Kevin had a great trip. Uncle Kevin only hit one bridge driving, Aunt Jeanne didn't freeze to death, Mom fell over while sitting on my floor, and Dad just talked the whole time :) They are on a plane back to the States right now, and Craig and I are recovering. Me more than him, I spent some time with a kidney stone on Sunday night but am all good now. This weekend brings another time change, we set our clocks back, meaning it will be dark early now. Ick!
Happy Birthday Kim and Katie, and congrats to Bill, Kristen, and Mia on the new addition to the family, Anya!

Return to Mt. Cook

This past week seemed to go by pretty quickly. Work has been busy for both of us with students back in full swing and Katie preparing for her new role as Professional Practice Fellow. The past week was also a bit cool so we have been taking advantage of our fireplace, there is no doubt we will be fighting for space on the living room floor once winter sets in. Katie took advantage of the uninviting outdoors, and a lot of suspect peaches, to make a big peach cobbler. Luckily, neither of us were shy and we finished that tasty treat off pretty quick.

The past weekend the weather was forecasted to improve inland, so we decided to head back to Mt. Cook for an overnight tramping trip. Mt. Cook National Park is about a 3.5 hour drive from Dunedin and is on the east side of the Southern Alps. We first visited Mt. Cook back in November when we paddled in the Tasman Glacier terminal lake. Our plan was to hike up to Mueller Hut on Saturday and back on Sunday. We chose to stay in Dunedin Friday and hit up the market before we left. A bunch of nectarines, pears, and a small boysenberry pie made it into our bag before we departed. The drive out seemed quick as the sky was clear and the sun warm. We arrived around 1:30 only to find that the hut was full. This meant our trip to the top was to be further weighed down by the tent and thermarests in our backpacks.


Katie on the Way Up


Craig Above Hooker Valley

The ascent was steep and long. The tramp started on a track called "Sealy Tarns" and then continued on a route. A route varies from a track in that there is no true formed trail so we had to hike, climb, and scramble up over boulders, scree, and tussock grass between cairns and orange topped route markers. We spent around 2 hours climbing stairs on the Sealy Tarns Track and then to the Mueller Hut route which took another 2.5 hours. The views provided were sweet as we could oversee the Tasman Glacier, the Mueller Glacier, Mt. Cook, and the Hooker Valley. We finally arrived on top around 7pm and quickly set up camp. This was more difficult than usual since the terrain as far as we could see was rock and boulder. We managed to find a tiny flat plot of small rocks that our thermarests could handle. Our camp was above the snow line so we knew it would get cold and wanted to get the tent sorted and into dry clothes before it cooled. After a quick set up and change we warmed ourselves in the hut with some pasta and pie.



The Mueller Hut Route


Camp


The sunsets from Mueller Hut are famous when clear, and we were not disappointed. The eastern sky turned a deep purple and the west was bright pink and orange. There were no clouds and the snow and glaciers on Mt. Cook reflected the pink from the west. The hot day had quickly turned to cold night. I had read about climbers using hot water in water bottles to heat their sleeping bags and decided to give that a shot. It was great. They quickly heated the bags and I even donated mine to Katie as I was too warm. I slept fairly well and my only complaint was cool feet toward the early morning. Katie didn't have the best night's sleep but was at least warm, partially due to hot water bottles. It was really amazing to spend the night up there, listening to avalanches all night long, sounding like thunder. Also, the stars and full moon in the middle of the night lit up the snow-capped mountains and were awesome. The cliffs surrounding us we totally visible but with a yellow hue from the moonlight.


Aoraki Sunset

In the morning, after a quick refuel from oatmeal we headed on down. While the air temps were just above freezing the sun was quite warm. Our trip down was the a return along the same route as the day prior, so we knew we were in for 4+ hours of walking and climbing downhill. It wasn't as hot as Saturday and there was a nice breeze. The trip down was demanding and Katie had had enough of concentrating on the loose gravel and steep slopes while her legs were jello with an uncommon torture of carrying an extra 40 pounds. I was trying to take in the views but my legs were getting beat up good as well. We completed our descent around 2 and were glad to dump our bags and put on Crocs. We had a quick sink shower and lunch and headed back to Dunedin. We did manage to stop at the salmon farm along the way and grab a fresh Chinook fillet which made a great meal Monday night.


Mueller Hut


A Rest on the Way Down

The early days this week we hobbled around avoiding stairs and hills as our legs were beat up, one of us more than the other. Thanks to Andy for suggesting this tramp which he completed in much faster time, without a pack, during his visit.

Tramping Pix

North Island Video

Here is a link to a video I made from our North Island trip over Christmas last year. This is a BIG file and will take about 15 minutes to download with high speed, if you have dial up, don't bother.

Click here and when the page opens click "download now."

Enjoy!

Extreme Players

The weather finally cleared up last week and we were able to get outside without getting wet, finally! Wednesday evening we decided to take a walk on the beach. We walked quite far, from St. Clair down to St. Kilda, tossing the football and enjoying the fresh air and setting sun. As the water is still pretty nippy, we were walking well above the incoming tide line. That explains why I was shocked when out of nowhere blasted a lone renegade wave that swamped us both up to my rear. So much for keeping warm by wearing pants!
Thursday was even better, with temps in the 20's (70's) and lots of sunshine! We had been wanting to check out some Dunedin golf courses so I found this place online that sounded perfect. It actually is a place where you can go horseback riding but they also have a 9 hole golf course and you can hire clubs. So, we drove out there, up this super steep windey driveway and came to a house. The guys (Leon and Oliver) were waiting for us. We then had to get in their truck to be driven up this crazy road/driveway to the course, waiting for a horse in the road on the way! We get to the top and there were sheep and horses, super hilly, and an old barn/shelter thing. In there were 2 sets of clubs, same size, so we just shared one. Leon gave us instructions on how to make a horse move out of the way by swinging a club, because this apparently is a frequent occurrence on the course.


Katie swinging on the farm

It was really gorgeous because it's situated high on a cliff over the ocean. But it really is just super hilly farmland that they threw 9 holes onto. There was animal poo everywhere. We lost quite a few balls, not because they were terrible shots but because it's a field and we just couldn't find them. And when we got to the 6th hole, there were about 15 horses standing around it! It was a pretty funny experience, our lack of talent with golf clubs was confirmed, but the views and hikes between holes were great! Oh, and the horses were very friendly.
Friday after work, we quickly packed up the car and headed over to Central Otago for the weekend. Craig wanted to participate in the Citroen Rapid Race (kayaking of course) on Saturday. The race was only one rapid but it was a fairly long, class IV rapid. We camped Friday night, got little to no sleep because of high winds and a barking dog, and drove down to the Kawarau River in the morning. After registration, we drove back up to the spectator meeting place where we met a local guy who showed us where to go to scout the rapid (Craig had never been on that river). Looking at the rapid from high up on a cliff, I almost pooped, partly because it was so high and partly because the rapid looked gigantic to me. Craig said he thought it looked "fine" so we headed back to the put in. After a briefing on race rules, I left Craig with a good luck smooch and drove back down to the take out. The race coordinators had arranged for a jetboat to ferry spectators up the river to watch the race, as there was no way to hike down to it. The boat dropped me off on a large boulder on the side of the river and left me to scramble my way upstream to the rapid (about a 30-minute ordeal). It was quite a hike, not so much a trail.
When I finally made it to the rapid, all of the racers (about 45 guys and 10 girls) were there, checking things out and waiting to get started.


Top of Citroen Rapid

Finally it did, and the first few racers did nothing to calm my nerves (or Craig's apparently) as they took the harder line through the rapid and got beat down.


Random racer battling the turbulence

No major mishaps though, and only one swim recorded. Craig finally took his turn nearly last and did awesome! He looked better than a lot of guys who paddle that river regularly, and made it to the finish unscathed and in the top half for the time trial. Great job!


Craig rockin' the right line of Citroen


Craig with a tight lead in the head-to-head

After each racer completed an individual time trial, they were matched up for the head-to-head competition. In this part of the race, 2 boaters launch at the same time and whoever made it through the rapid first moved on to the next round. It was pretty fun to watch this part because there's only so much room in the fast lane of the water! It sometimes looked like bumper boats. Craig got to run the rapid twice more, was beaten by a hair, but somewhat gladly because he was exhausted (the portage back up to the put in was a long boulder climb/scramble). All in all, Craig did great and I had fun watching and taking pictures.
Sunday morning we packed up camp and drove part way home, stopping in Alexandra for some mountain biking in the hot sun. There were tons of trails and it was a great way to break up our drive.


Katie on the trail

As the rain rolled in, we threw the bikes back in the car and finished the drive back to cold, rainy Duds.

Sporty Pics

This week it's back to work. They're actually calling for snow tonight, in the middle of our stinkin summer. BOO! Oh, and FYI, with your "spring ahead," we are now 17 hours ahead of you Eastern Standard Timers, 16 ahead of Central, 15 of Mountain, and 14 of West Coast. That will change again in April when we "fall back."
Happy Bday to Kristen, Taryn, Jeff, and Jason!

A Few Weeks in the Making

The blog has been overdue for an update as we have been mostly lazy in updating. Our lack of updates is due to the fact we have not gone on many adventures recently, but there is great news. After working, working, and reworking, Katie is now registered to work as a physiotherapist!! She received an email last Thursday and she is very excited and relieved that it is over and the registration board agreed that she is qualified to work. As far as what work she will be doing, who knows. Katie will be meeting with our boss in the coming days to sort out what options would be available to her. In other good news, we will be traveling to Thailand! We booked a trip for 2 weeks in early July when the students are off between semesters. It will be mid winter here and nice to travel to a warm sunny place.

The past weeks we mostly stuck around Dunedin and took advantage of some ongoings in town. There was a "Thieves Market" on Valentine's Day. This was a big arts and crafts type carnival that took over the city center with vendors, plus it was on a Saturday so we went from the Farmer's Market to the Thieves Market. It was a nice day and we sampled some of the yummy foods in for the day. Taiwanese wheels cakes and bacon sandwiches were the main fare. We also bought a mini pie from one of the Farmer's Market bakeries. It had been in while since we ate some homemade pie and the fresh boysenberry did not disappoint. The new problem with the market is we like too much of the food! The rest of our day was spent relaxing and making a nice dinner of cannelloni (because you can't buy stuffed shells here).

We made it out for a mountain bike ride during the week before Cyclone Innis bore down on us. I have recently found it necessary to try and fly over the handlebars every time I go biking. I repeatedly remind myself I can't fly and get a couple bruises for good measure. This time was no exception. It felt good to be back on the trails, although we both found ourselves not in ideal biking shape. We did see a baby cow in the woods though. He was on the wrong side of the fence!

Last Friday we went to the work happy hour and made it a happy 5 hours. There are a dedicated group that go out for drinks on Fridays when our boss is in town. Usually we have things on for the weekend and are preparing or leaving for those, but with the cyclone bringing the rain we were staying in Dunedin and decided to join. It was a fun night with some terrible chicken pizza to finish it off. You know pizza is bad when it doesn't taste good after drinking for 4 hours.

Last weekend we survived our first cyclone. A cyclone is a tropical storm like a hurricane but it is formed in the Pacific Ocean, versus a hurricane which is in the Atlantic. Although we live on the coast, the storm was heading from north to south. By the time is had reached Dunedin it had already covered the North Island with rain and was just a big rain storm. A rain storm that last 5 full days. The two worst days were Saturday and Sunday, which meant we had a lazy weekend reading and taking advantage of our fireplace. It is great to have the fire since it heats up the living room and has already proved capable of making smores, although you can't buy graham crackers here either.

Last week was the aftermath of the cyclone. Everything was wet. I was able to use my kayak for the first time on whitewater. The Taieri is a local river pretty close to town and I convinced my friend Dan to come and play on it. He had a good time learning (and swimming) and I got good practice rescuing his boat and just enjoyed being on the water. Hopefully, I can find some more friends who want to join me on after work runs when water is available.

This past weekend we went to the work Mexican night at a local mexican restaurant "Taqueria Poblano." Some people chose to dress for the occasion with sombreros, I chose to shave leaving only a dirty mustache for the night. While the food wasn't that good, it was nice to have a selection of mexican beers and some good company for the evening. Saturday morning we expected the remnants of another cyclone to roll into town but awoke to mostly cloudy skies. We were quick to walk down to the market and stock up on fruits and grab a couple tasty morsels. I ventured out and tried a "pork roll" it consisted of slow cooked pulled pork on a fresh roll topped with applesauce. I finished my breakfast with a freshly picked peach, Katie was on indecision. After mulling the choices and wandering all the options she chose to leave anticipating more agreeable options in town. The local bakeries weren't helpful and she settled with a cinnamon roll from Starbuck's. Saturday during the day we did household duties and read some. That evening we were invited over to Pinto's for dinner and games.


Mexican Night

On Sunday, the rain did come but it wasn't nearly as bad as the week prior. We grabbed a few minutes of sun and hiked around the Otago peninsula. It is such a pretty area and so close, it's a shame we don't take advantage that frequently. The afternoon was spent tramping around the coast and enjoying the break in rain. We even saw some albatross (huge and rare white birds) for the first time.

Our February weather has left much to be desired since this is supposed to be the best month of the year. It has been cool and rainy most of the time. I would guess that usual day highs are in the upper 50's. That doesn't sound too bad for those in the middle of winter, but it would be like highs in the 50's and low's in the upper 30's in August at home. One of our coworkers reported this was the coolest and wettest February since has been here (15 years). Oh well, we knew it wasn't going to be tropical.

Sorry there are no pix other than me with my dirty mustache, kiwi's would call it a "mo."